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AHALS OF THE WEST:

EMBKAOING A CONCISE ACCOUNT OF

PRINCIPAL EVENTS

WHICH HAVE OCCURRED IN THE

¥ESTERI STATES AID TERRITORIES,

FROM THE

DISCOYERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY

TO THE

YEAR EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND FIETY-SIX.

COMPILED PROM THE MOST AUTHENTIC SOURCES,

AND PUBLISHED BY

JAMES R. ALBACH.

PITTSBUKGH:
W. S. HAVEN, BOOK AND JOB PRINTER,
CORNER OF MARKET ANB SECOND STREETS.
1857.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by
JAMES R. ALBAOH.
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Western
District of Pennsylvania.

PEEFACE.

The popularity and apparent demand, throughout our
country, for a volume such as the compiler now presents
to the public, was a principal, though not the strongest
inducement for preparing a third edition at this time — and
from the point now selected for its publication.
The projector of these Annals has been most anxious to
correct errors, unavoidable in former editions, and to em
brace in the present his entire original plan. To secure
greater facilities for that accurate knowledge of the early
Western Settlements by the English, so necessary in the
compilation of a reliable work on the subject, Pittsburgh
was selected as the most eligible place of publication. The
first edition was issued at Cincinnati, where he was assisted
by the lamented James H. Perkins, a gentlemen highly
competent for the task. That volume was, however, neces
sarily incomplete, embracing only the central portion of the
West. A desire to include in its pages a more full account of
events connected with the early history of Illinois, Missouri
and other communities, induced him, at a later period, to
prepare a second edition, which was issued a few years ago
in St. Louis, and included a thorough revision of the former
issue, with considerable additions — in which he had the
valuable assistance of Rev. J. M. Peck, a gentleman whose
long residence in the Far West, and familiarity with the
history of those portions less elaborately treated of in the
first edition, rendered him admirably qualified for the
undertaking. Although the author claims credit for but little moise
originality than that displayed in the pian of the work now

iV P R K F A 0 E.
presented, he has devoted much time and more labor than
most of his readers, unacquainted by experience with such
tasks, will give him credit for, in its compilation' — to which
he brings the knowledge acquired by the observation of
thirty-five years in the extensive Mississippi Valley, and by
visits to nearly every -memorable spot connected with its
early history.
Although not arranged in strict accordance with the plan
originally projected, it is believed this nem and greatly
extended edition, for general accuracy, and especially for
fullness of detail, may be fairly commended to the reader,
as worthy of attention, as a work for perusal and future
reference. While it is not pretended, in view of the necessary imper
fection of all human works, that the volume is wholly free
from errors and imperfections, the author has endeavored
to procure all the facts detailed or in any way alluded to in
its pages, from the most reliable sources and the best
authorities; it will be found to contain a faithful narrative
of the prominent events in Western History, deserving of
the joerusal, not only of the millions who occupy its fertile
acres, but of every American — and especially of the
YOUNG MEN OF OUE COUNTRY,
THIS VOLUME

RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED.

i'lTTsBUiiGi/, October, 1856.

LIST OF AUTHORITIES
USED IN THE PEEPARATION OP THIS WORK.

American State Papers. 21 vols. Washington.
Vols. I. to IV. are Foreign Affairs, I. to IV.
". V. and VI. are Indian Affairs, 1., II.
" VIL, VIIL, IX., are Finance, I,, II., III.
" X., XL, are Commerce, &o., I., II.
" XII., Xin., are Military Affairs, I., II.
" XIV. is Nayal Affairs, I.
" XV. 'is Post Office, I.
" XVI.,XVII.,XVIII.,are PublioLands,I,II,III.
" XIX is Claims, I.
" XX, XXI, are Miscellaneous, L, II.
American Archives. Fourth Series. 5 vols. Washington.
American Pioneer. Cincinnati. 1842, 1843.
Addison's remarks on causes of Whisky Insurrection.
Annals of Minnesota Historical Society.
Ancient Kecords of Vinoennes.
Atwater's History of Ohio. Cincinnati. No date.
Account of the First Discovery of Florida. London. 1763 .
Account of the French Settlements in North America. Boston. 1746.
Account of Conferences and Treaties between Sir William Johnson and Indians,
at Fort Johnson, in 1755, '56. London. 1756.
Almon's Kemembrancerj from 1775 to 1784. London. Published from year
to year; with an introductory volume, giving matter previous to 1775.
American Remembrancer ; giving matter in relation to Jay's treaty, 1795.
Armstrong's Notices of the War of 1812. 2 vols. New York. 1840.
Allen's American Biographical Dictionary. Boston. 1882.
Bancroft's History United States. Boston. 1834 to 1840.
Butler's Kentucky. Second Edition. Cincinnati. 1836.
Brovrn's History of Illinois. New York. 1844.
Bi;.fcler's History of Kentucky. Cincinnati. 1836.
l>urk's History of Virginia.
Bouquet's Expedition, 1764. London. 1766.
Barbe Marbois' History of Louisiana. Translation, Philaislphia. 1830.

vi LIST OF AUTHbRITIES.
Brackenridge, H. H., Incidents of the Whisky Insurrection. Philadel
phia. 1795.
Brackenridge, H. M., History of the late war with Great Britaja.
" " Views of Louisiana.
Braddock's Expedition, by Pennsylvania Historical Society.
Brief State of the Province of Pennsylvania; in which the conduct of tie
Assembly is examined.
Answer to the above. London. 1755.
Brief View of the conduct of Pennsylvania in 1755. London. 1756.
Brown's Views of the Campaign of the North- West Army. Troy, N. Y. 1814.
Brown's History of the Second War of Independence.
Boone's Adventures. N. Y. 1844.
Black Hawk's Account of Himself, Cincinnati. 1838.
Butler's Western Chronology. Frankfort, Ky. 1837.
Burgess' Account of Perry's Victory. Boston. 1839.
Charlevoix's New France. Paris. 1744. 1774.
" Journal. " " "
Carver's Travels. London. 1T80. — Philadelphia,
Contest in America between England and France. London. 1757.
Colden's History of the Iroquois. London. 1755.
Correspondence of Genet, &e. Philadelphia. 1793,
Coxe's Description of Carolana. Loadon. 1722.
Carey's American Museum, &e. Philadelphia. 1789, &ii.
Cincinnati Directory. 1819.
Cist's Cincinnati. Cincinnati. 1841.
Cist's Cincinnati Miscellany. 2 vols. 3844. 1845.
Chase's Laws. 3 vols. Cincinnati. 1835.
" Sketch of History of Ohio. Cincinnati. 1833.
Campbell's Remains. Columbus. 1838.
Collins' Historical Sketches of Kentucky.
Colonial Archives of Pennsylvania.
Colonial Records of Pennsylvania.
Chicago Directory for 1851.
Conspiracy of Pontiac, hy Francis Parkman. Boston. 1851.
Craig's History of Pittsburgh.
" Olden Time.
Drake's Indian Captivities. Boston. 1839.
Doddridge's Notes. Wellsburg, Va. 1824.
Dillon's History of Indiana. Vol. I. Indianapolis. 1843.
Drake's Picture of Cincinnati. Cincinnati. 1815.
Drake's Life of Tecumthe. Cinoinnati. 1841.
Drake's Life of Black Hawk. Cincinnati. 1846.
Dalliba's Narrative of the Battle of Brownstown, August 9, 1812.

LIST OP AUTHORITIES. Vll I
Davis' Memoirs of Burr. 2 vols. New York. 1837.
Dawson's Life of Harrison. Oinoiunati. 1824.
De Hass' History of Western Virginia.
Discourse of Hon. Wm. R. Smith, Wisconsin.
Duboison's Report of Siege of Detroit. 1713.
Documents relative to laws of Mississippi Company,
Expedition of Braddock ; being extracts of letters from an officer. Lond. 1755.
Enquiry into the causes of the Alienation of the Delaware and Shawanese In- ¦
dians from the British interest. Taken from Public Documents.
London. 1759.
EUicott's Journal, &c. Philadelphia. 1803.
Executive Journals of the Senate. 3 vols. Washington. 1828.
Early Jesuit Missions.
Erie Directory for 1853.
Ford's History of Illinois.
Fremont's Exploring Expedition.
Florida of the Inca, by de la Vega. Madrid. 1723.
Foster's account of Fire in Pittsburgh, 1845.
Filson's Account of Kentucky. London. 1793.
Findley's History of the _\Vhisky Insurrection. Philadelphia. 1790.
Filson's Account of Kentucky in French. Paris. 1785.
Flint's Recollections of Last Ten Years in Mississippi Valley.
Flint's Geography. Cincinnati. 1832.
Gayarre's Spanish Domination of Louisiana.
« French " "
Gazette, Missouri. St. Louis. 1814.
Gibbs' Memoirs of the Administrations of Washington and John Adams.
Greene's Facts relative to the Mormons. Cincinnati. 1839.
Hennepin's Louisiana. Paris. 1684.
" New Discovery. Utrecht. 1697.
Hall's Sketches of the West. Philadelphia. 1835.
Holmes' Annals. 2 vols^ Cambridge. 1829.
Hall's Statistics of the West. Cincinnati. 1836.
Histoire General des Voyages. Paris. 1757.
Harrison's Address, 1837, in Ohio Historical Transactions.
Heckewelder's Narrative. Philadelphia. 1820.
Hull's Trial. Boston. 1814. [This volume does not give the evidence.]
Hull's Memoirs. Boston. 1824.
Hull's Defense. Boston. 1814.
Historical Register of United States. Edited by T. H. Palmer. Philadel
phia. 1814.

Vm LIST OJ AUTHORITIES.
History of Louisiana. By M. Le Page du Pratz. 2 vols. Paris. 1758.
Historical Collections of Pennsylvania. By Sherman Day.
Hutchins' Geographical Description of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, &c.
London. 1778.
Hutchins' Historical Narrative and Topographical Description of Louisiana,
&c. Philadelphia. 1784.
History of the Conquest of Florida by De Soto. Paris. 1685. — Lond. 1686.
Hall's Memoir of Harrison. Philadelphia and Cincinnati. 1886.
Hunt's History of the Mormon War. St. Louis. 1844.
Hesperian. (Periodical.) Columbus and Cinoinnati.
Hall's Wilderness and War-path, in Wiley and Putnam's Library. N. Y. 1846.
Harris' Tour in the West, 1803.
Hildreth's History of the United States.
History of Western Pennsylvania.
Howe's Historical Collections of Ohio.
History of Louisville.
Historical Collections of Louisiana. By B. F. French.
Hunter's Account of Lochry's Expedition.
Indian Wars.
Indiana Gazetteer. Indianapolis. 1850.
Irving's Conquest of Florida.
Independent Ghroniole and General Advertiser. Boston.
Imlay's Topographical Pescription of the Western Territory of N. America.
Indian Treaties from 1778 to 1S37. Washington. 1837. ¦
Jefferson's Memoirs and Correspondence.
" Notes on Virginia. London. 1787.
Journal of the Federal Convention. Boston. 1819.
Jacob's Life of Cresap.
Keating's Narrative of Long's Expedition.
Kercheval's Valley of Virginia.
Kentucky Resolutions of 1798. Richmond, Va. 1832.
Kilbourn's Gazetteer of Ohio. Columbus. 1837.
La Salle, Spark's Life of. Boston, 1844..
Land Laws of United States. Washington. 1828.
Lettres i'^difiantes. Paris. 1781.
" Original edition published from year to year.
Lanman's History of Michigan.
Letter to a Friend, giving an account of Braddock's Defeat. Boston. 1755.
Letters from an American Farmer, &o. By Hector St. John de Crevecojur.
Lftskiel's History of iMnnivian Missions. London. 1791.
Land Laws affeotina- Ohio. Columbus. 182.'i.

LIST OF AUTHORITIES. IX
Latrobe's Rambler in America. New York. 1835.
Laws of Missouri. Jefferson City. 1842.
" Indiana, revised.
" Ohio, " Columbus. 1841.
Law's Historical Address at Vincennes. Louisville. 1839.
Life of John Heckewelder, by Rev. Ed. Rondthaler.
Life of Tecumthe.
Lloyd's Steamboat Directory.
Life of Bishop Flaget.
Lapham's Sketches of Wisconsin.
Letter of De Soto to Authorities of St. Jago de Cuba.
Map published by authority of the Lords Commissioners of Trade in 1765.
Magazine Almanac. Pittsburgh.
Mormon History, by Gunnison.
Monette's History of Mississippi Valley.
McBride's Sketch of Miami University.
Map published in London, February 13, 1755.
Marquette's Journal in Thevenot. Paris. 1681.
Marquette, Life of, by Sparks. Boston.
Marshall's History of Kentucky. 2 vols. Frankfort. 1824.
McClung's Western Adventure. Cincinnati. 1839.
Morehead's Address. Frankfort. 1841.
Memoires Historiques sur la Louisiane. Paris. 1753.
Massachusetts Historical Collections. 29 vols. 3 series. Boston. 1806 to
1846.
Mante's History of the War of 1754-63. 1772. Probably published at
London.
Minutes of the Treaty of Carlisle in 1753. No date of publication.
McAfee's History of the War of 1812. Lexington, Ky. 1816.
Memoirs on the Last War in North America.
Minutes of the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania. Published by the State.
Marshall's Life of Washington. 5 vols. Philadelphia. 1804 and 1807.
Martin's History of Louisiana. 2 vols. New Orleans. 1829.
McDonald's Sketches. Cincinnati. 1838.
Nicollet's Report to the Senate. Washington. 1843.
North American Review. Boston.
New York Historical Collections. 3 vols. New York. 1811. 1814. 1821.
Nile's Weekly Register. Baltimore.
Narrative of the Expedition of De Soto, by Vacca.
Naufragros a Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vacca.
Ohio Gazetteer.
Observations on the North American Land Company, &c. London. 1796.
2

X LIST OF AUTHORITIES.
Old Journals of Congress, from 1774 to 1788. 4 vols.
Ohio Journals, published yearly.
Ohio Canal Documents. Columbus. 1828.
Orr's Narrative of Lochry's Disaster.
Perkins, James H., Assistant Compiler of First Edition Western Annals.
Peck, J. M., " " Second Edition "
Pioneer History, by Dr. S. P. Hildreth.
Pollock's, Dr. I., account of Moravians.
Pownall's Memorials on Service in North America. London. 1767.
Present State of North America. London. 1755.
Proud's History of Pennsylvania. 2 vols. Philadelphia. 1797.
Plain Facts. Philadelphia. 1781.
Proofs of the Corruption of James Wilkinson. By Daniel Clark.
Plea in Vindication of the Connecticut Title to Contested Lands West of New
York. By Benjamin Trumbull. New Haven. 1774.
Present State of Virginia, &c. By Hugh Jones. London. 1724.
Present State of European Settlements on Mississippi. By Captain Philip
Pittman. London. 1770.
Pitkin's History of the United States. New Haven. 1828.
Revised Statutes of Virginia. Richmond. 1819.
Report of the Committee to inquire into the conduct of General Wilkinson,
February, 1811.
Review of the Military Operations in North America, from 1743 to 1756. By
Governor LiviDg,ston, of New Jersey, London. 1757.
Ramsay's History of the War, from 1755 to 1763. Edinburgh. 1779.
Relations de la Louisiane, &c. 2 vols. Amsterdam. 1720.
Rogers' Journals, London. 1765.
Renwick on the Steam Engine. New York. 1839.
Silliman's Journal. Vol. 81. New Haven. 1837.
Spark's Washington. 12 vols. Boston. 1837.
" Franklin. 10 vols. Boston. 1840.
" Life of Morris. Boston. 1832.
Stuart's Memoirs of Indian Wars.
Stone's Life of Brant. 2 vols. New York. 1838.
Smollett's History of England.
Stoddard's Sketches of Louisiana. Philadelphia. 1812.
Set of Plans and Forts in North America, reduced from actual survey. 176i».
Probably published at London.
State of British and French Colonies in North America. In two letters to a
a friend. London. 1755.
St. Clair's Narrative of his Campaign. Philadelphia. 1812.
Smyth's Travels in America. 3 vols. London. 1784.

LIST OP AUTHORITIES. XI
Secret Journals of Congress. 4 vols. Boston. 1820.
State of the case relative to United States Bank in Ohio. Cincinnati. 1823.
Sparks' Life of La Salle.
Tarver's Western Journal.
Travels in Minnesota.
Thatcher's Lives of the Indians. 2 vols. N. Y. 1832.
Transactions of American Antiquarian Society. Worcester, Mass. 1820.
Tonti's Account of La Salle's Discoveries. Paris, 1687. [Spurious.]
Todd & Drake's Life of Harrison. Cincinnati. 1840.
Travels in North America in 1795, '96 and '97, by Isaac Weld. 2 vola.
London. 1799.
Travels in Louisiana. By  Bossu. Translated by J. R. Forster. Lon
don. 1771.
Transactions of Ohio Historical Society, containing Burnet's Letters. Cincio-
nati. 1839.
Universal Modern History. London. 1763.
United States Gazette, edited by John Fenno. Published at New York.
Volney's Views of the Climate and Soil of the United States. London. 1804.
View of the Title to Indiana, a tract of country on the river Ohio.
Voyages, &c., relative to the Discovery of America. Paris. 1841.
Western Reserve Register. 1852.
Whittlesey's Discourse on Lord Dunmore's Expedition. Cleveland. 1842.
" Life of Fitch. (In American Biography, New Series.)
Withers' Chronicles of Border Warfare. Clarksburg, Va. 1821.
Western Monthly Magazine. Cincinnati. 1832, &c. Periodical.
Washington's Journal. Published at Williamsburg, Va. Republished Lon
don, 1754, with a map.
Wetmore's Missouri Gazetteer. St. Louis. 1837.
Wilkinson's Memoirs. 3 vols. Philadelphia. 1816.
Western Messenger. Periodical. Cincinnati.
Western Garland. Periodical. Cincinnati.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.

1512. Ponce de Leon discovers Floridat.
1516. Diego Miruelo visits Florida.
1530. Vasquez de AyUon kidnaps the natives for slaves.
PamphUo de Narvaez goes to Florida.
1535. Jacques Cartier enters and explores the St. Lawrence.
1538. De Soto asks leave to conquer Florida.
1539. De Soto reaches Tampa Bay.
De Soto reaches Appalachee Bay.
1540. De Soto in Georgia.
De Soto reaches MaviUa on the Alabama.
1541. De Soto reaches Mississippi.
De Soto crosses Mississippi and rambles westward.
De Soto changes his course westward and southward.
1542. De Soto travels eastward toward Mississippi.
De Soto reaches Mississippi and dies.
1543. His followers attempt to reach Mexico by land, and fail.
They arrive on the coast of Mexico by water.
1544. De Biedma presents his account of De Soto's expedition to the King of Spain.
1562. Florida settled by French colonists.
1565. Pedro Melandez de Avilez establishes St. Augustine.
AvUez, by order of the King of Spain, extferminates the Huguenots of Florida.
Dominic de Gourges, a French catholic, avenges his countrymen.
1608. Quebec founded by S. Champlain.
1613. Montreal Island settled.
1616. Le Caron explores Upper Canada.
1630. Charles I. grants Carolana to Sir Robert Heath.
1634. First Mission founded on the eastern shore of Lake Huron.
Breboeuf, Lallemand and Daniel, Missionaries, arrive at Lake Huron.
1635. Missionaries visit the Sault Ste. Marie.
1636. St. Joseph, St. Louis and St. Ignatius missions established.
1640. Kaymbault and Pigart follow to the West.
1641. Canadian envoys first meet North West at the Sault Ste. Marie.

SIV CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
1647. Sieur de Longneville, with a small company, it is said, was at Fox River Kapids,
(doubtful.)
1654. Father Simon Le Moine discovered the Onondago Saline,
Fur traders from Montreal penetrate the Western Lakes.
1659. Two French traders passed the winter on the shores of Lake Superior.
1S60. Rene Mesnard coasts the Southern shore of Lake Superior.
Mesnard establishes the missions of Ste. Theresa and Chegoimegon.
1S61. Mesnard perished in the forest, of cold and hunger.
1663. Colonel Wood's alleged travels.
1865. Tracy made viceroy of New France.
Allouez founds first permanent station on Lake Superior.
1667. La Salle first arrives in Canada from France.
1668. Claude Dablon and Jacques Marquette plant mission of Ste Marie.
1S70. N. Perrot is ordered West by the Intendant to propose a congress of Lake Indians.
Alleged travels of Captain Bolt.
1671. Grand council at the Sault Ste. Marie.
French take formal possession of the North West.
Marquette establishes permanently the mission of St. Ignatius.
1672. Allouez and Dablon visited Green Bay and all the Western shore of Lake Michigan.
1673. Marquette and his companions leave Mackinac to seek the Mississippi.
Marquette and his companions cross from Fox river to Wisconsin.
Marquette and his companions reach Misfsissippi.
Marquette and his companions meet Illinois Indians.
Marquette and his companions reach Arkansas.
Marquette and his companions leave on return to Mackinac.
Marquette and Joilet at Des Moines, (as supposed.)
Marquette at and alone about Chicago.
1676. Marquette dies on the Eastern shore of Lake Michigan.
La Salle returns to France.
1676. La Salle again in Canada and rebuilds Fort Frontenac,
1677. La Salle visits France a second time.
1678. La Salle and Tonti sail for Canada.
La Salle and Tonti arrive at Quebec.
La Salle and Tonti cross Lake Ontario.
Persons from New England said to have explored the South West.
1679. La Salle loses his stores in Lake Ontario.
The GrifBn sails up Lake Erie through the straits to Huron.
La Salle and his party encountered dreadfid storms on Lake Huron.
The Griffin miraculously saved, arrives at Mackinac.
The party weigh anchor and sail to Green Bay.
The Griifin laden and sent back to Niagara.
La Salle with part of his men commences voyage up Lake Michigan.
They reach the head of Lake Michigan and discover the St. Josephs river.
During November build Fort Miamies at mouth of St. Josephs river.
Reinforced by Tonti, they ascend the St. Josephs and cross to Kankakee.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. XV
1680. La Salle and his party in Pcorii Lake.
La Salle, under great depression of mind, builds and names Fort Crevecoeur.
Hennepin sent to explore the Mississippi.
La Salle commences his journey, returning to Canada.
M. Hennepin on the Upper Mississippi.
Tonti commences building Fort St. Louis.
Hostility of the Iroquois obliges Tonti to leave the country.
La Salle returns to Illinois.
Hennepin returns to Canada.
1681. La Salle and Tonti meet at Mackinac.
La Salle a third time goes west,7ard.
La Salle at St. Josephs again.
La Salle goes by Chicago to Illinois river.
La Salle finds Fort Crevecoeur in good condition,
1682, La Salle goes from Chicago westward
La Salle on banks of the Mississippi.
La Salle descends Mississippi,
La Salle discovers months of Mississippi.
La Salle takes possession by process verbal.
La Salle returns to St. Josephs, of Michigan.
La Salle intends to ascend the Mississippi with a colony,
1683. La Salle leaves Illinois for Quebec.
La Salle immediately sails for France, at Kochelle, in December.
1684, La Salle sails from France for mouth of Mississippi.
La Salle reaches St. Domingo.
La Salle sails from St. Domingo for mouth of Mississippi.
La SaUe discovers the main land.
The Iroquois place themselves under England.
1685. La Salle in the Gulf of Mexico,
La Salle sends party on shore to go eastward for mouth of Mississippi.
La Salle reaches Matagorda Bay.
Beaujeu sails for France, leaving La Salle in great distress.
La Salle building in Texas ; unfortunate.
La Salle in person searches for the Mississippi,
1686. La Salle returns to Matagorda Bay.
La Salle goes again to seek the Mississippi,
Tonti goes down Mississippi to meet La SaUe.
La Salle returns unsuccessful,
1687. La SaUe leaves for Mississippi the third time.
La Salle sends men to look for stores.
La Salle follows and is killed by those men.
His murderers quarrel and slay one another.
Seven of La Salle's best companions leave the main body.
The seven proceed toward .Mississippi, and reach Arkansas.
They reach Fort St. Louis, on the Illinois river.
La SaUe's death was not published until next year.

xvi CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
1688. La Salle's former companions leave Fort St. Louis, for Quebec.
Thence they sail for France, and arrive at Bochelle, in October.
Population of all French North America, about 12,000.
1689. War of the European alliance.
D'Iberville victorious on Hudson's Bay.
1690. D'Iberville invades English Colony of New York.
1693. Rev. Gravier, a Missionary at Kaskaskia, Illinois.
Kaskaskia founded by Gravier ; date unknown.
Cahokia settlement prior to Kaskaskia ; date likewise unknown.
1697. Treaty between France and England, and peace of Ryswick.
1698. D'Iberville appointed Governor of Louisiana.
Bienville appointed Intendant of Louisiana.
Dr. Coxe sends two vessels toward the Mississippi.
1699. D'Iberville at the Bay of Mobile.
D'Iberville enters the Mississippi.
D'Iberville sails for France.
Bienville sounds Mississippi and meets English.
Fort L'Huillier built on Bine Earth river, Minnesota.
1700. D'Iberville returns from France.
D'Iberville goes up the Mississippi to Natchez.
D'Iberville sends Le Seur to St. Peter's, in search of copper mine.
1701. De la Motte Cadillac founds Detroit.
D'Iberville founds a colony On Mobile river.
Iroquois again place themselves under England.
1702. Fort built on the Bay of Mobile.
1705. Colony much reduced by sickness.
1706. D'Iberville at Havana on a voyage to France.
Bienville Governor, pro tem.
1707. First grant of lands at Detroit.
1708. D'Artaguette in Louisiana.
1710. Governor Spottswood, of Virginia, explores the Alleghenies.
1712. War between the French and their allies, and the Ottagamio and Mascoutens
Indians,
Monopoly of Louisiana granted to Crozat.
Tusoaroras admitted in confederacy with Iroquois,
1713. Treaty of Utrecht, leaving boundary between colonies unsettled,
1714. Fort Rosalie (Natchez) commenced.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. XVll
1717. Crozat resigns his privilege of monopoly.
Fort Chartres commenced — first a wooden structure.
Louisiana trade granted to Company of West.
New Orleans commenced.
John Law connected with Company of the West.
1718. Emigrants augment the population of New Orleans.
Renault leaves France for Illinois.
1719. Company of the West made Company of the Indies.
Governor Keith, of Pennsylvania, urges the building a Fort on Lake Erie.
1720. Law made minister of finance.
Stock of Company of the Indies worth 2050 per cent.
Stock commences depreciation.
Company of the Indies bankrupt.
Charlevoix arrives in America and lands at Quebec.
Renault buys slaves at St. Domingo for working mines in Illinois.
Mine La Motte, Missouri, discovered and wrought.
Spanish invasion of Missouries froiri Santa Fe.
Spaniards totally defeated and all except a single individual slain.
La Harpe explores Washita and Arkansas.
1721. Charlevoix at Montreal.
Charlevoix at the Falls of Niagara.
Charlevoix at Fort de Pontohartrain, (Detroit.)
Charlevoix at Mackinac.
Charlevoix at the Fort on St. Josephs river.
Charlevoix at the source of the Theakiki, (Kankakee.)
Charlevoix at Pimiteouy, (Peoria.)
Charlevoix at Kaskaskia.
Charlevoix at Natchez.
1722. English erect a trading post at Oswego.
Charlevoix at New Orleans.
Charlevoix at Biloxi.
1726. Iroquois a third time place themselves under England.
1727. English build a Fort at Oswego.
1729. French among the Natchez, murdered.
1730. Natchez conquered and destroyed.
Alleged travels of Sailing in the West,
Governor Keith earnestly recommends securing West to England.
1732, Company of Indies resign Louisiana to the king.
1735. Vincennes settled according to some authorities.
1736. Expedition of French against Chlckasaws.
D'Artaguette conquered and slain.
Vincennes, Senat and D'Artaguette burned.
Bienville fails in assault on Chickasaws, and retreats.

XVUl CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
1739. French collect to attack the Chickasaws.
1740. Peace between French and Chickasaws.
Lanse d'la Grasse (at New Madrid) supposed to have been inhabited.
1742. John Howard is said to have gone down Ohio river.
1744. Treaty of English and Iroquois at Lancaster.
Vaudreuil fears English influence in the West.
Renault returns to France.
1745. Pierre Chartier conciliates Shawanese and French.
1748. Chickasaws attack French post on Arkansas.
Conrad Weiser sent to the Ohio.
Ohio Land Company formed.
Pierre Chartier instigates war between Iroquois and Shawanese.
English establish a trading post on Great Miami, Ohio.
Excessively cold, stormy, and severe winter.
1749. Grant of land to Loyal Company.
Celeron sent to bury medals along the Ohio river.
1750. English traders it is said were made prisoners at Great Miami.
Twigtwee or Miami Indians killed by French soldiers.
Both time and place are uncertain.
English driven from their station on Miami, by the French.
Twigtwee or Bliami Indians defend the English and are killed.
Large shipments of products from Illinois to New Orleans.
Five French villages in Illinois.
Forty sailing vessels at New Orleans.
Dr. Walker explores Kentucky.
1751. Christopher Gist, (it is believed,) explored the interior of Ohio.
Gist surveyed land south of Ohio river, east of Kanawha.
Gen. Andrew Lewis surveyed for Greenbriar Company.
1752. French again attack English post on Great Miami, (doubtful.)
Treaty at Logstown. — Indians confirm Lancaster Treaty of 1744.
Families locate West of the Alleghenies.
French organize an army to occupy the Upper Ohio.
1753. French build Fort Presqu' Isle.
French build Fort Le Boeuf.
Fort Venango commenced.
Pennsylvania Assembly informed of French movements.
Commissioner sent to warn French; stops at Logstown.
French sent with arms for friendly Indians.
Colonies authorized to resist French by force.
Treaty with North- Western Indians at Winchester.
Treaty at Carlisle with Iroquois, Delawares, Shawanese, Miamies and Wyandot^.
Ohio Company open line at Braddock's road.
Washington commissioned to bear message to French commandant.

•CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. XIX
1763. Washington leaves Will's creek for Fort Venango.
Washington on Monongahela, at Turtle creek.
Washington makes accurate observation at the junction of the two rivers.
Washington at Logstown engages Indian chief to accompany him.
Washington at Venango directed to proceed to Le Boeuf.
Washington reaches French commandant at Le Bosuf.
Great number of boats containing French army passes Oswego.
Washington leaves French commandant to return to Virginia.
1764. Washington at Gist's house on Monongahela.
Washington at Williamsburg, the capital of Virginia.
Troops called into service by Virginia.
French fort at Venango finished.
English commence building a fort at the junction.
Contrecoeur demands surrender of the English.
Ensign Ward capitulates ; is permitted to leave, together with his men and stores.
Virginia troops moving westward.
Washington crosses Alleghenies.
Washington attacks and kills Jumonville.
New York sends £5,000 to Virginia.
Washington at Fort Necessity.
Washington surrenders Fort Necessity.
Washington retires to Mount Vernon.
French hold the whole West.
1755. France proposes a compromise.
Braddock lands at Alexandria in Virginia.
France and England sent fleets to America.
Braddock's army marches by two routes westward.
Expedition against Nova Scotia leaves Boston.
Braddock arrives at Fort Cumberland.
Braddock marches from Fort Cumberland.
Braddock reaches the Monongahela.
Braddock re-crosses Monongahela, meets French and Indians, and is defeated.
Braddock died at the Great Meadows.
1756. Fort Chartres rebuilt; a strong stone structure.
Lewis' Expedition against the Ohio Indians, and failure.
Indians fill the valley of Virginia.
War formally declared between France and England.
Armstrong's Expedition against Kittanning.
First Indian treaty held at Easton.
Monsieur Donville defeated and slain.
1757. Massacre at Fort William Henry.
Pitt made Prime Minister.
1758. Fort Stanwix built.
Louisburg and Fort Frontenac taken.
Post leaves for the Ohio river to conciliate Indiana.
Post encounters much fatigue and danger.
Post arrives at Kuskushkee, and goes to Fort Du Quesne.
Post confers with Indians near Fort Du Quesne.

XX CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
1758. Grant defeated near Fort Du Quesne.
Washington opening a road over the mountains.
French and Indians attack Forbes at Loyalhanna.
Forbes marches from Loyalhanna to Turtle creek.
Post's second mission to Ohio Indians.
French burn and retire from Fort Du Quesne.
Forbes takes possession of the Forks, (Pittsburgh.)
English erect temporary works ; Forbes returns to Philadelphia.
Col. H. Mercer left in command.
Cherokee Indians become hostile to Colonists,
1769. Forbes dies at Philadelphia.
D'Aubry brings army stores and troops from Illinois to Venango.
Garrison at Fort Pitt fear the French at Venango.
Gen. Stanwix arrives at Fort Pitt.
Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Niagara and Quebec yield,
1760. The French yield Canada to the English,
Cherokee war against south-west Colonies,
Gen. Monkton treats with the Indians at Fort Pitt.
Settlers again go over the mountains.
Rogers takes possession of Detroit.
Rogers returns across Ohio to Fort Pitt.
1761, Death of Pierre Francois Xavier de Charlevoix.
Alexander Henry, Indian trader, visits N. West.
Christian F, Post goes to settle on Tuscarawas river.
1762. Bouquet warns all persons from settling on Indian lands.
Post and Heckewelder go to Tuscarawas,
Dark day at Detroit,
Preliminaries to Peace of Paris settled.
Louisiana transferred to Spain.
The Canadas contain upward of 100,000 souls.
1763, Mason and Dixon commence to survey Une between Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Treaty of Paris concluded.
Detroit attacked by Pontiac,
Mackinac taken by Indians,
Presqu' Isle (Erie) taken by Indians.
Sandusky, Fort, surprised and taken by Indians.
St. Josephs Fort, on St. Josephs river, taken by Pottawattamies.
Ouiatenon garrison surrendered — were not massacred.
Fort Miami (near Fort Wayne) garrison made prisoners.
Fort at Green Bay evacuated and garrison escaped.
Le Boeuf attacked, fort burnt, garrison escaped.
The date of the massacre at forts at Venango not known.
Battle of Bushy Run.
Fort Pitt besieged, and relieved by Bouquet.
Proclamation to protect Indian lands.
Laclede arrives at Ste. Genevieve.
Laclede selects site of St. Louis.
Forts Bedford and Ligonier attacked ; not taken.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. XXI
1764. St. Louis founded by Laclede.
Bradstreet makes dishonorable peace with Northern Indians.
Bouquet makes peace with Ohio Indians.
French Officers ordered to give up Lower Louisiana to Spain.
1765. Sir WUliam Johnson makes treaty at German Flats.
George Croghan goes westward.
Croghan made prisoner at the Wabash.
Captain StirUng, for England, takes possession of Illinois.
Proclamation of Governor Gage.

1765. 1766,

>¦ First fanulies known to be at Pittsburgh.

1766. "Quebec Bill" passed in the British Parliament.
Capt. Jonathan Carver explored the unknown North-West.
Settlers again cross the Mountains.
Walpole Company proposed.
Col. James Smith visits Kentucky.
Capt. Pitman arrives in Illinois.
Mason and Dixon's Line finished to Dunker Creek.
1767. Western Indians grow impatient.
FrankUn labors for Walpole Company.
Finley visits Kentucky.
Zeisberger founds Mission on the AUegheny.
Gen. Bouquet died at Pensacola.
Mason and Dixon ceased surveying Une between Pennsylvania and Maryland.
EngUsh traders first visit Assiniboine river.
1768. Treaty of Fort Stanwix — grand acquisition of lands from Indians.
Capt. Pitman still at Illinois.
Capt. Carver returns from the North-West.
Indian treaty at Pittsburgh.
Severe penal laws, to prevent settlement on Indian lands.
1769. Mississippi Company proposed.
Boone and others start for Kentucky.
Boone and others reach Red river, of Kentucky.
Boone made prisoner by the Indians.
1770. Grave Creek Settlement, Virginia, first made.
Moravians invited to Big Beaver.
Moravians leave Allegheny and remove to Beaver.
Treaty of Lochaber.
Ohio Company merged m Walpole Company.
Washington visits the West.
The Zanes found Wheeling.
Spain takes possession of St. Louis and Upper Louisiana.
The Long Hunters explore the West.
1771. Boone returns to North Carolina.
Long Hunters still abroad,

XXll CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
1772. Indians murdered by whites on Lower Kanawha.
Moravians invited by Indians, remove from Beaver to Tuscarawa.
Gen. Gage's proclamation against settlers on Wabash.
Moravians found Schoenbrun' on Tuscarawa.
1773. Boone and others start to settle Kentucky.
Boone and companions attacked by Indians, and return.
Bullitt, M'Afee and others descend the Ohio.
Bullitt and others survey at Falls and Kentucky river.
Gen. Thompson surveys the valley of Licking.
Gen. Lyman goes to Natchez.
Purchase by Illinois Company in Illinois.
Big Bone Lick, near tho Ohio, discovered.
Kennedy, from Kaskaskia, ascends Illinois river in search of a copper mine.
Kennedy describes ruins of a fort at the south-west end of Lake Peoria.
1774. James Harrod in Kentucky.
Contentions between Pennsylvania and Virginia. »
Connolly calls out militia, and usurps civil authority.
St. Clair arrests Connolly and companions.
Connolly and associates are released on parole.
Connolly receives armed forces from Virginia.
Connolly takes possession of Fort Pitt, and names it Fort Dunmore.
Magistrates made prisoners by Connolly.
Pennsylvania magistrates carried prisoners to Virginia.
Discussion about the unfinished Mason and Dixon line.
Connolly writes to the settlers about Wheeling to attack Indians.
Cresap unfortunately agrees with Connolly.
Greathouse murders several Indians.
Logan revenges his family. Preparation for war,
Boone sent for- survey ors down the river.
Friendly Shawanese attacked by Connolly.
Several Indian traders murdered.
M'Donald attacks Wapatomica.
Troops under Lewis march down Kanawha.
Troops under Lewis reach Point Pleasant,
Battle of Point Pleasant.
Dunmore makes an unpopular peace,
Simon Girty considered a valiant soldier.
Simon Girty acts in concert with Virginians against Indians.
1775. Treaty of Wataga; purchase by Transylvania Company.
Boone returns to Kentucky, and founds Boonsboro.
Henderson and associates arrive at Boonsboro.
Henderson calls representatives to the first Legislature in the West.
Representatives hold their session under a large tree.
Guy Johnson influences Iroquois against Americans.
Oneidas and Tuscaroras adhere to America.
Congress forms three Indian departments.
Meeting of Commissioners and Indians at Pittsburgh.
Connolly arrested in Maryland.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. Xxiil
1775. Purchase by Wabash Company on Wabash river.
Capt. John Neville takes possession of Fort Pitt.
Provincial government of Pennsylvania denounces Judge Crawford.
A very large meeting at Haunastown of citizens of Western Pennsylvania.
1776. Monongalia county, Virginia, made from West Augusta.
Ohio county, Virginia, erected from. West Augusta district.
An attack on Detroit proposed in Congress.
Washington advises the employment of Indians.
Indians generally incline to the British.
Congress authorizes the employment of Indians.
Indians drive off Kentucky settlers.
George Rogers Clark moves to Kentucky.
Kentuckians choose delegates for Virginia Assembly.
Clark and Jones are their representatives.
Clark procures gunpowder from Virginia Council.
Virginia admits Kentucky among her counties.
Clark and Jones return from Virginia by Pittsburgh.
Jones is killed by Indians — Clark returns to Harrodsburg.
Kentucky settlements made Kentucky county, Virginia.
Fort Appleby built at Kittanning,
1777. Cornstalk (Indian chief,) murdered at Point Pleasant.
Congress of Indians and British at Oswego.
Kentucky infested with Northern Indians.
Kentucky elects (legally,) burgesses to Virginia Assembly.
Logan's station assailed by Indians.
Clark sends spies to Illinois.
Logan crosses the mountains for gunpowder.
Bowman, with one hundred men, comes West from Virginia.
Fort Henry (Wheeling,) attacked.
First court in Kentucky, at Harrodsburg.
The attack on Detroit urged in Congress.
Clark opens his plan of conquering Illinois to Governor Henry.
Harrodsburg attacked by Indians.
1 778. Orders issued to Clark to attack lUinois.
Boone taken prisoner at Salt Licks, on Licking river.
Boone taken to Detroit, thence to Scioto,
Clark succeeds in gathering a small army at Louisville,
Clark passes falls of Ohio, and descends to Fort Massac.
Boone escapes from Indian captivity.
Clark marches from Ohio river towards Kaskaskia.
Clark conquers Kaskaskia, as likewise Cahokia,
Vincennes joins the American cause,
M'Intosh sent to command at Fort Pitt,
Fort M'Intosh, on the upper Ohio, built.
New Jersey objects to land claims of Virginia.
Boone makes an incursion against Indians on Scioto.
Boonsboro besieged by British and Indians.
Fort Laurens built on the Tuscarawas.
Clark holds council with Indians of the Illinois.

XXIV CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
1778. Treaty with Delaware Indians at Pittsburgh.
Virginia grants Henderson and company the Green river land.
Governor Hamilton, from Detroit, re-takes Vincennes.
1779. Boundary between Pennsylvania and Virginia settled.
Clark is notified of the capture of Vincennes.
Clark's extraordinary march from Kaskaskia.
Clark's miraculous re-capture of Vincennes,
Governor Hamilton sent a prisoner to Virginia.
State of Delaware objects to land claims of Virginia.
Americans suspect and attack the Iroquois.
First settlement of Lexington, Kentucky.
Virginia passes additional land laws,
Maryland objects to land claims of Virginia.
Brodhead's expedition against the Allegheny Indians,
Sullivan's expedition against the Iroquois.
Bowman's expedition against Indians in Miami vaUey.
Fort Laurens on Tuscarawas abandoned.
Indians treat with Brodhead at Fort Pitt,
Rogers and Benham attacked by Indians,
Land Commissioners open their sessions in Kentucky,
Congress asks Virginia to reconsider land laws.
Continued Indian outrages about Fort Pitt.
1780. Hard winter. — Great suffering in the West.
New York authorizes a cession of Western lands.
Fort Jefferson built on the Mississippi.
Great emigration to the South- West.
Virginia grants lands in Kentucky for education.
St. Louis attacked by British and Indians.
Louisville established by law.
Byrd with a large force invades Kentucky.
Clark prepares to attack the Shawanese.
Clark builds block house opposite the mouth of Licking.
Marches thence to Upper Miami.
Clark defeats the Shawanese and destroys their property.
Battle of King's Mountain in N. Carolina.
Scarcity of provisions — almost famine at Fort Pitt.
South- Western boundary of Pennsylvania definitely estabUshed.
1781. Laws of Virgiuia prevent sale of provisions out of the State.
Renewed efforts for an expedition against Detroit.
Virginia makes her first act of cession.
Spaniards from St. Louis take Fort St. Josephs, near Lake Michigan.
Jay instructed that he may yield the navigation of Mississippi.
New York cedes her Western lands.
Brodhead attacks Delaware Indians on Muskingum.
Gen. G. B. Clark solicits aid from Western Pennsylvania.
Clark addresses CoL Lochry of Westmoreland.
Lochry, Orr and others raise a force and descend the Ohio.
lochry killed — his troops taken prisoners.
Mary Heckewelder born, first white ohUd in Ohio.
Americans begin to settle in Illinois.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. XXV
1781. Chickasaws attack Fort Jefferson.
Moravians carried to Sandusky by British and Indians.
Moravian Missionary taken to Detroit.
WiUiamson leads a party against Moravian Indians.
Clark forestaUs surplus provisions of Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvanians disgusted with the grasping conduct of Clark.
Col. Brodhead prevents Virginians removing cannon from Pitt.
Great emigration of girls to Kentucky.
Washington comity, Pennsylvania, estabUshed.
1782. British estabUsh a military post at Sandusky.
Moravian Indians murdered by Americans.
Moravian missionaries taken to Detroit.
Attack on Estill's station-^whites defeated.
Crawford's expedition — taken prisoner and burnt.
Attack on Bryant's station.
Battle at the Blue Licks ; Kentuckians defeated.
Land offices opened for Virgmia lands.
Clark's second incursion through Miami valley.
Provisional articles of peace with Great Britain.
Rice's Fort, near Wheeling, assailed by Indians.
Lexington, Ky., incorporated by Virginia Assembly.
Fort Nelson built at faUs of Ohio, LouisviUe.
Catfish, (Washington,) Pennsylvania, first laid out as a town.
1783. HostiUties between United States and Great Britian cease.
Kentucky formed into one district.
Congress calls on the States to cede lands.
Peace proclaimed to the army.
EngUsh propose to carry away slaves.
Washington protests against course of English.
Rufns Putnam appUes for lands in the West.
Baron Steuben sent to receive Western posts.
Cassaty sent to Detroit.
Virginia withdraws Clark's commission.
Definitive treaty of Peace.
Washington writes to Duane about Western lands.
Congress proposes terms of cession to Virginia.
Congress forbids aU purchases of Indian lands.
Congress instructs Indian Commissioners.
Virginia grants Clark and his soldiers lands.
Virginia authorizes cession on terms proposed.
British leave New York, (taking slaves.)
CoL Daniel Brodhea,d opens first store in Kentucky, at Louisville.
1784. Col. James Wilkinson opens second store in Kentucky, at Lexington.
Treaty of Peace ratified by the United States.
Virginia gives deed of cession.
Indian commissioaers re4nBtruoted.
Pittsburgh re-surveyed ; population increases.
Treaty of Peace ratified by England.
Virginia refuses to comply with tr«jkty.
3

XXVI CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
1784. England refuses to deliver up Western posts.
Treaty with Iroquois at Fort Stanwix.
Logan calls a meeting at Danville.
First Kentucky Convention meets.
Kentucky receives many emigrants.
Maysville, Kentucky, settled.
1735, Treaty with Delawares, &c., at Fort M'Intosh.
Severe penalty against settling north of Ohio river.
All previous settlers forced from their homes.
Officers of United States enjoined to prevent famiUes crossing Ohio.
An attempt to settle at mouth of Scioto in defiance of law.
The aggressors are killed by Indians.
Ordinance for the survey of Western lands passed.
Second Kentucky Convention meets.
Don Gardoqui comes from Spain.
Third Kentucky Convention meets.
A colony emigrates from Virginia to Illinois.
Great confederacy of Northern Indians formed by Brant.
Fort Harmar built at mouth of Muskingum.
First survey of lands in the North-West Territory, (Congress land.)
Morgantown, Virginia, established.
1786. Brant visits England to learn purposes of ministers.
Virginia agrees to independence of Kentucky.
Putnam and Tupper call meeting to form Ohio Company.
Treaty with Shawanese at Fort Finney, (mouth of Miami.)
Ohio Company of associates formed.
Governor of Virginia writes to Congress respecting Indian invasions.
The negotiation about Mississippi before Congress.
Resolution of Congress produces cession by Connecticut.
Congress authorizes the invasion of North-Western Territory.
Pittsburgh Gazette commenced ; first printing in Ohio vaUey.
Jay authorized to yield navigation of Mississippi at a definite term.
Pursuant to invasion of N. W. Territory, Clark marches to Vincennes.
Clark ascends the Wabash to Vermilion river.
Kentucky troops become mutinous, and return home without discharge.
Clark abandons the expedition, and returns to Vincennes.
Connecticut makes a second act of cession.
Americans seize Spanish property at Vincennes.
Virginia protests against yielding navigation of Mississippi.
Great dissatisfaction throughout the West.
Governor of Virginia informed of Clark's movements.
Great Indian council in North-West — they address Congress.
Frankfort, Kentucky, established by Virginia Assembly.
1787. Fourth Kentucky convention meets.
New England Ohio Land Company choose directors.
Meeting in Kentucky relative to navigation of Mississippi.
Wilkinson goes to New Orleans.
Dr. Cutler negotiates with Congress for lands.
Congress makes order in favor of Ohio Company.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. XXVll
1787. Ordiaance passed for government of North West Territory.
Innis refuses to prosecute invaders of Indian lands.
Kentucky Gazette established at Lexington.
Symmes of New Jersey applies for land.
First entries of Virginia reserve lands North of the Ohio.
Fifth Kentucky convention meets.
New England Ohio Land Company completes a contract.
Symmes' application referred to Board of Treasury.
United States troops ordered West.
St. Clair appointed Governor of North-Western Territory.
New Englanders of Ohio Land Company prepare to go West.
Symmes issues proposals for settlers.
John Brown, first Western Representative, goes to Congress.
Fort Franklin, on the site of Franklin, Pennsylvania, buUt.
1788. Indians expected to make a treaty at Marietta.
Denham purchases the site of LosantiviUe, (Cincinnati.)
The admission of Kentucky debated in Congress.
New Englanders of Ohio Company land at Muskingum.
Marietta and her avenues named with pomp and pageantry.
Admission of Kentucky refused by Congress.
St. Clair reaches the North-Western Territory.
Sixth Kentucky convention meets.
First law of North-Western Territory published.
Symmes starts for the West.
LosantiviUe (Cincinnati) planned and surveyed.
First Court held at Marietta.
Symmes reaches his purchase ; is overjoyed.
Another Grand Indian council in the North-West.
Indians forbid treaties with separate nations.
Seventh Kentucky convention meets.
Columbia settled by Stites and others.
Doctor ConnoUy in Kentucky as a spy and British agent.
The founder of Cincinnati leaves Maysville.
Cincinnati reached according to McMillan.
Virginia passes third act to make Kentucky independent.
Colonel George Morgan, of New Jersey, at New Madrid.
Almanacs first printed at Lexington, Kentucky.
, Great emigration West: about five thousand persons pass Fort Harmar.
MaysvUle, Kentucky, estabUshed a town.
1789. Treaty of Fort Harmar concluded.
Wilkinson goes to New Orleans again.
Daniel Story first clergyman and teacher at Marietta.
Symmes' settlement threatened by Indians,
The force sent to protect Symmes go to LosantiviUe.
Major Doughty builds Fort Washington at LosantiviUe, (Cincinnati.)
Western scouts withdrawn by Virginia.
Eighth Kentucky convention meets.
Governor Miro of New Orleans writes to Sebastian.
Congress empowers President to call out Western miUtia.
President authorizes Governor St. Clair to caU out militia.

Xivm CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
1 789. General Harmar reaches Fort Washington with three hundred troops.
Thomas Hutohins, United States Geographer, died at Pittsburgh.
Fort Steuben, (or blockhouse) built near Charleston, on upper Ohio river.
1790. Governor St. Clair arrives at LosantiviUe and names it Cincinnati.
Governor St. Clair descends the Ohio to Fort Steuben, (Jeffersonvflle. )
Governor St. Clair proceeds to Vincennes.
Governor St. Clair crosses prairies to Kaskaskia.
Antoine Gamelin sent to upper Wabash Indians.
Indian hostilities take place.
St. Clair calls out Western militia.
Ninth Kentucky convention meets.
Troops gather at Fort Washington, (Cincinnati. )
Harmar leaves Fort Washington and marches northward.
Colonel Hardin with the advance reaches Miami villages.
Main army reaches Miami villages.
Camp at Miaani village ; men behave unsoldier-like.
Colonel Trotter is sent to reconnoitre the Indian haunts.
Hardin attacks Indians ; not successfully.
Hardin desires another trial with Indians ; is again defeated.
Harmar looses all confidence in the militia.
Harmar dissatisfied with Colonel Trotter.
Harmar marches on return to Fort Washington.
Army halts at old Chillicothe ; soldiers disobedient.
MiUtia men are punished by whipping.
Harmar reprimands Colonel Trotter and Major McMuUen.
Mutiny of Kentuckians quashed — army proceeds to Fort Washington.
Western inhabitants petition Congress to fight Indians in their own way.
Massey and others contract to settle Manchester.
1791. Big Bottom settlement destroyed by Indians.
Excise laid on ardent spirits by Congress.
General Charles Scott authorized to march against Indians.
Proctor starts on his Western mission.
Proctor reaches Buffalo creek.
ifroctor is refused a vessel to cross Lake Erie.
Family of Kirkpatricks attacked at morning worship and murdered by Indians
in Armstrong county, Pennsylvania.
St. Clair at Fort Washington preparing his expedition.
Proctor abandons his mission and returns.
General Charles Scott marches against Wabash Indiana.
Meeting at Brownsville, Pennsylvania, against excise.
Wilkinson marches against Eel river Indians.
Excise officers of Allegheny and Washington counties, Pennsylvania, assailed.
Meeting at Pittsburgh to oppose excise law.
St. Clair commences his march northward.
St. Clair builds Fort Hamilton on Great Miami.
St. Clair and Butler disagree.
St. Clair builds Fort Jefferson in North-Western Territory.
St. Clair marches north, towards head of Maumee.
St. Clair arrives at a branch of Wabash, supposed to be the St. MarVB.
St. Clair is attacked and defeated. Army disorganized.

OHaONOLOGICA3» TABLE. XXIX
1791. Portion of the army returns to Fort Washington.
Feeble garrisons are left at Forts Jefferson and Hamilton.
Terror of Indian invasion expressed by Western Pennsylvania and Virginia.
Massacre of JoUy's family, near WheeUng.
1792. Peace offered by the United States to Western Indians, through the Senecas.
Pond and Stedman sent West as peace-makers.
Brant invited by government to Philadelphia.
WUkinson sends a party to the field of St. Clair's defeat.
GalUpolis settled by deluded French colonists.
Iroquois chiefs visit Philadelphia.
Instructions issued to Trueman.
Kentucky admitted into the Union as a State.
Excise law amended, though not to satisfaction.
Hendrick, a Stockbridge Indian chief, sent West.
Instructions issued to Rufus Putnam.
Trueman and Hardin leave Fort Washington.
Pennsylvania purchases from Congress the Triangle tract.
Gen. Wayne moves westward.
Brant, pursuant to invitation, visits Philadelphia.
Fire lands given to sufferers by Connecticut.
Great anti-excise meeting at Pittsburgh.
Bufus Putnam makes treaty with Indians at Vincennes.
Great Indian Council at "Orand Glaize," (Fort Defiance.)
Adair attacked near Fort St. Clair.
Opposition to excise law diminishes.
United States troops at Legionville, on the Ohio.
1798. United States Legion goes down to Cincinnati.
Last Indian depredation in Kentucky.
Pickering and others appointed to treat with Indians at Maumee.
Unusual preparations for a council and treaty at Sandusky.
Citizen Genet reaches the United States.
Commissioners for council with Indians reach Niagara.
Genet is presented to Washington.
First Democratic Society in Philadelphia.
Commissioners correspond with Governor Simcoe.
Commissioners meet Brant and hold a council.
Commissioners at ElUott's house, head of Lake Erie.
Indians arrive at ElUott's, and meet Commissionerr.
Indians decUne meeting Americans at Sandusky.
Final action of the Commissioners and Indians.
Wayne leaves Cincinnati with his legion.
Wayne encamps at Greenville.
Wayne is joined by Kentuckians, under Scott.
Lowry and Boyd attacked near Fort St. Clair.
French emissaries sent West.
Field of St. Clair's defeat visited by Wayne.
Fort Recovery built on St. Clair's battle ground.
Western people dissatisfied with government.
Opposition to excise feebler.
First session of Kentucky Assembly at Frankfort.
Brant gives the true character of the British.

XXX CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
1794. Fort built at Le Boeuf (Waterford,) by Major Denny.
Whisky riots 4:e-commence.
Lord Dorchester's speech to Indians.
The Mingo Creek Association formed.
Wayne prepares for his campaign.
Governor Simcoe builds a fort on Maumee.
Democratic Society formed at Pittsburgh.
Spaniards offer help to Indians.
French emissaries forced to leave the West.
Contest respecting Presqu' Isle.
Indians attack Fort Recovery.
Suits commenced against whisky rioters.
Gathering about NeviUe's house.
NeviUe's house burnt.
Meeting at Mingo Creek.
Mail robbed by Bradford.
Charles Scott, with fifteen hundred men, joins Wayne.
Great gathering at Braddock's field.
Washington issues proclamation against insurgents.
Wayne marches toward Maumee.
Wayne sends his last message to Indians.
Wayne commences bmlding Fort Defiance.
Wayne buUds Fort Deposit.
Wayne meets and conquers Indians.
Wayne's correspondence with Col. Campbell.
Wayne threatens Fort Mianu.
Wayne returns to Fort Defiance and finishes it.
Wayne marches to head of Maumee.
Fort Wayne built at head of Maumee.
Commissioners of government meet whisky insurgents.
British try to prevent Indians making peace.
Vote taken upon obedience to the law in Pennsylvania.
Vote not satisfactory to the government.
Washington calls out militia of four States.
Gen. Lee marches, with miUtia, against insurgents.
The most guilty malcontents escape by flight.
The less guilty surrender without resistance.
Indians ask for peace of Col. Hamtramck.
Last depredation by Indians in Western Virginia.
Sandy Lake Fort, Minnesota, erected.
1795. Block-house built at Presqu' Isle (Erie,) by Gen. Irvine.
Indians sign preUminaries of a treaty.
Prisoners are interchanged.
Connecticut prepares to sell her reserve.
Council of Greenville opens.
The Baron de Carondelet writes to Sebastian.
Jay's protracted treaty finished.
Treaty of GreenviUe signed.
Council with Indians at Greenville closed.
Grant by Congress to GalUpolis settlers.
Connecticut sells Western Reserve to land company.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. XXXI
1795. Pinokney concludes a treaty with Spain.
Dayton, Ohio, laid out by Ludlow.
1796. ChUlicothe, Ohio, laid off and settled.
Sebastian visits the South-West.
Cleveland, Ohio, laid out and named.
British surrender posts in the North-West.
Difficulties with Spain recommence.
Gen. Wayne died at Presqu' Isle, (Erie.)
First paper manufactory in the West.
Dayton, Ohio, first populated.
Congress donates land to Ebenezer Zane.
Fort Maiden, Canada West, building commenced.
Tract of land granted to the Zanes.
1797. Power visits Kentucky and writes to Sebastian.
Daniel Boone moves west of Mississippi.
Occupyiag claimant law of Kentucky passed.
Cleveland, Ohio, first populated.
Brooke county, Virginia, erected.
British subjects from Detroit settle near Fort Maiden.
1798. WilUam Henry Harrison made Secretary of North-West Territory.
Alien and sedition laws passed.
NulUfying resolutions in Kentucky.
Representatives for North-Western Territory first chosen.
Washington appointed (a second time,) commander-in-chief of American army.
SteubenvUle, Ohio, founded — streets surveyed at right angles.
Transylvania University estabUshed at Lexington, Kentucky.
Amhertsburg, adjacent to Fort Maiden, settled by Britons from Detroit.
1799. Greensburg, Pennsylvania, incorporated a borough.
Representatives of North-Western Territory meet.
Representatives nominate candidates for Council.
Assembly of North-Western Territory organize at Cincinnati.
W. H. Harrison appointed delegate in Congress from North-West Territory.
ZanesviUe laid out and settled on Zane's tract,
1800. Great increase of products sent from Ohio river.
Indiana Territory formed.
Connecticut yields jurisdiction of her reserve.
United States gives Connecticut patents for the soil.
Treaty of St. Hdefonso.
Assembly of North-West Territory meets at ChiUicothe.
First missionary in Connecticut Reserve.
Lancaster, Ohio, surveyed and settled.
Congress authorizes the President to make inquiry for copper-mines in North-
West.
President, John Adams, appoints an agent to examine the south side of Lake
Superior.
A number of new counties made in Western Pennsylvania.

rmi CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
1801. W. H. Harrison appointed Governor of Indiana Territory.
St. Clair re-appointed Governor of North-West Territory.
Legislature of North-West Territory again at Cincinnati.
Worthington made agent to procure a State Government for Ohio.
Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, incorporated a borough.
Beaver, Pennsylvania, incorporated a borough.
Louisiana ceded by Spain to France.
1802. University at Athens, Ohio, established.
First bank in Kentucky.
Congress agree that Ohio may become a State.
The Spanish Intendant forbids the use of N. Orleans by Americans.
Convention meets and forms a constitution for Ohio.
Constitution for Ohio finished.
Cincinnati incorporated a borough.
Jefferson CoUege, Pennsylvania, chartered and organized.
Convention at Pittsburgh to form an exporting company.
Advent of French Swiss to Indiana.
1803. Congress approbates the constitution, and declares Ohio a State.
New Orleans made free for American shipping.
Livingston and Monroe in France ; purchase Louisiana.
Lands located for Miami University.
Miami Exporting Company at Cincinnati chartered.
United States Senate ratify the purchase of Louisiana.
Louisiana given up to the Americans.
Xenia, Ohio, town plat surveyed.
Col. Hamtramck died at Detroit.
D. Goforth discovered mammoth skeleton at Big Bone Lick, Ky.
1804. Fort Dearborn built at Chicago.
Territory of Orleans and district of Upper Louisiana organized.
Lewis and Clark start on their expedition.
Immense quantity of land purchased from Sac and Fox Indians.
Ohio University chartered by State legislature.
First inhabitants in Xenia, Ohio.
Harmonie Society settle in Butler county, Pennsylvania.
Kittanning, Pennsylvania, surveyed and settled.
1805. Michigan Territory formed.
Detroit, (old town,) burnt to the ground.
Burr's first visit to the West.
General Assembly meet in Indiana Territory.
Tecumthe and the Prophet begin to influence the Indians.
Indians sell all their land in North-Eastern Ohio.
Pike ascends and explores the Mississippi above St. Anthony's.
Pike purchases land for military stations on Upper Mississippi.
SteubenvUle, Ohio, incorporated a borough.
1806. Great ecUpse of the sun, June 16th.
Burr again active; writes to Wilkinson.
Spaniards cross the Sabine river.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. XXXIII
1806. Burr again goes West; is at Pittsburgh.
Lewis and Clark return from Oregon.
Daviess tries to arrest Burr.
Sebastian found guilty by Kentucky Legislature.
Burr's men descend the Ohio river.
Burr's boats and stores arrested.
Burr meets his men at the mouth of Cumberland.
Pike's expedition to heads of Arkansas.
Washington CoUege, Pennsylvania, incorporated;
1807. Burr yields to civil authority of Mississippi.
Burr escapes and is seized.
Burr's trial at Richmond.
Petition for slavery in Indiana territory.
Bank of Kentucky chartered.
Brant, the celebrated king of Mohawk Indians, died.
Merriweather Lewis appointed governor of Upper Louisiana,
G. 0. Moreau arrived at Pittsburgh.
1808. Bank of Marietta, Ohio, chartered.
Bank of ChilUcothe, Ohio, chartered.
Tecumthe and the Prophet remove to Tippecanoe.
Madison, Indiana, settled.
Rev. David Zeisberger, Moravian missionary, died, aged eighty-seven,
Harrison's first interview with Tecumthe.
1809. Vincennes is four weeks without a maiL
Illinois Territory formed.
Miami University chartered.
Settlement made at Boone's Lick, Missouri.
Missouri Fur Company formed at St. Louis. ^
Governor Lewis, of Missouri, alarmed at Indians ; caUs out militia.
1810. Second interview of Harrison with Tecumthe.
A trapper and hunter, named Colter, descended Missouri via Jefferson river, three
thousand miles, alone.
Monks of La Trappe locate at the Great Mound on American Bottom, IlUnois.
1811. Pittsburgh Magazine Almanac published by Cramer, Spear and Eichbaum.
Company of rangers organized in Illinois.
Mammoth Cave discovered in Kentucky.
Tecumthe goes to the South.
Harrison proposes to visit Indians.
Harrison marches toward Tippecanoe.
First steamboat (named New Orleans) leaves Pittsburgh.
Battle of Tippecanoe.
Great earthquakes begin.
Western people generally in consternation.
Hudson's Bay Company's grant to Lord Selkirk.
MeadviUe Academy incorporated by act of Assembly, March 20.
1812. Governor Meigs, of Ohio, caUs for 1200 volunteers or miUtia.
General HuU marches from Dayton, Ohio.

XXxiv CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
1812. Declaration of war against England.
British at Maiden informed of the declaration of war.
Hull encounters a tedious and tiresome march through the forest.
Hull arrives at Maumee, near the head of Lake Erie.
HuU sends men and goods by water to Detroit.
HuU first informed of declaration of war.
Americans cross to Sandwich, Canada.
Mackinac surprised and taken by the British.
American army returns to Detroit.
Brock reaches Maiden, and advances to Sandwich.
Brock crosses to Detroit; Hull surrenders.
A detachment of HuU's army defeated at Brownstown.
Massacre of troops and famiUes near Chicago.
Fort Harrison attacked by Indians.
W. H. Harrison appointed commander in North-West.
Governor Edwards and General Hopkins' plan to conquer Indians.
General Hopkins with a large force at Vincennes.
Hopkins marches up Wabash and crosses at Fort Harrison.
Hopkins enters the prairies, and marches to meet Edwards.
Hopkins' officers are disobedient, revolt and return to Kentucky.
Edwards attacks the Indians on UUnois river.
Hopkins makes an expedition to Upper Wabash.
Lord Selkirk plants colony on Red river,
Hopkins attacks Indians on Ponce Passu (Wild Cat) river.
Generals Winchester and Harrison meet at Fort Wayne,
Winchester marches to Fort Defiance. '
Harrison makes head-quarters at Franklinton, Ohio.
Col. CampbeU attacks Indians on Mississinewa.
Inhabitants at river Raisin importune Winchester for aid.
Massacre of famiUes at Pigeon creek, Scott county, Indiana, by Indians,
Ohio Legislature selects "High Bank" of Scioto river for capital.
Little Turtle, the famous Miami Indian war chief, died.
Name of Upper Louisiana changed to Missouri Territory.
1813. Winchester marches down Maumee to the Rapids.
Winchester again importuned for help ; sends troops to Frenchtown.
British at Frenchtown first defeated.
Americans defeated at Frenchtown with great loss.
Massacre of the wounded at Frenchtown,
Harrison retreats to Portage river. ,
Harrison returns to Maumee and builds Fort Meigs.
Fort Meigs besieged.
General Clay reaches Fort Meigs ; Dudley's party lost,
British return to Maiden.
British fleet prepare to attack Erie.
Fort Stephenson besieged.
Siege of Fort Stephenson raised.
Perry's vessels first leave Erie harbor.
Victory by Perry on Lake Erie,
British troops evacuate Maiden ; Citizens remain at Amhertsburg,
Americans take possession of Amhertsburg and make it head-quarters.
American Government re-established in Lower Michigan.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. XXXV
1813. Battle of the Thames in Canada.
Buffalo burnt by the British.
New Albany, Indiana, founded,
Vevay, Indiana, settled by Dufours.
Monks of La Trappe leave Illinois and return to France,
1814. Holmes' expedition into Canada,
John Cleves Symmes died at Cincinnati,
Expedition under Croghan against Mackinac.
Governor Clark's expedition to Prairie du Chien ; Fort Shelby built.
Lieutenant CampbeU sent to reinforce Fort Shelby.
CampbeU attacked by Indians at Upper Rapids.
CampbeU is defeated and returns to St. Louis.
Fort Wayne rebuilt.
Major Taylor's expedition on Upper Mississippi. ^
Major Taylor meets Indians at Rock Island.
Major Taylor is attacked by Indians; defeated and retreats.
Second grand Indian treaty at GreenvUle, Ohio.
M' Arthur's expedition into Canada.
Treaty of Ghent, preliminaries of peace with England.
Fort Erie taken by General Brown.
EvausvUle, Indiana, surveyed and settled.
Cleveland, Ohio, incorporated a Borough.
1815. Treaty with eight Indian tribes at Detroit.
Various treaties with Indians.
Ohio taxes banking capital.
1816. Act of Congress excluding foreigners from Indian trade.
Pittsburgh incorporated a city.
Columbus made capital of Ohio.
Bank of Shawneetown chartered.
General banking law of Ohio passed.
Indiana admitted into the Union.
Terre Haute, Indiana, settlement made.
Richmond, Indiana, founded and settled by "Friends Society."
Lord Selkirk conquers North West Company, takes Fort WiUiam.
Explosion of the Steam Boat Washington, Point Hanuan.
1817. First Steam Boat at St. Louis.
Northwest of Ohio purchased from Indians.
United States Bank opens branches at Cincinnati and ChiUicothe.
AUegheny CoUege at MeadvUle, Pennsylvania, incorporated.
Fort I^arbom, at Chicago, re-built.
Butler, Pennsylvania, incorporated a Borough.
1818. IlUnois becomes a State.
General St. Clair died at his residence in Westmoreland county. Pa.
General G. R. Clark died near LouisviUe, Kentucky.
Bishop Dubourg arrives at St. Louis.
First Manufactory of fine flour at Prairie du Chien.
Treaty at St. Mary's, Ohio, with Wyandot, Seneca and Shawanese Indians.

XXXvi CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
1819. First Steam Boats on the Missouri river.
First Steam Boat on Lake Erie.
MiUtary post established at Council Bluffs.
Expedition to the Yellow Stone river.
Contest of Ohio with the United States Bank.
Indian treaty at EdwardsvUle, Illinois.
Cincinnati incorporated a city. '
Great depression in financial affairs in Pennsylvania.
Fort SneUing built at mouth of St. Peter's.
Fort Crawford built at Prairie du Chien.
Citizens of Missouri Territory move for State Government.
1820. Indiana Legislature appoint commissioners to locate seat of government.
NuUification resolutions of Ohio.
Constitution fornfed for Missouri State.
Congress refuses Missouri Constitution.
Governor Cass visits Lake Superior and Upper Mississippi.
1821. Missouri received into the Union by proclamation of President.
Indianapolis made permanent seat of government for Indiana.
Epidemic Fever at St. Louis, Missouri. Great mortality.
Kittanning, Pennsylvania, incorporated a Borough,
1822. Ohio moves in relation to Schools and Canals.
Population of St. Louis diminished by sickness and financial depression.
1823, Steam Boat Tennessee sunk near Natchez.
IlUnois moves in relation to Canals.
Commencement of stone paving streets in St. Louis.
1824. Slavery contest in the State of lUinois,
Seminary estabUshed at Bloomington, Indiana.
St. Louis revives and re-commences improvements.
From December until March, 1825, mostly warm sunshine weather at Cincinnati.
1825. Ohio passes Canal and School Laws.
Governor Clark held council with Osage Indians.
General James Wilkinson died.
La Fayette, Indiana, planned and surveyed.
First legislation at Indianapolis.
Maj, Gen, La Fayette ascended the Ohio river. Steamboat "Mechanic" sunk
on his passage.
United States grant 300,000 acres of land to Illinois for canal.
La Fayette, Indiana, begins to populate.
1826. First steam boat on Lake Michigan.
Kenyon College founded at Gambler, Ohio.
Western Reserve CoUege, at Hudson, Ohio, chartered.
1827. Congress donates lands for Wabash and Erie Canal.
'Fort Leavenworth, (Kansas,) built and garrisoned.
First Seminary built and opened in IlUnois.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. XXXVll
1827. First Grammar School at South Hanover, Indiana.
From December until March, 1828, rain feU nearly every day.
1828. Extraordinary increase of lead mining at Galena, lUinois.
1829. SteubenviUe Female Seminary estabUshed.
Fort Leavenworth threatened by Indians.
1830. Treaty with Keokuk at Prairie du Chien.
Attempt to drive Black Hawk west of Mississippi.
1831. Punishment by hard labor and imprisonment commenced in IlUnois.
Black Hawk is hostile, and is driven across the Mississippi.
Black Hawk War commenced.
Legislature of Indiana authorizes making Wabash and Erie Canal.
Hlinois militia are sent against Black Hawk.
United States troops sent against Black Hawk.
Black Hawk makes treaty at Fort Armstrong, and confirms the treaty of 1804.
1832. Great flood of the Ohio river.
Indianans commence Erie and Wabash Canal.
First steamboat at Chicago.
MaysviUe, Kentucky, incorporated a city.
College edifice at South Hanover erected and charter obtained.
Granville (Baptist) CoUege, Ohio, chartered.
Schoolcraft's expedition to the source of Mississippi.
Indians reassert their rights, and war is resumed.
Black Hawk, in great force, returns east of Mississippi.
Stillman and party defeated near Rook river.
Black Hawk defeated on Wisconsin.
Black Hawk defeated on Mississippi.
Black Hawk delivered to United States government.
Cholera among Scott's troops and along the Lakes.
Final treaty with Sac and Fox Indians.
First epidemic Cholera on Ohio and Mississippi.
Two hundred U. S. soldiers died of cholera at Fort Gratiot
1833. First settlement made in Iowa.
Extraordinary meteoric storm in November.
Trouble about boundary betwerai Ohio State and Michigan Tenitary.
Governor of Ohio sends miUtia troops to the border.
Stockbridge and Brotherton Indians emigrate to Michigan Territory.
1834. John O'Connor condemned and executed at Du Buque, without law.
OberUn Institute, Ohio, chartered, with University privileges.
Gazetteer of HUnois, pubHshed at JacksonviUe.
Termination of bank charters in Ohio.
Wabash CoUege, CrawfbrdviUe, Indiana, incorporated.
Capitol of Indiana, at IndianapoUs, finished.
Late in May aU foliage in the West destroyed by frost,
1835. Wabash CoUege, Oraw-fordviUfi, Indiana, organized.
Michigan forms a OoBstitntion for State govenunent.

XXXviii CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
1835. Congress refuses the Constitution, but offers terms.
, OberUn Institute organized as a College.
MUwaukie, Wisconsin, surveyed. (Previously settled.)
1836. Madison, Wisconsin, planned and surveyed.
Cornplanter, Seneca Indian Chief, died, aged about one hundred years.
The conditions offered by Congress to Michigan rejected.
Illinois and Michigan Canal commenced.
Territory of Wisconsin (including Iowa) organized.
Cleveland, Ohio, incorporated a city.
Mania of land and town lot trading in Chicago.
American Cannel Coal Company chartered, Indiana.
Heatherly War in Western Missouri.
Nicollet explores Mississippi to its source.
1837. Michigan complies with the terms of Congress, and becomes a State.
Internal improvement system adopted in IlUnois.
Riots at Alton, Hlinois: Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy kUled.
Chicago is incorporated as a city.
State House of Missouri, at Jefferson City, burnt.
Asbury University, at Green Castle, Indiana, chartered.
Explosion of the steamer "Du Buque," off Muscatine bar.
Steamboat "Ben Sherrod" burnt on Mississippi river.
1838. Explosion of the steam boat "MoseUe," near Cincinnati.
Territory of Iowa organized.
Contest with Mormons in Missouri.
Death of Governor WUUam Clark of Missouri.
Indiana University, at Bloomington, Indiana, chartered.
Financial affairs at Chicago in desperate condition.
Exceeding drought: Ohio river scarcely navigable from July until Jan. 1839.
1838-39. Trouble between Missouri and Iowa Territory about boimdary.
MUitia forces sent to the border by each government.
1839. Bank Commissioners appointed in Ohio.
Mormons retreat to Illinois, and locate at Commerce.
Mormons change the name of their new location to Nauvoo.
The first steam arrival at Sault Ste. Marie. (The "Lexington.")
Stockbridge and Brothertown Indians, in Wisconsin Territory, made citizens of
the United States.
1839-40. Iowa City located and made seat of Government.
1840. Presbyterian Theological Seminary removed to New Albany, Indiana.
Bloody tragedy at Bellevue, Iowa: seven men killed.
Great political excitement in the presidential canvass,
1841. Death of W. H, Harrison, President of the United States,
Public improvements cease in Illinois.
Great depression in financial matters throughout the West,
Smith Maythe and Lyman Crouch hung without trial in Kentucky.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. XXXIX
1841. Bethany CoUege founded by Rev. Alexander CampbeU, D. D.
Wabash and Erie Canal completed to La Fayette,
Lake steam boat "Erie," burnt: more than one hundred Uves lost,
1842, Fort Des Moines, Iowa Territory, buUt and garrisoned,
Cincinnati Astronomical Society founded.
Col. John C, Fremont's expedition left St. Louis.
1842-3. Excessively cold and protracted winter.
1843, niinois Banks closed by Legislature.
Corner stone of Cincinnati Observatory laid.
Dreadful Massacre of the Chippewa Indians by the Sioux, in Minnesota,
1844, Steam boat "Shepherdess" sunk near St. Louis.
Great flood of Mississippi and Missouri rivers.
Steam boat navigation over the American Bottom.
American Bottom submerged sixty-five miles.
State Constitution formed for Iowa not accepted by Congress.
Capt. J. AUen ascends Des Moines river to its source.
Steam boat "Lucy Walker" exploded near New Albany.
1845. Banking law in Ohio for State and independent banks.
Illinois negotiates with bond-holders to finish canal.
Conflagration of one-fourth of Pittsburgh.
Wittemberg College, at Springfield, Ohio, chartered.
1846. PubUc improvements of IlUnois resumed.
Convention in Wisconsin prepare a Constitution for State.
Constitution for Wisconsin rejected by Congress.
Milwaukie, Wisconsin, chartered by Territorial Legislature.
MeadviUe Theological School incorporated.
1847. ColUsion of schooner and steam boat near Conueaut, Ohio.
Convention in Illinois forms a new Constitution.
Charter of Asbury University, Indiana, amended.
Friends' High School estabUshed at Richmond, Indiana.
Explosion of steam boat "A. N. Johnston" near Manchester, Ohio.
Steam boat "Phoenix" burnt on Lake Michigan.
1848. Constitution of lUinois adopted by the people.
Michigan and Illinois canal completed.
Wisconsin forms a Constitution which is accepted by Congress.
California gold hunting commences.
1849. Minnesota Territory organized.
CJiolera is again epidemic on Mississippi and Ohio rivers.
Epidemic cholera and gi^at fire at St. Louis.
O'Plain river (branch of lUinois,) flowed from its course.
Pacific Rail Road Convention at St. Louis.
Migration to CaUfornia, via Missouri river, commences.

Xl CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
1849. Steam boat "Virginia" exploded, between Wheeling and SteubenviUe.
Oiiio moves for a new Constitution.
1850. Rt. Rev. Benedict Joseph Flaget, first CathoUc Bishop in the West, died at
LouisviUe, Kentucky.
CaUfornia gold hunters ascend Missouri river in great numbers.
Dreadful mortality from cholera among California emigrants on Missouri river.
Great migration to Minnesota Territory.
First steam boat above the Falls of St. Anthony.
Urbana University, Ohio, chartered.
Steam boat "G. P. Griffith" burnt on Lake Erie, with immense loss of Ufe.
Ohio elects delegates to convention for new Constitution.
1851. Gen. Hugh Brady died at Detroit.
New Constitution for Ohio formed.
1853. Collision on rail road near Chicago — many Uves lost.
1854. Explosion of steam boat " Kate Kearney" at St. Louis.
Kansas-Nebraska biU passed by Congress.
Summer and autumn of this year an unprecedented drouth.
Epidemic cholera at Pittsburgh.
This year closes with fearful forebodings of famine.
1855. Explosion of the steam boat "Lexington" on Ohio river.
From May until December of this year the Mississippi vaUey was visited with
an unusual quantity of rain.
Agriculturists rejoice in a large yield of the fruits of their toiL
1856. Josiah Copley reports praeticabiUty of improving the navigation of the Ohio
river, by means of dams and steam boat locks, at moderate expense.
First three months of this year much colder than usual.
Lowest water ever known at the head of the Ohio river.
Political excitement attending the Presidential campaign intense.

ANNALS OP THE WEST.
PE R 1 op I.
1512 — 1750.
The first explorers of the Mississippi valley were Spaniards.*
The discovery of America by Columbus, in 1492, awakened among
that people, in an unpi'ecedented degree, a spirit of adventure and ,
a thirst for gold. Juan Ponee de Leon was one of his companions
on his second voyage, and afterward the conqueror of Porto Rico.
From the natives of that island he learned a legend, that, with the
characteristic credulity of that age, he accepted as a truth. There
existed, said they, in Bimini, one of the Lucayos, a Fountain of
Life. He who drank of its waters was proof against disease; he
who bathed in it was endowed with perpetual youth. De Leon
was inflamed with the desire of discovering and bathing in this
wondrous fountain ; and, on the 3d of March, 1512, he sailed from
Porto Rico in search of the island that contained it. After a long
cruise, on Easter Sunday, or Pascua Florida, he discovered a
country of great extent, to which, in honor of the day, or from the
flowers that covered the forests, he named Florida. From stress
of weather, he was, however, prevented from an examination of
the coast, and returned to Porto Rico. Still the desire of prose
cuting his discovery remained, and after much delay he obtained
authority from Charles Y. to conquer, colonize, and govern the

* The original authorities in regard to the Spanish explorations are :
1. Naufragios a Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vacca.
2. A narrative of the expedition of Hernando de Soto, by Louis Hernandez de Biedma,
presented to the king and council of the Indies, in 1544.
3. A narrative of the expedition of Hernando de Soto into Florida, by a gentleman
of Elvas, 1557.
4. A letter of De Soto to the authorities of St. Jago de Cuba, July 9, 1539.
5. The Florida of the Inca, by the Inca Garoelaso de La Vega, Madrid, 1723.
The relation of Biedma, the narrative of the gentleman of Elvas, and De Soto's letter,
are given in the Historical CoUections of Louisiana, by B. F. French, Part 2. — PhUa-
delphia, 1850. And the Florida of the Inca is abridged in Irving's Conquest of Florida.
Philadelphia, 1835.
4 (41)

42 EXPEDITION OF DE AYLLON. 1520.
lands he had seen ; and, in 1521, he sailed again for Florida. But
his landing was opposed ; the natives attacked the strangers with
incredible fury, and many of them were slain. The remainder were
driven to their vessels, and Ponce de Leon returned with the wreck
of his expedition, mortally wounded, to Cuba to die.
The natives indeed had good cause for their hostility. For in
the meanwhile they had learned much of the spirit of the Spaniards.
In 1516, Diego Miruelo visited the coast, and in trade with the
natives obtained a considerable quantity of gold, and on his return
spread abroad reports of the wealth of the interior. Meanwhile,
the newly opened mines of Mexico demanded slaves, and, in 1520,
Vasquez de Ayllon was sent out, with two vessels, to seek a supply.
Approaching the coast, in the latitude of 32°, he landed in a region
called by the natives Chicorea, at the mouth of a river he named
Jordan, perhaps the Savannah or the Cambahee. The natives, at
first distrustful, were reassured by presents, and enticed on board
to trade. Soon they began to throng the ships, and the perfidious
Spaniards seized upon all within reach, and sailed for St. Domingo.
Disaster followed the crime ; one of the vessels was lost, the other
arrived, but the victims of their treachery, with the characteristic
spirit of the Indian, proudly disdained to live slaves, refused food,
and died. De Ayllon returned to Spain, received authority from
Charles V. to conquer and govern the region he had visited ; and,
in 1525, he fitted out an expedition, and returned to the mouth of
the Jordan. The Indians planned the destruction of the Spaniards,
but concealed their purpose. Two hundred of them were decoyed
to a village, on pretense of a feast ; De Ayllon, with a small force,
remained to guard the ships. All of the party were massacred ;
the guard was attacked — of these a few only escaped to St.
Domingo. De Ayllon himself was either slain in the affray, or
died afterTvard of his wounds and of grief.

e'

The post of adelantado, or governor of Florida, was next con
ferred on Pamphilo de Narvaez. He organized an expedition for
its conquest, sailed from Cuba, and on the 12th of April, 1528,
anchored in a bay afterward named the bay of Espiritu Santo or
Tampa Bay; and landed with a force of four hundred men and
forty-five horses. Here he took formal possession of the country
in the name of his master, dismissed his vessels to await his return
and, despite the remonstrances of Alvar Funez Cabeza de Yacca,
plunged into an unknown and savage wilderness. The Indians,

1528. EXPEDITION OP NARVAEZ. 43
whom the Spaniards had capture^ and compelled to serve as guides,
lured them on with the pretense that there was to the north a great
country called Appalachee, extremely fertile, and abounding in gold,
that was to their imaginations another Mexico, and opened to them
the prospect of another conquest. For many days they traversed
trackless forests and swamps, through matted thickets and over
rapid rivers, and continually exposed to the assaults of lurking-
savages. At length they arrived at the city of Appalachee, probably
in southern Georgia ; but it was only a village of two hundred and
and forty wigwams, and its inhabitants had fled at their approach.
Disappointed, disheartened, and suffering for food, their treacherous
guides next pointed them to the village of Auto, nine days' journey
to the south; where there was abundance of maize and of fish.
Thither they directed their course ; but their way was obstructed
by deep lagoons, dismal swamps and impenetrable forests. Hordes
of savages hung on their rear, that, to their imaginations, appeared
of gigantic size, armed with enormous bows. At length, after
incredible hardships, they reached the village of Aute, located per
haps near the present bay of St. Mark ; but it was deserted and
burnt, and only a little maize was left to the Spaniards to appease
their hunger, A day's march further they reached the sea ; but
they had marched eight hundred miles, and it was impossible to
retrace their steps, or to find their vessels. As a last resource, they
determined to build five small barks, with which to escape from the
coast. All their iron implements, even to their stirrups and spurs,
were made into nails and tools. Their shirts were made into sails,
their cordage was made of bark interwoven with horse-hair ; while
their horses served them for food. At length, on the 22d of Sep
tember, they launched their barks and sailed down the coast, suff'er-
ing every extremity of hunger and thirst. Three of the vessels
foundered in a storm; the remaining two, after many days of fruit
less coasting, were anchored near the shore ; one of them, with
UsTarvaez on board, was driven to sea by a sudden gale, and lost.
There survived of this expedition only Alvar Nunez and four of
his companions. They traversed, according to their own account,
the northern parts of Florida, crossed the Mississippi, traveled over
the plains and deserts of northern Texas to the Rocky mountains ;
passing from tribe to tribe, often as slaves, enduring the greatest
hardships, till at length they reached the settlement of Compos-
tella ; from whence Alvar Nunez proceeded to .Mexico, and
thence to Lisbon, where he arrived, in 1537, nearly ten years
after his first embarkation with Narvaez,

44 EXPEDITION OF DE SOTO,

1538.

The report carried back by Alvar Nunez to Spain of the ill-fated
expedition of Narvaez, in calmer times would have quenched the
thirst for discovery. It however only inflamed it. The examples
of Mexico and of Peru had created the belief that the New World
was all occupied with barbarian empires, wealthy and weak ; and
the conquests of Cortez and of Pizarro had wakened among
the cavaliers of Spain an ambition to follow their footsteps, and a
thirst for glory and gold. Florida, which then included all the
North American coast known to them, was the next great field of
discovery : and the popular belief clung to the idea that Narvaez,
in his long wanderings, had been skirting along the borders of rich
barbarian empires, waiting only a conqueror.
Hernando de Soto, then at the court of Charles Y., was fired with
the representations of Nunez, and inflamed with the desire of rival-
ino- the glory of the conqueror of Peru, whose standard he had
followed. He had been the lieutenant of Pizarro in the Peruvian
conquest, and acquired there experience in barbarian war, a passion
for military adventure and boundless wealth. His experience, his
connections, his position and his wealth, all fitted him for the post;
and accordingly he asked leave to conquer Florida at his own cost.
It was granted; and the title of Adelantado of Cuba and of Florida
was conferred on him. The most extensive and costly arrangements
were made for a voyage of discovery and of conquest. The cavaliers
of Spain and Portugal, clad in silk and steel, repaired to his standard.
Priests and monks, intent on extending the power of the church,
joined his ranks ; miners and chemists were provided to open and
work the mines ; and with an armament of nine hundred and sixty
men,* in ten vessels, the most powerful, the most confident, and
the best appointed that had ever embarked for the New World, De
Soto sailed from Spain, on the 6th of April, 1538, for Cuba.
There a year was spent in preparation for the great expedition.
Every thing that was necessary for conquest or colonization was
provided. Men and implements for working in wood and iron,
materials for assaying metals, cattle and swine to stock their colony,
bloodhounds for capturing slaves, chains for confining them, arms
and armor, the most costly and effective, were all provided and
prepared. And with this great equipnient the expedition sailed
from Havana, on the 12th of May, 1539, and on Whitsunday, the
25th of May, they anchored in a bay named, from that circum-

* Biedma says there landed six hundred and twenty men.

1639, EXPEDITION OF DE SOTO, 45
stance, Espiritu Santo, Here they landed, and De Soto took formal
possession of the country in the name of the emperor. No Indians
were to be seen, and the Spaniards encamped securely on the shore ;
but during the night they were attacked with great fury, defeated
and driven to their vessels, De Soto again disembarked his troops,
and marching cautiously, encamped in a village six miles from the
shore, which was deserted at his approach. Hirrihigua, its chief,
was implacably hostile, Narvaez had cut off his nose, and caused
his mother to be torn in pieces before him by his dogs, De Soto
sought, by messages and presents, to appease him, but in vain.
"I want none of their speeches; bring me their heads," he replied.
Leaving here a garrison, and having recovered Ortiz, a companion
of Narvaez, and having captured a number of Indians for guides,
he set forth for the Village of Aceura. The route of the Spaniards
lay through tangled thickets, deep morasses, and quaking prairies.
At length they came to a deep river, bordered by an impassable
swamp, perhaps the Withlacoochee, and here the Indians that
beset them disputed their passage ; but after three days' fighting,
and incredible hardships, they forced a passage, and reached the
village. It was deserted, and the Spaniards, harassed day and night
by the savages, set out again to seek the country of Ocali, where
there was, they heard, perpetual spring, and whose warriors were
cased in gold. But they were disappointed, and passed on to what
they heard was the great and rich province of Appalachee. Yita-
chuco, one of the chiefs of that region, was hostile; but he was
won by the presents and promises of De Soto, and came with his
warriors and people to make a display of his power and magnifi
cence. In the midst of the rejoicing and parade, the treacherous
Spaniards seized the chief, attacked, slaughtered and dispersed his
unsuspecting people. Thence they marched to the north, crossed
the " Great Morass," — where Narva,ez had been finally defeated and
driven back to the sea — doubtless the Okeefinokee swamp, and,
after an obstinate battle for two days with the Indians, encamped
for the winter at the Anhayca, the chief village of Appalachee,
nearly one hundred leagues north from the bay of Espiritu Santo.
The winter was spent in continual contests with the Indians.
Early in March, 1540, they set out for the country of Cofachiqui,
perhaps on the Savannah river. The country was fertile, the Indians
were friendly, their queen received them with great hospitality;
above all, they received " fourteen bushels" of pearls, and they
were assured that there were enough of them in the neighboring
villages to Toad all their horses. Here the Spaniards wished to

46 EXPEDITION OP DE SOTO.

1540.

stop and form a colony, but De Soto refused his consent, seized
his unsuspecting hostess and set out to the west, traversed the
Cherochee country, passed through the country subject to the
chief of Cosa, and reached the territories of Tuscaloosa. Tus
caloosa was the great chieftain of the south-west. He was of
gigantic size, of high spirit, and ruled over a confederacy of
tribes. He received the strangers with kindness; and they in
turn seized him as a hostage, to secure the submission of his people,
and marched on till they reached his principal town, Mauvile, now
Mobile. Here many thousand Indians assembled to rescue their
chief, and expel the invaders. The Spaniards were suddenly
attacked with great fury ; the battle lasted all day ; the town was
burned, eighty-three Spaniards, with forty-two horses, were slain, a
great number, including De Soto himself, wer6 wounded ; several
thousand Indians perished. But for the armor and fire-arms of
the Spaniards, none of them would have escaped. All their ammu
nition and baggage were lost ; but what, even in this extremity,
concerned them most, all their wine and flour were gone, and it
Avas no longer possible to celebrate the mass.
At this juncture it was ascertained that their ships had returned
to the bay of Achusi, or Pensacola bay; and, weary of their
misfortunes,' the Spaniards determined to abandon the country
and return home. De Soto was rendered desperate by his
misfortunes, and foresaw in this spirit of his men the ruin of
his hopes; and, determined to die rather than to return, he
broke up his encampment and turned to the north-west, and,
after a long march, encamped at the village of Chicasaw. The
Indians there were peaceable, but the characteristic cruelty of the
Spaniards could not be restrained ; and the Indians, in revenge
for the massacres, mutilations, and enslavement of their people,
assembled, attacked and burned their camp. Forty men were
slain, fifty horses, the remainder of their baggage, the greater part
of their arms and clothing were destroyed. After this disaster,
they removed and fortified themselves for the winter at Chicacilla.
Early in the spring they resumed their march, and, after much suf
fering and many disasters, reached a great river, named by them the
Rio Grande, by the Indians, Chucugua, Tumaliseu, Tapata, Mice,
and, at its mouth, Ri. It was well described by the old chronicler,
"The river in this place was a half league from one shore to
the other, so that a man standing still could scarce be discerned
from the opposite shore. It was of great depth, of wonderful
rapidity, and very muddy ; and was always filled with floating trees

1542, EXPEDITION OP DE SOTO. 47
and timber, carried down by the force of the current." Here the
Spaniards prepared boats, and crossed the Mississippi; and, after
wandering through the territories of various tribes, the most of
whom were hostile, encamped for the winter at Utianque, on the
Arkansas, near the western border of that State.
De Soto's spirit was broken by misfortune, and, in utter despair of
finding either the gold or the glory he coveted, he resolved to seek
again the Mississippi, and, if possible, the sea. Accordingly, early
in the spring he set out, and, after long and tedious marches, reached
the great river at Guachoya, about twenty miles below the mouth of
the Arkansas. Thence he sent a party to seek the sea. After an
absence of eight days, they returned and reported that they had
advanced only fifteen leagues, on account of the great windings of
the river, and the swamps and torrents with which it was bordered.
Their report broke the spirit of De Soto. Despair seized his mind,
disease attacked his frame, and, on the 2l8t of May, 1542, he died,
and his body was sunk in the Mississippi. Luis de Moscoso suc
ceeded to the command. Hearing vague rumors of Spaniards to
the west, he set out in June, with the remains of the army, to the
westward, in the hope of reaching Mexico. For three months they
wandered, and passed at length over immense plains, covered with
buffaloes, to a desert at the base of a range of high mouptains.
Wearied and dispirited, they turned their course, and reached the
Mississippi above the mouth of the Arkansas. Here they wintered
again, and prepared to desceiid the stream in the spring to the sea.
Timber was found in the forests. All their iron implements, even
to the fetters of their slaves, were wrought into nails. Grass served
them for ropes. And thus they built seven small vessels, and, on
the 2d of July, 1543, they embarked and followed the river, for
twenty days, to its mouth, continually harassed by the Indians ;
and thence sailed along the coast fifty days, to the westward, and
at length arrived at the Spanish settlement of Panuco,
And thus ended the great expedition, De Soto wandered over
a great part of the continent in quest of wealth and fame ; and
found nothing so great as his grave. Of that chosen band of cava
liers, so brilliant and so confident, that followed him, scarcely three
hunjdred, naked, battered and f&mishiug, returned to ask the charity
of their countrymen. The career of Spanish conquest to the north
ward was effectually checked. And but for the motives that reli
gious and national hatred supplied, Florida might have remained
unoccupied and unexplored. To furnish an asylum for his perse-

48 SETTLEMENT OF FLORIDA. 1562.
cuted countrymen of the Reformed faith, Admiral Coligni projected
a colony in the New World; and, on the 18th of February, 1562,
he sent out John Ribault, with a colony of French Calvinists.*
A settlement was made below the Cambahee, named Carolana;
and Ribault, leaving his colony, returned to France. Discontent
sprung up, a mutiny ensued, and the settlement was abandoned.
Two years later, another colony was sent out under the worthy
Laudonnierre ; and, on the river of May, with psalms and thanks
giving, they laid the foundations of what they hoped would be a
secure retreat for the people of God. But the information was
conveyed to Spain that a band of heretics had located themselves
within the limits of the empire ; and, in 1565, Pedro Melendez de
Aviles was sent out by the king, with orders to exterminate them.
On St. Augustine's day he landed on the coast, built a fort that yet
perpetuates, in the name of the chief city of Florida, the day of its
foundation, and from thence, marching secretly and rapidly by
land, he surprised the Huguenot settlement of Carolana, and mas
sacred the inhabitants, without distinction of age or sex. Ribault
was at sea; when he returned he was induced, with his companions,
to surrender, upon the faith of the oath of Melendez. They gave
up their arms, and were massacred. The crime was soon avenged,
Dominic de Gourges, a Catholic of Gascony, once himself the
victim of Spanish cruelty, burned with the desire of avenging his
countrymen. For this purpose he fitted out an expedition, ap
proached the coast, surprised and stormed the Spanish forts, put
their inhabitants to the sword, and hanged their leaders on the
same trees on which some of the French had been hanged, jNIe-
lendez returned, repaired his posts, fortified St. Augustine, and
governed his colony for ten years.
For a century the Spaniards made no further progress in the
colonization of Florida, A few scattered missions, indeed, were
established, and a religious province, named St, Helena, was char
tered by the Holy See, and placed under the care of the Franciscan
monks. The whole of Florida, with its vague limits, was attached
to Mexico ; but of the results of the great expeditions, and of the
great sacrifices, ' of the heroic age of Spanish enterprise, there
remained only the colony of St. Augustine,

* A catalogue of the authorities in regard to tho Huguenot and Spanish settlements
in Florida, may be found in Sparks' American Biography.

1608, SETTLEMENT OF CANADA, 49
The French made early and more successful attempts to explore
and colonize the New World,* In 1535, James Cartier entered
and explored the St, Lawrence to the Isle of Orleans; and, six
years later, in conjunction with Roberval, led out a colony to that
region, which he named New France, It failed, and for sixty
years no further effort at colonization in America was made ; but,
in 1608, Samuel Champlain brought out a colony to the Isle of
Orleans, and laid the foundation of the city of Quebec, and, five
years later, of Mohtreal, In the same year of his arrival, Cham
plain, to secure the friendship of the Indians inhabiting the banks
of the St, Lawrence, accompanied them in an expedition against
their enemies, on the shores of the lake that bears his name. The
allies gained a victory over their foes ; and that event secured for
three generations the alliance of the Algonquins, and the implac
able hatred of the Iroquois. This fact determined the course
of French exploration. The Iroquois confederacy, powerful in
their union, and more powerful from the firearms they obtained
from the Dutch, effectually barred the progress of the French
traders and missionaries to the south, while their alliance with the
Algonquins of the east, secured to them the friendship of the
Algonquins of the west. Accordingly, very early explorations
were made in the direction of the great western lakes.
In 1616, Le Caron, a Franciscan, the companion of Champlain,
penetrated the vrilderness to the waters of Lake Huron ; and, along
with Yiel and Sagard, labored for ten years as a missionary among
the tribes there and on the Niagara. The purposes of Champlain
were more religious than commercial; he esteemed "the salvation
of a soul worth more than the conquest of an empire ;" his charter re
cognized the Indian convert as a citizen of France, and the Francis
cans were chosen to conduct his missions. As elsewhere, however,
the more active order of the Jesuits took possession of the missions,
and, in 1634, Breboeuf and Daniel, and later, Lallemand, passed by
way of the Ottawa to Lake Huron and to the Sault Ste, Marie,t and
established at St, Joseph, St. Louis, and St, Ignatius, villages of
Christian Hurons, In 1640, Raymbault and Pigart followed, and
in the next year roamed as missionaries with the Hurons of Lake
Nipissing, Later in the same year, Raymbault and Jogues passed,
in a birch eanoe, around the north shore of Lake Huron to the
Sault Ste, Marie, met there a council of the Chippewas, and learned
* Bancroft, vol. 3.
+ Falls of the river St. Mary's, between Lakes Superior and Huron.

50 EXPLORATIONS OP THE FRENCH. 1660.
of the Nadouessies or the Sioux, who dwelt eighteen days' journey
west of the great lake. But the path of those early missionaries
was beset with peril and suffering. In the next year, Jogues and
Bressani were captured by the Iroquois, and tortured; in 1648,
St. Joseph was destroyed, and Daniel slain; and, in 1649, St.
Louis and St. Ignatius were taken, and Breboeuf and Lallemand
burned by the same relentless foes. • But the French enterprise
and the Catholic zeal were not checked. In 1660, Rene Mesnard
was sent out to the far west. He passed around the south shore of
Lake Superior, gathered a church at the bay of St. Theresa, and
on his way from thence to the bay of Chegoimegon, was lost in
the forest, at the portage of Kewenaw ; and his cassock and bre
viary were found long after among the Sioux.
Meanwhile, a change was made in the government of the colony.
The company of the hundred associates, that had ruled it since
1632, resigned its charter ; new France passed to the company of
the West Indies. In 1665, Tracy was made viceroy, Courcelleg
governor, and Talon intendent.* The Jesuit missions were taken
under the care of the new government ; and Claude Allouez was
sent out in the same year, by way of the Ottawa, to the far west.
Reaching the Sault Ste. Marie, he passed around the south shore of
Lake Superior, and landed at the bay of Chegoimegon. There, at
the chief village of the Chippewas, he established a mission, and
made, on behalf of the colony, an alliance with them, the Pottawatta
mies, Sacs and Foxes, and the Illinois, against the Iroquois. In
the next year, he passed with the Ottawas to the north shore, and
at the western extremity of the lake met the Sioux, and from them
learned of a great river flowing to the south, which they called
" Messipi." Thence he returned to Quebec to seek more laborers.
In 1668, Claude Dablon and Jaques Marquette repaired to the
Sault, and established the mission of Ste. Marie ; and during the
next five years Allouez, Dablon and Marquette explored the
regions south of Superior, and west of Michigan, and established
the missions of Chegoimegon, St. Marie, Mackinaw, and Green
Bay. The purpose of exploring the Mississippi sprang from Mar
quette himself; but it was furthered by the plans of the intendent
Talon, to extend the power of France to the west. In 1670,
Nicholas Perot was sent to the west to propose a congress of the
tribes of the lakes. In May, 1671, the great council was held at

« The duties of intendent included a supervision of the poUcy, justice, and finance of
the province.

1673, EXPEDITION OF MARQUETTE, 51
Sault Ste, Marie ; the cross was set up, by its side a column inscribed
with the lilies of tho Bourbons, the Yexilla Regis was chanted, and
the nations of the north-west, with all the pomp of the feudal age,
were taken into the alliance and under the protection of France.
Talon was not satisfied with mere display. There were three
opinions in regard to the course of the great river, of which Allouez
had heard — that it ran to the south-east into the Atlantic, below
Yirginia — that it flowed into the Gulf of Mexico — and that it
emptied into the Gulf of California, and opened a highway to
China and the East, To determine this problem, to secure the
lands through which it flowed to France, and thus to signalize the
close of his administration. Talon approved the purpose of Mar
quette, and directed him, with M, Joliet, of Quebec, to explore the
Mississippi. On the 13th of May, 1673,* Marquette, Joliet and five voy-
ageurs embarked in two birch canoes at Mackinaw, and passed
down the lake. The first tribe they visited were the Folles
Aviones, or nation of Wild Oats, now known as the Menom-
onies, living around the north shore of the Bay of Puans, or
Green Bay. These Indians, with whom Marquette was previously
acquainted, were informed of their plan of exploration and beg
ged them to desist. There were Indians, they said, on that great
river, who would cut off their heads without the least cause ;
warriors who would seize them; monsters who would swallow
them, canoes and all ; even a demon, who shut the way, and buried
in the waters that boil about him, all who dared draw nigh ; and, if
these dangers were passed, there were heats there that would
infallibly kill them.f "I thanked them for their good advice,"
says Marquette, "but I told them I could not follow it; since the
salvation of souls was at stake, for which I should be overjoyed to
give my life." Passing through Green Bay, they entered Fox
river, and toiling over stones which cut their feet, as they dragged
their canoes through its strong rapids, reached a village where
lived in. union the Miamis, Mascoutens,! and "Kikabeux" (Kicka-

* Marquette's Journal in French's Historical collections of Louisiana, Part 2.
f The allusion here is to the legend of the Piasa — or the monster bird that devoured
men, of which some rude Indian paintings were seen thirty years since on the cliffs
above the city of Alton ; and Indians as they passed in their canoes made offerings, by
dropping tobacco and other articles, valuable in their estimation, in the river.
X In Charlevoix's time these occupied the country from the Illinois to the Fox river
of Wisconsin, and from Lake- Michigan to the Mississippi.— See his Map.

52 EXPEDITION OF MARQUETTE.

1673.

poos.) Here Allouez had preached, and in the midst of the town
there was a cross, on which hung skins, and belts, and bows, and
arrows, which "these good people had offered to the great Manitou,
to thaijk him because he had taken pity on them during the winter,
and had given them an abundant chase." Beyond this point no
Frenchman had gone; here was the bound of discovery; and much
did the savages wonder at the hardihood of these seven men, who,
alone in two bark canoes, were thus fearlessly passing into unknown
dangers. On the 10th of June, they loft this wonderiqg and well-
wishing crowd, and, with two Indian guides to lead them through
the lakes and marshes of that region, started for the river, which,
as they heard, rose about three leagues distant, and fell into the
Mississippi, These guides conducted them to the portage, and
helped them to carry their canoes across, it; then, returning,
left them "alone amid that unknown country, in the hands of
God," With prayers to the mother of Jesus they strengthened their
souls, and committed themselves, in all hope, to the current of the
westward-fiowing river, the " Ouisconsin" (Wisconsin) ; a sand-
barred stream, hard to navigate, but full of islands covered with
vines, and bordered by meadows, and groves, and pleasant slopes.
Down this they floated until, upon the 17th of June, they entered
the Mississippi, "with a joy," says Marquette, "that I cannot ex
press." Quietly floating down the great river, they remarked the
deer, the buffaloes, the swans — " wingless, for they lose their
feathers in that country" — the great fish, one of which had nearly
knocked their canoe into atoms, and other creatures of air, earth
and water, but no men. At last, however, upon the 21st of June,
they discovered, upon the western bank of the river, the footprints
of some fellow mortals, and a little path leading into a pleasant
meadow. Leaving the canoes in charge of their followers, Joliet
and Father Marquette boldly advanced upon this path toward, as
they supposed, an Indian village. After walking for two leagues,
they came to a cluster of villages along the banks of a river, then
called the Moingona, now probably the Des Moines.* Making
their presence known by a loud cry, they were met by four old
men, who presented to them the calumet, and escorted them to
their chief. Here they made known the purpose of their voyage.

* It is not certain that the Moingona was the Des Moines. If it was, the points of
their landing was, from Marquette's description, nearly opposite the city of Nauvoo.

1673, EXPEDITION OF MARQUETTE. 53
and the chief begged them to desist, on account of the dangers of
the voyage. " I told him," says Marquette, " that we did not fear
death, and that I would esteem it a happiness to lose my life in the
service of God, at which he seemed to be much surprised." They
were then entertained with a feast and the dance of the calumet,
spent the night with the chief, and were escorted by nearly six
hundred persons to their canoes. These Indians called themselves
Illinois, in their language, men ; the name of their tribe was Peru-
raca, and their language was a dialect of the Algonquin, Mar
quette, like all the early travelers, describes the Illinois as remark
ably handsome, well-mannered, and kindly, even somewhat effemi
nate. Leaving these savages, the adventurers passed the rocks
upon which vt-ere painted those monsters of whose existence they
had heard on Lake Michigan, and soon found themselves at the
mouth of the Pekitanoni, or Missouri of our day ; the character of
which is well described — muddy, rushing, and noisy. They next
passed a dangerous rock in the river,* and then came to the Oua-
bouskigou, or Ohio, a stream which makes but a small figure in
Father Marquette's map, being but a trifling water-course compared
to the Illinois, From the Ohio, our voyagers passed with safety,
except from the musquitoes, into the neighborhood of the "Akam-
scas," or Arkansas, Here they were attacked by a crowd of war
riors, and had nearly lost their lives; but Marquette resolutely
presented the peace-pipe, and some of the old men of the attacking
party were softened, and saved them from harm, " God touched
their hearts," says the pious narrator. The next day the French
men went on to "Akamsca,"f where they were received most
kindly, and feasted with great friendship. These Indians cooked
in and eat from earthenware, and were amiable and unceremonious,
each man helping himself from the dish and passing it to his
neighbor. From this point, Joliet and Marquette determined to
return to the north, as dangers increased toward the sea, and no
doubt could exist as to the point where the Mississippi emptied, to
ascertain which was the great object of their expedition. Accord
ingly, on the 17th of July, they left Akamsca ; retraced their path
with much labor to the Illinois, through which they soon reached
the lake ; and " nowhere," says Marquette, " did we see such

* The Grand Tower, about one hundred miles below St. Louis.
f The Akamsca, or Arkansas, was an Indian village on the west side of the Missis*
sippi, about 36 miles above the mouth of the Arkansas. — Charlevoix Letters, p. 306.

54 DEATH OF MARQUETTE. 1675.
grounds, meadows, woods, stags, buffaloes, deer, wild-cats, bustards,
swans, ducks, paroquets, and even beavers," as on the Illinois river.
In September, the party, without loss or injury, reached Green
Bay, and reported their discovery; one of the most important of
that age, and one which opened up the great valley to the enter
prise of their countrymen. That consideration, however, did not
influence the mind of Marquette. "If," says he, " my perilous
journey had been attended with no other advantage than the salva
tion of one soul, I would think my peril sufficiently rewarded. I
preached the Gospel to the Illinois of Peruraca for three days to
gether. My instructions made such an impression upon this poor
people, that,, as soon as we were about to depart, they brought to
me a dying child to baptize, which I did about half an hour before he
died, and which, by a special providence, God was pleased to save."
Afterward, Marquette returned to the Illinois, by their request,
and ministered to them until 1675. On the 18th of May, in that
year, as he was passing with his boatmen up Lake Michigan, he
proposed to land at the mouth of a stream running from the penin
sula, and perform mass. Leaving his men with the canoe, he went
a little way apart to pray, they waiting for him. As much time
passed, and he did not return, they called to mind that he had said
something of his death being at hand, and anxiously went to seek
.him. They found him dead: where he had been praying he had
died. The canoe-men dug a grave near the mouth of the stream,
and buried him in the sand. Here his body was liable to be ex
posed by a rise of water ; and would have been so, had not the
river retired, and left the missionary's grave in peace. Charlevoix,
who visited the spot some fifty years afterward, found that the
waters had forced a passage at the most difficult point, and had
cut through a bluff, rather than cross the lowland where that grave
was. The river is called Marquette.* While the simple-hearted
and true Marquette was pursuing his labors of love in the west,
two men, differing widely from him and each other, were preparing
to follow in his footsteps, and perfect the discoveries so well begun
by him and the Sieur Joliet. These were Robert de la Salle and
Louis Heinnepin,
Robert, Chevalier de la Salle, was a native of Rouen, in Nor
mandy, He was educated in a seminary of the Jesuits, and
probably being designed for the church, received no share of his
* Charlevoix, p. 222.

1678, LA SALLE IN CANAD^S, 55
father's estate. For some unknown reason he left the seminary,
with, however, the approbation of his superiors, came to Canada
about the year 1667, and engaged in the fur trade. But his active
mind was busied with speculations far beyond the details of his
business. It was the belief of that age that a passage, through the
American continent, might be found to China and the East, and
La Salle's mind was so filled with the idea, and with the hope of
realizing it, that his trading post on the island of Montreal was
named La Chine. And thus he was occupied with great thoughts
of discovery when Marquette and Joliet returned. At once La
Salle received from them the idea, that, by following the great
river northward, or by turning up some of the streams which joined
it from the westward, his aim might be certainly and easily gained.
He applied to Frontenac, then governor-general of Canada, laid
before him an outline of his views, dim but gigantic, and, as a first
step, proposed to rebuild of stone, and with improved fortifications,
Fort Frontenac, upon Lake Ontario, a post to which he knew the
governor felt all the affection due to a namesake. Frontenac entered
warmly into his views. He saw that in La Salle's suggestion,
which was to connect Canada with the Gulf of Mexico by a chain
of forts upon the vast navigable lakes and rivers which bind that
country so wonderfully together, lay the germ of a plan which
might give unmeasured power to France, and unequaled glory to
himself, under whose administration he fondly hoped all would be
realized. He advised La Salle, therefore, to go to the king of
France, to make known his project, and ask for the royal patronage
and protection ; and, to forward his suit, gave him letters to the
great Colbert, minister of finance and marine. Accordingly, in
1675, he returned to France ; his plan was approved by the minis
ter, to whom he presented Frcntenac's letter ; La Salle was made a
chevalier; was invested with the seigniory of Fort Catarocouy or
Frontenac, upon condition he would rebuild it ; and received from
all the first noblemen and princes assurances of their good-will and
aid. Returning to Canada, he labored diligently at his fort till the
close of 1677, when he again sailed for France with news of his
progress. Colbert and his son, Seignelay, now minister of marine,
once more received him with favor, and, at their instance, the king
granted new letters patent with new privileges. His mission having
sped so well, on the 14th of July, 1678, La Salle, with his lieuten
ant, Tonti, an Italian, and thirty men, sailed again from Rochelle
for Quebec, where they arrived on the 15th of September ; and,
after a few days' stay, proceeded to>Fort Frontenac.

56 EXPEDITION OF LA SALLE. 1678,
Here was quietly working, though in no quiet spirit, the rival
and co-laborer of La Salle, Louis Hennepin, a Franciscan friar, of
the RecoUet variety ; a man full of ambition to be a great discoverer;
daring, hardy, energetic, vain and self-exaggerating, almost to
madness; and, it is feared, more anxious to advance his own selfish
ends than the truth. He had in Europe lurked behind doors, he
tells us, that he might hear sailors spin their yarns touching foreign
lands; and he profited, it would seem, by their instructions. He
came to Canada when La Salle returned from his first visit to the
court, and had, to a certain extent, prepared himself, by journeying
among the Iroquois, for bolder travels in the wilderness. Having
been appointed by his religious superiors to accompany the
expedition which was about to start for the extreme West, under
La Salle, Hennepin was in readiness for him at Fort Frontenac,
where he arrived, probably, in October, 1678.
The Chevalier's first step was to send forward men to prepare
the minds of the Indians along the lakes, for his coming, to soften
their hearts by well-chosen gifts and words, and to pick up peltries,
beaver-skins, and other valuables; and, upon the 18th of November,
1678, he himself embarked in a little vessel of ten tons, to cross
Lake Ontario. This, says one of his chroniclers, was the first ship
that sailed upon that fresh water sea. The wind was strong and
contrary, and four weeks nearly were passed in beating up the
little distance between Kingston and Niagara. Having forced
their brigantine as far toward the Falls as was possible, our travel
ers landed ; built some magazines with difficulty, for at times the
ground was frozen so hard, that they could drive their stakes or
posts into it only by fi-rst pouring upon it boiling water; and then
made acquaintance with the Iroquois, of the village of Niagara,
upon Lake Erie, Not far from this village, La Salle founded a
second fort, upon which he set his men to work ; but finding the
Iroquois jealous, he gave it up for a time, and merely erected
temporary fortifications for his magazines; and then, leaving
orders for a new ship to be built,* he returned to Fort Frontenac,
to forward stores, cables, and anchors for his forth-coming vessel.
Through the hard and cold winter days, the frozen river lying
before them "like a plain, paved with fine polished marble," some
of his men hewed and hammered upon the timbers of the Griffin,
as the great bark was to be named, while others gathered furs and

* The keel was laid by La Salle, on the 26th of January, 1679, at the mouth of Cayuga
creek, on the American side of the Niagara, about six miles above the great FaUs.

1679. EXPEDITION OF LA SALLE. 57
skins, or sued for the good will of the bloody savages amid whom
they were quartered; and all went merrily until the 20th of
January, 1679, On that day the Chevalier arrived from below.
The vessel in which his valuables had been embarked, was wrecked
through the bad management of the pilots; and though the more
important part of her freight was saved, much of her provision
went to the bottom. During the winter, however, a quantity of
furs was collected, with which, early in the spring of 1769, the
commander returned to Fort Frontenac to get another outfit, while
Tonti was sent forward to scour the lake coasts, muster together
the men who had been sent before, collect skins, and explore the
country. In thus coming and going, buying and trading, the
summer of this year passed away, and it was the 7th of August
before the Griffin was ready to sail. Then, with Te Deums and
the discharge of arquebuses, she began her voyage up Lake Erie,
Over Lake Erie, through the strait beyond, across the lake they
named St, Clair, and into Huron, the voyagers passed most happily.
In Huron they were troubled by storms, dreadful as those upon
the ocean, and were at last forced to take refuge in the road of
Michilimackinac. This was upon the 27th of August. At this
place La Salle remained until the middle of September, founded a
fort there, and sent men therefrom in various directions to examine
the country. He then went on to Green Bay, the "Bale des
Puans," of the French; and, finding there a large quantity of skins
and furs collected for him, he determined to load the Griffiin,
and send her back to Niagara. Accordingly upon the 18th of
September, she was dispatched under the charge of a pilot,
supposed to be competent and trustworthy, while La Salle himself,
with fourteen men, proceeded up Lake Michigan, paddling along
its shores in the most leisurely manner; Tonti, meanwhile, was
sent to find stragglers, with whom he was to join the main body at
the head of the lake.
From the 19th of September till the 1st of November, the time
was occupied by La Salle in his voyage up the sea in question.
On the day last named, he arrived at the mouth of the river of the
Miamis, or St. Josephs, as it is now called. Here he built a fort
and remained for nearly a month, when hearing nothing from his
Griffin, he determined to push on before it was too late.
On the 3d of December, having mustered all his forces, thirty
laborers and three monks, after having left ten men to garrison the
fort. La Salle started again upon "his great voyage and glorious
undertaking," Ascending the St, Josephs river in the south-
5

58 EXPEDITION OF LA SALLE,

1680,

western part of Michigan to a point where, by a short portage, they
passed to the " The-a-ki-ki," now corrupted into Kankakee, a
main branch of the Illinois river. Proceeding slowly, the better
to observe the country, about the last of December, they reached a
village of the Illinois Indians, perhaps near the Buffalo Rock, in
La Salle county, Illinois, containing some five hundred cabins, but,
at that moment, no inhabitants. The Sieur La Salle, being in
great want of bread-stuffs, took advantage of this absence of the
Indians to help himself to a sufficiency of maize, of which large
quantities were found hidden in holes under the huts or wigwams.
This done, the voyagers betook themselves to the stream again,
and toward evening on the 4th of January, 1680, fell into a lake
which must have been the lake of Peoria, Here the natives were
met with in large numbers, but they were gentle and kind, and
having spent some time with them. La Salle determined in that
neighborhood to build another fort, for he found that already some
of the adjoining tribes were trying to disturb the good feeling
which existed; and, moreover, some of his own men were dis
posed to complain, . A spot upon rising ground, near the river,
was accordingly chosen, about the middle of January, and the fort
of Crevecceur* (Broken Heart,) commenced; a name expressive of
the very natural anxiety and sorrow, which the loss of the Griffin,
his consequent impoverishment, the danger of hostility on the part
of the Indians, and of mutiny on the part of his men, might well
cause him.
Nor were his fears by any means groundless. In the first place,
his discontented followers, and afterward emissaries from the
Mascoutens, tried to persuade the Illinois that he was a friend of
the Iroquois, their most deadly enemies ; and that he was among
them for the purpose of enslaving them. But La Salle was an
honest and fearless man, and, as soon as coldness and jealousy
appeared on the part of his hosts, he went to them boldly and
asked the cause, and by his frank statements, preserved their good
feeling and good-will.
Meanwhile the winter wore away, and the prairies were
beginning to look green again ; but La Salle heard no good news,
received no reinforcement ; his property was gone, his men were
fast deserting him, and he had little left but his own strong heart.
The second year of his hopes, and toils, and failures, was half gone,
and he further from his object than ever; but still he had that
* The site of Crevecceur is unlcnown.

1680, EXPEDITION OP LA SALLE, 59
strong heart ; and it was more than men or money. He saw that
he must go back to Canada, raise new means, and enlist new men;
but he did not dream therefore, of relinquishing his projects. On
the contrary, he determined, that while he was on his return, a
small party should go to the Mississippi and explore that stream
toward its source; and that Tonti, with the few men that remained,
should strengthen and extend his relations among the Indians.
For the leader of the Mississippi exploring party, he chose
Father Louis Hennepin ; and, having furnished him with all the
necessary articles, started him upon his voyage on the last day of
February, 1680.
Having thus provided against the entire stagnation of discovery
during his forced absence. La Salle at once betook himself to his
journey eastward; a journey scarce conceivable now, for it was to
be made by land from Fort Crevecoeur round to Fort Frontenac,
a distance of at least twelve hundred miles, at the most trying
season of the year, when the rivers and the lakes would be full of
floating ice, and offer to the traveler neither the security of winter,
nor the comfort of summer. But the chevalier was not to be
daunted by any obstacles ; his affairs were in so precarious a state
that he felt he must make a desperate effort, or all his plana would
be forever broken up ; so through snow, ice and water, he found
his way along the southern borders of Lakes Michigan, Erie and
Ontario, and at last reached his destination. He found, as he
expected, every thing in confusion; his Griffin was lost, his agents
had cheated him, his creditors had seized his goods. Had his
spirit been one atom less elastic and energetic, he would have
abandoned the whole undertaking; but La Salle knew neither fear
nor despair, and by mid-summer he was once more on his way to
rejoin his little band of explorers on the Illinois. This pioneer
body, meanwhile, had suffered greatly from the jealousy of the
neighboring Indians, and the attacks of bands of Iroquois, who
wandered all the way from their homes in New York, to annoy
the less warlike savages of the prairies. Their sufferings, at length,
in September, 1680, induced Tonti to abandon his position, and
seek the lakes again, a point which, with much difficulty, he effected.
When, therefore. La Salle, who had heard nothing of all these
troubles, reached the posts upon the Illinois, in December, 1680,
or January, 1681, he found them utterly deserted; his hopes again
crushed, and all his dreams again disappointed. There was but
one thing to be done, however, to turn back to Canada, enlist more
men, and secure more means ; this he did, and in June, 1681, had

60 EXPEDITION OF LA SALLE, 1681.
the pleasure to meet his comrade. Lieutenant Tonti, at Mackinaw,
to whom he spoke with the same hope and courage which he
had exhibited at the outset of his enterprise.
Hennepin toieanwhile left Fort Crevecoeur, on the 29th of
February, 1680. In seven days he reached the Mississippi, and
paddling up its icy stream, as he best could, by the 11th of April
had gone no further than the Wisconsin. Here he was taken
prisoner by a band of northern Indians, who treated him and his
comrades with considerable kindness, and took them up the river
until about the 1st of May, when they reached the Falls of
St. Authonj^ which were then so named by Hennepin, in honor of
his patron saint. Here they took to the land, and traveling nearly
two hundred miles tov/ards the northwest, brought him to their
villages. These Indians were the Sioux.
Here Hennepin and his companions remained about three
months, treated kindly and trusted by their captors; at the end of
that time, he met w^th a band of Frenchmen, headed by one Sieur
de Luth, who, in pursuit of trade and game, had penetrated thus
far by the route of Lake Superior ; and, with these fellow country
men, the Franciscan returned to the borders of civilized life, in
November, 1680, just after La Salle had gone back to the
wilderness. Hennepin soon after went to France, where, in 1684,
he published a work narrating his adventures.
This volume, called " A Description of Louisiana," he, thirteen
years afterward, enlarged and altered, and published with the title
" New Discovery of a Yast Country situated in America, between
New Mexico and the Frozen 'Ocean." In this new publication, he
claimed to have violated La Salle's instructions, and, in the first
place, to have gone down the Mississippi to its mouth, before
ascending it. His claim was doubted, and examination has proved
it to be a complete fable — the materials being taken from Le
Clercq's account of the voyage of La Salle, published in 1691, Le
Clercq's account is derived from the letters of Father Zenobe
Mambre, who was with La Salle on his voyage.
To return again to the chevalier himself, he met Tonti, at
Mackinaw, in June, 1681 ; thence he went down the lakes to Fort
Frontenac, to make the needful preparations for prosecuting his
western discoveries ; in August, 1681, he was on his way up the lakes
again, and on the 3d of November at the St. Josephs, as full of
confidence as ever. The middle of December had come, however,
before all were ready to go forward ; and then, with twenty-three
Frenchmen, eighteen eastern Indians, ten Indian women, and three

1682. EXPEDITION OP LA SALLE. 61
children, he started, not as before by the way of the Kankakee, but
by the Chicago river, traveling on foot, and with the baggage on
sledges. It was upon the 5th or 6th of January, 1682, that
the band of explorers left the borders of Lake Michigan, crossed
the portage, passed down to Fort Crevecceur, which they found in
good condition, and on the 6th of February were upon the banks
of the Mississippi. On the 13th they commenced their downward
passage, but nothing of interest occurred until, on the 26th of the
month, at the Chickasaw Bluffs, a Frenchman named Prudhomme,
who had gone out with others to hunt, was lost ; a circumstance
which led to the erection of a fort upon the spot, named from the
missing man, who was found, however, eight or nine days after
ward. Pursuing their course, they at length, upon the 6th of April,
1682, discovered the three passages by which the Mississippi dis
charges its water into the gulf.
"A process verbal," in the French archives, describee the cere
mony with which possession was taken of the country, in the name
of the French king. It thus proceeds: "We landed on the bank
of the most western channel, about three leagues from its mouth.
On the 7th, M. de la Salle went to reconnoitre the shores of the
neighboring sea, and M, de Tonti likewise examined the great
middle channel. They found these two outlets beautiful, large and
deep. On the 8th, we re-ascended the river, a little above its con
fluence with the sea, to find a dry place, beyond the reach of inun
dations. The elevation of the North Pole was here about twenty-
seven degrees. Here we prepared a column and a cross, and to the
said column we affixed the arms of France, with this inscription :
LOUIS LB GRAND, ROI DE FRANCE ET DE NAVARRE, RE6NE,
LE NEUVIBME AVRIL, 1682.
The whole party, under arms, chaunted the Te Deum, the Uxaudiat,
the Domine salvumfae Begem; and then, after a salute of firearms
and cries of Vive le Soi, the column was erected by M. de la Salle,
who, standing near it, said with a loud voice in French :
" ' In the name of the most high, mighty, invincible, and victo
rious prince, Louis the Great, by the grace of God, King of France
and of Navarre, Fourteenth of that name, this ninth day of April,
one thousand six hundred and eighty-two, I, in virtue of the com
mission of his majesty, which I hold in my hand, and which may
be seen by all whom it may concern, have taken, and do now take,
in the name of his majesty and of his successors to the crown.

62 EXPEDITION OF LA SALLE, 1682.
possession of this country of Louisiana, the seas, harbors, ports,
bays, adjacent straits; and all the nations, people, provinces, cities,
towns, villages, mines, minerals, fisheries, streams and rivers, com
prised in the extent of the said Louisiana, from the mouth of the
great river St. Louis, on the eastern side, otherwise called Ohio,
Alighin, Sipore or Chukagona, and this with the consent of the
Chaounons, Chickachaws, and other people dwelling therein, with
whom we have made alliance; as also along the river Colbert, or
Mississippi, and rivers which discharge themselves therein, from
its source beyond the country of the Kious or Nadouessious, and
this with their consent, and with the consent of the Montantees,
Illinois, Mesigameas, Natches, Koroas, which are the most con
siderable nations dwelling therein, with whom also we have made
alliance, either by ourselves or by others in our behalf,* as far as
its mouth at the sea, or Gulf of Mexico, about the twenty-seventh
degree of the elevation of the North Pole, and also to the mouth
of the river of Palms ; upon the assurance, which we have received
from all these nations, that we are the first Europeans who have
descended or ascended the said river Colbert ; hereby protesting
against all those who may in future undertake to invade any or all
of these countries, people or lands, above described, to the preju
dice of the right of his majesty, acquired by the consent of the
nations herein named. Of which, and of all that can be needed,
I hereby take to witness those who hear me, and demand an act of
the Notary, as required by law.'
" To which the whole assembly responded with shouts of Vive le
Soi, and with salutes of firearms. Moreover, the said Sieur de la
Salle caused to be buried at the foot of the tree, to which the cross
was attached, a leaden plate, on one side of which were engraved
the arms of France, and the following Latin inscription :
LVDOVICVS MAGNVS REGENT.
NONO APRILIS CIO lOC LXXXII.
ROBERTVS CAVELLIEB, CVM DOMINO DE TONTY, LEGATO, B. P. ZENOBI
MEMBRE, RECOLLECTO, ET VIGINTI GALLIS PRIMVS HOC FLVMEN, INDE AB
ILINEORVM PAGO, ENAVIGAVIT, BJVSQVE OSTIVM FECIT PBRVIVVM, NONO
APRILIS, ANNI CIO lOC LXXXII.

* There is an obscurity in this enumeration of places and Indian nations, which may
be ascribed to an ignorance of the geography of the country ; but it soems to be the
design of the Sieur de la Salle to take possession of the whole territory watered by the
Mississippi from its mouth to its source, and by the streams flowing into it on both
sides. — Sparks.

1682. EXPEDITION, OF LA SALLE. 6^
After which the Sieur de la Salle said, that his majesty, as eldest
son of the church, would annex no country to his crown without
making it his chief care to establish the Christian religion therein,
and that its symbol must now be planted ; which was accordingly
done at once, by erecting a cross, before which the Vexilla and the
Domine salvumfae Itegem were sung. Whereupon the ceremony
'was concluded with cries of Vive le JRoi.
" Of all and every of the above, the said Sieur de la Salle having
required of us an instrument, we have delivered to him the same,
signed by us, and by the undersigned witnesses, this ninth day of
April, one thousand six hundred and eighty-two.
LA METAIRE, Notary.
De LA Salle, Jaques Cauchois,
P. Zenobe, Recollect Missionary, Pierre You,
Henry de Tonty, Giles Mbucrat,
Francois de Boisrondet, Jean Michel, Surgeon,
Jean Bourdon, Jean Mas,
SiBDR d'Autray, Jean Dulignon,
Nicholas de la Salle."
Thus was the foundation fairly laid for the claim of France to
the Mississippi valley, according to the usages of European powers.
But La Salle and his companions could not stay to examine the
land, they had entered, nor the coast they had reached. Provisions
with them were exceedingly scarce, and they were forced at once
to start upon their return for the north. This they did without
serious trouble, although somewhat annoyed by the savages, until
they reached Fort Prudhomme, where La Salle was taken violently
sick. Finding himself unable to announce his success in person,
the chevalier sent forward Tonti to the lakes, to communicate with
Count de Frontenac : he himself was able to reach the fort at the
mouth of the St. Josephs, toward the last of September. From
that post he sent with his dispatches Father Zenobe, to represent
him in France, while he pursued the more lucrative business of
attending to his fur trade, in the north-west, and completing his
long-projected Fort of St. Louis, upon the high and commanding
bluff of the Illinois, now known as Rock Fort ; a bluff two hundred
and fifty feet high, and accessible only on one side.* Having seen
* There is an uncertainty in regard to the site of Rock Fort. Buffalo Bock, three
miles below Ottawa, on the north side of the river, is about fifty or sixty feet high, and
contains about 600 acres. Starved Rock, three miles above La Salle, so named from
the tradition that a band of lUinois Indians were starved there by their enemies, is on

64 expedition op la salle. 1684.
this completed, and the necessary steps taken to preserve a good
understanding with the Indians, and also to keep up a good trade
with them, in the autumn of 1683 the chevalier sailed for his native
land, which he reached December 13th.
At one time he had thought probably of attempting to establish
a colony on the Mississippi, by means of supplies and persons sent
from Canada ; but further reflection led him to believe his true
course was to go from France to the mouth of the Mississippi, with
abundant means of settling and securing the country; and to obtain
the necessary ships, stores, and emigrants, was the main purpose
of his visit to Europe. But he found his fair fame in danger, in
the court of his king. His success, his wide plans, and his over
bearing character were all calculated to make him enemies ; and
among the foremost was La Barre, who had succeeded Frontenac
as governor of Canada. Notwithstanding the influence of these,
through the notoriety acquired by the publication of Hennepin's
book, and especially by means of his own address and perseverance.
La Salle overcame the obstacles in his way, secured the friendship
of the minister Seignelay, and the favor of the king ; and received
the grant of a fleet to transport a colony to America, and take pos
session of the mouth of the Mississippi on behalf of the crown.
On the 24th of July, 1684, twenty-four vessels sailed from
Rochelle to America, four of which were for the discovei-y and
settlement of the famed Louisiana. These four carried two
hundred and eighty persons, including the crews; there were
soldiers, artificers, and volunteers, and also " some young women."
No doubt this brave fleet started full of light hearts, and vast,
vague hopes; but it had scarcely sailed when discord began; for
La Salle and the commander of the fleet, M. de Beaujeu, were
well fitted to quarrel one with the other, but never to work together.
In truth. La Salle seems to have been no wise amiable, for he was
overbearing, harsh, and probably selfish to the full extent to be
looked for in a man of worldly ambition. However, in one of the
causes of quarrel which arose during the passage, he acted, if not
with policy, certainly with boldness and humanity. It was when
they came to the Tropic of Cancer, where, in those times, it was
customary to dip all green hands, as is still sometimes done under
the Equator. On this occasion the sailors' of La Salle's little

the south side of the Illinois river, and ninety or one hundred feet high, and accessible
only on one side. There are no other points along the river that wUl meet the descrip
tion of Rock Fort. Distances and measurements were Overrated by the early French
explorers.

1685. EXPEDITION OF LA SALLE. 65
squadron promised themselves rare sport and much plunder, grog,
and other good things, the forfeit paid by those who do not wish a
seasoning; but all these expectations were stopped, and hope
turned into hate, by the express and emphatic statement on the
part of La Salle, that no man under his command should be ducked.
whereupon the commander of the fleet was forced to forbid the
ceremony. With such beginnings of bickering and dissatisfaction, the
Atlantic was crossed, and upon the 20th of December, the island
of St. Domingo was reached. Here certain arrangements were to
be made with the colonial authorities; but, as they were away, it
became necessary to stop there for a time. And a sad time it was.
The fever seized the new-comers; the ships were crowded with
sick ; La Salle himself was brought to the verge of the grave ; and
when he recovered, the first news that greeted him, was that of his
four vessels, the one wherein he had embarked his stores and
implements, had been taken by the Spariiards. The sick man had
to bestir himself thereupon to procure new supplies; and while he
was doing so, his enemies were also bestirring themselves to seduce
his men from him, so that with death and desertion, he was likely
to have a small crew at the last. But energy did much ; and, on
the 25th of November, the first of the remaining vessels, she that
was "to carry the light," sailed for the coast of America. In her
went La Salle and the historian of the voyage, Joutel.
For a whole month were the diconsolate sailors sailing, and
sounding, and stopping to take in water and shoot alligators, and
drifting in utter uncertainty, until, on the 28th of December, the
main land was fairly discovered. But "there being," as Joutel
says, "no man among them who had any knowledge of that bay,"
and there being algo an impression that they must steer very much
to the westward to avoid the currents, it was no wonder they missed
the Mississippi, and wandered far beyond it, not knowing where
they went. At last. La Salle, out of patience, determined to land
some of his men, and go along the shore toward the point where
he believed the mouth of the Mississippi to be, and Joutel was
appointed one of the commanders of this exploring party. They
started on the 4th of February, and traveled eastward three days,
when they came to a great stream which they could not cross.
Here they made fire signals, and, on the 13th, two of the vessels
came in sight ; the mouth of the river, or entrance of the bay, for
such it proved to be, was forthwith sounded, and the barks sent in
to be under shelter. But La Salle's old fortune was at work here

66 EXPEDITION OF LA SALLE. ' 1686.
again; the vessel which bore his provisions and most valuable
stores, was run upon a shoal by the grossest neglect, or, as Joutel
thinks, with malice prepense; and soon after, the wind coming in
strong from the sea, she fell to pieces in the night, covering the
bay with casks and packages, which could not be saved, or were
worthless when drawn from the salt water. From this untimely
fate La Salle rescued but a small part of his second stock of
indispensables. As if to add to the misfortunes of the colonists
just at this juncture, Beaujeu set sail and returned to France, leaving
to them eight pieces of cannon, but without balls; and without
even provisions for their sustenance. Leaving his people under
the protection of a rude fortification, made of the timbers of their
vessel. La Salle explored the surrounding region and the streams
that emptied into the bay, in the hope that some of them might
prove the outlet of the Mississippi. He was disappointed, but found
on a river he named the Yaches, a fit location for a fort. To this
point the camp was removed; and, after incredible labor, a
fortification, sufficient to protect them from the Indians, was
made of timbers dragged for a league over the plain by the men.
The fort was named St. Louis, and was located at the head of
Matagorda Bay.
"As soon as the work was somewhat advanced,* M. de la Salle
gave Joutel orders to finish it; left him the command of it and
about one hundred men ; he took the rest of his people and embarked
on the river, with the resolution of going up as high as he could.
Joutel stayed but a short time after him in the fort which had been
begun ; ev^ry night the savages were roving in the neighborhood ;
the French defended themselves, but with losses that weakened
them. On the 14th of July, Joutel received an order from M. de
la Salle to join him with all his people. Many good stout men
had been killed or taken by the Indians; others were dead with
fatigue, and the number of sick increased every day ; in a word,
nothing could be more unhappy than M. de la Salle's situation.
He was devoured with grief, but he dissimulated it pretty well; by
which means his dissimulation degenerated into a morose obstinacy.
As soon as he saw all his people together, he began in good earnest
to think of making a settlement, and fortifying it. He was the
engineer of his own fort, and being always the first to put his hand
to work, everybody worked as well as he could to follow his ex
ample. Nothing was wanting but to encourage this good will of
* Bossu's statement in Dillon's Indiana.

1687. EXPEDITION OF LA SALLE. 67
the people ; but M. de la Salle had not sufficient command of his
temper. At the very time when his people spent their force with
working, and had but just as much as was absolutely necessary to
live upon, he could not prevail on himself to relax his severity a
little, or alter his inflexible temper, which is never seasonable,
and less so in a new settlement.
"It is not sufficient to have courage, health, and watchfulness, to
make any undertaking succeed. Many other talents are requisite.
Moderation, patience, and disinterestedness are equally necessary,
M, de la Salle punished the least of faults with severity, and seldom
any word of comfort came from his mouth to those who suffered
with the greatest constancy. He had, of course, the misfortune to
see all his people fall into a state of languor and despondency,
which was more the effect of despair than of excess of labor or
scantiness of good nourishment. Having given his last orders at
his fort, he resolved to advance into the country, and began to
march on the 12th of January, 1687, with M. de Cavelier, his bro
ther, Moranget and the young Cavelier, his nephews. Father Anas-
tasius, a Franciscan friar, Joutel, Duhaut, Ij'Archeveque, De Marne,
a German, whose name was Hiens, a surgeon named Liotot, the
pilot Tessier, Saget, and an Indian who was a good huntsman. As
they advanced further into the country they found it inhabited ;
and when they were but forty leagues from the nation of the Cenis,
they heard that there was a Frenchman among those Indians. It
was a sailor from Lower Bretany, who had lost himself when M.
de la Salle first came down the Mississippi. Joutel went to fetch
him from among those Indians. He only quitted them to be wit
ness of a crime.
"March 17th, Moranget being on a hunting-party, and having, as
it is said, abused vrith words, Duhaut, Hiens, and the surgeon
Liotot, those three men resolved to get rid of him as soon as pos
sible, and to begin with the servant of M. de la Salle, and his
Indian huntsman, who was called Nika, who both accompanied
Moranget, and could have defended him. They communicated
their design to L'Archeveque and the pilot, Tessier, who approved
of it, and desired to take part in the execution. They did not
speak of it to the Sieur de Marne, who was with them, and whom
they wished to have been able to get away. The next night, while
the three unhappy victims whom they would sacrifice to revenge,
slept very quietly, Liotot gave each of them several blows with the
hatchet on the head. The Indian and the servant died imme
diately, Moranget raised himself so as to sit upright, without

68 EXPEDITION OF LA SALLE. 1687.
speaking a word, and the murderers obliged the Sieur de Marne to
dispatch him, threatening to kill him, too, if he refused; thus,
by making him an accomplice of their crime, they wanted to
secure themselves against his accusing them. The first crime is
always followed by uneasiness. The greatest villains find it diffi
cult to conquer it. The murderers conceived that it would not be
easy to escape the just vengeance of M. de la Salle, unless by mur
dering him ; and this they resolved upon, after deliberating on the
means of effecting it. They thought the safest way was to meet
him and surprise all that accompanied him ; and so open them
selves a way for the murder which they intended to perpetrate.
So strange a resolution could only be inspired by that blind despair
which hurries villains into the abyss which they dig for themselves.
An unexpected incident became favorable to them, and delivered
into their hands the prey which they sought for. A river that
separated them from the camp, and which was considerably in
creased since they passed it, kept them two days ; this retardment,
which at first seemed an obstacle to their project, facilitated the
execution of it. M. de la Salle wondering that his nephew, Mo
ranget, did not return, nor either of the two men that were with
him, determined to go and seek them himself. It was remarked
that he was uneasy when he was going to set out, and inquired,
with a kind of uncommon concern, whether Moranget had quar
reled with any one. He then called Joutel, and entrusted him
with the command of his camp, ordering him to go his rounds
in it from, time to time, and to light fires, that the smoke might
bring him on, his road again, in case he should lose his way. He
likewise bid him give nobody leave to absent himself. He set out
on the 20th, attended by Father Anastasius and an Indian.
"As he approached the place where the assassins had stopped, he
saw some vultures soaring pretty near the spot, and concluded that
there was some carrion : he fired his gun ; and the conspirators,
who had not yet seen him, guessing that it was he who was coming,
got their arms in readiness. The river was bettreen him and them,
Duhaut and L'Archeveque crossed it, and seeing M. de la Salle
advancing slowly, they stopped. Duhaut hid himself in the long
grass, with his gun cocked; L'Archeveque advanced a little more;
and a moment after, M de la Salle knowing him, asked him where
his nephew was. He answered that he was lower down. At the
same instant Duhaut fired. M. de la Salle received the shot in his
head, and fell down dead. It was "the 20th of March, 1687, that
this murder was committed, near the Cenis. Father Anastasius,

1687. EXPEDITION OP LA SALLE. (i9
seeing M, de la Salle drop down at his feet, expected that the mur
derers would not spare him, though they should have no other
view in it than to get rid of a witness of their crime. Duhaut
came near to quiet him, and told him that what they had done was
an act of despair, and that they had long thought of revenging
themselves on Moranget, who had endeavored to ruin them. Father
Anastasius informed M. Cavelier of his brother's death. That
gentleman told them that if it was their intention to kill him like
wise, he would forgive them his death beforehand; and he only
demanded, as a favor, a quarter of an hour to prepare himself for
death. They replied that he had nothing to fear, and that nobody
complained of him. Joutel was not then in the camp. L'Archeveque,
who was his friend, ran to inform him that his death was certain,
if he showed any resentment of what had happened, or if he pre
tended to take advantage of the authority with which M. de la
Salle had invested him. Joutel, who was of a very gentle temper,
answered that they should be content with his conduct, and that
he believed that they ought to be pleased with the manner in which
he had hitherto behaved ; and then he returned to the camp. As
soon as Duhaut saw Joutel, he called out to him that every one
should command by turns. He had already taken all the authority
into his hands, and the first use he made of it, was to make himself
master of the magazine. He divided it afterward with L'Arche
veque, saying that every thing belonged to him. There were about
thirty thousand livres worth of goods, and near twenty-five thousand
livres both in coin and in plate. The assassins had force and bold
ness on their side ; they had shown themselves capable of the
greatest crimes ; accordingly they met with no resistance at first.
They soon divided and quarreled among themselves. They found
difficulties in dividing the treasure ; they came to blows, and Heins
fired his pistol at Duhaut's head, who reeled, and fell four yards
from the place where he stood. At the same time, Rutel, the sailor
whom Joutel fetched from the Cenis, fired a gun at Liotot. That
wretch lived yet several hours, though he had three balls in his
body. So the two assassins, one of M. de la Salle, and the other
of his nephew, Moranget, were themselves the victims of that spirit
of fury which they had inspired into this unhappy colony. The
Indians knew not what to think of these murders. They were quite
scandalized by them. They were in the right, and could with more
reason treat those Frenchmen as barbarians, than we had to con
sider them as such. Be that as it will, such was the tragic death
of Robert Caveliqit Sieur de la Salle, a man of abilities, of a great

70 EXPEDITION OF LA SALLE. 1688.
extent of genius, and of a courage and firmness of mind which
might have carried him to something very great, if, with these good
qualities, he had known how to get the better of his sullen, morose
mind, to soften his severity, or rather the roughness of his temper,
and check the haughtiness with which he treated not only those
who depended entirely upon himself, but even his associates."
As soon as the Indians along the coast learned the death of La
Salle, they attacked the fort and massacred all the colonists, except
three sons and a daughter of Talon, and a young man named Bre
men. All of these, except one of the sons of Talon, were after
ward rescued by the Spaniards. Talon and Munier were recovered,
and employed afterward as interpreters for the Spanish missiona
ries. L'Archeveque and GroUet were captured by the Spaniards,
and condemned to the mines of New Mexico; Anastasius, the
brother and the nephew of La Salle, Joutel, and Tessier set out in
May for the Illinois, and in July reached a French station at the
mouth of the Arkansas ; on the 14th of September they reached Fort
St Louis, and in the next spring passed on to Quebec and sailed
to France, where they arrived on the 9th of October, 1688.
When La Salle sailed for France, in 1683, Tonti was left in com
mand of Fort St. Louis. In the fall of 1684, he was informed that
La Salle had sailed from Rochelle, for the mouth of the Mississippi,
and with a company of forty men he went down the Mississippi to
the gulf, and waited for La Salle till the spring of 1685.* Hearing
nothing of La Salle or of the colonists, that were hopelessly wan
dering along the shores of Texas, he returned ; and on his arrival
at the mouth of the Arkansas, he says : " My French companions,
delighted with the beauty of the climate, asked my permission to
settle there. As our intention was only to civilize and humanize
the savages, by associating with them, I readily gave my consent.
I formed the plan of a house for myself at the Arkansas ; I left ten
Frenchmen of my company there, with four Indians, to proceed
with the building, and I gave them leave to lodge there themselves,
and to cultivate as much of the land as they could clear. This little
colony has since then so increased and multiplied, that it has
become a resting-place for the Frenchmen who travel in that
country."t When Joutel and his companions arrived at Fort St,
Louis,-Tonti was absent on an expedition against the Iroquois, On
his return, they concealed from him the fact of the death of La
Salle, and presenting a letter with his signature, requesting the
* American State Papers, vol. xii, p. 90. f Tonti's Naxrijtive, Paris, 1697. ,

1688, THE WAR OF THE ALLIANCE, 71
delivery to them of money or goods, received from the unsus
pecting commandant furs to the value of four thousand livres, and
other effects. After they had gone. Couture, to whom they had
communicated the facts, in regard to the failure of the expedition
and the death of La Salle, at the mouth of the Arkansas, came up
to Fort St, Louis, Surprised and grieved at his revelations, Tonti,
early in 1689, put himself at the head of an expedition to rescue
the colonists at the Fort St, Louis on Matagorda Bay, He marched
through the country of the Cenis Indians until within seven days'
march of the Spaniards, when some of his men deserted, and he
was obliged to return, after an absence of ten months. He re
mained several years at Fort St, Louis as commandant of the
Illinois, joined afterward Iberville, in 1700, at the mouth of the
Mississippi, and two years later was employed on a mission to the
Chickasaws, but of his subsequent history nothing is known.
When Joutel and his companions arrived in France, with the
news of the failure of the expedition and of the death of La Salle,
Europe was on'the eve of a general war.* The League of Augs
burg was formed, in 1687, by the princes of the empire, to restrain
the ambition of Louis XIY., and, in 1688, he commenced hostili
ties by the capture of Philipsburgh. England, in the next year,
under the government of William III., joined the alliance; and
Louis found himself compelled, with only tho aid of the Turks, to
contend with the united forces of the Empire, of England, Spain,
Holland, Denmark, Sweden and Savoy. And yet the tide of
battle wavered. In 1689, the French were defeated at Walcourt,
and the Turks at Widdin ; in 1690, the French were victorious at
Charleroy and Beachy Head, and the Turks at Belgrade. In 1691,
victory inclined to the French; in 1692, the victories of Neer-
winden and Heidelberg were achieved ; but in 1693, Louvois and
Luxemberg were dead, and Namur surrendered to the allies. The
war extended to the New World ;f and was maintained by the
French with more than equal success, in proportion to the disparity
of population and resources. In 1688, a census of all French North
America showed only a population of 11,249; the English in North
America were twenty times that number. At first the war was
prosecuted with vigor, Li 1689, De Ste. Helene and D'Iberville,
two of the sons of Charles le Morne, crossed the wilderness and

* Russell's Modem Europe, vol. 2.
f Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. 3.

72 EXPEDITION OF d'ibebville. 1698.
reduced the English forts on Hudson's Bay. But in August of the
same year the Iroquois, the hereditary allies of the English, cap
tured and burned Montreal. Frontenac, then absent on an expe
dition by sea to reduce New York, was recalled. Fort Frontenac
was abandoned, no French posts between Trois Rivieres and
Mackinaw remained, and the West was only saved by the Jesuit
missionaries. To recover their influence over the Indians, and to
avenge their losses, three expeditions were planned. De Mantet,
De Ste. Helene and D'Iberville led a war party, in January, 1690,
twenty-two days through the snow, from Montreal to Schenectady.
The village was surprised and burned, its people were massacred
or carried to Canada ; a few only escaped to Albany. From Trois
Rivieres, Hertel led a party to Salmon Falls, destroyed the village,
and carried away fifty-four women and children captives; and
Portneuf, from Quebec, surprised and destroyed the settlement at
Casco Bay. On the other hand, Nova Scotia was reduced by the
colonies ; an expedition to Montreal proceeded to Lake Champlain,
but failed through the dissensions of its leaders; and an expedition
of thirty-four ships from Boston appeared before Quebec, but failed
through the incompetence of Sir William Phipps. In the succeed
ing years a border warfare, with various successes, was maintained
along the whole line of the English and French colonies. The
peace of Ryswick, in 1697, closed the war, and France retained
Hudson's Bay, and all the places of which she was in possession in
1688 ; but the boundaries of the English and French claims were
left in dispute.
The conclusion of peace left the French court at liberty to pur
sue its scheme of colonization in the Mississippi valley; and, in
1698, D'Iberville, who had distinguished himself by the conquest of
Hudson's Bay, and afterward at the massacre of Schenectady, was,
through the influence of Count Ponchartrain, appointed governor,
and De Bienville, his brother, intendant of Louisiana; and, on the
24th of September, they set sail from Rochelle, with four vessels
and two hundred colonists, for the mouth of the Mississippi; and,
on the 24th of January, 1699, they anchored at the island of St.
Rose. From thence they sailed to Dauphin island, and afterward
landed at Ship island, at the mouth of the Pascagoula river. From
thence D'Iberville and De Bienville, with ten barges and forty-
eight men, explored the coast, and, on the 2d of March, they entered
the " Hidden River," (Mississippi). The appearance of the mouth
differed from what D'Iberville had been led to expect, and he
doubted whether he had really reached the great river of the West,

1699. THE ENGLISH CLAIM THE MISSISSIPPI, 73
but all doubt was dispelled when, after reaching an Indian village
at Pascagoula, he was shown a letter left by Tonti, in 1685, for La
Salle ; and, after proceeding up the river as far as the mouth of Red
river, he returned by the way of the lakes he named Maurepas and
Ponchartrain, to Ship Island; established his colony at Biloxi,
fifteen miles north of the island, and leaving it in command of
Bienville, returned to France,
In September, 1699, De Bienville went round to explore the mouths
of the Mississippi, and take soundings. Engaged in this business,
he had rowed up -the main entrance some twenty-five leagues,
when, unexpectedly, and to his no little chagrin, a British corvette
came in sight, a vessel carrying twelve cannon, slowly creeping up
the swift current. M. Bienville, nothing daunted, though he had
but his leads and lines to do battle with, sent a message on board
that if this vessel did not leave the river without delay, he had
force enough at hand to make her repent it. This had its effect ;
the Britons turned and stood to sea again, growling as they went,
and saying that they had discovered that country fifty years before,
that they had a better right to it than the French, and would soon
make them know it. The bend in the river where this took place
is still called " English turn." This was the first meeting of those
rival nations in the Mississippi valley, which, from that day, was a
bone of contention between them till the conclusion of the French
war of 1756. Nor did the matter rest long with this visit from the
corvette. Englishmen began to pass over the mountains from
Carolina, and trading with the Chicachas, or Chickasaws of our
day, stirred them up to acts of enmity against the French.
When D'Iberville returned from France, in .January, 1700, and
heard of this encroachment of the English, he again took formal
possession of the Mississippi valley in the name of the king ; and
built, for the protection of the river, a small fort about fifty-four
miles above its mouth. Meanwhile Tonti arrived, in February,
from the Illinois, and, in company with him, D'Iberville explored
the river as far as the villages of the Natchez, where, on an elevated
bluff, he selected a location for the future capital of his colony, and
surveyed the site of a fort to be named Rosalie, in honor of the
Countess of Ponchartrain, which was afterward built in 1714. In
1702, the head quarters of the colony were removed to the Bay of
Mobile ; a fort was built on its western shore, and the Perdido was
agreed on as the boundary between the French claims in Louisiana
and the Spanish in Florida ; and on the west the French claims
extended to the Bay of St. Bernard. Explorations were made
6

74 DEATH OF D'IBERVILLE, 1706,
along the Mississippi and its branches ; treaties were made with
the Indian tribes ; but, from sickness and hardships, little progress
in settlement was made, and, in 1705, the colony was reduced to
one hundred and fifty persons,^ In 1706, D'Iberville died, at
Havana, and the colony remained under the direction of Bienville
until 1711. At that time it had increased to three hundred and
eighty persons, settled at Ship Island, Cat Island, Biloxi, and
Mobile ; but deprived of the aid of the mother country, little pro
gress was made. In that year Louisiana, which had previou.sly
been politically a dependence of Canada, was erected into a royal
province, and D'Artaguette appointed commissary. During all
this period the colony was left to its own resources, France was
engaged in a continental war. In 1701, Louis violated the treiaty
of Ryswick, by acknowledging the pretender James as the lawful
king of England, war was declared, an alliance was formed between
the Empire, Holland, England, Savoy and Portugal against France ;
the object of which was declared to be, besides the protection of
England and Holland, to prevent a union of the Spanish and
French crowns, and thus hinder the French from possessing the
Spanish colonies in America, The war was marked by a constant
success of the allies; the great ministers of Louis were gone, and
the great battles of Blenheim, in 1704, Ramillies, in 1706, and
Malplaquet, in 1709, completely humbled the pride and prostrated
the power of France. In America a border war raged all along
the extended frontiers of the English and French colonies, marked
as usual by massacres and cruelties, but distinguished by no suc
cesses further than the conquest of Nova Scotia, in 1710, The
treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, closed the war; England gained the
assiento, the monopoly of the slave trade, and in America, Hudson's
Bay, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. A pledge was extorted that
France should never molest the Five Nations, subject to the
dominion of Great Britain; but, notwithstanding the advice of
William Penn, no settlement of boundary between the British colo
nies and French Louisiana was made.
Immediately after the suspension of hostilities, the French court,
in the belief that a private man of means and energy could do more
for the advancement of the colony than the government, granted,
on the 14th of September, 1712, the monopoly of Louisiana to
Anthony Crozat,* for fifteen years ; and the ownership of any

* DiUon's Indiana, p. 33,

1717. THE MISSISSIPPI SCHEME. 75
mines he might open. Crozat, with whom was associated Cadillac,
the founder of Detroit, and governor of Louisiana, relied mainly
upon two things for success in his speculation ; the one, the dis
covery of mines ; the other, a lucrative trade with New Mexico.
In regard to the first, after many years' labor, he was entirely dis
appointed ; and met with no better success in his attempt to open
a trade with the Spaniards, although he sent to them both by sea
and land. Crozat, .therefore, being disappointed in his mines and
his trade, and having withal managed so badly as to diminish the
colony, at last, in 1717, resigned his privileges to the king again,
leaving in Louisiana not more than seven hundred souls.* '
Then followed the enterprises Of the far-famed Mississippi Com
pany, or Company of the West, established to aid the immense
banking and stock-jobbing speculations of John Law, a gambling,
wandering Scotchman, who seems to have been possessed with
the idea that wealth could be indefinitely increased by increasing
the circulating medium in the form of notes of credit. The public
debt of France was selling at 60 to 70 per cent, discount; Law was
authorized to establish a bank of circulation, the shares in which
might be paid for in public stock at par; and to induce the public
to subscribe for the bank shares, and to confide in them, the Com
pany of the West was established in connection with the bank,
having the exclusive right of trading in the Mississippi country
for twenty-five years, and with the monopoly of the Canada beaver
trade. This was in September, 1717, In 1718 the monopoly of
tobacco was also granted to this favored creature of the State ; in
1719, the exclusive right of trading in Asia and the East Indies ;
and soon after, the farming of the public revenue, together with an
extension of all these privileges to the year 1770; and, as if all this
had been insufficient, the exclusive right of coining for nine years
was next added to the immense grants already made to the Com
pany of the West,t Under this hot-bed system, the stock of the
company rose to 500, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, and at last 2050 per
cent. This was in April, 1720. At that time the notes of the bank
in circulation exceeded two hundred millions of dollars, and this
abundance of money raised the price of every thing to twice its
true value. Then the bubble burst ; decree after decree was made
to uphold the tottering fabric of false credit; but in vain. In

, * By Louisiana hero is to be understood Louisiana proper ; not the Illinois country
commonly included at that period.
t After 1719, called the Company of the Indies.

76 SETTLEMENT OF NEW ORLEANS. 1718.
January, 1720, Law had been made minister of finance, and as
such he proceeded first, to forbid all persons to have on hand more
than about one hundred dollars in specie ; any amount beyond that
must be exchanged for paper, and all payments for more than
twenty dollars were to be made in paper; and this proving insuffi
cient, in March, all payments over two dollars were ordered to be
in paper, and he who dared attempt to exchange a bill for specie
forfeited both. Human folly could go no further; in April the
stock began to fall; in May the company was regarded as bankrupt,
the notes of the bank fell to ten cents on the dollar, and though a
decree made it an offense to refuse them at par, they were soon
worth little more than waste paper.
Under the direction of a company thus organized and controlled,
and closely connected with a bank so soon ruined, but little could
be hoped for a colony which depended on good management to
develop its real resources for trade and agriculture.* In 1718,
colonists were sent from Europe, and New Orleans laid out with
much ceremony and many hopes ; but in January, 1722, Charlevoix
writing thence, says : " If the eight hundred fine houses, and the
five parishes, that were two years since represented by the journals
as existing here, shrink now to a hundred huts, built without order,
a large wooden magazine, two or three houses that would do but
little credit to a French village, and half of an old store-house,
which was to have been occupied as a chapel, but fi-om which the
priests soon retreated to a tent, as preferable ; if all this is so, still
how pleasant to think of what this city will one day be, and, instead
of weeping over its decay and ruin, to look forward to its growth
to opulence and power."t And again, "The best idea you can
form of New Orleans, is to imagine two hundred persons sent to
build a city, but who have encamped on the river-bank, just shel
tered from the weather, and waiting for houses. They have a
beautiful and regular plan for this metropolis ; but it will prove
harder to execute than to draw."| Sucli, in substance, were the
representations and hopes of the wise historian of New France,
respecting the capital of the colony of Law's great corporation ;
and it may be certain that with the chief place in such a condition,

* A set of regulations for governing tho company, passed in 1721, may be found i"
Dillon's Indiana, pp. 41 to 44. '
¦j- Charlevoix, ill. 430 — ed. 1744.
X Charlevoix, iii. 441 — ed. 1744.

1729. MASSACRE OF THE NATCHEZ. 77
not much had been done for the permanent improvement of the
country about it. The truth was, the same prodigality and folly
which prevailed in France during the government of John Law,
over credit and commerce, found their way to his western posses
sions ; and though the colony then planted survived, and the city
then founded became in time what had been hoped, it was long
before the influence of the gambling mania of 1718, '19 and '20
passed away. Indeed the returns from Louisiana never repaid
the cost and trouble of protecting it, and, in 1732, the company
asked leave to surrender their privileges to the crown, a favor
which was granted them.
But though the Company of the West did little for the enduring
welfare of the Mississippi valley, it did something ; the cultivation
of tobacco, indigo, rice and silk was introduced, the lead mines of
Missouri were opened, though at vast expense and in hope of find
ing silver; and, in Illinois, the culture of wheat began to assume
some degree of stability and of importance. In the neighborhood
of the river Kaskaskia, Charlevoix found three villages, and about
,. Fort Chartres, the head-quarters of the company in that region,
the French were rapidly settling.
All the time, however, during which the great mqnopoly lasted,
was in Louisiana a time of contest and trouble. The English, who
from an early period had opened commercial relations with the
Chickasaws, through them constantly interfered with the trade of
the Mississippi. Along the coast from Pensacola to the Rio del
Norte, Spain disputed the claims of her northern neighbor : and at
length the war of the Natchez struck terror into the hearts of both
white and red men. Amid that nation, D'Iberville had marked
out Fort Rosalie, in 1700, and fourteen years later its erection had
been commenced. The French, placed in the midst of the natives,
and deeming them worthy only of contempt, increased their
demands and injuries until they required even the abandonment of
the chief town of the Natchez, that the intruders might use its site
for a plantation. The inimical Chickasaws heard the murmurs of
their wronged brethren, and breathed into their ears counsels of
vengeance ; the sufferers determined on the extermination of their
tyrants. On the 28th of November, 1729, every Frenchman in
that colony died by the hands of the natives, with the excep
tion of two mechanics. The women and children also were
spared. It was a fearful revenge, and fearfully did the avengers
suffer for their murders. Two months passed by, and the French

78 WAR WITH THE CHICKASAWS. 1736.
and Choctaws in one day took sixty of their scalps ; in three
months they were driven from their country, and scattered among
the neighboring tribes ; and within two years the remnants of the
nation, chiefs and people, wore sent to St. Domingo and sold into
slavery. So perished this ancient and peculiar race, in the same
year in which the Company of the West yielded its grants into the
the royal hands.
When Louisiana came again into the charge of the government
of France, it was determined, as a first step, to strike terror into
the Chickasaws, who, devoted to the English, constantly interfered
with the trade on the Mississippi. For this purpose the forces of
New France, from New Orleans to Detroit, were ordered to meet
in the country of the inimical Indians, upon the 10th of May, 1736,
to strike a blow which should be final. D'Artaguette, governor of
Illinois, with the young and gallant Yincennes, leading a small
body of French, and more than a thousand northern Indians, on
the day appointed, was at tLe spot; but Bienville, who had
returned as the king's lieutenant to that southern land which he had
aided to explore, was not where the commanders from above expected
to meet him. During ten days they waited, and still saw nothing,
heard nothing of the forces from the south. Fearful of exhausting
the scant patience of his red allies, at length D'Artaguette ordered
the onset; a first and a second of the Chickasaw stations were
carried successfully, but in attacking a third, the French leader
fell ; when the Illinois saw their commander wounded, they turned
and fled, leaving him and Yincennes, who would not desert him,
in the liands of the Chickasaws. Five days afterward, Bienville
and his followers, among whom were great numbers of Choctaws,
bribed to bear arms against their kinsmen, came up the stream of
the Tombecbee; but the savages were on their guard, English
traders had aided them to fortify their position, and the French in
'vain attacked their log fort. On the 20th of May, D'Artaguette
had fallen ; on the 27th, Bienville had failed in his assault ; on
the 31st, throwing his cannon into the river, he and his wliite
companions turned their prows to the south again. Then came
the hour of barbarian triumph, and the successful Chickasaws
danced around the flames in which were crackling the sinews of
D'Artaguette, Yincennes, and the Jesuit Senat, who stayed and
died of his own free-will, because duty bade him.
Three years more passed away, and again a French army of
nearly four thousand white, red and black men, was gathered
upon the banks of the Mississippi, to chastise the Chickasaws.

1750. CONDITION OF LOUISIANA. 79
From the summer of 1739 to the spring of 1740, this body of men
sickened and wasted at Fort Assumption, upon the site of Memphis.
In March of the last named year, without a blow struck, peace was
concluded, and the province of Louisiana once more sunk into
inactivity. There remains little that is interesting in the history of Lower
Louisiana. An idea of its condition, in 1750, may be inferred from
a letter of the Jesuit Yivier, written on November 7th of that year.
He says :
"For fifteen leagues above the mouth of the Mississippi, one
sees no dwellings, the ground being too low to be habitable.
Thence to New Orleans the lands are partially occupied. New
Orleans contains, black, white and red, not more, I think, than
twelve hundred persons. To this point come all kinds of lumber,
brick, salt-beef, tallow, tar, skins and bear's grease ; and above all,
pork and flour from the Illinois. These things create some
commerce; forty vessels and more have come hither this year.
Above New Orleans, plantations are again met with; the most
considerable is a colony of Germans, some ten leagues up the river.
At Point Coupee, thirty-five leagues above the German settlement,
is a fort. Along here, within five or six leagues, are not less than
sixty 'habitations.' Fifty leagues farther up is the Natchez post,
where we have a garrison who are kept prisoners by their fear of
the Chickasaws and other savages. Here and at Point Coupee,
they raise excellent tobacco. Another hundred leagues brings us
to the Arkansas, where we have also a fort and garrison, for the
benefit of river traders. There were some inhabitants about here
formerly, but in 1748 the Chickasaws attacked the post, slew
many, took thirteen prisoners, and drove the rest into the fort.
From the Arkansas to the Illinois, near five hundred leagues,*
there is not a settlement. There should, however, be a good fort
on the Ouabache (Ohio,) the only path by which the English can
reach the Mississippi. In the Illinois are numberless mines, but
no one to work them as they deserve. Some individuals dig lead
near the surface, and supply the Indians and Canada. Two
Spaniards, now here, who claim to be adepts, say that our mines
are like those of Mexico, and that if we would dig deeper, we
should find silver under the lead; at any rate the lead is excellent.

* Distances are overrated in all the old French journals. The distance, in f.ict, was
about 500 English miles, instead of French leagues.

80 DIFFERENT ROUTES TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 1679.
There are also in this country, copper mines, beyond doubt, as
from time to time large pieces are found in the streams." *
Upper Louisiana, or the Illinois, was probably occupied by the
French without interruption, from the time of the first visit of
La Salle, in 1679.t Of necessity, their missions and settlements
were formed along the routes of travel between Canada and the
mouth of the Mississippi. The only mode of communication used,
was by canoes; and of consequence only the navigable rivers,
tributary to the Mississippi and to the St. Lawrence, interlocking
each other, were explored.
From the hostility of the Iroquois, the earliest missionaries and
traders were cut off from the Lakes Ontario and Erie ; and their
route to Superior and Green Bay was, from Montreal, up the
Ottowa river to Lake Nipissing, and down the French river to
Lake Huron.
The route followed by Marquette, was from Mackinaw to Green
Bay; thence up the Fox river of Wisconsin, to Winnebago Lake;
thence up the Wapacca to a portage in Portage County,
Wisconsin, to the Wisconsin river and to the Mississippi.
The route followed by La Salle, was from Niagara up Lakes
Erie, St. Clair and Huron, to Mackinaw; thence down Lake
Michigan to the mouth of the river St. Joseph's, up that river
to a portage of three miles, in St. Joseph's county, Indiana,
to the Kankakee river; thence down to the Illinois, and to the
Mississippi. Another route was established about 1716, from the head of
Lake Erie up the Maumee to the site of Fort Wayne ; thence by a
portage to the Wabash ; thence, by way of that river, to the Ohio
and Mississippi. At a later period another route was opened. It
passed from Lake Erie at Presquille, over a portage of fifteen miles
to the head of French creek, at Waterford, Pa.; thence down that
stream to the Allegheny, and to the Ohio.
Along these lines the French posts were confined, and, as there
were no agricultural communities, except the Illinois settlement,
in the West during the whole period of the French occupation, the
posts were either trading stations or forts, built for the protection of
the traders, or to secure the French ascendency over the Indians.

* Lettres Ediflantes, (Paris, 1781,) vii. 79 to 106.
f There is no certainty, however, of any settlement previous to 1712.

1742. SETTLEMENT OF VINCENNES. 81
At the most northern point of the Southern peninsula of
Michigan, and nine miles south-west of the Island of that name. La
Salle founded Fort Mackinaw, in 1679.
At the mouth of the St. Joseph's river he built Fort Miami, in
1679 ; which was burned, however, by some deserters from Tonti,
two years afterward.
In 1680, he built Port Crevecceur on the Illinois river, near the
site of Peoria.
In the same year Tonti built Fort St. Louis, or the Rock Fort,
in La Salle county, Illinois ; but its exact location is unknown.
These posts served as points of settlement for the traders and
voyagers, who followed immediately in the track of La Salle, and
for the Jesuit missionaries that accompanied or followed him. The
climate and soil of Lower Illinois were inviting, and accordingly
the first settlements were made in that region. The exact date is
uncertain. It is conjectured, that before the close of the seventeenth century,
traders passed down south from the St. Joseph's to Bel river and
Wabash; and a report* of La Salle to Frontenac, made perhaps
in 1682, mentions the route by the Maumee and Wabash, as the
most direct to the Mississippi. That route was indeed established
in 1716; but of the date of settlements on the Lower Wabash,
there is no certain information. The uncertainty that is connected
with the settlement of Yincennes f is a case in point. Yolney,
by conjecture, fixes the settlement of Yincennes about 1735; J
Bishop Brute, of Indiana, speaks of a missionary station there in
1700, and adds, " The friendly tribes and traders called to Canada
or protection, and then M. de Yincennes came with a detachment,
I think, of Carignan, and was killed in 1736." || Mr. Bancroft says
a military establishment was formed there in 1716, and in 1742, a
settlement of herdsmen took place. § Judge Law regards the post
as dating back to 1710 or 1711, supposing it to be the same with
the Ohio settlement, and quotes also an Act of Sale, existing at
Kaskaskia, which, in January, 1735, speaks of M. de Yinsenne, as
" Commandant au Poste de Ouabache." Tf Again, in a petition

* Hennepin's New Discovery, Loudon, 1698, p. 312.
f Che-pe-ka-keh (Brush Wood,) was the Indian name of Vincennes, and was the seat
of the Peean-kee-shaws Indians.
JVohiey's View, p. 336.
II Butler's Kenbecky, Introduction, XIX, note.
i Bancroft's History of the United States, III, 346.
1[ Law's Address, p. 21.

82 SETTLEMENT OF VINCENNES. 1742.
of the old inhabitants at Yincennes, dated in November, 1793, is
found the settlement spoken of, as having been made before 1742;*
and such is the general voice of tradition. On the other hand,
Charlevoix, who records the death of Yincennes, which took place
among the Chickasaws, in 1736, makes no mention of any post on
the Wabash, or any missionary station there; neither does he
mark any upon his map, although he gives even the British forts
upon the Tennessee and elsewhere. Yivier, -in 1750, says nothing
of any mission on the Wabash, although writing in respect to
western missions, and speaks of the necessity of a fort upon the
"Ouabache." By this, it is true, he meant doubtless the Ohio,
but how natural to refer to the post at Yincennes, if one existed.
In a volume of "Memoires" on Louisiana, compiled from the
minutes of M. Dumont, and published in Paris, in 1753, hut
probably prepared in 1749, though there is an account of the
Wabash, or St. Jerome, its rise and course, and the use made of it
by the traders, not a word is found touching any fort, settlement
or station on it. Yaudreuil, when Governor of Louisiana, in 1751
mentions even then no post on the Wabash, although he speaks of
the need of a post on the Ohio, near to where Fort Massac, or
Massacre, was built afterward, and names Fort Miami, on the
Maumee.f Still further, in " The Present State of North America,"
a pamphlet published in London, in 1755, with which is a map of
the French posts in the west, it is stated that in 1750 a fort was
founded at Yincennes, and that in 1754, three hundred families
were sent to settle in that region.
The records of the church of St. Francois Xavi'er, at Yincennes,
show no earlier date than 1749. They are given | as interesting
memorials of western history.

* American State Papers, XVI, 32.
f There were /owr places called "Miami,"- one at the junction of the Little St. Joseph
and Ste. Marie, in Indiana, now called Fort Wayne.
The second was at the mouth of the St. Joseph's river of Michigan.
The third was on the Illinois river, and placed by Charlevoix on his Map of New
France, 1723.
The fourth was the fort erected by the British, early in 1794, at the foot of the rapids
of the Maumee, about fifteen miles from the west end of Lake Erie.
Some of the authorities quoted, by the "puabache" mean the Ohio river, which had
the name of " Ouabache," in French and English documents until about 1735.
J These records were furnished to the publisher through the politeness of Bev. E.
Audruin, Parish Priest of St. Xavier's Church, at Vincennes. But few of the old records
of the early French missions are available. In 1840, the publisher visited Rev. Dr.
Wiseman, of St. Mary's Seminary, in Missouri, to inquire for the materials of tho early

1749. ANCIENT RECORDS OF VINCENNES. 83
" In the year one thousand seven hundred and forty-nine, and on
the 21st day of April, after having published three bans, between
Julien Trothier Des Rivieres, son of Julien Trothier Des Rivieres,
of the Parish of Montreal, and Josette Marie, daughter of Antoine
Marie and Marianne Chicamise, her father and mother, residing in
this parish ; there having been no impediment, I, the undersigned,
missionary of the company of Jesus, doing the duties of Curate,
having received their mutual consent of marriage, give unto them
the nuptial benediction, with the ceremonies prescribed by the
Holy Church. In the presence of Monsieurs De St. Ange, Lieu
tenant of a detached company of Marine, Commandment of Post
Yincennes, and of Jean Baptiste Guilbert, Toussaint, Antoine
Bouchard, Jean B. Pudet, Louis Gervais. S. L. MEURIN, Jesuite.
Witnesses who did sign with me.
St, Ange, Commandant of Post Vincennes.
J, C, Ridday,
Louis Gervais,
Bouchard,FiLLATRAUX,"
" On the 4th of June, 1749, I baptized Jean Baptiste, son of
Pierre Tiapichagane, "Little Chief," and Catharine Mskicse. The
god-father and mother were Francois Fillatraux and Marie Mikil-
chensecse Laframboise, SEBAST, LUD, MEURIN, S. J."
"I, the undersigned, gave the nuptial benediction to Pierre
Tiapichagane, Little Chief, and Mskicse, united previously by a
natural marriage, June 26th, 1749, S, L, MEURIN, J."
From this date until 1780, after the conquest of Illinois, there
were about fifty marriages of the French, and one more only of the
Indians, (in July, 1749,) and one hundred and ninety baptisms, a

history of those missions, and was informed by him that after a great flood of the western
waters, during the French domination of Louisiana, many of the inhabitants who had
emigrated from New Orleans became alarmed and returned thither, and, at the sugges
tion of the clergy, carried the greater portion of the mission and church records with
them, for greater safety. There they were deposited in a vault of the principal church
of that place, where they remained for many years untouched. When afterward they
were brought to Ught and examined, it was discovered that they were entirely decom
posed by the humidity of the atmosphere.

84 SETTLEMENT OF CAHOKIA. 1700.
portion of whom were adults. In the same period there are
recorded the baptisms of sixteen Indian slaves and four Africans.
Among these records is the following statement :
"Pierre Godere, son of Francois Godere and Agnes Richard,
was born at Ouias, and married the 5th of May, 1760, at Yincennes,
to Susan Bolon, daughter of Gabriel Bolon and Susan Menard—
which Susan Menard was born at St. Joseph, and supposed to be
the first white child born in Indiana."
In the same church is found the following, being the earliest
records of the settlement at Ouitenon : *
"To-day, 21st of the month of May, feast of Whit-Sunday, of the
year 1752, I baptized, solemnly, Charles Mary, the legitimate son of
Charles Boneau, and of Genevieve Dudevoir, who have settled at
this post ; said child being born yesterday evening at ten o'clock.
The god-father was M. Francois Mary Merchant, Esquire, Sire De
Ligneris, Captain of Infantry, commanding for the king at this
post. The god-mother, Elizabeth Cardinal, wife of Claude
Dudevoir, and grandmother to the child.
Done at Ouitenon, the year and day above mentioned.
Signed, P. DU JAUNAY,
Missionary of the Comfany of Jesus.
Charles Boneau, Marchani Des Ligneris.
Soon after the visit of La Salle, Allouez, with some traders,
located themselves at the site of Kaskaskia, which was named
" the Yillage of the Immaculate Conception of the Holy Yirgin."
In 1690, Gravier succeeded Allouez, and Pinet established a mis
sion at Cahokia, then called "Notre Dame des Kahokias." Easle
came to Kaskaskia in 1692, and remained in charge of the mission
for two years ; and subsequently Marest succeeded him, and was
remaining there in 1712 ; and, during the greater part of the time,
seems to have had all the missions under his charge. During the
same period, Ribourde and Mambre were employed mainly, it is
probable, about Fort St. Louis. The success of these missions was,
it appears from the letters of the missionaries, not flattering, but
they served as points of attraction for the French traders in the
west; and accordingly Kaskaskia, in 1712, had become a village;
land titles were acquired, and it was chosen as the capital of the
Illinois.

* Wah-wee-ah-tenon was the Indian name of the residence of Ouias, and was a French
missionary station and fort.

1701. SETTLEMENT OP DETROIT, 85
The treaty of Ryswick contained a claim of jurisdiction, on the
part of England, over the Iroquois; but the French afterward dis
regarded the claim, and sought, through the influence of the Jesuits,
to secure a peace with, and an ascendency over, that powerful con
federacy. They were successful, and in 1700 a treaty was nego
tiated by De Callicres between the French and their allies on the
one side, and the Iroquois on the other; by which the French
secured peace and trade with all the tribes from the English bor
ders to the Mississippi, and the possession of the line of the lakes.
To secure the benefits of that treaty to France, De Callicres sent
out De la Motte Cadillac, with a Jesuit missionary and one hundred
colonists, to take possession of the Detroit river. In July of that
year, he arrived, and built a fort, which he named Ponchartrain,
on the site of the present city of Detroit. In 1705, Cadillac was
invested by the king with authority to cede the lands about that
post to French settlers. The terms of one of these grants* will
show the tenure by which they were held, and will illustrate the
policy the French government pursued in regard to its colonies,
and the meager encouragement it bestowed upon the great interest
of agriculture. The grantee was bound to pay a rent of fifteen
livres a year, in peltries, to the crown forever; to improve the
grant within three months from the date of the contract ; to plant
a May-pole, on May-day, in each year, before the door of the
manor-house ; to make fences for his grant in a prescribed manner,
and, when required, to assist in making his neighbors' fences. He
was forbidden to buy or sell articles of merchandise, carried to or
from Montreal, through servants, clerks, or foreigners ; to work,
directly or indirectly, for ten years, at the business of a blacksmith,
locksmith, armorer, or brewer ; to sell brandy to the Indians ; or
to mortgage the land without consent of the government. The
crown reserved the property of all minerals, and of timber for
military purposes. The grantor reserved the right of hunting rab
bits, hares, partridges, and pheasants ; and the right to grind all
the grain produced on the land, receiving toll according to the
custom of Paris. On every sale of the land a tax was levied, and
the government reserved the right to take precedence of any buyer,
and take the land at the price offered. Agriculture, under such
restrictions as these, could not prosper. At Detroit, as elsewhere
throughout New France, except in favored localities, the cultivation

* Dillon's Indiana, p. 29.

86 EXPEDITION OF LA SEUR. 1700.
of the soil was neglected, the attention of the settlers was directed
to trade, mining, and hunting; and, consequently, when the day
of trial came, the French were found unable to contend with the
more powerful and more compact colonies of the English. The
climate and scenery of Detroit, nevertheless, invited emigration ;
a French village grew up around Fort Ponchartrain ; a village of
Hurons and one of Ottawas were built under the protection of the
fort ; and Detroit became one of the most flourishing of the French
posts in the west. In 1713, the Foxes from the west attacked the
fort, then under the command of Du Boison.* The fort was de
fended by only twenty men, till Du Boison was enabled to collect
a force from the friendly tribes, and the hostile band was compelled
to surrender. The warriors were put to death, their women and
children were divided among the victors.
Aside from the permanent settlements of Detroit, Yincennes,
and the Illinois, explorations were made, and in some instances
posts established, at different points along the Mississippi and Mis
souri rivers. In 1695, La Seurf was sent out to establish peaceful
relations with the Chippewas and Sioux, whose acquaintance had
been inade by Hennepin, in 1680. For this purpose he established
a fort on the Mississippi, opposite the mouth of the Chippewa ; left
there a garrison, and, after exploring the St. Croix and the St.
Pierre for forty leagues, where he discovered, as he supposed, cop
per mines, he returned to Montreal, with a chief of the Chippewas
and one of the Sioux. A treaty was made between these, as repre
sentatives of their tribes, and Frontenac ; and it was stipulated
that La Seur should return to the St. Peter's in the next year ; but
the Sioux chief died during the winter, and he returned to France
to obtain the privilege of opening the mines he had discovered.
He received his commission in 1697, and on his return to Canada,
was captured by the English cruisers, and threw his commission
overboard, to avoid a discovery of his plans. After the peace of
Ryswick, he returned to France, received a new commission, in
1698, and joined the expedition of D'Iberville to the mouth of the
Mississippi, for the purpose of ascending that river, under the
direction of L'Huillier, contractor-general of the crown, with thirty
workmen, to the mines. On the 12th of July, 1700, he set out to

* Du Boison's report, Detroit, 1845.
¦f- Long's Expedition, vol. 2, p. 318.

1720. INVASION OF THE SPANIARDS. 87
ascend the river, and on the 1st of October reached the mouth of
Blue Earth river, forty-four leagues up the St. Peter's, and on the
14th finished a fort, which he named L'Huillier. In the spring he
opened the mine, and in twenty-two days secured thirty thousand
pounds of supposed copper ore, of which four thousand were
selected, and with that La Seur descended the Mississippi, and
arrived at its mouth on the 10th of February, 1702. It is not known
how long the forts, L'Huillier and La Seur, were maintained, but
it is probable that no further effort was made to prosecute the busi
ness of mining in that region, and that they were deserted.
Up the Missouri, early explorations were made.* Dutisne passed
up the Salene river, three hundred and fifty miles, to the villages
of the Osages, made the acquaintance of the Pawnees, Poncas and
Missouris, and took formal possession of the country. In 1705, Le
Seur ascended the Missouri to the mouth of the Kansas ; was well
received by the Missouris and Kansas, and opened a profitable trade
with them. These movements of the French to the West, and
especially up the Missouri, awakened the jealousy of the Spaniards.
"The Spaniards, desirous of removing an active neighbor from the
vicinity of New Mexico, induced them, in 1720, to adopt the scheme
of forming a considerable colony far beyond the boundaries, within
which they had hitherto confined themselves. The numerous cara
vans that were to compose this colony, set out from Santa Fe.
They directed their march toward the Osages, whom they wished
to induce to take up arms against their eternal enemies, the Mis
souris, whose territory they had resolved to occupy. The Spaniards
missed their way, and came directly to that nation, the ruin of
which they were meditating ; and, mistaking these Indians for the
Osages, communicated their design without any reserve. The
chief of the Missouris, who became acquainted by this singular
mistake, with the danger that threatened him and his people, dis
sembled his resentment. He told the Spaniards he would gladly
concur in promoting the success of their undertaking, and only
desired eight and forty hours to assemble his warriors. When
they were armed to the number of two thousand, they fell upon
the Spaniards, whom they had amused with sports, and slew them
in their sleep. All were massacred, without distinction of age or
sex; the chaplain, who alone escaped the slaughter, owed his preser-

* Du Prat?. Louisiana.

88 INTRODUCTION OF SLAVES INTO ILLINOIS. 1720.
vation to the singularity of his dress. This catastrophe having
secured the tranquillity of Louisiana on the side where it was most
threatened, the colony could only be molested by the natives ; but
these, although more numerous at that time than they are in our
day, from a destitution of firearms, were not veiy formidable.
Furthermore, they were divided into several nations, all of them
feeble and at enmity with each other, though separated by immense
deserts."* The settlements of Upper Louisiana, with the excep
tion of the post at Detroit, under a military commandment, were
without any definite political organization before the year 1718.
At that time the company of the West sent out Eoisbriant as
intendant, with a small force to the Illinois, to establish a post, and
to assume the direction of the colony. In the same year, he estab
lished a post on the Mississippi, fifteen miles above the village of
Kaskaskia, which he named Fort Chartres. The fort, which was
first built of wood, was badly located. It was on an alluvial bottom,
on a site subject to inundation, on a river whose banks were con
stantly changing, and was valueless as a defense against civilized
foes ; but doubtless served for the head-quarters of the government
and for the defense of the s'ettlements.
The company of the West was formed with the special purpose
of developing the mineral resources of Louisiana; and the upper
Louisiana was regarded as especially rich in minerals. To open
and work them, Philip Francis Renault was sent out, in 1719, with
two hundred mechanics, minei-s and laborers. On his way, he
bought, in the name of the company, five hundred slaves at St.
Domingo, for working the mines, and arrived at the Illinois in 1720.
This was the first introduction of slavery into the territory of
the North West; about the same time it was introduced into the
South West, and there soon acquired a permanent establishment.
Of course, in the first instance here as elsewhere, it existed Avithout
law, but was sanctioned and regulated by subsequent legislation.
The "ordinance for the government and administration of justice,
police discipline and traffic in negro slaves, in the province of
Louisiana," though sufficiently cruel to disgrace even a French
king of the old regime, yet compares favorably with the slave codes
of a later day.
"Louis, by the grace of God, king of France and Navarre, to all

* Abbe Raynal.

1720. SLAVES IN ILLINOIS. 89
present, and to come, greeting: The Directors of the Indies Com
pany having represented that the province and colony of Louisiana
is extensively settled by a great number of our subjects who employ
negro slaves in the cultivation of the soil, we have deemed it con
sistent with our authority and justice, for the protection of that
colony, to establish there a system of laws in order to maintain the
discipline of the Apostolic Roman Catholic Church, and to regulate
the estate and condition of slaves in the said country. And desiring
to provide therefor, and show our subjects residing there, and
those who may settle there in future, that, although they dwell in
regions infinitely remote, we are always present to them by the
extent of our sovereignty and by our earnest study to yield them
aid. For these reasons, and others, moving us thereunto, by the
advice of our council, and from our certain knowledge, plenary
power and royal authority, we have enacted, ordained and decreed,
and do enact, ordain and decree in our will and pleasure, as
follows : *
"All slaves who may be in our said province, shall be educated
in the Apostolic Roman Catholic religion, and be baptized.
"We command those colonists who purchase slaves recently
imported, thus to have them instructed and baptized within a
reasonable time, under pain of an arbitrary fine. We charge the
directors general of said company, and all our officers, to enforce
this strictly.
"We prohibit any other religious rites than those of the Apos
tolic Roman Catholic Church; requiring that those who violate
this, shall be punished as rebels, disobedient to our commands. We
prohibit all meetings for this purpose. Such we declare to be
unlawful and seditious assemblages, subject to the same penalties
inflicted upon masters who shall permit or suffer it with respect to
their slaves.
"No overseers shall be set over the negroes to prevent their pro
fessing the Apostolic Roman Catholic Religion, under pain of
forfeiture of such slaves by the masters appointing such overseers,
and of arbitrarily punishing the overseers who shall have accepted
said superintendence.
"We admonish all our subjects, of every rank and condition, to
observe, scrupulously, Sundays and holidays. We prohibit their
laboring, or causing their slaves to labor, on those days, (from the

* Dillon's Indiana, p. 46,

90 SLAVES IN ILLINOIS. 1720.
hour of midnight to the followii;g midnight) in the culture of the
soil, or any other service, under penalty of a fine and arbitrary
punishment to be inflicted upon the masters, together with forfeiture
of those slaves who shall be detected by our officers at work. Reserv
ing to them, nevertheless, the privilege of sending their slaves to
market. "We prohibit white subjects of both sexes, from contracting
marriages with the blacks, under pain of punishment and an arbi
trary fine, and we prohibit all Chaplains of vessels, priests and
missionaries, whether secular or regular, fi-om solemnizing maiTiages
between them.
"We also prohibit our white subjects as well as blacks, affran-
chized, or born free, from living in a state of concubinage with the
slaves ; enacting, that those who shall have had one or more chil
dren by such cohabitation, shall be severally condemned, as well as
the master permitting it, to pay a fine of three hundred livres.
And, if they are masters of the slaves, by whom they shall have such
children, we decree that, beside the fine, they be deprived of both
the slave and children, who shall be adjudged the property of the
hospital of the district, without the capacity of subsequent affran
chisement. Provided, that this article is of none effect, when the
black man, either free-born or manumitted, who was not married
during such cohabitation with his slave, shall espouse her according
to the forms prescribed by the church; which act shall affranchise
her, and make her children free and legitimate.
"Masters shall be obliged to inter in holy ground, within the
cemeteries set apart for that purpose, their slaves who have been
baptized. "It is our will that the officers of our Superior Council of Louisi
ana, shall furnish an opinion as to the quantity of food, and the
quality of clothing, it is proper for masters to furnish their slaves,
in order that we may enact a statute thereupon. In the meantime,
we permit said officers to regulate, by express provision, said food
and raiment; interdicting the giving of any kind of spirituous
liquors by masters to said slaves, in lieu of said victuals and
clothing. "We forbid, in like manner, their releasing themselves from the
charge of feeding and supporting said slaves, by permitting them
to labor a certain day in the week on their own account.
"Slaves who are not fed, clad and maintained by their masters,
may give notice thereof to the Procureur General of said council,
or the officers of the inferior courts, and place their complaints in

1720. SLAVES IN ILLINOIS, 91
their hands; upon which, and even of their own accord, if the
notice shall have come to them in some other way, the master shall
be prosecuted on motion of the Procureur General, without cost;
which course we direct to be pursued in case of crimes and cruel
treatment of slaves by their masters,
" Slaves enfeebled by old age, sickness, or otherwise, whether
the debility be incurable or not, shall be maintained and supported
by their masters ; and, in case they have abandoned them, said
slaves shall be quartered upon the nearest hospital, to which their
masters shall be condemned to pay eight sous per day for the main
tenance and support of each slave — for the payment of which sum
said hospital shall have a lien upon the plantations of said masters,
into whose possession soever they may pass.
"We decree that the husband, his wife, and their children under
age, cannot be seized and sold separately, if they are all within the
power of one and the same master — declaring void, seizures and
separate sales which may be made of them. This rule, it is our
will, should govern in voluntary sales, under a penalty to be inflicted
on those effecting such sales, of surrendering that one or those over
whom they had control, who are adjudged to the purchasers, with
out being compelled to pay any remainder due upon the price of
sale. " It is also our will, that slaves of the age of forty years and
upward, to that of sixty, attached to the lands and tenements, and
engaged in actual labor there, shall not be seized for any other
debt than what may be due upon the price of their original pur
chase, unless the lands and tenements were actually seized ; in
which case we direct that thej' be included in the actual seizure,
and prohibit, as nullities, all proceedings by actual distress and
adjudication by decree upon the lands and tenements, without
embracing the slaves of the aforesaid age engaged there in actual
service. "We direct all guardians, both noblemen and commoners,
tenants, lessees, and others, enjoying the profit of lands to which
are attached slaves, who labor thereupon, to govern them in a
parental manner; in consideration of which they shall not be com
pelled, after their term of management has expired, to account for
those who have died, or been enfeebled by sickness, old age, or
otherwise, without fault of theirs ; but they may not retain as profits
for their advantage, the children born of said slaves during their
term of administration, whom we direct to be maintained and given
up to those who are their owners and proprietors."

92 VIVIER'S ACCOUNT OF ILLINOIS. 1750.
Of the years which followed, there is little that is interesting in the
history of the Illinois; but its condition in 1750 may be inferred
from a letter written in that year by Father Yivier. Writing
" Aux Illinois," six leagues from Fort Chartres, June 8th, 1750,
Yivier says: "We have here whites, negroes and Indians, to say
nothing of cross-breeds. There are five French villages, and three
villages of the natives, within a space of twenty-one leagues, situ
ated between the Mississippi and another river called the Karka-
diad (Kaskaskias.) In the five French villages are, perhaps, eleven
hundred whites, three hundred blacks, and some sixty red slaves
or savages. The three Illinois towns do not contain more than
eight hundred souls, all told. Most of the French till the soil;
they raise wheat,* cattle, pigs and horses, and live like princes.
Three times as much is produced as can be consumed ;t and great
quantities of grain and flour are sent to New Orleans." In this
letter, also, Yivier says that which shows Father Marest's fears of
French influence over the Indian neophytes to have been well
founded. Of the three Illinois towns, he tells us, one was given
up by the missionaries as beyond hope, and in a second, but a poor
harvest rewarded their labors; and all was owing to the bad example
of the French, and the introduction by them of ardent spirits. J

* Imlay says that in 1746, eight hundred thousand pounds of flour, equal to 4,285
barrels, were exported from Illinois to New Orleans.
•j- In 1769, the French at the Illinois made upward of one hundred hogsheads stron"
wine from the American wild grape. — Report of the Superintendent of the Census, 1851.
J Brandy and rum entered largely into the commerce of Louisiana, and great quanti
ties of those articles were shipped from New Orleans to the Illinois, for the Indian trade,
during the whole period of the French domination.

PERIOD II.
1698 — 1765.
The French title to the valley of the Mississippi rested upon the
fact of the explorations of Marquette and La Salle, the fact of occu
pation, and upon their construction of the respective , treaties of
Ryswick, Utrecht and Aix la Chapelle. The English claims to the
same i;egion were based on the fact of a prior occupation of the
corresponding coast, on an opposite construction of the same
treaties, and on alleged cession of the rights of the Indians. The
rights acquired by discovery were conventional, and in equity were
good only between European powers, and could not affect the rights
of the natives; but the distinction was disregarded by both the
French and English governments ; and the inquiry of the Indian
chief embodies the whole controversy in brief: "Where are the
Indian lands, since the French claim all on the north side of the
Ohio, and the English all on the south side of it?"
The English charters granted to all the original colonies expressly
extended their grants westward to the South Sea, and the claims
thus set up to the West, though held in abeyance, were never relin
quished. The English colonies were fixed agricultural communi
ties. The French- colonies were rather trading, military and
missionary establishments. And this fact furnishes in part the
reason why the French were familiar with the whole valley of the
Mississippi before the English passed the Alleghenies.
Explorations west of the Alleghenies were, however, made at
different times during the period of the French occupation, mainly
through individual enterprise, and efforts Were made to induce the
home government to colonize and occupy the valley of the Mis
sissippi. A volume called "A Description of the English province of Caro
lana, by the Spaniards called Florida, and by the French called La
Louisiane, as also of the great and famous river Meschacebe, or
Mississippi, the five vast navigable lakes of fresh water, and the
parts adjacent, together with an account of the commodities of the
growth and production of the said province," was published by Daniel
Coxe, at London, in 1722. Charles I., in 1630, granted to Sir
Robert Heath, all that part of America lying between thirty-one

94 SPOTTSWOOD EXPLORES THE ALLEGHENIES. 1710.
and thirty-six degrees north latitude, from sea to sea, out of the
limits of which the province of Carolina was afterward taken. This
large grant was conveyed in 1638 to the Earl of Arundel, and after
ward came into the possession of Dr. Daniel Coxe. In the prose
cution of this claim, it appears* that Colonel Wood, of Yirginia,
from 1654 tO 1664, explored several branches of the Ohio and
"Meschacebe," the authority for which is a journal of Mr. Need-
ham, who was employed by Col. Wood — that there was in existence
before 1676, the journal of some one who had explored the Missis
sippi to the Yellow, or Missouri river — that in 1678 several persons
went from New England as far as New Mexico, one hundred and
fifty leagues beyond the Meschacebe, and on their return rendered
an account of the government at Boston. Further, that Coxe him
self, and through his agents, had entered the valley from Carolina
and Pennsylvania, that in 1698 he had fitted out two vessels under
the command of Captain Barr, one of which ascended the Missis
sippi one hundred miles, and that the English designed to make a
settlement of the Huguenot refugees on the "Meschacebe," but
that the death of Lord Lonsdale, who was the chief promoter of the
scheme, frustrated the project. It is the main object of "The
Description of Carolana," which was written by the son of the pro
prietor, to describe the topography of the Mississippi valley, from
the journals and reports of all these explorers; and, though he
borrows evidently from the French explorations, yet there is an
exactness in his descriptions, that is a strong evidence of the truth
of the journals on which it is based. There is even a remarkable
sagacity and foresight in some of its allusions and suggestions.
The south pass over the Rocky Mountains is marked as a great
conveniency; there are tracts of country in the West "that would
suit very well with camels;" the great importance of the cotton
culture is affirmed; even the gold of California and the Sandwich
Islands come under the notice of the writer. Yet, with the excep
tion of the report of the English vessel met by Bienville at the
"English turn," the description of which agrees with that of the
vessel commanded by Captain Barr, there is no corroboration of
any of these statements.
The policy of occupying the Mississippi valley was for a time
neglected. It was revived by Alexander Spottswood, f who was.

* Coxe's Memorial to King WiUiam, in 1699.
I Graharae's Colonial History.

1742. JOHN HOWARD DESCENDS OHIO. 95
in 1710, made Governor of Yirginia. Spottswood was gifted with
more than ordinary foresight and breadth of view. The purpose,
even then entertained by the French, of enclosing the English
colonies within the .mountains, did not escape his penetration, and
accordingly he proposed a system of measures to counteract their
schemes. Through his representation, the Assembly of Yirginia
was induced to make appropriations to defray the expense of an
exploration of the Alleghenies, then popularly believed to be
impassable, for the purpose of discovering a passage to the valley
beyond. Gov. Spottswood led the expedition in person. A prac
ticable pass was discovered, a route was marked out for future
emigriants, and the party returned to Williamsburg. There, as a
memorial of the event, Spottswood established the " Transmontane
Order, or Knights of the Golden Horse Shoe," conferred the honor
of this novel knighthood on, each of the companions of his expedi
tion, and, in allusion to the horse shoes they used, which were not
employed in the sandy soil of Eastern Yirginia, he gave, as the
badge of the order, a golden horse shoe, inscribed with the motto,
"*S\'c jurat transcendere monies." With more wisdom, he pre
sented a memorial to the English government, in which, with great
force and acuteness, he exposed the Fi;ench scheme of military occu
pation, foretold the course they would pursue in the effort to limit
the English colonies to the Atlantic coast, and advised the building
of a chain of forts across to the Ohio, and the formation of settle
ments to counteract them. Nothing was done to carry out his
suggestions, his recall prevented him from prosecuting his favorite
plans, and the subject was lost sight of under the pressure of other
affairs. Forty years later, the British colonies had occasion to
remember the policy of Governor Spottswood, and to regret that
it was so thoughtlessly abandoned.
Individuals, however, from time to time passed into the valley,
for the purposes of trade or location. There are vague accounts
that English traders were known on the Ohio as early, perhaps, as
1730, In 1742, John Howard crossed the mountains from Yir
ginia, descended the Ohio in a skin canoe, and was taken prisoner
by the French on the Mississippi. Soon after that time traders
undoubtedly began to flock thither from Yirginia and Pennsyl
vania, In 1748, Conrad Weiser,* a German of Herenberg, who

* Early History of Pennsylvania, App. 10.

96 WEISER TREATS WITH INDIANS AT LOGSTOWN. 1748.
had in early life acquired the Mohawk tongue, by a residence
among them, was sent on an embassy to the Shawanees, on the
Ohio. Mr. Weiser proceeded to Logstown,* a Shawanee village
on the north side of the Ohio, seventeen miles below the site of
Pittsburgh, where he met the chiefs of the tribe, delivered presents
to them, and received assurances of their support against the French.
But the principal ground of claim of the British to the country
west of the Alleghenies, was by treaties of purchase from the
"Five Nations," or Iroquois. This was the only confederacy of
Indian tribes that deserved the name of government in this part of
North America. They had the rude elements of a confederated
republic, and they were the conquerors of most of the other tribes
from Lower Canada to the Mississippi, and even beyond. Different
from the policy of all the other tribes, they left the conquered
nations to manage their own internal afl'airs as they might choose,
but exacted tributes, and especially claimed the right as conquerors
to dispose of their country. On this right the Five Nations sold,
in treaty with the British authorities, the country on the Ohio,
including Western Yirginia, and Kentucky, a large part of Illinois,
and the country along the northern lakes into Upper Canada.
Waiving for the present all questions as to the justice of their
claims, it is a fact now fully established, that this confederacj' did
set up claims to the whole country now embraced in Kentucky and
Western Yirginia north of the Cherokee claims, and the North
western Territory, except a district in Ohio and Indiana, and a
small section in Southwestern Illinois, which was claimed and
held by the Miami confederacy.
In 1684, Lord Howard, Governor of Yirginia, held a treaty with
the Five Nations, at Albany, when, at the request of Colonel
Dungan, Governor of New York, they placed themselves under
the protection of the British nation.f They made a deed of sale,
by treaty, to the British government of a vast tract of country
south and east of the Illinois river, and extending across Lake
Huron into Canada. Another formal deed was drawn up, and
signed by the chiefs of the national confederacy in 1726, by which
their lands were conveyed in trust to England, " to be protected

* Weiser's Journal. Early History of Pennsylvania. App. 12.
f "Plain Facts,"— Philadelphia, 1781, pp. 22, 23.

1744. TREATY WITH THE IROQUOIS AT LANCASTER, 97
and defended by his majesty, to and for the use of the grantors
and their heirs,"*^
If the Six Nations had a good claim to the western country,
there could be but little doubt that England was justified in defend
ing that country against the French, as France, by the treaty of
Utrecht, had agreed not to invade the lands of Britain's Indian
allies. This claim of the New York savages has been disputed ;
but the evidence nevertheless is very strong, that, before 1680, the
Six Nations had overrun the western lands, and were dreaded from
Lakes Erie and Michigan to the Ohio, and west to the Mississippi,
In 1673, Allouez and Dablon found the Miamis upon Lake Michi
gan, fearing a visit from the Iroquois. In 1680, La Salle found
them on the Illinois. The upper Ohio was called by the early
French the river of the Iroquois ; and was long unexplored for
fear of their hostility. And the evidence from many sources is
conclusive, that the Iroquois confederacy, rendered strong by the
arms they received from the Dutch of New York, overran not only
the regions north and south of their original seats, but that they,
during the early part of the eighteenth century, extended their
conquests and incursions to the Mississippi. But they retained no
fixed possession of the regions they had thus overrun, and, indeed,
through the influence of the French over the western tribes, and
with the aid of the arms they furnished to them, confederacies
were formed against the Iroquois; they were confined within nar
rower limits, and their title to such extended regions, if it ever
existed, was extinguished.
But some of the western lands were also claimed by the British,
as having actually been purchased. This purchase was said to have
been made at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1744, when a treaty was
held between the colonists and the Six- Nations, relative to some
alleged settlements that had been made upon the Indian lands in
Pennsylvania, Yirginia, and Maryland ; of which there is a very
good and graphic account, written by Witham Marsh6, who went
as secretary with the commissioners for Maryland. The Maryland
commissioners reached Lancaster upon the 21st of June, before
either the governor of Pennsylvania, the Yirginia commissioners,
or the Indians had arrived; though all but the natives came that
evening.

* This may be found at length in Pownall's "Administration of the Colonies," fourth
edition.

98 TREATY OF LANCASTER. 1744.
The next forenoon wore wearily away, and all were glad to sit
down, at one o'clock, to a dinner in the court-house, which the
Yirginians gave their friends, anfl from which not many were
drawn, even by the arrival of the Indians, who came, to the num
ber of two hundred and fifty-two, with squaws and little children
on horseback, and with their fire-arms, and bows and arrows, and
tomahawks, and, as they passed the court-house, invited the white
men with a song to renew their former treaties. On the outskirts
of the town, vacant lots had been chosen for the savages to build
their wigwams upon, and thither they marched on, with Conrad
Weiser, their friend and interpreter,* while the Yirginians " drank
the loyal healths," and finished their entertainment. A scene of
festivity and drunkenness of the Indians followed, which continued
at intervals for several days. It appears, howevef, in Marshe's
journal, that the chiefs " narrowly scanned" the goods paid by the
commissioners of Maryland for the lands that colony purchased,
amounting to ,£220, Pennsylvania currency. The commissioners
of Yirginia paid £200 in gold, and a like sum in goods, with a
promise that as settlements increased more should be paid. The
commissioners from Yirginia, at this treaty of Lancaster, were Col.
Thomas Lee and Col. William Beverly.
Such was the treaty of Lancaster, upon which, as a corner-stone,
the claim of the colonists to the West, by purchase, rested ; and
upon this, and the grant from the Six Nations, Great Britain relied
in all subsequent steps.
The Shawanee Indians, on the Ohio, who had long shown symp
toms of disaffection to the English, and subserviency to the French
cause, now openly assumed a hostile character. Peter Chartiez, a
half-blood and trader, was a French spy, who dwelt chiefiy in Phi
ladelphia, In 1743, he endeavored to engage the Shawanees in
war with the Six Nations. This oftense was overlooked by the
Pennsylvania government, from an apprehension that his punish
ment would serve as a pretext for violence to their traders; but
being reprimanded by Governor Thomas, for some other impro
priety, he became alarmed, fled to the Shawanees, and persuaded
them to declare for the French. Soon after, at the head of four
hundred of their warriors, he lay in wait on the Allegheny river
for the provincial traders, captured two of them, and, exhibiting a
captain's commission from France, seized their property to the
value of sixteen hundred pounds.
* Early History of Pennsylvania.

1748. OHIO COMPANY. 99
As settlements extended, and the Indians became more hostile,
the promise of further pay was called to mind, and Weiser was
sent across the Alleghenies to Logstown, in 1748, with presents,
to conciliate them; and to sound them, probably, as to their
feeling with regard to large settlements in the West, which some
Yirginians, with Col. Thotnas Lee, the Lancaster commissioner, at
their head, were then contemplating. The object of these propo
sed settlements, was not the cultivation of the soil, but the monopoly
of the Indian trade, which, with all its profits, had till that time
been in the hands of unprincipled men, half civilized, half savage,
who, through the Iroquois, had from the earliest period penetrated
to the lakes of Canada, and competed everywhere with the French
for skins and furs. It was now proposed in Yirginia, to supersede
these beyond the mountains, by means of a great company, which
should hold lands ^.nd build trading-houses, import European
goods regularly, and export the furs of the West, in return, to
London. Accordingly, after Weiser's conference with the Indians
at Logstown, which was favorable to their views, Thomas Lee,
with twelve other Yirginians, among whom were Lawrence and
Augustine, brothers of George Washington, and also Mr. Hanbury,
of London, formed an association which they called the " Ohio
Company," and in 1748, petitioned the king for a grant beyond
the mountains. This petition was approved by the monarch, and
the government of Yirginia was ordered to grant to the petitioners
half a million of acres within the bounds of that colony, beyond
the Alleghenies, two hundred thousand of which were to be located
at once. This portion was to be held for ten years, free of quit-
rent, provided the company would put there one hundred families
within seven years, and build a fort sufficient to protect the settle
ment; all which the company proposed, and prepared to do at
once, and sent to London for a cargo suited to the Indian trade,
which was to come out so as to arrive in November, 1749.
Other companies were also formed about this time in Yirginia,
to colonize the West. Upon the 12th of June, 1749, a grant of
800,000 acres, from the line of Canada, on the north and west, was
made to the Loyal Company; and, upon the 29th of October,
1751, another of 100,000 acres to the Greenbriar Company.
But the French were not blind all this while. They saw, that
if the British once obtained a strong hold upon the Ohio, they might
not only prevent their settlements upon it, but must at last come
upon their lower posts, and so the battle be fought sooner or later.

100 CELERON BURIES MEDALS ALONG OHIO. 1749-
To the danger of the English possessions in the West, Yaudreuil,
the French governor, had been long alive. Upon the 10th of May,
1744, he wrote home representing the consequences that must
come from allowing the British to build a trading-house among the
Creeks; and, in November, 1748, he anticipated their seizure of
Fort Prudhomme, which was upon the Mississippi below the Ohio.
Nor was it for mere sickly missionary stations that the governor
feared; for, in the year last named, the Illinois settlements, few as
they were, sent fiour and corn, the hams of hogs and bears, pickled
pork and beef, myrtle wax, cotton, tallow, leather, tobacco, lead,
iron, copper, some little buffalo wool, venison, poultry, bear's
grease, oil, skins, and coarse furs to the New Orleans market.
Even in 1746, from five to six hundred barrels of flour, according
to one authority, and two thousand according to another, went
thither from Illinois, convoys annually going down in December
with the produce. Having these fears, and seeing the danger of
the late movements of the British, Gallisoniere, then governor of
Canada, determined to place along the Ohio, evidences of the
French claim to, and possession of the country; and for that
purpose, in the summer of 1749, sent Louis Celeron with a party
of soldiers, to place plates of lead, on which were written the claims
of France, in the mounds, and at the mouths of the rivers.
One of these plates was found at the mouth of the Muskingum;
another at Yenango. The following is a translation of the inscrip
tion on the latter :
"In the year 1749, reign of Louis XY., King of France, we,
Celeron, commandant of a detachment by Monsieur the Marquis
of Gallisoniere, commander-in-chief of New France, to establish
tranquillity in certain Indian villages of these cantons, have buried
this plate at the confluence of the Toradakoin, this twenty-ninth
of July, ;near the River Ohio, otherwise Beautiful River, as a
monument of renewal of possession which we have taken of the
said river, and all its tributaries ; and of all the land on both sides,
as far as the sources of said rivers ; inasmuch as the preceding
Kings of France haVe enjoyed it, and maintained it by their arms
and by treaties ; especially by those of Ryswick, Utrecht, and Aix
La Chapelle."
The claim of England and her colonies to the same region, was
thus stated:* "That all the lands, or countries Westward from

* Colonial Records of Pennsylvania.

1753. DEPOSITION OF COFFEN. 101
the Atlantic Ocean to the South Sea, between 48 and 34 degrees
North Latitude, were expressly included in the grant of King
James the First, to divers of his Subjects, so long since as the year
1606, and afterwards confirmed in 1620 ; and under this grant, the
Colony of Yirginia claims extent so far West as the South Sea, and
the ancient Colonies of the Massachusetts Bay, and Connecticut, were
by their respective charters made to extend to the said South Sea,
so that not only the right to the Sea Coast, but to all the Inland
Countries from Sea to Sea, has at all times been asserted by the
Crown of England."
To make good their title to the lands which they had in this
manner claimed, the French made early and vigorous efforts to
occupy, and fortify themselves in the Ohio valley. The nature and
extent of these efforts maybe inferred from a deposition of Stephen
Coffen, who was for a time a prisoner among them, made on the
10th of January, 1754, to Col. Johnston, at New York. Aside from
the information it contains, it is an interesting specimen of the
style of the olden time.
"Stephen Coffen of full age being duly sworn deposeth and
saith: that he was taken Prisoner by the French and Indians of
Canada at Menis, in the Year 1747, under the Command of Major
Noble, from whence he was brought to an Indian Yillage called
Actagouche about Fifteen Leagues to the Westward of Chebucta,
where he was kept three Weeks Prisoner; from thence was carried
to a French Settlement called Beaubasin, where the French had a
Wooden Fort then Garrisoned With Twenty-Five Men ; remained
there Two Months; from thence they took him to Gaspey, a con
siderable Fishing place in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, near to the
Entrance of the River; there are about Three Hundred Families
settled there ; they kept him there working near Four Years ; then
he was brought to a place called Ramouski, inhabited by about
Twenty-Five French Families, from which Place he sailed two
Years to and from Quebec in a Sloop carrying Beaver and Furrs,
Salmon, &°*" to Quebec, and in return brought back Brandy, Dry
Goods, &°°; during the Time of the Deponent's residing at Quebec
he said it was commonly talked or reported that they the French
intended to settle as many Families as they could to the Westward,
to make up for the Loss of Two of their Towns sunk in the West
Indies by an Earthquake. The Deponent further saith that the
Navigation up the River Saint Lawrence is very dangerous, particu
larly so at the Isle aux Coudres and the Isle Orleans ; the North
Side of the former is the best Navigation, the South Side being very

102 DEPOSITION OF COFFEN. 1753.
rapid and rocky, and the Channel not above Two Hundred Yards
wide, about six Fathom Water, whereas in the North Channel there
is Fifteen Fathom; at the North East End of the latter begin Two
Sand Banks, which extend a League down said River; the Channel
is between both Banks, and pretty near the Middle of the River,
from thence to the Town of Quebec good Navigation, being Fifteen
Fathom all the Way. The Deponent says there is no possibility
of going up said River without the Tide serves or a strong North-
East Wind, especially at the Two aforementioned Islands. In
September, 1752, the Deponent was in Quebec and endeavoring to
agree with some Indians to convey him to his own country. New
England, which the Indians acquainted the Governor of, who im
mediately ordered him to Goal, where he lay three Months. Atthe
Time of his Releasement the French were preparing for a March to
Belle Riviere, or Ohio, when he offered his Service, but was
rejected by the Governor General Le Cain. He the said General
setting out for Mont Real about the Third of January, 1753, to
view and forward the Forces; the Deponent applied to Major Ram
say for Liberty to go with the Army to Ohio, who told him he
would ask the Lieutenant De Rouy, who agreed to it, upon which
he was equipped as a Soldier and sent with a Detachment of Three
Hundred Men to Montreal, under the Command or Monsieur Ba-
beer, who set off immediately with said Command by Land and Ice
for Lake Erie; they in their Way stopped a couple of Days to
refresh themselves at Cadarahqui Fort, also at 'Taranto on the
North side of Lake Ontario, then at Niagara Fort Fifteen Days ;
from thence set off by Water, being April, and arrived at Chada-
koin, on Lake Erie, where they were ordered to fell Timber and
prepare it for building a Fort there according to the Governor's
Instructions ; but Mr. Morang coming up with Five Hundred Men
and Twenty Indians put a Stop to the erecting a Fort at that Place
by reason of his not liking the Situation, and the River of Chada-
koins being too shallow to carry any Craft with Provisions, k°^ to
Belle Riviere. The Deponent says there arose a warm Debate
between Messieurs Babeer and Morang thereon, the first insistmg
on building a Fort there agreeable to his Instructions, otherwise
on Morang's giving him an Instrument in Writing to satisfy the
Governor in that Point, which Morang did, and then ordered Mon
sieur Mercie, who was both Commissary and Engineer, to go alopg
said Lake and look for a good Situation, which he found and re
turned in three days, it being Fifteen Leagues to the South-West
of .Chadakoin; they were then all ordered to repair thither; when,

1753. DEPOSITION OF COFFEN. 103
they arrived there were about Twenty Indians fishing in the Lake,
who immediately quit it on seeing the French; they fell to Work
and built a square Fort of Ohesnut Logs, squared and lapped over
each other to the Height of Fifteen Feet, it is about one hundred
and twenty square — a Log House in each Square — a Gate to the
Southward and another to the Northward, not one Port Hole cut in
any Part of it when finished — they called it Fort Le Presque Isle.
The Indians who came from Canada with them returned very
much out of Temper, owing as it was said among the Army to
Morang's dogged Behavior and ill Usage of them (but they the
Indians said at Oswego it was owing to the French's misleading
them by telling them Falsehoods, which they said they had now
found out) and left them. As soon as the Fort was finished they
marched Southward, cutting a Waggon Road through a fine level
Country twenty-one Miles to the River aux Boeufs (leaving Cap
tain Derponteney with an hundred Men to garrison the Fort La
Briske Isle) ; they fell to Work cutting Timber, Boards, &"°' for
another Fort, while Mr. Morang ordered Monsieur Bite with Fifty
Men to a Place called by the Indians Ganagarahhare, or the Banks
of Belle Riviere, where the River aux Boeufs empties into it; in the
meantime Morang had Ninety large Boats or Battoes made to carry
down the Baggage and Provisions, &™" to said Place. Monsieur
Bite on coming to said Indian Place was asked what he wanted or
intended. He, upon answering it was their Father the Governor
of Canada's Intention to build a Trading House for their and all
their Brethren's Conveniency, was told by the Indians that the
Lands were their's, and that they would not have them build upon
it. The said Monsieur Bite returning, met two Englishmen, Tra
ders, with their Horses and Goods, whom they Bound and brought
Prisoners to Morang, who ordered them to Canada in Irons. The
said Bite reported to Morang the Situation was good, but the Wa
ter in the River aux Bosuf too low at that time to carry down any
Craft with Provisions, &""¦; a few Days after the deponent says that
about one hundred Indians called by the French the Loos, came
to the Fort La Riviere aux Boeuff" to see what the French were
doing; that Monsieur Morang treated them very kindly, and then
asked them to carry down some Stores, &'"¦• to the Belle Riviere
on Horseback for Payment, which he immediately advanced them
on their undertaking to do it. They set off with full Loads, but
never delivered them to the French, which incensed them very
much, being not only a Loss but a great Disappointment. Mo
rang, a man of a very peevish, cholerick Disposition, meeting wilJi

104 DEPOSITION OF COFFEN. 1753.
those and other Crosses, and finding the Season of the Year too
far advanced to build the Third Fort, called all his Officers together
and told them that as he had engaged and firmly promised the
Governor to finish the Three Forts that Season, and not being able
to fulfil the same was both Afraid and Ashamed to return to Can
ada, being sensible he had now forfeited the Governor's Favour for
ever; wherefore rather than live in Disgrace he begged they would
take him (as he then sat in a Carriage made for him, being very
Sick some time) and seat him in the middle of the Fort and then
set Fire to it and let him perish in the Flames, which was rejected
by the Officers, who (the Deponent says) had not the least regard
for him, as he had behaved very ill to them all in general. The
Deponent further Saith that about eight Days before he left the
Fort La Briske Isle, Chevalier Le Crake arrived Express from
Canada in a Birch Canoe worked by Ten Men, with Orders (as the
Deponent afterwards heard) from the Governor Le Cain to Morang
to make all the Preparation possible against the Spring of the Year
to build them Two Forts at Chadokoin one of them by Lake Erie
the other at the End of the Carrying Place at Lake Chadokoin,
which Carrying Place is Fifteen Miles from one Lake to the Other.
The said Chevalier brought for Monsieur Morang a Cross of Saint
Louis which the Rest of the Officers would not allow him to take
until the Governor was acquainted of his Conduct and Beha
viour. The Chevalier returned immediately to Canada. After
which, the Deponent saith, when the Fort La Riviere aux; Boeufs
was finished (which is built of Wood Stockadoed Triangularwise.
and has Two Log Houses in the inside). Monsieur Morang ordered
all the Party to return to Canada for the Winter Season except
Tt^ree Hundred Men which he kept to Garrison both Forts and
prepare Materials against the Spring for the building other Forts,
He also sent Jean Coeur, an Officer and Intei'preter, to stay the
Winter among the Indians on Ohio, in order to prevail with them
not only to allow the Building Forts on their Lands, but also to
perswade them if possible to join the French Interest against the
English. The Deponent further saith that on the twenty eighth of
October last he set off for Canada under the Command of Captain
Deman, who had the Command of twenty two Battoes with twenty
Men in each Battoe, the Remainder being Seven Hundred and
Sixty Men followed in a few Days, the thirtieth arrived at Chada
koin, where they stayed four Days, during which Time Monsieur
Peon with Two Hundred Men cut a Waggon Road over the Car
rying Place from Lake Erie to Lake Chadakoin, being fifteen

1750. gist's EXPEDITION. 105
Miles, viewed the Situation, which proved to their liking, so set off"
November the Third for Niagara where We arrived the Sixth. It
is a very poor rotten old Wooden Fort with Twenty-Five Men in
it, they talked of rebuilding it next Summer. We left Fifty Men
there to build Battoes for the Army against the Spring, also a Store
House for Provisions, Stores, k""- staid here two Days, then ^et off
for Canada. All Hands being fatigued with rowing all night,
ordered to put ashore to Breakfast within a Mile of Oswego Garri
son. At which Time the Deponent saith that He with a French
man slipped off and got to the Fort, where they were both concealed
until the Army passed ; from thence he came here. The Deponent
further saith that beside the Three Hundred Men with which he
went up first under the Command of Monsieur Babeer, and the
Five Hundred Men Morang brought up afterwards, there came at
different Times with Stores, &""- Seven Hundred more, which made
in all Fifteen Hundred Men, Three Hundred of which remained to
Garrison the Two Forts, Fifty at Niagara, the Rest all returned to
Canada, and talked of going up again this Winter, so as to be
there the beginning of April. They had Two Six Pounders and
Seven Four Pounders which they intended to have planted in the
Fort at Ganagarahhare, which was to have been called the Gover
nor's Fort, but as that was not built they left the Guns in the Fort
La Riviere aux Boeufs, where Morang commands; further the De
ponent saith not."
Thus the issue between the French and English was made up.
It admitted no compromise, but the arbitrament of the sword. To
that, however, neither party desired an immediate appeal, but both
sought rather to establish and fortify their interests, and to concili
ate the Indian tribes. In the fall of 1750, the Ohio Company sent
out Ch^'istopher Gist to explore the regions west of the mountains.
He was instructed to examine the passes, to trace the courses of the
rivers, to mark the falls, to seek for valuable lands, to observe the
strength, and to conciliate the friendship of the Indian tribes. He
visited Logstown, where he was received with jealousy, passed over
to the Muskingum, where he found a village of the Ottawas friendly
to the French, and a village of the Wyandots divided in sentiment.
There he met Croghan, who had been sent out by Pennsylvania,
and in concert they held a council with the chiefs, and received
assurance of the friendship of the tribe. Next, they passed to the
Shawanee towns on the Scioto, received assurances of friendship
from them, and then crossed the Miami valley. "Nothing," said
8

106 ENGLISH TRADERS EXPELLED. 1752.
they, "is wanting but cultivation to make it a most delightful
country." They crossed the Great Miami on a raft of logs, and
¦visited Piqua, the chief town of the Pickawillanies, and here they
made treaties with the Piquas and representatives of the Weas
(Ouias,) and Piankeshaws. While there, a deputation of the Otta
was appeared to solicit an alliance of the Miami confederacy with
the French. They were repulsed, however, by the address and
promises of the English agents, and the chiefs of the tribe sent
back a message with Gist, that their friendship should stand like
the mountains. Croghan returned. Gist followed the Miami to its
mouth, passed down the Ohio river until within fifteen miles of the
falls, then returned by way of the Kentucky river, and over the
highlands of Kentucky to Yirginia, in May, 1751, having visited
the Mingoes, .Delawares, Wyandots, Shawanees and Miamis, pro
posed a union among these tribes, and appointed a general council
at Logstown, to form an alliance among themselves and with
Yirginia. Meanwhile, some traders had established themselves at Lari-
mie's store, or Pickawillany,* some forty-seven miles north of the
site of Dayton, Ohio. A party of French and their Ottawa and
Chippewa allies demanded them of the Miamis as unauthorized
intruders on French lands. The Miamis refused, a battle ensued,
fourteen of them were killed, the traders were taken and carried to
Canada, or, as one account says, burned. It is probable those
traders were from Pennsylvania, since that province made a gift of
condolence to the Twigtwees for those slain in their defense.
Blood had now been shed, and both parties became more deeply
interested in the progress of events in the West. The English, on
their part, determined to purchase from the Indians a title to the
lands they wished to occupy, and, in the spring of 1752, Messrs,
Fry, Lomax and Patton, were sent from Yirginia to hold a confer
ence with the natives at Logstown, to learn what they objected to
in the treaty of Lancaster, of which it was said they complained,
and to settle all difficulties. On the 9th of June, the commissioners
met the red men at Logstown, a little village, seventeen miles below
Pittsburgh, upon the right bank of the Ohio descending. It had long
been a trading point, but had been abandoned by the Indians in
1750. Here the Lancaster treaty was produced, and the sales of
the western lands insisted upon ; but the chiefs said that "they had

* others aifirm that this murder of the English traders was committed at a post on
the Maumee, and others on the AUegheny. There is no certainty as to the spot.

1752. TREATY OF LOGSTOWN. 107
not heard of any sale west of the warrior's road, which ran at the
foot of the Allegheny ridge." The commissioners then offered
goods for a ratification of the Lancaster treaty ; spoke of the pro
posed settlement by the Ohio Company ; and used all their persua
sions to secure the land wanted. On the 11th of June, the Indians
replied: "They recognized the treaty of Lancaster, and the
authority of the Six Nations to make it, but denied that they had
any knowledge of the western lands being conveyed to the English
by that deed, and declined having anything to do with the treaty
of 1744." "However," said the savages, "as the French have
already struck the Twigtwees, we shall be pleased to have your
assistance and protection, and wish you would build a fort at once
at the forks of the Ohio." But this permission was not what the
Yirginians wanted ; they took aside Montour, the interpreter, who
was a son of the famous Catharine Montour, and a chief among the
Six Nations, and persuaded him to use his influence with his fel
lows. By that means they were induced to treat, and upon the 13th
of June, they all united in signing a deed, confirming the Lancaster
treaty in its full extent, consenting to a settlement south-east of the
Ohio, and covenanting that it should not be disturbed by them.
By such means was obtained the first treaty with the Indians in
the Ohio valley.
All this time the two powers beyond the Atlantic were in a
professed state "of profound peace;" and commissioners were at
Paris trying to out-maneuver one another with regard to the dispu
ted lands in America, though in the West all looked like war.
The English indeed outwitted the Indians, and secured themselves,
as they thought, by their politic conduct. But the French proved,
that they knew best how to manage the natives ; and, though they
had to contend with the old hatred felt towards them by the Six
Nations, and though they had by no means refrained from strong
acts, marching through the midst of the Iroquois country, attacking
the Twigtwees, and seizing the English traders, they did succeed,
as the British never did, in attaching the Indians to their cause.
An old chief of the Six Nations said at Easton, in 1758: "The
Indians on the Ohio left you because of your own fault. When
we heard the French were coming, we asked you for help and
arms, but we did not get them. The French came, they treated
us kindly, and gained our affections. The governor of Yirginia
settled on our lands for his own benefit, and, when we wanted
help, forsook us."
So stood miatters at the close of 1762. The English had secured

108 ' ENCROACHMENTS OP THE FRENCH. 1753.
a title to the Indian lands southeast of the Ohio, and Gist was at
work laying out a town and fort there, on Chartier's Creek, about
two miles below the fork. Eleven families also had crossed the
mountains to settle at the point where Gist had fixed his own
residence, west of Laurel Hill, and not far from the Youghiogheny.
Goods, too, had come from England for the Ohio Company, which,
however, they dared not carry beyond Wills' creek, the point
where Cumberland now stands, whence they were taken by the
traders and Indians ; and there were even some prospects of a road
across the mountains to the Monongahela.
On the other hand, the French were gathering cannon and
stores upon Lake Erie, and, without treaties or deeds for land,
were gaining the good will of even inimical tribes, and preparing,
when all was ready, to strike -the blow. Some of the savages, it is
true, remonstrated. They said they did not understand this
dispute between the Europeans, as to which of them the western
lands belonged, for they did not belong to either. But the French
bullied and flattered, when it served their turn, and all the while
went on with their preparations, which were in an advanced state
early in 1753.
These consisted of a line of forts from Lake Erie to the Ohio.
Of these, as has been seen, Presquille on Lake Erie, on the site
of the city of Erie, Pennsylvania, was built in the spring of that
year. Le Bceuf, on French creek, on the site of Waterford, Erie
county, Pennsylvania, and Yenango, at the mouth of French
creek, on the Allegheny, on the site of Franklin, Yenango county,
were built later in the same year. Opposite Fort Yenango, Henry
de Courcy affirms, on the authority of a map preserved in Quebec,
Fort Michault was built about the same time.
In May of that year, the governor of Pennsylvania informed the
Assembly of the French movements, a knowledge of which was
derived, in part, at least, from Montour, who had been present at
a conference between the French and Indians relative to the inva
sion of the West. The Assembly, thereupon, voted six hundred
pounds for distribution among the tribes, besides two hundred for
the presents of condolence to the Twigtwees. This money was
not sent, but Conrad Weiser was dispatched in August, to learn
the state of affairs among the Ohio savages. Yirginia was moving
also. In June, or earlier, a commissioner was sent westward to
meet the French, and ask how they dared to invade his Majesty's
province. The messenger went to Logstown, but was afraid to
go up the Allegheny, as instructed. Trent was also sent with

1753. ENCROACHMENTS OF THE FRENCH. 109
guns, powder, shot and clothing, for the friendly Indians; and
then it was, that he learned the fact, as to the claim of the French,
and their burial of medals in proof of it. While these measures
were taken, another treaty with the wild men of the debatable
land was also in contemplation; and in September, 1753, William
Fairfax, met their deputies at Winchester, Yirginia, where he
concluded a treaty, on which was an endorsement, stating that
such was their feeling, that he had not dared to mention to them
either the Lancaster or the Logstown treaty.* In the month follow
ing, however, a more satisfactory interview took place at Carlisle,
between the representatives of the Iroquois, Delawares, Shawanees,
Twigtwees, and Wyandots, and the commissioners of Pennsylva
nia, Richard Peters, Isaac Norris, and Benjamin Franklin. At
this meeting the attack on the Twigtwees and the plans of the French
were discussed, and a treaty concluded. The Indians had sent three
messages to the French, warning them away; the reply was, that
they were coming to build forts at " Wenengo," (Yenango,) Moh-
ongiala forks, (Pittsburgh,) Logstown, and Beaver Creek. The
red men complained of the traders as too scattered, and killing
them with rum ; they wished only three trading stations, viz :
mouth of "Mohongely," (Pittsburgh,) Logstown, and mouth of
Conawa. These encroachments of the French on what was regarded as
English territory, created much agitation in the colonies, and espe
cially in Yirginia. The purpose of the French to establish a mili
tary corden around the English colonies, and thus prevent their
extension over the mountains, was clearly seen, and it was inferred
that this purpose was but the first step in a system of measures
already planned by the French court to reduce all North America
under the dominion of France. Under these circumstances. Gov
ernor Dinwiddle determined to send a messenger to the French
posts, to demand of the French commandant his designs, and to
observe the amount and disposition of his forces. George Wash
ington, then in his twenty-second year, was selected for this under
taking. His knowledge of the Indians, his acquaintance with
frontier life, and the marked traits of character he had displayed,
were the qualities that recommended him to the notice of the
governor, and that fitted him for his dangerous mission. The fol
lowing instructions will indicate the nature and purposes of his
mission. Plain Facts, p. 44.

110 WASHINGTON'S INSTRUCTIONS. 1753.
" Whereas I have received information of a body of Frenehforces
being assembled in a hostile manner on the river Ohio, intending
by force of arms to erect certain forts on the said river, within this
"territory, and contrary to the dignity and peace of our sovereign,
the King of Great Britain —
" These are therefore to require and direct you, the said George
Washington, forthwith to repair to Logstown, on the said river
Ohio, and having there informed yourself where the said French
forces have posted themselves, thereupon to proceed to such place ;
and being there arrived, to present your credentials, together with
my letter, to the chief commanding officer, and in the name of his
Britannic Majesty, to demand an answer thereto.
"On your arrival at Logstown, you are to address yourself to the
Half-King, to Monacatoocha, and other sachems of the Six Nations,
acquainting them with your orders to visit and deliver my letter to
the French commanding officer, and desiring the said chiefs to ap
point you a sufficientnumber of their warriors to be your safeguard,
as near the French as you may desire, and await your further
directions. "You are diligently to inquire into the numbers and force of the
French on the Ohio, and the adjacent country; how they are likely
to be assisted from Canada, and what are the difficulties and con
veniences of that communication, and the time required for it.
"You are to take care to be truly informed what forts the
French have erected, and where; how they are garrisoned and
appointed, and what is their distance from each other, and from
Logstown ; and from the best intelligence you can procure, you are
to learn what gave occasion to this expedition of the French ; how
they are likely to be supported, and what their pretensions are.
" When the French commandant has given you the necessary
and required dispatches, you are to desire of him a proper guard to
protect you as far on your return as you may judge for your safety,
against any straggling Indians or hunters that may be ignorant of
your character and molest you.
"Wishing you good success in your negotiations, and safe and
speedy return, I am, &c.
ROBERT DINWIDDIB."
" Williamsburg, 30th October, 1753."
The journal of Washington on this expedition is inserted,
because it furnishes an interesting account of his first public
services :

1753. WASHINGTON'S JOURNAL. Ill
" I was commissioned and appointed by the Honorable Robert
Dinwiddle, Esquire, Governor, &c., of Yirginia, to visit and deliver
a letter to the commandant of the French forces at the Ohio, and
set out on the intended journey OH the same day : the next I arrived
at Fredericksburg, and engaged Mr. Jacob Yanbraam to be mj^
French interpreter, and proceeded with him to Alexandria, where
we provided necessaries. From thence we went to Winchester,
and got baggage horses, &c., and from thence we pursued the new
road to Wills' creek, where we arrived on the 14th November.
"Here I engaged Mr. Gist to pilot us out, and ailso hired four
others as servitors, Barnaby Curran and John McQuire, Indian
traders, Henry Steward and William Jenkins; and in company
with these persons left the inhabitants the next day.
" The excessive rains and vast quantities of snow which had
fallen, prevented our reaching Mr. Frazier's, an Indian trader, at
the mouth of Turtle creek, on Monongahela river, till Thursday,
the 22d. We were informed here, that expresses had been sent a
few days before to the traders down the river, to acquaint them
with the French general's death, and the return of the major part
of the French army into winter quarters.
"The waters were quite impassable without swimming our
horses, which obliged us to get the loan of a canoe from Frazier,
and to send Barnaby Curran and Henry Steward down the Monon
gahela, with our baggage, to meet us at the forks of Ohio, about
ten miles below ; there to cross the Allegheny.
" As I got down before the canoe, I spent some time in viewing
the rivers, and the land in the fork, which I think extremely well
situated for a fort, as it has the absolute command of both rivers.
The land at the point is twenty-five feet above the common surface
of the water ; and a considerable bottom of flat, well-timbered land
all around it, very convenient for building. The rivers are each a
quarter of a mile or more across, and run here very nearly at right
angles; Allegheny, bearing north-east; and Monongahela, south
east. The former of these two is a very rapid and swift running
water, the other deep and still, without any perceptible fall.
"About two miles from this, on the south-east side of the river,
at the place where the Ohio company intended to erect a fort, lives
Shingiss, king of the Delawares. We called upon him to invite
him to a council at Logstown.
" As I had taken a good deal of notice yesterday of the situa
tion at the fork, my curiosity led me to examine this more particu
larly, and I think it greatly inferior, either for defense or

112 WASHINGTON'S JOURNAL. 1753.
advantages ; especially the latter. For a fort at the fork would be
equally well situated on the Ohio, and have the entire command of
the Monongahela, which runs up our settlement, and is extremely
well designed for water carriage, as it is of a deep, still nature.
Besides, a fort at the fork might be built at much less expense than
at the other place.
"Nature has well contrived this lower place for water defense;
but the hill whereon it must stand being about a quarter of a mile
in length, and then descending gradually on the land side, will
render it difficult and very expensive to make a sufficient fortifica
tion there. The whole flat upon the hill must be taken in, the
side next the descent made extremely high, or else the hill itself
cut away : otherwise, the enemy may raise batteries within that
distance without being exposed to a single shot from the fort.
" Shingiss attended us to the Logstown, where we arrived be
tween sunsetting and dark, the twenty-fifth day after I left Wil
liamsburg. We traveled over some extremely good and bad land
to get to this place,
" As soon as I came into town I went to Monakatoocha, as the
Half-King was out at his hunting cabin, on Little Beaver creek,
about fifteen miles off, and informed him by John Davidson, my
Indian interpreter, that I was sent a messenger to the French
general, and was ordered to call upon the sachems of the Six
Nations, to acquaint them with it. I gave him a string of wampum
and a twist of tobacco, and desired him to send for the Half-King,
which he promised to do, by a runner, in the morning, and for
other sachems. I invited him, and the other great men present, to
my tent, where they stayed about an hour, and returned.
"According to the best observation I could make, Mr. Gist's
new settlement, which we passed by, bears about west north-west
seventy miles from Wills' creek ; Shanopins, or the forks, north
by west, or north, north-west about fifty miles from that; and from
thence to the Logstown, the course is nearly west about eighteen
or twenty miles : so that the whole distance, as we went and com
puted it, is at least one hundred and thirty -five, or one hundred
and forty, miles from our back inhabitants. '
******
" SOth.—Last night, the great men assembled at their council-
house, to consult further about this journey, and who were to go;
the result of which was, that only three of their chiefs, with one of
their best hunters, should be our convoy. The reason they gave
for not sending more, after what had been proposed at council the

1753. WASHINGTON'S JOURNAL. 113
26th, was, that a greater number might give the French suspicions
of some bad design, and cause them to be treated rudely ; but I
rather think they could not get their hunters in.
" We set out about nine o'clock, with the Half-King, Jeskakake,
White Thunder, and the Hunter, and traveled on the road to Ye
nango, where we arrived the 4th of December, without any thing
remarkable happening but a continued series of bad weather.
" This is an old Indian town, situated at the mouth of French-
creek, on Ohio ; and lies near north, about sixty miles from the
Logstown, but more than seventy the way we were obliged to go.
" We found the French colors hoisted at a house from which
they had driven Mr. John Frazier, an English subject. I imme
diately repaired to it, to know where the commander resided.
There were three officers, one of whom. Captain Joncaire, informed
me that he had the command of the Ohio ; but that there was a
general officer at the near fort, where he advised me to apply for
an answer. He invited us to sup with them, and treated us with
the greatest complaisance.
" The wine, as they dosed themselves pretty plentifully with it,
soon banished the restraint which at first appeared in their con
versation, and gave a license to their tongues to reveal their senti
ments more freely.
" They told me, that it was their absolute design to take posses
sion of the Ohio, and by G — d they would do it; for that, although
they were sensible the English could raise two men for their one,
yet they knew their motions were too slow and dilatory to prevent
any undertaking of theirs. They pretend to have an undoubted
right to the river, from a discovery made by one La Salle, sixty
years ago : and the rise of this expedition is, to prevent our settling
on the river or waters of it, as they heard of some families moving
out in order thereto. From the best intelligence I could get, there
have been fifteen hundred men on this side Ontario lake. But
upon the death of the general, all were recalled to about six or
seven hundred, who were left to garrison four forts, one hundred
and fifty, or thereabouts, in each. The first of them is on French
creek, near a small lake, about sixty miles from Yenango, near
north, north-west ; the next lies on Lake Erie, where the greater
part of their stores are kept, about fifteen miles from the other :
from this it is one hundred and twenty miles to the carrying place,
at the falls of Lake Erie, where there is a small fort, at which they
should lodge their goods, in bringing them from Montreal, the
place from whence all their stores are brought. The next fort lies

114 WASHINGTON'S JOURNAL. 1753.
about twenty miles from this, on Ontario lake. Between this fort
and Montreal, there are three others, the first of which is nearly
opposite to the English Fort Oswego. From the fort on Lake Erie
to Montreal is about six hundred miles, which, they say, requires
no more (if good weather) than four weeks voyage, if they go in
barks or large vessels, so that they may cross the lake : but if they
come in canoes, it will require five or six weeks, for they are obliged
to keep under the shore.
" December 5ih. — Rained excessively all day, which prevented our
traveling. Captain Joncaire sent for the Half-King, as he had but
just heard that he came with me. He affected to be much con
cerned that I did not make free to bring them in before. I excused
it ill the best manner of which I was capable, and told him I did
not think their company agreeable, as I had heard him say a good
deal in dispraise of Indians in general ; but another motive pre
vented me from bringing them into his company ; I knew that he
was an interpreter, and a person of great influence among the
Indians, and had lately used all possible means to draw them over
to his interest ; therefore I was desirous of giving him no oppor
tunity that could be avoided.
" When they came in, there was great pleasure expressed at see
ing them. He wondered how they could be so near without coming
to -visit him, made several trifling presents, and applied liquor so
fast, that they were soon rendered incapable of the business they
came about, notwithstanding the caution which was given.
" 6th. — The Half-Bnng came to my tent, quite sober, and insisted
very much that I should stay and hear what he had to say to the
French. I fain would have prevented him from speaking any
thing until he came to the commandant, but could not prevail.
He told me that at this place a council-fire was kindled, where all
their business with these people was to be transacted, and that the
management of the Indian affairs was left solely to Monsieur Jon
caire. As I was desirous of knowing the issue of this, I agreed to
stay ; but sent our horses a little way up French creek, to raft over
and encamp ; which I knew would make it near night.
"About ten o'clock they met in council. The King spoke much
the same as he had done before to the general, and offered the
French speech-belt which had before been demanded, with the
marks of four towns on it, which Monsieur Joncaire refused to
receive, but desired him to carry it to the fort to the commander.
" 7</i.— Monsieur La Force, commissary of the French stores, and
three other soldiers, came over to accompany us up. We found it

1753. WASHINGTON'S JOURNAL. 115
extremely difficult to get the Indians off to-day, as every stratagem
had been used to prevent their going up with me. I had last night
left John Davidson, (the Indian interpreter,) whom I brought with
me from town, and strictly charged him not to be out of their com
pany, as I could not get them over to my tent, for they had some
business with Kustalogo, chiefly to know why he did not deliver
up the French speech-belt which he had in keeping; but I was
obliged to send Mr. Gist over to-day to fetch them, which he did
¦with great persuasion.
"At twelve o'clock, we set out for the fort, and were prevented
arriving there until the 11th, by excessive rains, snows, and bad
traveling through many mires and swamps; these we were obliged
to pass to avoid crossing the creek, which was impassable, either
by fording or rafting, the water was so high and rapid.
"We passed over much good land since we left Yenango, and
through several very extensive and rich meadows, one of which I
believe, was nearly four miles in length, and considerably wide in
some places.
"12ih. — ^I prepared early to wait upon the commander, and was
received and conducted to him by the second officer in command.
I acquainted Mm with my business, and offered my commission
and letter, both of which he requested me to keep until the arrival
of Monsieur Reparti, Captain at the next fort, who was sent for
and expected every hour.
" The commander is a knight of the military order of St. Louis,
and named Legardeur de St. Pierre. He is an elderly gentleman,
and has much the air of a soldier. He was sent over to take the
command immediately upon the death of the late general, and
arrived here about seven days before me.
" At two o'clock, the gentleman who was sent for arrived, when
I offered the letter, &c., again, which they received, and adjourned
into a private apartment for the captain to translate, who under
stood a little English. After he had done it, the commander
desired I would walk in and bring my interpreter to peruse and
correct it, which I did.
" ISth. — The chief officers retired to hold a council of war, which
gave me an opportunity of taking the dimensions of the fort, and
making what observations I could.
"It is situated on the south or west fork of French creek, near
the water, and is almost surrounded by the creek, and a small
branch of it, which form a kind of island. Four houses compose
the sides. The bastions are made of piles driven into the ground,

116 WASHINGTON'S JOURNAL. 1753.
standing more than twelve feet above it, and sharp at the top, with
port-holes cut for cannon, and loop-holes for the small arms to fire
through. There are eight six-pound pieces mounted in each bas
tion, and' one piece of four pounds before the gate. In the bastions
are a guard-house, chapel, doctor's lodging, and the commander's
private store, round which are laid platforms for the cannon and
men to stand on. There are several barracks vdthout the fort, for
the soldier's dwellings, covered, some with bark, and some with
boards, made chiefly of logs. There are also several other houses,
such as stables, smith's shop, &c.
"I could get no certain account of the number of men here ; but,
according to the best judgment I could form, there are a hundred,
exclusive of officers, of whom there are many. I also gave orders
to the people who were with me, to take an exact account of the
canoes which were hauled up to convey their forces down in the
spring. This they did, and told fifty of birch bark, and a hundred
and seventy of pine, besides many others, which were blocked out,
in readiness for being made.
" 14:th. — As the snow increased very fast, and our horses daily
became weaker, I sent them off unloaded, under the care of Barnaby
Curr9,n and two others, to make all convenient dispatch to Yenango,
and there to wait our arrival, if there was a prospect of the river's
freezing; if not, then to continue down to Shanapin's town, at the
forks of Ohio, and there wait until we came to cross the AUegheny,
intending myself to go down by water, as I had the offer of a canoe
or two.
"As I found many plots concerted to retard the Indians' business,
and prevent their returning with me, I endeavored all that lay in
my power to frustra;te their schemes, and hurried them on to exe
cute their intended design. They accordingly pressed for admit
tance this evening, which at length was granted them, privately, to
the commander and one or two other officers. The Half-King told
me that he offered the wampum to the commander, who evaded
taking it, and made many fair promises of love and friendship;
said he wanted to live in peace and trade amicably with them, as a
proof of which, he would send some goods immediately down to
the Logstown for them. But I rather think the design of that is,
to brmg away all our straggling traders they meet with, as I
privately understood they intended to carry an officer, &c., with
them. And what rather confirms this opinion, I was inquiring of
the commander by what authority he had made prisoners of several
of our English subjects. He told me that the country belonged to

1753. WASHINGTON'S JOURNAL. 117
them, that no Englishman had a right to trade upon those waters,
and that he had orders to make every person prisoner who attempted
it on the Ohio, or the waters of it.
"I inquired of Captain Reparti about the boy that was carried by
this place, as it was done while the command devolved on him,
between the death of the late general, and the arrival of the present.
He acknowledged that a boy had been carried past, and that the
Indians had two or three white men's scalps, (I was told by some
of the Indians at Yenango, eight,) but pretended to have forgotten
the name of the place where the boy came from, and all the partic
ular facts, though he had questioned him for some hours, as they
were carrying past. I likewise inquired what they had done with
John Trotter and James M'Clocklan, two Pennsylvania traders,
whom they had taken with all their goods. They told me that they
had been sent to Canada, but were now returned home.
"This evening I received an answer to his honor, the Governor's
letter from the commandant.
"15th. — The commandant ordered a plentiful store of liquor,
provisions, &c., to be put on board our canoes, and appeared to be
extremely complaisant, though he was exerting every artifice which
he could invent, to setour Indians at variance with us, to prevent
them going until after our departure ; presents, rewards, and every
thing which could be suggested by him or his officers. I cannot
say that ever in my life I suffered so much anxiety, as I did in this
affair: I saw that every stratagem which the most fruitful brain
could invent was practiced to win the Half-King to their interest;
and that leaving him there, was. giving them the opportunity they
aimed at. I went to the Half-King and pressed him in the
strongest terms to go ; he told me that the commandant would not
discharge him until the morning. I then went to the commandant,
and desired him to do their business, and complained of ill-treat
ment ; for keeping them, as they were part of my company, was
detaining me. This he promised not to do, but to forward my
journey as much as he could. He protested he did not keep .them,
but was ignorant of the cause of their stay ; though I soon found
it out. He had promised them a present of guns, &c., if they
would wait until the morning. As I was very much pressed by
the Indians to wait this day for them, I consented, on a promise
that nothing should hinder them, in the morning.
" 16th. — The French were not slack in their inventions to keep
the Indians this day also. But as they were obliged, according to
promise, to give the present, they then endeavored to try the power

118 WASHINGTON'S JOURNAL, 1753,
of liquor, which I doubt not would have prevailed at any other
time than this ; but I urged and insisted with the King so closely
upon his word, that he refrained, and set off with us as he had
engaged. "We had a tedious and very fatiguing passage down the creek.
Several times we had like to have been staved against rocks; and
many times were obliged, all hands, to get out and remain in the
water half an hour or more, getting over the shoals. At one
place the ice had lodged, and made it impassable by water; we
were, therefore, obliged to carry our canoes across the neck of land,
a quarter of a mile over. We did not reach Yenango until the
22d, where we met with our horses.
"This creek is extremely crooked. I dare say the distance
between the fort and Yenango, cannot be less than one hundred
and thirty miles, to follow the meanders.
"23d. — When I got things ready to set off, I sent for the Half-
King to know whether he intended to go with us, or by water.
He told me that White Thunder had hurt himself much, and was
sick, and unable to walk ; therefore, he was obliged to carry him
down in a canoe. As I found he intended to stay here a day or
two, and knew that Monsieur Joncaire would employ every scheme
to set him against the English, as he had before done, I told him
I hoped he would guard against his flattery, and let no fine
speeches infiuence him in their favor. He desired I might not be
concerned, for he knew the French too well, for anything to
engage him in their favor ; and that though he could not go down
with us, he yet would endeavor to. meet at the forks with Joseph
Campbell, to deliver a speech for me to carry to his Honor the
Governor. He told me he would order the Young Hunter to
attend us, and get provisions, &c., if wanted.
"Our horses were now so weak and feeble, and the baggage so
hea-vy, (as we were obliged to provide all the necessaries which the
journey would require,) that we doubted much their performing it.
Therefore, myself and the others, except the drivers, who were
obliged to ride, gave up our horses for packs to assist along with
the baggage. I put myself in an Indian walking dress, and con
tinued with them three days, until I found there was no probability
of their getting home in reasonable time. The horses became less
able to travel every day; the cold increased very fast; and the
roads were becoming much worse by a deep snow, continually
freezing: therefore, as I was uneasy to get back, to make report of
my proceedings to his Honor the Governor, I determined to

1753. Washington's journal. 119
prosecute my journey the nearest way through the woods, on
foot, "Accordingly, I left Mr, Yanbraam in charge of our baggage,
with money, and directions to provide necessaries from place to
place for themselves and horses, and to make the most convenient
dispatch in traveling,
"I took my necessary papers, pulled off my clothes, and tied
myself up in a watch coat. Then, with gun in hand, and pack on
my- back, in which were my papers and provisions, I set out with
Mr, Gist, fitted in the same manner, on Wednesday, the 26th,
The day following, just after we had passed a place called Murder
ing town, (where we intended to quit the path and steer across the
country for Shanapin's town,) we fell in with a party of French
Indians, who had laid in wait for us. One of them fired at Mr,
Gist, or me, not fifteeen steps off, but fortunately missed. We
took this fellow into custody, and kept him until about nine
o'clock at night, then let him go, and walked all the remaining
part of the night without making any stop, that we might get the
start, so far as to be out of the reach of their pursuit the next day,
since we were well assured they would follow our track as soon as
it was light. The next day we continued traveling" until quite
dark, and got to the river about two miles above Shanapin's,
We expected to have found the river frozen, but it was not, only
about fifty yards from each shore. The ice I suppose had broken
up above, for it was driving in vast quantities.
" There was no way for getting over but on a raft ; which we set
about, with but one poor hatchet, and finished just after sun setting.
This was a whole day's work : we next got it launched, then went
on board of it and set off: but before we were halfway over we
were jammed in the ice, in such a manner that we expected every
moment our raft to sink, and ourselves to perish. I put out my
setting-pole to try to stop the raft, that the ice might pass by, when
the rapidity of the stream threw it with so much violence against
the pole, that it jerked me out into ten feet water ; but I fortunately
saved myself by catching hold of one of the raft logs. Notwith
standing all our efforts, we could not get to either shore, but were
obliged, as we were near an island, to quit our raft and make to it.
" The cold was so extremely severe that Mr. Gist had all his
fingers and some of his toes frozen, and the water was shut up so
hard that we found no difficulty in getting oft' the island on the
ice, in the morning, and went to Mr. Frazier's. We met here with
twenty warriors, who were going to the southward to war; but

120 Washington's journal. 1753.
coming to a place on the head of the Great Kenhawa, where they
found seven people killed and scalped, (all but one woman with
very light hair,) they turned about and ran back, for fear the
inhabitants should rise and take them as the authors of the mur
ders. They report that the bodies were lying about the house, and
some of them much torn and eaten by the hogs. By the marks
which were left, they say they were French Indians, of the Ottoway
nation, who did it.
" As we intended to take horses here, and it required some time
to find them, I went up about three miles to the mouth of the
Youghiogheny, to visit Queen Aliquippa, who had expressed great
concern that we passed her in going to the fort. I made her a
present of a watch-coat and a bottle of rum, which latter was
thought much the better present of the two.
" Tuesday, the 1st of January, we left Mr. Frazier's house, and
arrived at Mr. Gist's, at Monongahela, the 2d, where I bought a
horse and saddle. The 6th, we met seventeen horses loaded with
materials aijd stores for a fort at the forks of the Ohio, and the day
after, some families going out to settle. This day we arrived at
Wills' creek, after as fatiguing a journey as it is possible to con
ceive, rendered so by excessive bad weather. From the first day
of December to the fifteenth, there was but one day on which it
did not rain or snow incessantly; and throughout the whole jour
ney we met with nothing but one continued series of cold, wet
weather, which occasioned very uncomfortable lodgings, especially
after we had quitted our tent, which was some screen from the
inclemency of it.
" On the 11th, I got to Belvoir, where I stopped one day to take
necessary rest ; and then set out and arrived in Williamsburg the
16th, when I waited upon his Honor the Governor, with the letter
I had brought from the French commandant, and to give an account
of the success of my proceedings. This I beg leave to do by offer
ing the foregoing narrative, as it contains the most remarkable
occurrences which happened in my journey.
"I hope what has been said will be sufficient to make your
Honor satisfied with my conduct ; for that was my aim in under
taking the journey, and chief study throughout the prosecution
of it."
During Washington's absence, steps had been taken to fortify
and settle the point formed by the junction of the Monongahela
and Allegheny; and while upon his return he met "seventeen

1753. PREPARATIONS FOR WAR, 121
horses, loaded with materials and stores for a fort at the forks of the
Ohio," and, soon after, "some families going out to settle." These
steps were taken by the Ohio Company ; but, as soon as Washing
ton returned with the letter of St. Pierre, the commander on
French creek, and it was clear that neither he nor his superiors
meant to yield the West without a struggle. Governor Dinwiddle
wrote to the Board of Trade, stating that the French were building
another fort at Yenango, and that in March twelve or fifteen hun
dred men would be ready to descend the river with their Indian
allies, for which purpose three hundred canoes had been collected ;
and that Logstown was then to be made head-quarters, while forts
^*^ere built in various other positions, and the whole country occu
pied. He also sent expresses to the Governors of Pennsylvania
and New York, calling upon them for assistance ; and with the
advice of his council, proceeded to enlist two companies, one of
which was to be raised by Washington, the other by Trent, who
was a frontier man. This last was to be raised upon the frontiers ;
and to proceed at once to the forks of the Ohio, there to complete,
in the best manner and as soon as possible, the fort begun by the
Ohio Company; and in case of attack, or any attempt to resist the
settlements, or obstruct the works, those resisting were to be taken,
and, if need, were to be killed.*
While Yirginia was taking these strong measures, which were
fully authorized by the letter of the Earl of Holdernesse, Secretary
of State,t written in the previous August, and which directed the
Governors of the various provinces, after representing to those who
were invading his Majesty's dominions, the injustice of the act, to
call out the armed force of tiae province, and repel force by force,
Pennsylvania was discussing the question whether the French wer*
really invading his Majesty's dominions, — the governor being on
one side, and the Assembly on the other ; and New York was pre
paring to hold a conference with the Six Nations, in obedience to
orders from the Board of Trade, cominunicated in September, 1753.
These orders had been sent out in consequence of the report in
England, that the natives would side with the French, because dis
satisfied with the occupancy of their lands by the English ; and
simultaneous orders were sent to the other provinces, directing
their governors to recommend their Assemblies to send commis-

* Sparks' Washington, vol. ii. pp. 1, 431, 446.-^Sparks' FrankUn, vol. iii. p. 264.
f Sparks' Franklin, voL iii. ip, 251, where the letter is giyen.
9

122 FRENCH ON THE ALLEGHENY. ' 1754.
sioners to Albany, to attend this treaty. New York, however, was
more generous when called on by Yirginia, than her neighbor on
the south, and voted, for the assistance of the resisting colony, five
thousand pounds currency.
The fort at Yenango was finished in April, 1754, and all along
the line of French creek, troops were gathering; and the wilderness
echoed the strange sounds of an European camp, and with these
were mingled the shrieks of drunken Indians, won over from their
old friendship by rum and soft words. Scouts were abroad, and
little groups formed about the tents or huts of the officers, to learn
the movements of the British. Canoes were gathering, and cannon
were painfully hauled here and there. All was movement and
activity among the old forests, and on hill-sides, from Lake Erie to
the Allegheny. In Philadelphia, meanwhile. Governor Hamilton,
in no amiable mood, had summoned the Assembly, and asked them
if they meant to help the King in the defense of his dominions;
and had desired them, above all things, to do whatever they meant
to perform, quickly. The Assembly debated, and resolved to aid
the King with a little money, and then debated again, and voted not
to aid him with any money at all, for some would not give less than
ten thousand pounds, and others would not give more than five
thousand pounds; and so, nothing being practicable, they ad
journed upon the 10th of April, until the 13th of May.
In New York, a little, and only a little, better spirit was at work;
nor was this strange, as her direct interest was much less than that
of Pennsylvania. Five thousand pounds, indeed, were voted to
Yirginia ; but the Assembly questioned the invasion of his majesty's
lominions by the French, and it was not till June that the money
was sent forward.
The Old Dominion, however, was all alive. As, under the pro
vincial law, the militia could not be called forth to march more
than five miles beyond the bounds of the colony, and as it was
doubtful if the French were in Yirginia, it was determined to rely
upon volunteers. Ten thousand pounds had been voted by the
Assembly ; so the two companies were now increased to six, and
Washington was raised to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and made
second in command under Joshua Fry. Ten cannon, lately from
England, were forwarded from Alexandria ; wagons were got ready
to carry westward, provisions and stores through the heavy spring
roads; and everywhere along the Potomac men were enlisting
under the governor's proclamation, which promised to those that

1754. • FRENCH ON THE OHIO. 123
should serve in that war, two hundred thousand acres of land on
the Ohio ; or, already enlisted, were gathering into grave knots, or
marching forward to the field of action, or helping on the thirty
cannon and eighty barrels of gunpowder, which the king had sent
out for the western forts. Along the Potomac they were gather
ing, as far as to Wills' creek, and far beyond Wills' creek, whither
Trent had come for assistance ; his little band of forty-one men
was working away, in hunger and want, to fortify that point at the
forks of the Ohio, to which both parties were looking with deep
interest. A few Indian scouts were seen, but no enemy seemed
near at hand; and all was so quiet that Frazier, an old Indian
trader, who had been left by Trent in command of the new fort,
ventured to his home at the mouth of Turtle creek, ten miles up
the Monongahela. But, though all was so quiet in that wilderness,
keen eyes had seen the low entrenchment that was rising at the
forks, and s-wift feet had borne the news of it up the valley; and,
upon the 17th of April, Ensign Ward, who then had charge of it,
was astonished at the sight of sixty batteaux and three hundred
canoes, filled -with men, and laden deep with cannon and stores, on
the Allegheny, The Commandant, Contrecceur, immediately sent
in a summons to surrender the fort. By the advice of the Half-
King, Ward sought to evade a reply, by referring him to his supe
rior, Frazier, It was in vain ; resistance, by his feeble band behind
unfinished works, against a thousand men, was alike useless; and
Ensign Ward surrendered his works, and the next day passed up
the Monongahela,
The summons of Contrecoeur, which was first brought to light
by Neville B, Craig, Esq., is an interesting document. Aside from
the bold statement of the French claim it sets up, it constituted
the first act in the long war that followed. The seven years' war
arose at the forks of the Ohio ; it was waged in all quarters of the
world; it made England a great imperial power; it drove the
French from Asia and America, and dissipated the scheme of em
pire, so brilliant and so extended, they had so long cherished.
"a SUMMONS,
" By order of Monsieur Contrecceur, Captain of one of the Com
panies of the Detachment of the French Marine, Commander in
Chief of his Most Christian Majesty's Troops, now on the Beauti
ful River, to the commander of those of the King of Great Britain,
at the mouth of the river Monongahela,
" Sir — ^Nothing can surprise me more than to see you attempt a

124 contrecceur's summons, 1754.
settlement upon the lands of the king, my master, which obliges,
me now, sir, to send you this gentleman. Chevalier Le Mercier,
Captain of the Artillery of Canada, to know of you, sir, by virtue
of what authority you are come to fortify youraelf within the domi
nions of the king, my master. This action seems so contrary to
the last Treaty of Peace, at Aix La Chapelle, between his Most
Christian Majesty and the King of Great Britain, that I do not
know to whom to impute such a usurpation, as it is incontestible
that the lands situated along the Beautiful River belong to his
Most Christian Majesty.
" I am informed, sir, that your undertaking has been concerted
by none else than by a Company, who have more in view the ad
vantage of a trade, than to endeavor to keep the union and har
mony which subsists between the two crowns of France and Great
Britain, although it is as much the interest, sir, of your nation as
ours to preserve it.
" Let it be as it will, sir, if you come out into this place, charged
with orders, I summon you in the name of the King, my master,
by virtue of orders which I got from my general, to retreat peacear
bly with your troops from off the lands of the king, and not to
return, or else I will find myself obliged to fulfill my duty, and
compel you to it. I hope, sir, you will not defer an instant, and
that you will not force me to the last extremity. In that case, sir,
you may be persuaded that I will give orders that there shall be no
damage done by my detachment.
" I prevent you, sir, from asking me one hour of delay, nor to
wait for my consent to receive orders from your Governor. He
can give none within the dominions, of the King, my master.
Those I have received of my General are my laws, so that I cannot^
depart from them.
" On the contrary, sir, if you have not got orders, and only come
to trade, I am sorry to tell you, that I can't avoid seizing you, and
to confiscate your effects to the use of the Indians, our children,
allies, and friends, as you are not allowed to carry on a contraband
trade. It is for this reason, sir, that we stopped two Englishmen
last year, who were trading upon our lands : moreover, the King,
my master, asks nothing but his right; he has not the least inten
tion to trouble the good harmony and friendship which reigns
between his Majesty and the King of Great Britain.
"The Governor of Canada can give proof of his having done Ms
utmost endeavors to maintain the perfect union which reigns
between two friendly Prineea, As he had learned that the Iroquois:

1754. WASHINGTON'S FIRST ENGAGEMENT. 125
and the Nipissingues of the Lake of the Two Mountains had struck
and destroyed an English family, towards Carolina, he has barred
up the road, and forced them to give him a little boy belonging to
that family, and which Mr, Ulerich, a merchant of Montreal, has
carried to Boston ; and what is more, he has forbid the savages
from exercising their accustomed cruelty upon the English, our
friends. " I could complain bitterly, sir, of the means taken all last win
ter to instigate the Indians to accept the hatchet and to strike ua
while we were striving to keep the peace. I am well persuaded,
sir, of the polite manner in which you will receive M. Le Mercier,
as well out of regard to his business as his distinction and personal
merit. I expect you will send him back with one of your officers,
who will bring me a precise answer. As you have got some Indi
ans with you, sir, I join with M. Le Mercier, an interpreter, that
he may inform thena of my intentions on the subject.
I am, with great regard. Sir,
Your most humble and most obedient servant,
CONTRECCEUR,
Done at our Camp, April 16, 1754."
Washington was at Wills' creek, with three companies, on his
march to Redstone, when the news of the surrender of the Forks
reached him. A consultation with his officers was held, expresses
were sent to Pennsylvania, Yirginia, and Maryland, to ask for rein
forcements, and it was determined to advance to Redstone, and
erect there a fort. On the 9th of May, he reached the Little
Meadows, where he learned that Contrecceur had been reinforced
by eight hundred men ; and French spies and agents were examin
ing, the Monongahela valley, and bribing the Indians, On the
27th he arrived at the Great Meadows, where Gist, who then lived
,at the head of Redstone creek, met him and informed him that a
scouting party of French had been at his house the day previous ;
and in the evening a messenger arrived from Tanacharison, who
was then encamped with some of his warriors about six miles ofi^
with information that the French were near his encampment.
Washington immediately started with forty men to join him.
The night was dark, the rain fell in torrents, the woods were intri
cate, the soldiers often lost their way, but at length they arrived at
the Indian camp just before sunrise, A council was held ; spies were
sent out, and discovered the French in an obscure place, surrounded
by rocks. A disposition for attack was made, the English on the

126 DEATH OF JUMONVILLE, , 1754.
right, and the Indians on the left, approached in single file. The
French discovering their approach, ran to their arms ; a conflict
ensued. The firing lasted for about fifteen minutes, when the
French surrendered ; Jumonville, their commander, and ten of his
men, were slain, twenty-two were taken prisoners, one escaped and
carried the tidings of the skirmish to Fort Du Quesne. Washing
ton's loss was one man killed and two wounded. The Indians re
ceived no loss. The French afterward claimed that this was an
unauthorized attack; and that Jumonville was sent in the charac
ter of an embassador, to warn the English to depart from lands
claimed by them. The circumstances of the case, however, prove
the fact that they concealed themselves, and reconnoitred Wash
ington's camp; and the fact that they had instruction from Contre
coeur with them to examine the country as far as the Potomac, is ap
pealed to by him as the proof that they were, as he had been informed,
not messengers, but spies, and hence enemies, according to the
usages of war. Deserters from Fort Du Quesne, who afterward
joined Washington, confirmed the fact that Jumonville and his
party were sent as spies, and directed to show a summons which
they bore, only if they were overpowered.
Washington immediately returned to the Great Meadows ; and
threw up a fortification, to which he gave the name of Fort
Necessity, and then proceeded to cut a road through the -wilder
ness to Gist's plantation.
From the last of May until the 1st of July, preparations were
made to meet the French, who were understood to be gathering
their forces in the West. On the 28th of June, Washington was
at Gist's house, and new reports coming in, that the enemy was
approaching in force, a council of war was held, and it was thought
best, in consequence of the scarcity of provisions, to retreat to
Great Meadows, and even further, if possible. When, however,
the retiring body of Provincials reached that post, it was deemed
impossible to go further in the exhausted state of the troops, who
had been eight days without bread. Measures were therefore
taken to strengthen the post, which, from the circumstances, was
named Fort Necessity. On the 1st of July, the Americans
reached their position; on the 3d, alarm was given of an approach
ing enemy; at eleven o'clock, A. M., nine hundred in number,
they commenced the attack in the midst of a hard rain; and from
that time until eight in the evening, the assailants ceased not to
pour their fire upon the little fortress. About eight, the French

1754. SURRENDER OF FORT NECESSITY. 127
requested some officer to be sent to treat with them ; Captain Yan
braam, the only person who pretended to understand the language
of the enemy, was ordered to go to the camp of the attacldng
party, whence he returned, bringing terms of capitulation, which,
by a flickering candle, in the dripping quarters of his commander,
he translated to Washington, and, as it proved, mis-translated. By
this capitulation, the garrison of Fort Necessity were to have leave
to retire with everything but their artillery; the prisoners taken
May 28th, were to be returned; and the party yielding were to
labor on no works west of the mountains, for one year; for the
observance of these conditions, Captain Yanbraam, the negotiator,
and Captain Stobo, were to be retained by the French, as hostages.
These provisions having been agreed to, Washington and his men,
hard pressed by famine, hastened to the nearest depot, which was
at Wills' creek. At this point, immediately afterward. Fort
Cumberland was erected, under the charge of Colonel Innes, of
North Carolina, who, since the death of Colonel Fry, had been
commander-in-chief. At that time there were in ser-vice, the Yir
ginia militia, the Independent Companies of Yirginia, South
Carolina, and New York, all of whom were paid by the King ;
troops raised in North Carolina, and paid by the colony, and
recruits from Maryland ; of these, the Yirginia and South Carolina
troops alone had been beyond the mountains.
The course pursued by Washington in regard to his Indian
allies, gave them much offense, and was severely censured by his
fri.end, the Half-Eing :
"The Colonel," said he, * "was a good natured young man, but had
no experience ; he took upon him to command the Indians as his
slaves, and would have them every day upon the scout, and to
attack the enemy themselves, but would by no means take advice
from the Indians. He lay in one place, from one full moon to the
other, without making any fortification, except that little thing on
the Meadow; whereas, had he taken advice, and built such fortifi
cation as he (Tanacharison) had advised him, he might easily have
beat off the French. But the French in the engagement acted
like cowards, and the English like fools."
From August to October, little appears to have been done ; but
in the latter month, the Governor of Yirginia, Dinwiddle, so
changed the military organization of the colony as to leave no

* Thomson's inquiry into the causes of the AUenation of the Delawares and Shawa
nees, p. 80.

128 BRADDOCK LANDS IN VIRGINIA. 1755.
American in the army vnth a rank above that of captain. This
was done in order to avoid all contests as to precedence atoong thfe
American officers, it being clear that troops from various provinces
would be called into the field, and that the different commis
sions from the crown, and the colonies, would give large openings
for rivalry and conflict ; but among the results of the measures, was
the resignation of Washington, who for a time retired to Mount
Yernon. The next year opened with professions, on both sides, of the
most peaceful intentions, and preparations on both sides to push
the war -vigorously. France, in January, proposed to restore
everything to the state it was in, before the last war, and to refer
all claims to the commissioners at Paris ; to which Britain, on the
22d, replied, that the west of North America must be left as it
was at the treaty of Utrecht. On the 6th of February, France
made answer, that the old English claims in America, were
untenable; and offered a new ground of compromise, that the
English should retire east of the Alleghenies, and the French, west
of the Ohio. This offer was long considered, and at length was
agreed to by England, on the 7th of March, provided the French would
destroy all their forts on the Ohio and its branches ; which the French
government refused to do. While all this negotiation was going
on, other things had also been in motion. General Braddock, with
his gallant troops, crossed the Atlantic, and, on the 20th of Febru
ary, landed in Yirginia, commander-in-chief of all the land forces
in America; and in the north, preparation was made for an attack
on Crown Point and Niagara. In France, too, other work had
been done than negotiation ; at Brest and Rochelle, ships were fit
ting out, and troops and stores being collected. England had not
been asleep, and Boscawen had been busy at Plymouth, hurrying
on the workmen, and gathering the sailors. In March, the two
European neighbors were seeking to quiet all troubles; in April
the fleets of both were crowding sail across the Atlantic, and, in
Alexandria, Braddock, Shiriey, and their fellow officers were taking
counsel as to the summer's campaign.
In America, four points were to be attacked; Fort Du Quesne,
Crown Point, Niagara, and the French posts in Nova Scotia. On
the 20th of April, Braddock left Alexandria to march upon Du
Quesne, whither he was expressly ordered, though the officers in
America thought New York should be the main point for regular
operations. The expedition for Nova Scotia, consisting of three

1755. braddock's march. 129
thousand Massachusetts men, left Boston on the 20th of May;
while the troops which General Shirley was to lead against Niagara,
and the provincials which William Johnson was to head in the
attack upon Crown Point, slowly collected at Albany.
The fearful and desponding colonists waited till midsummer
anxiously for news ; and, when the news came that Nova Scotia
had been conquered, and that Boscawen had taken two of the
French men of war, and lay before Louisburg, hope and joy spread
everywhere. In July, the report spread through the colonies how
slowly and painfully Braddock made progress through the wilder
ness, how his contractors deceived him, and the colonies gave little
help, and neither horses nor wagons could be had, and only one,
Benjamin Franklin, sent any aid; * and then reports came that he
had been forced to leave many of his troops, and much of his bag
gage and artillery, behind him ; and then, about the middle of the
month, through Yirginia there went a whisper, that the great gene
ral had been defeated and wholly cut off; and, as man after man
rode down the Potomac conflrming it, the planters hastily mounted
and were off to consult with their neighbors ; the country turned
out; companies were formed to march to the frontiers; sermons
were preached, and every heart and mouth was full.
In Pennsylvania the Assembly were called together to hear the
shocking news, and in New York it struck terror into those who
were there gathered to attack the northern posts. Soldiers deserted ;
the batteaux men dispersed; and when at length Shirley, since
Braddock's death, the commander-in-chief, managed with infinite
labor to reach Oswego, on Lake Ontario, it was too late and stormy,
and his force too feeble to allow him to more than garrison that
point, and march back to Albany. Johnson, however, met and
defeated the Baron Dieskau, but Crown Point was not taken, or
even attacked.
The defeat of Braddock was, however, the most prominent event
of the campaign, and the most terrible reverse the British arms had
suffered in America. A detailed description of it is given in the
language of Mr. Sparks:
"The defeat of General Braddock, on the banks of the Monon
gahela, is one of the most remarkable events in American history.
Great preparations had been made for the expedition, under that

* sharks' Washihgton, vol. ii., p. 77, &.a. — Sparks' Franklin, vol. Vu., p. 94, &c.

130 braddock's march. 1755.
experienced officer, and there was the most sanguine anticipation,
both in England and America, of its entire success. Such was the
confidence in the prowess of Braddock's army, according to Dr.
Franklin, that, while he was on his march to Fort Du Quesne, a
subscription paper was handed about in Philadelphia, to raise
money to celebrate his victory by bonfires and illuminations, as
soon as the intelligence should arrive.
" General Braddock landed in Yirginia on the 20th of February,
1755, with two regiments of the British army from Ireland, the
forty-fourth and forty-eighth, each consisting of five hundred men,
one of them commanded by Sir Peter Halket, and the other by
Colonel Dunbar. To these were joined a suitable train of artillery,
witli military supplies and provisions. The General's first head
quarters were at Alexandria, and the troops were stationed in that
place and its vicinity, till they marched for Wills' creek.
" One division of the army, consisting of the provincials and a
part of the forty-fourth, set out on the 8th and 9th of April, under
Sir Peter Halket, for Winchester, Yirginia, whence a new road
had been opened, and was nearly completed, to Cumberland, and
arrived by that route at Wills' creek, on the 10th of May. On the
18th of April, Colonel Dunbar, With the remainder of the army,
bringing the artillery and stores, set out for Frederick, Maryland,
Arriving there, it was found that there was no road to Wills' creek,
and Dunbar was compelled to cross the Potomac at the mouth of
the Conococheague, passed over the Little Cacapon, and again
ferried the Potomac at Ferry Fields. Thence on the river side,
through Shawanee Old Town, or Skipton, the army passed the
narrows, and on the 20th of May arrived at Cumberland.
"In letters written at Wills' creek. General Braddock, with
much severity of censure, complained of the lukewarmness of the
colonial governments and tardiness of the people, in facilitating his
enterprise, the dishonesty of agents and the faithlessness of contrac
tors. The forces which he brought together at Wills' creek, how
ever, amounted to somewhat more than two thousand effective men,
of whom about one thousand belonged to the royal regiments, and
the remainder were furnished by the colonies. In this number
were embraced the fragments of two independent companies from
New York, one of which was commanded by Captain Gates, after
ward a Major-General in the Revolutionary war. Thirty sailors
had also been granted for the expedition by Admiral Keppel, who
commanded the squadron that brought over the two regiments.
"At this post the army was detained three weeks, nor could it

1755. braddock's defeat. 131
it then have moved, had it not been for the energetic personal ser
vices of Franklin, among the Pennsylvania farmers, in procuring
horses and wagons to transport the artillery, provisions and bag
gage, "The details of the march were well described in Colonel
Washington's letters. The army was separated into two divi
sions. The advanced division, under General Braddock, con
sisted of twelve hundred men, besides officers. The other, under
Colonel Dunbar, was left in the rear, to proceed by slower
marches. On the 8th of July, the general arrived with his
division, all in excellent health and spirits, at the junction of
the Youghiogheny and Monongahela rivers. At this place
Colonel Washington joined the advance division, being but par
tially recovered from a severe attack of fever, which had been
the cause of his remaining behind. The officers and soldiers were
now in the highest spirits, and firm in the conviction that they
should, within a few hours, victoriously enter the walls of Fort Du
Quesne. " The steep and rugged grounds on the north side of the Monon
gahela prevented the army from marching in that direction, and it
was necessary in approaching the fort, now about fifteen miles dis
tant, to ford the river twice, and march part of the way on the
south side. Early on the morning of the 9th, all things were in
readiness, and the whole train passed through the river, a little
below the mouth of the Youghiogheny, and proceeded in perfect
order along the southern margin of the Monongahela.
" Washington was often heard to say during his lifetime, that
the most beautiful spectacle that he ever beheld was the display of
the British troops on this eventful morning. Every man was neatly
dressed in full uniform, the soldiers were arranged in. columns and
marched in exact order, the sun gleamed from their burnished
arms, the river fiowed tranquilly on their right, and the deep forest
overshadowed them with solemn grandeur on their left. Officers
and men were equally inspired with cheering hopes and confident
anticipations. " In this manner they marched forward till about noon, when
they arrived at the second crossing place, ten miles from Fort Du
Quesne. They halted but a little time, and then began to ford the
river and regain its northern bank. As soon as they had crossed,
they came upon a level plain, elevated but a few feet above the
surface of the river, and extending northward nearly half a mile
from its margin. Then commenced a gradual ascent, at an angle

132 braddock's defeat. 1755,
of about three degrees, which terminated in hills of a considerable
height, at no great distance beyond. The road from the fording
place to Fort Du Quesne, led across the plain and up this ascent,
and thence proceeded through an uneven countiy, at that time
covered with woods.
" By the order of march a body of three hundred men, under
Colonel Gage, afterward General Gage, of Boston memory, made
the advanced party, which was immediately followed by another of
two hundred. Next came the general with the columns of artil
lery, the main body of the army, and the baggage. At one o'clock
the whole had passed the river, and almost at this moment a sharp
firing was heard upon the advance parties, who were now ascend
ing the hill, and had got forward about a hundred yards from the
termination of the plain. A heavy discharge of musketry was
poured in upon their front, which was the first intelligence they
had of the proximity of an enemy, and this was suddenly followed
by another on their right fiank. They were filled with great con
sternation, as no enemy was in sight, and the firing seemed to pro
ceed from an invisible foe. They fired in their turn, however, but
quite at random, and ob-viously without effect, as the enemy kept
up a discharge in quick, continued succession.
" The general advanced speedily to the relief of these detach
ments ; but before he could reach the spot which they occupied,
they gave way and fell back upon the artillery and the other
columns of the army, causing extreme confusion, and striking the
whole mass with such a panic, that no order could afterward be
restored. The general and the officers behaved with the utmost
courage, and used every effort to rally the men, and bring them to
order, but all in vain. In this state they continued nearly three
hours, huddling together in confused bodies, firing irregularly,
shooting down their own officers and men, and doing no percep
tible harm to the enemy. The Yirginia provincials were the only
troops who seemed to retain their senses, and they behaved with a
bravery and resolution worthy of a better fate. They adopted the
Indian mode, and fought each man for himself behind a tree. This
was prohibited by the general, who endeavored to form his men
into platoons and columns, as if they had been maneuvering on the
plains of Flanders. Meantime the French and Indians, concealed
in the ravines and behind trees, kept up a deadly and unceasing
discharge of musketry, singling out their objects, taking deliberate
aim, and producing a carnage almost unparalleled in the annals of
modern warfare. More than half of the whole army, which had

1755. braddock's defeat, 133
crossed the river in so proud an array, only three hours before,
were killed or wounded ; the general himself had received a mortal
wound, and many of his best officers had fallen by his side,
"In describing the action a few days afterward. Colonel Orme
wrote to the Governor of Pennsylvania: 'The men were so
extremely deaf to the exhortations of the General and the officers,
that they fired away in the most irregular manner all their ammu
nition, and then ran off, leaving to the enemy the artillery, ammu
nition, provisions and baggage ; nor could they be persuaded to
stop till they had got as far as Gist's plantation, nor there only in
part, many of them proceeding as far as Colonel Dunbar's party,
who lay six miles on this side. The officers were absolutely sacri
ficed by their good behavior, advancing sometimes in bodies, some
times separately, hoping by such example to engage the soldiers
to follow them, but to no purpose. The General had five horses
shot under him, and at last received a wound through his right arm
into his lungs, of which he died the 13th instant. Secretary Shir
ley was shot through the head; Captain Morris, wounded; Colonel
Washington had two horses shot from under him, and his clothes
shot through in several places, behaving the whole time with the
greatest courage and resolution. Sir Peter Halket was killed upon
the spot. Colonel Burton and Sir John St. Clair were wounded.'
In addition to these, the other field officers wounded were Lieu
tenant-Colonel Gage, (afterward so well known as the commander
of the British forces in Boston, at the beginning of the Revolution,
Colonel Orme, Major Sparks, and Brigade Major Halket. Ten
Captains were killed, and twenty-two wounded; the whole num
ber of officers in the engagement was eighty-six, of whom twenty-
six were killed, and thirty-seven wounded. The killed and
wounded of the privates amounted to seven hundred and fourte;en.
Of these, at least one-half were supposed to be killed. Their
bodies left on the field of action were stripped and scalped by the
Indians. All the artillery, ammunition, provisions, and baggage,
everything in the train of the army, fell into the enemy's hands,
and were given up to be pillaged by the savages. General Brad
dock's papers were also taken, among which were his instructions
and correspondence with the ministry after his arrival in Yirginia.
The same fate befell the papers of Colonel Washington, including
a private journal and his official correspondence, during his cam
paign of the preceding year.
"M. de Contrecoeur, the commandant of Fort Du Quesne,
received early intelligence of the arrivail of General Braddock and

134 braddock's defeat. 1755.
the British regiments in Yirginia. After his removal from Wills'
creek, French and Indian scouts were constantly abroad, who
watched his motions, reported the progress of his march, and the
route he was pursuing. His army was represented to consist of
three thousand men. M. de Contrecojur was hesitating what
measures to take, believing his small force wholly inadequate to
encounter so formidable an enemy, when M. de Beaujeu, a Captain
in the French service, proposed to head a detachment of French
and Indians, and meet the enemy in their march. The consent of
the Indians was first obtained. A large body of them was then
encamped in the vicinity of the fort, and M. de Beaujeu opened
to them his plan, and requested their aid. This they at first
declined, giving as a reason, the superior force of the enemy, and
the impossibility of success. But at the pressing solicitation of M.
de Beaujeu, they agreed to hold a council on the subject, and talk
¦with him again the next morning. They^till adhered to their first
decision, and when M. de Beaujeu went out among them to inquire
the result of their deliberations, they told him a second time they
could not go. This was a severe disappointment to M. de Beaujeu,
who had set his heart upon the enterprise, and was resolved to
prosecute it. Being a man of great good nature, affability, and
ardor, and much beloved by the savages, he said to them, "I am
determined to go out and meet the enemy. What ! will you suffer
your father to go out alone V I am sure we shall conquer." With
this spirited harangue, delivered in a manner that pleased the
Indians, and won upon their confidence, he subdued their unwil
lingness, and they agreed to accompany him.
" It was now on the 7th of July, and news came that the Eng
lish were within six leagues of the fort. This day and the next
were spent in making preparations and reconnoitering the ground
for attack. Two other captains, Dumas and Liquery, were joined
with M. de Beaujeu, and also four lieutenants, six ensigns, and two
cadets. On the morning of the 9th they were all in readiness, and
began their march at an early hour. It seems to have been their
first intention to make a stand at the ford, and annoy the English
while crossing the river, and then retreat to the ambuscade on the
side of the hill, where the contest actually commenced. The trees
on the bank of the river afforded a good opportunity to effect this
measure, and the Indian mode of warfare, since the artillery could
be of little avail against an enemy, where every man was protected
by a tree, and at the same time the English would be exposed to a
point blank musket shot in fording the river. As it happened.

1765. braddock's defeat. 135
however, M. de Beaujeu and his party did not arrive in time to
execute this part of the plan,
"The English were preparing to cross the river, when the French
and Indians reached the defiles on the rising ground, where they
posted themselves, and waited until Braddock's advanced columns
came up. This was the signal for the attack, which was made at
first in front, and repelled by so heavy a discharge from the Bri
tish, that the Indians believed it proceeded from artillery, and
showed symptoms of wavering and retreat. At this moment M.
de Beaujeu was killed, and the command devolving upon M. Du
mas, he showed great presence of mind in rallying the Indians, and
ordered his officers to lead them to the wings and attack the enemy
in the flank, while he with the French troops would maintain the
position in front. This order was promptly obeyed, and the attack
became general. The action was warm and severely contested for
a short time ; but the English fought in the European method,
firing at random, which had little effect in the woods, while the
Indians fired from concealed places, took aim, and almost every
shot brought down a man. The English columns soon got into
confusion ; the yell of the savages, with which the woods resounded,
struck terror into the hearts of the soldiers, till at length they took
to flight, and resisted all the endeavors of their officers to restore
any degree of order in their escape. The route was complete, and
the field of battle was left covered with the dead and wounded and
all the artillery, ammunition, provisions, and baggage of the British
army. The Indians gave themselves up to pillage, which prevented
them from pursuing the English in their flight,
"Such is the substance of the accounts written at the time by the
French officers, and sent home to their government. In regard to
the numbers engaged there are some slight variations in the three
statements. The largest number reported is two hundred and fifty
French and Canadians, and six hundred Indians, If we take a
medium, it will make the whole number led out by M, de Beaujeu,
at least eight hundred and fifty. In an imperfect return three
officers were stated to be killed, and four wounded ; about thirty
soldiers and Indians killed, and as many wounded. When these
facts are taken into view, the result of the action will appear much
less wonderful, than has generally been supposed. And this won-
det will still be diminished, when another circumstance is recurred
to, worthy of particular consideration, and that is, the shape of the
ground upon which the battle was fought. This part of the de
scription, so essential to the understanding of military operations,

136 braddock's defeat. 1756.
and above all in the present instance, has never been touched
upon, it is believed, by any writer. We have seen that Braddock's
advanced columns, after crossing the valley, extending nearly half
a mile from the margin of the river, began to move up- a hill, so
uniform in its ascent, that it was little else than an inclined plane
of a somewhat crowning form. Down this inclined surface
extended two ravines, beginning near together, at about one hun
dred and fifty yards from the bottom of the hill, and proceeding in
different directions, till they terminated in the valley below. In
these Tavines the French and Indians were concealed and pro
tected. At this day they are from eight to ten feet deep, and suf
ficient in extent to contain at least ten thousand men. Atthe time
of the battle, the ground was covered with trees and long grass, so
that the ravines were entirely hidden from view till they were
approached within a few feet. Indeed, at the present day, although
the place is cleared from trees, and converted into pasture, they
are perceptible only at a very short distance. By this knowledge of
the local peculiarities of the battle ground, the mystery that the Bri
tish conceived themselves to be contending with an invisible foe, is
solved. Such was literally the fact. They were so paraded between
the ravines, that their whole front and right flank were exposed to
the incessant flre of the enemy, who discharged their muskets over
the edge of the ravines, concealed during the operation by the grass
and bushes, and protected by an invisible barrier below the surface
of the earth. William Butler, a veteran soldier, who was in this
action, and afterward at the plains of Abraham, said, 'We could
only tell where the enemy was by the smoke of their muskets.' A
few scattering Indians were behind trees, and some were killed
venturing out to take scalps, but much the larger portion fought
wholly in the ravines.
" It is not probable that either General Braddock, or any one of
his officers, suspected the actual situation of the enemy during the
whole bloody contest. It was a fault with the general, for which
no apology can be offered, that he did not keep scouts and guards
in advance, and on the -wings of the army, who would have made
all proper discoveries before the whole had been brought into a
snare. This-neglect was the primary cause of his defeat ; which
might have been avoided. Had he charged with the bayonet, the
ravine would have been cleared instantly ; or had he brought his
artillery to the points where the ravines terminated in the valley,
and scoured them with grape-shot, the same consequence would
have followed.

1755. braddock's defeat. I37
" But the total insubordination of his troops would have pre
vented both these movements, even if he had become acquainted
•with the ground in the early part of the action. The disasters of
this day, and the fate of the commander, brave and resolute as he
undoubtedly was, are to be ascribed to his contempt of Indian war
fare, his overweening confidence in the prowess of veteran troops,
his obstinate self-complacency, his disregard of prudent counsel,
and his negligence in leaving his army exposed to a surprise on
their march. He freely consulted Colonel Washington, whose ex
perience and judgment, notwithstanding his youth, claimed the
highest'respect for his opinions ; but the general gave little heed
to his advice. While on his march, George Croghan, the Indian
interpreter, joined him with one hundred friendly Indians, who
offered their services. These were accepted in so cold a manner,
and the Indians themselves treated with so much neglect, that they
deserted him one after another. Washington pressed upon him
-the importance of these men, and the necessity of conciliating and
retaining them, but without effect.
"When the battle was over, and the remnant of Braddock's
army had gained, in their flight, the opposite bank of the river.
Colonel Washington was dispatched by the general to meet Colonel
Dunbar, and order forward wagons for the wounded with all pos
sible speed. But it was not till the 11th, after they had reached
Gist's plantation, with great difficulty and much suffering from
hunger, that any arrived. The general was first brought off in a
tunibrel; he was next put on horseback, but being unable to ride,
was obliged to be carried by the soldiers. They all reached Dun
bar's camp, to which the panic had already extended, and a day
was passed there in great confusion. The artillery was destroyed,
and the public stores and heavy baggage were burnt; by whose
order was never known. They moved forward on the 13th, and
thatnight General Braddock died, and was buried in the road, for
the purpose of concealing his body from the Indians. The spot is
still pointed out, within a few yards of the present national roa,d,
and about a mile west of the site of Fort Necessity, at the great
meadows. Captain Stewart, of the Yirginia forces, had taken par
ticular charge of. him from the time he was wounded till his death.
On the 17th, the sick and wounded arrived at Fort Cumberland,
and were soon after joined by Colonel Dunbar, with the remaining
fragments of the army."
' The French, sent out a party as far as Dunbar's camp, and de-
10

138 lewis' expedition. 1756.
stroyed every thing that was left. Colonel Washington, being in
very feeble health, proceeded in a few days to Mount Yernon,
Although the doings of 1755 could not be looked on as of a very
amicable character, war was not declared by either France or Eng
land until May, the following year; and even then France was' iiie
last to proctaim the contest which she had been so long carrying
on, though more than three hundred of her merchant vessels had
been taken by British privateers. The causes of this proceeding
are not very clear, France thought, beyond doubt, that George
would fear to declare war, because Hanover was so exposed to
attack ; but why the British movements, upon the sea particularly,
did not lead to the declaration on the part of France, is not easily
suggested. Early in 1756, however, both kingdoms formed alli
ances in Europe. France with Austria, Russia, and Sweden ; Eng
land with the great Frederic. And, then commenced the. Seven
Years' War, wherein most of Europe, North America, and the
East and West Indies partook and suffered.
The defeat of Braddock, and the failure of the expedition, left
the whole western frontier of the English colonies exposed to the
hostile excursions of the French and Indians. At that time the
western settlements extended only to the head waters of the Sus
quehanna, the Potomac, the Shenandoah, James, and Roanoke
rivers. Settlements, indeed, had been made between 1745 and
1750, near the sources of the Cumberland, Clinch, and Holston
rivers. These were broken up, and the settlers compelled to retire
beyond the mountains, by the Cherokees. The valley of the Blue
ridge was desolated by the Shawanees, and to avenge their inroads
in Yirginia, Governor Dinwiddle, in January, 1756, dispatched
Col. Lewis to destroy their towns on the Scioto, and to build a fortat
the mouth of the Great Sandy, as a barrier against their incursions.
Col. Lewis organized his expedition, and proceeded from Salem,
across New River, to the Great Sandy, but with supplies inadequate
for so long a march through an uninhabited country. Before the
troops reached the Ohio, their provisions were exhausted, and they
were compelled to depend upon the chase for their subsistence.
When -within ten miles of the Ohio, a message was received from
the, governor, commanding Col, Lewis to abandon the enterprise,
and return. His men consented with great reluctance toabandon
their hope of meeting the enemy, and obey orders dictated with ft
regard to their safety. Great suffering ensued. The lateness of
the season cut off their supply of game, and they were compelled

1756. Armstrong's expedition, ¦ 139
to subsist on nuts found in the woods. Soon the deep snows cut
off this resource, and they were obliged to kill their pack horses for
food. And when this supply failed, it is said, they sought
and devoured all the skins and leather within their reach. At
length, after such sufferings as rendered them almost incapable of
pursuing their march, they reached the settlement in safety.*
At the same time the frontiers of Pennsylvania were continually
harassed by the Delawares. To guard against these incursions, a
chain of forts was erected along the whole border of that province.
On the east side of the Susquehanna, Fort Henry was built, at the
pass of the Swatara; Fort Lebanon, at the forks of the Schuylkill ; and
Fort Allen, at Gnadenhutten. On the west of that river were Fort
Lowther, at Carlisle; Fort Morris, at Shippensburg ; Fort Granville
and Fort Shirley, on Augwick branch ; Fort Littleton and Fort Lou
don, near Conococheague creek. These forts along the west side of
the Susquehanna were garrisoned by eight companies, under the
command of Lieutenant Colonel John Armstrong. Notwithstanding
these precautions, the Indians continued their devastations, and
penetrated beyond the line of the English forts. These incursions
were made from Kittanning, an Indian village on the Allegheny
river, where the noted Captain Jacobs, and occasionally Shinghis,
lived. To break up this rendezvous, and thus to relieve the border
settlements from the horrors of Indian war. Col. Armstrong planned
and executed an expedition against it. His official report is a suf
ficient history of the expedition. "Fort Littleton,! Sept. 14th, 1756.
" Agreeable to mine of the 29th ult., we marched from Fort
Shirley the day following, and on Wednesday, the 3d instant, joined
our advanced- party at the Beaver Dams, a few miles from Franks-
town, on the north branch of the Juniata. We were there informed
that some of our men having been out on a scout, had discovered
the tracks of two Indians on this side of the Allegheny mountain,
and but a few miles from the camp. From the freshness of the
tracks, their killing of a cub bear, and the marks of their fires, it
seeme^d. evident that they were not twenty-four hours before us, which
might be looked upon as a particular Providence in our favor, that
we were not discovered. Next morning we decamped, and in two

* Monette-'s Valley of -the Mississippi, vol. i. p. 312.
f In Bedford county, on the way from Kittanning to Carlisle.

140 Armstrong's expedition. 1756.
days came within fifty miles of Kittanning. It was there adjudged
necessary to send some persons to reconnoitre the town, and to get
the best intelligence they could concerning the situation and posi
tion of the enemy. Whereupon an officer, with one of the pilots,
and two soldiers, were sent off for that purpose.
"The day following we met them on their return, and they in
formed us that the roads were entirely clear of the enemy, and that
they had the greatest reason to believe they were not discovered ;
but from the rest of the intelligence they gave it appeared they had
not been nigh enough the town, either to perceive the situation of
it, the number of the enemy, or what way it might be most advan
tageously attacked.
" We continued our march, intending to get as near the town as
possible that night, so as to be able to attack it the next morning
about daylight, but to our great dissatisfaction, about nine or ten
o'clock at night, one of our guides came and told us that he per
ceived a fire by the roadside, at which he saw two or three Indians,
a few perches distant from our front. Whereupon, with all possi
ble silence, I ordered the rear to retreat about one hundred*perche8,
in order to make way for the front, that we might consult how we
could best proceed without being discovered by the enemy.
" Some time after, the pilot returned a second time, and assured
us, from the best observations he could make, there were not above
three or four Indians at the fire. On which it was proposed that we
should immediately surround, and cut them off; but this was thought
to be too hazardous, for, if but one of the enemy had escaped,
it would have been the means of discovering the whole design, and
the light of the moon, on which depended our advantageously post
ing our men, and attacking the town, would not admit of our stay
ing till the Indians fell asleep. On which it was agreed to have
Lieut. Hogg go with twelve men and the person who first discov
ered the fire, with orders to watch the enemy, but not to attack
them till break of day, and then, if possible, to cut them off. It
was also agreed, (we believing ourselves to be but about six miles
from the town,) to leave the horses, many of them being tired, with
what blankets and other baggage we then had, and take a circuit
off of the road, which was very rough and incommodious, on ac
count of the stones and fallen timber, in order to prevent our being
heard by the enemy at the fire-place. This interruption much
retarded our march, but a still greater loss arose from the igno
rance of our pilots, who neither knew the true situation of the town,
nor the best paths that lead thereto ; by which means, after cross-

1756. ARMSTRONG'S EXPEDITION, 141
a number of hills and valleys, our front reached the river Allegheny,
about one hundred perches below the main body of the town, a
little before the setting of the moon, to which place, rather than by
pilots, we were guided by the beating of the drum, and the whoop
ing of the warriors, at their dances.
"It then became us to make the best use of the remaining
moonlight; but ere we were aware, an Indian whistled in a very sin
gular manner, about thirty perches from our front, in the foot of a
cornfield, upon which we immediately sat down, and after passing
silence to the rear, I asked one Baker, a soldier, who was our best
assistant, whether that was not a signal to the warriors, of our
approach. He answered, no; and said it was the manner of a
young fellow calling a squaw, after he had done his dance, who,
accordingly kindled a fire, cleaned his gun, and shot it off before
he went to sleep.
"All this time we were obliged to lay quiet, and hush till the
moon was fairly set. Immediately after, a number of fires
appeared in different parts of the cornfield, by which. Baker said
the Indians lay, the night being warm, and that these fires would
immediately be out, as they were designed only to disperse the
gnats. "By this time it was break of day, and the men having marched
thirty miles, were mostly asleep; the line being long, the three
companies of the rear Were not yet brought over the last precipice.
For these, some proper hands were immediately dispatched, and
the weary soldiers being roused to their feet, a proper number
under sundry officers, were ordered to "take the end of the hill, at
which we then lay, and march along the top of the said hill, at least
one hundred perches, and so much further, it being then daylight,
as would carry them opposite the upper part, or at least the body
of the town ; for the lower part thereof, and the cornfield, presu
ming the warriors were there, I kept rather the larger number of
the men, promising to postpone the attack on that part, for eighteen
or twenty minutes, until the detachment along the hill should have
time to advance to the place assigned them. In doing of which,
they were a little unfortunate.
" The time being elapsed, the attack was made in the cornfield,
and the men -with all expedition possible, dispatched through the
several parts thereof. A party being also dispatched to the houses,
which were then discovered by the light of day. Captain Jacobs,
immediately then gave the war whoop, and with sundry other
Indians, as the English prisoners afterward told us, cried, "the white

142 ARMSTRONG'S EXPEDITION. 1756.
men were at last come, they would have scalps enough," but at
the same time, ordered their squaws and children to flee to the
woods. " Our men -with great eagerness passed through and fired in the
cornfield, where they had several returns from the enemy, as they
also had from the opposite side of the river. Presently after, a
brisk fire began among the houses, which from the house of
Captain Jacobs, was returned with a great deal of resolution ; to
which place I immediately repaired, and found, that from the
advantages of the house, and port-holes, sundry of our people were
wounded, and some killed; and finding that returning the fire upon
the house was ineffectual, ordered the contiguous houses to be set
on fire, which was performed with a great deal of activity — ^the
Indians always firing whenever an object presented itself, and
seldom missing of wounding or killing some of our people; from
which house, I received, in mo-ving about and giving the necessary
orders, a wound with a large musket ball in the shoulder. Sundry
persons during the action, were ordered to tell the Indians to sur
render themselves prisoners, but one of the Indians, in particular,
answered and said, "he was a man, and would not be a prisoner."
Upon which he was told, in Indian, he would be burnt. To this
he replied, he did not care, for he would kill four or five before he
died; and had we not desisted from exposing ourselves, they would
have killed a great many more ; they having a number of loaded
guns there. As the fire began to approach, and the smoke grow
thick, one of the Indian fellows to show Ms manhood, began to
sing. A squaw in the same house, and at the same time, was
heard to cry and to make a noise, but for so doing, was severely
rebuked by the men ; but, by and by, the fire being too hot for
them, two Indian fellows and a squaw, sprung out, and made for
the cornfield, who were immediately shot down by our people;
then surrounding the houses, it was thought Captain Jacobs tum
bled himself out at the garret or cockloft window, at which he was
shot— our prisoners offering to be qualified to the powder horn and
pouch, there taken off him, which they say he had lately got from
a French officer, in exchange for Lieutenant Armstrong's boots-,
which he carried from Fort Greenville, where the lieutenant was
killed. The same prisoners say they are perfectly assured of his
scalp, as no other Indians there wore their hair in the eam^
manner. They also say they know his squaw's scalp, by a particu
lar bob, and also know the scalp of a young Indian called the
King's son. Before this time. Captain Hugh Mercer, who eariy in

175&. ARMSTRONG'S EXPEDITION. 143
the action was wounded in the arm, had been taken to the top of
the hill above the town, to where a number of the men and some
of the officers were gathered ; from whence they had discovered
some Indians cross the river and take the hill, with an intention,
they thought, to surround us, and cut us off from our retreat, from
whom I had sundry pressing messages to leave the house, and
retreat to the hill, or we should all be cut off; but to this I could
by no means consent, till all the houses were set on fire ; though
our spreading on the hill appeared very necessary, yet, it did
prevent our researches of the cornfield and river side, by which
means sundry scalps were left behind, and doubtless some squaws,
children, and English prisoners, that otherwise might have been
got. "During the burning of the houses, which were nearly thirty in
number, we were agreeably entertained with a quick succession of
charged, guns gradually firing off, as they were reached by the fire;
but more so with the vast- explosion of sundry bags and large kegs
of gunpowder, wherewith almost eveiy house abounded. The
prisoners afterward informing us that the Indians had frequently said
they had a sufficient stock of ammunition for ten years, to war with
thevEnglish. With the roof of Captain Jacob's house, where the
powder blew up, was thrown the leg and thigh of an Indian, with
a child of three or four years old, such a height that they appeared
as nothing!, and fell into the adjacent cornfield. There was also a
great quantity of goods burnt, which the Indians had received but
ten days before from the French.
"By this time, I had proceeded to. the hill, to have my wound
tied up and the blood stopped, when the prisoners, who, in the
morning had come to our people, informed me that that very day,
two batteaux, of Frenchmen, with a large party of Delaware and
French Indians were to join Captain- Jacobs at Kittanning, and to
set out early next morning to take Fort Shirley, or, as they called
it, George Groghan's fort, and that twenty-four warriors who had
lately come to town, were sent before them the evening before, for
what purpose tjiey did not know, whether to, prepare meat, to spy
tlie fort, or to make an attack on some of our back settlements.
"Soon after, upon a little reflection, -we were convinced these
warriors were all at the fire we had discovered, but the night before,
and began to doubt the fiate of Lieutenant Hogg and his party.
From this intelligence of the prisoners, our provisions being scaf
folded some thirty miles back, except what were in the men's haver
sacks, which were left with the horses and blankets with Lieuten-

144 ARMSTRONG'S EXPEDITION. 1756.
ent Hogg and his party, and a number of wounded people then on
hand, by the advice of the officers it was thought imprudentthen
to wait for the cutting down of the cornfield which was before
designed, but immediately to collect our wounded and force our
march back in the best manner we could, which we did by collect
ing a few Indian horses to carry off our wounded.
"From the apprehension of being waylaid and surrounded,
especially by some of the woodsmen, it was difficult to keep the
men together; our march for sundry miles not exceeding two miles
an hour — which apprehensions were heightened by the attempt -of
a few Indians, who, for some time after the march, fired on each
wing and immediately ran off, from whom we received no other
damage but one of our men being wounded through both legs.
Captain Mercer being wounded was induced, as we have reason to
believe, by some of his men, to leave the main body with his ensign,
John Scott, and ten or twelve men, they being heard tell him that
we were in great danger, and that they could take him into the
road a nigh way, is probably lost, there being yet no account of
him, and most of the men have come in. A detaehment was sent
to bring him in, but could not find him, and, upon the return of the
detachment, it was generally reported he was seen with the above
number of men take a different road.
" Upon our return to the place where the Indian fire had been
discovered the night before, we met with a sergeant of Captain
Mercer's company and two or three others of his men, who had
deserted us that morning, immediately after the action at the Kit
tanning. These men in running away had met Lieutenant Ho^,
who lay wounded in two different parts of his body, by the road
side. He then told them of the fatal mistake of the pilot, who had
assured us that there were but three Indians at the most, atthe
fire-place; but when they came to attack them that morning,
according to orders, he found a number considerably superior to
his, and believes they killed or mortally wounded three of them at
the first fire, after which a warm engagement began, and continued
for about an hour, when three of his best men were killed and him
self twice wounded; the residue fleeing off, he was obliged to squat
in a thicket where he might have lain securely, if this cowardly
sergeant and others that fled with him, had not taken him away.
'iThey had marched but a short space when four Indians appeared,
on which these deserters began to flee. The lieutenant then, not
withstanding his wounds, as a brave soldier, urging and command
ing them to stand and fight, which they all refused.

1756. ARMSTRONG'S EXPEDITION. 145
" The Indians pursued, killing one man, and wounding the lieu
tenant a third time in the belly, of which he died in a few hours ;
but he, having some time before been put on horseback, rode some
miles from the place of action. But this last attack of the Indians
upon Lieutenant Hogg and the deserters was, by the before-men
tioned sergeant, represented to us in a very different light ; he tell
ing us that there was a far larger number of the Indians there than
appeared to them, and that they fought five rounds. That he had
there seen the lieutenant and sundry others killed and scalped, and
had also discovered a number of Indians throwing themselves be
fore us, and insinuated a great deal such stuff, as threw us into
much confusion. So that the officers had a great deal to do to
keep the men together, but could not prevail on them to collect
what horses and other baggage the Indians had left, after their
conquest of Lieutenant Hogg, and the party under his command,
in the morning, except a few of the horses, which some of the
bravest of the men were prevailed on to collect. So that from the
mistake of the pilot, who spied the Indians at the fire, and the
cowardice of the said sergeant, and other deserters, we have sus
tained a considerable loss of our horses and baggage.
" It is impossible to ascertain the exact loss of the enemy killed
in the action, as some were destroyed by fire, and others in differ
ent parts of the cornfield ; but, on a moderate computation, it is
generally believed there cannot be less than thirty or forty killed,
or mortally wounded, as much blood was found in sundry parts of
the cornfield, and Indians seen in several parts crawl into the
weods, on hands and feet, whom the soldiers, in pursuit of others,
then overlooked, expecting to find and scalp them afterward, and
also several killed and wounded in crossing the river.
" On beginning our march back, we had about a dozen of scalps,
and eleven English prisoners, but now find that four or five of the
scalps are missing ; part of which were lost on the road, and part
in possession of the men with Captain Mercer, separated from the
main body, with whom also went four prisoners, the other seven
being now at this place, where we arri-ved on Sunday night; not
being attacked through our whole march by the enemy, though we
expected it every day. Upon the whole, had our pilots understood
the situation of the town, and the paths leading to it, so as to have
posted us at a convenient place, where the disposition of the men,
and the duty assigned them could have been performed with greater
advantage, we had, by divine assistance, destroyed a much greater
number of the enemy, recovered more prisoners, and sustained

146 ARMSTRONG'S EXPEDITION. 1756.
less damage than what we have at present. But the advantage
gained over these our common enemies is far from being satisfac
tory to us, yet we must not despise the smallest degree of success
that God is pleased to give, especially at a time when the attempts
of our enemies have been so prevalent and successful. I am sure
there was the greatest inclination to do more, had it been in our
power, as the officers, and most of the soldiers, throughout the
whole action, exerted themselves with as much activity and resolu
tion as could possibly be expected.
" Our prisoners inform us the Indians have for some time past
talked of fortifying at the Kittanning, and other towns. That the
number of French at Du Quesne is about four hundred. That the
principal part of their provisions came up the river, from the Mis
sissippi ; and that in the three other forts, which the French have
on the Ohio, there are not more men, taken together, than what
there are at Fort Du Quesne.
" I hope as soon as possible to receive your Honor's instructions,
with regard to the distribution or stationing of the sundry compa
nies in this battalion ; and, as a number of men are now wanting
in each of the companies, whether or no they should be immedi
ately recruited ; and if the sundry officers are to recruit, that money
be speedily sent for that purpose.
"I beg the favor of your Honor, as soon as possible, to furnish
Governor Morris with a copy of this letter, and the gentlemen
commissioners for the province another, as my present indisposi
tion neither admits me to write or dictate any more at this time.
" In case a quantity of ammunition is not already sent to Car-
• lisle, it should, be sent as soon as possible ; and also if the compa
nies are to be recruited and completed, there must be an immediate
supply of about three hundred blankets, as there have been a great
uaany lost in the present expedition. Enclosed is a list of the
killed, wounded, and missing, of the several companies. I expect
to get to Carlisle in about four days.
JOHN ARMSTRONG."
The progress of the war in the next year was unfavorable to
the colonies. The indecision of the British cabinet, the inca-
pacify of the British officers in America, the want of harmony in
the colonial governments, conspired to paralyze all effort. A
project indeed was set on foot to reduce Louisburg, but on the
information of that post being reinforced by a French fleet, it was
abandoned. Taking advantage of the absence of the provincial

1757. PITT MADE MINISTER. 147
army which was collected at Halifax to aid in the attack on Louis
burg, Montcalm laid siege to Fort William Henry. After a
spirited resistance. Colonel Monroe surrendered. It was stipulated
that the garrison should be allowed the honors of war, and pro
tected to Fort Edward. But no sooner had the soldiers left the
place, than they were attacked by the Indians in the French army,
and all who could not escape were massacred. The British fleet,
too, while cruising off Louisbourg^, was dispersed, and many of the
vessels driven ashore and desttoyed. In Europe, too, England
suffered; the great' Frederic was borne down, the navy of England
was defeated in the Mediterranean, and the British colonies in the
East were menaced- by the activity of the French,
But on the 29th of June, 1757, the great Pitt was made Prime
Minister, An immediate re-organization of the military forces of
the kingdom was made ; measures were taken to prosecute the war
with vigor, and the year 1758 opened under better auspices. On
sea and land, in Asia, Europe and America, Britain regained what
had been lost. The Austrians, Russians and Swedes, all gave way
before the^reat captain of Prussia, and Pitt sent his own strong,
hopeful, and energetic spirit into his subalterns. In North
America, Louisburg yielded to Boscawen, Fort Frontenac was
taken by Bradstreet, and Du Quesne was abandoned upon the
approach of Forbes through Pennsylvania.
The history of this last capture, was more particularly connected
with the West. The details of the march may be seen in the
letters of Washington, who, in opposition to Colonel Bouquet, was
in favor of crossing the mountains by Braddock's^ road, whereas.
Bouquet wished to cut a new one through Pennsylvania. In this
division. Bouquet was listened to by the general ; and late in the
season a new route was undertaken, by which such delays and
troubles were produced, that the whole expedition came near
proving^ a failure^ Braddock's road liad, in early times, been
selected by the most experienced Indians and frontier men as the
most favorable whereby to cross the mountainsj being nearly the
route by which the national road has been since carried over them.
In 1763, it was opened by the Ohio Company. It was afterward
improved by the provincial troops under Washington, and was
finished by Braddock's engineers; and this route was now to be
given up, and a wholly new one opened, probably, as Washington
suggested, through Pennsylvania infiuence, that her frontier might
thereby be protected, and a way opened for her traders. The

148 DISSATISFACTION OF THE INDIANS. 1758._
hardships and dangers of the march from Raystown to Fort Du
Quesne, where the British van arrived upon the 25th of November,
may be seen slightly pictured by the letters of Washington, and
the journal of Post, and may be more vividly conceived by those
who have passed through the valley of the upper Juniata.
But the position of things in the West, during the autumn of
1758, was very unfavorable. The French did their utmost to
alienate the Six Nations and Delawares from their old connection
with the British ; and so politic were their movements, so accurate
their knowledge of Indian character, that they fully succeeded.
The English had made some attempts to get a claim to the western
lands, and had even obtained grants of those lands; but the "wild
men saw they had been deceived, and listened to the French pro
fessions of friendship, backed as they were by presents and polite
ness, and accompanied by no attempts to buy or wheedle lands
from them. Early, therefore, many of the old allies of England
joined her enemies; and the treaties of Albany, Johnson Hall, and
Easton, did little or nothing towards stopping the desolation of the
frontiers of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Yirginia. The Quakers
always believed that this state of enmity between the Delawares
and themselves, or their rulers, might be prevented by a little
friendly communion; but the persuasions of the French, the
renegade English traders, and others who had gone to the West,
were great obstacles to any friendly intercourse on the one side,
and, the common feeling among the whites- was an equal difficulty
on the other.
The depraved character of the English traders among the Indian s
doubtless had much to do in exciting and keeping alive their resent
ment. They are thus described in a message of the Governor of
Pennsylvania to the Assembly, immediately after the Lancaster
Treaty of 1744.* "I cannot," says he, "but be apprehensive that
the Indian trade, as it is now carried on, will involve us in some
fatal Quarrel with the Indians. Our Traders, in Defiance of the
Law, carry spirituous Liquors among them, and take the Advan
tage of their inordinate Appetite for it, to cheat them of their Skins
and their Wampum, which is their Money, and often to debauch
their Wives into the Bargain. Is it to be wondered at then, if,
when they recover from their drunken Fit, if they should take some

* Thompson's Causes of the Alienation of the Delaware and Shawanese Indians, Lon
don, 1769, pp, 55 and 76.

1758. CHARACTER OF THE INDIAN TRADERS. 149
severe Revenges. If I am rightly informed, the like abuses of the
Traders in New England were the principal Causes of the Indian
Wars there, and at length obliged the Government to take the
Trade into their own Hands. This is a Matter that well deserves
your attention, and perhaps will soon require your Imitation."
The Assembly of Pennsylvania, too, in an address to the Gov
ernor, in 1754, "bewail the miserable condition of our Indian Trade
carried on, some few excepted, by the vilest of our own Inhabitants
and Convicts imported from Great Britain and Ireland, by which
Means the English Nation is unhappily represented among our
Indian Allies in the most disagreeable manner. These trade with
out Control, either beyond the limits, or at least beyond the power
of our Laws, debauching the Indians and themselves with spiritu-^
ous Liquors, which they now make, in a great Measure, the princi
pal Article of their Trade in direct Yiolation of our Laws, supplied,
as we are informed, by some Magistrates, who hold a Commission
under this Government, and other Inhabitants of our back
Counties." The character of the traders here complained of, is fully borne out
by the speech of an Indian chief, to the Commissioners at Carlisle,
in 1753.
"Your Traders," says he, "bring scarce anything but Rum and
Flour. They bring little Powder and Lead, or other valuable
Goods. The Rum ruins us. We beg you would prevent its coming
in such Quantities by regulating the Traders. We never under
stood the trade was to be for Whisky and Flour. We desire it
may be forbidden, and none sold in the Indian Country; but that,
if the Indians will have any, they may go amOng the Inhabitants
and deal -with them for it. When these Whisky Traders come, they
bring thirty or forty Cags, and put them down before us, and make
us drink, and get all the Skins that should go to pay the Debts we
have contracted for Goods bought of the fair Traders, and by this
Means we not only ruin ourselves, but them too. These wicked
Whisky Sellers, when they have got the Indians in Liquor, make
them sell the very Clothes from their Backs. In short, if this Prac
tice be continued, we must be ine-vitably ruined. We most earn
estly, therefore, beseech you to remedy it."
In the autumn of 1756, a treaity was held at Easton with the
Pennsylvania Delawares, and peace agreed to. But this did not
bind the Ohio Indians even of the same nation, much less the
Shawanese and Mingoes ; and though the Sachem of the Pennsyl
vania savages, Teedyuscung, promised to call his western relatives

150 FORBES' EXPEDITION. 1758.
with a loud voice, they did not or would not hear him; the toma
hawk was still brandished among the rocky mountain fastnesses of
the interior. Nor can any heart but pity the red men. They knew
not whom to believe, nor where to look for a true friend. The
French said they came to defend them from the English; the
English said they came to defend them from the French; and
between the two powers they were wasting away, and their homes
disappearing before them. " The kings of France and England,"
said Teedyuscung, " have settled this land so as to coop us up as if
in a pen. This very ground that is under me was my land and
inheritance, and is taken from me by fraud." Such being the feel
ing of the natives, and success being of late nearly balanced between
the two European powers, no wonder that they hung doubting, and
knew not which way to turn. The French -wished the eastern
Delawares to move west, so as to bring them within their influence,
and the British tried to persuade them to prevail on their -western
brethren to leave their new allies and be at peace.
In 1768, the condition of affairs being as stated, and Forbes'
army on the eve of starting for Fort Du Quesne, and the
French being also disheartened by the British success elsewhere,
and their force at Du Quesne weak, it was determined to make an
effort to draw the western Indians over, and thereby still further to
weaken the force that would oppose General Forbes. It was no
easy matter, however, to find a true and trustworthy man, whose
courage, skill, ability, knowledge, and physical power, would fit
him for such a mission. He was to pass through a wilderness filled
with doubtful friends, into a ,(30untry filled with Open enemies. The
whole Erench interest would be ,against him, and the Indians of the
Ohio were little to be trusted. Every stream on his way had been
dyed with blood, every hill-side had rung with the death-yell, and
grown red in the light of burning huts. The man who was at last
chosen was a Moravian, who had lived among the savages seven
teen years, ;and married, among them; his name. Christian Frederic
Post, Of his journey, sufferings, and doings, his own journal is
the evidence, though Heckewelder says that those parts which
redound most to his own credit he omitted when printing it. He
left Philadelphia upon the 15th of July, 1758; and, against the
protestations of Teedyuscung, who s&id he would surely lose his
life, proceeded up the Susquehanna, passing " many plantations
deserted and laid waste," Upon the 7th of August, he came to the
Allegheny, opposite French, creek, and was forced to pass under the

1758, post's mission to the Indians, 151
very eyes of the garrison of Fort Yenango, but was not molested.
From Yenango he went to "Kushkushkee," which was on or near
Big Beaver creek, *'This place," he says, " contained ninety houses
and two hundred able warriors," At this place Post had much
talk wdtk the chiefs, who seemed well disposed, but somewhat
afraid of the French, The great conference, however, it was deter
mined, should be held opposite Fort Du Quesne, where there were
Indians of eight nations. The messenger was at first unwilling to
go thither, fearing the French would seize him ; but the savages
said, "they would carry him in their bosom, he need fear nothing,"
and they well redeemed this promise. On the 24th of August,
Post, with his Indian friends, reached the point opposite the fort ;
and there immediately followed la series of speeches, explanations,
and agreements, "which are found in his journal. At first he was
received rather hardly by an old and dea,f Onondago, who claimed
the land whereon they stood as belonging to the Six Nations; but
a Delaware rebuked him in no very polite -terms, "That man
speaks not as a man," he said, "he endeavors to frighten us by
saying this ground is his ; he dreams ; he and his father (the French)
have certainly drank too much liquor; they are drunk; pray let
them go to sleep till they are sober. You do not know what your
own nation does at home, how much they: have to say to the Eng
lish, You do nothing but smoke your pipe here. Go to sleep
with your father, .and when you are sober we will speak to you,"
It was clear that the Delawares, and indeed all the western
Indians, were wavering in their affection for the 'French; and,
though some opposition was made to a union with the colonists,
the general feeling produced -by ;the- prospect of. a quick approach
of Forbes' army, and by the truth and kindness of Post himself,
was in favor of England- The Indians, however, complained
bitterly of the disposition which the whites showed in claiming and
seizing their lands, "Why did,you not fight your battles at home
or on the sea, instead of coming into ourcountry to fight them? "
they asked again and again, and were mournful when they thought
of the .filture, " Your he&vt is good," theytsaid to Post, "you speak
sincerely; but we know there is always a great number who wi^h
to get rich; they Tiave enough; look! we do not want to be rich,
.and take away what others have. The white, people think we have
no brains in our heads; that they, are big, and we a little; handful;
but remember, when you hunt foria,?attlesnake you cannot find it,
and perhaps it "will bite you before you see it," When the war of
Pontiac came, this saying .naight have been justly remembered.

152 grant's defeat. 1758.
At length, having concluded a peace, Post turned toward Phila
delphia, setting out on the 9th of September; and, after the greatest
sufferings and perils from French scouts and Indians, reached the
settlements uninjured.
While Post was engaged upon his dangerous mission, the van of
Forbes' army was pressing forward under the heats of August, from
Raystown, (Bedford,) toward Loyalhanna, hewing their way as they
went. Early in September, the general reached Raystown, whither
he had also ordered Washington, who had till then been kept
inactive among his sick troops at Fort Cumberland. Meantime
two officers of the first Yirginia regiment had gone separately,
each with his party, to reconnoitre Fort Du Quesne, and had
brought accounts of its condition up to the 13th of August. It
being deemed desirable, however, to have fuller statements than
they were able to give, a party of eight hundred men under Major
Grant, with whom went Major Andrew Le-wis, of Yirginia, was
sent forward on the 11th of September, to gain the desired infor
mation. " The third day after their march, they arrived within eleven
miles of Fort Du Quesne, and halted till three o'clock in the after
noon, then marched within two miles of the fort, and left their
baggage there under a guard, and arrived, at eleven o'clock at
night, upon a hill a quarter of a mile distant from it. Major Grant
sent two officers and fifty men to attack all the Indians they could
find lying out of the fort ; they saw none, nor were they chal
lenged by the sentries. As they returned, they set fire to a large
store-house, which was put out as soon as they left it. At break
of day. Major Lewis was sent, with four hundred men, to lie in
ambush, a mile and a half from the main body, on the path on
which they left their baggage, imagining the French would send a
force to attack the baggage-guard and seize it. Four hundred men
were posted along the hill facing the fort, to cover the retreat of
Captain M'Doliald's company, who marched with drums beating
toward the fort, in order to draw a party out of it, as Major Grant
had some reason to believe there were not more than two hundred
men there, including Indians ; but, as soon as they heard the drums,
they sallied out in great numbers, both French and Indians, and
fell upon Captain M'Donald, and two columns that were posted
lower on the hill to receive them. The Highlanders exposed them
selves without any covers, and were shot down in great numbers,
and soon forced to retreat. The Carolinians, Marylanders, and

1755. grant's defeat. 163
Lower Country men, concealing themselves bel^ind trees and the
brush, made a good defense, but were overpowered by numbers,
and, not being supported, were obliged to follow the rest. Major
Grant exposed himself in the thickest of the fire, and endeavored
to rally his men, but all to no purpose, as they were by this time
flanked on all sides. Major Lewis and his party came up and
engaged, but were soon obliged to give way, the enemy having the
hill of him, and flanking him every way. A number were driven
into the river, most of whom were drowned. Major Grant retreated
to the baggage, where Captain Bullet was posted with fifty men,
and again endeavored to rally the fiying soldiers, by entreating
them in the most pathetic manner to stand by him, but all in vain,
as the enemy were close at their heels. As soon as the enemy
came up to Captain Bullet, he attacked them very furiously for
some time, but not being supported, and most of his men killed,
was obliged to give way. However, his attacking them stopped
the pursuit, so as to give many an opportunity of escaping. The
enemy followed Major Grant, and at last Captain Bullet was
obliged to make off. He imagined the major must be taken, as he
was surrounded on all sides, but the enemy would not kill him,
and often called to him to surrender. The French gave quarter
to all that would accept it."* The loss sustained in this engage
ment was two hundred and seventy killed, forty-two wounded, and
several, including Major Grant, taken prisoners.f "It was," says
Washington, " a very ill-concerted, or a very ill-executed plan,
perhaps both, but it seems to be generally acknowledged that
Major Grant exceeded his orders, and that no disposition was made
for engaging."
The French and Indians, emboldened by their victory over
Grant, .made an attack, on the 14th of October, on the advance-
guard of the army, at Loyalhanna. The attacking party con
sisted of twelve hundred French and two hundred Indians, and the
attack was continued for four hours, and afterward renewed at
night. But the assailants gained no advantage, and retired to Fort
Du Quesne. The returns of the army show a loss in this engage
ment of twelve killed, seventeen wounded, and thirty-one prisoners.
On the 18th of November, the army marched from Loyalhanna,
and, on the evening of the 24th, arrived at Turtle creek. "Here,"
says Mr. Ormsby, a commissary in the army, " a council of war
* Craig's History of Pittsburgh, p. 74. -j- Early History of Pennsylvania, p. 138.
11

154 FRENCH EVACUATE FORT DU QUESNE. 1758.
was held, the result of which was, that it was impracticable to pro
ceed ; all the provisions and forage being exhausted. On the gene
ral's being told of this, he swore a furious oath that he would sleep
in the fort, or in a worse place, the next night. It was a matter of
indifference to the emaciated general where he died, as he was car
ried the whole distance from Philadelphia and back on a litter.
About midnight a tremendous explosion was heard from the west
ward, on which Forbes swore that the French magazine was blown
up, by design or accident, which revived our spirits. This con
jecture of the 'head of iron' was soon confirmed by a deserter from
Fort Du Quesne, who said that the Indians, who had watched the
English army, reported that they were as numerous as the trees in
the woods. This so terrified the French, that they set fire to their
magazines, barracks, &c., and pushed off in their boats, some up,
and some down the Ohio, so that the next morning we took peace
able possession of the remains of the fort. The place had a most
desolate appearance, as all the improvements made by the French
had been burnt to the ground."
Thus the forks of the Ohio, the occupation of which had been the
cause of the war, came again into the possession of the English. It
was necessary to make immediate provision for securing the posses
sion of that point, which had cost so much blood and treasure to
acquire, and a small fortification was thrown up on the bank of the
Monongahela, and named, in honor of the great minister. Fort Pitt.
Colonel Hugh Mercer, of Yirginia, was left in command, with two
hundred men, and the main army marched back to the settlements.
It reached Philadelphia on the 17th of January, 1759, and, on the
11th of March, Gen. Forbes died, and was buried in the chancel of
Christ church.
Christian Frederic Post, meanwhile, had been sent westward
with the chiefs of the Six Nations, with a report of the treaty of
Easton. He followed after General Forbes, from whom he received
messages to the various tribes, with which he once more sought ,
their chiefs ; and was again instrumental in preventing any junc-
tion of the Indians with the French. Indeed, but for Post's
mission, there would in all probability have been gathered a strong
force of western savages to waylay Forbes and defend Fort Du
Quesne ; in which case, so adverse was the season and the way,
so wearied the men, and so badly managed the whole business, that
there would have been great danger of a second "Braddock's field;"
80 that the humble Moravian played no unimportant part in secu
ring again to his British Maiestv the kev to western America.

1759. CAPTURE OF QUEBEC. 156
The French garrison of Fort Du Quesne, consisting of about four
hundred men, separated after leaving the ruins. A part of them
passed down the Ohio, and, according to some accounts, established
Fort Massac, thirty-six miles above its mouth. Of this there may,
however, be a doubt; but it is certain that the fort was built
between the years 1755 and 1768. One hundred of them retired
to Presqu' Isle by land ; and the remainder, about two hundred, -with
M. De Lignery, the commandant, passed up the Allegheny to
Yenango, where he told the Indians he intended to stay during
the winter, and dislodge the British from ,the forks of the Ohio
in the spring. A small post, too, was occupied by the French at
Kushkushkee, a Delaware -village located on an elevated plateau of
rich bottom land, on the south-west side of the Mahoning river,
four miles above its junction with the Shenango, where they con
stitute the Big Beaver river. At these points the French were
busied in preparing stores and arms, and in securing the aid of
the Indian tribes for an attack in the spring on Fort Pitt, then
imperfectly fortified, and garrisoned by only two hundred and
eighty men.*
The success of the campaign of 1758 opened the way for the
execution of the great scheme of Pitt — the complete reduction of
Canada. Accordingly, in 1759, three expeditions were planned, by
which Canada, already suffering and exhausted by the pressure of
the war, was to be invaded on all sides. On the west, Prideaux
was to attack Niagara; in ^ the centre, Amherst was to ad-^ance on
Ticonderoga and Crown Point; and on the east, Wolfe was to
besiege Quebec ; and all these points gained, the three armies were
to unite their forces in the heart of Canada.
Amherst appeared on the 22d of July, before Ticonderoga.
The French blew up their works, and retired to Crown Point.
Driven from there by the British army, they retired to Isle Aux
Nois, and entrenched themselves; but the lateness of the season
prevented further operations, and Amherst went into winter quar
ters at Crown Point.
Early in June, General Wolfe, with eight thousand men, ap
peared before Quebec, On the night of the 12th of September,
Wolfe, -with five thousand men, silently passed up the river,
climbed the Heights of Abraham, and formed in order of battle.
Montcalm, who had trusted to his defenses, was compelled to offer
battle. The British columns, flushed with success, attacked his

? Craig's Olden Tims, vol. 1. 19*.

156 D'ADBBY at VENANGO. 1759.
half-formed lines, charged with the bayonet, and dispersed the
French with a loss of fifteen hundred. Both Montcalm and Wolfe
fell in the engagement ; but, on the 18th of September, Quebec,
the key of all Canada, was surrendered to the British.
Meanwhile, General Prideaux moved up Lake Ontario, and, on
the 6th of July, invested Niagara. Its capture was of great im
portance, since its possession would cut off the French of Canada
-from the West; and, accordingly, every effort was made by the
French and Indians to raise the siege. That necessity saved Fort
Pitt. A letter written by Colonel Mercer, at that post, on July
17th, 1759, says :
" Again, on the 15th instant, we had the following accounts from
two Six Nation Indians, sent to spy at Yenango, who left this
place on the 7th. They found at Yenango seven hundred French
and four hundred Indians. The commanding officer told them he
expected six hundred more , Indians ; that as soon as they arrived
he would come and drive us from this place. Next day two hun
dred Indians came to Yenango, and the same number the next
day, and the third day ; they were all fitted off for the expedition
by the 11th at night, and three pieces of cannon brought from Le
Bceuf, the others expected every hour, with a great many batteaux
loaded with provisions. In the morning, the 12th, a grand council
was held, in which the commandant thanked the Indians for attend
ing him,' threw down the war belt, and told them he would set off
the next day. The Indians consented, but were somewhat dis
concerted by one of the Six Nations, who gave them wampum,
telling them to consider what they did, and not to be in too
great a hurry ; soon after, messengers arrived, -with a packet for
the officer who held the council, at which he and the other officers
appeared much concerned, and at length he told the Indians—
' Children, I have received bad news; the English are gone against
Niagara. We must give over thoughts of going down the river,
till Ave have cleared that place of the enemy. If it should be taken,
our road to you is stopped, and you must become poor. Orders
were immediately given to proceed with the artillery, provisions,
&c., up French creek, which the spies saw set off, and the Indians
maldng up their bundles to follow. They reckon there were up
ward of one thousand Indians, collected from twelve different
nations, at Yenango."*

* Craig's 01

Oldp-rWimn. irnl i.. p. 194,

1759. SURRENDER OF NIAGARA. 157
The French and Indians who were collected to attack Fort Pitt,
the garrison and defenses of which were little able to withstand
them, were thus withdrawn to the defense of Niagara. It was,
indeed, a great effort they had planned to retake the forks of the
Ohio, and thus to recover all that they had lost in the preceding
year. And to that all the French in the valley had contributed.
M. d'Aubry, commandant at the Illinois, brought to join the enter
prise four hundred men, and two hundred thousand pounds of
flour, from Kaskaskia to Yenango. Cut off, by the abandonment
of Fort D^ Quesne, from the route of the Ohio, he proceeded with
his force down the Mississippi, and up the Ohio to the Wabash,
thence up that river to the portage at Fort Miami, or Fort Wayne,
and carried his stores over to the Maumee, passed down that river,
and along the shore of Lake Erie to Presqu' Isle, and carried again
his stores over the portage, to Le Boeuf; thence descended French
creek to Yenango.*
D'Aubry was chosen to lead the expedition, and embarked again
at Presqu' Isle, -with seventeen hundred men, collected from the Illi
nois, Detroit, and the Allegheny, and from the Indian allies of the
French, and hastened to raise the siege of Niagara. Prideaux had
been killed by the bursting of a cohorn ; Sir William Johnson,
who had succeeded to the command, advanced to meet D'Aubry
and his reinforcement, defeated them, and pursued them for five
miles through the woods. On the next day, Niagara, cut off from
succor, surrendered.
General John Stanwix was appointed to the command, immedi
ately after the death of General Forbes, and proceeded, in July, to
the forks of the Ohio, to carry out the orders of William Pitt in
regard to that important point. Mr. Pitt was strongly impressed
with the importance of securing the forks as a military position, to
protect the colonial frontiers, and to overawe the Indians ; so much
so indeed, that, immediately upon hearing of the abandonment of
Fort Du Quesne, under date of January 23d, 1759, he wrote :
" Sir, — I am now to acquaint you that the king has been pleased,
immediately upon receiving the news of the success of his arms on
the river Ohio, to direct the commander-in-diief of his majesty's
forces, in North America, and General Forbes, to lose no time in
concerting the properest and speediest means for completely re-

* An account of Bouquet's Expedition, in 17G4. London, 1766. App. II.

158 ERECTION or FORT PITT. 1759.
storing, if possible, the ruined Fort Du Quesne, to a defensible and
respectable state, or for erecting another in the room of it, of suffi
cient strength, and every way adequate to the great importance of
the several objects of maintaining his majesty's subjects in the un
disputed possession of the Ohio; of effectually cutting off all trade
and communication this way, between Canada and the western and
south-western Indians ; of protecting the British colonies from the
incursions to which they have been exposed since the French built
the above fort, and thereby made themselves masters of the navi
gation of the Ohio; and of fixing again the several Indian nations
in their alliance with and dependence upon his majesty's govern
ment."* General Stanwix, immediately upon his arrival, perhaps early in
August, commenced the building of Fort Pitt. It was of five
sides ; the two facing the country were supported by a revetment,
a brick work, nearly perpendicular, supporting the rampart on the
outside ; the other three were protected by a line of pickets, fixed
on the outside of the foot of the slope of the rampart. Around the
whole work was a wide ditch, which would be filled -with water
when the river was at a moderate stage. Great anticipations were
entertained at the time of the security and permanence that would
accrue to the British government from the position of Fort Pitt.
A letter from that post, dated September 24th, 1759, says :
" It is now near a month since the army has been employed in
erecting a most formidable fortification, such a one as will, to latest
posterity, secure the British empire on the Ohio. There is no
need to enumerate the abilities of the chief engineer, nor the spirit
shown by the troops, in executing the important task ; the fort wUl
soon be a lasting monument of both."t
Fifteen years later it was abandoned, by order of the British
government, and now nothing of Fort Pitt is left, no memorial
even of the British possession of the Mississippi valley remains,
but a single redoubt, built in 1764 by Col. Bouquet, outside the
fort, and now used as a dwelling.
With the fall of Fort Du Quesne, and the capture of Niagara,
all direct contest between the British and French in the West was
closed. With the defeat of the French, the hostility of the Indians

* Craig's Olden Time, vol. i., p. 310.
+ Craig's Olden Time, voL i., p. 194.

1760. HOSTILITIES CEASE. 159
abated, and peace was restored to the border of the English
colonies. Along the frontiers of Pennsylvania and northern Yirginia, the
old plantations had been, one by one, re-occupied since 1758, and
settlers were slowly pushing further into the Indian country, and
traders were once more bearing their burdens over the mountains,
and finding a way into the wigwams of the natives, who rested,
watching silently, but narrowly, the course of their English de
fenders and allies. For it was, professedly, in the character of
defenders, that Braddock and Forbes had come into the West ; and,
while every British finger itched for the lands as well as the furs of
the wild men, with mistaken hypocrisy they would have persuaded
them that the treasure and the life of England had been given to
preserve her old allies, .the Six Nations, and their dependents, the
Delawares and Shawanese, from French aggression. But the
savages knew whom they had to deal with, and looked at every
step of the cultivator with jealousy and hate.
In 1760, the Ohio Company once more prepared to pursue their
old plan, and sent to England for such orders and instructions to
the Yirginia government as would enable them to do so.* During
the summer of that year, also. General Monkton, by a treaty at
Fort Pitt, obtained leave to build posts within the wild lands, each
post having ground enough about it to raise corn and vegetables
for the use of the garrison. Nor were the settlements of the Ohio
Company, and the forts, the only inroads upon the hunting-grounds
of the savages. In 1757, by the books of the Secretary of Yirginia,
three millions of acres had been granted west of the mountains.
Indeed, in 1758, that State attempted by law to encourage settle
ments in the West; and the report of John Blair, Clerk of the
Yirginia Council, in 1768 or 1769, states that most of the grants
beyond the mountains were made before August, 1754.
The fall of Quebec did not immediately produce the submission
of Canada. M. de Levi, on whom the command devolved, retired
with the French army to Montreal. In the spring of 1760, he
besieged Quebec. But the arrival of an English fleet raised the
siege, and De Levi retired to Montreal. Amherst and Johnson
meanwhile effected a junction of their forces, and advanced against

* Plain Facts, p. 120, where a letter from the Company, dated September 9th, 1761,
is given.

160 SURRENDER OF CANADA. 1760.
him. The combination of these two armies convinced the French
that resistance would be useless; and, accordingly, on the 8th of
September, M. de Yaudreuil, the Governor of Canada, surrendered
Montreal, Detroit, Mackinaw, and all the other posts within the
goverment of Canada, to the English commander-in-chief. General
Amherst, on condition that the French inhabitants should, during
the war, be " protected in the free exercise of their religion, and
the full enjoyment of their civil rights, leaving their future desti
nies to be decided by the treaty of peace."
Negotiations for peace followed immediately after the surrender
of Canada. They were not successful, and " the family compact "
was entered into between France and Spain, in which both parties
were bound to share and balance all losses, in the war which it
was declared was to be waged to oppose the gro-wing power of Eng
land. The continuance of the war only contributed to the successes
of England, and accordingly negotiations were re-opened, and on
the 3d of November, 1762, preliminaries were agreed to and signed,
and afterward ratified at Paris, in February, 1763. To secure the
restoration of Havana, Spain was obliged to cede to Great Britian
East and West Florida. To compensate Spain, under the terms of
the family compact, France ceded, by a secret article, all Louisiana
west of the Mississippi, to Spain. The following articles comprise
the most essential provisions of that treaty, in regard to the origi
nal subject of dispute.
"His most Christian Majesty renounces all pretensions which he
has heretofore formed, or might form, to Nova Scotia, or Arcadia,
in all its parts, and guarantees the whole of it, and -with all its
dependencies, to the King of Great Britain : moreover, his most
Christian Majesty cedes and guarantees to his said Britannic Ma
jesty, in full right, Canada, with all its dependencies, as well as
the island of Cape Breton, and all the other islands and coasts in
the gulf and river of St. Lawrence; and, in general, every thing that
depends on the said countries, lands, islands, and coasts, with the
sovereignty, property, possession, and all rights acquired by treaty
or otherwise, which the most Christian King and crown of France
have had, till now, over the said countries, islands, lands, places,
coasts, and their inhabitants; so that the most Christian King cedes
and makes over the whole to the said King, and to the crown of
Great Britain, and that in the most ample manner and form, with
out restriction, and without any liberty to depart from the said
cession and guarantee, under any pretense, or to disturb Great
Britain in the possessions above mentioned.

1763. TREATY OF PARIS, 161
" In order to establish peace on solid and durable foundations,
and to remove forever all subjects of dispute with regard to the
limits of the British and French territories on the continent of
America, it is agreed that for the future, the confines between the
dominions of his Britannic Majesty and those of his most Christian
Majesty in that part of the world, shall be fixed irrevocably by a
line drawn along the middle of the river Mississippi,from its source
to the river Iberville, and from thence, by a line drawn along the
middle of this river, and the lakes Maurepas-and Ponchartrain, to
the sea; and for this purpose the most Christian King cedes, in full
right, and guarantees to his Britannic Majesty, the river and port
of the Mobile, and every thing which he possesses, or ought to pos
sess on the left side of the river Mississippi, with the exception of
the town of New Orleans, and of the island in which it is situated,
which shall remain to France ; it being well understood that the
navigation of the river Mississippi shall be equally free, as well to
the subjects of Great Britain as to those of France, in its whole
breadth and length, from its source to the sea; and expressly, that
part which is between the said island of New Orleans, and the
right bank of that river, as well as the passage both in and out of
its mouth. It is further stipulated, that the vessels belonging to
the subjects of either nations shall not be stopped, -visited, or sub
jected to the payment of any duty whatsoever."
The war was over.* Canada, with all its dependencies, was sur
rendered to the victorious English ; and it remained only to take
possession of the western outposts of the French. It was not an
easy task. All the Indian tribes of the valley were in alliance
with the French, Accustomed as they were to regard Englishmen
as their natural foes, they felt no obligation to submit to them be
cause they had conquered the French, The surrender of Quebec,
and the capitulation of Montreal, were events they could little
comprehend, and it did not occur to them that they were in any
way bound to respect the acts of Bougainville or Yaudreuil, The
West, too, was then overrun by the traders and emissaries of the
discomfited French, who possessed the implicit confidence of the
Indians; whose ruling passion was hatred of the English, and
whose interest conspired with their feelings to arouse the fears and

¦* The authorities in relation to this subject are, mainly, Parkman's Conspiracy of Pon
tiac, an Account of Bouquet's Expedition against the Ohio Indians, and Butler's History
of Kentucky.

162 SURRENDER OF THE POSTS, 1763,
infiame the passions of their savage allies. It was obviously a dif
ficult and delicate task to extend the authority of England over the
uncivilized regions of the West, to allay the hostility and conciliate
the friendship of its barbarous inhabitants, and thus to secure
what they had so hardly earned — the blessings of peace to the
exhausted colonies, and the fruits of its great conquest to the Eng
lish Crown. The great importance of the work was overlooked by
those to whom its execution was intrusted.
On the 12th of September, 1760, Major Robert Rogers, received
orders from General Amherst to ascend the lakes, and take pos
session of the French fort in the north-west. Rogers was well
fitted for the task. On the borders of New Hampshire, -with Put
nam and Stark, he had earned a great reputation as a partisan offi
cer ; and Rogers' Rangers, armed with rifle, tomahawk, and knife, had
rendered much service, and won a great name. Later, that reputa
tion was tarnished by greater crimes. Tried for an attempt to betray
Mackinaw to the Spaniards, he abandoned the country, and entered
the service of the Dey of Algiers. At the war of Independence, he
entered the American service, was detected as a spy, passed over
to the British, and was banished by an act of his native state. Such
was the man who was sent to plant the British flag in the great
valley. Immediately upon receiving his orders, he set out to ascend
the St. Lawrence, with two hundred men in fifteen boats.
On the 7th of November they landed at the mouth of Cuyahoga
creek. Here they were met by a party of Indians, who were deputed
to them to say that Pontiac, the great chief of the Ottawas, was near,
and to demand that they should advance no further till they should
receive his permission. During the day the great chief appeared,
and imperiously demanded why the army was there without his
consent. Rogers replied that Canada had been conquered, and
that he was on his way to occupy the French posts, and to restore
peace to the Indians. Pontiac only replied that he would stand in
his path till morning. On the next day he delivered a formal reply
to the English officer, that he consented to live at peace with the
Enghsh as long as they treated him with due deference. The calumet
was smoked, and an alliance made. Pontiac accompanied his new
friends to Detroit. On the way a band of Indians, sent out by the
governor of Detroit, were waiting to destroy them. The influence
of Pontiac was interposed, and the hostile Indians were induced to
ally themselves with the English. A messenger was dispatched to
Beletre, the governor, to demand the surrender of Detroit. He
refused, avowed his intention to defend the post, and sought to

1763. HOSTILITY OF THE INDIANS. 163
arouse the Indians, It was in vain, Rogers arrived below the -vil
lage. Captain Campbell was dispatched with an order from
Yaudreuil, commanding the surrender, and Beletre was compelled
to obey. On the 29th of November, 1760, the colors of France
were taken down, and the royal standard of England planted
within the fort; and the garrison and inhabitants, amidst the shouts
of the Indians, who looked on the strange scene with mingled awe
of the English power, and astonishment at their forbearance. The
lateness of the season prevented further operations, but early in
the next year, Mackinaw, Green Bay, Ste Marie, St, Josephs, and
Ouiatenon were surrendered, and nothing remained to the French
but the settlements of the Illinois,
A great change had been wrought over the Indians of the valley,
by the occupation of the French, It was their characteristic policy
to render the savages dependent on themselves, and to that end
they sedulously cultivated among them a taste for European goods,
and in this way, from the Alleghenies to the Mississippi, all the
tribes were dependent on the French posts for their arms and
clothing. It was their interest to secure peace, under the protec
tion of France, to all the tribes, and thus to familiarize their minds.
Artfully, too, the pride of the natives had been fed by the agents
of France ; they were the children of the great king who had sent
his people among them only to protect them from their implacable
enemies, the English. And while the long contest between the
rival nations lasted, they held the balance of power between them,
and, in consequence, were free from the rapacity of either. All
this was changed now. The accustomed presents which French
policy bestowed on them were -withheld, English traders robbed,
bullied, and cheated them. English officers treated them with
rudeness and contempt. Especially, the steady advance of the
population over the mountains, occupying their lands, and driving
away their game. The wrongs and neglect the Indians felt were
inflamed by the French. They had every motive to excite the
tribes against the English ; their old national rancor, their religious
antipathies, the fear of losing their trade, and the hope of reveng
ing the loss of an empire, all conspired to make them treacherous
and dangerous. Accordingly, they used all the influence they
possessed, to precipitate the Indians on the English garrisons.
Scattered through the countiy, they held secret councils with the
savages, and artfully appealed to their fears and their hopes. The
English, they averred, designed to destroy the whole Indian race.

164 SCHEME OF PONTIAC. 1763.
They had hemmed them in on the east by their settiements, they
were occupying the country on the north by their forts, and they
were instigating the Cherokees to attack them on the south. But
there was hqpe. Their father, the great king, had been asleep, and
the English had stolen Canada, but he was now awake, and he
was coming with a great army, to drive away his enemies and pro
tect his people.
Discontent, under such circumstances, was natural, and soon all
the tribes from the mountains to the Mississippi were in a ferment.
In the summer of 1761, a plot for the surprise of the western posts
was discovered, and arrested. In the next summer another was
detected, and suppressed. The officers in command failed to
realize the extent of the disaffection, and to provide for the coming
danger. They thought this discontent only the ebullition of the
restless spirit of the Indians, and despised rather than feared their
hostility. And indeed the hostility of barbarous tribes, united by
no common purpose, but divided by nameless quarrels, seemed
little to be dreaded by those who had just wrested an empire from
France. But they were mistaken — ^tlie crisis only needed a leader
to direct it.
Pontiac, the great chief of the Ottawas, was then about fifty
years old. No chief of the American Indians, known in the his
toric times, has been so richly endowed with those peculiar qualities
that give to a barbarian warrior power over the minds of men. He
shared indeed all the passions and prejudices of his people. He
~ possessed all their vindictive spirit and treacherous dissimulation.
He was profoundly ignorant of the great world in which he was
an actor. Yet he had a most commanding intellect; he was capable
of the noblest magnanimity ; he was imbued with the loftiest am
bition ; and he possessed a power of combination and of adaptation
that was shared by none of his race.
He alone saw the full force of the crisis in the affairs of his
people. He had been the fast friend of the French, and led the
warriors of the wilderness on the ill-fated day of Braddock's field.
He had met, first of the chiefs, the English at Cuyahoga, and pro
tected their perilous march to Detroit. He had shown himself as
ready to ally himself to the English, as he had proved himself
faithful to the French. He had, nevertheless, shared all the resent
ment the presence of the English inspired among his people. But,
amid the general discontent, he only saw the true danger, and he
only could See the true means of averting it. The English were
relieved, by the surrender of Canada, from the rivalry of the

1763. COUNCIL AT THE ECORCES. 165
French, and would ine-vitably crush the red man in their resistless
advance. And to save his race, it was necessary to restore the
French power, as a balance to the English. It was the plan of a
statesman. It only failed because the emissaries of the French
were false.
His plans were matured, and, late in 1762, his messengers car
ried the black wampum and the red tQmahawk, and delivered the
message of the great Pontiac to the villages of the Ottawas, Ojib-
was, Pottawattamies, Sacs, Foxes, Menomonies, Illinois, Miamis,
Shawanees, Delawares, Wyandots, Senecas, and the tribes of the
South. On a certain day, in the next year, said the messengers,
all the tribes are to rise, sieze all the English posts, and then im
mediately attack the whole English border.
On the 27th of April, 1763, the council of all the tribes was held
at the river Ecorces. There, to the assembled chiefs, Pontiac de
livered a speech, full of eloquence and art. He recounted all the
injuries of the Indians, and all the encroachments of the English.
He portrayed all the rapacity and insolence of the hated race. He
unfolded the great danger of their supremacy. He presented a
belt from their great father the king. He indeed had been asleep,
but now he was awake, and was coming -with his large war canoes,
to win back Canada and destroy his enemies. Yet further, he ap
pealed to their faith. An Indian, warned in a dream, had gone to
the dwelling of the Master of Life, on a high mountain of dazzling
brightness. There the Great Spirit chid him for the degeneracy
of his race, and sent to them his commands to drive the " red
dogs" from the face of the earth. The spirit of his wild hearers
was stirred. The chiefs eagerly accepted the war belt, and then
separated to prepare for the coming strife. Later, under the pre
tense of dancing the calumet with the unsuspecting garrison, the
position and defenses of the fort were narrowly scanned, and the
plan of attack laid. It was not well kept.
In the -village lived an Ojibwa girl of great beauty, who was
attached to the commandant. Major Gladwin. On the 6th of May,
she came to the fort to bring a pair of elk skin moccasins she had
made for him. ller face was sad, and she lingered long in the
street. Her demeanor attracted notice, and she was brought to
Gladwin. She was long silent, but at length she revealed the plan
of the morrow.
Early on the next day a great concourse of Indians thronged
around the fort. Soon Pontiac, with sixty of his warriors, each
carrying his gun, shortened for the purpose, under the folds of hia

166 SIEGE OF DETROIT, 1763.
blanket, appeared at the gate, and asked to hold a council with
his father the commandant. The gate was thrown open and they
were admitted. When Pontiac entered, he involuntarily started
back, and uttered an exclamation of surprise. He saw at a glance
the ruin of his plan. All the garrison were under arms, and so
posted as to enclose the band. They passed on to the council
house, and there were all the officers ready to receive them, armed
and too plainly prepared for the conflict. The chiefs were seated.
Pontiac arose to speak with the wampum belt in his hand. He
professed that lie had come to smoke the pipe of peace, and
brighten the chain of friendship with his English brothers, and,
though conscious that he was detected, he raised the belt and was
about to give the fatal signal. At that instant Gladwin waived his
hand ; the drums beat, the officers drew their swords, the soldiers
presented their arms, and Pontiac sat down overwhelmed -with
astonishment. Gladwin briefly and sternly replied that he should
enjoy his friendship as long as he merited it, and should be
punished as soon as he deserved it; and the chiefs, enraged and
mortified, were allowed to withdraw. The next morning Pontiac ¦
returned with three only of his chiefs ; they were admitted, smoked
the peace pipe, and renewed their hollow pledges of finendship.
On the next again, Pontiac, with a great multitude of his warriors,
appeared at the gate and demanded admittance. He was told that
he only might come in. He replied that all his warriors wished to
smoke the pipe of peace. Gladwin replied that none of his rabble
should enter the fort, and Pontiac turned away. At once the Indians
fell upon and murdered the few English who were without the fort.
Immediate preparations were made for a siege, and the next
day the attack began. Convinced, however, that the affair was
only a sudden impulse of passion. Glad-win, through a Canadian,
proposed to redress any grievances the Indians had. Pontiac
dissembled, and asked that a deputation of officers might be sent
to treat with him. Major Campbell and Lieutenant McDougal,
were sent, but were detained as prisoners. The Indians, foiled in
their efforts to obtain possession of the fort, sat down before it,
and commenced a regular siege. All Pontiac's skill and talent
were employed in governing and directing the motley bands
around him. The Canadian inhabitants complained that his
Indians were robbing them of their provisions, Pontiac claimed
that he was fighting their battles, and that therefore they ought to
contribute to the support of his army, but forbade all depredations
upon their property. To provide for his bands, he levied a fixed

1763, MASSACRE OF THE GARRISON, 167
contribution on the Canadians, organized a commissariat, and
issued promissory notes, drawn on bark of the papyrus birch
and signed with the figure of an otter, for the payment of supplies,
all of which were faithfully redeemed.
Meanwhile, a recruit of ninety-six men with ammunition and
provisions was advancing under Lieutenant Cuyler for the relief of
the garrison, though in ignorance of the danger to which they
were exposed ; and one of the two schooners was sent to meet it.
Passing down the river they were attacked by a crowd of canoes,
with the unfortunate Campbell exposed to the fire of the vessel.
The wind sprang up and soon bore it beyond their reach. On the
twenty-fourth day of the siege, the fleet of boats was seen by the
garrison ascending the river. On a near approach they were seen
filled with Indians. One of the crew when near the fort escaped
and related the fate of the convoy. They had landed below on the
river bank, were attacked on shore, and driven to their boats;
three of these were taken with their crews; two escaped with
Cuyler, the commander, on board, who returned to Niagara. The
prisoners were taken above the fort and burned.
Soon after, intelligence reached the garrison of the fate of the posts
around the lakes. A scalping party came into the camp, bringing
with them Ensign Paully, the commandant at Fort Sandusky. On
the 16th of May, seven Indians appeared at the gate of that post and
asked to speak with Paully. They were admitted ; immediately
siezed him, and the garrison was massacred. Paully was brought
to Detroit to be burned ; but was saved by being adopted by an
Indian woman, and afterward escaped.
Soon after, a party of Pottawattamies arrived with Ensign Schlos-
ser, the commandant at St. Josephs, and three men. They were
exchanged, and the fate of that garrison revealed. A large party
of Indians collected at St. Josephs on the 25th of May, on pretense
of friendship, crowded within the barracks, and then suddenly
massacred the garrison, and carried their prisoners to Detroit.
The news soon arrived that Ouiatenon was taken. Ensign Jen
kins and several of his men were taken prisoners by stratagem, on
the 1st of June ; the garrison surrendered on promise of protection,
and were sent to Fort Chartres, in the Illinois.
Soon after it was reported that Fort Miami had fallen. Ensign
Holmes was decoyed away from his post on the 27th of May, by
an Indian girl, on the pretense of visiting a sick woman, and shot.
The sergeant came out to learn the cause of the firing, and was
taken ; the garrison surrendered and were made prisoners.

168 CAPTURE OF MACKINAW. 1763,
A scalping party came in soon after from Presqu' Isle, and
reported the fate of that post. On the 15th of June an attack was
made by two hundred Indians, on that fort. The garrison retreated
to a blockhouse, on which the Indians began an immediate and
furious assault. A breastwork was thrown up, from which they then
poured a constant fire upon the block house. Repeatedly it was
on fire, and the indefatigable garrison, cut off from water, dug a
well within it to obtain a supply sufficient to subdue the flames.
Next the Indians began to mine the block house. Against this
there was no defense, and after forty-eight hours of desperate fight
ing, the garrison surrendered, and were carried prisoners to
Detroit, where Ensign Christie, the commandant, escaped.
The news of the capture of Mackinaw was brought to the garrison
by Father Junois, a Jesuit priest, A large band of Ottawas, and
another of Sacs, were encamped near the fort. On the morning of
the 4th of June, a delegation came to the gate to ask the offi
cers and soldiers to come out and see a game of baggattaway
played on the plain by the rival tribes. The gates were thrown
open, the soldiers clustered around the outside of the walls, min
gled with a large number of Canadians, and among them a multi
tude of Indian women, closely wrapped in blankets. At each end
of the ground a post was erected ; hundreds of players with bats
thronged the plain, each apparently intent only on driving the ball
to the post. Once and again, as if in the heat of the game, the
ball was driven near the pickets, and the players crowded after it.
Suddenly the ball rose high in the air, and fell within the fort, and
the whole multitude thronged after it through the gates. Instantly
the war whoop was raised, the warriors snatched their tomahawks
from the women, who carried them under their blankets. In a
moment the garrison were overpowered, the greater part of them
were slain. Captain Etherington and the remaining men were car
ried away prisoners, some of whom perished at the hands of their
captors, a few of them were ransomed.
One only of the forest garrisons escaped, by the good conduct
and address of its commandant. Lieutenant Gorell, in command
of Green Bay, devoted himself to the task of conciliating the neigh
boring savages. The Menomonies were sharers in the conspiracy,
but they were attached to Gorell, and delayed the execution of the
work assigned them. On hearing of tho fall of Mackinaw, Gorell
called a council of their chiefs, told them he was going thither to
punish the enemies of his king, and offered to leave the fort in the
meantime in their care. The chiefs were divided. The warriors

1763. . CONFERENCE WITH THE CANADIANS. 169
were waiting to strike the meditated blow, but providentially at
this juncture, a deputation of the Dacatohs appeared, to denounce
the vengeance of that powerful confederacy against the enemies of
the English. . The Menomonies laid aside their hostile designs.
Gorell and his garrison passed down the bay, and along the lake to
Mackinaw, under their escort, ransomed Etherington and twelve of
his men, and passed by way of the Lake Huron and the Ottawa
river, to Montreal,
The beleaguered garrison at Detroit meanwhile maintained their
stubborn defense, and Pontiac pressed the siege with a boldness
and address far beyond the habit of Indian warfare. One of the
vessels had been sent to hasten on Cuyler's ill-fated detachment.
With him and the remains of his crew on board,, it was now
returning, and was passing by night up the river. The force on
board was concealed, and every disposition was made to invite an
attack from the Indians. Late at night she was surrounded by a
multitude of canoes. The men were arranged in silence for the
attack. At the tap of a hammer on the mast, a volley of grape and
musketry was poured upon the assailants, and they were dispersed
and driven ashore. The vessel landed safely, brought a reinforce
ment of men, and a supply of arms, and the welcome intelligence
that the Peace of Paris was signed, and all Canada was surrendered
to the British croWn,
The Canadians, craven, treacherous and malignant, who, all the
while under pretense of neutrality, were inciting the Indians to
massacre, and amusing them -with fables of the coming of the great
king, were now the subjects of Great Britain. Now again they
redoubled^their falsehoods. The armies of the great king were
even then ascending the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi to take
vengeance on the insolent English, Pontiac, weary of their
neutrality, called a council of their principal men and dernanded
their aid. He had "been fighting their battles ; they were doing
nothing to serve their king. He had served their cause faithfully ;
4;hey had been unfaithful to him. They had professed to be his
friends ; .yet they sought to make a profit to themselves by secretly
aiding the English. This must end. If they were English, he
was their enemy. If they were French, here was the war belt and
hatchet. The Canadians only deepened their dissimulation. Hating
the English garrison, they still sought to incite the Indians to
destroy it. Afraid of the English vengeance, they sought to avoid
any share in the work of blood. And concealing the treaty of
Paris, they produced again the capitulation of Montreal. The
12

170 BATTLE OF BLOODY RUN. . 1763.
great king said they had here commanded them to be quiet till he
came, for he designed to punish his enemies himself. If they dis
obeyed him in this, they would be punished. If the Indians made
war on them for their obedience, they too would be punished.
Pontiac was not thus to be put off. They must be his enemies or
the enemies of the English ; and accordingly a band of trappers and
voyagers took up the hatchet and joined the hostile tribes. Rein
forced with these, the Indians made an assault, and their alUes
sought to entrench themselves near the walls. They were dislodged
and repulsed, and in their rage at the defeat, the Indians seized and
murdered the unfortunate Campbell. The two schooners that lay
near the fort meanwhile annoyed the Indians, and they determined"
to burn them. Going up the river, they constructed a raft filled
with bark and sent it burning down the current, but it passed the
vessels. Another was built, but it too passed without effect.
Another, so large as to sweep the river, was begun, but a guard of
boats, moored above the vessels, was provided for their defense, and
the scheme was abandoned.
In July, the garrison was reinforced by a detachment of two
hundred and eighty men under Captain Dalzell, who, on his arri
val, insisted on making an immediate attack on the camp of Pontiac,
to disperse the Indians and raise the siege. Glad-win was opposed
to the measure, but yielded, contrary to his judgment, to the solici
tations of Dalzell.- Preparations were made for an attack on the
next night, but the plan was revealed to Pontiac by the treachery
of the Canadians. On the night of the 30th of July, a detachment
of two hundred and fifty men, with two barges accompanying them,
under the command of Dalzell, marched to the attack. Their route
was along the river bank, between the water's edge and a row of
Canadian houses and gardens. A mile and a half above the fort, a
creek, known since that night as Bloody run, passed down to the
river through a deep ravine. Over it was a narrow bridge^ on. the
ridge beyond it were the entrenchments of the old camp of the
Indians, piles of wood, fences and houses. Behind these the whole-
force of the Indians was posted. As the advance filed over the
bridge, they were assailed by a volley from the Indians, and recoiled.
Again they charged over the bridge and up the hill, but the Indians
gave way and escaped in the darkness. Suddenly they appeared
in the rear with an intent to cut the detachment off from the fort)
a retreat was immediately ordered. The Indiana occupied a row
of houses and fences along the line of their march, and from these
they poured a continual and destructive fife upoil the centre aai

1763. neyon's message to pontiac. 171
rear of the army. They were thus thrown into disorder and
retreated in confusion along the river bank, until Major Rogers,
with a party of provincials, took possession of a Canadian house,
from which he attacked the pursuers and checked the pursuit.
Captain Grant then secured another position below, a line of com
munication with the fort was formed, and the retreat of the detach
ment thus protected. Rogers and his party were brought off under
a fire from the boats, and at length, after six hours fighting, the
whole party reached the fort. The loss of the English on this dis
astrous night was fifty-nine, including the commander Dalzell ; the
loss of the Indians was supposed to be about fifteen or twenty.
The Indians were greatly elated by their victory ; messages were
sent out, fresh warriors came in, and the siege was pressed -with
renewed vigor. One of the schooners meanwhile had gone to
Niagara. On her return, some Iroquois were landed at the mouth
of the river, and conveyed to the Indians the information that she
was manned by only ten men. A large band of Indians in canoes
collected and surrounded the vessel. They had approached close
to the vessel in the darkness before they were discovered,
and climbing up the vessel's side, made a furious attack upon the
crew, in disregard of the musketry that was poured upon them.
The captain was killed, and several of the men were wounded, and
the assailants began to crowd the deck, when Lieutenant Jacobs
ordered the men to fire the magazine and blow up the ship. The
Indians heard the order and instantly leaped overboard and swam
in every direction to escape the threatened explosion, and the ves
sel sailed up the river to Detroit.
Thus the siege wore on from May to October, pressed with a
pertinacity and vigor unknown to the wars of the Indians. At
length the news reached the Indians that a great reinforcement
was coming up the lake, under Major Wilkins, to relieve the gar
rison, and some of the bands, in despair and in fear, abandoned the
camp and returned home. Pontiac and his band remained and
kept up the siege. At length, on the 30th of October, he received
a letter from Neyon, commandant at the Illinois. That officer had
been compelled to reveal the truth to the confiding savage. France
— it ran — ^had been conquered, and Canada was in the possession of
the English. There was no truth in any rumors of French assist
ance to him, or of French efforts to retake New France. He
ought, therefore, to make peace with the English, the true masters
of the country, to secure himself against their vengeance. The
great chieftain was confounded. His grand scheme was at an end ;

172 WAR ON THE BORDERS. 1763.
he had been most cruelly deceived by the faithless French, for
whom he had risked all, and suffered so much, and the whole
weight of the English vengeance would fall on him and his scat
tered bands. Sullenly and sadly, he broke up his camp, and, with
a menace to the English that he would return in the spring, he
passed down the river to the Maumee, to prepare for a new
campaign. Along the borders, meanwhile, the war was raging with most
savage brutality. The plan of the year was there faithfully carried
out. Suddenly the English traders, among all the tribes, were
massacred ; and all the forts were attacked.
Le Boeuf was surrounded, on the 18th of May, by a great multitude
of Indians. After a furious attack, the block house was fired by "
night, and while they were waiting to murder the inmates, as they
escaped from the fiames. Ensign Price, and his seven remaining men,
escaped unperceived to the forest, and, after enduring great hard
ships, reached Fort Pitt. Passing by Yenango, they found that
place in ruins, and the garrison slaughtered. Long after, its fate
was revealed to Sir William Johnson. A large party of Senecas
gained entrance, on pretense of friendship, massacred the garrison,
and tortured the commandant, Lieut. Gordon, for several nights,
over a slow fire, and then burned the fort.
On the 27th of May, bands of Indians, fiushed with their victories,
appeared before Fort Pitt, and after prowling around, scalping strag
glers, and firing on the garrison, a delegation of their chiefs appeared
and demanded the surrender of the fort. They were friends of the
English, and they wanted to give them good advice. Six great ,
nations had taken up the hatchet against the English; numerous
bands were now coming to scalp them. They ought to leave the post
and go to th e settlements, where they would be safe. If they went
now they would protect them. If they waited till their enemies came,
nothing could save them. Captain Ecuyer was not to be so easily
outdone in politeness by his tawny friends. He was -very well off
in his fort, and meant to stay there. But they ought to take care
of their women and children. There was a great army of six
thousand coming to Fort Pitt. There was an army of three thou
sand going up the lakes. There was another, with a great multi
tude of Cherokees, coming from the south. He wished them to
hide, for he did not want them to get hurt. But he hoped they
rs-ould not tell the hostile Indians, lest they might escape. The
chiefs were beaten at their own game, the shadows of Ecuyer's

1763. SIEGE OF FORT PITT. 173
three armies frightened them, they abandoned the fort and fled
down the river.
On the 26th of July, the Indians again appeared in considerable
force around Fort Pitt, Shinghis, Turtle's Heart, and some other
chiefs appeared, and were admitted to a conference. They bitterly
recounted the wrongs the English had inflicted upon, their people.
They recited a message they had received from the great Pontiac,
His bands were coming to strike the English at the forks of the
Ohio, If they would go home to their wives and children they
would be safe. If they would not ihey would be in danger,
Ecuyer told them he had warriors and arms enough to defend him
self three years against all the Indians in the woods. That was
his home, and if they came about it, he would fire bagfulls of
bullets at them. They had better go home, for he did not want
to hurt them.
The Indians then, disappointed in obtaining possession of the
fort by stratagem, commenced a general attack. On the next night,
they crawled along the banks of the rivers, and dug holes with
their knives in the bank, to shelter themselves from the fire of the
garrison. From these a constant fire for many days was poured
upon the fort, and it was often on fire from their arrows. A striking
picture of the siege is furnished in the statement of one who was
present. " I tell you we had awful times when Fort Pitt was closely be
sieged by the Indians. You see the yellow skins lay so close along
the bank of the Allegheny river, that we could not get a shot at
them, and we dare hot venture outside. Any one who showed
himself upon the rampart was sure to be a mark for an arrow or
bullet. Yet even then they did not get off always scot free. Some
of our fellows were more than a match for them in every way.
One day 'Brown Bill' procured some old clothes and straw, and
stuffed a paddy with the greatest care. None of us could tell what
was in the wind, and his only answer was that he was reinforcing
the garrison. At night he told one of us to lift it up slowly above
the stockade and pull it down quickly whenever it was fired at.
He then took his station a few feet from it, and when his eye be
came accustomed to the darkness, directed us to raise it up. We
raised it slowly, and a bullet passed through it, but instantly Bill,
who could fire at a flash, put a bullet through the Indian's head.
We all laughed at the result, which made Bill tremendously angry.
'If you had held your jaw,' said he, ' the paddy might have done
some time again ; now it is of no use, they vdll smell the rat.' At

174 DESOLATION OF THE BORDERS. 1163.
last we became weary of being cooped up, and the officers began
to fear that Bill, and some other kindred spirits, would carry out
some mad scheme, to their own undoing. Who first planned what
I am going to tell you of I do not know, but the following plan
relieved us from our close blockade, and chased the Indians from
the bank of the river, the position which most annoyed us. We
built upon rollers a large flat boat, with high sides ; the rowers
were secured, and port-holes bored all around. When finished and
ready, we rolled it into the Monongahela, and anchored it in such
a position that we could fire up the Allegheny. The Indians were
astonished ; they were afraid to attack either the boat or the fi>rt,
which would h&ve placed them between two fires. We raked them
from the boat along the river bank ; they set up the most diabolical
yell I ever heard, retired up stream, and never again ventured so
close to us in daylight."
About the 1st of August, a rumor reached them that an army was
coming to relieve the fort; the assailants abandoned the siege, to
the great relief of the garrison, and penetrated further to the east.
Meanwhile the most terrible border war known to our history, was
raging along the whole line of the western frontier. The western
frontier was then the Blue Ridge and the Susquehanna; Cabins,
clearings, hamlets, even villages, were scattered through the forest
west of that border, but a fixed population had not passed beyond
it. Along that whole line from Albany to Carolina, the border was
attacked about the beginning of harvest. Everywhere were expe
rienced the same horrible cruelties of savage warfare ; the sudden
surprise, the massacre, the scalping, the burning ; everywhere were
the ashes of cabins, mingled -with the charred bones -of their tenants;
everywhere the ripe harvest stood without a reaper. Twenty
thousand people in Yirginia were driven from their homes. The
borders of that province were protected by a line of stockade forts,
and to these the inhabitants fled for protection. A thousand men
were raised and put under the command of Major Lewis and Col,
Stephen. That force was greatly augmented by the borderers who
volunteered to protect their homes. The tide of savage war was
stayed; the Indians could not stand their ground against the bor
der riflemen, and security for the Yirginia frontier was at length
obtained by the prompt measures of her government, and the
bravery of her citizen soldiery. The people of the Pennsylvama
frontier were unprotected, and they were compelled to crowd into
the towns in the interior for safety, and, stripped of everything
they possessed, were obliged to subsist as they best could in huts

1763. BJ)LIBF OF FORT PITT. 175
and tents on the charities of the people. The colonial government
was divided by faction ; its leaders were inimical to the borderers,
and, to its everlasting dishonor, refused to furnish the many
adequate protection, and left the defense of the frontier to those
who had lost all by its desolation.
General Amherst was employed in the meantime in providing
measures of defense. The colonial establishment had been
exhausted by the French war, and further -weakened by the
removal of a great part of the troops on the conclusion of peace.
0£ the regiments that remained, reduced in numbers and weakened
by disease, a small force was with difficulty collected and equipped
for the service. All that could be immediately done was to pro
vide for the defense of the posts. The fort of Niagara had been
besieged by a band of Senecas, and the first step was to send suffi
cient reinforcements to that important post. The next was to send
a reinforcement under Dalzell to Detroit.
The garrison at Fort Pitt consisted of three hundred and thirty
men, beside more than two hundred women and children who
had taken refuge within it. The supply of provisions was too
small to sustain a long siege, and it was necessary to afford it
immediate relief. Orders were, therefore, sent to Col, Bouquet, at
Philadelphia, to organize an expedition without delay, for the relief
of that important post.
Col, Henry Bouquet was a native of Switzerland, of the canton
of Berne, He fijfst keld a commission in the army of Sardinia, and
afterward entered the service of the states of Holland. When the
corps of Royal Americans was organized in the French war, he
entered the English service as lieutenant-colonel of that regiment.
In the pro-vinces, great confidence was reposed in his bravery and
skill. As a military man he was distinguished for activity of mind,
a great facility of resource, and an unusual power of adaptation to
the circumstances with which he was surrounded. And these
qualities fitted him in an eminent degree for the practice of the
new and often perplexing tactics of Indian warfare.
With much difficulty. Colonel Bouquet collected of the remains
of the forty-second and seventy-seventh regiments, a force of about
five hundred men; brave, indeed, but enfeebled by disease, and
unused to savage warfare. Sixty of these were so weak, that they
were conveyed in baggage wagons, only for the relief of the garri
son. Orders were dispatched to collect stores and provisions on
the frontier, but when Bouquet reached Carlisle, on the Ist of July,

176 BATTLE OF BUSHY RUN. 1763.
no provisions had been collected. The whole settiement was in a
panic. The country was deserted, and the -wretched and famishing
people had crowded into the town for protection. Instead of
receiving supplies from them. Bouquet was obliged to share with
them his own scanty stores. Eighteen days were spent in collect
ing stores and means of transportation, and the army commenced its
perilous march with the worst forebodings of the people, through the
wilderness. The route lay through an unbroken forest for two
hundred miles, infested with savages far more numerous and
more determined than those that destroyed the ill-fated army of
Braddock. The army of Bouquet was less than those that fell on
that bloody day, and the people of the border, without hope of
success, only waited for the defeat of the army to desert the
country and fly beyond the Susquehanna.
The army pursued the route opened by General Forbes, five years
before, and on their march, relieved Forts Bedford and Ligonier,
both beleaguered by the Indians. Less than a day's march west of
Ligonier, by the dangerous defile of Turtle creek, Bouquet deter- ,
mined to march to Bushy run, and rest there until night, and then
pass Turtle creek under cover of the darkness. When within half a
mile of Bushy run, the army was suddenly attacked in front; a charge
was made and the enemy dispersed. Instantly the attack was renewed
in the rear, and again the assailants were beaten off. Again and again
the attack was made, and the Indians were driven back, only to
renew their assault. Sheltered behind trees, the Indians poured a
constant fire upon the army on all sides, and were so disposed as
to assault the line the moment it wavered. To receive them, the
troops were disposed in a circle around their baggage; exposed
indeed to the constant fire of an invisible foe, but maintained their
position with the steady valor of disciplined troops. .Thus the
contest raged for seven hours, darkness suspended hostilities, and
the troops maintained their position and lay on their arms during
the night. At the dawn of day, the attack was renewed with
great fury, and continued without intermission until nearly noon.
It was impossible for the army to move, and equally impossible to
make any impression on the enemy, and there seemed to be no
other prospect before the troops, than that of gradually melting
away under the fire of an invisible foe. The genius of Bouquet
was equal to the emergency. Two companies were ordered to fall
within the circle and march backward, as if commencing the
retreat; two other companies were detailed to lie in ambuscade in
advance of the army. The thin line of troops took possession of

1763, PROCLAMATION OP THE GOVERNMENT, 177
the deserted space, and were drawn nearer to the centre. These
movements were mistaken by the Indians for a retreat, and made
a furious assault on the line. The two companies that had been
ordered to the rear, suddenly wheeled and poured a volley on
them in flank, and then charged them with the bayonet. The
Indians were completely surprised and fled in disorder before them.
Suddenly the ambuscade arose and poured their fire upon the
crowd of savages, and joined the pursuit. The route was complete,
and the remaining savages abandoned their positions and fled.
About sixty Indians were slain. One hundred and sixteen privates
and eight officers of the army were killed, and a great number
wounded. After the battle, the army marched without interruption twenty-
five miles to Fort Pitt, relieved the garrison and supplied the post
-with arms, ammunition, and provision, and thus secured it against
the danger of a siege, or of falling into the hands of the savages.
The campaign had been disastrous to the English, but it was
fatal to the plans of Pontiac. Detroit h^d resisted his utmost
efforts to surprise or reduce it, and was now in a posture for suc
cessful defense. All hope of any co-operation was at an end. The
battle of Bushy run and the relief of Fort Pitt closed the campaign,
with the exception of a few scalping parties, on the frontier and so
disheartened the Indians that they abandoned their towns to escape
the vengeance of the white men, and retired to the Muskingum.
All these circumstances co-operated to break the hostile confederacy
and dispose the tribes to peace ; and this disposition was furthered
by a proclamation, authorized by the government and issued for
the purpose, quieting the fears and suspicions of the Indians. It
contained the following prohibitions and restrictions :
" And, whereas, it is just and reasonable, and essential to our
interest and the security of our colonies, that the several nations or
tribes of Indians with whoin we are connected, and who live under
our protection, should not be molested or disturbed in the possession
of such parts of our dominions and territories as, not having been
ceded to, or purchased by us, are reserved to them, or any of them,
as their hunting grounds; we do, therefore, with the advice of our
privy council, declare it to be our royal will and pleasure, that no
Governor or Commander-in-chief, in any of our colonies of Quebec,
East Florida, or West Florida, do presumCj upon any pretense
whatever, to grant warrants of survey, or pass any patents for lands
beyond the bounds of their respective governments, as described in

178 PROCLAMATION OF THE GOVERNMENT, 1763,
their commissions ; as, also, that no Governor or Commander-in-
chief of our other colonies or plantations in America, do presume
for the present, and until our further pleasure be known, to grant
warrants of survey, or pass patents for any lands beyond the heads
or sources of any of the rivers which fall into the Atlantic ocean
from the west or north-west ; or upon any lands whatever, which,
not having been ceded to, or purchased by us, as aforesaid, are
reserved to the said Indians or any of them,
" And we do further declare it to be our royal will and pleasure,
for the present, as aforesaid, to reserve under our sovereignty, pro
tection, and dominion, for the use of the said Indians, all the land
and territories not included within the limits of our said three new
governments, or within the limits of the territory granted to the
Hudson's Bay Company ; as also all the lands and territories lying
to the westward of the sources of the rivers which fall into the sea-
•from the west and north-west as aforesaid ; and we do hereby strictly
forbid, on pain of our displeasure, all our lo-ving subjects from
making any purchases or settlements whatever, or taking possession
of any of the lands above reserved, without our special leave and
license for that purpose first obtained.
" And we do further strictly enjoin and require all persons what
ever, who have either willfully or inadvertently seated themselves
upon any lands -within the countries above described, or upon any
other lands, which, not having been ceded to, or purchased by us,
are still reserved to the said Lidians, as aforesaid, forthwith to
remove themselves fi-om such settlements.
" And, whereas, great frauds and abuses have been committed
in purchasing lands from the Indians, to the great prejudice of our
interests, and the great dissatisfaction of the Indians ; in order,
therefore, to prevent such irregularities for the future, and to the
end that the Indians may be convinced of our justice and determined
resolution to remove all reasonable cause of discontent, we do, with
the advice of our privy council, strictly enjoin and require that "no
private person do presume to make any purchase from the said
Indians, of any lands reserved to the said Indians, -within those
parts of our colonies where we have thought proper to allow settle
ment ; but that, if at any time, any of the said Indians should be
inclined to dispose of the said lands, the same shall be purchased
only for us, in our name, at some public meeting or assembly of
the said Indians, to be held for that purpose, by the Governor or
Commander-in-chief of our colony, respectively, within which they
shall lie : and in case they shall lie within the limits of any propri-

1764, bradstrebt's expedition, 179
etaries, conformable to such directions and instructions ag we or
they shall think proper to give for that purpose : and we do, by the
advice of our privy council, declare and enjoin, that the trade with
the said Indians shall be free and open to a.11 our subjects whatever :
Provided, That every person who may incline to trade with the said
Indians, do take out a license, for carrying on such trade, from the
Governor or Commander-in-chief of any of our colonies, respec
tively, where such person shall reside ; and also give security to
observe 'such regulations as we shall at any time think fit, by
ourselves or commissaries to be appointed for this purpose, to
direct and appoint for the benefit of the said trade; and we do
hereby authorize, enjoin, and require the Governors and Com
manders-in-chief of all our colonies, respectively, as well those
under our immediate government as those under the government
and direction of proprietaries, to grant such licenses without fee
or reward, taking especial care to insert therein a condition that
such license shall be void, and the security forfeited, in case the
person to whom the same is granted shall refuse or neglect to
observe such regulations as we shall think proper to prescribe as
aforesaid," The war was nevertheless resumed in the spring of the following
year, Pontiac again laid siege to Detroit, and the English border
was again attacked with great fury. To protect the settlements,
and to chastise the Indians, General Gage, now in command of the
army in the colonies, resolved to carry the war into their own
country. For this purpose two expeditions were organized. Col.
Bradstreet was ordered to lead an army against the Indians of
the lakes, and Col. Bouquet to proceed -with an army against' the
Indians of the Ohio.
Col. Bradstreet collected a force of twelve hundred men, and
arrived at Niagara early in July. There he met a great concourse
of the Indians of the lakes, who had come to treat for peace. Sir
William Johnson had availed himself of his influence over the
Indians, to dispose them for peace. In the past year he had suc
ceeded, by conferences, promises, and presents, in preventing the
greater portion of the Iroquois from joining the confederacy, and
thus secured the frontiers of New York from the horrors of savage
war. During the winter his messengers had visited all the tribes,
warned them of their danger, and invited them to come to Niag
ara, and treat with him for peace. The representatives of the
Menomonies, Ottawas, Ojibwas, Mississaguas, Canawagas, Wyan-

180 bradstreet's expedition, 1764.
dots, Iroquois, Sacs, Foxes, Winnebagoes, Osages, and other
tribes were present, and with them, after much delay, treaties were
made, and a peace concluded. This done, Bradstreet embarked
his army at Fort Schlosser, on the 8th of August, and landed on
the 12th at Presqu' Isle. There he met a band of Shawanees and
Delawares, who pretended they had come to treat for peace. In
spite of the remonstrances of his officers, and of the wrath of his
Indian allies, Bradstreet allowed himself to be duped by their pro
fessions, concluded a peace with them on condition that they would
deliver up their prisoners at Sandusky within twenty-five days, and
dispatched a message to Bouquet to direct him to abandon his ex
pedition, on the ground that the war was closed. Thence the army
proceeded along the lake to Sandusky. There again a deputation
of Ottawas, Wyandots, and Miamis met them to ask a suspension
of hostilities, on the promise that they would meet them at Detroit
and conclude a peace. The easy credulity of Bradstreet was again
imposed on, and they were dismissed with the assurance that they
should not be molested.
On the 26th of August, the army reached Detroit, relieved the
garrison, that had been confined to their ramparts for more than
fifteen months, and dispersed the Indians that yet lay around the
fort. Pontiac was gone, and the tribes of that region were invited
to treat for peace. The chiefs of the Ottawas, Ojibwas, Pottawat
tamies, Miamis, Sacs, and Wyandots, appeared at the council. A
treaty was made. The Indians pledged themselves to give up
their prisoners ; to relinquish the title to the English posts and the
territory around them for the distance of a cannon shot; to give
up all the murderers of white men, to be tried by English law ;
to acknowledge the sovereignty of the English government, and
to give hostages for the performance of the terms of the treaty.
Peace with the tribes of the north-west being thus secured, Bradstreet
returned to Sandusky, to meet the Delawares and Shawanees, with
their prisoners. At length he discovered he was duped.. No del
egations appeared. He learned that the war had still raged along
the frontier, regardless of their promises to him. A message was
received from Gage, annulling his treaties with the Ohio Indians,
and ordering him immediately to attack their towns. Greatly
exasperated and mortified at the deception that had been practiced
upon him, and at the rebuke his misconduct had merited, and em
barrassed by the lateness of the season, the want of provisions, and
the discontent of his troops, he broke up his camp, abandoned his
expedition, and returned to Niagara.

1764, bouquet's expedition, 181
Col, Bouquet marched from Carlisle on the 5th of August, with
five hundred regulars, the most of whom had fought at Bushy run,
in the preceding year, and about a thousand volunteers from Penn
sylvania and Yirginia, At Fort Loudon he was met by a dispatch
from Bradstreet, advising him that peace was concluded with the
Indians, and that his advance was unnecessary. Bouquet saw
through the deception that had been practiced on Bradstreet, and
continued his march to Fort Pitt, where he arrived on the 17th of
September, There a delegation of chiefs met him with the same
pretenses that had so completely deceived Bradstreet, Bouquet
promptly arrested them as spies, and sent one of them back with a
message to the tribes, charging them with their faithlessness, and
threatening to put to death their chiefs, unless they would abandon
their hostility, and allow his messengers to pass safely through their
country to Detroit, The message was carried to the tribes on the
Muskingum, and its decisive tone convinced them that it was their
best policy to seek peace to avert their ruin. On the 3d of Octo
ber the army left Fort Pitt, and marched down the Ohio, and across
to the Tuscarawas, and arrived at the vicinity of Frederic Post's late
missionary station on the 15th, There preparations were made
for a council. The representatives of the Delawares, Senecas, and
Shawanees appeared on the 17th. A conference was held. The
chiefs laid the blame of the war on their young men, and the west
ern tribes asked for peace, and promised to surrender their pris
oners. Bouquet replied sternly, that it was their duty to restrain
their young men ; that they had treacherously murdered the traders
that had gone among them, and the messengers that had been sent
to them ; that they had violated their engagements to Bradstreet ;
that they had been false to every promise they had made, and now
he would trust them no longer. All the other tribes had made
peace; they stood alone, and it was'feasy to destroy them. If they
delivered up all the prisoners in their hands within twelve days,
they might hope for peace; if not, they might expect no mercy.
This reply completely humbled the savages. They judged of the
temper of the whites from the haughty tone of their demands, and
in fear of their vengeance, they separated, and hastened to collect
their captives.
On the 25th the army proceeded down the river to the junction
of the Tuscarawas, and the White Woman, and there made pre
parations for the reception of the prisoners. There they remained
until the 18th of November ; from day to day prisoners — men,
women, and children — were brought in, and delivered up to their

182 TREATY OF THE GERMAN FLATS. 1765.
friends. Strong attachments in many cases had grown up between
the savages and their captives; they surrendered them with great
reluctance, sOme even with tears. Every attention they could desire
was paid to them ; presents were bestowed upon them, and some
of the Indians followed the objects of their attachment to Fort Pitt,
and even to the settlements. Two hundred and six prisoners were
recovered. One hundred more remained, who were given up by the
Shawanees in the next year. After the Indians had complied
with his requisitions. Bouquet relaxed his reserve, held a council
with the chiefs, received from them assurance that they would
give up all prisoners that could be found, and that they would meet
Sir William Johnson in council in the spring, to make a definite
treaty of peace, and took from them six hostages for the due per
formance of their agreement.
Every thing being then arranged with the Indians, the army
broke up its encampment on the 18th of November, and reached
Fort Pitt on the 28th. From that place the volunteers returned to
their homes, and Col. Bouquet with his troops marched to Phil*-'
delphia, where he arrived about the beginning of the next year.
The promise the Indians made to Bouquet was faithfully kept.
The representatives of all the tribes of the west met Sir William
Johnson early in the next spring, at the German Flats, and made
a treaty of peace. A tract of land within the Indian territory was
ceded for the benefit of the traders who had suffered by the break
ing out of the war, and the Indians proposed to fix a definite boun
dary along the Allegheny river, beyond which the white men
should not be allowed to go. But Johnson excused himself on
the ground of a want of power from acceding to the demand, and
thus the great subject of controversy remained unsettled.
With the returning representatives of the Delawares and Shawa
nees, George Croghan, the commissioner of Sir William Johnson,
went to the west to learn the disposition of the French inhabitants,
to secure if possible their adhesion to the English interest, and
thus to prevent the recurrence of Indian war. On the 15th of May,
Croghan left Fort Pitt, and on the 8th of June was taken prisoner
by a party of Indians, and carried to Yincennes. His journal gives
much information in regard to the disposition of the French and
Indians of the Illinois at that period.
"On my arrival there, I found a village of about eighty or
ninety French families settied on the east side of this river, being
one of the finest situations that can be found. The country is

1765. croghan's journal. 183
level and clear and the soil very rich, producing wheat and
tobacco. I think the latter preferable to that of Maryland or
Yirginia. The French inhabitants hereabouts, are an idle, lazy
people, a parcel of renegadoes from Canada, and are much
worse than the Indians. They took a secret pleasure at our
misfortunes, and the moment we arrived, they came to the Indians,
exchanging trifies for their valuable plunder. As the savages
took from me a considerable quantity of gold and silver in specie,
the French traders extorted ten half Johannes from them for one
pound of vermilion. Here is likewise an Indian -village of the
Pyankeshaws, who were much displeased -with the party that took
me, telling them that ' our chiefs and your chiefs are gone to
make peace, and you have begun a war, for which our women
and children will have reason to cry.' From this post the
Indians permitted me to write to the commander, atJFort Chartres,
but would not suffer me . to write to any body else, (this I appre
hend was a precaution of the French, lest their villany should be
perceived too soon,) although the Indians had given me permission
to write to Sir Wm. Johnson, and Fort Pitt, on our march, before
we arrived at this place. But immediately after our arrival they
had a private council -with the French, in which the Indians urged,
(as they afterward informed me,) that as the French had engaged
them in so bad an affair, which was likely to bring a war on their
nation, they now expected a proof of their promise and assistance.
They delivered the French a scalp and part of the plunder, and
wanted to deliver some presents to the Pyankeshaws ; but they
refused to accept of any, and declared they would not be concerned
in the affair. This last information I got from the Pyankeshaws,
as I had been well acquainted -with them several years before
this time.
"Post Yincent is a place of great consequence for trade, being a
fine hunting country all along the Ouabache, and too far for the
Indians, which reside hereabouts, to go either to the Illinois, or .
•elsewhere, to fetch their necessaries.
"June 23(j?. Early in the morning we set out through a fine
meadow, then some clear woods; in the afternoon came into a
very large bottom on the Ouabache, within six miles of Ouicatanon ;
here I met several chiefs- of the Kickapoos and Musquattimes, who
spoke to their young men who had taken us, and reprimanded
them severely for what they had done to me, after which they
returned with us to their village, and delivered us all to their
chiefs.

184 croghan's journal, 1765.
" The distance from Post Yincent to Ouicatanon is two hundred
and ten miles. This place is situated on the Ouabache. About
fourteen French families are living in the fort, which stands on the
north side of the river. The Kickapoos and Musquattimes whose
warriors had taken us, live nigh the fort, on the same side of the
river, where they have two villages; and the Ouicatanons have
a village on the south side of the river. At our arrival at this
post, several of the Wawcottonans, (or Ouicatanons) with whom I
had been formerly acquainted, came to visit me, and seemed greatly
concerned at what had happened. They went immediately to the
Kickapoos and Musquattimes, and charged them to take the greatest
care of us, till their chiefs should arrive from the Hlinois, where
they were gone to meet me some time ago, and who were entirely
ignorant of this affair, and said the French had spirited up this
party to go and strike us.
" The French have a great influence over these Indians, and
never fail in telling them many lies to the prejudice of his majesty's
interest, by making the English nation odious and hateful to them.
I had the greatest difficulties in removing these prejudices. As
these Indians are a weak, foolish, and credulous people, they are
easily imposed on by a designing people, who have led them hith
erto as they pleased. The French told them that as the southern
Indians had for two years past made war on them, it must have
been at the instigation of the English, who are a bad people. How
ever I have been fortunate enough to remove their prejudice, and
in a great measure, their suspicions against the English. The
country hereabouts is exceedingly pleasant, being open and clear
for many miles ; the soil very rich and well watered ; all plants
have a quick vegetation, and the climate very temperate through
the winter. This post has always been a very considerable trading
place. The great plenty of furs taken in this country, induced the
French to establish this post, which was the first on the Ouabache,
• and by a very advantageous trade they have been richly recom
pensed for their labor.
" August 1st. The Twigtwee vjllage is situated on both sides
of a river, called St. Joseph. This river where it falls into the
Miame river, about a quarter of a mile from this place, is one hun
dred yards wide, on the east side of which stands a stockade fort,
somewhat ruinous.
" The Indian village consists of about forty or fifty cabins, besides
nine or ten French houses, a runaway colony from Detroit, during
the late Indian war ; they were concerned in it, and being afraid

1765. croghan's journal. 185
of punishment, came to this post, where ever since they have
spirited up the Indians against the English, All the French
residing here are a lazy, indolent people, fond of breeding mischief,
and spiriting up the Indians against the English, and should by no
means be suffered to remain here. The country is pleasant, the
soil rich and well watered. After several conferences -with these
Indians, and their delivering me up all the English prisoners they
had, 
" On the 6th of August we set out for Detroit, down the Miames
river in a canoe,
"August nth. In the morning we arrived at the fort, which is a
large stockade, inclosing about eighty houses; it stands close on the
north side of the river, on a high bank, commands a very pleasant
prospect for nine miles above, and nine miles below the fort; the
country is thick settled with French, their plantations are generally
laid out about three or four acres in breadth on the river, and eighty
acres in depth ; the soil is good, producing plenty of grain. All
the people here are generally poor wretches, and consist of three
or four hundred French families, a lazy, idle people, depending
chiefly on the savages for their subsistence ; though the land, with
little labor, produces plenty of grain, they scarcely raise as much
as will supply their wants, in imitation of the Indians, whose man
ners and customs they have entirely adopted, and cannot subsist
without them. The men, women, and children speak the Indian
tongue perfectly well. In the last Indian war the most part of the
French were concerned in it, (although the whole settlement had
taken the oath of allegiance to his Britannic] majesty) they have,
therefore, great reason to be thankful to the English clemency in
not bringing them to deserved punishment. Before the late Indian
war there resided three nations of Indians at this place : the Puta-
watimes, whose village was on the west side of the river, about one
mile below the fort; the Ottawas, on the east side, about three
miles above the fort; and the Wyandotts, whose village lies on the
east side, about two miles below the fort. The former two nations
have removed to a considerable distance, and the latter still remain
where they were, and are reniarkable for their good sense and
hospitality. They have a particular attachment to the Roman
Catholic religion, the French, by their priests, having taken uncom
mon pains to instifuct them."
There were six settlements of the French on the east of the
MiBsitesippi, in what was called the Illinois, which, though not
13

186 D'ABADIE'S charter to LACLEDE. 1763.
included in the capitulation of Montreal, were ceded by the treaty
of Paris to Great Britain. They were, Cahokia, at the mouth of
Cahokia creek, less than four miles below the site of St. Louis;
St. Philip, forty-five miles below Cahokia, on the Mississippi.;
Kaskaskia, on Kaskaskia river, six miles from its mouth; Fort
Chartres, about fifteen miles north-west from Kaskaskia, on the
Mississippi; Prairie du Rocher, near Fort Chartres; and Yincennes,
on the Wabash. All these settlements were under the govern
ment of St. Ange de Belle Rive, commandant at Fort Chartres,
subordinate to M. D'Abadie, at New Orleans, who was director-
general and civil and military commandant of the province of
Louisiana, under the king. It was known that Louisiana east
of the Mississippi had been surrendered to the English; it was
not known that Louisiana west of the Mississippi had been ceded
to Spain, and accordingly, immediately after the capitulation qf
Canada was known in Louisiana, movements were set on foot to
extend -the settlements and power of France beyond the Mig-
sissix^pi. The most important of these, was the settlement of St. Louis.
On the 16th of March, 1763, after the cession of Western Louisiana
to Spain, D'Abadie was appointed governor of Louisiana. Shortly
after his arrival, on the 29th of June, at New Orleans, he granted
to Pierre Ligeuste Laclede, and his associates, under the name of
" The Louisiana Fur Company," a charter containing "the necessary
powers to trade with the Indians of Missouri, and those west of
the Mississippi, above the Missouri, as far north as the river 8t.
Peters," with authority to establish such posts as they might think
fit in furtherance of their enterprise. Accordingly, on the 3d of
August, Laclede with his party, including Auguste and Pierre
Chouteau in his family, both then very young, left New Orleans,
and on the 3d of November, reached St. Genevieve.
At that period there were only two settlements of the French
west of the Mississippi, above the post of Arkansas. On the
present site of New Madrid, a trading post was established as
early, according to tradition, as 1740. The eariy inhabitants, were
chiefly hunters and traders; and, from the great number of bears
in that region, their principal occupation was the chase of that
animal, and the preparation and sale of bear's oil, which they
collected and shipped, by the Kaskaskia traders, to New Orleans.
From this circumstance, and from the fact that it was situated on
a bend of the river, it was named in keeping with French Creole
humor, "L'Anse d' la Gresse," (greasy bend.) On a beautiful

1764. SETTLEMENT OF ST. LOUIS. 187
plateau of alluvion, consisting of some five thousand acres, and
extending some three miles below the present town of that name,
the old village of St. Genevieve was located." It was settled
as an agricultural hamlet about 1755, but, in addition to its
agricultural advantages, its proximity to the mines, and its beau
tiful situation on the Mississippi, invited settlers ; and a considera
ble accession to its population was afterward made by the French,
who retired beyond the Mississippi immediately after the treaty of
Paris, to avoid the rule of the British.
Laclede found the position of St. Genevieve too far from the
mouth of the Missouri to serve his purposes ; no house, indeed, in
it was found large enough to accommodate his -stores. Having
been offered by the commandant the use of the store at Fort
Chartres for that purpose, he proceeded to that place, where his
party spent the winter. In the meantime, he explored the western
side of the Mississippi, and chose a site on its western bank,
eighteen miles below the mouth of the Missouri. It was a grove
of heavy timber skirting the river bank, and behind it, at an eleva
tion of some thirty feet, there extended a beautiful expanse of
undulating prairie. Returning to Fort Chartres, he collected his
party, increased by some families from Cahokia, Kaskaskia, and
the other French villages, and, on the 15th of February, 1764,
landed at the site he had chosen, took formal possession of it in
the name of France, and laid off the lines of a town which he
named St. Louis, in honor of Louis XY.*
The position of the new town was inviting ; the French of the
Hlinois were deeply dissatisfied -with the cession of the treaty of
Paris, and, to avoid li-ving under the government of their hereditary
enemies, and, as they hoped, to remain under the protection of
their mother country, many of them crossed the river and located
themselves at, or near St. Louis. The hamlets of Yide Poehe, or
Carondelet, established by De Tergette, in 1767, six miles below
St. Louis; Les Petites Cotes, now St. Charles, established by
Blanchette, in 1769 ; Florisant, established by Demegant, between
St. Louis and St., Charles, in 1776, and the Portage des Sioux,
established about the same time, eight miles above the mouth of

* St. Louis -was long familiarly known to the French on the Mississippi, in accordance
with their habits of humorous carricatm-e, by the name of "Pain Court," (Short
Bread,) in allusion to the neglect of agriculture by its citizens, who were generally
employed in the fnr trade.

188 SURRENDER OF ILLINOIS. 1765.
the Missouri, were also points around which the French population,
dissatisfied with the English rule, collected.
Early in February, 1764, Captain George Johnston arrived at
Pensacola, with a regiment of troops, to take possession of Loui
siana; and, on the 27th of that month, dispatched Major Loftus,
to occupy Fort Chartres. Loftus proceeded with his detachment
up the Mississippi, until he reached a point ten miles above Red
river, where he was attacked by a strong force of Tunica Indians;
was slain, with a large number of his mOn, and the detachment
returned. After this reverse, the attempt to occupy the lUinois,
was abandoned until after the general peace with the Indians in the
next year.
Early in 1765, Captain Stirling, of the British army, was dis
patched by Gen. Gage, then commander-in-chief of the British
forces in North America, by way of Detroit, to the Hlinois, to take
possession of the posts and settlements of the French east of the
Mississippi. On his arrival, St. Ange surrendered Fort Chartres,
and retired with the garrison of twenty-one men, and vrith about
one-third of the French inhabitants, to St. Louis, where he exer
cised the functions of commandant, by the consent of the people,
till he was superseded by the Spanish governor Piemas, in 1770.
Captain Stirling received the- allegiance of the French that
remained ; and, upon his assuming the government, published the
following proclamation from General Gage.
"Whereas, by the peace concluded at Paris, the 10th day of Feb
ruary, 1763, the country of Illinois has been ceded- to his Britannic
Majesty, and the taking possession of the said country of the Illi
nois, by the troops of his majesty, .though delayed, has been deter
mined upon; we have found it good to make known to the
inhabitants —
" That his majesty grants to the inhabitants of the Hlinois, the
liberty of the Catholic religion, as has already been granted to his
subjects in Canada. He has consequently given the most precise
and effective orders to the end, that his new Roman Catholic sub
jects of the Illinois may exercise the worship of their religion,
according to the rites of the Romish church, in the same manner
as in Canada.
"That his majesty, moreover, agrees that the French inhabitants
or others, who have been subjects of the most Christian king, (the
king of France,) may retire in full safety and freedom wherever
they please, even to New Orleans, or any part of Louisiana; although

1765. BRITISH DOMINION ESTABLISHED. 189
it should happen that the Spaniards take possession of it in the
name of his Catholic majesty, (the king of Spain,) and they may
sell their estates, provided it be to the subjects of his majesty, and
transport their effects as well as their persons, without restraint
upon their emigration, under any pretense whatever, except in
consequence of debts, or of criminal processes.
" That those who choose to retain their lands, and become sub
jects of his majesty, shall enjoy the same rights and privileges, the
same security for their persons and effects, and the liberty of trades
as the old subjects of the king.
" That they are commanded by these presents, to take the oath
of fidelity and obedience to his majesty, in presence of Sieur Stir
ling, captain of the Highland regiment, the bearer hereof, and fur
nished with our full powers for this purpose.
"That we recommend forcibly to the inhabitants, to conduct
themselves like good and faithful subjects, avoiding, by a wise and
prudent demeanor, all causes of complaint against them.
" That they act in concert with his majesty's officers, so that his
troops may take possession of all the forts, and order be kept in
the country. By this means alone they will spare his majesty the
necessity of recurring to force of arms, and will find themselves
saved from the scourge of a bloody war, and of all the evils which
the ma:qph of an army into their country would draw after it.
" We direct that these presents be read, published and posted
up in the usual places.
" Done and given at head-quarters. New York — signed with our
hands — sealed with our seal at arms, and countersigned by
our Secretary, this 30th of December, 1764.
"THOMAS GAGE.
" By his Excellency, G, Marturin."
Captain Stirling remained but a short time in Illinois, He was
succeeded by Major Farmer, of whose administration little is
known. Next in office was Colonel Reed, who made himself con
spicuous by a series of military oppressions, of which complaints
were made without redress. He became odiously unpopular and
left the colony. The next in command was Lieutenant-Colonel
Wilkins, who arrived at Kaskaskia on the 5th of September, 1768.
On the 21st of November following, he issued a proclamation*
stating that he had received orders from General Gage to establish
a'court of justice in Illinois, for settling all disputes and contro«
versies between man and man, and all claims in relation to pro-

190 PITMAN IN ILLINOIS, 1766,
perty, both real and personal. As military commandant. Colonel
Wilkins appointed seven judges, who met and held their first court
at Fort Chartres, December 6th, 1768. Courts were then held once
in each month. Even this system, though greatly preferable to a
military tribunal, was far from satisfying the claims of the people.
They insisted on a trial by jury, which being denied them, the
court became unpopular. In 1772, the seat of government was
removed to Kaskaskia. It is not known at what period Colonel
Wilkins left the country, nor who succeeded him. When it was
taken possession of by Colonel Clark, in 1778, M. Rochblave was
commandant. A detailed and interesting description of the French settlements
of the Hlinois, at the time of their cession to Great Britain, is given
in " The Present State of the European Settlements on the Missis
sippi," by Captain Philip Pitman — a quarto volume published in
London, in 1770. Capt. Pitman was military engineer in the British
army, and in that capacity was sent to survey the forts, munitions
of war and towns in Florida, in 1763, when the British took pos
session of that country. Having surveyed the fortifications of Pen
sacola and Mobile, near the gulf, he proceeded to the settlements
on the Mississippi, and, a/fter surveying the posts in Louisiana, he
reached Illinois about 1766. He describes " the country of Hlinois,
as bounded by the Mississippi on the west, by the river Hlinois on
the north, the rivers Ouabache and Miamies on the east, and the
Ohio on the south." Of this tract of country he says:
" The air, in general, is pure, and the sky serene, except in the
month of March, and the latter end of September, when there are
heavy rains and hard gales of wind. The months of May, June,
July, and August, are excessively hot, and subject to sudden and
violent storms. January and February are extremely cold, the
other months in the year are moderate."
Yery probably during the seasons Captain Pitman was in Illi
nois, "heavy rains " occurred in the latter end of September, but
in the proportion of five years out of six, the autumnal months are
dry, the pastures decay, and the farmers find inconvenience in sow
ing wheat, from the drouth. During the periodical rise of the rivers
in the spring, and especially the annual rise of the Missouri in
June, rain falls to a greater or less extent. Captain Pitman, whose
accuracy, in general, cannot be questioned, probably drew his com
parison of the climate and seasons in Illinois with England,- to
which he had been accustomed. He continues —
"The principal Indian nations in this country are theCascas-

1766. DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. 191
quias, Kahoquias, Mitchigamias, and Peoryas ; these four tribes are
generally called the Illinois Indians. Except in the hunting sea
sons, they reside near the English settlements in this country.
They are a poor, debauched, and detestable people. They count
about three hundred and fifty warriors. The Pianquichas, Mas-
coutins, Miamies, Kickapous, and Pyatonons, though not very
nurnerous, are a brave and war-like people,
" The soil of this country, in general, is very rich and luxuriant ;
it produces all sorts of European grains, hops, hemp, flax, cotton,
and tobacco, and European fruits come to great perfection.
" The inhabitants make wine of the wild grapes, which is very
inebriating, and is, in color and taste, very like the red wine of
Provence. "In the late wars. New Orleans and the lower parts of Louisiana
were supplied -with flour, beef, wines, hams, and other provisions,
from this country. At present its commerce is mostly conflned to
the peltry and furs, which are got in traffic from the Indians ; for
which are received in return, such European commodities as are
necessary to carry on that commerce, and the support of the inhab
itants," Of Fort Chartres, which was rebuilt in 1756, under the authority
of the French government, in view of the hostilities then existing
between England and France, for the possession of the country on
the Ohio, Captain Pitman gives the following description : —
"Fort Chartres, when it belonged to France, was the seat of gov
ernment of the Illinois. The head-quarters of the English com
manding officer is now here, who, in fact, is the arbitrary governor
of this country. The fort is an irregular quadrangle ; the sides of
the exterior polygon are 490 feet. It is built of stone, is plastered
over, and is only designed as a defense against the Indians. The
-walls are two feet two inches thick, and are pierced with loop-holes
at regular distances, and -with two port-holes for cannon in the faces,
and two in the flanks of each bastion. The ditch has never been fin
ished. The entrance to the fort is through a very handsome rustic
gate. Within the walls is a banquette raised three feet, for the
men to stand on when they fire through the loop-holes. The build
ings within the fort are, a commandant's and commissary's house,
tiie magazine of stores, corps de garde, and two barracks ; these
occupy the square. Within the gorges of the bastion are a powder
magazine, a bake-house, and a prison, in the lower floor of which
are four dungeons, and in the upper, two rooms, and an out-house
belonging to commandant. The commandant's house is thirty-two

192 DESCRIPTION OF FORT CHARTRES, 1766,
yards long, and ten broad, and contains a kitchen, a dining-room,
a bed-chamber, one small room, five closets for servants, and a cel
lar. The commissary's house, (now occupied by officers,) is built
on the same line as this, and its proportion and the distribution of
its apartments are the same. Opposite these are the store-house
and the guard-house ; they are each thirty yards long, and eight
broad. The former consists of two large store-rooms, (under which
is a large vaulted cellar,) a large room, a bed-chamber, and a closet
for the store-keeper; the latter of a soldiers' and officers' guards
room, a chapel, a bed-chamber, a closet for the chaplain, and an
artillery store-room. The lines of barracks have never been fin
ished; they at present consist of two rooms each for officers, and
three for soldiers: they are each twenty feet square, and have be
twixt them a small passage. There are fine spacious lofts over each
building, which reach from end to end ; these are made use of to
lodge regimental stores, working and entrenching tools, &c. It is
generally believed that this is the most convenient and best built
fort in North America."
In 1756, the fort stood half a mile from the bank of the river; in
1766, it was eighty yards. In two years after. Captain Pitman
states: —
" The bank of the Mississippi, next the fort, is continually falling
in, being worn away by the current, which has been turned from
its course by a sand-bank, now increased to a considerable island,
covered with willows. Many experiments have been tiied to stop
this growing evil, but to no purpose. Eight years ago the river
was fordable to the Island; the channel is now forty feet deep.
" In the year 1764, there were about forty families in the village
near the fort, and a parish church, served by a Franciscan friar,
dedicated to Ste. Anne. In the following year, when the Enghsh
took possession of the countrj', they abandoned their houses, except
three or four poor families, and settled in the villages on the west
side of the Mississippi, choosing to continue under the French
government." About the year 1770, the river made further encroachments, and
in 1772, it inundated portions of the American bottom, and formed
a channel so near this fort, that the wall and two bastions on the
west side, next the river, were undermined and fell into it. The
British garrison abandoned the place, and it has never since been
occupied. Those portions of the wall which escaped the flood,
have been removed by the inhabitants of Kaskaskia and adjacent
settlements for building purposes.

1766, DESCRIPTION OF FORT CHARTRES, 193
In 1820, Dr. Lewis 0, Beck, of New York, while collecting
materials for his Gazetteer of Hlinois and Missouri, visited these
ruins, and made a complete and accurate survey, with an engraved
plan of the fort as it then appeared. The line of the exterior wall
was one thousand four hundred and forty-seven feet. The two
houses, formerly occupied by the commandant and commissary,
were each ninety-six feet in length and thirty feet in breadth. ,
The following description, as it then appeared, is from Beck's
Gazetteer; "In front, all that remains is a small stone cellar, which has no
doubt been a magazine ; some distance above, or north of this, is
an excavation in the earth, which has the appearance of having
been burned ; it may have been a furnace for heating shot, as one
of the cannon must have been in this vicinity. Not a vestige of
the wall is to be seen on this side, except a few stones, which still
remain in the ravine below. At the south-east angle there is a
gate, and the wall is perfect. It is about fifteen feet high and three
feet thick, and is built of coarse lime-stone, quarried in the hills
about two miles distant, and is well cemented. The south side is,
¦with few exceptions, perfect; as is also the south-east bastion.
The north-east is generally in ruins. On the east face are two port
holes for cannon, which are still perfect ; they are about three feet
square, formed by solid rocks or clefts worked smooth, and into
proper shape; here is also a large gate, eighteen feet wide, the
aides of which still remain in a state of tolerable preservation; the
cornices and casements, however, which formerly ornamented it,
have all been taken away. A considerable portion of the north
aide of the fort has also been destroyed.
"The houses which make up the square inside are generally in
ruins. Sufficient, however, remains to enable the -visitor to ascer
tain exactly their dimensions and relative situations. The well,
which is little injured by time, is about twenty-four feet north of
the north-east house, which, according to Pitman, was the comman
dant's house. The banquette is entirely destroyed. The magazine
is in a perfect state, and is an uncommon specimen of solidity. Its
walls are four feet thick, and it is arched in the inside.
" Over the whole fort thfere is a considerable growth of trees,
and in the hall of the houses there ia an oak about eighteen inches
in diameter."
There is now a large island in the river where a sand-bar
"covered -with willows," had commenced at the period of Captain
Pitman'a survey. . A <' slough " ia next the ruins. Trees more than

194 DESCRIPTION OF KASKASKIA. 1766.
three feet in diameter, are within the walls. It is a ruin in the
midst of a dense forest, and did we not know its origin and history,
it might furnish a fruitful theme of antiquarian speculation.
Captain Pitman gives the following description of Kaskaskia, of,
according to the French orthography of the period, which he fol
lows, Cascasquias.
" The Yillage of Notre Dame de Cascasquias, is by far the most
considerable settlement in the country of Hlinois, as well from its
number of inhabitants, as from its advantageous situation.
" Mons. Paget was the first who introduced water mills in this
country, and he constructed a very fine one on the river Cascas
quias, which was both for grinding corn' and sawing boards. It
lies about one mile from the village. The mill proved fatal to him,
being killed as he was working it, -with two negroes, by a party of
Cherokees, in the year 1764.
"The principal buildings are, the church and Jesuits' house,
which has a small chapel adjoining it; these, as well as some other
houses in the village, are built of stone, and, considering this part
of the world, make a very good appearance. The Jesuits' planta
tion consisted of two hundred andfortyarpents of cultivated land,*
a very good stock of cattle, and a brewery ; which was sold by the
French commandant, after the country was ceded to the English,
for the crown, in consequence of the suppression of the order.
" Mons. Beauvais was the purchaser, who is the richest of the
English subjects in this country; he keeps eighty slaves; he fur
nishes eighty-six thousand weight of flour to the king's magazine,
which was only a part of the harvest he reaped in one year.
" Sixty-flve families reside in this village, besides merchants,
other casual people, and slaves. The fort, which was burnt dowii
in October, 1766, stood on the summit of a high rock opposite the
-village, and on the opposite side of the Kaskaskia river. It was
an oblongular quadrangle, of which the exterior polygon measured
two hundred and ninety, by two hundred and flfty-one feet. It
was built of very thick, squared timber, and dove-tailed at the
angles. An officer and twenty soldiers are quartered in the village.
The officer governs the inhabitants, under the direction of the
commandant at Chartres. Here are also two companies of
militia."

* An arpent is SS-lOOths of au English acre.

1766. DESCRIPTION OF CAHOKIA, 195
Prairie du Rocher, or "La Prairie de Roches," as Captain Pit
man has it, is next described —
" As about seventeen [fourteen] miles from Cascasquias, It is a
small -village, consisting of twelve dwelling-houses, all of which
are inhabited by as many families. Here is a little chapel, formerly
a chapel of ease to the church at Fqrt Chartres. The inhabitants
here are very industrious, and raise a great deal of corn, and every
kind of stock. The village is two miles from Fort Chartres. It
takes its name from its situation, being built under a rock that
runs parallel with the river Mississippi, at a league distance, for
forty miles up. Here is a company of militia, the captain of which
regulates the police of the village."
"Saint Philippe is a small village about flve miles from Fort
Chartres, on the road to Kaoquias. There are about sixteen houses
and a small church standing; all of the inhabitants, except the
captain of the militia, deserted it, 1765, and went to the French
side [Missouri]. The captain of the militia has about twenty slaves,
a good stock of cattle, and a water-mill for corn and planks. This
village stands in a very fine meadow, about one mile from the
Mississippi." Next follows a description of Cahokia, or, in the orthography of
the time, " Kaoquias." It will be remembered that Captain Pit
man was officially employed in surveying all the forts, villages,
and improvements, to be found in the English territories on the
Mississippi and gulf of Mexico ; that he was engaged several years
in this work, by personal observation, and that the work from
which these extracts are made is an official document of great value,
as filling up a chasm in the history of Illinois, for which no other
correct sources of information are to be found.
"The -village of Saint Famille de Kaoquias," Pitman writes, "is
generally reckoned fifteen leagues from Fort Chartres, and six
leagues below the mouth of the Missouri. It stands near the side
of the Mississippi, and is marked from the river by an island of
two leagues long. The -village is opposite the centre of this island ;
it is long and straggling, being three-quarters of a mile from one
end to the other. It contains forty-five dwelling-houses, and a
church near its centre. The situation is not well chosen ; as in the
floods it is generally overflowed two or three feet. This was the
first settlement on the Mississippi. The land was purchased of
the saf ages by a few Canadians, some of whom married women of
the Kaoquias nation, and others brought wives from Canada, and
then resided there, leaving their children to succeed them.

196 TRANSFER OF WESTERN LOUISIANA. 1766,
"The inhabitants of this place depend more on hunting, and
their Indian trade, than on agriculture, as they scarcely raise corn
enough for their own consumption ; they have a great plenty of
poultry, and good stocks of horned cattle,
" The mission of St. Sulpice had a very fine plantation here, and
an excellent house built on it^ They sold this estate, and a very
good mill for corn and planks, to a Frenchman who chose to re
main under the English government. They also disposed of thirty
negroes and a good stock of cattle, to different people in the coun
try, and returned to France in 1764. What is called the fort, is a
small house standing in the centre of the village. It differs nothing
from the other houses, except in being one of the poorest. It was
formerly inclosed -with high palisades, but these were torn down
and burnt. Indeed, a fort at this place could be of little use."
The cession of Western Louisiana was made by a secret treaty
to Spain, and, in the terms of the cession, it was stipulated that it
should remain under the nominal government of France, till the
court of Madrid was prepared to receive and occupy it. It was
with this view that D'Abadie, who was ignorant that the region he
was sent to govern was really the province of a foreign power, was
appointed to the government of Louisiana, All his measures, and
all the calculations of the people were made on the supposition
that Western Louisiana was to remain the permanent colony of
France ; but, to his great surprise, he received an autograph letter
from the king, dated April 21st, 1764, containing an official
announcement of the cession of his pro-vince to Spain, and enclos
ing copies of the act of cession and of the act of acceptance,* The
letter of the king ran thus :
"Louis XY, TO M, D'Abadie,
"Monsieur D'Abadie, by a private act passed at Fontainbleau,
on the 3d of November, 1762, having of my own free will, ceded
to my very dear and beloved cousin, the king of Spain, and to his
successors and heirs, in full property, completely, and without
reserve or restriction, all the country known under the name of
Louisiana, and, also. New Orleans, with the island in which it is
situated ; and by another act, passed at the Escurial and signed by
the king of Spain, on the 13th of November, of the same year, his

* Gayarre's French Domination in Louisiana, vol. 2.

1766. TRANSFER OF WESTERN LOUISIANA. 197
Catholic Majesty having accepted the cession of Louisiana and of
the town of New Orleans, as will appear by copies of said acts here
unto annexed ; I write you this letter to inform you that my inten
tion is, that, on the receipt of it, and of the documents thereto
annexed, whether they are handed to you by officers of his Catholic
Majesty, or in a direct line by the French ships to which they are
entrusted, you deliver up into the hands of the Governor, or of the
colony of Louisiana, with the settlements or posts thereto appertain
ing, together with the town and island of New Orleans, such as
they may be found on the day of the said delivery, it being my will
that, for the future, they belong to his Catholic Majesty, to be
administered by his governors and officers as belonging to him,
fully, and without reserve and exception.
" I order you, accordingly, as soon as the Governor and the troops
of that monarch shall have arrived in the said country and colony,
to put them in possession thereof, and to withdraw all the officers,
soldiers, or other persons employed under my government, and to
send to France, and to my other colonies of America, such of them
as will not be disposed to remain under the Spanish dominion.
"I desire, moreover, that, after the entire evacuation of the said
post and town of New Orleans, you gather up all the papers relative
to the finances and administration of the colony of Louisiana, and
that you come to France to account for them.
"My intention is, however, that you deliver up to the said
Governor, or other officers duly authorized, all the papers and
documents which concern specially the government of that colony,
either -with regard to the limits of that territory, or -with regard to
the Indians and the different posts, after having obtained proper
receipts for your discharge, and that you give to the said Governor
all the information in your power, to enable him to govern the said
colony to the mutual satisfaction of both nations.
" My will is, that a duplicate inventory of all the artillery, ware
houses, hospital^, vessels, and other effects which belong to me in
the said colony, be made and signed by you and the Commissary
of his Catholic Majesty, in order that, after your ha-ving put the said
Commissary in possession of the same, there be drawn up a verbal
process of the af)praisement of such of said effects as -will remain in
the colony, and the value of which shall be reimbursed by his
Catholic Majesty in conformity with the said appraisement,
"I hope, at the same time, for the advantage and tranquillity of
the inhabitants of the colony of Louisiana, and I flatter myself, in
ttonsequence of the friendship and affection of his Catholic Majesty,

198 TRANSFER OF WESTERN LOUISIANA, 1766
that he will be pleased so to instruct his Governor or any other of
his officers employed by him in said colony, and said town of New
Orleans, that all ecclesiastics and religious communities shall con
tinue to perform their functions of curates and missionaries, and
to enjoy the rights, privileges, and exemptions granted to them ;
that all the judges of ordinary jurisdiction, together with the
superior council, shall continue to administer justice according.to
the laws, forms, and usages of the colony, that the titles of the
inhabitants to their property shall be confirmed in accordance -with
the concessions made by the Governors and Ordinary Commissaries
of said colony ; and that said concessions shall be looked upon and
held as confirmed by his Catholic Majesty, although they may not, as
yet, have been confirmed by me ; hoping, moreover, that his Catholic
Majesty will be pleased to give to his subjects of Louisiana the
marks of protection and good-will which they have received under
my domination, and which would have been more effectual if not
counteracted by the calamities of war.
"I order you to have this letter registered by the superior council
of New Orleans, in order that the people of the colony, of all ranks
and conditions, be informed of its contents, that they may avail
themselves of it, if need be ; such being my sole object in writing
this letter.
"I pray God, Monsieur D'Abadie, to have you in his holy
keeping. Signed, LOUIS."
When D'Abadie published the instructions he had received, the
colony of Louisiana was plunged into the deepest consternation.
Although partially prepared for the event, by the dismemberment
of their country, their fortitude was not steeled to meet this new
misfortune. As Frenchmen, their pride was wounded by the
mutilation and abandonment of the French empire they had
toiled to establish in America, As men, they felt the degradation
of being bartered away to alien powers, without their own consent.
As property holders and members of society, they dreaded the
effect of a change of laws and government. Accordingly, they
resolved to petition the government to allow them yet to live
under the laws and protection of France, A convention of all the
parishes of lower Louisiana, was held at New Orleans, an address
to the king was adopted, praying him not to sever them from the
mother country, and Jean Milhet was deputed to carry it to the
foot of the throne. Arriving at Paris, he waited upon the aged

1766, CHARACTER OF DB ULLOA, 199
Bienville, and astonished him with the information, that Louisi
ana, whose foundation he had laid, and for the good of which
he had done so much, was being divided between his old
enemies, the English and the Spanairds, Together they sought
the Prime Minister, the Duke of Choiseul, Milhet presented the
address of the people, and urged all the considerations that ought
to influence France to retain her American empire. The Duke
only replied, he could not change the course of things, Bienville,
on his knees, prayed the minister to reconsider the decree issued
against the colony. It was in vain ; De Choiseul himself had
advised the cession. The burthen of tlie Louisiana colony was
too great to be borne. Crozat had spent many millions of livres
in vain to establish it. More than twenty millions had been lost
by the India company, with the same result. Forty to fifty
naillions had been sacrificed by the government, in the attempt to
colonize Louisiana. And yet it returned no revenue, yet it lan
guished, yet it demanded more and greater outlays to maintain it.
France, exhausted and prostrated by long wars, could do no more ;
and it was better that Louisiana should be given to the hereditary
ally of France, than conquered by its hereditary foe. Thus they
were dismissed. Bienville died shortly after, of grief, and Milhet
returned to announce to the colonists that there was no relief for
them. On the 4th of February, 1765, D'Abadie died of grief, it is said,
at the loss of Louisiana, and Aubry succeeded him in the provis-
-ional government. After a long delay, and much anxiety of the
people, Antonio de IJlloa arrived, with ninety men, on the 5th of
March, 1766, as the representative of the Spanish government, to
take possession of the colony, and govern it in the name of his
master. De Ulloa, was not well fitted for the post. Almost alone
among the Spaniards of his day, he had earned a European reputa
tion for his scientific culture. At the age of nineteen, he was
appointed by the Royal Academy, to a commission sent by the
Spanish and French governments, to Peru, to determine the con
figuration of the earth. Returning, he was taken prisoner by the
English, and carried to London, and, in this singular way, intro
duced himself to the savans of the Royal Society. Released,
through its interference, he traveled through Europe, at the
command of the kiug, to study for the benefit of Spain, the science
of other nations. On the accession of Charles HI, he was raised
to the rank of commodore of the fleet of the Indies. And now
he was appointed to take possession of and organize the new colony

200 EXPULSION OP DE ULLOA. 1766.
of Louisiana, His instructions were liberal to the colonists ; no
change was to be made in the laws and administration to which
they were accustomed. They were not to be amenable to the
ministry of the Indies; but to have a direct appeal to the protec
tion of the king,
De Ulloa was received by the French coldly and sullenly. They
had exhausted every means to avoid the execution of the treaty of
cession. Even yet, they believed it was not sincerely designed to
sever them from their mother country. Accordingly, they threw
every obstacle in the way of their new governor. Every an'ange-
ment was made to conciliate their feelings, and every act for their
benefit was received with scorn. In the face of such discontent,
De Ulloa declined to receive the government, and continued to
govern through Aubry, under the French name. The spirit of the
colonists rose with his indecision, A conspiracy was formed; a
decree was passed in the colonial council, to expel him from the
colony. To justify this act, the council addressed a memorial to
the French court, filled with complaints against De Ulloa, the mosft
frivolous and unfounded, France refused to endorse this act, but
De Ulloa, disappointed in the expectation of receiving the Spanish
troops promised him, abandoned the country and resigned his
office, A profound sensation was created by these events in the
Spanish cabinet; and Don Alexandre O'Reilly, inspector and
lieutenant-general of the royal armies, was appointed to the post
of governor, with orders to put down the insurrection, and punish
its leaders,
O'Reilly was born in Ireland about the year 1735, left his coun
try at an early age, on account of the disabilities to which his religion
subjected him, and enlisted in the Spanish army. In the war of
the succession he served with distinction, in the Hibernian regi
ment, in Italy. In 1767, he joined the Austrian army, and served
against the Prussians. In 1759, he joined, and distinguished him
self in the army of France. Later, he returned to Spain, and
taught the Spanish troops the tactics of the empire. Gradually his
great services, in spite of the Spanish antipathy to foreigners, earned
him reputation and promotion, and in 1762 he was raised to the
second in command, and intrusted with the important duty of re
storing the fortifications of Cuba. Preserving the vivacity and
excitability of his race, he yet had acquired the pride and nature of
a Spaniard, and the precise inflexibility of a man of the camp. One
act only of severity attaches to his memory, and that doubtless is
chargeable rather to his instruction than to his spirit. Such was

1769, O'REILLY CRUSHES THE REBELLION, 201
the man who was now sent to settle the difficulties of the new
colony of Louisiana,
He arrived at Balize on the 24th of July, 1769, with a force of
two thousand six hundred men. On the 18th of August he landed
at New OrleanSj and with great ceremony, took possession of Lou
isiana, in the name of his Catholic Majesty, No resistance was
offered by the colonists, and O'Reilly assumed the government,
superseded the municipal authorities, introduced the Spanish laws,
and received the allegiance of all the people of the colony. Twelve
of the chiefs of the revolt were arrested ; one of them died of rage
and fear, or was killed by his guard, on the day of the arrest.
They were tried by a military tribunal, under the unfamiliar forms
of Spanish law, demurred to the jurisdiction of the court, and plead
that they were amenable only to the laws of France until the act
of cession was consummated, by the formal delivery of the country
to the Spanish authorities. Their pleas were overruled ; they were
found guilty of high treason, five of them were shot; the remaining
seven were imprisoned in the- Moro Castle, at Havana,
O'Reilly assumed the functions of military governor of Louisi
ana, and ruled the colony for a year with the impartial severity of
his character. After having suppressed the insurrection, and set
tled the government, he surrendered his authority to Don Louis de
Unzaga, on the 29th of October, and returned to Spain, Late in
that year, Pedro Piemas, the commandant of the detachment of
troops first brought into the colony by Ulloa, was sent to St. Louis,
superseded St. Ange, and assumed the government of Upper Lou
isiana. Thus ended the French domination in America. The English
had previously taken possession of all Louisiana east of the Missis
sippi. Lower Louisiana was reduced to a Spanish province, and
the surrender of St. Louis by St. Ange was the last act of the
French authority over the land for which they had contended so
long, and which they loved so well.
The population of Western Louisiana in 1769, when it passed
into the hands of the Spaniards, is estimated by Martin to be thir
teen thousand five hundred and thirty-eight, of which eight hundred
and ninety-one were located in the Illinois, west of the Mississippi.
East of the Mississippi, and before the French crossed the river to
avoid the British rule, the population of the several villages and
posts was on that side estimated at abOut three thousand.
The French population of Louisiana had grown up into a com-
14

202 CHARACTER OF AMERICAN FRENCH. 176&.
munity of peculiar character. Their national spirit, their inter
course with the Indians, and their seclusion from the worJd^
developed among them peculiar characteristics. Especially was
this the case among the French of the Illinois. The French offi
cers, indeed, were gentlemen of culture, and refinement, and
energy, but the paysans were an illiterate, contented, careless, and
joyous race, without energy, enterprise, or foresight. They alone
of all the European populations of the New World, assimilatted
themselves with the Indians, adopted their habits, and lived in
uninterrupted harmony with them. The traders scattered through
the west, conducted the trade with the Indians, supplied to them
in exchange for their furs articles of European luxury and conveni
ence, and distributed presents with which French policy purchased
the friendship and support of the tribes. The couriers des bois
roamed over the wilderness, hunted and lived among the Indians^
and collected peltries from the remote tribes. The voyageurs carried
in their birch canOes the goods and furs of the traffic along the
rivers and over the portages of the West, to the Sfc Lawrence and
Mississippi. The settlements were small, compact-villages, where the ohildrem,
in patriarchal style, gatiiered around the home of their parents.
Their houses were simple, plain cottages of wood and clay, gener
ally clustered together for protection and social convenience. The
" common field " was always adjoining.. It was a large enclosnrej
surrounded by a common fence, for the use of the villagers. Eveiy
family, in proportion to the number of its members, was entitled to
a share in it. All the operations of agriculture in the common field
were regulated by special enactments.
The "common" was a tract of land unenclosed, neai- the village^
set apart for the joint use of all the villagers for a common pasta«%
and for the supply of fuel and timber.
By this ai-rangement, something like a community syatenl
existed in their intercourse. If the head of a family was Sick, met
with any casualty, or was absent as an engages, his family sustained
littie inconvenience. His plat in the common field wa« cultivated
by his neighbors an d the crop gathered. A pleasaftt custoto existed
in these French villages not thii?ty yeara sincCj and which had
coma down from the remotest period. The husbandman on his
return at evening,, fj^m his daily toil, was always met by Ms
%fiectionate femn^ with, the friendly kiss ; and^ very commonly
with one, perhapfr two of the y©UH,g:est ehildrenv *© »e<»i*e^ th«
same salijtation from- le^ pe^e^ T-im daily intemew wi» «* 1ih« ^te

1769. CHAilAOTER OP AMERtCAJT FRENGBt. 263
of the dorii'-yai'd, aihd iii vie-iv Of all the villagers. The simple-
hearted peojjle Were' a happy dnd contented i-ace. A few traits of
tliese lahci^fit characteristics remain, but most of the descendants
of the French are fully AnaericanizOd.
They wete devout Csitholics, and undfer the guidance of their
priests iatfended punctually iipbn all the holidays and festivals, and
pi^rforihed feithfuUy all the outward duties and ceremonies of the
church. Aside from this, theii* religion -w'as blended with their
social feelings. Sunday, aftet maM, was the especial occasion
for their gaiiies and ^ssembli^s. In all their riieetings the dance
^^s the especif^l amusement; arid all classes, ages. Sexes and
6'onditions, united by a cofhriion- love of enjoyment, were all
together partieipahts in the eiciting pleasure.
"They made no attempt to acquire land froin the Indians, io
orgahize a social Systetn, to introduce ihUnicipal regulations, or to
eMablish militEify defense^, but cheerfully obeyed the priests and
the king's officers, and enjoyed the present, -without troubling
their heads ab'oiit the future. They seetn to have been Oveh
careless sis to the acquisition of property, arid its transmission to
their heirs. Finding themselves in a fruitful country, abounding
in game, where the necessaries of life could be procured with little
labor, where no restraints were imposed by government, and
neither tribute and personal service was exacted, they were content
to live in unambitious peace and comfortable poverty. They took
possession of so much of the vacant land around them as they were
disposed to till, and no more. Their agriculture was rude ; and,
even to this day, some of the implements of husbandry, and
modes of cultivation, brought from France a century ago, remain
unchanged by the march of mind or the hand of innovation. Their
houses were comfortable, and they reared fruits and flowers;
evincing, in this respect, an attention to comfort and luxury which
has not been practiced among the English or American first
settlers; but in the accumulation of property, and in all the
essentials of industry, they were indolent and improvident, rearing
only the bare necessaries of life, and living from generation to
generation without change or iraprovement.
" The only new articles which the French adopted in consequence
of their change of residence, were those connected with the fur
trade. The few who were engaged in merchandise, turned their
attention almost exclusively to the traffic with the Indians, while
a large number became hunters and boatmen. The voyageurs,
engagees, and couriers des bois, as they are called, form a peculiar

204 CHARACTER OF AMERICAN FRENCH. 1769.
race of men. They are active, sprightly, and remarkably expert in
their vocation. With all the vivacity of the French character,
they have little of the intemperance and brutal coarseness usually
found among the boatmen and mariners. They are patient under
fatigue, and endure an astonishing degree of toil and exposure to
weather. Accustomed to live in the open air, they pass through
every extreme, and all the sudden vicissitudes of climate, with
little apparent inconvenience. Their boats are managed with
expertness, and even grace, and their toil enlivened by the song.
As hunters, they have roved over the whole of the wide plain of
the west, to the Roclsy Mountains, sharing the hospitality of the
Indians, abiding lor long periods, and even permanently, with the
tribes, and sometimes seeking their alliance by marriage. As
boatmen they navigate the birch canoe to the sources of the
longest rivers, and pass from one river to another, by laboriously
carrying the packages of mercliandise, and the boat itself, across
mountains, or through swamps or woods ; so that no obstacle stops
their progress. Like the Indian, they can live on game, without
condiment or bread; like him, they sleep in the open air, or plunge
into the water at any season, without injury." *

* Hall's Sketches of the West.

PERIODIII. *
1765—1782.
So stood matters in the West. All beyond the Alleghenies,
1765.] with the exception of a few forts and the Hlinois settle
ments of the French, on the Wabash, Kaskaskia, Mississippi and
Detroit rivers, was a wilderness. The Indians, a few years since
undisputed owners of the prairies and broad vales, now held them by
sufferance, having been twice conquered by the arms of Englaud,
They, of course, felt both hatred and fear ; and, while they despaired
of holding their lands, and looked forward to unknown evils, the
deepest and most abiding spirit of revenge was roused within them.
They had seen the British coming to take their hunting grounds
upon the strength of a treaty they knew nothing of. They had been
forced to admit British troops into their country; and, though now
nominally protected from settlers, that promised protection would
be but an incentive to passion, in case it was not in good faith
extended to them; and this was not done by either individuals or
the - government. During the year that succeeded the treaty of
German Flats, settlers crossed the mountains and took possession
of lands in western Yirginia, and along the Monongahela. The
Indians having received no pay for these lands, murmured, and
once more a border war was feared. General Gage, commander
of the King's forces, was applied to, probably through Sir William
Johnson, and issued his orders for the removal of the settlers ; but
they defied his commands and his power, and remained where they
were.* Not only were frontier men thus passing the line tacitly agreed
on, but Sir William himself was even then meditating a step which
would have produced a general Indian war. This was the purchase
and settlement of an immense tract south of the Ohio river, where
an independent colony was to be formed. How early this plan was
conceived is not known ; but Franklin's letters affirm that it was in
contemplation in the spring of 1766.t At this time, Franklin was in

* Plain Facts, p. 65. f Spark's Franklin, vol. It., p. 233, et seq.

206 WALPOLE COMPANY FORMED. 1767.
London, and was written to by his son. Governor Franklin, of New
Jersey, with regard to the proposed colony. The plan seems to have
been, to buy of the Six Nations the lands south of the Ohio, a pur
chase which it was not doubted Sir William might make, and then to
procure from the king a grant of as much territory as the Company,
which it was intended to form, would require. Governor Franklin
accordingly forwarded to his father an application for a grant,
together with a letter from Sir William, recommending the plan to
the ministry ; all of which was duly cominunicated to the proper
department. But at that time there were various interests bearing
upon this plan of Franklin. The old Ohio Company was still suingj
through its agent. Colonel George Mercer, for a perfection of th?
original grant. The soldiers claiming under Dinvriddie's proclar
mation had their tale of rights and grievances. Individuals to
whom grants had been made by Yirginia, wished them completed.
General Lyman, from Connecticut, was soliciting a new grapf
similar to that now asked by Franklin ; and the ministers them
selves were divided as to the policy and propriety of establishing
any settlements so far in the interior — Shelburne being in favor of
the new colonies — Hillsborough opposed to them.
The Company was organized, however, in the autumn of 1767.
and the nominally leading man in it being Mr. Thomas Walpole,
a London banker of eminence, it was known as the "^alpole Com
pany. Franklin continued privately to make friends among the
ministry, and to press upon them the policy of making large settle
ments in the West ; and, as the old way of managing the Indians
by superintendents, was just then in bad odor, in consequence of
the expense attending it, the cabinet council so far approved the
new plan as to present it for examination to the Board of Trade,
with members of which Franklin had also been privately con
versing. But, before any conclusion was arrived at, it was necessary to
arrange definitely that boundary line, which had been vaguely
talked of in 1765, and with respect to which Sir William Johnson
had written to the ministry, who had mislaid his letters, and given
him no instructions. The necessity of arranging this boundary
was also kept in the mind by the continued and growing irritation
of the Indians, who found themselves invaded from every side.
This irritation became so great during the autumn of 1767, that
Gage wrote to the Governor of Pennsylvania on the subject. The
governor communicated his letter to the Assembly on the 5th of

17^8. TREATY OF FORT STANWIX. 207
January, 1768, and representations were at once sent to England,
expressing the necessity of having tho Indian line fixed. Frank
lin all this time was urging the same necessity upon the ministers
in England ; and about Christmas of 1767, Sir William's letters on
the subject having been found, orders were sent him to complete
the proposed purchase from the Six Nations, and settle all differ
ences. -But the project for a colony was for the time dropped, a
new administration coming in which was not that way disposed.
Sir William Johnson having received, early in the spring, the
orders from England relative to a new treaty with the Indians, at
once took steps to secure a full attendance.*' Notice was given to
the various colonial governments, to the Six Nations, the Delar
wares, and the Shawanese, and a congress was appointed to meet
at Fort Stanwix during the following October, (1768). It met upon
the 24th of that month, and was attended by representatives from
New Jersey, Yirginia, and Pennsylvania; by Sir William and his
deputies ; by the agents of those traders who had suffered in the
war of 1763 ; and by deputies from all the Six Nations, the Delor
wares and the Shawanese.
The first point to be settled was the boundary line, which was to
determine the Indian lands of the West from that time forward ;
and this line the Indians, upon the 1st of November, stated should
begin on the Ohio, at the mouth of the Cherokee (or Tennessee)
river ; thence go up the Ohio and Allegheny to Kittanning ; thence
across to the Susquehanna, -&c. ; whereby the whole country south
of the Ohio and Allegheny, to which the Six Nations had any claim,
was transferred to the British. One deed for a part of this land
was made on the 3d of November, to William Trent, attorney for
twenty-two traders, whose goods had been destroyed by the Indiaiis
in 1763. The tract conveyed by this was between the Kanawh*
and Monongahela, and was by the traders named Indiana. Two
days afterward a deed foiu the remaining western lands was made
to the king, and the price agreed on p^id down. These deeds
were made upon the express agreement that no claim should over
be based upon previous treaties, those of Lancaster, Logstown,
&c. ; and they were signed by the chiefs of the Six Nations, for
themselves, their allies and dependents, the Shawanese, Delawares,
Mingoes of Ohio, and others; but the Shawanese and Delaware
deputies present did not sign them. On this treaty, in a great

* For an account of this long-lost treaty, see Plain Facts, pp. 65-104.

208 MISSISSIPPI COMPANY FORMED. 1768.
measure, rests the titie by purchase to Kentucky, Western Yir
ginia, and Western Pennsylvania, and the authority of the Six
Nations to sell that country rests on their claim by conquest. -
But besides the claim of the Iroquois and the north-west Indians
to Kentucky, it was also claimed by the Cherokees ; and it is wor
thy of remembrance that the treaty of Lochabar, made in October,
1770, two years after the Stanwix treaty, recognized a titie in the
southern Indians to all the country west of a line drawn from a
point six miles east of Big or Long island, in Holston river, to the
mouth of the Great Kanawha, although their rights to all the lands
north and east of the Kentucky river was purchased by Colonel
Donaldson, either for the king, Yirginia, or himself — it is impos
sible to say which.
But the grant of the great northern confederacy was made. The
white man could now quiet his conscience when driving the native
from his forest home, and feel sure that an army would back his
pretensions. A new company was at once organized in Yirginia,
called the " Mississippi Company," and a petition sent to the king,
for two and a half millions of acres in the West. Among the signers
of this were Francis Lightfoot Lee, Richard Henry Lee, George
Washington, and Authur Lee. The gentleman last named was
the agent for the petitioners in England. This application was
refei-red to the Board of Trade on the 9th of March, 1769, and after
that nothing is known of it.
The Board of Trade, however, was again called on to report upon
the application of the Walpole Company, and Lord Hillsborough,
the president, reported against it. This called out Franklin's cel
ebrated "Ohio Settlement," a paper written with so much ability,
that the King's Council put by the official report, and granted the
petition, a step which mortified the noble lord so much that he
resigned his official station. The petition now needed only the
royal sanction, which was not given until August 14th, 1772; but
in 1770, the Ohio Company was merged into Walpole's and the
claims of the soldiers of 1756, being acknowledged both by the new
company and by government, all claims were quieted. Nothing
was ever done, however, under the grant to Walpole, the Revolu
tion soon coming upon America. After the Revolution, Mr. Walpole
and his associates petitioned Congress respecting their lands, called
by them " Yandalia," but could get no help from that body. What
was finally done by Yirginia with the claims of this and other com
panies is not known, but doubtless their lands were all looked on
as forfeited.

1769. WASHINGTON'S LANDS IN THE WEST. 209
During the ten years in which Franklin, Pownall, and their
friends were trying to get the great western land company into oper
ation, actual Bottlers were crossing the mountains all too rapidly;
for the Ohio Indians " viewed the settlements with an uneasy and
jealous eye," and "did not scruple to say, that they must be com
pensated for their right, if people settled thereon, notwithstanding
the cession by the Six Nations."*
It has been said, also, that Lord Dunmore, then governor of Yir^
ginia, authorized surveys and settlements on the western lands,
notwithstanding the proclamation of 1763, but Mr. Sparks gives a
letter from him, in which this is expressly denied. However, sur
veys did go down even to the falls of the Ohio, and the whole
region south of the Ohio was filling with white men.
Among the foremost speculators in western lands at that time
was George Washington. He had always regarded the proclama
tion of 1763 as a mere temporary expedient, to quiet the savages,
and being better acquainted with the value of western lands than
most of those who could command means, he early began to
buy beyond the mountains. His agent in selecting lands was Col.
Crawford, afterward burnt by the Ohio Indians. In September,
1767, Washington wrote to Crawford on this subject, and looking
forward to the occupation of the western territory ; in 1770 he
crossed the mountains, going down the Ohio to the mouth of the
great Kanawha; and in 1773, being entitled, under the King's pro
clamation of 1763, (which gave a bounty to officers and soldiers
who had served in the French war,) to ten thousand acres of land,
he became deeply interested in the country beyond the mountains,
and had some correspondence respecting the importation of set
tlers from Europe. He had patents for thirty-two thousand three
hundred and seventy-three acres — nine thousand one hundred and
fifty-seven on the Ohio, between the Kanawhas, with a river front
of thirteen and a half miles; twenty-three thousand two hundred
and sixteen acres on the great Kanawha, with a river front of forty
miles. Besides these lands, he owned, fifteen miles below Wheel
ing, five hundred and eighty-seven acres, -with a front of two and a
half miles. He considered the land worth $3.33 per acre. In
deed, had not the revolutionary war been just then on the eve of
breaking out, Washington would, in all probability, have become

* Washington's " Journal to the West, in 1770." Spark's Washington, vol. ii. p. 531.

210 EARLY EXPLORATIONS OP KENTUCKY. 1758.
the leading settler of the West, and all our history, perhaps, have
been changed.
But while in England, and along the Atlantic, men were talking
of peopling the West, south of the river Ohio, a few obscure indi
viduals, unknown to Walpole, to Franklin, and to Washington,
were taking those steps which actually resulted in its settlement.
Notwithstanding the fact, that so much attention had been given
to the settlement of the West, even before the French war, it does
not appear that any Europeans, either French or English, had, at
the time the treaty of Fort Stanwix was made, thoroughly examined
that most lovely region near the Kentucky river, which is the finest
portion, perhaps, of the whole Ohio valley.
This may be accounted for by the non-residence of the Indians in
that district; a district which they retained as a hunting ground.
Owing to this, the traders, who were the first explorers, were led to
direct their steps northward, up the Miami and Scioto valleys, and
were quite familiar with the countrybetween the Ohio and the Lakes,
at a period when the interior of the territory south of the river, was
wholly unknown to them. While, therefore, the impression which
paany have had, that the entire valley was unknown to Enghsh
colonists before Boone's time, is clearly erroneous, it is equally
clear, that the centre of Kentucky, which he and his comrades
explored during their first visit, had not before that time, been
examined by the whites to any considerable extent.
About the year 1758, Dr. Thomas Walker, from Albemarle
county, Yirginia, who had been previously employed as an agent
^mong the Cherokees, on the Holston river, from 1750, was
appointed commissioner to take certain Cherokee chiefs to England.
Dr, Walker had explored the mountain valleys of South-western
Virginia and East Tennessee, Wliile in England, he organized a
company to settle the wild lands in Western Yirginia and Caro
lina, of which the Duke of Cumberland was patron. He returned
^o America in the capacity of general agent. Dr. Walker subser
quently explored the country; gave the name of his patron to
Oumberland river, and the range of mountains that give origin to
the head branches. He also explored the upper part of the Ken-
tocky river, and gave to it the name of Louisa, in honor of the
Oijchess of Cumberland, which name it bore for some years. He
was at the treaty of Fort Stanwix, and had no small influence in
the purchase of Western Yirginia and Eastern Kentucky from the
Six Nation^.

1766. RARLY EXPLORATIONS OF KENTUCKY. 211
The next explorer of Kentucky and Tennessee, was Colonel
J^mes Smith. Mr. Smith had been taken prisoner by the Indians,
near Bedford, Pennsylvania, in 1765, and was with them four and
a half years. In 1764^ he was lieutenant in General Bouquet's
campaign against the Indians, and a colonel in the continental
service in 1778.
Puring the summer of 1766, with four white men and a mulatto
sl^ve, he made an exploration across the mountains to the Gum-
beriand, and then to the Tennessee rivers, to examine the countiy
in view of future settlements.
Stone's river, a, branch of the Cumberland, was so named from
M^- Uriah Stone, one of the party. They explored the countiy on
each of the rivers, until they reached the mouth of the Tennessee,
where Paducah now stands. Here the party separated; Smith
with the slave to return home, and his companions to proceed to
the Illinois. A few days afterward, he was stabbed in the foot by
a cane, which, disabled him. After lying a long time in the woods,
attended by the slave, he recovered, and they set out and after
ijfiany hardships, reached Carolina in October, 1767, having been
eleven mouths in the wilderness. From Carolina he proceeded
homeward, and shortly afterward arrived at the Conococheague
settlement in Pennsylvania, where he had left his family.*
The next persons who entered this region were traders; coming,
not from Yirginia and Pennsylvania by the river,' but from North
Carolina by the Cumberland Gap. These tradeis probably sought,
in the first instance, the Cherokees and other southern Indians,
with whom they had dea,ling8 from a very early period, but appear
q.fterward to have journeyed northward upon what was called the
Warrior's ro£kd, an Indian pq,th leading from the Cumberland ford
^long the broken country, lying upon the eastern branch of the
Kentucky river, and so across the LlPking toward the mouth of the
§ciot'0. This path formed the line of communication between the
northern and southern Indians ; and somewhere along its course,
John Finley, doubtless in company with others, was engaged, in
1767, in trading with the red men, from the north of the Ohio, who
met him there with the skins procured during their hunting expe
dition in that central and choice region. Upon Finley's return to
North Carolina, he met with Daniel Boone, to whom he described
the country he had visited.

?Incidents of Border Lifs, p. ^i-

212 EARLY EXPLORATIONS OF KENTUCKY. 1769-
Daniel Boone was born in Bucks county, Pa., between the years
1733 and 1745, * of English parentage. His father moved to Berks
county when Daniel was a small boy, where, in a frontier settie
ment, he attended school, and where in boyhood he received those
impressions that were so fully displayed in after life. From child
hood, he delighted to range the woods, watch the wild animals, and
contemplate the beauties of uncultivated nature. In woodcraft, his
education was complete. No Indian could poise the rifle, find his
way through the trackless forest, or hunt the wild game better than
Daniel Boone.
Few men ever possessed that combination of boldness, caution,
hardihood, strength, patience, perseverance and love of solitude
that marked his character. With these qualities he was kind-
hearted, humane, good-tempered, and devoid of malice. He never
manifested the temper of the misanthrope, or evinced any dissatis
faction with social or domestic life. He had a natural sense of
justice and equity between man and man, and felt, through his
whole life, repugnance to the technical forms of law, and the con
ventional regulations of society and of government, unless they
were in strict accordance with his instinctive sense of right.
When Daniel Boone was in the 18th year of his age, his father
removed from Pennsylvania to North Carolina, and settled on the
Yadkin, in the north-western part of that State. Here he married,
and for several years, labored on a farm, hunting at the proper
season. About 1762, he was leader of a company of hunters from
the Yadk, who ranged through the valleys on the waters of the
Holston, in the south-western part of Yirginia. In 1764 he was
with another company of hunters, on the Rock Castle, a branch of
Cumberland river, within the present boundaries of Kentucky,
employed, as he stated, by a party of land speculators, to ascertain
and report concerning the country in that quarter.f
The oppression of the governors of the colony, and the members
of the Council and of the Assembly, who were English or Scotch
adventurers, produced great dissatisfaction- with the laboring
classes, and drove many to seek their fortunes in the wilds of the

* There is a great uncertainty iu the date of Boone's hirth. It may even he doubted
whether he himself could have given it. His pupilage among the Germans in "Berks
county," enabled him to acquire their patois language ; and it -was from the circumstance
of his being able to speak "Pennsylvania German" that he was supposed by many to be a
Putchman, or of German extraction.
t Haywood's History of Tennessee, pp. 32, 35.

1769. EARLY EXPLORATIONS OF KENTUCKY. 21-3
West. At the same time, Richard Henderson, the Harts and
others, were projecting a purchase of the fertile lands of the West,
and encouraged the hunters to explore the country.
On the return of Finley, arrangements were made for an explo
ring party to examine the rich vales of the Kentucky, of which
Boone was the leader; and he alone was in the confidence of the
speculators. His companions were John Finley, John Stewart,
Joseph Holden, James Moncey, and William Cool. They left the
Yadkin settlement, and Boone his family, on the 1st of May, 1769,
and after much fatigue and exposure to severe rains, reached the
waters of Red river, one of the main branches of the Kentucky, on
the 7th of June. In this region, the party reconnoitered the
country, and hunted, until December. At that period, the explo
rers divided themselves into parties, that they might have a under
range of observation. Boone had Stewart for his companion. Of
Finley, and the rest of the party, nothing more is known.
Boone and Stewart were soon taken by a party of Indians, from
whom they made their escape after several days' detention. Early
in January, 1770, Squire Boone, a brother of Daniel, and another
adventurer, arrived from North Carolina, with supplies of ammu
nition, and intelligence from his family. Shortly after this event,
Stewart, while hunting, was killed by the Indians, and the man
who came with Squire Boone got lost in the woods and perished.
The two brothers, thus left alone, pursued their hunting along the
banks of the main Kentucky river.
When spring opened. Squire Boone returned to the Yadkin for
supplies, whUe Daniel explored the country along Salt and Green
rivers. On the last of July, Squire returned, and they engaged in
exploring the country on the waters of Cumberland river, and
hunting in that region until March, 1771. They then returned by
Kentucky river, and the Cumberland Gap, to the settlements on
the Yadkin.
During the same period, another exploring and hunting party of
about twenty men, left North Carolina and Western Yirginia, for
the country of Tennessee. They passed through Cumberland Gap
into what is now called Wayne county, Kentucky, and, subse
quently, moved in a south-western direction, along the waters of
the Roaring river and Caney fork, and returned in April, 1770,
after an absence of ten months. The same year another party of
ten hunters built two boats and two trapping canoes, loaded them
with peltry, venison, bear's meat and oil, and made a voyage down

214

LAND SURVEYORS IN KENTUCK-ST. ittl

the Cumberiand, Ohio and Mississippi rivers, to Natchez, wh^e
they disposed of their cargo.
In 1771, Casper Mansco, who had twice -visited the valley of tM
Cumberland, came out again in company with several other per
sons. They traversed the country along the Cumberlaind river
to the region north of Nashville, and into the " barrens" of Ken
tucky. From the period of their absence, they Were called th^
"Long-hunters." These several explorations excited the attention
of multitudes in the colonies south of the PotoniaCj and turned
their thoughts to a home in the "Far West."
During the same eventful period, (1770,) there came into Westeri
Yirginia no less noted a person than George Washington. HiA
attention had been turned to the lands along the Ohio at a -ver^
early period ; he had himself large claims, as well as fat-reaching
plans of settlement, and he wished, with his own eyes, to examine
the western lands, especially those about the mouth of the KanawhS.
The journal of his expedition contains some valuable facts in
reference to the position of affairs in the Ohio valley at that time.
For instance, that the Yirginians Were rapidly surveying and set
tling the lands south of the river as far down aS the Kanawha^';
and that the Indians, notwithstanding the treaty of Foft- StaUWii^
were jealous and angry at this constant invasion of their hufififi^-
grouiids. This jealousy and anger were not suffered to cool during thfe
years next succeeding," and when Thomas Bullitt and his part^
descended the Ohio, in the summer of 1773, he found, as related
above, that no settlements would be tolerated south Of the riv^,
unless the Indian hunting-grounds were left undisturbed. To leavfe
them undisturbed was, howerer, no part of the plan of thes6 white
Hiteh. This very party, which Bullitt led, and in which were the
two M'Afees, Hancock, Taylor, Drennon, and others,' separated
and while part went up the Kentucky river, explored the banks,
&nd made important Surveys, including the valley in which Fratik-
fort stands, the reihainder went on to the falls j and laid out, ofi
behalf of John Campbell and John Connolly, the plat Of Louis
ville. All this took plbce in the summer of 1773 ; and in the aututiifl
af that year, or early the fiext, John Flojrd, the deputy Of Colonel
William Preston, the surveyor of Fiacaistle cbunty, Yirgifti'iV ifi
which it was claimed that Kentucky was comt)f6feended', alsO etosSStf
tfee mou-Btavna ; while GeUeral Thomson^ of Peflli&ylvaSia, raft*

1774. FIRST SETTLEMENT IN KENTUCKY. 215
surveys on the north fork of the Lieking. Nor did the projects of
the English colonists stop with the Settlement of Kentucky. In
1773j General Lymian, with a number of military adventurers, went
t© Natchez, and laid out several townships in that vicinity; to
which point emigration set so strongly, that it is said four hundred
families paaaed down the Ohio, on their way thither, during six
weeks of the summer of that year.*
Anxious as was Boone to remove his family to the fertile region
of Kentucky; it was not until 1773, that he sold his farm on the
Yadkin, and, with five other families, took up the line of march
westward. The company started on the 2!5th of Septetnber, and
were joined by others in Powell's valley, making the number of
forty men, besides women and children. As they approached the
last mountain barrier, on the 16th of October, seven young men,
who had charge of the eattle, being five or six miles in the reaf,
were attacked by a party of Indians. Six were slain, amongst
whom was Boone's eldest son, James, and the seventh, though
wounded, made his escape. The cattle were dispersed in the wood's.
This calamity so disheartened the emigrants, that they gave up the
expedition and returned to Clinch river.
For a time the settlement of Kentucky and the West was delayed ;
1774.] for though James Harrod, in the spring or early suminer
ef 1774, penetrated the -wilderness, and built his cabin, (the
fiiTst log hut reared in the valley of the Kentucky r) where the
town which bears his- name now Stands, he could not long sta^
there ;, the, sounds of coming war reached even his solitude, and
forced him to rejoin his companions, and aid in repelling the infa-'
riated savages. Notwithstanding the treaty Of Fort Stanwix, the
western Indians were in no degree di&posed to yield their la^nds
without a struggle. Wide-spread dissatisfaction prevailed among
the, Shawanese and Mingoes, which was fostered probably by the
French traders who sjtill visited the tribes of the north-rWest. And
ftom that time forward almost every event was calOUlaited atill more
%>, excite and embitter the childoe* of tlie forest.
In 1770, Ebenezer,, Silas and Jonathan Zane, settled at Wheeling
during that year the Boones, as has beett related, were exploring
the interior of Kentucky j and after them came the MoAfefeSj Biil-
Utt, Floydj, Hancock, Taylor^ and their companions; The savages
saw their best grounds occnpied or threatened witli oeoaftatiGn ;

* Holmes' Annals, toI. ii., p. 183.

216 HOSTILITY OF THE INDIANS. 1774
but Still they remembered the war of 1763, and the terrible power
of Britain, and the oldest and wisest of the sufferers were disposed
rather to submit to what seemed inevitable than to throw them
selves away in a vain effort to withstand the whites. Hopeless
hatred toward the invaders filled the breasts of the natives, therefore,
at the period immediately preceding the war of 1774 ; a hatred
needing only a few acts of violence to kindle it into rage and thirst
for human blood.
And sueh acts were not wanting ; in addition to the murder of
several single Indians by the frontier men, — in 1772, five families
of the natives on the Little Kanawha were killed, in revenge for
the death of a white family on Gauley River, although no evidence
existed to prove who had committed the outrage. And when 1774
came, a series of events led to excessive exasperation on both sides.
Pennsylvania and Yirginia laid equal claim to Pittsburgh and the
adjoining country. In the war of 1764, doubt had existed as to
which colony the forks of the Ohio was situated in, and the Old
Dominion having been forward in the defense of the contested
territory, while her northern neighbor had been very backward in
doing anything in its favor, the Yirginians felt a certain claim upon
the "Key of the West." This feeling showed itself before 1763,
and by 1773 appears to have attained a very decided character.
Early in 1774, Lord Dunmore, prompted very probably by Col.
Croghan, and his nephew. Dr. John Connolly, who had lived at
Fort Pitt, and was an intriguing and ambitious man, determined,
by strong measures, to assert the claims of Yii ginia upon Pitts
burgh and its vicinity, and dispatched Connolly, with a captain's
commission, and -with power to take possession of the country
upon the Monongahela, in the name of the king. The Doctor
issued his proclaination to the people, in the neighborhood of Red
stone and Pittsburgh, calling upon them to meet on the 24th or
25th of January, 1774, in order to be embodied as Yirginia miUtia.
Arthur St. Clair, who then represented the proprietors of Penn
sylvania in the West, was at Pittsburgh at the time, and arrested
Connolly before the meeting took place. The people who had seen
the proclamation, however, came together, and though they were
dispersed without attempting any outbreak in favor of the Yirginian
side of the dispute, which it was very much feared they would do^
— they did not break up without drunkenness and riot, and among
other things fired their guns at the town occupied by friendly Indians
across the river, hurting no one, but exciting the fear and suspicion
of the red men.

1774. CONNELLY SEIZES FORT PITT. 217
Connolly was soon after released on bail. He then went to
Staunton, and was sworn as a justice of the peace of Augusta
county, Virginia. During the latter part of March,* he returned
to Pittsburgh, with civil and military authority to execute the laws
of Yirginia. On the 5th of April, the court assembled at Haunas
town, the seat of justice for Westmoreland county, including then
all Western Pennsylvania. Soon after, Connolly with about one
hundred and fifty men, all armed and with colors flying, appeared
there, placed sentinels at the door of the court house, who refused
to admit the magistrates, unless with the consent of their com
mander. A meeting then took place between Connolly and the
magistrates. He averred that he had come in fulfillment of his
promise to the sheriff, but denied the jurisdiction of the court.
They affirmed that they acted under the legislative authority of
Pennsylvania, and would continue so to act; but that they would
do all they could to preserve the public tranquillity, and the State
of Pennsylvania was ready to agree to a temporary boundary, till
the true one could be ascertained.
Connolly refused to accede to any terms but in Lord Dunmore's
name, and by his authority took and kept possession of Fort Pitt;
and as it had been dismantled and nearly destroyed, by royal
orders, rebuilt it, and nanaed it Fort Dunmore. Meantime, in a
most unjustifiable and tyrannical manner, he arrested both private
men and magistrates, and kept some of them in confinement, until
Lord Dunmore ordered their release. Knowing that such conduct
was calculated to lead to active and violent measures against
himself by the Pennsylvanians, he took great precautions, and
went to considerable expense to protect his own party from surprise.
These expenses, it is not improbable, he feared the Yirginia General
Assembly would object to, although his noble patron might allow
them; and it is not impossible that he intentionally fostered, as St.
Clair distinctly intimated in his letters to the Pennsylvania authori
ties, the gro-wing jealousy between the whites and natives, in order
to make their quarrels seiwe as a color to his profuse expenditures.
At any rate, it appears that on the 21st of April, Connolly wrote to
the settlers along the Ohio, that the Shawanese were not to be
trusted, and that they (the whites) ought to be prepared to revenge
any wrong done theni. This letter came into the hands of Captain
Michael presap, who was examining the landa near Wheeling, and

?Craig's History of Pittsburgh, p. 113.
16

218 MURDER OF LOGAN'S FAMILY. 1774.
Who appears to have possessed the true frontier Indian hatred.
Five days before its date, a canoe belongmg to William But er, a
leading Pittsburgh trader, had been attacked by three Cherokees,
and one white man had been killed. This happened not far from
Wheeling, and became known there of course; while about the
same time the report was general that the Indians were stealing
the traders' horses. When, therefore, immediately after Connolly s
letter had been circulated, the news came to that settlement, that
some Indians were coming down the Ohio in a boat, Cresap, m
revenge for the murder by the Cherokees, and, as he afterward
said, in obedience to the direction of the commandant at Pittsburgh,
contained in the letter referred to, determined to attack them.
They were, as it chanced, two friendly Indians, who, with two
whites, had been dispatched by William Butier, when he heard
that his first messengers were stopped, to attend to his peltries
down the river, in the Shawanee country.*
"The project of Cresap," says Dr. Doddridge, "was vehemently
opposed by Colonel Zane, proprietor of the place. He stated to the
captain that the killing of those Indians, would inevitably bring on
a war, in which much innocent blood would be shed, and that the
act in itself would be an atrocious murder, and a disgrace to his name
forever. His good counsel was lost. Cresap and his party went up
the river. On being asked, at their return, what had become of the
Indians, they coolly answered that 'they had fallen overboard into
the river !' Their canoe, on being examined, was found bloody,
and pierced with bullets. This M^as the first blood which was shed
in this war, and terrible was the vengeance which followed.
"In the evening of the same day, the party hearing that there
was an encampment of Indians at the mouth of Captina, went
down the river to the place, attacked the Indians and killed several
of them. In this affair one of Cresap's party was severely
wounded. " The massacre at Captina and that which took place at Baker's,
about forty miles above Wheeling, a few days after that at Captina,
were unquestionably the sole causes of the war of 1774. The last
was perpetrated by thirty-two men, under the command of Daniel
Greathouse. The whole number killed at this place, and on the
river opposite to it, was twelve, besides several wounded. This
horrid massacre was effected by a hypocritical stratagem, which

¦* American Archives, fourth scries, i, 252, et seq.

1774. MURDER OF LOGAN'S FAMILY. 219
reflects the deepest dishonor on the memory of those who were
agents in it.
" The report of the murders committed on the Indians near
Wheeling, induced a belief that they would immediately commence
hostilities, and this apprehension furnished the pretext for the
murder above related. The ostensible object for raising the party
under Greathouse, was that of defending the family of Baker,
whose house was opposite to a large encampment of Indians, at the
mouth of Big Yellow creek. The party were concealed in ambus
cade, while their commander went over the river, under the mask
of friendship, to the Indian camp, to ascertain their number;
while there, an Indian woman advised him to return home speedily,
saying that the Indians were drinking, and angry on account of
the murder of their people down the river, and might do him some
mischiefi On his return to his party, he reported that the Indians
were too strong for an open attack. He went to Baker, and
requested him to give any Indians who might come over in the
course of the day as much rum as they might call for, and get as
many of them drunk as he possibly could, The plan succeeded.
Several Indian men, with two women, came over the river to
Baker's, who had previously been in the habit of selling rum to the
Indians. The men drank freely and became intoxicated. In this
state they were all killed by Greathouse and a few of his party.
I say a few of his party, for it is but justice to state, that not more
than five or six of the whole number had atiy participation in the
slaughter at the house. The rest protested against it, as an
atrocious murder. From their number, being by far the majority,
they might have prevented the deed'; but alas ! they did not. A
little Indian girl alone was saved from the slaughter, by the
humanity of some one of the party, whose name is not now
known. " The Indians in the camps, hearing the firing at the house, sent
a canoe with two men in it to inquire what had happened. These
two Indians were both shot down, as soon as they lauded on the
beach. A second and larger canoe was then manned with a
number of Indians in arms; but in attempting to reach the shore,
some distance below the house, were received by a well-directed
fire from the party, which killed the greater number of them, and
compelled the survivors to return. A great number of shots wore
exchanged across the river, but without damage to the whites, not
one of whom was even wounded. The Indian men who were
murdered were all scalped. The woman who gave the friendly

220 CLARK'S VERSION OF THE MURDER. 1774.
advice to the commander of the party, when in the Indian camp,
was amongst the slain at Baker's house.
" The massacre of the Indians at Captina and Yellow creek,
comprehended the whole of the family of the famous, but unfortu
nate Logan."*
This account of Doddridge is confirmed by the evidence of
Colonel Zane; but as it differs somewhat from that of George
Rogers Clark, who was also in the vicinity, a part of the letter
written by him relative to the matter, dated June 17, 1798, is
given :
"This country was explored in 1773. A resolution was formed
to make a settiement the spring following, and the mouth of the
Littie Kanawha appointed the place of general rendezvous, in order
to descend the river from thence in a body. Early in the spring
the Indians had done some mischief. Reports from their towns
were alarming, which deterred many. About eighty or ninety men
only arrived at the appointed rendezvous, where we lay some
days. " A small party of hunters, that lay about ten miles below us
were fired upon by the Indians, whom the hunters beat back, and
returned to camp. This, and many other circumstances, led us to
believe that the Indians were determined on war. The whole party
was enrolled, and determined to execute their project of forming
a settlement in Kentucky, as we had every necessary store that
(?ould be thought of. . An Indian town called the Horsehead Bot
tom, on the Scioto, and near its mouth, lay nearly in our way. The
determination was to cross the country and surprise it. Who was
to command was the question. There were but few among us
that had experience in Indian warfare, and they were such as we
did not choose to be commanded by. We knew of Capt. Cresap
being on the river, about fifteen miles above us, with some hands,
settling a plantation ; and that he had concluded to follow us to
Kentucky as soon as he had fixed there his people. We also knew
that he had been experienced in a former war. He was proposed;
and it was unanimously agreed to send for him to command the
party. Messengers were dispatched, and in half an hour returned
with Cresap. He had heard of our resolution by some of his
hunters, that had fallen in with ours, and had set out to come
to us.

*DoddTidge'% Notes.

1774. CLAEK'S VERSION OP THE MURDER. 221
" We now thought our army, as we called it, complete, and the
destruction of the Indians sure. A council was called, and, to our
astonishment, our intended commander-in-chief was the person
that dissuaded us from the enterprise. He said that appearances
were very auspicious, but there was no certainty of a war. That if
we made the attempt proposed, he had no doubt of our success,
but a war would, at any rate, be the result, and that we should be
blamed for it, and perhaps justly. But if we were determined to
proceed, he would lay aside all considerations, send to his camp for
his people, and share our fortunes.
" He was then asked what he would advise. His answer was,
that we should return to Wheeling, as a convenient post, to hear
what was going forward. That a few weeks would determine. As
it was early in the spring, if we found the Indians were not dis
posed for war, we should have full time to return and make our
establishment in Kentucky. This was adopted ; and in two hours
the whole were under way. As we ascended the river, we met
Kill-buck, an Indian chief, with a small party. We had a long
conference with him, but received little satisfaction as to the dis
position of the Indians. It was observed that Cresap did not come
to this conference, but kept on the opposite side of the river. He
said that he was afraid to trust himself with the Indians. That
Kill-buck had frequently attempted to waylay his father, to kill
him. That if he crossed the river, perhaps his fortitude might
fail him, and that he might put Kill-buck to death. On our arrival
at Wheeling, (the country being pretty well settled thereabouts,)
the whole of the inhabitants appealed to be alarmed. They flocked
to our camp from every direction ; and all we could say could not
keep them from under our wings. We offered to cover their
neighborhood with scouts, until further information, if they would
return to their plantations; but nothing would prevail. By thia
time we had got to be a formidable party. All the hunters, men
without families, etc., in that quarter, had joined our party.
"Our arrival at Wheeling was soon known at Pittsburgh. The
whole of that country, at that time, being under the jurisdiction of
Yirginia, Dr. Connolly had been appointed by Dunmore, Oaptain
Commandant of the District which was called West Augusta. He,
learning of us, sent a message addressed to the party, letting us
iknow that a war was to be apprehended, and requesting that we
would keep our position for a few days, as messages had been sent
to the Indians, and a few days would determine "the doubt. The
answer he got was, that we had no inclination to quit our quarters

222 CLARK'S VERSION OF THE MURDER. 1774.
for some time. That during our stay we should be careful that the
enemy did not harass the neighborhood that we lay in. But before
this answer could reach Pittsburgh, he sent a second express, ad
dressed to Capt. Cresap, as the most influential man amongst us,
informing Mm that the messengers had returned from the Indians,
that war was inevitable, and begging him to use his influence with
the party, to get them to cover the country by scouts, until the in
habitants could fortify themselves. The reception of this letter was
the epoch of open hostilities with the Indians. A new post was
planted, a council was called, and the letter read by Cresap, all the
Indian traders being summoned on so important an occasion. Ac
tion was had, and war declared in the most solemn manner; and
the same evening two scalps were brought into the camp.
" The next day some canoes of Indians were discovered on the
river, keeping the advantage of an island to cover themselves from
our view. They were chased fifteen miles down the river, and
driven ashore. A battle ensued ; a few were wounded on both
sides; one Indian only taken prisoner. On examining their canoes,
we found a considerable quantity of ammunition and other warlike
stores. On our return to camp, a resolution was adopted to march
the next day, and attack Logan's camp on the Ohio, about thirty
miles above us. We did march about five miles, and then halted
to take some refreshments. Here the impropriety of executing the
projected enterprise was argued. The conversation was brought
forward by Cresap himself. It was generally agreed that those
Indians had no hostile intentions — as they were hunting, and their
party were composed of men, women, and children, with all their
stuff with them. This we knew; as I myself and others present
had been in their camp about four weeks past, on our descending
the river from Pittsburgh. In short, everyperson seemed to detest
the resolution we had set out with. We returned in the evening,
decamped, and took the road to Redstone,
" It was two days after this that Logan's family were killed. And
from the manner in which it was done, it was viewed as a horrid
murder. From Logan's hearing of Cresap being at the head of
this party on the river, it is no wonder that he supposed he had a
hand in the destruction of his family,"
Whatever may then be the facts in regard of Cresap's complicity
in the murder of Logan's family, it is certain that the famous
speech of that chief to Lord Dunmore, has indelibly fixed the repu
tation of that outrage upon his memory. It may admit of a
doubt whether he was, however, directly or indirectly responsible

1774. INDIANS MURDERED BY GREATHOUSE. 223
for the destruction of the family of Logan. It is difficult to believe
that he could be present at the massacres at Captina and Yellow
creek on the same day,* but it is certain he was engaged in other
Indian murders closely connected with the origin of the war, and
deserves condemnation for the murderous intentions he expressed
to Col. Zane. Yet perhaps he may not be wholly condemned. He
may have been deceived by Connolly's letter, which doubtless was
designed to create hostilities between the whites and Indians,"with
a view to the approaching conflict with the mother country ; and
may then in all he did have acted under a mistaken idea of patri
otism. Of his patriotic spirit there is no reason to doubt. Imme
diately after the battle of Lexington, in the next year, in obedience
to a call of the Maryland delegates in Congress, Cresap was ap
pointed to the command of a company of volunteers, returned to
Maryland, and with his company marched to Boston, to join the
Continental army under Washington. His health failing, however,
he resigned his command, and died on his way home, on the 5th
of October, at New York.
In relation to the murders by Greathouse, there is also a variance
in the testimony. Henry Jolly, who was near by, and whose state
ment is published in an article by Dr. Hildreth, in Silliman's jour
nal for January, 1837, makes no mention of the visit of Greathouse
to the Indian camp, but says -that five men and one woman, with a
child, came from the camp across to Baker's; that three of the five
were made drunk, and that the whites finding the other two would
not drink, persuaded them to fire at a mark, and when their guns
were empty, shot them down ; this done, they next murdered the
woman, and tomahawked the three who were intoxicated. The
Indians who had not crossed the Ohio, ascertaining what had taken
place, attempted to escape by descending the river, and having
passed Wheeling unobserved, landed at Pipe creek, and it was
then, according to Jolly, that Cresap's attack took place ; he killed
only one Indian. But whatever may have been the precise facts
in relation to the murder of Logan's family, they were at any -rate
of such a nature as to make all concerned feel sure of an Indian war ;
and while those upon the frontier gathered hastily into the for
tresses, an express was sent to Williamsburg, to inform the gover
nor of the necessity of instant preparation. The Earl of Dunmore

*= Jacob's Life of Cresap.

224 M'DONALD AT WAPATOMICA.

1774.

at once took the needful steps to organize forces; and meanwhile,
in June, aent Daniel Boone and Michael Stoner to conduct into the
settiements the surveyors, and others who were lingering upon the
banks of the Kentucky and Elkhorn, a duty which was ably and
quickly performed. The unfortunate traders among the Indians,
however, could not thus be rescued from the dangers which beset
them. Some of them fell the first victims to the vengeance of the
natives. One near the town of White-Eyes, the Peace Chief of
the Delawares, was inurdered, cut to pieces, and the fragments of
his body hung upon the bushes; the kindly chief gathered them
together and buried them ; the hatred of the murderers, however,
led them to disinter and disperse the remains of their victim anew;
but the kindness of the Delaware was as persevering as the hatred
of his brethren, and again he collected the scattered limbs, and m
a secret place hid them.*
It being, under the circumstances, deemed advisable by the Yirgi
nians, to assume the offensive, as soon as it could be done, an army was
gathered at Wheeling, which, some time in July, under Col. McDon
ald, descended the Ohio to the mouth of Captina creek, or, as some
say. Fish creek, where it was proposed to march against the Indian
town of Wapatomica, on the Muskingum. The march was suc
cessfully accomplished, and the Indians having been frustrated in
an expected surprise of the invaders,- sued for peace, and gave five
of their chiefs as hostages. Two of them were set free, however,
by Colonel McDonald, for the avowed purpose of calling the heads
of the tribes together, to ratify the treaty which was to put an end
to. warfare ; but it being found that the natives were merely attempt
ing to gain time and gather forces, the Yirginians proceeded to
destroy their towns and crops, and then retreated, carrying threfe
of their chiefs with them, as prisoners to Williamsburg. But this
invasion did nothing toward intimidating the red men.
The Delawares were anxious for peace ; Sir William Johnson
sent out to all his copper-colored fiock, orders to keep still ;t and
even the Shawanese were prevailed on by their wiser leader. Corn
stalk, to do all they could to preserve friendly relations; indeed
they went so far as to secure some wandering traders from th6
vengeance of the Mingoes, whose relatives had been slain at

* Heckewelder's Nan-ativc, 132.
•[¦American Archives, Fourth Series, i, 252 to 258.

1774. dunmore's war. 225
Yellow Creek and Captina, and sent them -with their property safe
to Pittsburgh. But Logan, Who had been turned by the murderers
on the Ohio from a friend to a deadly foe of the whites, came
suddenly upon the Monongahela settlements, and while the other
Indians were hesitating as to their course, took his thirteen scalps
in retaliation for the murder of his family and friends, and returning
home expressed himself satisfied, and ready to listen to the Long-
Knives. But it was not, apparently, the wish of Dunmore or Connolly to
meet the friendly spirit of the natives, and when, about the 10th of
June, three of the Shawanese conducted the traders, who had been
among them, safely to Pittsburgh, Connolly had even the mean
ness to attempt first to sieze them, and when foiled in this by
Colonel Croghan, his uncle, who had been alienated by his tyranny,
he sent men to watch, waylay and kill them ; and one account says
that one of the three was slain. Indeed, the character developed
by this man, while commandant at Fort Dunmore, was such as to
excite universal detestation, and at last to draw down upon his
patron, the reproof of Lord Dartmouth. He seized property, and
imprisoned white men without warrant or propriety; and we may
be assured, in many cases beside that just mentioned, treated
the natives with an Utter disregard of justice. It is not then
surprising that Indian attacks occurred along the frontiers from
June to September; nor, on the other hand, that the Yirginians,
against whom, in distinction from the people of Pennsylvania, the
war was carried on, became more and more excited, and eager to
repay the injuries received.
To put a stop to these devastations, two large bodies of troops
were gathering in Yirginia; the one from the southern and
western part of the State, under General Andrew Lewis, met at
Camp Union, now Lewisburg, Greenbriar county, near the far-
famed White Sulphur Springs; — the other from the northern and
eastern counties, was to be under the command of Dunmore him
self, and descending the Ohio from Fort Pitt, was to meet Lewis'
army at the mouth of the Gi?eat KanaWha. The force under Le-wis,
amounting to eleven hundred men, commenced its march upon
the 6th and 12th of September, and upon the 6th of October
reached the spot agreed upon. As Lord Dunmore was not there,
and as other troops were to follow down the Kanawha under
Colonel Christian, General Lewis dispatched runners toward Pitts
burgh to inform the commander-in-chief of his arrival, and

226 dunmore's war. 1774.
proceeded to encamp at the point where the two rivers meet.
Hel-e he remained until the 9th of October, when dispatches from
the Governor reached him, informing him that the plan of the
campaign was altered; that he (Dunmore) meant to proceed
¦ directly against the Shawanese towns of the Scioto, and Lewis was
ordered at once to cross the Ohio and meet the army before those
towns. But on the very day when this movement should have been
executed, (October 10th,) the Indians in force, headed by the able
and brave chief of the Shawanese, Cornstalk, appeared before the
army of Yirginians, determined then and there to avenge past
wrongs and cripple vitally the power of the invaders. Delawares,
Iroquois, Wyandots and Shawanese, under their most noted chiefs,
among whom was Logan, formed the army opposed to that of
Lewis, and with both the struggle of that day was one of life or
death. Soon after sunrise the presence of the savages was
discovered ; General Lewis ordered out his brother. Colonel Charles
Lewis, and Colonel Fleming, to reconnoiter the ground where they
had been seen; this at once brought on the engagement. In a
short time Colonel Lewis was killed, and Colonel Fleming disabled;
the troops, thus left without commanders, wavered, but Colonel
Field with his regiment coming to the rescue, they again stood
firm; about noon Colonel Field was killed, and Captain Evan
Shelby, (father of Isaac Shelby, afterward Governor of Kentucky,
and who was then lieutenant in his father's company,) took the
command; and the battle still continued. It was now drawing
toward evening, and yet the contest raged without decided success
for either party, when General Lewis ordered a body of men to
gain the flank of the enemy by means of Crooked creek, a small
stream which runs into the Kanawha, about four hundred yards
above its mouth. This was successfully done, and the result was
the retreat of the Indians across the Ohio. *
The loss on the part of the Yirginians in this battle, was seventy-
five men killed, and one hundred and forty wounded — about one-
fifth of their entire number. The loss of the enemy could not be
fully ascertained, as, until they are driven from the field, they carry
off their dead. Next morning. Col. Christian explored the battie
ground, and found twenty-one Indians lying dead, and subsequently
twelve others concealed by brush and logs.

? Border Warfare, 125. Doddridge, 230. American Pioneer, i, 381. Letters in
American Archives, Fourth Series, i, 808-818, &c. Thatcher's Lives of Indians, ii, 168.

1774. dunmore's war. 227
Lord Dunmore, meanwhile, had descended the river from Fort
Pitt, and was, at the time he sent word to Lewis of his change of
plans, at the mouth of the Hocking, where he built a block-house,
called Fort Gower, and remained until after the battle at the Point.
Thence he marched on toward the Scioto, while Lewis and the
remains of the army under his command, strengthened by the
troops under Colonel Christian, pressed forward in the same direc
tion, elated by the hope of annihilating the Indian towns, and
punishing the inhabitants for all they had done. But before reach
ing the enemy's country, Dunmore was visited by the chiefs,
asking for peace. He listened to their request, and appointing a
place where a treaty should be held, sent orders to Lewis to stop
his march against the Shawanese towns, which orders, however, that
officer did not obey ; nor was it till the Governor visited his camp
on Congo creek, near Westfall, that he would agree to give up an
attempt upon the village of Old Chillicothe, which stood where
Westfall now is. After this visit by Dunmore, General Lewis felt
himself bound, though unwillingly, to prepare for a bloodless
retreat. The commander-in-chief, however, remained for a time at Camp
Charlotte, upon Sippo Creek, about eight miles from the town of
Westfall, on the Scioto.* There he met Cornstalk, who, being
satisfied of the futility of any further struggle, was determined to
make peace, and arranged with the governor the preliminaries of-
a treaty ; and from this point, Crawford was sent against a town of
the Mingoes, who still continued hostile, and took several prisoners^
who were carried to Yirginia, and were still in confinement in
February, 1775. f
When Lord Dunmore retired from the West, he left one hundred
men at the mouth of the Great Kanawha, a few more at Pittsburgh,
and another corps at Wheeling, then called Fort Fin castle. These
were dismissed as the prospect of the war ceased. Lord Dunmore
agreed to return to Pittsburgh in the spring, meet the Indians and
form a definite peace; but the commencement of the revolt of the
colonies prevented. The Mingoes were not parties to the treaty
at Camp Charlotte. The Shawanese agreed not to hunt south of
the Ohio river, nor molest travelers. The frontier men were much
incensed against Lord Dunmore for this treaty, but not the inhabi
tants of Yirginia.

* American Pioneer, p. 381.
f American Archives, Fourth Series, i. 1222. Border Warfare, 137.

228 TRANSYLVANIA LAND COMPANY FORMED. 1775.
About the same time, and most probably after the fa-eaty with
the- Indians, Lord Dunmore opened several offices for the sale of
lands in the West, some of which were in the limits claimed by
Pennsylvania. Land warrants were granted on the payment of
two shillings and sixpence fees. The purchase money was trifimg,
being only ten shillings per hundred acres, and even that was not
demanded. The proprietary of Pennsylvania had previously pur-
chased the land as far west as the Ohio and Allegheny, and opened
an office for the sale of these lands. But the price demanded was
much higher than that of the Yirginia warrants; and this was an
effectual inducement to buyers to prefer the Yirginia office, and of
consequence to favor the Yirginia claim to jurisdiction over tiie
country. Accordingly, Dunmore established three courts, two
south of the Monongahela, and one at Redstone, all within the
limits of Western Pennsylvania, and thus extended the Yirginia
laws over that region. His scheme for weakening both colonies,
by embroiling them in a contest about their boundaries, however,
failed ; the breaking out of the war in the next year, suspended the
discussion of the question, and drove Dunmore from Yirginia.
Among those who had been engaged in Dunmore's war, as
1775.] scouts or soldiers, were Daniel Boone, James Harrod,
and others of the early explorers of- Kentucky. After the
peace, they naturally turned their attention again to the rich val
leys they had previously occupied. Boone appears to have been
among the first to re-enter them, which he did in the service of a
new land company, formed in North Carolina, called the Transyl
vania Company.* The chief person in this association was Colonel
Richard Henderson, of whom little is known, except that he was a
man of capacity and ambition. Dr. Smyth, an Englishman, wh«
in 1784 published a work of travels in the United States, gives the
following account of him ; but as Smyth's work is full of palpable
falsehoods, it is impossible to say how much truth there is in his
statements respecting the founder of Transylvania.
" He acquired the rudiments of an education after having growa
to maturity, then obtained the office of constable, was afterward
made sheriff, and then commenced the practice of law. In that
profession he distinguished himself so much that he was appointed

* This was one of several such companies; see Patrick Henry's deposition in Halls
Sketches, i. 249.

1775. BOONE GUIDES THE COMPANY. 229
Associate Chief Justice of North Carolina. But having made sev
eral large purchases, and fallen into a train of expense that his cir
cumstances and finances could not support, his extensive genius
struck out on a bolder track to fortune and fame than any one had
ever attempted before him.
"Under pretense of viewing some back lands, he privately went
out to the Cherokee nation of Indians, and, for an insignificant
consideration, (only ten wagons loaded with cheap goods, aUoh as
coarse woolens, trinkets, fire-arms, and spirituous liquors,) made a
porchase from the chiefs of the nation, of a vast tract of territory,
eqnal in extent to a kingdom ; and in the excellence of climate and
soil, extent of its rivers, and beautiful elegance of situations, infe
rior to none in the universe. A domain of no less than one hun
dred miles square, situated on the back or interior part of Yirginia,
and of North and South Carolina ; comprehending the river Ken
tucky, Cherokee, and Ohio, besides a variety of inferior rivulets,
delightful and charming as imagination can conceive.
" This transaction he kept a profound secret, until such time as
he obtained the final ratification of the whole nation in form. Then
he immediately invited settlers from all the provinces, offering them
land on the most advantageous terms, and proposing to them like-
¦wise, to form a legislature and government of their own, such as
might be most convenient to their particular circumstances of set
tlement. And he instantly vacated his seat on the bench."*
Colonel Henderson, in company -with Colonel Nathaniel Hart, or
as Morehead says. Colonel Hart alone, having heard, probably
from Boone, of the valuable lands upon the Kentucky river, in the
course of 1774 paid a visit to the Cherokees, to ascertain if they
would be willing to sell their title to the region which was desired.
Finding that a bargain might be made, a meeting was arranged
with the chiefs of the nation, to be held at the Sycamore Shoal, on
the Wataga branch of the Holston river, in March, 1775.
At this meeting Daniel Boone was, by the desire of the Transyl
vania proprietors, present, to aid in the negotiation and deter
mining of the bounds of the proposed purchase. This done, he set
forth with a party, well armed and equipped, to mark out a road
from the settlement, through the wilderness, to the lands which
were about to be colonized. Booue does not say when he started.

* Morehead's Address, p. 157.

230 COMPANY BARGAIN WITH THE CHEROKEES. 1775.
but as he was within fifteen miles of Boonesborough on the 20th of
March, and the grant from the Cherokees is dated the 17th, he
must have left the council before the final action of the Indians
took place; indeed, Henderson says that Boone did not know of
the purchase with certainty. By that action the southern savages,
in consideration of the sum often thousand pounds sterling, trans
ferred to the company two provinces, defined as follows:
" The first was defined as ' beginning on the Ohio river, at the
mouth of the Cantuckey Chenoee, or what, by the English, is called
Louisa river; from thence, running up the said river, and the most
northwardly fork of the same, to the head spring thereof; thence a
south-east course to the top of the ridge of Powell's mountain;
thence westwardly along the ridge of the said mountain, unto a
point from which a north-west course will hit or strike the head
spring of the most southwardly branch of the Cumberland river,
thence down said river, including all its waters, to the Ohio river,
and up the said river, as it meanders, to the beginning.' "
"The other deed comprised a tract 'beginning on the Holston
river, where the course of Powell's mountain strikes the same;
thence up the said river, as it meanders, to where the Yirginia line
crosses the same ; thence westwardly along the line run by Donald
son, to a point six English miles eastward of the long island in said
Holston river; thence a direct course toward the mouth of the
Great Canaway, until it reaches the top ridge of Powell's moun
tain; thence westwardly along the said ridge to the place of
beginning.' "
This transfer, however, was in opposition to the ancient and con
stant policy, both of England and Yirginia, neither of which would
recognize any private dealings for land with the natives; and, as
much of the region to be occupied by the Transylvania Company
was believed to be within the bounds of the Old Dominion, Gov.
Dunmore, even before the bargain was completed, prepared his
proclamation warning the world against "one Richard Henderson
and other disorderly persons, who, under pretense of a purchase
from the Indians, do set up a claim to the lands of the crown."
This paper is dated but four days later than the treaty of Wataga.*
When Colonel Henderson and his "disorderly" associates there
fore set forth early in April for their new colony, granted by the
first named deed, clouds beset their path. Yirginia threatened in

» American Archives, Fourth Series, 174.

1775. BOONESBOROUGH COMMENCED. 231
their rear, and before them the blood of Boone's pioneers soiled
the fresh leaves of the young wood-flowers. Upon the 20th or 25th
Of March, an attack had been made upon those first invaders of
the forests, in which two of their number were killed, and one or
two others wounded; repulsed, but not defeated, the savages
watched their opportunity, and again attacked the little band ; but
being satisfied by these attempts, that the leaders of the whites
were their equals in forest warfare, the natives offered no further
opposition to the march of the hunters, who proceeded to the Ken
tucky, and upon the 1st of April, 1775, began the erection of a fort
upon the banks of that stream, sixty yards south of the river, at a salt
lick. This was Boonesborough. This fort or station was probably,
when complete, about two hundred and fifty feet long by one hun
dred and fifty broad, and consisted of block-houses and pickets, the
cabins of the settlers forming part of the defenses ; it was, from neg
lect, not completed until June 14th, and the party, while engaged
in its erection, appear to have been but little annoyed by the Indians,
although one man was killed on the 4th of April. To this station,
¦while yet but half complete, Henderson and his companions came
the 20th of April, following the road marked out by Boone. Of
his journey, and the country itself, some parts of a letter, published
entire by Judge Hall, will give a distinct picture, and are better than
any abstracts. "Boonesborough, June 12th, 1775.
"No doubt but you have felt great anxiety since the receipt of
my letter from Powell's Yalley. At that time, things wore a
gloomy aspect ; indeed it was a serious matter, and became a little
more so after the date of the letter than before. That afternoon I
wrote the letter in Powell'a Yalley, in our march this way, we met
about forty people returning, and in about four days, the number
was little short of one hundred. Arguments and persuasions were
needless ; they seemed resolved on returning, and traveled with a
precipitation that truly bespoke their fears. Eight or ten were all
that we could prevail on to proceed -with us, or to follow after; and
thus, what we before had, counting every boy and lad, amounted
to about forty, with which number we pursued our journey -with
the utmost diligence, for my own part, never under more real
anxiety. "Every group of travelers we saw, or strange bells which were
heard in front, was a fresh alarm ; afraid to look or inquire, lest
Captain Boone or his company was amongst them, or some disaa-
troua account of their defeat. The slow progress we made with

232 EMIGRANTS IN TROUBLE. 1775'
our packs, made it absolutely necessary for some person to go on,
and give assurance of our coming, especially as they had no cer
tainty of our being on the road at all; or had even heard whether
the Indians had sold to us or not. It was owing to Boone's confi
dence in us, and the people's in him, that a stand was ever attempted
in order to wait for our coming.
"The general panic that had seized the men we were continually
meeting, was contagious ; it ran like wild-fire ; and, notwithstanding
every effort against its progress, it was presently discovered in our
own camp; some hesitated, and stole back privately; others saw
tiie necessity of returning to convince their friends that they were
still alive, in too strong a light to be resisted; whilst many, in
truth, who have nothing to thank but the fear of shame, for the
credit of intrepidity, came on, though their hearts, for some hours,
made part of the deserting company. In this situation of affairs,
some few, of genuine courage and undaunted resolution, served to
inspire the rest; by the help of whose example, assisted by a little
pride and some ostentation, we made a shift to march on -with a]l
the appearance of gallantry, and, cavalier-like, treated every insin
uation of danger with the utmost contempt. It soon became ha
bitual ; and those who started in the morning with pale faces and
apparent trepidation, could lie down and sleep at night in great
quiet, not even possessed of fear enough to get the better of
indolence. "To give you a small specimen of the disposition of the people,
it may be sufficient to assure you that when we arrived at this
place, we found Captain Boone's men as inattentive on the score
of fear, (to all appearances,) as if they had been in Hillsborough.
A small fort, which only wanted two or three days' work to make
it tolerably safe, was totally neglected on Mr. Cock's arrival,* and
unto this day] remains unfinished, notwithstanding the repeated
applications of Captain Boone, and every representation of danger
from onraelves.
" Our plantations extend near two miles in length, on the river,
»nd up a creek. Here people work in their difterent lots; some
withont their guns, and others without care or caution. It is in
vain for us to say anything more about the matter; it cannot 'bp
done by words.
"Our company has d-windled from ahout eighty in number to

* A messenger sent ahead of the .main bo(iy.

1775. HENDERSON'S LETTER, 233
about fifty odd, and I believe in a few days will be considerably
less. Amongst these I have not heard one person dissatisfied with
the country or terms ; but go, as they say, merely because their
business will not admit of longer delay. The fact is, many of them
are single, worthless fello-ws, and want to get on the other side of
the mountains, for the sake of saying they have been out and re
turned safe, together with the probability of getting a mouthful of
bread in exchange for their news.
" We are seated at the mouth of Otter creek, on the Kentucky,
about one hundred and fifty miles from the Ohio. To the west,
about fifty miles from us, are two settlements, within six or seven
miles one of the other. There were, some time ago, about one
hundred at the two places ; though now, perhaps, not more than
sixty or seventy, as many of them are gone up the Ohio for their
families, &c. ; and some returned by the way we came, to Yirginia
and elsewhere.
"On the opposite of the river, and north from us, about forty miles,
is a settlement on the crown lands, of about nineteen persons ; and
lower down, towards the Ohio, on the same side, there are some
other settlers, how many, or at what place, I can't exactly learn.
There is also a party of about ten or twelve, with a surveyor, who
is employed in searching through the country, and laying off offi
cers' lands ; they have been more than three weeks within ten miles
of us, and will be several weeks longer ranging up and down the
country. " Colonel Harrod, who governs the two first mentioned settle
ments, (and is a very good man for our purpose,) Colonel Floyd,
(the surveyor,) and myself, are under solemn engagements to com
municate, with the utmost dispatch, every piece of intelligence
respecting danger, or sign of Indians, to each other. In case of
invasion of Indians, both the other parties are instantly to march,
and relieve the distressed, if possible. Add to this, that our coun
try is so fertile, the growth of grass and herbage so luxuriant,
that it is almost impossible for man or dog to travel, without leav
ing such sign that you might, for many days, gallop a horse on the
trail. To be serious, it is impossible for any number of people to
pass through the woods without being tracked, and of course
discovered, if Indiana, for our hunters all go on horseback, and
could not be deceived if they were to come on the trace of foot
men. From these circumstances, I think myself in a great measure
secure against a formidable attack; and a few skulkera could only
16

234 HENDERSON'S LETTER. 1775.
kill one or two, which would not mnch affect the interest of the

company.

'*

Upon the 23d of May, the persons then in the country were
called on by Henderson to send representatives to Boonesborough,
to agree upon a form of government,- and to make laws for the con
duct of the inhabitants. From the journal of this primitive legis
lature, it appears that, besides Bonesboro', three settlements were
represented, viz : Harrodsburg, which had been founded by James
Harrod, in 1774, though afterward for a time abandoned, in conse
quence of Dunmore's war; the Boiling spring settlement,^ also
headed by James Hari-od, who had returned to the west early in
1775; and St. Asaph, in Lincoln county, where Benjamin Logan,
who is said to have crossed the mountains with Henderson, was
building himself a station, well known in the troubles with the
Indians which soon followed.
The labors of this first of western legislatures were fruitless, as
the Transylvania colony was- soon transformed into the county of
Kentucky, and yet some notice of them seems proper. There were
present seventeen representatives ; they met about fifty yards from
the banks of the Kentucky, under the budding branches of a vast
elm, while around their feet sprang the native white clover, as a
carpet for their hall of legislation. When God's blessing had been
asked by the Rev. John Lythe, Colonel Henderson offered an
address on behalf of the proprietors, from which are selected a few
paragraphs illustrative of the spirit of the men and times.
" Our peculiar circumstances in thia remote country, surrounded
on all aides with diffieultiea, and equally subject to one common
danger, which threatens our common overthrow, must, I think, in
their effects, secure to us an union of interests, and consequently
that harmony in opinion so essential to the forming good, wise,
and wholesome laws. If any doubt remain amongst you with
respect to the force or efficacy of whatever laws you now or here
after make, be pleased to consider that all power ia originally in
the people; therefore, make it their interest, by impartial and
beneficial laws, and you may be sure of their inclination to see
them enforced. For it ia not to be supposed that a people^ anxious
and deairoua to have lawa made — who approve of the method of
choosing delegates or representatives, to meet in general oonven-

* Hall's Sketches, ii. 260 to 271.

1775. HENDERSON'S LEGISLATURE. 235
tioil fof that purpose, can wdnt the necessary and concomitant
virtue to carry them into execution.
"Nay, gentlemen, for argument's sake, let us set virtue for a
moment out of the question, and see how the matter will then
stand. You muat admit that it ia, and ever will be, the interest of
a large majority that the laws should be esteemed and held sacred ;
if so, surely this large majority can never want inclination or power
to give sanction and efficacy to those very laws which advance their
interest and secure their property.
"Among the many objects that must present themselves for
your consideration, the first in order must, from its importance, be
that of establishing courts of justice, or tribunals for the punish
ment of such as may offend against the laws you are about to make.
Ae this law will be the chief corner-stone in the ground-work or
basis of our constitution, let us in a particular manner recommend
the most dispassionate attention, while you take for your guide as
much of the spirit and genius of the laws of England as can be
interwoven with those of this country. ' We are all Englishmen,
or, what amounts to the same, ourselves and our fathers have, for
many generations, experienced the invaluable blessings of that
most excellent constitution, and surely we cannot want motives to
copy from so noble an original.
"Many things, no doubt, crowd upon your minds, and seem
equally to demand your attention ; but next to that of restraining
¦vice and immorality, surely nothing can be of more importance
than establishing some plain and easy method for the recovery of
debts, and determining matters of dispute ¦with respect to property,
contracts, torts, injuries, &c. These things are ao easential, that if
not strictly attended to, our name will become odious abroad,
and our peace of short and precarious duration ; it would give hon
est and disinterested persons cause to suspect that there was some
colorable reason at least, for the unworthy and acandalous asser
tions, together with the groundless insinuations contained in an
infamous and seutrilous libel "^ lately printed and published, con
cerning the settlement of this country, the author of which avails
himself of his station, and under the specious pretense of proclama
tion, pompously dressed up and decorated in the garb of authtority,
has uttered invectivea of the moat malignant kind, and endeavora
to wound the good name of peraoUSj whose moral character would

¦* Qt>T«(m«f Bdataot^'s Pt'oclatnation.

236 HENDERSON'S LEGISLATURE. 1775.
derive little advantage by being placed in comparison with his,
charging them amongst other things equally untrue, with a design
' of forming an asylum for debtors and other persons of desperate
circumstances;' placing the proprietors of the soil at the head of
a lawless train of abandoned villians, against whom the regal
authority ought to be exerted, and every possible measure taken to
put an immediate stop to so dangerous an enterprise.
"I have not the least doubt, gentlemen, but that your conduct in
this convention will manifest the honest and laudable intentions of
the present adventurers, whilst the conscious blush confounds the
willful calumniators and officious deti-actors of our infant, and as
yet, little community.
"Next to the establishment of courts or tribunals, as well for the
punishment of public offenders as the recovering of just debts,
that of establishing and regulating a militia, seems of the greatest
importance; it is apparent, that without some wise institution
respecting our mutual defense, the different towns or settlements
are every day exposed to the most imminent danger, and liable to
be destroyed at the mere will of the savage Indians. Nothing, I
am persuaded, but their entire ignorance of our weakness and want
of order, has hitherto preserved us from the destructive and rapa
cious hands of cruelty, and given us an opportunity at this time
of forming secure defensive plans to be supported and carried into
execution by the authority and sanction of a well-digested law.
"There are sundry other things, highly worthy your consideration,
and demand redress ; such as the wanton destruction of our game,
the only support of life amongst many of us, and for want of which
the country would be abandoned ere to-morrow, and scarcely a
probability remain of its ever becoming the habitation of any Chris
tian people. This, together with the practice of many foreigners,
who make a business of hunting in our country, killing, driving
ofij and lessening the number of wild cattle and other game, whilst
the value of the skins and furs is appropriated to the benefit of
persons not concerned or interested in our settlement; these are
evils, I say, that I am convinced cannot escape your notice and
attention."* To this the representatives of the infant commonwealth replied,
by stating their readiness to comply -with the recommendations of
the proprietor, as being just and reasonable, and proceeded, with

*See Butler's Kentucky, p. 508.

1775. TRANSYLVANIA ORGANIZED. 237
praiseworthy diligence, to pass the necessary acts. They were in
session three working days, in which time they enacted the nine
following lawa: — one for establishing courts; one for punishing
crimes ; a third for regulating the militia ; a fourth for punishing
swearing and Sabbath-breaking; a fifth providing for writs of
attachment; a sixth fixing fees ; and three others for preserving the
range, improving the breed of horses, and preserving game. In
addition to these laws, this working House of delegates prepared
a c ompact, to be the basis of relationship between the people and
owners of Transylvania. Some of its leading articles were these :
" That the election of delegates in this colony be annual.
" That the convention may adjourn and meet again on their own
adjournment, pro-vided, that in cases of great emergency the pro
prietors may call together the delegates before the time adjourned
to, and if a majority does not attend, they may dissolve them and
call a new one.
"That to prevent dissension and delay of business, one proprie
tor shall act for the whole, or some one delegated by them for that
purpose, who shall always reside in the colony.
" That there be a perfect religious freedom and general tolera
tion — ^provided, that the propagators of any doctrine or tenets,
vyidely tending to the subversion of our laws, shall for such
conduct be amenable to, and punishable by the civil courts.
"That the judges of Superior or Supreme Courts be appointed
by the proprietors, but be supported by the people, and to them
be answerable for their mal-conduet.
" That the judges of the inferior courts be recommended by the
people, and approved of by the proprietors, and by them commis
sioned. " That all ci-vil and military officers be within the appointment
of the proprietors.
"That the office of Surveyor General belong to no person inter
ested, or a partner in this purchase.
" That the Legislative authority, after the strength and maturity
of the colony will permit, consist of three branches, to -wit : the
delegates or representatives chosen by the people, a council not
exceeding twelve men, possessed of landed estate, residing in the
colony, and the proprietors.
" That j;he convention have the sole power of raising and appro
priating all public moneys, and electing their treasurer."
On the 27th of May, this Legislature adjourned to meet again
upon the first Tuesday of the next .September,— though it does not
appear that it ever did so.

238 INDIANS AND BRITISH. 1775.
From the time of the unpopular treaty of Camp Charlotte, th^
western people had been apprehensive of extensive injury to the
American frontiers from the Indians, instigated by agents reaching
them through Canada, whenever the expected outbreak with
England took place. Nor was it long before the Americans in the
north saw the dangers to be feared from the action of the Indians,
influenced by the British ; and early in May, 1775, the pro-vincial
Congress of Massachusetts, wrote to the Reverend Samuel Kirk-
land, then a missionary among the Oneidas, informing him, thsd;
having heard that the English were trying to attach the Six Nations
to their interest, it had been thought proper to ask the several
tribes, through him, to stand neutral. Steps were also taken to
secure the co-operation, if possible, of the Penobscot and Stock-
bridge Indians; the latter of whom replied, that, though they never
could understand what the quarrel between the provinces and old
England was about, yet they would stand by the Americans.
They also offered to "feel the mind" of the Iroquois, and try to
bring them over.
But the Iroquois were not easily to be won over by any means.
Sir William Johnson, so long the king's agent among them, and
to whom they looked with the confidence of children in a father,
had died suddenly, in June, 1774, and the wild men had been left
under the influence of Colonel Guy Johnson, Sir William's son-in-
law, who succeeded him as superintendent, and of John Johnson,
Sir William's son, who succeeded to his estates and honors. Both
these men were Tories; and their influence in favor of England
was increased by that of the celebrated Joseph Brant. This frio,
acting in conjunction with some of the rich old royalists along the
Mohawk, opposed the whole movement of the Bostonians, il$
whole spirit of the Philadelphia Congress, and every attempt, open
or secret, in favor of the rebels. Believing Mr. Kirkland to be lit
tle better than a Whig in disguise, and fearing that he might
alienate the tribe in which he was from their old faith, and through
them influence the others, tke Johnsons, while the -war was still
bloodless, made strong efforts to remove him from his position.
Nor were the fears of the Johnsons groundless, aa js shown by
the address of the Oneida Indians to the New .England governors,
in which they state their intention of remaining neutral during 6P
unnatural a quarrel as that just then commencing. But this inten
tion the leading tribe of the great Indian confederacy meant to die^
turb, if possible. The idea was suggested that Guy Johnson was
in danger of bejng seized by the Bostonians, and an attempt was

1775. INDIANS AND BRITISH. 239
made to rally about him the savages as a body-guard; while he, on
his part, wrote to the neighboring magistrates, holding out to them
as a terror, the excitement of the Indians, and the dangers to be
feared from their rising, if he were seized, or their rights inter
fered with.
So stood matters in the Mohawk valley, during the month of
May, 1775. The Johnsons v/ere gathering a little army, which
soon amounted to five hundred men ; and the Revolutionary com
mittees, resolute never to yield one hair's breadth, "never to sub
mit to any arbitrary acts of any power under heaven," were
denouncing Colonel Guy's conduct as " arbitrary, illegal, oppres
sive, and unwarrantable." " Watch him," wrote Washington to
General Schuyler, in June ; and, even before that order was given,
with the TryOn county men above him on the river, and the whole
Pro-vincial force below him, he was likely to be well watched.
Finding himself tiius fettered, and feeling it to be time to take
some decided step, the superintendent, early in June, began to
move westward, accompanied by his dependents, and the great
body of the Mohawk Indians, who remained firm in the British
interests.* He moved first to Fort Stanwix, (afterward Fort
Schuyler, near the present town of Rome,) and then went on to
Ontario, where he arrived early in July, and held a congress with
thirteen hundred and forty warriors, whose old attachment was
then and there renewed. Joseph Brant, be it noted, during all
this time, waa acting as the superintendent's secretary.
All of the Six Nations, except the Oneidas and Tuscaroras, might
now be deemed in alliance with the British. Those tribes, chiefly
through the exertions of Mr. Kirkland, were prevented from going
with the others, and upon the 28th of June, at German Flats, gave
to the Americans a pledge of neutrality.f
While the members of the Northern Confederacy were thus di-vi-
ded in their attachments, the Delawares of the upper Ohio were by
no means unanimous in their opinions as to this puzzling family
quarrel which was coming on ; and Congress, having been informed
on the 1st day of June, that the western Yirginians stood in fear of
tlie Indians, with whom Lord Dunmore, in hia small way, was, as
they thought, tampering, it was determined to have a conference
held at Pittsburgh, to explain to the poor red men the causes of

* Stdne, vol. i. p. 77. f Stone, vol. i. p.81.

240 AMERICANS SEEK INDIAN ALLIANCES. 1775.
the sudden division of their old enemies, and try to persuade them
to keep peace. This conference did not meet, however, until Oc
tober. Nor was it from the northern and western tribes only, that hos
tilities were feared. The Cherokees and their neighbors were
much dreaded, and not without cause; as they were then less under
the control of the whites than either the Iroquois or Delawares,
and might, in the hope of securing their freedom, be led to unite,
in a warfare of extermination against the Carolinas. Accordingly,
early in July, Congress having determined to seek the alliance of
the several Indians nations, three departments were formed ; * a
northern one, including the Six Nations, and all north and east of
them, to the charge of which General Schuyler, Oliver Woleott,
and three others, were appointed ; a middle department, including
the Western Indians, who were to be looked to by Messieurs
Franklin, Henry, and Wilson; and a southern department, includ
ing all the tribes south of Kentucky, over which commissioners
were to preside, under the appointment of the South Carolina
Council of Safety. These commissioners were to keep a close
watch upon the nations in their several departments, and upon the
king's superintendents among them. These officers they were to
seize, if they had reason to think them engaged in stirring up the
natives against the colonies, and in all ways were to seek to keep
those natives quiet, and out of the contest. Talks were also pre
pared to send to the several tribes, in which an attempt was made
to illustrate the relations between England and America, by com
paring the last to a child ordered to carry "a pack too heavy for its
strength. The boy complains, and, for answer, the pack is made a
little heavier. Again and again the poor urchin remonstrates, but
the bad servants misrepresent the matter to the father, and the boy
gets ever a heavier burden, till at last, almost broken-backed, he
throws off the load altogether, and says he -will carry it no longer.
This allegory was intended to make the matter clear to the pack-
carrying red men, and, if we may judge from Heckewelder's account,
it answered the purpose; for, he says, the Delawares reported the
whole story very correctly. Indeed, he gives their report upon the
137th page of his "Narrative," which report agrees very well -with
the original speech, preserved to us in the Journals of the Old
Congress. * "Old Journals," voL i. p. 113, &c.

1775. AMERICANS TREAT WITH INDIANS. 241
The first conference held by the commissioners, was in the
northern department, a grand congress coming together at Albany,
in August. Of this congress, a fuU account may be found in Col.
Stone's first volume. It did not, however, fully represent the Six
Nations, and some even of those who were present immediately
afterward deserted to the British, so that the result was slight.
The next conference was held at Pittsburgh with the western
Indians, in October, and was attended by the Delawares, Senecas,
and, perhaps, some of the Shawanese. The Delaware nation were
divided in their views touching the Americans. One of their
chieftains. Captain White-Eyes, a man of high character and clear
mind, of courage such as became the leader of a race whose most
common virtues were those of the wild man, and of a forbearance
and kindness as unusual as fearlessness was frequent, among his
people, — this true man was now, as always, in favor of peace, and
his influence carried ¦with him a strong party. But there were
others again who longed for war, and wished to carry the whole
nation over to the British interest. These were led by a cunning and
able man, called Captain Pipe, who, without the energy, moral
daring, and unclouded honesty of his opponent, had many quali
ties admirably suited to win and rule Indians. Between these two
men, there was a division from the beginning of the Revolution
till the death of White-Eyes. At the Pittsburgh Conference the
Peace Chief, as he was called, was present, and there asserted his
freedom of the Six Nations, who, through their emissaries present,
tried to bend the Delawares, as they had been used to do. His
bold denial of the claim of the Iroquois to rule his people, was
seized upon by some of the war-party as a pretext for leaving the
Muskingum, where White-Eyes lived, and withdrawing toward
Lake Erie, into the more immediate vicinity of the English and
their allies.
The Shawanese and their neighbors, meantime, had taken coun
cil with Guy Johnson, at Oswego, and might be considered as in
league with the king. Indeed, these bewildered savages cannot
be blamed for leaguing themselves with any power against those
actual occupants of their , hunting-grounds, who were here and
there in Kentucky, building block-houses and clearing corn-fields.
Againat those block-houses and their builders, little bands of red
men continually kept sallying forth, supplied with ammunition
from Detroit and the other western posts, and incited to exertion
by the well known stimulants of whisky and fine clothes.

242 INDIANS UNITE WITH BRITISH. 1775.
However, it is hardly correct to say, that this was done in 1775,
though the arrangements were, beyond doubt, made in that year,
Col. Johnson having visited Montreal, immediately after the coun
cil with the Shawanese and others, at Oswego, for the purpose of
concluding ¦with the British governor and general upon his future
course. But although the dangers of the posts more immediately exposed
to Indian invasions were understood, both east and west, it did not
prevent emigration. In June, 1775, Boone had sought the settle
ments once more, in order to remove his family ; and in the follow
ing September, with four females, the fearless mothers of Ken
tucky, re-crossed the mountains. These four women were his own
wife, Mrs. M'Gary, whose husband afterward attained distinction
in the battle of the Blue-licks, Mrs. Denton, and Mrs. Hogan ;
their husbands and children came with them, and more than twen-|y
other men, able to bear arms, were also of the party.
At the close of 1775, the country along the Kentucky was filling
with emigrants, although doubt and dissatisfaction already existed
as to Henderson's purchase, and especially as to holding lands of
proprietors, and being governed by them — many of the new settlers
not being ignorant of the evils brought on Pennsylvania by means
of the Proprietary rule. But hope was still predominant, and the
characters of Harrod, Floyd, Logan, and the Harts were well calcu
lated to inspire confidence.
It was toward the close of this last year of our colonial existence,
1775, that a plot was discovered, which involved some whose names
have already appeared upon these pages, and which, if successful,
would have influenced the fortunes of the West deeply. Dr, John
Connolly, of Pittsburgh, whom Washington had met and talked
with, in 1770, and -with whom he had afterward corresponded in
relation to western lands, and who played so prominent a part as
commandant of Pittsburgh, where he continued at least through
1774,* was, from the outset of the revolutionary movements a
Tory ; and being a man extensively acquainted with the West, a
man of talent, and fearless withal, he naturally became a leader.
This man, in 1775, planned a union of the north-western Indians
with British troops, which combined forces were to be led, under

* Americaa Archives, Fourth Series, vol. i., p. 1179.

1775. CONNOLLY ARRESTED AND IMPRISONED. 243
his command, from Detroit, and, after ravaging the few frontier
settlements, were to join Lord Dunmore in Eastern Yirginia. To
forward his plans, Connolly visited Boston, to see General Gage ;
then, having returned to the south, in the fall of 1775, he left Lord
Dunmore for the West, bearing one set of instructions upon his
person, and another set, the true ones, jjioat artfully concealed,
under the direction of Lord Dunmore himself, in his saddle, secured
by tin and waxed cloth. He and his comrades, among whom was
Dr. Smyth, the author of the doubtful work already quoted, had
gone as far as Hagerstown, where they were arrested upon suspi
cion, and sent back to Frederick. There they were searched, and
the papers upon Connolly's person were found, seized, and sent tp
Congress. Washington, having been informed by one who was
present when the genuine instructions were concealed, as above
stated, wrote twice on the subject to the proper autkorities, in order
to lead to their discovery, but it is not known that they were ever
found. Connolly himself was confined, and remained a close pri
soner till 1781, complaining much of his hard lot, but finding few
to pity him-
After tke Revolution, he was a mischief maker in Kentucky.
He appears to have been one of the earliest explorers of the West,
and, in 1770, proposed a province which would have included all
of Kentucky between the Cumberland or Shawanee river, and a
line drawn from above its fork to the falls, and the Ohio. He
afterward caused to be surveyed, patented, and advertised for sale,
in April, 1774, the ground upon which LouisviUe was built.
In the annals of Kentucky, this year is remarkable for the recog-
1776.] nition by Yirginia of the Transylvania colony, as a part of
the Old Dominion ; and for such a renewal of hostilities as droPg
many, who had come to make the West their home, back over the
mountains again. During the last six months of 1775, and the firpjt
half of 1776, the northern savages, as has been stated, had in a
great measure ceased their excursions against the invaders of their
hunting-grounds. Not, however, because they had given up the
contest ; they were preparing, in connection with the British agents
in the north-west, to act with deadly efficiency against the frontier
stations, and such seems to have been the feeling of the inhabitants
of those stations. From an early period in the Revolutionary war,
the use of the Indiana had been contemplated by both parties to
the struggle. It had been usual, in the contests between the
French and the English, as has been seen ; ^d few seem to have

244 AMERICANS EMPLOY INDIANS, 1776,
deemed it possible to avoid alliances with the red men. It has
been suggested, but it is not known on what evidence, that the
origin of Dunmore's war, was the evil feeling produced by British
envoys, who anticipated a struggle with the colonists, and were
acting thus early.* Dunmore's war is, however, easily explained
without resorting to any such abominable supposition ; but there
is cause to think that England took the first steps that were taken
to enlist the Indians in the Revolutionary contest. The first men
tion of the subject is in the address of the Massachusetts Congress
to the Iroquois, in April, 1775. In that they say, that they hear
the British are exciting the savages against the colonies ; and they
ask the Six Nations to aid them or stand quiet.
And in the June following, when James Wood visited the
western tribes, and asked them to a council, under the direction of
the Yirginia House of Burgesses, he found that Governor Carlton
had been beforehand, and offered the alliance of England^ It
would seem then, that even before the battle of Lexington, both
parties had applied to the Indians, and sought an alliance.
In the outset, therefore, both parties were of the same miud
and pursued the same course. The Congress of the United
Colonies, however, during 1775, and until the summer of 1776,
advocated merely the attempt to keep the Indians out of the contest
entirely, and instructed the commissioners appointed in the several
departments to do so. But England was of another mind.
Promises and threats were both used to induce the savages to
act with her, though at first it would seem to little purpose, for
even the Canada tribe of Caghnawagas had offered their aid to
the Americans. When Britain, however, became victorious in
the North, and particularly after the battle of the Cedars, in May,
1776, the wild men began to think of holding to her side, their
policy being, most justly, in all quarrels of the whites to stick to
the strongest. Then it was, in June 1776, that Congress resolved
to do what Washington had advised in the previous April, that is, to
employ the savages in active warfare. Upon the 19th of April the
commander-in-chief wrote to Congress, saying, as the Indians
would soon be engaged, either for or against, he would suggest that
they be engaged for the colonies ; f upon the 3d of May, the report
on this was considered ; upon the 25th of May, it was resolved to

¦* American Archives, Fourth Scries.
f Spark's Washington, vol. iii, p. 364.

1776. INDIANS INFEST KENTUCKY, 245
be highly expedient to engage the Indians for the American
service ; and, upon the 3d of June, the general was empowered to
raise two thousand to be employed in Canada, Upon the 17th of
June, Washington was authorized to employ them where he pleased
and to offer them rewards for prisoners ; and, upon the 8th of
July, he was empowered to call out as many of the Nova Scotia
and neighboring tribes as he saw fit,*
Such was the course of proceeding on the part of the colonies
with regard to the employment of Indians, The steps at the time
were secret, but now the whole story is before the world. Not so,
however, ¦with regard to the acts of England; as to them, there are
but few of the records available. One thing, however, is known,
namely, that while the colonies offered their allies of the woods
rewards for prisoners, some of the British agents gave them money
for scalps,f — a proceeding that cannot find any justification.
In accordance with the course of policy thus pursued, the north
western tribes, already angered by the constant invasion of their
territory by the hunters of Yirginia and Carolina, and easily
accessible by the la^es, were soon enlisted on the side of England ;
and, had a Pontiac been alive to lead them, might have done much
mischief. As it was, during the summer of 1776, their straggling
parties ao filled the wooda of Kentucky, that no one outside of a
fort felt safe. But no better picture of the fear and anxiety that
prevailed, can be given, than a part of a letter from an inmate of the
fort at Boonesborough, written at that time.
" If the war becomes general, of which there is the greatest
aippearance, our situation is truly alarming. We are about finish
ing a large fort, and intend to keep possession of this place as long
as possible. They are, I understand, doing the same thing at
Harrodsburg, and also on Elkhorn, at the Royal Spring. The
settlement on Licking creek, known by the name of Hinkston's,
has been broken up ; nineteen of the settlers are now here on their
way in — ^Hinkston among the rest. They all seem deaf to any thing
we can say to dissuade them. Ten at least, of our own people, are
going to join them, which will leave us with less than thirty men
at this fort. I think more than three hundred men have left the
country since I came out, and not one has arrived, except a few
cabiners down the Ohio.

* Secret Journals, vol. i, pp. 43-47.
f Jefferson's Writings, vol. i, p. 456.

246 CLARK'S SETTLEMENT IN KENTUCKY. 1776.
" I want to return as much as any person can do j but if I leave
the country now, there is scarcely one single man who will not
follow the example. When I think of the deplorable condition a
few helpless families are likely to be in, I conclude to sell my life
as dearly as I can in their defense, rather than make an ignomini
ous escape.
"I am afraid it is in vain to sue for any relief from Yirginia; yet
the convention encouraged the settlement of this country, and why
should not the extreme parts of Fincastle be as justly entitled to
protection as any other part of the country ? If an expedition
was carried on against those nations who are at open war -mth the
people in general, we might be in a great measure relieved, by
drawing them off to defend their towns. If any thing under
Heaven can be done for us, I know of no person who would more
¦willingly engage in forwarding us assistance than yourself. I do,
at the request and in behalf of all the distressed women and
children, and other inhabitants of this place, implore the aid of
every leading man who may have it in his power to give us
relief. "I cannot write. You can better guess at my ideas from what
I have said, than I can express them."
But it was not destined that Kentucky should sink under her
trials. It was during this very summer of 1776, indeed, that the
corner-stone of her prosperity was laid, and the first step taken
toward making her an independent commonwealth.
This was done by George Rogers Clark, truly her founder, and
the most eminent of the early heroes of the West. He was born
November 19, 1752, in Albemarle county, Yirginia. In early life,
he had been, like Washington, a surveyor, and more lately had
served in Dunmore's war. He first visited Kentucky in 1775, and
held apparently at that time the rank of major. Returning to
Yirginia, in the autumn of 1775, he prepared to move permanently
to the West, in the following spring. Having done thia early in
1776, Clark, Whose viewa reached much further than those of piost
of the pioneers, set himself aeriously to consider the condition and
prospects Of the yoU«g tepublio to which he had attached himself.
Its advantages were too obvious to escape any eye ; but the dangers
of a colony ao far beyond the old linea of civilization, and uncon
nected with any of the elder provinces, while at the aame time the
titie to it waa in dispute, had not impresaed all minds aa they
should.

1776. KENTUCKY PETITION. 247
Clark knew that Yirginia entirely denied the purchase of Hen
derson ; he knew also that Henderson's purchase from the Chero
kees was of the same soil which Sir William Johnson had purchaaed
for the Mng in 1768, from the Iroquoia, at Fort Stanwix ; he was
sure, also, that the Yirginia settlers would never be easy under a
proprietary government, however founded ; and saw already with
his quick eye, wide-spread dissatisfaction. One of two things he
deemed the frontier' settlementa muat be : either an acknowledged
portion of Yirginia,* and to be by her aided in their struggles, — or
an independent commonwealth. These views had been partially
formed in 1775, probably, for on June 6th, 1776, they had attained
sufficient currency to cause the gathering of a general meeting at
Harrodsburg, to bring matters to an issue. Clark was not present
at the commencement of the meeting. Had he been, there is
reason to think he would have procured the election of envoys
authorized to lay the whole business before the AssCTibly of Yir
ginia, and ask the admittance of Kentucky by itself into the
number of her counties. Aa it waa, he and Gabriel Jonea were
choaen members of the Yirginia Aasembly, and the follo^wing
petition was prepared and signed by James Harrod and eighty-
seven others, to be laid before that body.
" To the Honorable the Convention of Virginia. — The Petition of the
inhabitants, and some of the intended settlers, of that part of
North America now denominated Transylvania, humbly sheweth :
" Whereas, some of your petitioners became adventurers in that
country from the advantageous reports of their friends who first
explored it, and others since allured by the specious show of the
easy terms on which the land was to be purchased from those who
style themselves to be proprietors, have, at a great expense and
many ha^-dahipa, settled there, under the faith of holding the lands
by an indefeasible title, which those gentlemen assured them they
were capable of making. But your petitioners have heen greatly
alarmed at the late conduct of those gentlemen, in advaftmng the
price of the purchase money from twenty shillings to fifty shillings
sterling per hundred acres, and at the same time have increased
the fees of entry and surveying to a most exorbitant rate ; and, by
the short period prefixed for taking up the landSj even on those
extraTagant teim^ they plainly evince their intentions of rising in

¦* So far Fincastle county had been held to include Kentucky, but the inhabitants had
no rights or prfft'ectloii as citizens of ¦Virginia. — fi'arsliall, i. 47.

248 KENTUCKY PETITION. 1776.
their demands as the settiers increase, or their insatiable avarice
shall dictate.
" And your petitioners have been more justly alarmed at such
unaccountable and arbitrary proceedings, as they have lately
learned, from a copy of the deed made by the Six Nations with Sir
William Johnson, and the commissioners from this colony, at I'ort
Stanwix, in the year 1768, that the said lands were included in the
cession or grant of that tract which lies on the south side of the
river Ohio, beginning at the mouth of Cherokee or Hogohege
River, and extending up the said river to Kettaning. And, as in
the preamble of said deed, the said confederate Indians declare the
Cherokee River to be their true boundary ¦with the southern
Indians, your petitioners may, with great reason, doubt the validity
of the purchase that those proprietors have made of the Chero
kees — the only title they set up to the lands for which they demand
such extravagant sums from your petitioners, without any other
assurance for holding them than their own deed and warrantee; a
poor security, as your petitioners humbly apprehend, for the money
that, among other new and unreasonable regulations, these pro
prietors insist should be paid down on the delivery of the deed.
"And, as we have the greatest reason to presume that his majesty,
to whom the lands were deeded by the Six Nations, for a valuable
consideration, will vindicate his title, and think himself at liberty
to grant them to such persons, and on such terms as he pleases,
your petitioners would iu consequence thereof, be turned out of
possession, or be obliged to purchase their lands and improvements
on such terms as the new grantee or proprietor might think fit to
impose ; so that we cannot help regarding the demand of Mr. Hen
derson and his company as highly unjUst and impolitic, in the
infant state of the settlement, as well as greatly injurious to your
petitionera, who would cheerfully have paid the considertion at
first stipulated by the company, whenever their grant had been
confirmed by the crown, or otherwise authenticated by the supreme
legislature. "And, as we are anxious to concur in every respect with our
brethren of the united Colonies, for our juat rights and privileges,
aa far as our infant aettlement and remote aituation will admit of,
we humbly expect and implore to be taken under the protection of
the honorable Convention of the Colony of Yirginia, of which we
cannot help thinking ourselves still a part, and request your kind
interposition in our behalf, that we may not suffer under the rig
orous demands and impositions of the gentlemen styling themselves

1776. CLARK AND JONES ELECTED DELEGATES. 249
proprietors, who, the better to effect their oppressive designs, have
given them the color of a law, enacted by a score of men, artfully
picked from the few adventurers who went to see the country last
summer, overawed by the presence of Mr. Henderson.
"And that you would take such measures as your honors, in your
wisdom, shall judge most expedient for restoring peace and har
mony to our divided settlement ; or, if your honors apprehend that ,
our case comes more properly before the honorable the General
Congreaa, that you would, in your goodness, recommend the same
to your worthy delegates, to espouse it as the cause of the colony.
And your petitioners, &c."
Clark knew perfectly well that the legislature of his native State
would not acknowledge the validity of the election of delegates
from the frontiers, but hoping nevertheless to effect his object,
such a recognition of the Yirginia claim to Kentucky as would
insure her aid in the defense of the stations, he and his companion
took the southern route by the Cumberland Gap, and after suffer
ing agonies from " scald feet," at length reached their destination,
only to learn that the Assembly had adjourned. This of course
caused a delay in part of their proceedings, but the keen-vntted
soldier saw that before the legislature met again, he might, by
proper steps, effect much that he wished to ; he lost no time, there
fore, in waiting upon Patrick Henry, then governor, and explaining
to him the capabilities, the dangers, the wishes, and the necessities
of the settlers in the far west — asked for a supply of the first neces
sary of life, gunpowder. The governor was favorably disposed,
and gave Clark a letter to the Executive Council, being himself
sick, and unable to go with him to Williamsburg, the seat of gov
ernment at that time.
But the Council were very cautious, and while they would lend the
powder, if Clark would be answerable for it, and pay for its trana-
portation, they dared not, until the Assembly had recognized the
Kentucky stations as within Yirginia, do more. Clark presented,
and again presented the impossibility of his conveying the powder
to so great a distance, through a country swarming with foes. The
Council listened patiently, but dared not run any risk. An order
was issued for the powder on the terms proposed, but the inflexible
pioneer would have none of it, and incloaing the order again to the
Council, told them, that aince Yirginia would not aid her children,
they must look elae where— that a land not worth defending was
not worth claiming, of courae — and so he bade them good-by«.
17

250 CLARK OBTAINS GUNPOWDER. 1776.
These intimations were not to be overiooked ; the whole mati;er
was again weighed in the Council, and probably the governor's
advice taken, after which, upon the 23d of August, an order was
issued for placing the ammunition required at Pittsburgh, sub
ject to Major Clark'a order, for the use of the inhabitants of
"Kentucki."* One of his objects being thus in the main accomplished, Clark
prepared himself to urge the suit of the Transylvania colonists be
fore the legislature when it should meet in the fall, having first
written to his friends at the weat that powder was waiting them
at Pittsburgh, which they must manage to get down the river.
When the Assembly met, Messrs. Clark and Jones on the one
hand, and Henderson and his friends on the other, proceeded to
lay before it the whole question of proprietorship in the Kentucky
purchase from the Cherokees. The conteat must have been one of
considerable severity, for it was not till December 7, 1776, that the
success of the delegates appointed in June was made certain by the
erection of the region in dispute, together vrith all that now forms
the State of Kentucky, into a county of that name. His second
great aim secured, (and he probably considered it so before the actual
passage of the law,) Clark and his associate were on the point of
returning at once to the frontier, by the southern route, when they
fortunately heard that their gunpowder still lay at Pittsburgh.
The truth was that Clark'a letter to his western friends had mis
carried. At once the envoys determined to go back byway of the
Ohio, and see their five hundred pounds of ammunition safe to the
stations themselves.
When they reached Pittsburgh, they learned that many Indians,
it was thought with hostile intentions, were lurking thereabouts,
who would probably follow them down the river; but no time was
to be lost, no matter what dangers threatened, so with seven boat
men, the two delegates embarked upon the Ohio, and succeeded in
reaching safely Limestone creek, where Maysville has been since
built. Setting their boat adrift, lest it should attract attention,
they concealed their treasure, as they beat could, along the banks
of the creek, and started for Harrodsburg, to procure a convoy. On
the way they heard of Colonel Todd as being in the neighborhood
with a band of men ; Jones and five of the boatmen remained to
join this party, and return with it for the powder, while Clark and

* Butler, second edition, 488, gives the order.

1777. TROUBLES ON THE NORTHERN FRONTIER. 251
the other two pushed forward to the Kentucky. Jones and Todd
having met, turned their steps toward the Ohio, but were suddenly
attacked on the 25th of December, near the Blue Licks, by a party
of natives, who had struck Clark's trail, were defeated, and Jones,
with two others, were killed.* Clark, however, reached Harrods
burg in safety, and a party was sent thence, which brought the gun
powder to the forts.
The year 1776 might be said to have paaaed without any serious
1777.] injury to the colonists from the various Indian tribes,
although it was clear that those tribes were to be looked on as
engaged in the war, and that the majority of them were with the
mother country. Through the west and north-west, where the
agents of England could act to the greatest advantage, dissatisfac
tion spread rapidly. The nations nearest the Americana found
themselves preased upon and haraased by the more distant bands,
and through the whole winter of 1776-77, rumors were flying along
the frontiers of Yirginia and Pennsylvania, of coming troubles. Nor
were the people of New York less disturbed in their minds, the
settlers upon the Mohawk and upper Susquehanna standing in
continual dread of incursion.f No incursion, however, took place
during the winter or spring of 1777 ; though why the blow was
delayed cannot well be known until Great Britain has magna
nimity enough, to unveil her past acta, and, acknowledging her
follies and sins, show the world the various steps to that union
of the savages againat her foes, which her noble Chatham denounced
aa a "disgrace," and "deep and deadly sin."
That blow waa delayed, however; and, alas! waa struck at
length, after, and aa if in retaliation for one of those violent acts of
wrong, which must at times be expected from a frontier people.
Cornstall^ was the leading chieftain of the Scioto Shawanese ; a
man whose energy, courage, and good sense, placed him among the
vety foremost of the native heroes of this land. This truly great
man, who was himself for peace, but who found all his neighbors,
and even thoae of his own tribe, stirred up to war by the agents of
England, went over to the American fort at Point Pleasant, at the
mouth of the Great Kanawha, in order to talk the matter over with
Captain Arbuckle, who commanded there, and with whom he was

* Olark's account in Dillon's Indiana, 128.
•(¦Journal of the Old Congress — Stone, &o.

252 TREACHEROUS MURDER OF CORNSTALK. 1777.
acquainted. This was early in the summer of 1777. The Ameri
cana knowing the Shawanese to be inclining to the enemy, thought
it would be a good plan to retain Cornstalk and Redhawk, a
younger chief of note, who waa with him, and make them hostages
for the good conduct of their people. The old warrior, accordingly,
after he had finished his statement of the position he was in, and
the necessity under which he and his friends would be of "going
with the stream," unless the Long-Knives could protect them, found
that, in seeking counsel and safety, he had walked into a trap, and
was fast there. However, he folded his arms, and ¦with Indian
calmness, waited the issue.
The next morning, from the opposite shore was heard an Indian
hail, known to be from Ellinipsico, the son of Cornstalk. The
Americans brought him also into their toils as a hostage, and were
thankful that they had thus secured to themselves peace; as if
iniquity and deception ever secured that first condition of all good !
Another day rolled by, and the three captives sat waiting what time
would bring. On the third day, two savages who were unknown-
to the whites, shot one of the white hunters, toward evening.
Instantly the dead man's comrades raised the cry, " Kill the red
dogs in the fort." Arbuckle tried to stop them, but they were men
of blood, and their wrath was up. The Captain's own life was
threatened if he offered any hindrance. They rushed to the house
where the captives were confined. Cornstalk met them at the door,
and fell, pierced with seven bullets; his son and Redhawk died
also, less calmly than their veteran companion, and more painfully.
From that hour, peace was not to be hoped for.*
But this treachery closed by murder, on the part of the Ameri
cans, in no degree caused, or excuses the after steps of the British
agents ; for almost at the moment when Cornstalk was dying upon
the banks of the Ohio, there was a congress gathering at Oswego,
under the eye of Colonel Johnson, "to eat the flesh and drink the
blood of a Bostonian;" in other words, to arrange finally the
measures which should be taken against the devoted rebels by
Christian brethren and their heathen allies.
In Kentucky, meanwhile, Indian hostilities had been unceas
ing :
From Clark's journal, it appears that on the 6th, 7th, 18th and

* Doddridge, 237.— Withers' Border Warfare, 151.

1777. EXTREME SUFFERING IN THE WEST. 253
28th of March ; on the 7th, 24th and 29th of April ; on the 23d and
30th of May; on the 22d of June; on the 25th of August; and on
the 11th of September, predatory attacks were made, and murders
committed by the Indians in all the settlements and around the forts
and block-liouses.
At times, the stations were assailed by large bodies of savages ;
at times, single settlers were picked oft" by single, skulking foes.
The horses and cattle were driven away ; the cornfields remained
uncultivated ; the numbers of the whites became fewer and fewer,
and from the oldeV settlements little or no aid came to the frontier
stations, until Col. Bowman, in August, 1777, came from Yirginia
with one hundred men. It was a time of suffering and distress
through all the colonies, which was in most of them bravely borne;
but none suffered more, or showed more courage and fortitude,
than the settlers of the West. Their conduct has excited less ad
miration out of their ovtu section than that of Marion, and men
like him, because their struggles had less apparent connection with
the great cause of American independence. But who shall say
what would have become of the resistance of the colonies, had
England been able to pour from Canada her troops upon the rear
of the rebels, assisted, as she would have been, by all the Indian
nations? It may have been the contests before the stations of
Kentucky, and Clark's bold incursions into Illinois, and against
Yincennes, which turned the oft-tottering fortunes of the great
struggle. But whatever may be thought of this, very many incidents of
Western history present a most picturesque and touching character,
during the period that elapsed from 1777 to 1780. Time has not yet
so mellowed their features as to give them an air of romance pre
cisely ; but the essence of romance is in them. In illustration,
one or two of these incidents, familiar enough in the West, but
still worthy of repetition, will be mentioned.
One of the eminent men of Kentucky, in those and later times?
was General James Ray. While yet a boy, he had proved himself
able to outrun the best of the Indian warriors ; and it was when
but seventeen years of age that he performed the service, for a dis
tressed garrison, of which we are about to speak. It was in the
winter of 1776-77, a winter of atarvation, Ray lived at Harrods
burg, which, like the other atations, was destitute of corn. There
was game enough in the wooda around, but there were also Indians
more than enough, and had the sound of a gun been heard in the

254 LOGAN'S STATION ATTACKED. 1777.
neighborhood of a station, it would have insured the death of the
one who discharged it. Under these circumstances, Ray resolved
to hunt at a distance. There was one horse left of a drove of forty,
which Major M'Gary had brought to the West; an old horse, faith-
ful and strong, but not fitted to run the gauntiet through the forest.
Ray took this solitary animal, and before day dawn, day by day,
and week by week, rode noiselessly along the runs and rivers until
he was far enough to hunt with safety ; then he killed his game,
and by night, or in the dusk of the evening, retraced his steps.
And thus the garrison lived by the daring labors of this stripling
of seventeen. Older hunters tried his plan, and were discovered;
but he, by his sagacity, boldness, care, and skill, safely pursued his
disinterested and dangerous employment, and succeeded in con
stantly avoiding the perils that beset him. It is not likely that
Boone, or any one, ever showed more perfectly the qualities of a
superior woodsman than did Ray through that winter. ^
If any one did, however, it was surely Benjamin Logan, in the
spring of that same year. Logan crossed the mountains witii Hen
derson, in 1775, and was of course one of the oldest settlers. In
May, 1777, the fort at which Logan lived was surrounded by In
dians, more than a hundred in number; and so silently had they
made their approach, that the first notice which the garrison had
of their presence was a discharge of firearms upon some men who
were guarding the women as they milked the cows outside the
station. One was killed, a second mortally wounded, and a third,
named Harrison, disabled. This poor man, unable to aid himself,
lay in sight of the fort, where his wife, who saw his condition, was
begging some one to go to his relief But to attempt such a thing
seemed madness ; for whoever ventured from either side into the
open ground, where Harrison lay writhing and groaning, would
instantly become a target for all the sharpshooters of the opposite
party. For some momenta Logan stood it pretty well ; he tried
to persuade himself, and the poor woman who was pleading to him,
that his duty required him to remain within the walls and let the
savages complete their bloody work. But such a heart as his was
too warm to be long restrained by arguments and judicious expe
diency ; and suddenly turning to his men, he cried, " Come, boys,
who's the man to help me in with Harrison ?" There were brave
men there, but to run into certain death in order to save a man
whom, after all, they could not save— it was asking too much ; and
all shook their heads, and shrunk back from the mad proposal.
" Not one ! not one of you help a poor fellow to save his scalp I"

1777. LOGAN OBTAINS AMMUNITION AT HOLSTON. 255
" Why, what's the good, captain ; to let the red raacals kill us wont
help Harrison !" At last, one, half inspired by Logan's impetuous
courage, agreed to go ; he could die but once, he said, and waa
about as ready then as he should ever be. The gate was slightly
opened, and the two doomed men stepped out ; instantly a tempest
of rifle balls opened upon them, and Logan's companion, rapidly
reasoning himself into the belief that he was not so ready to die as
he had believed, bolted back into the station. Not so his noble-
hearted leader. Alone, through that tempest, he sprang forward
to where the wounded man lay, and while his hat, hunting-shirt,
and hair were cut and torn by the ceaseless shower, he lifted his
comrade like a child in his arms, and regained the fort without a
scratch. But this rescue of a fellow-being, though worthy of record in
immortal verse, was nothing compared with what this same Benja
min Logan did soon after. The Indians continued their siege ; still
they made no impression, but the garrison were running short of
powder and ball, and none could be procured except by crossing
the mountains. To do this, the neighboring forest must be passed,
thronging with Indians, and a journey of some hundred miles ac
complished along a path every portion of which might be waylaid,
and at last the fort must be re-entered with the articles so much
needed. Surely, if ever an enterprise seemed hopeless, it was thia
one, ancj yet the thing must be tried. Logan pondered the matter
carefully ; he calculated the distance, not less than four hundred
miles in and back ; he estimated the aid from other quarters ; and
in the silence of night asked wisdom and guidance from God. Nor
did he ask in vain ; wisdom was given him. At night, with, two
picked companions, he stole from the station, every breath hushed.
The summer leaves were thick above them, and, with the pro-
foundest care and skill, Logan guided his followers from tree to
tree, from run to run, unseen by the savages, who dreamed not,
probably, of so dangerous an undertaking. Quickly, but mosc
cautiously, pushing eastward, walking forty or fifty miles a day,
the three woodsmen passed onward till the Cumberland range was
in sight ; then, avoiding the Gap, which they supposed would be
watched by Indians, over those rugged hills, where man had never
climbed Before, they forced their way with untiring energy, and a
rapidity to us, degenerate as we are, inconceivable.
The mountains crossed, and the valley of the Holston reached,
Logan procured his ammunition, and then turned alone on his
homeward track, leaving his two companions, with full directions,

256 FORT HENRY THREATENED. 1777.
to follow him more slowly with the lead and powder. He returned
before them, because he wished to revive the hopes of hia littie
garrison in the wilderness, numbering as it did, in his absence,
only ten men, and they without the means of defense. He feared
they would yield, if he delayed an hour; so back, like a chamois,
he sped over those broken and precipitous ranges, and actually
reached and re-entered his fort in ten days from the time he left it,
safe and full of hope. Such a spirit would have made even women
dare and do every thing, and by his influence the siege was still
resisted till the ammunition came safe to hand. From May till
September that little band was thus beset ; then Colonel Bowman
relieved them. In the midst of that summer, as George Rogers
Clark's journal has it, " Lieutenant Linn was married — ^great mer
riment !" This was at Harrodsburg, near by Logan's station.
Such was the frontier life !
It was a trying year, 1777, for those little forts in the wilderness.
At the close of it, three settlements only existed in the interior —
Harrodsburg, Boonesborough, and Logan's; and of these three
the whole military population was but one hundred and two in
number !
Nor waa it in Kentucky alone that the Indians were busy.
Through the spring and summer constant attacks were made upon
the settlements in the neighborhood of Wheeling. At this point,
the Zanes had settled, in 1770, and here, in 1774, Connolly, or the
settlers, by his direction, had built a fort, called Fort Fincastle,*
after the name of the western county of Yirginia. In this a body
of men was left by Lord Dunmore, when he made his treaty with
the Shawanese,! and through the whole of 1775 and 1776 it was
occupied by more or fewer soldiers ; indeed, in those times all men
were soldiers, and hostility from the Indians daily anticipated.
This fort, in 1776, was called, in honor of the eloquent governor of
Yirginia, Fort Henry, and was the central point between Fort Pitt
and the works at the mouth of Kanawha.
Early in the autumn of 1777, word from friendly Indians, per
haps the Christian Delawares, of the Muskingum, or perhaps from
Isaac Zane, the brother of the Wheeling settlers, reached General
Hand, who commanded at Fort Pitt, informing him that a large
body of the north-weatern Indiana was preparing to ^tack the

* George R. Clarke is said to have planned it. (American Pioneer, ii., 303.)
¦(¦ American Archives, Fourth Series, ii., 1189.

1777. FORT HENRY BESIEGED. 257
posts of the upper Ohio. These news were quickly spread abroad,
and all were watching where the blow would come.
On the evening of September 26th, amoke was seen by those
near Wheeling, down the river, and was supposed to proceed from
the burning of the block-house at Grave creek, and the people of
the vicinity taking the alarm, betook themselves to the fort. With
in its walls were forty-two fighting men, of various ages and gifta ;
these were well supplied with guna, both rifles and muskets, but
had only a scant supply of gun powder; as the event proved. The
night of the 26th passed without alarm, but when very early upon
the 27th, two men, who were sent out for horses, in order to alarm
the settlements near by, had proceeded some distance from the fort,
they met a party of six savages, by whom one of them was shot.
The commandant of the post. Colonel Shepherd, learning from
the survivor that there were but six of the assailants, sent a party
of fifteen men to see to them. These were suffered to march after
the six, who seem to have been meant merely for a decoy, until
they were ¦within the Indian lines, when, suddenly, in front, be
hind, and on every side, the painted warriors showed themselves.
The little band fought bravely against incalculable odds, but of the
fifteen, three only escaped, and they by means of the brush and
logs which were in the corn-field where the skirmish took place.
As soon as the position of the first band was seen at the fort, thir
teen others ruahed to their assistance, and shared their fate. Then,
and it was not yet sunrise, the whole body of Indians, disposed in
somewhat martial order, appeared regularly, to invest the devoted
fort. There were nearly four hundred of them, and of the defenders,
but twelve men and boys; unless indeed, the women are counted, than
whom none were braver or calmer within the walls of that little fortress.
The Indiana were led, as waa supposed, by Simon Girty, who was
acting as an agent for the British, in the attempt to secure the aid
of a part, at any rate, of the frontier men, in the Revolutionary
struggle. Fort Henry stood immediately upon the bank of the Ohio, about
a quarter of a mile above the mouth of Wheeling creek, and be
tween it and the ateep river hill, with which every traveler in the
weat ia acquainted, were twenty or thirty log huts. When Girty
led his red troopa againat the fort, he at once took poaaesaion of the
houses of the village, as a safe and ready-made line of attack, and
from the window of one of the cabins, called upon the little garri
son to surrender to King George, and promised absolution to all
who would do 80. Col. Shepherd anawered at once that they would

258 FEMALE HEROISM, 1777.
neither desert or yield ; and when Girty recommenced his eloquence,
a shot from some impatient listener suddenly stopped his mouth.
Then commenced the siege. It was just sunrise in the valley,
through which the quiet river flowed as peacefully as if war was
never known, A calm, warm, bright September day— one of
those days moat lovely among the many pleasant ones of a year in
the Ohio valley. And from aunriae till noon, and from noon till
night of that day, the hundreds of besiegers and units of besieged,
about and within Fort Henry, ceased not to load and discharge
musket or rifie till it was too hot to hold.
About noon the fire of the assailants slackened, and then, as
powder waa scarce in the fort, and it was remembered that a keg
was concealed in the house of Ebenezer Zane, some sixty yards di^
tant, it was determined to make an effort to obtain it. When the
question "Who will go?" was proposed, however, so many com
petitors appeared, that time was wasted in adjusting the claims to
what was almost sure death. The rest of the story is given by Mr.
George S. McKiernan, from whom the whole account is derived.
"At this crisis a young lady, the sister of Ebenezer and Silas
Zane, came forward and desired that she might be permitted to
execute the service. This proposition seemed so extravagant that
it met with a peremptory refusal ; but she instantly renewed her
petition in terms of redoubled earnestness, and all the remonstrances
of the colonel and her relatives failed to dissuade her from her
heroic purpose. It was finally represented to her that either of tiw
young men, on account of his superior fleetness and familiarity
with acenea of danger, would be more likely than herself to do the
work succeaafully. She replied that the danger which would attend
the enterprise was the identical reason that induced her to offer her
services, for, as the garrison was very weak, no soldier's life should
be placed in needless jeopardy, and that, if she were to fall, thelo.^
would not be felt. Her petition was ultimately granted, and the
gate opened for her to pass out. The opening of the gate arrested
the attention of several Indians who were straggling through the
village. It was noticed that their eyes were upon her as she crossed
the open space to reach her brother's house; but seized, perhaps
with a sudden freak of clemency, or believing that a woman's life
was not worth a load of gunpowder, or influenced by Some other
unexplained motive, they permitted her to pass without molesta
tion. When she reappeared with the powder in her arms, the In
dians suspecting, no doubt, the character of her burden, elevated
their firelocks and discharged a volley at her aa she swiftly glided

1777. EXPLOIT OF MAJOR m'colloch. 259
- toward the gate ; but the balls flew wide of the mark, and the fear
less girl reached the fort in aafety with her prize."*
The alliea of Britain, finding riflea powerleas when used against
well-built block-houses and pickets, determined upon trying an
extemporary cannon, and having bound a hollow maple with
chains, having bored a touch hole, and plugged up one end, they
loaded it liberally and leveled it at the gate of the impregnable
castle. It was now evening, and the disappointed Wyandots
gathered about their artillery, longing to see its loading of stones
open to them the door of the American citadel. The match was
applied ; bursting into a thousand pieces, the cannon of Girty
tore, maimed, and killed hia copper-colored kinsfolk, but hurt no
one else.
During that night many of the aaaailanta withdrew diaheartened.
On the morning of the 28th, fifteen men came from Cross creek to
the aid of Fort Henry, and forty-one from Short creek. Of theae,
all entered the fort except Major McColloch, the leader of the
Short creek volunteera, who waa separated from his men, and left
at the mercy of the natives. His escape ia thus described by Mr.
McKiernan :
" From the very commencement of the war, his reputation as an
Indian hunter was as great, if not greater, than that of any white
man on the north-western border. He had participated in so many
renconters, that almost every warrior possessed a knowledge of
his person. Among the Indians his name was. a word of terror;
they cherished against him feelings of the moat frenzied hatred,
and there waa not a Mingo or Wyandot chief before Fort Henry
who would not have given the lives of twenty of his warriors to se
cure to himself the living body of Major McColloch. When, there
fore, the man whom they had long marked out as the first object of
their vengeance, appeared in their midst, they made almost superhu
man efforts to acquire possession of his person. The fleetness of Mr,
McColloch 'a well-trained steed was scarcely greater than that of his
enemies, who, with flying atridea, moved on in purauit. At length
the hunter reached the top of the hill, and, turning to the left,
darted along the ridge with the intention of making the best of his
way to Short creek,
" A ride of a few hundred yards in that direction brought him
suddenly in contact ¦with a party of Indians, who were returning to

* See American Pioneer, vol. ii. p. 309.

260 ESCAPE OF MAJOR m'colloch. 1777,
their camp from a marauding excursion to Mason's Bottom, on the
eastern side of the hill. This party being too formidable in num
bers to encounter single-handed, the major turned his horse about,
and rode over his own trace, in the hope of discovering some other
avenue to escape. A few paces only of his countermarch had been
made, when he found himself confronted by his original pursuers,
who had, by this time gained the top of the ridge, and a third party
was discovered pressing up the hill directly on his right. He was
now completely hemmed in on three sides, and the fourth was
almost a perpendicular precipice of one hundred and fifty feet de
scent, with Wheeling creek at its base.
The imminence of his danger allowed him but little time to reflect
on his situation. In an instant he decided upon his course. Sup
porting his rifle in his left hand, and carefully adjusting his reins
with the other, he urged his horse to the brink of the bluff, and
then made the leap which decided his fate. In the next moment
the noble steed, still bearing his intrepid rider in safety, was at the
foot of the precipice. McColloch immediately dashed across the
creek, and was soon beyond the reach of the Indians."*
Finding all attempts to take the fort fruitless, the Indians killed
all the stock, including more than three hundred cattle, burned
houses and fences, and destroyed every article of furniture.
Of the forty-two men who had been in the fort, twenty-five were
killed, all outside of the walls, and of the savages, probably one hun
dred perished.
Some of the incidents of the first siege of Fort Henry here
detailed,! ^^re referred by some of the early historians of the west
to the second siege of that fort, in 1782. The story of the wooden
cannon made by the Indians, and the "gunpowder exploit," are
especially referred to that period. In regard to the latter incident,
there is a further diflB.culty arising, from the fact that another
claimant for the honor of the exploit has appeared. The statement
of Mrs. Cruger, made in 1849, affirms that at the attack on Fort
Henry, in 1782, of which she was at that time an inmate. Miss
Molly Scott, ran from the house of Colonel Zane to the fort, to
obtain a supply of gunpowder for the use of those who were
defending it. She avers, that she herself assisted in placing the

*American Pioneer, vol. ii. p. 312.
f The authority here foUo-wed is that of the American Pioneer. Withers, in his border-
warfare, presents many of the incidents of the first siege, as here given, in 1782.

1777. sketch of the girtys, 261
powder in Molly Scott's apron ; and affirms that Elizabeth Zane
was not then at Wheeling,*
There is a further difficulty in the conflicting statements made in
regard to the presence of Simon Girty, at that siege, N, B, Craig,
Esq., whose accuracy is unquestioned, says : " On the 28th of March,
1778, Simon Girty, Alexander McKee, and Matthew Elliott, made
their escape from Pittsburgh, and ever after were active agents of
the British government, and exercised much influence with the
Indians against the United States." If the date here assigned to
the flight of Girty and his companions is correct, it necessarily
contradicts the statement that he was present at the siege of
Wheeling, in 1777.
As Girty's name is associated with the whole history of the Indian
wars of that period, it may be proper to refer more particularly to
his origin and history.
The father of Girty, was a native of Ireland, who emigrated to,
and settled in Pennsylvania about the year 1740. He was a man
of bad character and dissolute habits. He had four sons, Thomas,
Simon, George, and James. It is said he was murdered by the
paramour of his wife, who afterward married her, and removed
with her about 1754, to the extreme frontier. There the whole
family were taken by the Indians, and the step-father was burned
before the eyes of his family. Of the remaining members, Thomas
was rescued by Colonel Armstrong, in the Kittanning expedition,
and the rest were ransomed at various times from 1758 to 1765,
but only the mother and Simon returned.
George Girty was adopted by the Delawares, and continued with
them until hia death. He became a perfect savage, and adopted
entirely the manners of the Indiana. To consummate cunning, he
added the most fearless intrepidity. He fought in the battle of
Point Pleasant, Blue Licks, and Sandusky, and gained himself
much distinction for skill and bravery. In his latter years he gave
himself up to intemperance and died drunk, about 1813, on the
Miami of the Lake.
James Girty fell into the hands of the Shawanese, who adopted
him as a son. As he approached manhood he became dextrous in
all the arts of aavage life. To the moat sanguinary spirit he added
all the vices of the depraved frontier men, with whom he frequently
associated. It ia represented that he often visited Kentucky at the
time of ita firat aettlement, and many of the inhabitants felt the
*De Hass's Western Viririnia, p. 280.

262 CHARACTER OF SIMON GIRTY. 1777-
effects of his courage and cruelty. Neither age nor sex found
mercy at his hand. Hia delight waa in carnage. When unable to
walk in consequence of disease, he laid low with his hatchet captive
women and children who came within his reach. Traders who were
acquainted with him, say, so furious was he, that he would not have
turned on his heel to save a prisoner from the flames. His pleasure
was to see new and refined tortures inflicted, and to perfect this
gratification he frequently gave directiona. To thia barbarian are
to be attributed many of the cruelties charged on hia brother
Simon. Yet this monster was caressed by Elliott and Proctor.
Thomas Girty alone, of the sons, returned to civilized life. He
was one of Brady's spies in the Indian wars after the revolution,
and died, perhaps in Butler county, Pennsylvania, in 1820.
Simon Girty was the most notorious of the family. He was
adopted by the Senecas, but returned with his mother to the settle
ments, after his release. He joined the army under Lord Dunmore,
in 1774, and in that campaign waa- the companion of Simon
Kenton, sleeping, as he , said, often under the same blanket. At
the revolution, he sought a commission in the continental army,
was refused, and with McKee and Elliott, who were dissatisfied for
the same reason, left the vicinity of Pittsburgh, and joined the
Indians. In Kentucky and Ohio, he sustained the reputation of a
relentless barbarian, and his name was associated with every thing
cruel and fiend-like. This impression was in part erroneous. It
is said to be a fact susceptible of proof, that through his importu
nities, many prisoners were saved from death. His influence
among the Indians was great, and when he chose to be mercifiil, it
was generally in hia power to protect the imploring captive.
His reputation was that of an honest man. In the payment of
his debts he was scrupuloualy exact ; knowing and duly appreciating
integrity, he fulfilled hia engagements to the last cent. It is stated
that on one occasion he sold his horse, rather than incur the odium
of violating his promise. He was a great lover of rum. Nothing
could afford him more joy than a keg of this beverage. When
intoxicated, in abuse he was indiscriminate, sparing neither friends
nor foes. Then it Was he had no compassion in his heart. Although
mUeh disabled by rheumatism, for the last ten years of his life he
rode to his hunting grounds in pursuit of game. Suffering the
most excruciating pains he often boasted of his warlike spirit, and
it was his constant wish that he might breathe his last in battle.
It ia probable that he waa gratified, for it ia said he was cut to
pieces by Johnaton'a mounted men at the battle of the Thames.
Thia, however, is not certain.

1777. KENTUCKIANS ELECT BURGESSES. 263
But, notwithstanding the dangers and difficulties which sur
rounded them during 1777, the pioneers of the West held steadily
to their purposes, and those of Kentucky being now a component
part of the citizens of Yirginia, proceeded to exercise their civil
privileges, and, in April, elected John Todd and Richard Callaway,
burgesses, to represent them in the Aasembly of the parent State.
Early in the following September, the first court was held at
Harrodsburg, and Col. Bowman, who, as had arrived from the
settlements in August, was placed at the head of a regular military
organization which had be'en commenced the March previous.
Thus, within herself, feeble as she was, Kentucky was organizing,
and George Rogers Clark, her chief spirit, that had represented her
beyond the mountains the year before, was meditating another trip
to Williamsburg, for the purpose of urging a bolder and more
decided measure than any yet proposed.
He understood the whole game of the British. He saw that it
was through their possession of Detroit, Yincennes, Kaskaakia,
and the other western posts — which gave them easy and constant
access to the Indian tribes of the north-weat — ^that the British
hoped to effect such au union of the wild men as would annihilate
the frontier fortresses. He knew that the Delawares were divided
in feeling, and the Shawanese but imperfectly united in favor of
England, ever since the murder of Cornstalk. He was con^vinced,
that could the British in the north-west be defeated and expelled,
the natives might be easily awed or bribed into neutrality, and by
spies sent for the purpose, and who were absent from April 20th,
to June 22d, he had satisfied himself that an enterprise against the
Hlinois settlements might easily succeed.
Having made up his mind, on the 1st of October, he left Harrods
burg for the East, and reached the capital of Yirginia, November
the 5th. Opening his mind to no one, he watched with care the
state of feeling among those in power, waiting the proper moment
to present his scheme. Fortunately, while he was upon his road,
on the 17th of October, Burgoyne had surrendered, and hope was
again predominant in the American councils. When, therefore,
the western soldier, on the 10th of December, broke the subject of
his proposed expedition against the fort&on the distant Mississippi,
to Patrick Henry, who was still govornor, he met with a favorable
hearing, and though doubts and fears arose by degrees, yet so well
digested were his plans, that he waa able to meet each objection,
and remove every seeming impossibility.
Abeady the neceaaity of aecuriug the weatern poats had been

264 CLARK ORDERED TO ATTACK ILLINOIS. 1778.
presented to the conaideration of Congress ; as early as April 29th,
1776, the committee on Indian Affaira were instructed to report
upon the possibility of taking Detroit ; * and again, upon the 20th
of November, 1777, a report was made to that body, in which this
necessity was urged, and also the need that existed, of taking some
measure to prevent the spirit of disaffection from spreading among
the frontier inhabitants.f Three Commissioners, also, were chosen
to go to Fort Pitt, for the purpose of inquiring into the causes of
the frontier difficulties, and doing what could be done to secure all
the whites to the American cause, to cultivate the friendship of the
Shawanese and Delawares, and to concert with General Hand, some
measures for pushing the war westward, so as to obtain possession
of Detroit and other posts. General Washington was also requested
to send Colonel William Crawford, an old pioneer, to take active
command in the West; and he accordingly left head-quarters upon
the 25th. All thia ended in nothing, but it proved the correct
ness of Clark's views, and aided, we may suppose, in convincing
those who ruled in the Ancient Dominion, that their gloiy and
interest, as well as the safety of the whole frontier country, were
deeply involved in the success of the bold plan of the founder of
Kentucky. Clark having satisfied the Yirginia leaders of the feasibility of his
1778.] plan, received on the 2d of January, two sets of instruc
tions — the one open, authorizing him to enlist seven companies to
go to Kentucky, subject to his orders, and to serve for three months
from their arrival in the West ; the others set aecret, and drawn as
follows :
"YIRGINIA: Set. In Council, Williamsburg, Jan. 2d, 1778.
"Lieutenant-Colonel George Bogers Clark:
"You are to proceed with all convenient speed, to raise seven
companies of soldiers, to consist of fifty men each, officered in the
usual manner; and armed most properly for the enterprise, and
with this force attack the British force at Kaskasky.
"It is conjectured that there are many pieces of cannon and
military stores, to considerable amount at that place ; the taking
and preservation of which, would be a valuable acquisition to the
State. If you are so fortunate, therefore, as to succeed in your

* Secret Journals, 1, 43.
f Old Journals, vol. ii. p. 340.

1778. GOVERNOR henry's INSTRUCTIONS. 265
expedition, you will take every possible measure to secure the
artillery and stores, and whatever may advantage the State.
"For the transportation of the troops, provisions, &c., down the
Ohio, you are to apply to the commanding officer at Fort Pitt, for
boats ; and, during the whole transaction, you are to take especial
care to keep the true destination of your force secret; its success
depends upon this. Orders are, therefore, given to Capt. Smith to
secure the two men from Kaskasky. Similar conduct will be
proper in similar cases.
"It is earnestly desired that you show humanity to such British
subjects and other persons as fall in your hands. If the white
inhabitants at that post and neighborhood will give undoubted
evidence of their attachment to this State, (for it is certain they
live within its limits,) by taking the test prescribed by law, and by
every other way and means in their power, let them be treated as
fellow-citizens, and their persons and property duly secured.
Assistance and protection againat all enemies whatever, shall be
afforded them, and the Commonwealth of Yirginia is pledged to
accomplish it. But if these people vrill not accede to these reason
able demands, they must feel the miseries of war, under the direc
tion of that humanity that has hitherto distinguished Americans,
and which, it is expected, you will ever consider as the rule of your
conduct, and from which you are, in no instance, to depart.
" The corps you are to command, are to receive the pay and
allowance of militia, and to act under the laws and regulations of
thia State now in force, as militia. The inhabitants at this post
will be informed by you, that in case they accede to the offers of
becoming citizens of this Commonwealth, a proper garrison ¦will be
maintained among them, and every attention bestowed to render
their commerce beneficial, the fairest prospects being opened to the
dominions of both France and Spain.
"It is in contemplation to establish a post near the mouth of the
Ohio. Cannon will be wanted to fortify it. Part of those at Kas
kasky will be easily brought thither, or otherwise secured, ae
circumstances will make necessary.
"You are to apply to General Hand, at Pittsburgh, for powder
and lead necessary for this expedition. If he can't supply it, the
person who has that which Captain Lynn brought from New
Orleana can. Lead was sent to Hampshire by my orders, and
that may be delivered you. Wishing you success, I am. Sir, your
humble servant,
P. HENRY."
18

266 CLARK DESCENDS THE OHIO. 1778.
With these instructions, and twelve hundred pounda in the
depreciated currency of the time. Colonel Clark, for such was now
his title, on the 4th of February, started for Pittsburgh- It, had
been thought best to raise the troops needed, beyond the moun
tains, as the colonies were in want of all the soldiers they could
muster east of the Alleghenies, to defend themselves against the
British forces. Clark, therefore, proposed to enlist men about
Pittsburgh, while Major W. B. Smith, for the same purpose, went
to the Holston, and other officers to other points. None of them,
howevei', succeeded as they hoped to ; at Pittsburgh, Clark found
great opposition to the intention of carrying men away to defend
the outposts of Kentucky, while their own citaidel and the whole
region about it, were threatened by the savage allies of England;
and Smith, though he nominally succeeded in raising four compa
nies, was unahle, essentially, to aid his superior officer after all.
With three companies and several private adventurers, Ciarl^ at
length, commenced hia descent of the Ohio, which he navigated aa
far as the Falls, where he took possession of, and fortified Corn
Island, opposite to the spot now occupied by Louisville. At this
place, he appointed Colonel Bowman to meet him with such
recruits as had reached Kentucky by the southern route, and as
many men as could be spared from the stations.
He was joined on Corn Island by Captain Bowman, and a cbm^
pany from Kentucky, under Captaiu Dillard. His principal officers
were Captains Bowman, Helm, Harrod, Montgomery, and Dillard ;
and he daily expected a reinforcement from the Holston country,
under Major Smith, which failed. He now disclosed to his troopa
that their point of destination was Kaskaskia, in the Illinois coun
try. The project met the enthusiastic approbation of hia men,
except the company from Kentucky, under Captain Dillard; a
large part of which, with the lieutenant, on the morning appointed
for starting, the worthy captain had the mortification to find,, had
waded the river and deserted. They were pursued in the morning,
overtaken in the woods, about twenty miles from the falls, eight
taken back, and the rest wandered about in the woods for some
weeks, where they suffered greater deprivations and hardships than
thciir comrades who had gone on the expedition, before they got
shelter in a fort.*

* Clark',? Journal — Bntler's Kentucky, p. 49.

1778. CLARK PASSES THE FALLS OF OHIO. 267
Having waited until his arrangements were all completed, and
those chosen who were to be of the invading party, on the 24th of
June, during a total eclipse of the sun, with four companies, he
left his position and fell down the river. Hia plan waa to follow
the Ohio as far as the fort known as Fort Massac, and thence to. go
lay land direct to Kaskaakia. His troops took no other baggage
than they could carry in the Indian fashion, and for his success he
trusted entirely to aurpriae. If he failed, his plan was to cross tho
Mississippi, and throw himself into the Spanish settlements on the
west of that river. Before he commenced his march, he received
two pieces of information, of which he made good use at the pro
per time, by means of which he conquered the West without
bloodshed. One of these important items was the alliance of
France with the colonies; this, at once, made the American side
popular with the French and Indians of Illinois and the lakes ;
France having never lost her hold upon her ancient subjects and
allies, and England having never secured their confidence. The
other itemi was, that the inhabitants of Kaskaskia, and other old
towns, had been led by the British to believe that the Long Knives,
or Yirginians, were the most fierce, cruel, and blood-thirsty savages
that ever scalped a foe. With this impression on their minds,
Clark saw that proper management would readily dispose them to
submit from fear, if surprised, and then to become friendly from
gratitude, when treated with unlooked-for clemency.
Near the mouth of the Tennessee river, he found a party of
hunters, who had recently come from Kaskaskia, and who could
give him important information. They reported that M, Roche-
blave was the commander ; that the militia, chiefiy French citizens,
were kept in good discipline ; that spies were stationed along the
Mississippi ; that a rumor had reached Kaskaskia that the " Long-
Knives"* had projected an attack, and that the hunters and Indians
had received orders to keep watch, and report if any American
troops were coming that way. The fort near the town was kept
in order, as a place of retreat if the village was attacked, but it had
no regular garrison. The hunters offered to return with Clark,
and one John Saunders was employed aa a guide.
The party landed near the old site of Fort Massac, and secured
their boats in the mouth of a small creek. Heavy rains had fallen,

* The Indians and French of Illinois called the New Englanders Bostonais," and the
Virginians " L»ng-Knivef."

268 CLARK CROSSES FROM MASSAC TO KASKASKIA, 1778.
succeeded by hot, sultry weather. Their route lay through a wil
derness without a path. Cypress swamps, ponds, and deep, muddy,
sluggish streams had to be forded. Their success depended on a
secret and rapid march through the woods and prairies. For most
part of the route, the game on which they relied for subsistence
was scarce, and to send out hunting parties would expose them to
discovery. On the prairies, a July sun beat on them, and water
was scarce. The distance, as they traveled, was over one hundred
miles. On the third day the guide became so bewildered that be
could not .direct their course. A suspicion arose amongst the men
that he designed to betray them, and they earnestly demanded that
he should be put to death. He begged that, under a guard, he
might go a sliort distance into the prairie and try to find his course.
In an hour or two the poor fellow exclaimed, "I know that point
of timber," and pointed out the direction of Kaskaskia, It was on
the Fourth of July, 1778, that this party of invaders, with their gar
ments torn and soiled, and their beards of three weeks' growth,
approached the town, and secreted themselves among the hills east
of the Kaskaskia river, Clark sent forward his spies to watch the
proceedings of the people, and after dark put his troops in motion,
and took possession of a house, where a family lived, about three-
quarters of a mile above town. Here they found boats and canoes.
The troops were divided into three parties, two of which were
ordered to cross the river, while the other, under the immediate
command of Colonel Clark, took possession of the fort.
Kaskaskia then contained about two hundred and fifty houses.
Persons who could speak the French language, were ordered to
pass through the streets and make proclamation, that all the inhab
itants must keep within their houses, under penalty of being' shot
down in the streets.
The few British officers who had visited these French colonies
since the commencement of the rebellion of their Atlantic colo
nies, as they termed the Revolution, had told the most exaggerated
stories about the brutality and ferocity of the "Long-Knives;"—
that they would not only take the property of the people, but would
butcher, in the most horrible manner, men, Avomen, and children !
Tlie policy of these stories was to excite in the minds of these sim
ple-hearted French people, the most fearful apprehensions against
the colonists, that they might be watchful and be prepared for a
determined resistance, should any attempt be made on these remote
poats. These stories were a stimulus to the French traders to sup
ply the Indians with guns, ammunition, and scalping-knives,to aid
Iheir depredations on the settlements of Kentucky.

1778. CLARK SURPRISES THE KASKASKIANS. 269
Colonel Clark gained thia intelligence from the hunters, and in
hia journal saya, "I was determined to improve upon this, if I was
fortunate enough to get them into my possession; as I conceived
the greater the shock I could give them at first, the more sensibly
would they feel my lenity, and become more valuable friends."*
Few men have had a quicker or keener sagacity than Clark.
His plan was to produce a terrible panic, and then capture the town
without bloodshed, and well did he succeed.
The two parties haviiig crossed the river, entered the quiet and
unsuspecting village at both extremes, yelling in the most furious
manner, while those who made the proclamation in French, ordered
the people into their houses on pain of instant death. In a mo
ment, men, women, and children were screaming, "les long
Oouteaux! — les long Couieaux!" — the Long-Knives! — the Long-
Knives !
In about two hours after the surprise of the town, the inhabi
tants had all surrendered, and delivered up their arms to the con
queror. Not a drop of blood had been shed, though the victory
was complete. The whole management displayed in a most admi
rable manner, what the French style ruse de guerre, the policy of
war. M. Rocheblave, the governor, was taken in his chamber;
but his public papers and documents were admirably concealed or
destroyed by his wife.
Throughout the night the Yirginia troops were ordered to patrol
the streets, with yells and whoopings after the Indian fashion, which,
though exceedingly alarming to the conquered inhabitants, waa a
stratagem of Clark to accomplish his purposes.
One of the richest and most distinguished citizens of Kaskaskia
at that period was M. Cerre, said by Col. Clark to have been a
most bitter enemy to the Americans. In this, probably, he was
misinformed. None of the French families in Illinois were partic
ularly friendly to the government of Great Britain. But, probably,
M. Cerre had partaken of the feeling of his townsmen concerning
the "Long-Knives." He had long been a successful trader, but
had left the place before the arrival of the Americans, and was
then at St. Louis, on his way to Quebec.
The commander at once determined to bring him and all his
influence to the side of the American interest. Accordingly, he
took possession of his house and extensive stock of merchandise.

* Clark's Journal in Dillon's Indiana, i. p. 137.

270 CLARK TAKES KASKASKIA. 1778.
and placed a guard over the property. Another stratagem was to
prevent all intercourse between his own men and the citizena, and
to admit none of the latter to his presence, except by i>ositive com
mand for them to appear before him ; or, apparently, in great con
descension, when urgently solicited, to grant audience to some
humble petitioner. By this course of policy he contrived, at first,
to confirm all the worst suspicions the British had instilled into the
minds of the simple villagers, of the ferocity of the "Long-Knives,"
and then, by undeceiving them, to produce a revulsion of feelings,
and gain their unlimited confidence. In this he was completely
successful. The town was in possession of an enemy the inhabi
tants had been taught were the moat ferocious and brutal of all
men, and of whom they entertained the most horrible apprehen
sions, and all intercourse was strictly prohibited between each
other, and the conquerors. After five da.y8 the troops were
removed to the outskirts of the town, and the citizens were per
mitted to walk in the streets. But finding them engaged in con
versation, one with another. Col. Clark ordered some of the officers
to be put in irons, without assigning a single reason, or permitting
a word of defense. This singular display of despotic power in the
conqueror, did not spring from a cruel disposition, or a disregard
to the principles of liberty, but it was the course of policy he had
marked out to gain his object.
Of all commanders, perhaps. Colonel Clark had the readiest and
clearest insight into human nature. The effect of this stretch of
military power, at first, was to fill the inhabitants with consternar
tion and dismay.
After some time, M. Gibault, the parish priest, got permission to
wait on Colonel Clark, with five or six elderly gentlemen.
If the inhabitants of the town were filled with astonishment at
the suddenness of their captivity, these men were far more aston
ished at the pei-sonal appearance of Clark and his soldiers.
Their clothes were dirty and torn, (for they had no change of
apparel,) their beards of three and four weeks' growth, and, as
Clark states in his journal, they looked more frightful and disgust
ing than savages.
Some minutes passed before the deputation could speak, and
then they felt at a loss whom they should address as commandant,
for they saw no difference in the personal appearance between the
chieftain and his men.
Finally, the priest, in the most submissive tone and posture, re
marked, that the inhabitants expected to be separated, perhaps

It78. CLARK TAKES KASKASKIA. 271
never to meet again, and they begged through him, ks a great favor
from their conqueror, to be permitted to assemble in the church,
offer up their prayers to God for their souls, and take leave of each
other. The commander observed, with apparent carelesaness, that the
Americans did not trouble themselves about the religion of others,
but left every man to worship God as he pleased, that they might
go to church if they ¦wished, but on no account must a single per
son leave the town^ All further conversation was repelled, and
they were sent away rather abruptly, that the alarm might be
raised to the highest pitch.
The whole population assembled in the church, aa for the last
time, mournfully chanted their prayers, and bid each other fare
well — never expecting to meet again in this world ! But so much
did they regard this as a favor, that the priest and deputation re
turned from the church to the lodgings of Col. Clark, and in the
name of the people, expressed thanks for the indulgence they had
received. They then begged leave to address their conqueror upon
their separation and their lives. They claimed not to know the
origin or nature of the contest between Great Britain and the col
onies. What they had done had been in subjection to the British
oommanders, whom they were constrained to obey. They were
willing to submit to the loss of all their property, aa the fate of war,
but they begged they might not be effparated from their families,
and that clothes and pro^visions might be allowed them, barely suf
ficient for their present necessities.
Ool. Clark had now gained the object of hia artful maneuver.
BEe saw their fears were raised to the highest pitch, and he abruptly
thus addresaed them :
" Who do you take me to be ? Do you think we are savages-^
that we intend to massacre you all? Do you think Americans will
strip Women and children, and take the bread out of their mouths?
My countrymen/' said the gallant colonel, "never make War upon
the innocent ! It was to protect our own wives and children that
We have penetrated this ¦wilderness, to subdue these British posts,
from whence the savages are supplied with arms and ammunition
to murder us. We do not war against Frenchmen. The king of
France, your former master, is our ally. His ships and soldiers
are fighting for the Americans. The French are our firm friends.
GOj and enjoy your religion, and worship when you please. Re
tain your property — and now please to inform all your citizena
from me, that they are quite at liberty to conduct themaelves aa

272 CLARK TAKES CAHOKIA. 1778.
usual, and dismiss all apprehensions of alarm. We are your
friends, and come to deliver you from the British."
This speech produced a revulsion of feelings better imagined
than described. The news soon spread throughout the ¦village, the
bell rang a merry peal, the people, with the priest, again assembled
in the church, Te Deum was loudly sung, and the moat uproarious
joy prevailed throughout the night. The people were now allowed
all the liberty they could desire. All now cheerfully acknowledged
Col. Clark as the commandant of the country.
An expedition was now planned against Cahokia, and Major
Bowman with his detachment, mounted on French ponies, was
ordered to surprise that post. Several Kaskaskia gentlemen offered
their services to proceed ahead, notify the Cahokians of the change
of government, and prepare them to give the Americans a cordial
reception. The plan was entirely successful, and the post was
subjugated without the disaster of a battle. Indeed, there were
not a dozen British soldiers in the garrison.
In all their intercourse with the citizens. Col. Clark instructed
his men to speak of a large army encamped at the falls of the Ohio,
which would soon overrun and subjugate all the British posts in
the West, and that Post Yincent would be invaded by a detach
ment from this army. He soon learned from the French, that
Governor Abbot was gone to Detroit, and that the defense was left
with the citizens, who were mostly French. M. Gibault, the priest,
readily undertook an embassy to Yincennes, and to bring over the
people to the American interests without the trouble and expense
of an invasion. This was also successful, and in a few days the
American flag was displayed on the fort, and Captain Helm
appointed to the command, much to the surprise and consternation
of the neighboring Indians.
M. Gibault and party, with several gentlemen from Yincennes,
returned to Kaskaskia about the first of August with the joyful
intelligence. The reduction of these posts was the period of the enlistment of
the men, and Colonel Clark was at a loss tolsnow how to act, as
his instructions were vague and general. To abandon the country
now, was to lose the immense advantages gained^ and the com
mander, never at a loss for expedients, opened a new enlistment
and engaged his own men on a new establishment, and he issued
commissions for French officers in the country to command a
company of the inhabitants. He then established a garrison at

1778. GIBAULT NEGOTIATES AT VINCENNES. 273
Cahokia, commanded by Capt. Bowman, and another at Kas
kaskia, commanded by Capt. Williams. Capt. William Linn took
charge of a party that was to be discharged when they arrived
at the Falls, (Louisville,) and orders were sent to remove the station
from Corn Island, and erect a fort on the main land; and a stockade
fort was erected.
Capt. John Montgomery, in charge of M. Rocheblave, the late
British commander, and as bearer of dispatches, was sent with a
corps of men to Yirginia.
For the command of Post Yincent, he chose Capt. Leonard
Helm, in whom he reposed great confidence. Capt. Helm had
much knowledge and experience in Indian character, and Col.
Clark appointed him agent for Indian affairs in the department of
the Wabash. About the middle of August, he went out to take
possession of his new command.
At that period, an Indian of the Piankashaw tribe that had their
principal village near Yincennes, possessed great influence among
his people. He was known by the name of "Big Gate," or "Big
Door," and called by the Indians, "The Grand Door to the
Wabash," because nothing could be done by the Indian confederacy
on the Wabash without his approbation. His father who had been
known as "Tobacco," or, more commonly, "Old Tobac," sent him
" a spirited compliment by priest Gibault, who had influence with
these Indians. Big Door returned it. Next followed a regular
" talk," with a belt of wampum.
Captain Helm arrived safe at Yincennes, and was received with
acclamation by the people, and soon sent the "talk" and the wam
pum to 'the Grand Door. These Indians had been under British
influence, and had done no small mischief to the frontier settle
ments. The proud and pompous chief was taken with the courtesy
of the shrewd Captain, and sent him a message that he was glad to
see one of the Big Knife chiefs in town; that here he joined the
English against the. Big Knives, but he long thought they "looked
a little gloomy;" that he must consult his counselors, take time
to deliberate, and hoped the captain of the Big Knives would be
patient. After several days of very constant and ceremonious pro
ceedings, the captain was invited to council by Old Tobac, who
played quite a subordinate part to his aon.
After the customary display of Indian eloquence, about the sky
ha^ving been dark, and the clouds now having been brushed away,
the Grand Door announced "that his ideas were quite changed" —
and the "Big Knives waa in the right," — "and that he would tell

274 CONQUEST OF ILLINOIS. 1778,
all the red people on the Wabash to bloody the land no more for
the English,"
"He jumped up, struck his breast, called himself a man and a
warrior, said that he was now a Big Knife, and took Capt, Helm
by the hand. His example was followed by all present," *
This was a most fortunate alliance, for, in a short time, all the
tribes along the Wabash, as high as the Ouiatenon, came to Post
Yincennes and followed the example of the Great Door chief, and
the interests of the British lost ground daily in all the villages south
of Lake Michigan. The French citizens at the different posts,
enlisted warmly in the American cause.
Captain Montgomery reached Williamsburg, then the seat of
government in the " Old Dominion," •with M. Rocheblave, the
Governor of Illinois, a prisoner of war, and the dispatches of Col.
Clark, announcing that the British posts Were captured, and the
vast territory of the north-west subjugated. Only four persons
had known the real destination of Clark when he left the seat of
government at the commencement of the year. These were thfe
Governor, Patrick Henry, and his confidential counselors, Thomas
Jefferson, George Wythe and George Mason. They had assumed
a fearful responsibility in giving him private instructions, author
izing an attack on these remote British posts. The degree of suc
cess was beyond the expectations of the most sanguine.
In October, the House of Burgesses created the county of Illi
nois, and appointed John Todd, Esq., then of Kentucky, lieu
tenant-colonel and civil commandant. The act, which we have
in manuscript, with the seal of the Commonwealth, contained the
following provisions :
"All the citizens of the Commonwealth of Yirginia, who are
already settled, or shall hereafter settle on the western side of the
Ohio, shall be included in a distinct county, which shall be called
Illinois county ; and the Governor of this Commonwealth, with the
advice of the council, may appoint a county lieutenaat, or com
mandant-in-chief, in that county, during pleasure, who shall appoint
and commission so many deputy commandants, militia and officers,
and commiaaaries as he shall think proper, in the different districts,
during pleasure, all of whom, before they enter into office, shall
take the' oath of fidelity to this Commonwealth, and the oath of
office, according to the form of their own religion. And all civil

* JoTirnal of Clark, ih Dillon's Indiana, p. 144.

1778. CONQUEST OP ILLINOIS. 275
officers to which the inhabitants have been accuatomed, necessary
to the preseiwation of peace; and the administration of justice, shall
be choaen by a majority of citizena in their respective districts, to
be convened for that purpose, by the county lieutenant or com
mandant, or his deputy, and shall be commiseioned by the said
county lieutenant, or commandant-in-chief.
In November, the Legislature passed the following compli
mentary resolution to Clark and hia men :
In the House of Delegates, \
Monday, the 23d Nov., 1778. /
Whereas, authentic information has been recei^ved, that Lieuten
ant-Colonel George Rogers Clark, with a body of Yirginia militia,
has reduced the British posts in the western part of this common
wealth, on the river Mississippi, and its branches, whereby great
advantage may accrue to the common cause of America, as well aa
to this commonwealth in particular:
Besolved, That the thanks of this House are justly due to the
said Colonel Clark, and the brave officers and men under his com
mand, for their extraordinary resolution and perseverance, in so
hazardous an enterprise, and for their important services thereby
rendered their country.*
Teat, E. RANDOLPH, C. H. D.
After organizing a civil government, and providing for an elec
tion of magiatrates by the people. Col. Clark directed his attention
to the subjugation of the Indian tribes. In this he displayed the
same tact and shrewdness, the same daring, and his acts were
crowned ¦with the same success as in the conquest ¦with the British
posts. He always reprobated the policy of mviting and urging the In
dians to hold treatiea, and maintained that such a course was
founded upon a mistaken view of their character. He supposed
they always interpreted such overtures from the government as an
evidence of the fear and conscious weakness of the whites. Hence,
he avoided eVery intimation that he desired peace, and asaumed a
line of conduct that would appear that he meant to exterminate
them at once. He alwaya waited for them to apply and beg for a
treaty.

* See Butler's History of Kentucky, p. 490,

276 CONQUEST OF ILLINOIS, 1778.
These and other measures, which displayed great penetration
into Indian character, were completely successful. No commander
ever subjugated as many warlike tribes, in so short a time, and at so
little expense of life.
His meetings with them were opened at Cahokia, in September,
and his principles of action being never to court them, never to
load them with presents, never to seem to fear them, though always
to show respect to courage and ability, and to speak in the most
direct manner possible — ^he waited for the natives te make the first
advances, and offer peace. When they had done so, and thrown
away the bloody wampum sent them by the British, Clark coldly
told them he would answer them the next day, and, meanwhile, cau
tioned them against shaking hands with the Americans, as peace
was not yet concluded; it will be time to give hands when the
heart can be given too, he said. The next day the Indians came to
hear the answer of the Big Knife, which is given, as taken by Mr,
Butler and Mr, Dillon, from Clark's own notes :
" Men and warriors : pay attention to my words. You informed
me yesterday, that the Great Spirit had brought us together, and
that you hope that, as he was good, it would be for good, I have
also the same hope, and expect that each party will strictly adhere
to whatever may be agreed upon, whether it shall be peace or war,
and henceforward prove ourselves worthy of the attention of the
Great Spirit, I am a man and a warrior, not a counselor ; I cariy
war in my right hand, and in my left, peace, I am sent by the Great
Council of the Big Knife, and their friends, to take possession of
all the towns possessed by the English in this country, and to
watch the motions of the Red people : to bloody the paths of those
who attempt to stop the course of the river y but to clear the roads
for us to those that desire to be in peace ; that the women and
children may walk in them without meeting any thing to strike
their feet against. I am ordered to call upon the Great Fire for
warriors enough to darken the land, and that the Red people may
hear no sound, but of birds who live on blood, I know there is a
mist before your' eyes; I will dispel the clouds, that you may plearly
see the causes of the war between the Big Knife and the English;
then you may judge for yourselves, which party is in the right; and
if you are warriors, as you profess yourselves to be, prove it by
adhering faithfully to the party which you shall believe to be
entitled to your friendship, and not show yourselves to be squaws.
" The Big Knife is very much like the Red people, they don't
know how to make blankets, and powder, and cloth ; they buy

1778. CONQUEST OF ILLINOIS. 277
these things from the English, from whom they are sprung. They
live by making corn, hunting, and trade, as you and your neigh-
bora, the French, do. But the Big Knife daily getting more
numeroua, like the treea in the wooda, the land became poor, and
the hunting scarce; and having but little to trade with, the women
began to cry at aeeing their children naked, and tried to learn how
to make clothea for themselves ; some made blankets for their hus
bands and children ; and the men learned to make guns and pow
der. In this way we did not want to buy so much from the English ;
they then got mad with us, and sent strong garrisons through our
country, (as you see they have done among you on the lakes, and
among the French,) they would not let our women spin, nor our
men make powder, nor let us trade with anybody else. The Eng
lish said we should .buy every thing from them, and since we had
got saucy, we should give two bucks for a blanket, which we used
to get for one ; we should do as they pleased, and they killed some
of our people, to make the rest fear them. This is the truth, and
the real cause of the war between the English and us ; which did
not take place for some time after thia treatment. But our women
became cold and hungry, and continued to cry ; our young men
got lost for want of counsel to put them in the right path. The
whole land was dark, the old men held down their heads for shame,
because they could not see the sun, and thus there waa mourning
for many yeara over the land.
"At laat the Great Spirit took pity on us, and kindled a great
council fire, that never goes out, at a place called Philadelphia ; he
then stuck down a post, and put a war tomahawk by it, and went
away. The sun immediately broke out, the sky was blue again,
and the old men held up their heads, and assembled at the fire..;
they took up the hatchet, sharpened it, and put it into the hands
of our young men, ordering them to strike the English as long as
they could find one on this side of th6 great waters. The young
men immediately struck the war-post, and blood was shed : in this
way the war began, and the English were driven from one place to
another, until they got weak, and then they hired you Red people
to fight for them. The Great Spirit got angry at thia, and caused
your old father, the French king, and other great nations, to join
the Big Knife, and fight with them against all their enemies. So
the English have become like a deer in the woods ; and you may
see that it is the Great Spirit, that has caused your waters to be
troubled ; because you have fought for the people he was mad with.

278 CONQUEST OP ILLINOIS. 1778.
If your women and children should now cry, you must blame your
selves for it, and not the Big Knife.
"You can now judge who is in the right; I have already told
you who I am ; here is a bloody belt, and a white one, take which
you please. Behave like men, and don't let your being surrounded
by the Big Knife, cause you to take up the one belt with, youi
hands, while your hearts take up the other. If you take the bloody
path, you shall leave the town in safety, and may go and join your
friends, the English ; we will then try, like warriors, who can put
the most stumbling blocks in each other's way, and keep our
clothes longest stained vsdth blood. If, on the other hand, you
should take the path of peace, and be received as brothers to the
Big Knife, with their friends, the French, should you then listen '
to bad birds, that may be flying through the. land, you will no
longer deserve to be counted as men, but as creatures with two
tongues, that ought to be destroyed without listening to any thing
you might say. As I am convinced you never heard the truth be
fore, I do not wiah you to answer before you have taken time to
counsel. We will, therefore, part this evening, and when the
Great Spirit ahall bring us together again, let us speak and think
like men, with one heart and one tongue."*
This speech produced the desired effect, and upon the following
day the "Red people" and the "Big Knife," united hearts and
hands both. In all these proceedings, there is no question tha^
directly and indirectly, the alliance of the United Statea with
France was very instrumental in producing a friendly feeling
among the Indians, who had never lost their old regard toward their
firat Great Father.
But though it was Clark's general rule not to court the aavagea
there were aome particular chieftains so powerful as to induce him
to invite them to meet him, and learn the merits of the quarrel be
tween the colonies and England. Among these ¦was Black Bird,
one of the lake ehiefa ; he came at the in^vitation of the American
leader, and, diepenaing with the uaual formulas of the Indian nego
tiation, aat down with Col. Clark, in a common sense way, and
talked and listened, questioned and considered, until he was satis
fied that the rebela had th© right of the matter ; after which ha be-
came, and remained a firm friend of the Big Knivea.

* See Battler's History of Kentuelcy, p. 68.

1778. CONQUEST OP ILLINOIS. 279
While the negotiations between the conqueror of Kaskaskia and
the natives were going forward, an incident occurred, so character
istic of Colonel Clark, that it ia worthy of notice : A party of
Indiana, known aa Meadow Indians,* had come to attend the
council with their neighbors. These, by some means, were induced
to attempt the murder of the invaders, and tried to obtain an
opportunity to commit the crime proposed, by surprising Clark and
his officers in their quartera. In thia plan they failed, and their
purpose was discovered by the sagacity of the French in attend
ance; when thia was done, Clark gave them to the French to deal
with aa they pleased, but with a hint that some of the leaders
would be as well in irons. Thus fettered and foiled, the chiefs
were brought daily to the council house, where he whom they pro
posed to kill, was engaged daily in forming friendly relations with
their red brethren. At length, when by these means the futility
of their project had been aufficiently impressed upon them, the
American commander ordered their irons to be struck off, and in
hia quiet way, full of acorn, said, "Every body thinks you ought to
die for your treachery upon my life, amidst the sacred deliberations
of a council. I had determined to infiict death upon you for your
base attempt, and you yourselves must be sensible that you have
justly forfeited your lives; but on considering the meanness of
watching a bear and catching him asleep, I have found out that
you are not warriors, only old women, and too mean to be killed
by the Big Knife. But," continued he, "as you ought to be
punished for putting on breech cloths like men, they shall be taken
away from you ; plenty of provisions shall be given for your journey
home, as women don't know how to hunt, and during your stay
you shall be treated in every respect as squaws." f
These few cutting words concluded, the Colonel turned away to
converse with others. The children of the prairie, who had
looked for anger, not contempt — punishment, not freedom — were
unaccountably stirred by thia treatment. They took counsel
together, and presently a chief came forward with a belt and pipe
of peace, which, with proper words^ he laid upon the table. The
interpreter stood, ready to translate the words of friendship^ but

* These were 4 remnant of the MwcP'itiB tribe, ox fra^ie %iihe, as the name sig-
itifies. t This was a mode of punishment used by the Indians as a mark of disgrace. An
ladian thus diegraded, newer aftev oould be a man. Be must do the drudgery o* a
squaw.

280 CONQUEST OF ILLINOIS. 7 1778-.
with curling lip, the American said he did not wish to hear them,
and lifting a sword which lay before him, he shattered the offered
pipe, with the cutting expression that "he did not treat with
women." The bewildered, overwhelmed Meadow Indians, next
asked the intercession of other red men, already admitted to
friendship, but the only reply was, " The Big Knife has made no
war upon these people; they are of a kind that we shoot like
wolves when we meet them in the woods, lest they eat the deer."
All this wrought more and more upon the offending tribe; again
they took counsel, and then two young men came forward, and,
covering their heads with their blankets, sat down before the
impenetrable commander; then two chiefs arose, and stating that
these young warriors offered their lives as an atonement for the
misdoings of their relatives, again they presented the pipe of peace.
Silence reigned in the assembly, while the fate of the proffered
victims hung in suspense: all watched the countenance of the
American leader, who could scarce master the emotion which the
incident excited. Still, all sat noiseless, nothing heard but the
deep breathing of those whose lives thus hung by a thread. Pres
ently, he upon whom all depended, arose, and, approaching the
young men, he bade them be uncovered and stand up. They
sprang to their feet. "I am glad to find," said Clark, warmly,
"that there are men among all nations. With you, who alone are
fit to be chiefs of your tribe, I am willing to treat; through you I
am ready to grant peace to your brothers ; I take you by the hands
as chiefs, worthy of being such." Here again the fearless gener
osity, the generous fearlessness of Clark, proved perfectly success
ful, and while the tribe in question became the allies of America,
the fame of the occurrence, which spread far and wide through
the north-west, made the name of the white negotiator everywhere
respected. "In October of the same year, an agent arrived at Ouiatenon
on the upper Y-^abash, whose special mission was to keep the
Indians of that place and vicinity, ia the British interest. There
fore, it was resolved, in the language of Colonel Clark, "to take
him off," A detachment of men under Lieutenant Bailey, from
Kaskaskia, and Captain Helm, commanding at Yincennes, in all
numbering about one hundred, a portion of whom were French
militia and Indians, were sent to surprise him; but by some acci
dent, he perhaps the only one at the post, received intelligence of
their approach, absconded, and returned to the north, leaving his
friends who were unprepared for any reaiatance, to the mercy of

ITTB. CONQUEST OF ILLINOIS, 281
their captors. Forty men were made prisoners, all of whom were
i-eleased by signing a treaty much to our advantage; and the
detachment returned as far as Yincennes, by water."
In leaving Captkin Helm at Yincennes, with a very diminutive
command. Colonel Clark was supposed to have relaxed from his
former eaution and vigilance ; but at or about that time, he had
been officially informed of the orders to General Mcintosh, to
march with all possible dispatch against Detroit, where it was
believed that the whole British force, together with their Indian
allies, would find employment in their immediate defense. Mcln-
tbsh, however, loitered on his march until the season wore away,
and proceeded no further against November, than the upper
Muskingum, where he built a fort, left a garrison, and returned to
Fort Pitt.
Prom the failure of that expedition, the post at Yincennes was
left exposed to the attack of the Britiah and Indiana, without any
sufficient force to defend it. Henry Hamilton, the British Lieuten
ant-Governor of Detroit, collected an army of about thirty regulars,
fifty French volunteers, and four hundred Indians, went from
Detroit to the Wabash, thence down that river, and appeared
before tiie fort on the 15th of December, 1778. The people made
no effort to defend the place. Captain Helm and a man named
Senry, were the only Americans in the fort. The latter had a
cannon well charged, placed in the open gateway, while the com
mandant, Helm, stood by it with the lighted match. When
Colonel Hamilton and his troopa approached within hailing dis
tance, the American officer called out, with a loud voice, "Halt!"
This show of resistance caused Hamilton to stop, and demand a
surrender of the garrison.
Helm exclaimed, " No man shall enter here until I know the
terms." Hamilton responded, "You shall have the honors of
war;" and the fort waa surrendered, and the one officer and the one
private received the customary mark of respect for their brave
defense. A portion of Hamilton's force was dispatched with the Indians
to attack the settlements on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Capt.
Helm was detained in the fort as a prisoner, and the French inhabi-
fents were disarmed. Col. Ctek's position became perilous.
Defeiched parties of hostile Indians, sent out by Col. Hamilton,
lyegan to appear in Hlinoia. He ordered Major Bowman to evacu
ate the fort at Cahokiaj and meet him at Kaakaekia. " I could
see," aaya CHiarkj "but little probability of keeping possession of
19

282 CONQUEST OF ILLINOIS. 1779,
the country, as my number of men was too small to stand a siege,
and my situation too remote to call for assistance. I made all the
preparation I possibly could for the attack, and was necessitated to
set fire to some of the houses in town, to clear them out of the
way." At this crisis, the bold and hazardous project of capturing
Colonel Hamilton, and retaking Post Yincennes, became the theme
of his daily and nightly meditations.
He employed Col. Francis Yigo, then a resident of St, Louis, to
make an exploration of the circumstances and strength of the
enemy at Post Yincennes, Col, Yigo, though a Spanish subject,
possessed au innate love of liberty; an attachment to republican
principles, and an ardent sympathy for an oppressed people, strug
gling for their rights. He disregarded personal consequences, for
as soon as he had heard of the arrival of Col, Clark at Kaskaskia,
and the possession of Hlinois by the Americans, he went there and
tendered his wealth and infiuence to sustain the cause of liberty.
At the request of Col. Clark, Col. Yigo, ¦with a single servant,
proceeded to Yincennes. At the Embarrass he was taken prisoner
by a party of Indians, plundered and brought before Col, Hamilton,
Being a Spanish subject, though suspected of being a spy for the
Americans, the governor had no power to hold him as a prisoner
of war, but forbid him to leave the fort. Entreated by the French
inhabitants to allow him to depart, and threatened with the refusal
of all supplies for the garrison, the governor reluctantly yielded, on
condition that Col. Yigo would sign an article " not to do any act
during the war, injurious to the British interests." This he refused,
but consented to a pledge not to do anything injurious on his way
to St. Louis. This was accepted, and Col. Yigo was permitted to
depart in a pirogue down the Wabash and Ohio, and up the Missis
sippi to St. Louis.
He kept his pledge most sacredly. On his way to St. Louis, he
abstained from all intercourse with the Americans — ^but he only
ataid at home long enough to change his dress, when he returned
to Kaskaakia, and gave Col. Clark full and explicit information of
the condition of the British force at Yincennes, the projected
movements of Hamilton, and the friendly feelings of the French
toward the Americana. From him. Col. Clark learned that a por
tion of the British troops were absent on marauding parties with
the Indiana, that the garrison consisted of about eighty regular
soldiers, three braaa field-piecea and some 'swivels, and that Gov.
Hamilton meditated the re-capture of Kaskaskia early in the spring.
Col. Clark determined on the bold project of an expedition to

1779. CLARK MARCHES AGAINST VINCENNES. 283
Yincennes, of which he wrote to Gov. Henry, and sent an express
to Yirginia. Aa a reason for this hazardoua project. Col. Clark
urged the force and designs of Hamilton, saying to Gov. Henry in
his letter, "I knew if I did not take him, he would, take me."
A boat fitted up as a galley, carrying two four-poundera and four
s'wivels, and commanded by Capt. John Rogers, with forty-six men,
and provisions, was dispatched from Kaskaskia to the Ohio, with
orders to proceed up the Wabash as secretly as possible to a place
near the mouth of the Embarrass. Two companies of men were
raised from Cahokia and Kaskaskia, commanded by Captains
McCarty and Charleville, which, with the Americans, amounted to
one hundred and seventy men.
The ¦winter was unusually wet and the streams all high ; but on
the 7th of February, 1779, this fragment of an army commenced
its march from Kaakaakia to Post Yincent. Their route lay
through the prairies and points of timber east of the Kaskaskia
river, a north-easterly course through Washington and Marion
counties into Clay county, where the trail, visible thirty years since,
would strike the route of the present road from St. Louis to Yin
cennes. This was one of the most dreary and fatiguing expedi-
tion*"of-^#e Revolutionary war. After incredible hardships, they
reached the Little Wabash, the low bottoms of which, for several
miles, were covered with water, aa Col. Clark's report affirms,
"generally three feet deep, never under two, and frequently over
four feet."
They arrived at the " two Wabashes," as Bowman, in his journal
calls the two branches, (now known as the "Little Wabash" and
"Muddy" rivers,) on the 13th. Here they made a canoe, and on
the 15th, ferried over their baggage, which they placed on a scaf
fold on the oppoaite bank. Rains fell every day, but the weather
waa not cold. Hitherto they had borne their extreme privations
and difficulties with incredible patience, but now the spirits of
many seemed exhausted. There was an Irish drummer in the
party who possessed an uncommon talent in singing comic Irish
songs. While the men were wading to their waist, and sometimea
to the arm-pits in mud and water, the fertile ingenuity of Colonel
Clark, who never failed in resources, placed the Irishman on his
drum, which readily floated, while he entertained his exhausted
troopa ¦with his comic and musical powers.
On the 18th day of February, eleven days after their departure
from Kaskaakia, they heard the morning gun of the fort, and at even
ing of the same day, they were on the Great Wabash, below the

284 CLARK MARCHES AGAINSl VINCENNES. 17T^.
mouth of theEmbarrass, The party were now in the most exhausted,
destitute and starving condition, and no sign of their boat ¦with
aupplies. The river was out of its banks, all the low grounds cov
ered with water, and canoes could not be constructed to carry them
over before the British garrison would discover and capture, or
massacre the whole party. On the 20th of February they hailed
and brought to a boat from Post Yincent, and from the crew, whoni
they detained, they 'learned that the French population were
friendly to the Americans, and that no suspicion of the expedition
had reached the British garrison.
Colonel Clark says :
"This last day's march, (February 21st,) through the water, was
far superior to any thing the Frenchmen had any idea of: they
were backward in speaking — said the nearest land to us was a
small league, called the sugar camp, on the bank of the slough. A
canoe was sent off, and returned without finding that we could
pass. I went in her myself, and sounded the water; found it deep
as to my neck. I returned with a design to have the men trans
ported on board the canoes to the sugar camp, which I knew would
spend the whole day and ensuing night, as the vessels would pass
slowly through the bushes. The loss of so much time, to men half
starved, was a matter of consequence. I would have given now a
great deal for a day's provisions, or for one of our horses. I re
turned but slowly to the troops — giving myself time to think. On
our arrival, all ran to hear what was the report. Every eye was
fixed on me. I unfortunately spoke in a serious manner to one of
the officers ; the whole were alarmed without knowing what I said.
I viewed their confusion for about one minute — ^whispered to those
near me to do as I did — ^immediately put some water in my hand,
poured on powder, blackened my face, gave the war-whoop, marched
into the water without saying a word,
" The party gazed, fell in, one after another, v(dthout saying a
word, like a flock of sheep, I ordered those near me to give a fa
vorite song of theirs. It soon passed through the line, and the
whole went on cheerfully. I now intended to have them trans
ported across the deepest part of the water; but when-about waist
deep, one Of the men informed me that he thought he felt a path.
We exanlined, and found it so; and concluded that it kept on the
highest ground, which it did; and by taking pains to follow it, we
got to the sugar camp without the least difficulty, where there was
about half an acre of dry ground, at least not under water, where
we took up our lodgings. The FrenehrniBn that we had tAken- on

1779. CLARK MARCHES AGAINST VINCENNES. 285
the river appeared to be uneasy at our situation. They begged
that they might be permitted to go in the two canoes to town in
the night: they said they would bring from their own houses pro
visions, without the poaaibility of any person knowing it; that some
of our men should go with them, as a surety of their good conduct ;
that it was impossible we could march from that place till the wa
ter fell, for the plain was too deep to march. Some of the offi
cers believed that it might be done. I would not sufter it. I never
oould well account for this piece of obstinacy, and give satisfactory
reasons to myself or anybody else, why I denied a proposition ap
parently so easy to execute, and of so much advantage; but
something seemed to tell me that it should not be done, and it was
HiOt done.
" The most of the weather that we had on this march, was moist
and warm for the season, Thia was the coldest night we had. The ice
in the morning was from one-half to three-quarters of an inch thick,
near the shores, and in still water. The morning was the finest
we had on our march. A little after sunrise I lectured the whole.
What I said to them I forget; but it may be easily imagined by a
person that could possess my affections for them at that time : I
concluded by informing them, that passing the plain that was then
in full view, and reaching the opposite woods, would put an end to
their fatigue — that in a few hours they would have a sight of their
long wished for object — and immediately stepped into the water
without waiting for any teply. A huzza took place. As we gen
erally marched through the water in a line, before the third entered
I halted and called to Major Bowman, ordered him to fall in the
rear with twenty-five men, and to put to death any man who re
fused to march, as we wished to have no such person amongst us.
The whole gave a cry of approbation, and on we went. This was
the moat trying of all the difficulties we had experienced.
" I generally kept fifteen or twenty of the strongest men next
myself; and judged from my own feelings what must be those of
others. Getting about the middle of the plain, the water about
mid-deep, I found myself sensibly failing ; and as there were no
treea nor bushes for the men to support themselves by, I feared
that many of the most weak would be drowned. I ordered the
canoes to make the land, discharge their loading, and ply back
ward and forward with all diligence, and pick up the men ; and to
encourage the party, sent some of the strongest men forward, with
orders, when they got to a certain distance, to pass the word back
that the water was getting shallow ; and when getting near the

286 CLARK MARCHES AGAINST VINCENNES. 1779.
woods to cry out ' Land !' This stratagem had ita deaired effect.
The men, encouraged by it, exerted themselves almost beyond their
abilities — ^the weak holding by the stronger. The water never got
shallower, but continued deepening. Getting to the woods where
the men expected land, the water was up to my shoulders: but
gaining the woods was of great consequence : all the low men and
weakly hung to the trees, and floated on the old logs, until they
were taken off by the canoes. The strong and tall got ashore and
built fires. Many would reach the shore, and fall with their bodies
half in the water, not being able to support themselves without it.
" This was a delightful dry spot of ground, of about ten acres.
We soon found that fires answered no purpose ; but that two strong
men taking a weaker one by the arms was the only way to recover
him; and, being a delightful day, it soon did. But, fortunately,
as if designed by Providence, a canoe of Indian squaws and chil
dren was coming up to town, and took through part of this plain
as a nigh way. It was discovered by our canoes as they were out
after the men. They gave chase and took the Indian canoe, on
board of which was nearly half a quarter of buffalo, some corn,
tallow, kettles, &c. This was a grand prize, and was invaluable.
Broth was immediately made and served out to the most weakly,
¦with great care : most of the whole got a little ; but a great many
gave their part to the weakly, jocosely saying something cheering
to their comrades.
" This little refreshment and fine weather, by the afternoon, gave
life to the whole. Crossing a narrow, deep lake, in the canoes, and
marching some distance, we came to a copse of timber, called the
Warrior's Island. We were now in full view of the fort and town,
not a shrub between us, at about two miles distance. Every man
now feasted his eyes, and forgot that he had suffered any thing —
saying, that all that had passed was owing to good policy, and
nothing but what a man could bear, and that a soldier had no
right to think, &c. — passing from one extreme to another, which
is common in such cases. It was now we had to display our abili
ties. The plain between us and the town was not a perfect level.
The sunken grounds were covered with water, full of ducks. We
observed several men out on horseback, shooting them, within half
a mile of us, and sent out as many of our active young Frenchmen
to decoy and take one of these men prisoner, in such a manner as
not to alarm the others ; which they did. The information we got
from this person was similar to that which we got from those we
took on the river : except that of the British having that evening

1779. CLARK BEFORE VINCENNES. 287
completed the wall of the fort, and that there were a good many
Indians in town.
" Our situation, was now truly critical — no possibility of retreat
ing in case of defeat — and in full view of a town that had at this
time upward of six hundred men in it, troops, inhabitants, and
Indians. The crew of the galley, though not fifty men, would now
have been a reinforcement of immense magnitude to our little
army, (if I may so call it,) but we would not think of them. We
were now in the aituation that I had labored to get ouraelvea in.
The idea of being made priaoner was foreign to almost every man,
aa they expected nothing but torture from the savages, if they fell
into their hands. Our fate was now to be determined, probably in
a few hours. We knew that nothing but the most daring conduct
would insure success. I knew that a number of the inhabitants
wished us well — that many were lukewarm to the interest of either.
— and I also learned that the Grand Chief, the Tobacco's son, had,
but a few days before, openly declared in council with the British,
that he was a brother and a friend to the Big Knives. These were
favorable circumstances ; and as there was but little probability of
our remaining until dark undiscovered, I determined to begin
the career immediately, and wrote the following placard to the
inhabitants :
" To the inhabitants of Post Vincennes.
" Gentlemen : — ^Being now within two miles of your village,
with my army, determined to take your fort this 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 like men. And if any such
as do not go to the fort shall be discovered afterward, 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 every one
I find in arms on my arrival, I shall treat him as an enemy.
[Signed.] G. R. CLARK.
"A little before sunset we moved and displayed ourselves in full
view^ of the town — crowds gazing at us. We were plunging
ourselves into certain destruction, or success. There was no mid
way thought of We had but littie to say to our men, except

288 CLARK ATTACKS VINCENNES. 17T9l
inculcating an idea of the necessity of obedience, &g. We knew
they did not want encouraging; and that any thing might be
attempted with them that was possible for such a number— per
fectly cool, under proper subordination, pleased -with the prospeef
before them, and much attached to their officers. They all declared
that they were convinced that an implicit obedience to orders was
the only thing that would ensure succesa — and hoped that no mercy
would be shown the person that should violate them. Such
language as this from soldiers, to persons in our station, must have
been exceedingly agreeable. We moved on slowly in full ¦view of
the town ; but as it was a point of some consequence to us to mak§
ourselves appear as formidable, we, in leaving the covert that we
were in, marched and counter-marched in such a manner that we
appeared numerous.
"In raising volunteers in the Illinois, every person that set about
the business had a set of colors given them, which they brought
with them, to the amount of ten or twelve pair. These were dis
played to the best advantage; and as the low plain we msrqhe^
through was not a perfect level, but had frequent raisings in it
seven or eight feet higher than the common level, (which was
covered with water,) and as these raisings generally run in an
oblique direction to the town, we took the advantage of one of
them, marching through the water under it, which completely
prevented our being numbered ; but our colors showed considerably
above the heights, as they were fixed on long poles procured for
the purpose, and at a distance made no despicable appearance ; and
as our young Frenchmen had, while we lay on the Warrior'?
Island, decoyed and taken several fowlers, ¦with their horses, officers
were mounted on these horses, and rode about more completely to
deceive the enemy. In this manner we moved, and directed our
march in such a way as to suffer it to be dark before we had advan
ced more than half way to the town. We then suddenly altered
our direction, and crossed ponds where they could not have
suspected us, and about eight o'clock gained the heights back ^
the town,
"The garrison was soon completely surrounded, and the firing
continued without intermission, (except about fifteen minutes a
little before day,) until about nine o'clock the following morning.
It was kept up by the whole of the troops,— -joined by a few of the
young men of the town who got permission — except fifty men kept
as a reserve.
" I had made myself fully acquainted with the aituation of the fort

1779. VINCENNES BESIEGED, 289
and town, and the parts relative to each. The cannon of the gar
rison was on the upper floors of strong block-houses, at each angle
of the fort, eleven feet above the surface ; and the ports so badly
cut that many of our troops lay under the fire of them, within
twenty or thirty yards of the walls. They did no damage except to
the buildings of the town, some of which they much shattered : and
their musketry, in the dark, employed against woodsmen covered
by houses, palings, ditches, the banks of the river, &c,, -was but of
little avail, and did no injury to Us except wounding a man or two.
As we could not afford to lose men, great care was taken to pre
serve them sufficiently covered, and to keep up a hot fire in order
to intimidate the enemy as well as to destroy them.
"The embrasures of their cannon were frequently shut, for our rifle
men, finding the true direction of them, would pour in such volleys
when they were opened, that the men could not stand to the
guns ; seven or eight of them in a short time got cut down. Our
troopa would frequently abuse the enemy, in order to aggravate
them to open their porta and fire their cannon, that they miglit
have the pleasure of cutting them down with their rifles — fifty of
which perhaps would be leveled the moment the port flew open ; and
I believe that if they had stood at their artillery, the greater part of
them would have been destroyed in the course of the night, as the
greater part of our men lay within thirty yards of the walls ; and in
a few hours were covered equally to those within the walls, and
much more experienced in that mode of fighting.
" Sometimes an irregular fire, as hot as possible, was kept up from
different directions for a few minutes, and then only a continual
scattering fire at the ports as usual ; and a great noise and laughter
immediately commenced in different parts of the town, by the re
served partiea, as if they had only fired on the fort a few minutes
for amusement; and as if those continually firing at the fort were
only regularly relieved. Conduct similar to thia kept the garriaon
constantly alarmed,
"Thus the attack continued, until about nine o'clock on the morn
ing of the 24th, Learning that the two prisoners they had brought
in the day before had a considerable number of letters with them,
I supposed it an express we expected about this time, which I knew
to be of the greatest moment to us, as we had not received one
since our arrival in the country ; and not being fully acquainted
with the character of our enemy, we were doubtful that those pa
pers might be destroyed ; to prevent which I sent a fiag, with a
letter, demanding the garrison,"

290 SIEGE CONTINUED. 1779.
The following is a copy of the letter * which was addressed by
Col. Clark to Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton, on the occasion :
"Sir : — In order to save yourself from the impending storm that
now threatens you, I order you immediately to surrender yourself,
¦with all your garrison, stores, &c. For if I am obliged to storm,
you may depend on such treatment as is justly due to a murderer.
Beware of destroying stores of any kind, or any papers or letters
that are in your possession, or hurting one house in town — for, by
heavens ! if you do, there shall be no mercy shown you.
[Signed.] G. R. CLARK."
To this the governor replied, that he could not think of being
"awed into any action unworthy a British subject; " but his true
feeling peeped out in his question to Helm, when the bullets rat
tled about the chimney of the room in which they were playing
piquet together, and Helm swore that Clark would have them pri
soners. "Is he a merciful man ? " said the governor.
Clark finding the British unwilling to yield quietly, began "firing
very hot." When this came on. Helm cautioned the English sol
diers not to look out through the loop-holes; for these Yirginia
rifiemen, he said, would shoot their eyes out if they did. And seven
being actually shot by balls which came through the port-holes,
Hamilton was led to send out a flag with the follo^wing letter :
"Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton proposes to Colonel Clark a
truce for three days ; during which time he promises there shall be
no defensive works carried on in the garrison, on condition that
Colonel Clark shall observe, on his part, a like cessation of any de
fensive work : that is, he wishes to confer with Colonel Clark as
soon as can be ; and promises that whatever may pass between them
two, and another person mutually agreed upon to be present, shall
remain secret till matters be finished, as he wishes, that whatever
the result of the conference may be, it may tend to the honor and
credit of each party. If Colonel Clark makes a difficulty of coming
into the fort, Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton will speak to him by
the gate. [Signed.] HENRY HAMILTON,
24th February, '79,"
" I was at a great loss to conceive what reason Lieutenant-Gov
ernor Hamilton could have for wishing a truce for three days, on
¦^Extracted from Major Bowman's MS. JournaL

1779. SIEGE CONTINUED. 291
such terms as he proposed. Numbers said it was a scheme to get
me into their possession, I had a different opinion, and no idea
of his possessing such sentiments, as an act of that kind would in
fallibly ruin him. Although we had the greatest reason to expect a
reinforcement in less than three days, that would at once put an
end to the siege, I yet did not think it prudent to agree to the pro
posals, and sent the following answer :
" Colonel Clark's compliments to Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton,
and begs leave to inform him that he will not agree to any terms
other than Mr, Hamilton's surrendering himself and garrison pris
oners at discretion. J£ Mr. Hamilton is desirous of a conference
with Colonel Clark, he will meet him at the church, with. Captain
Helm. [Signed,] G, R, C,
February 24th, '79,"
"We met at the church, about eighty yards from the fort — ^Lieu
tenant-Governor Hamilton, Major Hay, Superintendent of Indian
Affairs, Capt, Helm, their prisoner. Major Bowman and myself.
The conference began, Hamilton produced terms of capitulation,
signed, that contained various articles, one of which was that the
garrison should be surrendered, on their being permitted to go to
Pensacola on parole. After deliberating on every article, I rejected
the whole. He then wished I would make some proposition, I
told him that I had no other to make, than what I had already
made — that of his surrendering as prisoners at discretion, I said
that his troops had behaved with spirit ; that they could not sup
pose that they would be worse treated in consequence of it; that
if he chose to comply with the demand, though hard, perhaps the
sooner the better ; that it was in vain to make any proposition to
me ; that he by this time, must be sensible that all the garrison would
fall ; that both of us must ¦view all blood spilt for the future by
the garrison as murder; that my troops were already impatient,
and called aloud for permission to tear down and storm the fort ;
if such a step was taken, many of course would be cut down ; and
the result of an enraged body of woodsmen breaking in, must be
obvious to him; it would be out of the power of an American
officer to save a single man, Yarious altercations took place for a
considerable time. Captain Helm attempted to moderate our fixed
determination. I told him he was a British prisoner, and it was
doubtful whether or not he could with propriety speak on the sub
ject, Hamilton then said that Captain Helm was from that moment
liberated, and might use his pleasure, I informed the Captain that

292 HAMILTON PROPOSES TERMS OF CAPITULATION. 1779-
I would not receive him on such terms — that he must return to the
garrison and await his fate. I then told Lieutenant-Colonel Ham
ilton that hostilities should not commence until five minutes after
the drums gave the alarm. We took our leave and parted but a
tew steps, when Hamilton stopped and politely asked me if I would-
be so kind as to give him my reasons for refusing the garrison on
any other terms than those I had offered, I told him I had no
objections in giving him my real reasons, which were simply these:
that I knew the greater part of the principal Indian partizans of
Detroit were with him — that I wanted an excuse to put them to
death, or otherwise treat them as Lthought proper — that the cries
of the widows and the fatherless on the frontiers, which they had
occasioned, now required their blood from my hands, and that I
did not choose to be so timorous as to disobey the absolute com
mands of their authority, which I looked upon to be next to divine ;
that I would rather lose fifty men, than not to empower myself to
execute this piece of business with propriety ; that if he chose to
risk the massacre of his garrison for their sakes, it was his own
pleasure ; and that I might perhaps take it into my head to send
for some of those widows to see it executed. Major Hay, paying
great attention, I had observed a kind of distrust in his couute^
nance, which in a great measure influenced my conversation during
thia time.
" On my concluding, 'Pray, sir,' said he, 'who is it that you call
Indian partizans? ' ' Sir,' I replied, 'I take Major Hay to be one
of the principal,' I never saw a man in the moment of execution
so struck as he appeared to be — pale and tremb,ling, scarcely able
to stand, Hamilton blushed, and, I observed, was much affected
at his behavior. Major Bowman's countenance sufficiently,
explained hia disdain for the one, and his sorrow for the other.
Some moments elapsed without a word passing on either dde.
From that moment, my resolutions changed respecting Hamilton's
situation, I told him that we would return to our respective posts ^
that I would reconsider the matter, and let him know the result;
no offensive measures should be taken in the meantime. Agreed
to, and we parted. What had passed being made known to our
officers, it was agreed that we should moderate our resolutions."
During the conference at the church, some Indian warriors who
had been sent to the falls of the Ohio for scalps and prisoners, were
discovered on their return, as they entered the plains near Post Yin
cennes. A party of the American troops, commanded by Captain
Williams, went out to meet them. The Indians, who mistook this

17*79. HAMILTON SURRENDERS. 293
detachment for a party of their friends, continued to advance
"with all the parade of successful warriors." "Our men," says
Major Bowman, "killed two on the spot, and wounded three, took
six prisoners and brought them into the town ; two of them proved
to be whites ; we released them and brought the Indians to the
main street before the fort gate ; there tomahawked them and threw
them into the river."
In the course of the afternoon of the 24th, the following articles
were aigned, and the garrison capitulated :
"Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton engages to deliver up to Colonel
Clark, Fort Sackville, as it is at present, with all the stores, &c,
"The garrison are to deliver themselves aa priaonera of war, and
march out with their arms and accoutrements, &c,
" The garrison to be delivered up at ten o'clock to-morrow.
'^Three days time to be allowed the garrison to settle their accounts
¦with the inhabitants and traders of the place.
"The officers of the place to be allowed their necessary baggage, &c.
"Signed at Post St. Yincent, [Yincennes,] 24th February, 1779.
"Agreed for the following reasons : the remoteness from succor;
the state and quantity of provisions, &c. ; unanimity of officers and
men in its expediency ; the honorable terms allowed ; and lastly,
fee confidence in a generous enemy.
[Signed,] HENRY HAMILTON,
Lieut. Gov. and Superintendent."
"The business being now nearly at an endj troopa were
posted in several strong houses around the ^rrison, and patroled
during the night to prevent any deception that might be attempted.
The renaainder on duty lay on their arms ; and, for the first time
for many days past, got some rest. During the siege, I got only
one man wounded; not being able to lose many, I made them
secure themselves well. Seven were badly wounded in the fort,
through ports."
On the 25th of February, Fort Sackville was surrendered to the
American troops, and the garrison treated as prisoners of war.
The American flag Waved on its battlements, and thirteen guns
celebrated tlie ¦victory.
Seventy-nine prisoners, and stores to the value of 50,000 dollars,
were obtained by this bold and desperate enterprise, and the whole
country along the Mississippi and Wabash, remained ever after in
in the peaceable possession of the Americans. Governor Hamilton

294 HAMILTON SENT TO VIRGINIA. 1779,
was sent to Richmond, and his men permitted to return to Detroit
on parole of honor.
Six were badly, and one man mortally wounded on the part of the
British, and only one man wounded on the part of the Americans.
The governor and some others were sent prisoners to Yirginia,
where the council ordered their confinement in jail, fettered and
alone, in punishment for their abominable policy of urging barba
rians to greater barbarism, as they surely had done by offering
rewards for scalps, but none for prisoners, a course which naturally
resulted in wholesale and cold-blooded murder; the Indians driving
captives within sight of the British forts and then butchering them.
As this rigid confinement, however just, was not in accordance
with the terms of Hamilton's surrender. General Phillips protested
in regard to it, and Jefferson ha^ving referred the matter to the
commander-in-chief, Washington gave his opinion decidedly against
it, in consequence of which the Council of Yirginia released the
Detroit "hair buyer" from his irons.*
Clark returned to Kaskaskia, where, in consequence of the com
petition of the traders, he found himself more embarrassed from
the depreciation of the paper money which had been advanced him
by Yirginia than he had been by the movements of the British;
and where he was forced to pledge his o^wn credit to procure what
he needed, to an extent that influenced vitally his own fortune and
life thenceforward.
After the taking of Yincennes, Detroit was undoubtedly within
the reach of the enterprisng Yirginian, had he been but able to
raise as many soldiers as were starving and idling at Forts Laurens
and Mcintosh. In his letter to Mr. Jefferson, he says, that with
five hundred men, when he reached Hlinois, or with three hundred
after the conquest of Post Yincennes, he could have taken Detroit.
The people of Detroit rejoiced greatly when they heard of Hamil
ton's capture. Governor Henry ha^ving promised him a reinforce
ment, he concluded to wait for that, as his force was too small to
both conquer and garrison the British Forts, But the results of
what was done were not unimportant; indeed of very great impor
tance, Hamilton had made arrangements to enlist the Southern
and Western Indians, for the next spring's campaign ; and, if Mr,
Stone be correct in his suppositions. Brant and hia Iroquois were
to act in concert with him. Had Clark, therefore, failed to conquer

¦"¦Spark's Washington, vi. 815.

1778, BOONE'S SECOND CAPTIVITY, 295
the governor, there is too much reason to fear, that the West
would have been, indeed, swept, from the Mississippi to the moun
tains, and the great blow struck, which had been contemplated
from the outset, by Britain, But for his small army of dripping,
but fearless Yirginians, the union of all the tribes from Georgia
to Maine, against the colonies, might have been effected, and the
whole current of our history changed.
The conquest of Clark changed the face of affairs in relation to
the whole country north of the Ohio river, which, in all probability,
would have been the boundary between Canada and the United
States, This conquest was urged by the American Commissioners
in negotiating the definite treaty of 1793.
While Clark was thus successful in the West, the difficulties and
misfortunes of the people of the frontier were greatly enhanced.
The people of Kentucky had suffered much for salt, and the labor
and risk of packing it over the mountains on horseback were too
great ; for only by that mode of transportation could they obtain
the necessaries of life which the wilderness did not furnish. It
was arranged that thirty men, under the guidance of Captain
Boone, should proceed to the Lower Blue Licks, on Licking river,
and manufacture salt. The enterprise was commenced on New
Year's day, 1778,
Boone was to be guide, hunter, and scout ; the rest to cut wood,
and attend to the manufacturing department. January paaaed
quietly, and before the 7th of February, enough of salt had accu
mulated to lead to the return of three of the party to the stationa,
with the treaaure. The rest still labored on, and Boone enjoyed
the winter weather in the forest after hia own fashion. But there
waa more than mere game about him in those woods along the
Licking. On the 7th of February, as he was hunting, he came
upon a party of one hundred and two foes — two Canadians, the
remainder Indiana, Shawanese apparently. Boone fled; but their
swiftest runners were on his trail, and he was soon their prisoner.
Finding it impossible to give his companions at the Licks due
notice, ao as to secure their escape, he proceeded to make terms on
their behalf with his captors, and then persuaded his men by ges
tures, at a distance, to surrender without offering battle. Thus,
without a blow, the invaders found themselves possessed of twenty-
eight priaonera, and among them the greateat, in an Indian's eyes,
of all the Long-Knivea, Thia band was on its way to Boonesbo
rough, to attack or to reconnoitre ; but such good luck as they had

296 boonb's second captivity. 1778.
met with, changed their minds, and, turning upon their trad^
they took up their march for old Chillicothe, an Indian town on
the Little Miami.
It was no part of the plan of the Shawanese, however, to retain
these men in captivity, nor yet to scalp, slay, or eat them. Under
the influence and rewards of Governor Hamilton, the British com
mander in the North-West, the Indians had taken up the business
of speculating in human beings, both dead and alive; and the
Shawanese meant to take Boone and his comrades to the Detroit
market. On the 10th of March, accordingly, eleven of the party,
including Boone himself, were dispatched for the north, and, after
twenty days of journeying, were presented to the English governor,
who treated them, Boone says, with great humanity. To Boone
himself, Hamilton and several other gentlemen seem to have taken
an especial fancy, and offered considerable sums for his release;
but the Shawanese had also become enamored of the veteran hunter,
and would not part with him. He must go home with them, they
said, and be one of them, and become a great chief. So the
pioneer found his very virtues becoming the cause of a prolonged
captivity. In April, the red men, with their one white captive,, about to be
converted into a genuine son of nature, returned from the flats of
Michigan, covered with brush-choken forests, to the rolling vall^
of the Miamis, with its hill-sides clothed in their rich, open woods
of maple and beech, then just bursting into bloom. And now the
white blood was Washed out of the Kentucky ranger, and he was
made a son in the family of Blackfish, a Shawanese chief, and was
loved and caressed by father and mother, brothers and sisters, till
he was thoroughly sick of them. But disgust he could not show ;
so he was kind and affable, and knew how to allay any suspicions
they might harbor lest he should run away. He took hia part in
their games and rompa ; ehot as near the centre of a target as a
good hunter ought to, and yet left the savage marksmen a chance
to excel him, and smiled in hia quiet eye when he witnessed their
joy at having done better than the best of the Long-Knivea, He
grew into favor with the chief, was trusted, treated with respect,
and listened to with attention. No man could have been better
calculated than Boone to disarm the suspicions of the red men.
Some have called him a white Indian, except that he never showed
the Indian's blood-thirstiness when excited. Scarce any other
white ever possessed in an equal degree the true Indian gravity,
Which comes neither from thought, feeling, nor vacuity, but froffl

1778, boone's escape from captivity. 297
a peculiar orgiani2iation. And so in hunting, shooting, swimming,
and other Shawanese amnaementa, the newly-made Indian, Boone,
spent the month of May, necessity making all the inconveniences
of hia lot endurable.
On the let of June, his ai^ was required in the business of salt
making, and for that purpose he and a party of his brethren started
for the valley of the Scioto, ¦\ifhere hje stayed ten days, hunting,
boiling brine, and cooking. But when he returned to Chillicothe
a sad sight met his eyes ; four hundred and fifty of the choice
warriors of the West, painted in the most exquisite war style, and
armed for the battle. He scarce needed to ask whither they were
bound; his heart told him Boonesborough; and already in imagi
nation he saw the blazing roofs of the little borough he had
founded, and the bleeding forms of his friends. Could he do
nothing? He was a long way from hia own white homestead;
one hundred and fifty miles at least, and a rough and inhospitable
country much of the way l)etw.een him and it. But he had traveled
fast and far, and might again. So, ¦vfithout a word to his fellow
prisoners, early on the morning of June the 16th, without his
breakfeat, in the most secret manner, unseen, unheard, he departed.
He left hia red relativea to mourn his ioas, and over hill and valley
sped, forty miles a day, for four successive days, and . ate but one
meal by the way. He found the station wholly unprepared to
resist ao formidable a body as that ¦which threatened it, and it was
a matter of life and .de^tli that every muscle should be exerted to
get all in readiness fqr the ejected visitors.
Rapidly the white men toiled to repair and complete the fortifi
cations, and to have all ready for an attack. But the Indiana did
not make their p,ppearance, and in a few daya another escaped
captive brought information of the delay of the expedition in con
sequence of Boone's flight. The savages ha,d relied on surprising
the stat^ions, and their plans being foiled by their adopted son
Pa.niel, all their determinatjons were unsettled. Thus it proved
the salvatjion of Boonesborough, and probably of all the frontier
forts, that the founder of Kentucky was taken captive and remained
a captive as long ^a ^ did. So often do seeming misfortunea
prove, in .Qod's hapd, our truest good.
Boone, finding liis late relatives ao backward in their proposed
03,11, determined to anticipate them by a viait to the Scioto valley,
where he ha^ been at s^lt making; and early in August, with
niijueteen men, started for tjie town on Paint Greek- He knew, of
c^jijr^e, th^^t Jig wa? trying a aomewha,t hazardous experiment, ae
20

298 BOONESBOROUGH ATTACKED BY BRITISH AND INDIANS. 1778.
Boonesborough might be attacked in hia absence ; but he had his
wits about him, and hia scouts examined the country far and wide.
Without interruption, he crossed the Ohio, and had reached within
a few miles of the place he meant to attack, when his advanced
guard, consisting of one man, Simon Kenton, discovered two
natives riding one horse, and enjoying some joke as they
rode. Not considering that these two might be, like himself, the
van of a small army, Simon, one of the most impetuous of men,
shot and ran forward to scalp them, but found himself at once in
the midst of a dozen or more of his enemies, from whom he escaped
only by the arrival of Boone and the remainder. The commander,
upon considering the circumstances, and learning from spies whom
he sent forward, that the town he intended to attack was deserted,
came to the opinion that the band just met was on its way to join
a larger body for the invasion of Kentucky, and advised an imme
diate return.
His advice was taken, and the result proved its wisdom ; for in
order to reach Boonesborough, they were actually obliged to go
around, and outstrip a body of nearly five hundred savages, led by
Canadians, who were marching against his doomed borough, and
after all, got there only the day before them.
Shortly after their return, in August, the whole Indian army,
four hundred and forty-four in number, commanded by Blackfish,
with eleven Canadians under Captain Du Quesne, with British and
French colors fiying, appeared before Boonesborough, and sum
moned the fort to "surrender in the name of his Britannic
Majesty," with the promise of liberal treatment.
It was, as Boone says, a critical period for him and his friends.
Should they yield, what mercy could they look for ? and he, espe
cially, after his unkind flight from his Shawanese parents? They
had almost stifled him with their caresses before; they would liter
ally hug him to death if again within their grasp. Should they
refuse to yield, what hope of successful resistance ? And they had
so much need of all their cattle, to aid them in sustaining a siege,
and yet their cows were abroad in the woods. Boone pondered the
matter, and concluded it would be safe to ask two days for consid
eration. It was granted, and he drove in his cows. The evening
of the 9th soon arrived, however, and he politely thanked the rep
resentative of his gracious Majesty for giving the garrison time to
prepare for their defense, and announced their determination to
fight. Captain Du Quesne was much grieved at this answer, aince
Governor Hamilton waa anxious to save bloodshed, and wished the

1778. INVADERS RETREAT FROM BOONESBOROUGH. 299
Kentuckians taken alive ; and rather than proceed to extremities,
he offered to withdraw his troops, if the garrison would make' a
treaty, though to what point the treaty was to aim is unknown.
Boone was determined not to yield; but then he had no wish to
starve in his fort, or have it taken by storm, and be scalped ; and
he thought, remembering Hamilton's kindness to him when in De
troit, that there might be something in what the captain said, and
at any rate, to enter upon a treaty was to gain time, and something
might be gained. So he agreed to treat ; but where ? Could nine
of the garrison, as desired, safely venture into the open field ? It
might be all a trick to get possession of some of the leading whites.
Upon the whole, however, as the leading Indians and their Cana
dian allies must come under the rifies of the garrison, who might
with certainty and safety pick them off if treachery were attempted,
it was thought best to run the risk; and Boone, with eight others,
went out to meet the leaders of the enemy, sixty yards from the
fort, within which the sharpest shooters stood, with leveled rifles,
ready to protect their comrades. The treaty was made and signed,
and then the. Indians, saying it was their custom for two of them
to shake hands with every white man when a treaty was made, ex
pressed a wish to press the palms of their new allies. Boone and
his friends must have looked rather queer at this proposal ; but it
was safer to accede than to refuse and be shot down instantly; so
they presented each his hand. As anticipated, the warriors seized
them with rough and fierce eagerness, the whites drew back strug
gling, the treachery was apparent, the rifle balls from the garrison
struck down the foremost assailants of the little band, and, amid a
fire from friends and foes, Boone and his fellow deputies bounded
back into the station, with the exception of one, unhurt.
The treaty trick having thus failed, Captain Du Quesne had to
look to more ordinary modes of warfare, and opened a fire which
lasted during ten days, though to no purpose, for the woodsmen
were determined not to yield. On the 20th of August, the Indians
were forced unwillingly to retire, having lost thirty-seven of their
number, and wasted a vast amount of powder and lead. The gar
rison picked up from the ground, after their departure, one hundred
and twenty-five pounds of their bullets.*
A formidable expedition into the Indian country was planned for
the summer of the aame year. It waa arranged that fifteen hun-

* Butler's Kentucky.

300 DETROIT EXPEDITION A FAILURE. 1778,
dred men were to assemble at the mouth of the Kanawha, and as
many more to pass down the river from Fort Pitt. There the two
divisions were to unite, enter the Indian country, and destroy their
towns and crops. General M'Intosh, then commanding at Fort
Pitt, led the division from that point. J'ailing to receive any rein
forcement from the Kanawha, General iiyi'Intosh prepared to invade
the Indian country by the way of Big Beaver, or nearly the same routg
that Col, Bouquet had pursued fourteen years before. Preparatory
to the expedition. Fort M'Intosh was built, on the present site of
Beaver, It w£),3 a regular stockaded work, with four bastions, and
was defended by six pieces of cannon.'*'
From this point it was intended to operate in reducing Detroit,
where mischief was still brewing. Indeed, the natives were now
more united than ever against the frontier inhabitants, Iu June,
Congress was in possession of information that led them to think
a universal frontier war close at hand,t The Senecas, Cayugag,
Mingoes, (by which doubtless were meant the Ohio Iroquois, or
possibly the Mohawks,) Wyandots, Onondagaa, Ottawas, Chip
pewas, Shawanese and Dela-wares, were all said to be more or less
united in opposition to America, Congress, learning the danger
to be so immediate and great, determined to push on the Detroit
expedition, and ordered another tp be undertaken by the Mohaw^
valley againat the Senecas, who might otherwise very much annoy
and impede the march from Fort Pitt," For ihe capture of De
troit, three thousand continental troops and two thousand five
hundred militia were voted; an appropriation was made of nearly a
million of dollars ; and General M'Intosh was to carry forward the
nee(iful operations.
All the flourish which was made about taking Detroit, however,
and conquering the Senecas, ended in the resolves of Congress,
The dilatory movements of M'Intosh occupied the summer, and it
was finally thought too late in the season for advantageous action,
and also too great an undertaking for the weak handed colonies.
This having been settled, it was resolved that the forces in the
west should move up and attack the "VT^yandots and other Indians
abqut the Sandusky, and a body of troops was accordingly marched
forward to prepare a half-way house, qr post by which the necessary
connection might be kept ^P- Tjiis ^as bnilt upon the Tuscara
was, a few miles SQUth of the present tpwu of Bolivar. In thfsse

* Craig's History of Pittsburgh.
I Journals of the Old Congress, vol. ii. p. 585.

1778. FORT LAURENS BUILT. 301
^uiet^ commercial daySj the Ohio canal passes thrdugh its midat.
It was named Fort Laurens, in honor of the President of Congress.
While these warlike measures were pursued on the one hand,
the confederacy on the other, by its commissioners, Andrew and
Thomas Lewis, of Yirginia, formed at Fort Pitt, on the 17th of
September, a treaty of peace and alliance with the chiefs of the
Delawares, White-Eyes, Kill-Buck, and Pipe.
The erection of Fort Laurens haa been already noticed. At that
1779.] point. Seventy miles from Fort M'Intosh, and exposed to
tM the fierce nOrtli-weStern tribes^ Col. John Gibson had been left
¦kith one hundred and fifty men to get through the winter of
1778-79, as he best could, while M'Intosh himself returned to PittS-
feurgli, disappointed and dispirited. Nor was Congress in a very
good humor ¦with him, for alrea,dy had aix montha paased to no pur-
{)OSe. Washington waa consulted, but could give no definite advice,
knowing nothing of those details which must determine the course
of things for the winter. M'Intosh, at length, in February, asked
leave to retire from his unsatisfactory command,' and "was allowed
to do so. No blame appears to have been attached to him for any
Unfaithfulness in the performance of his duty. He doubtless
toempted to do whatever was in his power, but was regarded as
Weak and inefficient. Among other things, he led a party with
provisions for the relief of Col. Gibson's star^ving garrison, but un
happily the guna fired as a salute by those about to be relieved,
scared the pack-horses, and much of the provisions was scattered
and lost in the ¦sVoods. The force at Fort Laurens, iheantime, haid
been suffering cruelly, both from the Indians and famine, and;
though finally rescued from starvation, had done, and could do,
nothing: The post was at last abandoned in August, 1779.
A new cause of trouble was meanwhile arising in the north. Of
the six tribes of the Iroquois, the' Senecas,- Mohawks, Cayugaa, and
Onond^gas, had been, from the outset inclining to Britain, though
all of these, but the Mohawks, had now and then tried to persuade
the Americans to the contrary. During tb€s winter of 1778-79, the
Onondaigas, ¦who had been for a ¦vvhile nearly neutral, were sus
pected by the Americans of deception, and this suspicion having
feecome nearly knowledge, a band was sent, early in April, to de
stroy their towUs, and take such of them as could be taken, prison-
fers. The work appointed was done; and the villages and wealth
of the poor savages were annihilated. This sudden act of severity
startied all. The Oneidas, hitherto faithful to their neutrality.

302 EXPEDITION AGAINST IROQUOIS PROJECTED. 1779.
were alarmed, lest the next blow should fall on them, and it waa
only after a full explanation that their fears were quieted. As for
the Onondagas, it was not to be hoped that they would sit down
under such treatment ; and accordingly, that some hundred of their
warriors were at once in the field, and from that time forward, a
portion of their nation remained, and justly, hostile to the United
States. The Continental Congress, meanwhile, had become convinced,
from the massacre at Wyoming and Cherry Yalley, that it was
advisable to adopt some means of securing the north-western and
western frontiers against the recurrence of such catastrophes; and,
the hostile tribes of the Six Nations being the most numerous and
deadly foes, it was concluded to begin by strong action against
them. Washington had always said, that the only proper mode of
defense against the Indians was to attack them ; and this mode he
determined to adopt on this occasion. Some difference of opinion
existed, however, as to the best path into the country of the inimi
cal Iroquois.
General Schuyler was in favor of a movement up the Mohawk
river ; the objection to which route was, that it carried the invaders
too near to Lake Ontario, and within reach of the British. The
other course proposed was up the Susquehanna, which heads, as all
know, in the region that was to be reached. The latter route waa
the one determined on by Washington for the main body of troops,
which was to be joined by another body moving up the Mohawk,
and also by detachments coming from the western army, by Ihe
way of the Allegheny and French creek. Upon further thought,
however, the movement from the west was countermanded. All
the arrangements for this invasion were made in March and April,
but it was the last of July before General Sullivan could get his
men on their march from Wyoming, where they had gathered;
and, of course, information of the proposed movements had been
given to the Indians and Tories, so that Brant, the Johnsons, and
their followers, stood ready to receive the invaders.
They were not, however, strong enough to withstand the Ameri
cans; and, having been defeated at the battle of Newton, were
driven from village to village, and their whole country was laid
waste. Houses were burned, crops and orchards destroyed, aud
every thing done that could be thought of, to render the country
uninhabitable. Of all these steps Mr. Stone speaks fully. Forty
towns were burnt, and more than one hundred and sixty thousand
bushels of corn destroyed. Well did the Senecas name Washings

1779, brodhbad's Allegheny expedition. 303
ton, whose armies did all this, "the Town Destroyer." Having
performed this portion of his work, Sullivan turned homeward
from the beautiful valley of the Genesee; leaving Niagara, whither
the Indians fled, as to the stronghold of British power in that
neighborhood, untouched. This conduct, Mr. Stone thinks " diffi
cult of solution,"* as he supposes the destruction of that post to
have been one of the main objects of the expedition. Such, how
ever, was not the fact Originally, it had been part of the proposed
plan to attack Niagara; but, early in January, Washington was led
to doubt, and then to abandon that part of the plan, thinking it
wiser to carry on, merely, aome operationa on a amaller scale against
the savages.
One of the smaller operations was from the West, On the 22d
of March, 1779, Washington wrote to Colonel Daniel Brodhead,
who had succeeded Mcintosh in command at Fort Pitt, that an
incursion into the country of the Six Nations was in preparation,
and that in connection therewith, it might be advisable for a force
to ascend the Allegheny to Kittanning, and thence to Yenango,
and, having fortified both points, to strike the Mingoes and Mun-
seys upon French creek, and elsewhere in that neighborhood, and
thus aid General Sullivan in the great blow he was to give by his
march up the Susquehanna. Brodhead was also directed to say to
the western Indians, that if they made any trouble, the whole force
of the United States would be turned against them, and they should
be cut off from the fiice of the earth.
But, on the 21at of April, these orders were countermanded, and
Brodhead was directed to prepare an expedition against the Indiana
of the Ohio and western lakes, with an especial view to the reduc
tion of Detroit, Whether this order came too late, or was with
drawn, is not ascertained, Brodhead, however, proceeded as first
directed, and marched up the Allegheny. His report will furnish
the best account of the expedition :
"I left this place on the 11th of August, with six hundred and
five, rank and file, including the militia and volunteers, and one
month's provisions, which, except the live cattle, was transported
by water, under the escort of one hundred men, to a place called
Mahoney, about fifteen miles above Fort Armstrong, (Kittanning,)
where, after four days' detention by excessive rains, and the stray
ing of some of the cattle, the stores were loaded on pack-horses.

* Life of Brant, toI. ii.

304 brodhead's Allegheny expedition. 1779,
and the troops proceeded on the march lor Conowago, on the path
leading to Cushcushing. At ten miles this sido the town, one of
the advance guards, consisting of fifteen wHte men and eight Dela
ware Indians, under the command of Lieutenant Hardingj dis
covered between thirty and forty warriors corning down the river
in seven canoes. These warriors having likewise discovered some
of the troops, immediately landed, stripped off their ahirts, and
prepared for action, and the advance guard immediately began the
Attack, All the troopa, except one column and flankers, being iii
the narrows between the river and a high hill, ¦were immediately
prepared to receive the enemy ; which being done, I went forward
to discover the enemy, and saw six of them retreating oVer the
river Without arms ; at the same time the rest ran away, leaving
their canoes, blankets, shirts, provisions, and eight guns,^ besides
five dead, and, by the signs of blood, severatl went Off wOunded ;
only two of our men and One of the Delaware litdiaiis were
Wounded, and so slightly thaif they are already recovered and fit
for actioii,
" The next morning the troops proceeded to Buckalodns, where
I ordered a small breastwork to be thrown Up, of felled timber and
fascines, A captain and forty men were left to-secure our baggage,
and the troops marched immediately to COiiowago, ¦which I found
had been deserted about feighteen months past. Here the troops
Seemed much mortified, because ¦we had no person to proceed as a
guide to the upper towns, but I Ordered them to proceed on a path
¦which appeared to have beeil traveled by the enemy some time
past, and we continued marching on it about twenty miles before
any discoveries were made, except a few tracks of their spies ; but
immediately before ascending a high hill we discovered the Alle
gheny river, and a nUmber of cornfields, and descending, several
towns, which the enemy had deserted on the approach of the troops ;
some of them fled just before the advanced gtia'rd reached the towfi,
and left several packs of deer skins,
" At the upper Seneca town we found a painted image or war-post,
clothed in dog skin, and John Montour informed me thi^ town was
called Yoghwonwaga; beside this we found other towns, consisting
in the whole of one hundred and thirty houses, some' 6f -vvhich ¦were
large enough to accommodate three or four Indian families. The
troopa remained on the ground three daya, destroying the towns
and cornfields. I never aaw finer corn, although it was planted
much thicker than is common among our farmers. The quantity
of corn and other vegetables destroyed at the several towns, from

1779. bowman's expedition.
the best accounts I could collect from the officers employed to de
stroy it, must certainly exceed five hundred acres, ^^hich is the
lowest estimate ; and thei plunder taken is estimated at three thou
sand dollars. I have directed a aale of it for the benefit of the
troops j and hope it -will meet your approbation. On my return I
preferred the Yenango road. The old toi^nS of Conowago, Bucka-
loons, and Maghinquechahocking, about twenty milea above Ye-
nango'i on French creek, consisting of thirty-five large houses, were
likewise burnt. The greater part of the Indian houses were largef
than common, aud were built of square and round logs and frame
¦work. From the great quantity of corn in the ground, and the
number of new houses built and building, it appears that the
Seneca and Munsey nations intended to collect at thia aettlementj
which extenda about eight miles on the Allegheny river, between
one hundred and seventy and two hundred rdiles from Pittsburgh ;
the river at the upper town is little if any larger than Kiskiminetas
creek. It is remarkable that neither man nor beast has fallen into
the enemy's hands on this expedition."
On Brodhead's return iti Pittsburgh,- he found there the chiefs of
the Delawares, Shawanese, and Hurons^ who had come to treat for
peace. On the 17th of September, a conference was held ¦with
themj and a treaty of peace and of alliance with the Americans was
made. Further west, during this summer and autumny the Indians were
more successful. In July, the stations being still troubled. Col.
Bo^wman Undertook an expedition into the country of the Shawa
nese, acting upon the principle, that the best inode of defense
against Indians is to assail them. He marched undiscovered
into the immediate vicinity Of the towns upon the Little Miami^
and so di^vided and arranged his forces, as to insure apparent suc
cess, one portion of the troops being commanded by himself;
another by Colonel Benjamin Logan; but froin some unexpected
cause, his division of the whites did not eo-operflite fully with that
led by Logan, and the whole body was forced to retreat, after
having taken some bootyj including one hundred and sixty horsesj
and leaving the to'wn of the savages in cinder'sy but also leaving the
fierce warriors themselves in no degree daunted or crippled.
Nor was it long before they showed themselves south of the Ohio
again, and unexpectedly won a victory over the Americans of no
slight importance. The faetSj so far as they are ascertained,- are
these :
An expedition -tvhith hsid been made into the heighb'orhoOd of

306 REMARKABLE INCIDENT OF CAPTAIN BENHAM. 1779.
Lexington, where the first permanent improvements were made in
April of this year, upon its return came to the Ohio near the Licking,
at the very time that Colonel Rogers and Captain Benham reached
the same point on their way up the river in boats. A few of the
Indians were seen by the commander of the little American squad
ron, near the mouth of the Licking, and supposing himself to be
far superior in numbers, he caused seventy of his men to land,
intending to surround the savages; in a few moments, however, he
found he was himself surrounded, and after a hard fought battle,
only twenty or twenty-five, or perhaps even fewer of the party, were
left alive. It was in connection with this skirmish that an incident
occurred which seems to belong rather to a fanciful story than to
sober history, and which yet appears to be well authenticated.
In the party of whites was Captain Robert Benham. He was
one of those that fell, being shot through both hips, so as to be
powerless in his lower limbs ; he dragged himself, however, to a
tree-top, and there lay concealed from the savages after the contest
was over. On the evening of the second day, seeing a raccoon, he
shot it, but no sooner was the crack of his rifle heard than he dis
tinguished a human voice not far distant; supposing it to be some
Indian, he reloaded his gun and prepared for defense ; but a few
moments undeceived him, and he discovered that the person whose
voice he had heard was a fellow sufferer, with this difference, how
ever, that both his arms were broken! Here, then, were the only
two survivors of the combat, (except those who had entirely escaped,)
with one pair of legs and one pair of arms between them. It will
be easily believed that they formed a co-partnership for mutual aid
and defense. Benham shot the game which his friend drove toward
him, and the man with sound legs then kicked it to the spot where
he with sound arms sat ready to cook it. To procure water, the
one with legs took a hat by the brim in his teeth, and walked into
the Licking up to his neck, while the man with arms was to make
signals if any boat appeared in sight. In this way they spent
about six weeks, when, upon the 27th of November, they were
rescued. Benham afterward bought and lived upon the land
where the battle took place ; his companion, Mr. Butler tells ua,
waa a few yeara since atill living at Brownsville, Pennsylvania.
But the military operations of 1779 were not those which were
of the most vital importance to the West. The passage of the
Land Lawa by Yirginia was of more consequence than the losing
or gaining of many battles to the hardy pioneers of Kentucky and
to their descendants. Of these laws but a vague outline can be

1779. CLAIMS TO WESTERN LANDS. 807
given ; but it may be enough to render the subject in some
degree intelligible.
In 1779 there existed claima of various kinds to the western
lands :
Those of the Ohio, Walpole and other companies, who had a
title more or less perfect, from the British Government; none of
these had been perfected by patents, however.
Claims founded on the military bounty warrants of 1763 ; some
of these were patented.
Henderson's claim by purchase from the Indians.
Those based on mere selection and occupancy.
Others resting on selection and survey, without occupancy.
Claims of persons who had imported settlers ; for each such
settler, under an old law, fifty acres were to be allowed.
Claims of persons who had paid money into the old colonial
treasury for land.
The claims of officers and soldiers of the Revolution, to whom
Yirginia was indebted.
These various claims were, in the first place, to be provided for,
and then the residue of the rich valleys beyond the mountains
might be sold to pay the debts of the parent State. In May, the
chief laws relative to this most important and complicated subject
were passed, and commissioners were appointed to examine the
various claims which might be presented, and give judgment
according to the evidence brought forward; their proceedings,
however, to remain open to revision until December 1, 1780. And
as the subject was a perplexed one, the following principles were
laid down for their guidance :
All surveys (without patents,) made before January 1, 1778, by
any county surveyor commissioned by William and Mary College,
and founded upon charter; upon importation rights duly proved ;
upon treasury rights, (money paid into the colonial treasury ; ) upon
entries not exceeding four hundred acres, made before October 26,
1763 ; upon acts of the Yirginia Aasembly reaulting from ordera in
eouncil, &c. ; upon any warrant from a colonial governor, for mili
tary aervices, &c. were to be good ; all other surveys null and void.
Those who had not made surveys, if claiming under importation
rights ; under treasury rights ; under warrants for military services,
were to be admitted to survey and entry.
Those who had actually settled, or caused at their cost others to
settle, on unappropriated land, before January 1, 1778, were to have
four hundred acres, or less, as they pleased, for every family ao
settled; paying $2.25 for each hundred acres.

^^8 VIRGINIA LAND LAWS. 1779.
Those who had settled in villages before January 1, 1778, were
to receive for each family four hundred acres, adjacent to the vil
lage, at $2.25 per hundred acres; and the ¦village property was to
remain unsurveyed until the General Assembly could examine tki
titles to it, and do full justice.
To all having settlement rights, as above described, was given
also a right of pre-emptioU to one thousand acres adjoining the
settlement, at State priees^^forty cents an acre.
To those who had settled since January 1, 1778, was given a
pre-emption right to four hundred acres, adjoining and including
the settlement made by them.
All the region between Green river^ the Cumberland mountains,
Tennessee, the river Tennessee, and the Ohio, was reserved, to be
used for military claims.
The two hundred thousand acres granted Henderson and his
associates, October, 1778, along the Ohio, beloW the mouth of
Green river, remained still appropriated to them.
Having thua provided for the varioua classes of claimants, the
Legislature offered the rerdainder of the public lands at forty ceiita
an acre ; the money was to be paid into the Treasury, and a war
rant for the quantity wished taken by the purchaser ; this Warrant
he was to take to the surveyor of the county in which he wished to
locate, and an entry was to be made of every location; so special
and distinct that the adjoining latids might be known with
certainty. To persons unable to pay eash^ four hundred acres were
to be sold on ereditj and an order of the county court was to be
substituted for the warrant of the Treasury.
To carry these laws into effect, four Yirginians were sent west-
•v^'ard to attend to claims ; these gentlemen opened their court on
the 13th of October, at St. Asaph's^ and continued their sessions at
various points; until April 26, 1780, when they adjourned to meet
no more,' after having given judgment in favor of about three thou>^
sahd clainis. The labors of the commissioners being ended/ those
of the surveyor commenced ; and Mr. George May;- who had beeii
apf)ointed to that office, assumed its duties upoU: the 10th day of
that mouth, the name of which he bore.
"At this time," sayS Imlay, "What wa.s called continental
currency, was reduced to as low a rate as five hundred to one ; nay,
I believe one thousand to one was a more common exchange;
" This circumiStanee, though it had its good effects so far as it
tended to accelerate the settlemerit bf the country, still Was pro
ductive of no small degree Of evil and injustice; Forj in eohse-

1779. VIRGINIA LAND LAWS. 309
quence of the great quantity of this money which lay dead in the
hands of individuala, it waa no sooner known in the different
States that Yirginia held out an opportunity to them of obtaining
a consideration for this depreciated currency, than it was sent to
the treasury in such quantities and given for land warrants, that in
a short time, more of them were issued than would have covered
half the territory within its limits.
^^ Previous to this era, a great part of the valuable land in the dis
trict of Kentucky had either been taken up on old military grants
and pre-emption rights, or located by those who had been first in
obtaining their warrants, for it required some time for the business
to extend itself and become generally known and understood. In
consequence, a large proportion of the holders of treasury warrants
were disappointed when they determined if they could not obtain
prime lands, they would lay their warrants upon such as were
vacant, however sterile, whick doubtless was proper, for though
the warrants had cost them only a nominal value, nor was the
State of Yirginia sensible of the dangerous avenue they were open
ing to fraudulent practices, yet it was possible in an extensive tract
of mountainous countryj there might be in the valleys or between
the hills, some bottom land, which in the progress of settlement^
would be of value.
f'But they did not stop here, for finding a general spirit of migra
tion waa taking place from every part of the Atlantic to the
Weatern country, and that the reputation of the fine landa upon
the Ohio, particularly those of Kentucky, were every day advancing
in estimation, they determined to have their surveys ma^e out in
the most artful manner, by having for corner trees such kinds as
are never known to grow but in the most fertile soil, and which
may alwaya be found in the narrow strips of bottom land, and the
plots embellished with the greateat elegance, displaying fine water
courses, mill seats, where perhaps there ¦will not be a grain of corn
for half a centuiy to comC; plains, groves, an4 meadows. Henee
proceeded so generally the business of land jobbing ; hence it is that
there is to be seen in the mercuries throughout Europe, such
immense tracts of land in America offered for aale ; and hence it is
that so many persons have cause to complain of having been
deceived in the accounts which have been ^ven of land they have
purchaaed." The Governor of Yirginia appointed four commiaaionera for
Kentucky ; but it was not until aome time in October, 1779, they
arrived in the country and opened court. The law itaelf was

310 VIRGINIA LAND LAWS. 1779.
Vague, and the proceedings of the court, and the certificates
granted to claimants under the law, were more indefinite and un
certain. The description of tracts were general, the boundaries not
well defined, and consequently the claims, when located, interfered
with each other. Every family that settled on waste or unappro
priated lands belonging to Yirginia, upon the western waters, was
entitled to a pre-emption right to any quantity of land not exceed
ing four hundred acres; and, upon the payment of two dollars and
twenty-five cents on each one hundred acres, a certificate was
granted, and a title in fee-simple confirmed.
Each settler could select and survey for pre-emption any quantity
of waste or unappropriated lands, not exceeding one thousand
acres to each claimant, for which forty dollars for each hundred
acres were required. Payments could be made in the paper cur
rency of Yirginia, which had depreciated greatly.'''
The following specimens from the record of the Commissioners*
Court are given to illustrate the vague manner in which tracts of
land were described in the enlyy:
" Michael Stoner this day appeared, and claimed a right of aettle
ment and pre-emption to a tract of land lying on Stoner'a Fork, a
branch of the south fork of the Licking, about twelve miles above
Licking Station, by making corn in the country in the year 1775,
and improving said land in 1776. Satisfactory proof being made
to the court, they are of opinion that said Stoner has a right to a
settlement of four hundred acres of land, including the above
mentioned improvement, and a pre-emption of one thousand acres
adjoining the same, and that a certificate issue accordingly."
" Joseph Combs, this day claimed a right to a pre-emption of
one thousand acres of land lying on Combs', since called Howard's
creek, about eight miles above Boonesborough, on both sides of the
creek, and about three or four miles from the mouth of it, by
improving the said land, by building a cabin on the premises, in
the month of May, 1776. Satisfactory proof being made to the
court, they are of opinion that the said Combs has a right to a pre
emption of one thousand acres, including the said improvement,
and that a certificate issue accordingly."
The sessions of thia court were held at different places in Ken
tucky, to accommodate the claimants, for the period of one year,
during which about three thousand certificates were granted. The

* Life of Boone, in Sparks' Biography, p. 95.

1768. SPANISH SOLDIERS FIRST AT ST. LOUIS. 311
foregoing extracts illustrate the vague and undefined descriptions of
localities. Many of the claims were rendered null from more
specific and definite surveys covering the same land; and many of
the old pioneers, amongst whom was Daniel Boone, lost the lands
they had entered and surveyed, by subsequent law suits.
The "winter of 1779-80, was uncommonly severe throughout the"
United States, and has been distinguished as " the hard winter."
The effect on the new settlements in the West was great distress
and suffering. In Kentucky, the rivers, creeks, and branches were
frozen to an uncommon thickness where the water was deep, and
became exhausted in shallow places. Horses and cattle died from
thirst and starvation. The snow, from continuous storms, became
of unusual depth and continued a long time. Men could not hunt.
Families were overtaken in the wilderness on their journey, and
their progress arrested, and there was great suffering. The
supplies of the settlements were exhausted, and corn became
extremely scarce.
When the snow melted, and the ice broke up in the rivers, the
low grounds and river bottoms were submerged, and much of the
stock that had survived the severity of the winter, perished in the
waters. The game of the forest furnished meat, which was the
only solid food to be obtained until the corn was grown. The
summer brought large accessions to the population by emigra
tion.On the 11th of August, 1768, during the period of the revolt of
1780.] Lower Louisiana, M. Rious, with a detachment of Spanish
troops, arrived at St. Louis, and took formal possession of Upper
Louisiana, in the name of the king of Spain.* The occupation of
Rious was military, and St. Ange was allowed still to exercise the
functions of the civil government. On the 17th of July, 1769, he
evacuated St. Louis, and returned to New Orleans, to aid O'Reilly
in the reduction of the lower province.
After the submission of the people to the government of Spain,
O'Reilly deputed Don Pedro Piernas to be lieutenant-governor, and
civil and military commandant of Upper Louisiana. On the 29th
of November, Piemas arrived at St. Louis, received the govern
ment from St. Ange, and in February, 1771, entered upon the
exercise of his official functions. No opposition was made to the

?Gayarre's Spanish domination in Loui3i.ana.

312 FIRST SPANISH VICTORY AT ST. LOUIS. 1770.
new government, the administration of Piernas was mild and par
ternal, and the people soon became reconciled to, and in time be
came strongly attached to the Spanish government.
Unzaga was left in charge of the government of Lower Louisir
ana on the departure of O'Reilly, on the 29th of October, 1770, and
was confirmed as governor of Louisiana by a royal decree, on the
17th of August, 1772. The administration of O'Reilly had com
pletely crushed out the spirit of resistance to the Spanish domina
tion, and the administration of Unzaga, and his deputy Piernas,
occupied with no wars or rebellions, afford few events worthy of
record. On the 24th of March, 1770, the Spanish government, by
a royal decree, confirmed the acts of O'Reilly, in substituting the
laws and usages of Spain instead of those of France, which were
in force in the colony. All controversies were tried under the
Spanish law, by a tribunal of which the governor was the supreme
judge in Lower Louisiana, and by a tribunal of which the deputy
governor was the supreme judge in Upper Louisiana. No titles to
land in Upper Louisiana were given under the French domination.
The grants to Laclede, and the various grants made by St. Ange,
during the period of his provisional government, were held to be
invalid, because made without the authority of Spain, after the
treaty of cession. All these titles were, however, examined, sur
veyed, and on the 23d of May, 1772, confirmed by Piernas. No
land titles west of the Mississippi, in Upper Louisiana, date
beyond that period. A liberal policy in the bestowment of grants
was pursued, the government was mild, and more in accordance
with the usages of the French than the government of Great Bri
tain, and accordingly a large emigration set in from Canada, and
the Illinois, to the western side of the Mississippi. Immigrants, too,
weie attracted by the climate, soil, and trade of the province of
Lower Louisiana, and under these circumstances its population was
largely increased.
On the 1st of February, 1777, Don Bernando de Galvez sue-
ceeded Unzaga in the government of Louisiana. Piernas had
previously resigned, in 1775, his authority to Cruzat, and in 1778,
Oruzat waa auperaeded by Don Francisco de Leyba, The war of
the Revolution had begun, and Louisiana, though far removed from
tiie scene of conflict, was still within reach of its influence, and
shared in t^e commotions it excited. As early as 1777, the Span
ish court had aent ordera to the governora of Louiaiana, to afford
aecret aid to the Americana, and arma and ammunition had been
procured at New Orleans, to the amount of seventy thousand dol-

1779. SPAIN DECLARES WAR AGAINST ENGLAND, 313
lars, and ehipped to Fort Pitt for their use. In January, 1778,
Captain Willing, an American officer, with a party of flfty men,
deacended the river, and ravaged the British shore of the Missis
sippi from the bayou Manchac to Natchez,
On the 8th of May, 1779, Spain declared war againat Great Bri
tain, and on the 8th of July, the people of Louisiana were author
ized to take their ahare in the war against the colonies of Great
Britain. Accordingly, Galvez collected a force of fourteen hundred
men, and on the 7th of September, attacked and took Fort Man
chac. Thence he proceeded to Baton Rouge, and after a short
siege, reduced that post on the 21st of September, while a detach
ment of his force took possession of the post at Natchez. Eight
vessels of the British were taken by the Spanish colonists on the
lakea and in the Mississippi. Galvez, encouraged by his success,
collected another force of two thousand men, in the next year, and
laid siege to Mobile, which in a short time was surrendered. Gal
vez then returned to Havana, obtained a reinforcement of troopa,
with arms and ammunition, for the aicgo of Pensacola, then the
principal post of the British in West Florida ; but, on his return,
his transports were disperaed and lost in a storm, Galvez returned
to Havana, procured another reinforcement, and in March, 1781,
laid siege to Pensacola, The siege was maintained with great
¦vigor on both sides for a month, when the fortifications were
pierced, by the explosion of a magazine. The garrison offered a
capitulation, and Pensacola, and with it all west Florida, on the 9th
of May, was surrendered to Spain,
The war did not immediately affect the people of Upper Louisi
ana, The conquest of Illinois by Clark, in 1778, removed from
their neighborhood all the British posts in the Illinois, There was
no British force nearer than Detroit, and the garrison there, and
their Indian alliea, were ao fully occupied with the war along the
American border, that danger was not to be apprehended from that
quarter. The British commandant at Mackinaw, however, was
meditating the reduction of Upper Louisiana, and after the reverses
the British arma had sustained in Florida, determined to lead an
expedition on his own responsibility against St. Louis. Accord
ingly, he collected a force of one hundred and forty soldiers, and
fifteen hundred Indiana, and with theae he set out early in the
spring of 1780, ¦with a view of surprising that place.
Rumora of the intention of the British to attack Louisiana had
been current among the Indians of Hlinois. Thia intelligence waa
21

314 ST. LOUIS THREATENED. 1779.
conveyed to General Clark while at Kaskaskia, in the spring of
1779. Clark immediately informed the inhabitants of St, Louie,
and through them the governor, Leyba, of their danger, and prof
fered his aid in case of an attack. His offer was rejected, for the
reason that no immediate danger was to be apprehended.
The territory on which St, Louis stood, as likewise that on which
several other towns had been located, and the surrounding country,
were claimed by the Illinois Indians, but they had acquiesced in
the intrusion of the whites, and had never molested them. But
when the rumor of an attack upon the town began to spread abroad,
the people became alarmed for their safety.
The town was almost destitute of works of defense, but the in
habitants, amounting to a little more than a hundred men,* imme
diately proceeded to inclose it with a species of wall, formed of the
trunks of small treea planted in the ground, the interstices being
filled up with earth. The wall was some five or six feet high. It
started from the Half Moon, a kind of fort in that form, situated
on the river, the present Floating Dock, and ran from thence a
little above the brow of the hill, in a semicircle, until it reached
the Mississippi, somewhat above the bridge, now on Second street.
Three gates were formed in it; one near the bridge, and two others
on the hill, at the points where the roads from the north-western
and south-western parts of the common fields came in. At each
of these gates waa placed a heavy piece of ordnance, kept con
tinually charged, and in good order. Having completed this work,
and hearing no more of the Indians, it was supposed that the attack
had been abandoned. Winter passed away, and spring came ; still
nothing was heard of the Indians. The inhabitants were led to
believe that their apprehensions were groundless, from the repre
sentations of the commandant, Leyba, who did every thing in his
power to dissipate their anxiety, assuring them that there was no
danger, and that the rumor of the proposed attack was false. The
month of May came, the labors of planting were over, and the
peaceful and happy villagers gave themselves up to such pursuits
and pleasures as suited their taste.
A few daya before the attack, an old man named Quenelle, being
on the oppoaite side of the river, saw another Frenchman, by the
name of Ducharme, who had formerlj' absconded from St, Louis,
¦who told him of the projected attack. The governor called him
"au old dotard," and ordered him to prison.

* The whole population was probably nine hundred, or one thousand.

1780. ST. LOUIS ATTACKED. 315
In the meantime, numerous bands of the Indians living on the
lakes and the Mississippi — the Ojibwas, Menomonies, Winneba''
goes, Sioux, Sacs, &c., together with a large number of Canadians,
amounting in all to upward of fourteen hundred, had assembled
on the eastern shore of the Mississippi, a little above St. Louis,
awaiting the 26th of May, the day fixed for the attack. The 25th
of May was the feast of Corpus Christi, a day highly venerated by
the inhabitants, who were all Catholics. Had the assault taken
place then, it would have been fatal to them ; for, after divine ser-
¦vicBj all, men, women, and children, had flocked to the prairie to
gather strawberries, which were that season very abundant and
fine. The town, being left perfectly unguarded, could have been
taken with ease, and the unsuspecting inhabitants, who were roam
ing about in search of fruit, could have been massacred without
resistance. Fortunately, however, a few only of the enemy had
crossed the river, and ambushed themselves in the prairie. The
villagers frequently came so near them, in the course of the day,
that the Indians, from their places of concealment, could have
reached them with their hands. But they knew not how many of
the whites were still remaining in the town, and in the absence of
their coadjutors feared to attack, lest their preconcerted plan might
be defeated.
On the 26th, the body of the Indians crossed, and marched
directly toward the fields, expecting to find the greater part of the
villagers there ; but in this they were disappointed, a few only
ha^ving gone out to view their crops. These perceived the approach
of the savage foe, and immediately commenced a retreat toward
the town, the most of them taking the road that led to the upper
gate, nearly through the mass of Indians, and followed by a shower
of bullets. The firing alarmed those who were in town, and the
cry, " To arms ! to arms !" waa heard in every direction. They
rushed toward the works, and threw open the gates to their brethren.
The Indians advanced slowly, but steadily, toward the town, and
the inhabitants, though almost deprived of hope, by the vast supe
riority in numbers of the assailants, determined to defend them
selves to the last.
In expectation of an attack, Silvio Francisco Cartabona, a gov
ernmental officer, had gone, to Ste. Genevieve for a company of
militia, to aid in defending the town, in case of necessity, and had,
at the beginning of the month, returned with sixty men, who were
quartered on the citizens. As soon as the attack commenced,
however, neither Cartabona nor his men could be seen. Either

316 TREACHERY OF LEYBA. 1780.
through fear or treachery, the greater part concealed themselves in
a garret, and there remained until the Indians had retired. The
assailed, being deprived of a considerable force by this shameful
defection, were still resolute and determined. About fifteen men
were posted at each gate ; the rest were scattered along the line of
defense, in the most advantageous manner.
When within proper distance, the Indians began an irregular
fire, which was answered with showers of grape-shot from the artil
lery. The firing for a while was warm, but the Indians, perceiving
that all their efforts would be ineffectual, on account erf the
intrenchments, and deterred by the cannon, to which they were
unaccustomed, from making a nearer approach, suffered their zeal
to abate, and deliberately retired. At this stage of affairs the lieu
tenant-governor made his appearance. The first intimation that he
received of what was going on, was by the discharge of artillery,
on the part of the inhabitants. He immediately ordered several
pieces of cannon, which were posted in front of the government-
house, to be spiked and filled with sand, and went, or rather was
rolled in a wheelbarrow, to the scene of action. In a very peremp
tory tone, he commanded the inhabitants to cease firing, and return
to their houses. Those posted at the lower gate did not hear the
order, and consequently kept their stations. The commandant
perceived this, and ordered a cannon to be fired at them. They
had barely time to throw themselves on the ground, when the
volley passed over them, and struck the wall, tearing a great part
of it down. These proceedings, as well as the whole tenor of hia
conduct, after the first rumor of an attack, gave rise to suspicion^
very unfavorable to the lieutenanf>governor. .
It was freely said, that he was the cause of the attack, that he
waa connected with the British, and that he had been bribed into a
dereliction of duty, which, had not Pro-vidence averted, would have
doomed them to destruction. Under the pretext of pro^nng to
them that there was no danger of an attack, he had, a few daya
before it occurred, sold to the traders all the ammunition belonging
to the government; and they would have been left perfectly desti
tute and defenseless, had they not found, in a private house, eight,
barrels of powder, belonging to a trader, which they seized in the
name of the king, upon the first alarm. These circumstances gave
birth to a atrong aversion to the commandant, which evinces itaelf
even at thia day, in exeerationa of his character, whenever his name
is mentioned to those who have known him. Representations of
hi# conduct, together with a detailed account of thO; attack, were

1780. DISGRACE OF LEYBA. 317
sent to New Orleana by a special messenger, and the reault was,
that the governor-general re-appointed Francisco Cruzat to the
office of lieutenant-governor.
As soon as it was ascertained that the Indians had retired from
the neighborhood, the inhabitants proceeded to gather and bury
the dead that lay scattered in all parts of the prairie. Seven were
at first found and buried in one grave. Ten or twelve others, in
the course of a fortnight, were discovered in the long grass that
bordered the marshes. The acts of the Indians were accompanied
by their characteristic ferocity. Some of their victims were horribly
mangled. With the exception of one individual, the whites who
accompanied the Indians did not take part in the butcheries that
were committed. A young man named Calve was found dead, his
skull split open, and a tomahawk, on the blade of which was writ
ten the word " Calve," sticking in his brain. He was supposed to
have fallen by the hand of his uncle. Had those who- discovered
the Indians in the prairie fled to the lower gate, they would have
escaped, but the greater part of them took the road that led to the
upper gate, through the very ranks of the enemy, and were thus
exposed to the whole of their fire. About twenty persons, it is
computed, met their death in endeavoring to get within the
entrenchments. None of those within them were injured, and
none of the Indians were killed ; at least, none of them were found.
Their object was not to plunder, for they did not attempt, in their
retreat, to take with them any of the cattle or horses that were in
the prairie, and which they might have taken ; nor did they attack
any of the neighboring towns, where the danger would have been
less, and the prospect of success greater. The only object they had
in view, was the destruction of St. Louis ; and this would seem to
favor the idea that they were instigated by the English, and gives
good ground, when connected with other circumstances, to believe
that Leyba was their aider and abettor.
Thus ended an attack, which, properly conducted, might have
been destructive to the infant town, and which, from the number
of the enemy, and the danger incurred, was calculated to impress
itself deeply on the minds of those who witnessed it. It forms an
era in the history of the place ; and the year in which it occurred
has ever since been designated by the inhabitants as the year qf
the blow — "L'annee du Coup."
Leyba, aware that representations of his course had been specially
forwarded to the governor-general at New Orleans, and fearful of
the consequences, and unable to bear up under the load of scorn

318 CRUZAT KB-APPOINTED COMMANDANT. 178'0.
and contempt which the inhabitanta heaped upon him, died a abort
time after the attack, suspected by many of having hastened his
end by poison.
Upon his death, Cartabona performed the functions of govern
ment until the following year, when Cruzat returned to St. Louis,
and assumed the command as lieutenant-governor a second time.
After the events narrated above, the inhabitants of St. Louis, find
ing that their garrison were unworthy of trust, without ammuni
tion, and without means of defense against a regularly organized
attack, deputed Mr. A. Chouteau to proceed to New Orleans for
assistance. A wooden fort was built on the most elevated spot
within the city, upon which were mounted several heavy piecea of
ordnance, and still later there were added four stone turrets, from
which cross-fires could be kept up. This might have answered for
the protection of the city, but only against the Indians. No traces
of this fortification are now to be seen — the very site of which has
yielded to the improvements of the city.
The fortifications consisted of a square building called the bastion,
situated at the northern extremity of the hill, nearly opposite the
Half Moon ; of a circular fort, directly south of the bastion, and
situated on what is now called Olive street; of another circular
building, which served both for a fort and prison, south of that
last mentioned, and situated on Walnut street ; of a circular fort,
in a line with, and south of the others, situated at the extremity of
the hill, near what is called Mill creek; and finally, of another
circular fort, east of the latter, and somewhat above the bridge, near
the river. All of these fortifications were provided with ammuni
tion and artillery, and soldiers were kept constantly on guard in
them. The forts, besides, were connected together by a strong
wall, made of cedar posts, planted upright in the ground, fitted
closely together, and with loop-holes for small arms between every
two. These precautionary defenses had been dictated by the
danger which had been incurred, and which was fresh in the recol
lection of all, and probably had the effect of preventing any further
assaults upon the place. The inhabitants were never afterward
molested.* In the autumn of 1780, La Balme, a native of France, made an
attempt to carry an expedition from Kaskaskia against Detroit. With
twenty or thirty men, he marched from Kaskaskia to Post Yinceu-

* Western Journa'.

1780. EXORBITANT CLAIMS OF SPAIN. 319
nes, where he was joined by a small reinforcement. He then
moved up the Wabash, and reached the British trading post Ke-ki-
ong-a, at the head of the Maumee. After j)lundering the traders,
and some of the Indians, he marched from the post, and encamped
near the river Aboite. A party of the Miami Indians attacked the
encampment in the night. La Balme and several of his followers
were slain, and the expedition was defeated.*
With the year 1780, commences the history of those troubles
relative to the navigation of the Mississippi, which, for so long a
time, produced the deepest discontent in the West. Spain had
taken the American part so far as to go to war with Britain, but
no treaty had yet been concluded between Congress and the powers
at Madrid. Mr. Jay, however, had been appointed Minister from
the United States, at the Spanish court, where he arrived in the
spring of this year, and where he soon learned the grasping plane
of the Southern Bourbons. These plans, indeed, were iu no degree
concealed, the French Minister being instructed to inform Con
gress, —
'"That his most Christian Majesty (of France,) being informed
of the appointment of a Minister Plenipotentiary to treat of an
alliance between the United States and his Catholic Majesty, (of
Spain,) has signified to his Minister Plenipotentiary to the United
States, that he wishes most earnestly for such an alliance; and in
order to make the way more easy, has commanded him to communi
cate to the Congress, certain articles, which his Catholic Majesty
deems of great importance to the intereafa of hia crown, and on
which it ia highly necessary that the United States explain them
selves with, po'ecision, and with snch. moderation as may consist with
their essential rights.
" That the articles are :
"A precise and invariable western boundary to the United
States ;
" The exclusive navigation of the river Mississippi ;
" The possession of the Floridas ; and,
" The land on the left or eastern side of the river Mississippi.
" That on the first article, it is the idea of the Cabinet of Madrid,
that the United Statea extend to the weatward no farther than
aettlements were permitted by the Royal Proclamation, bearing

* 1 illon's Indiana.

320 JAY UTTERLY OPPOSES SPANISH POLICY. 1780.
date the 7th day of October, 1763, (that is to say, not west of the
Alleghenies.) " On the second, that the United Statea do not consider them
selves as having any right to navigate the river Missiaaippi, no
territory belonging to them being situated thereon.
"On the third, that it is probable the king of Spain ¦will conquer
the Floridas, during the course of the present war; and in such an
event, every cause of dispute relative thereto, between Spain and
these United States, ought to be removed.
" On the fourth, that the lands lying on the east side of the
Mississippi, whereon the settlements were prohibited by the afore^
said proclamation, are possessions of the crown of Great Britain,
and proper objects against which the arms of Spain may be employed,
for the purpose of making a permanent conquest for the Spanish
crown. That such conquest may probably be made during the
present war. That, therefore, it would be advisable to restrain the
southern States from making any settlements or conquesta in these
territories. That the Council of Madrid consider the United
States as -having no claim to those territories, either as not having
had possession of them before the present war, or not having any
foundation for a claim in the right of the sovereignty of Great
Britain, whose dominion they have abjured."*
These extraordinary claims of his Catholic Majesty were in no
respect admitted during this year, either by Mr. Jay or Congress,
and in October a full statement of the ¦views of the United
States, as to their territorial rights, waa drawn up, probably by Mr.
Madison, and sent to the Ambassador at Madrid.f Meantime, as
Yirginia considered the use of the Great Western river very neces
sary to her children. Governor Jefferson had ordered a fort to be
constructed upon the Mississippi, below the mouth of the Ohio.
This was done in the spring of the year 1780, by General G. R.
Clark, who was stationed at the Falls; and was named by him
after the writer of the Declaration of Independence. This fort,
for some purposes, may have been well placed, but it was a great
mistake to erect it, without notice, in the country of the Chicka
saws, who had thus far been true friends to the American cause.
They regarded this unauthorized intrusion upon their lands as the
first step in a career of conquest, and as such resented it ; while

* See Pitkin's History of the United States, ii. p. 92.
t Pitkin, ii. 612, 91. Life of John Jay, i. 108, &o.

1780. EDUCATION PROVIDED FOR IN KENTUCKY. 321
the settlers of Kentucky looked upon the measure with but little
favor, as it tended to diminish the available force in their stations,
which were still exposed to the ceaseless hostility of the Shawanese
and Wyandots.
The inhabitants of these stations, meanwhile, were increasing
¦with wonderful rapidity under the inducements presented by the
land laws. Emigrants crowded over the mountains as soon as
spring opened. Three hundred large family boats arrived early in
the year at the Falls; and on Beargrass creek was a population
containing six hundred serviceable men.* Nor did the swarming
stop with the old settlements ; in the southwest part of the State the
hunter Maulding, and his four sons, built their outpost upon the
Red river, which empties into the Cumberland; while, sometime
in the spring of this same year. Dr. Walker, and Colonel Hender
son, the first visitor and first colonist of Kentucky, tried to run the
line which should divide Yirginia from Carolina, (or, as things are
now named, Kentucky from Tennessee,) westward as far as the
Mississippi; an attempt in which they failed.! ^or was it to
western lands and territorial boundaries alone that Yirginia direc
ted her attention at this time; in May her Legislature resolved,
tiiat, "Whereas, It is represented to this General Assembly that there
are certain lands within the county of Kentucky, formerly belong
ing to British subjects, not yet sold under the law of escheats and
forfeitures, which might at a future day be a valuable fund for the
maintenance and education of youth, and it being the interest of this
Commonwealth always to promote and encourage every design which may
tend to the improvement of the mind, and the diffusion of useful knowledge
even among its remote citizens, whose situation, in a barbarous neighbor
hood and a savage intercourse, might otherwise render unfriendly to
science : be it therefore enacted, that eight thousand acres of land,
within the said county of Kentucky, late the property of those Bri
tish subjects, (Robert M'Kenzie, Henry Collins, and Alexander
M'Kee,) should be vested in trustees, ' as a free donation from this
commonwealth, for the purpose of a public school, or seminary of
learning, to be erected within the said county, as soon as its cir
cumstances and the state of its funds will permit.' "
Thus was early laid the foundation of the first western seminary
of literature, just five years after the forts of Boonesborough and

* Butler, second edition, 99.
t Marshal, i. 113. Holme's Annals, ii. 304, note 3d.

322 BYRD INVADES KENTUCKY. 1780.
Harrodsburg rose amidst the woods. Thus was the foundation laid
for the establishment of the Transylvania University at Lexington.
In the summer of 1780, a force of six hundred Canadians and
Indians, with six pieces of cannon, under the command of Colonel
Byrd, of the British army, invaded Kentucky, by the way of the
Miami and the Licking. Their first point of attack was Riiddel's
station, on the south fork of the Licking, below the mouth of
Hinkston fork. Singularly enough, their approach was not dis
covered before they appeared before the station, although they had
been twelve days occupied in cutting a road through the country,
from the Ohio. Col. Byrd immediately demanded the surrender
of the station. Resistance was useless, and Riiddel consented to
yield the post on condition that the prisonera ahould be protected
by the British from the Indians. Byrd promised his protection,
and the gates were thrown open. Immediately the Indians rushed
in, seized the inhabitants, and divided them among themselves.
Riiddel remonstrated, but Byrd confessed that he could do noth
ing, that he had no control over the savages, but that he himself
was at their mercy. The Indians next proposed to attack Martin's
station, five miles further, but Byrd refused to assist them unless
the chiefs would pledge themselves that all the prisoners taken
should be surrendered to him. They consented ; the army marched
to Martin's station ; it was surrendered without a contest ; the pri
soners were relinquished, and the Indians divided the spoils among
themselves. The Indians next insisted on attacking Lexington and Bryant's
station. Byrd refused to march further, and insisted that it would
be impracticable to procure provisions, or to transport the cannon
by land, and thus with difficulty dissuaded them from the enter
prise. His conduct, however, shows that motives of humanity
influenced him more than a doubt of success ; since with the force at
his command it would have been easy to have reduced all the
stockades, and to have broken up all the settlements of Kentucky,
As soon as it was decided to abandon the expedition, the army
retreated to the forks of the Licking, There the Indians separated,
and set out for their villages, taking with them the prisoners they
had taken at Riiddel's station, together with a great amount of
stock and other booty they had secured. The British passed down
the Licking, and up the Miami, as far as they could proceed in
their boats, where they concealed their artillery, and returned to
Detroit.

1780. FORT JEFFERSON ON MISSISSIPPI BUILT. 323
General Clark was at this juncture absent from the falls, engaged
in the building of Fort Jefferson. The State of Yirginia was
anxious to extend her jurisdiction to the Mississippi, and Clark
was directed to take military possession of the western limit of that
territory of Kentucky. Accordingly, he descended the Ohio, and
built a fort a short distance below its mouth, which he named Fort
Jefferson. After its completion it was placed under the command
of Captain George, with a garrison of one hundred men. It was
located within the territory of the, Chickasaws, and they immedi
ately remonstrated, through a Scotch half-breed chief, Colbert,
against its erection. Their remonstrance was disregarded, and
they prepared to drive the whites from their lands. Accordingly,
they attacked the fort in the fall of the same year, when the garrison
was reduced to thirty men. The siege was pressed with great
vigor for six days, when Clark arrived with a reinforcement, and
compelled the Indians to retire. The fort was dismantled, and
abandoned in the next year, in accordance with the instructions of
the governor of Yirginia, and the hostilities of the Chickasaws
ceased. When Clark returned from the building of Fort Jefferson, he
received at the falls a letter from the governor of Yirginia, recom
mending an invasion of the Indian country, and the destruction of
the trading post at Loramie's store. The invasion of Byrd fur
nished an additional motive for an expedition to chastise the
Indians, in accordance with the usual practice of the pioneers of
the time, to allow no inroad of the Indians to pass without retalia
tion, Clark immediately proceeded to Harrodsburg, to enlist
volunteers to invade the Indian country, but the people were so
engaged with the land entries, then recently opened, that it was
impossible to interest them in the expedition. In accordance with
Clark's request. May, the surveyor, closed the land-office ; and, in
consequence, a regiment of troops was immediately raised. With
these, and with a mounted regiment from the falls, Clark proceeded
to the mouth of the Licking, crossed the Ohio, and marched
up the Miami valley to Piqua, on Mad river. The town was taken
by surprise, but the Indians made a desperate defense. They
were, however, routed, and compelled to fly ; their town and their
growing corn were destroyed. Seventeen of the whites and seven
teen of the Indians, it is said, were killed. The town was never
rebuilt; the Indians passed over and built another town on the
Great Miami, to which they also gave the name of Piqua,
Detachments of the army were sent out, who destroyed the corn

324 CLARK'S FIRST EXPEDITION TO MIAMI, 1780,
and burned all the other villages around the head waters of the
Miami, Thomas Yickroy, who afterward, in conjunction with George
Woods, surveyed the site of Pittsburgh, was in Clark's army oa
this expedition. His account of it is interesting, as it fixes the
date of the first occupation of the site of Cincinnati :
" In April, 1780, I went to Kentucky, in company ¦with eleven
flat boats with movers. We landed, on the 4th of May, at the
mouth of Beargrass creek, above the falls of Ohio, I took my
compass and chain along, to make a fortune by surveying, but
when we got there, the Indians would not let us survey. In the
same summer. Col, Byrd came from Detroit, with a few British
soldiers, and some light artillery, with Simon Girty, and a great
many Indians, and took the two forts on Licking, Immediately
afterward, General Clark raised an army of about a thousand men,
and marched with one party of them against the Indian towns.
When we came to the mouth of the Licking, we fell in with Col,
Todd and his party. On the first day of August, 1780, we crossed
the Ohio river, and built the two block houses where Cincinnati
now stands, I was at the building of the block houses. Then, as
Gen, Clark had appointed me commissary of the campaign, he
gave "the military stores into my hands ; and gave me orders to
maintain that post for fourteen days. He left ¦with me Captain
Johnston, and about twenty or thirty men, who were sick and lame.
On the fourteenth day the army returned ¦with sixteen scalps, hav
ing lost fifteen men killed. They reported the death of Rogers,
Clark's cousin, who fought that day with the Indians."
The expedition of Clark so effectually chastised the Indians on
the Miami, that Kentucky was for a time relieved from the attack
of any body of Indians large enough to excite serious alarm.
During that period of comparative quiet, those measures which led
to the cession of the western lands to the United States began to
assume a definite form. On the 25th of June, 1778, when the
articles of confederation were under discussion in Congress, the
objections of New Jersey to the proposed plan of union were
brought forward, and among them waa this :
" It was ever the confident expectation of this State, that the
benefits derived from a successful contest were to be general and
proportionate ; and that the property of the common enemy, falling
in consequence of a prosperous issue of the war, would belong to
the United States, and be appropriated to their use. We are there-

1780. CONTROVERSY ABOUT LANDS. 325
fore greatly disappointed in finding no provision made in the con
federation for empowering the Congress to dispose of such property,
but especially the vacant and impatented lands, commonly called
the crown lands, for defraying the expenses of the war, and for
such other public and general purposes. The jurisdiction ought in
every instance to belong to the respective statea, within the charter
or determined limita of which such lands may be seated ; but reason
and justice must decide, that the property which existed in the
Crown of Great Britain, previous to the present revolution, ought
now to belong to the Congress, in trust for the use and benefit of
the United States. They have fought and bled for it in proportion
to their respective abilities ; and therefore the reward ought not to
be predilectionally distributed. Shall such States as are shut out
by aituation from availing themselves of the least advantage from
this quarter, be left to sink under an enormous debt, whilst others
are enabled, in a short period, to replace all their expenditures from
the hard earnings of the whole confederacy?"*
Nor was New Jersey alone in her views. In January, 1779, the
Council and Assembly of Delaware, while they authorized their
delegates to ratify the Articles of Confederation, also passed cer
tain resolutions, and one of them was :
" That thia State consider themselves justly entitled to a right, in
common ¦with the members of the Union, to that extensive tract of
country which lies to the westward of the frontiers of the United
States, the property of which was not vested in, or granted to,
individuals at the commencement of the present war. That the
same hath been, or may be, gained from the king of Groat Britain,
or the native Indians, by the blood and treasure of all, and ought,
therefore, to be common estate, to be granted out on terms bene
ficial to the United States," f
But this protest, however positive, was not enough for Maiyland,
the representatives of which, in Congress, presented upon the 2l8t
of May, 1779, their instructions relative to confirming the articles
of confederation. From those instructions are selected the follow
ing passages :
"Yirginia, by selling on the most moderate terms a small por
tion of the landa in question, would draw into her treasury vast
sums of money ; and, in proportion to the sums arising from such
sales, would be enabled to lessen her taxes. Lands comparatively

* See Secret Journal, i. p. 377.
f See Secret Journal, i. p. 429.

326 CONTROVERSY ABOUT LANDS. 1780.
cheap, and taxes comparatively low, with the lands and taxes of an
adjacent State, would quickly drain the State thus disadvantageously
circumstanced of its most useful inhabitants ; its wealth and its
consequence in the acale of the confederated States would sink of
courae. A claim so injurious to more than one-half, if not the
¦whole of the United States, ought to be supported by the clearest
evidence of the right. Yet what e^vidences of that right have been
produced ? What arguments alleged in support either of the
evidence or the right? None that we have heard of deserving a
serious refutation.
" We are con^vinced, policy and justice require, that a country
unsettled at the commencement of this war, claimed by the British
crown, and ceded to it by the treaty of Paris, if wrested from the
common enemy by the blood and treasure of the thirteen States,
should be considered as a common property, subject to be parceled
out by Congress, into free, convenient and independent govern
ments, in such manner, and at such times as the wisdom of that
assembly shall hereafter direct.
" Thus con^vinced, we should betray the trust reposed in us by
our constituents, were we to authorize you to ratify on their behalf
the confederation, unless it be further explained. We have coolly
and dispassionately considered the subject: we have weighed
probable inconveniences and hardships against the sacrifice of just
and essential rights, and do instruct you not to agree to the con
federation, unless an article or articles be added thereto in con
formity ¦with our declaration. Should we succeed in obtaining
such article or articles, then you are hereby fully empowered to
accede to the confederation."*
These difficulties toward perfecting the Union were increased by
the passage of the laws in Yirginia, in May, 1779, for disposing of
the public lands. Apprehensive of the consequences. Congress,
upon the 30th of October, in that year, resolved that Yirginia be
recommended to reconsider her Act opening a land office, and
that she and all other States claiming wild lands, be requested
to grant no warrants during the continuance of the war. The
troubles which thus threatened to arise from the claims of Yirginia,
New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut, to the lands which
other colonies regarded as common property, caused New York, on
the 19th of February, 1780, to pass an act which gave to the dele-

* See Secret Journal, i. p. 485.

1780. CONTROVERSY ABOUT LANDS. 327
gates of that State power to cede the western lands claimed by her
for the benefit of the United Statea. Thia law waa laid before
Congreas on the 7th of March, 1780, but no atep aeema to have
been taken until September 6th, 1780, when a reaolution passed
that body pressing upon the States claiming western lands the wis
dom of giving up their claims in favor of the whole country ; and
to aid this recommendation, upon the 10th of October, was passed
the following reaolution — ^which formed the basis of all after action,
and was the first of those legislative measures which have thus far
resulted in the creation of the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and
Michigan —
" That the unappropriated lands that may be ceded or relin
quished to the United States, by any particular State, pursuant to
the recommendation of Congress, of the 6th day of September last,
shall be disposed of for the common benefit of the United States,
and be settled and formed into distinct republican States, which
shall be members of the Federal Union, and have the same rights
of sovereignty, freedom, and independence, as the other States ;
that each State which shall be so formed shall contain a suitable
extent of territory, not less than one hundred, nor more than one
hundred and fifty miles aquare, or aa near thereto as circumstances
¦will admit: that the necessary and reasonable expenses which any
particular State shall have incurred since the commencement of the
present war, in subduing any British posts, or in maintaining forts or
garrisons within, and for the defense, or in acquiring any part of
the territory that may be ceded or relinquished to the United
States, shall be reimbursed.
" That the said lands shall be granted or settled at such times,
and under such regulations as shall hereafter be agreed on by the
United States, in Congress assembled, or in any nine or more of
them." The lands at the falls of the Ohio were first claimed and pa
tented by Dr. John Connolly and John Campbell.* In the spring
of 1773, Captain Thomas Bullitt went as a surveyor from Yirginia^
to locate and survey lands in Kentucky. On his way he visited
Chillicothe, held a conference ¦with the chiefs of the Shawanese,
and obtained from them permission to make a settlement on the
Ohio. Proceeding down the river, he established his camp at the
mouth of Beargrass creek. From that point he surveyed the

*See Casseday's History of Louisville.

328 PLAN OF CONQUERING DETROIT RENEWED. 1780.
country on the south side of the Ohio, twenty miles, to a river he
named Salt river, from the circumstance of finding on it a saltlick,
that still bears his name, and made preparations to eatabliah a col
ony at the falla of the Ohio. . Hia death ended his schemes of colo
nization, but the settlement at Beargrass remained, and became a
prominent point for emigration during the period of the Indian
wars. On his expedition to Illinois, Clark took possession of, and
fortified Corn island, above the mouth of Beargrass, and on his
return, that point was made his head-quarters. The security thus
afforded to the neighborhood invited emigration, and in the apring
of 1780, three hundred flat boata, with emigrant families, arrived at
the falls. The population of the settlement was thus increased to
six hundred inhabitants, located on the lands claimed by Connolly,
then a refugee tory in Canada, and Campbell, who had been car
ried a prisoner thither by the Indians.
The Beargraaa settlement thus became an important point in
Kentucky, and accordingly, in May of that year, the legislature of
Yirginia pasaed an " act for establishing the town of Louisville,
at the falls of Ohio." By that act the property of John Con
nolly, consisting of one thousand acres of land, was confiscated to
the commonwealth, and vested in a board of trustees, to be sold for
its benefit, in lots of a half acre each. All sales of lots were to be
made at public auction, in fee, on the condition that the purchasers
should erect on each of them a dwelling house, within two yeara
after the date of the purchase. If that condition was not complied
¦with, they might be sold again for the benefit of the town. The
purchase money, to the amount of thirty dollars per acre, was to be
paid to the commonwealth of Yirginia; the remainder above that
amount to the county of Jefferson. And the purchasers of these
lots were thenceforth to be entitled to all the rights, privileges, and
immunities of the unincorporated towns of the commonwealth of
Yirginia. In December of that year, the plan of conquering Detroit was
renewed again. In 1779, that conquest might have been effected
by Clark, had he been supported by any spirit ; in January, 1780,
the project waa discussed between Washington and Brodhead, and
given up or deferred, as too great for the means of the Continental
establishment ; in the follo^wing October, so weak was that establish
ment, that Fort Pitt itaelf was threatened by the savages and British^
while ita garriaon, deatitute of bread, although there waa an abun
dance in the country, were half disposed to mutiny. Under theae
circumstancea, Congreaa being powerless for action, Yirginia pro-

1781. VIRGINIA MAKES CESSION OP LAND. 329
posed to carry out the original plan of her western general, and ex
tend her operations to the lakes ; we find, in consequence, that an
application was made by Jefferson to the commander-in chief for
aid, and that on the 29th of December, an order was given by him
on Brodhead for artillery, tools, stores, and men.* How far the
preparations for this enterprise , were carried, and why they were
abandoned, we have not been able to discover,, but upon the 25th
of April, 1781, Washington wrote to General £!lark, warning him
"that Connolly,' who had just been exchanged, was expected to
go from Canada to Yenango, (Franklin, mouth of French creek,)
vsdth a force of refugees, and thence to Fort Pitt, with blank com
missions for some hundreds of dissatisfied men believed to be in
that vicinity.* From this it would seem probable that the Detroit
expedition was not abandoned at that time.
Yirginia, in accordance with the recommendation of Congress
1781.J already noticed, upon the 2d of January of this year, agreed
to yield her western lands to the United States, upon certain condi
tions ; among which were these : 1st. No person holding ground
under a purchase from the natives to him or his grantors, individu
ally, and no one claiming under a grant or charter from the British
crown, inconsistent with the charter or customs of Yirginia, was
to be regarded as having a valid title ; and 2d. The United States
were to guarantee to. Yirginia all the territory south-east of the
Ohio to the Atiantic, as far as the bounds of Carolina. These
conditions Congreas would not accede to, and the Act of Cession
on the part of the Old Dominion failed, nor was anything further
done until 1783.
Early in the same month in which Yirginia made her first Act
of Cession, a Spanish captain, with sixty-five men, left St. Louis
for the purpose of attacking some one of the British posts of the
north-west. Whether this attempt originated in a desire to revenge
the English and Indian siege of St. Louis, in the previous year, or
whether it was a mere pretense to cover the claims about that time
set up by Spain to the western country, in opposition to the colo
nies,, which she claimed to be aiding, it is perhaps impossible to
say. But these facts — that the point aimed at, St. Joseph's, was
far in the interior, and that this crusade waa afterward looked to
by the court of Spain aa giving a ground of territorial right — make

¦* Sparks' Washington, vi. 433 ; vii. 270, 343.
t Sparks' Washington, viii. 25.— This letter is not in the Index to Mr. Sparks' works.
22

330 EXTENSIVE INDIAN DEPREDATIONS. 1781.
it probable that the enterprise was rather a legal one against the
Americans, than a military one against the English; and this con
clusion is made stronger by the fact, that the Spaniards, having
taken the utterly unimportant post of St. Joseph's, and having
claimed the country as belonging to the King of Spain, by right of
conquest, turned back to the west bank of the Mississippi again,
and left the Long Knives to prosecute the capture of Detroit, as
they best could.
That, the State of Yirginia was preparing to do. Orders were
given to the militia of Frederick, Berkely, Harrison, and the other
western counties, to hold themselves in readiness to join General
Clark in an expedition against Detroit, which he was preparing for
the summer of that year.
During the year 1781, a series of predatory incursions was made
over the Ohio, along the whole line of stations from Laurel Hill to
Green river, marked by no decisive result, but characterized by the
murderous spirit that belongs to all Indian wars. One of these
scouting parties appeared in the neighborhood of the station at
Shelbyville. The inhabitants, unable to defend it, attempted to
remove to Beargrass, but were attacked by the Indians near
Floyd's fork, and defeated. Colonel Floyd immediately started
with a company to their relief, but on his arrival near the spot, fell
into an ambuscade and was defeated with considerable loss.
Floyd himself would have been taken but for the magnanimity of
Captain Wells. Wells had been on unfriendly terms with Floyd,
but finding him on foot and nearly exhausted in the flight, dis
mounted, gave him his horse, and ran beside him until they were
out of danger.*
To guard against these incursions, and to avenge the cruelties of
the savages. Colonel Brodhead arranged an expedition against
the Indian towns on the Muskingum. It consisted of about five
hundred men, among whom were the most experienced borderers
of the frontiers of Yirginia and Pennsylvania. The place of ren
dezvous was Wheeling; from thence they crossed the river and
marched rapidly towards the Indian towns -with a view of surpri
sing them. When they arrived at the river below Salem, Brodhead
sent a message to Heckewelder, then a missionary at that place,
asking provisions for his men, and a visit to his camp. His

* Butler's Kentucky, p. 110.

1781. COLONEL brodhead's MUSKINGUM EXPEDITION. 331
request was complied with, and Heckewelder repaired to Brod
head's quarters. Brodhead informed him that he was on an
expedition against the Indian towns; and desired to know whether
any of the Moravian Indians were absent in that direction. He was
answered in the negative, and then declared that nothing would
give him greater pain than to hear that any of them were molested
by his troops, since these Indians had conducted themselves during
the war in a way that did them honor. During the conference,
however, Brodhead was notified that a portion of the army was
preparing to destroy the Moravian towns. Brodhead immediately
took measures to prevent their design.
The army proceeded to within a few miles of Coshocton, where
they took an Indian prisoner, and wounded two others, who escaped
and alarmed the villages. A forced march waa made, and one of
the ¦villagea on the east side of the river was aurpriaed, and ita in
habitants, some ten or twelve, were taken. Meanwhile, the river
rose so much as to be impassable ; and thus the villages across the
river escaped deatruction. Diaappointed in their purpose, the bor
derers then bound sixteen of their prisoners to stakes, dispatched.
them with tomahawks, and scalped them. The next morning an
Indian appeared on the opposite side of the river, and asked for
the Big Captain. Brodhead presented himself, and asked what he
wanted. " I want peace," said he. " Send over some of your
chiefs," said Brodhead. "Maybe you kill?" asked the Indian.
He was answered, " They shall not be killed." One of the chief's
then ventured over, and presented himself to Brodhead ; when a
borderer, named Wetzel, came up behind him, with his tomahawk
concealed, and struck him a fatal blow on the back of his head.
The army then began its retreat. The prisoners were given in
charge of the militia, who murdered and scalped all of them,
except a few women and children, who were taken to Fort Pitt,
where they were afterward exchanged for an equal number of
white prisoners,*
It is not certain that Brodhead was responsible for the cruelty
and treachery practiced upon the Indians during this campaign.
It ia aaid, indeed, that he disapproved of and regretted them, and
if ao, can only be blamed for not enforcing a stricter discipline in
hia army. But the border wars of that periqd were prosecuted on
both aidea aa wars of extermination,,^ and the cruelties of Indian

Doddridge's Notes, p. 291.

332 lochry's EXPEDITION. 1781.
warfare that had been suffered by the white settlers had aroused
so malignant a spirit of revenge that they soon became as remorse
less, and often more brutal, than their savage enemies. Their ex
peditions against the Indians were mere marauding! parties, held
together only by the common thirst for revenge; and it is probable
that any discipline calculated, to restrain that feeling could not have
been enforced. It is unfortunate for the reputation of Brodhead,
that his name is associated with the massacre of prisoners, and the
murder of ambassadors, but it is probable that he could not pre
vent, and therefore did not share, the guilt of those excesses.
Early in the summer of 1781, Gen. Geo. Rogers Clark wrote to
Col. Archibald Lochry, the county lieutenant of Westmoreland
county, Pennsylvania, desiring him to raise one hundred or more
volunteers, and one company of cavalry, to join his expedition.
Colonel Lochry consulted Captain Orr upon the propriety of
such an enterprise, and the possibility of compliance with his re
quest. "I believed," said he, "it was possible for such a force to
be raised, and immediately volunteered to be one of the party."
Holding a captain's commission of militia, Orr had no power to
order them from home, but by his own exertions, and mostly at his
own expense, raised a company of volunteer riflemen. Captains
Stokefy and Shannon commanded each a company of rangers, and
Captain Campbell a company of horse. The party amounted- to
about one hundred and twenty or twenty-five men. Col. Lochry
was the only field officer in command.
The force was rendezvoused at Carnahan's block house, eleven
miles west of Hannastown, on the 24th of July, and on the next
day set out for Fort Henry, (Wheeling,) by way of Pittsburgh,
where it was arranged that they should join the army under Clark.
Arriving there, Clark had gone twelve miles down the river, leav
ing for them some provisions and a traveling boat, with directions
to follow him thither. After preparing some temporary boats for
the transportation of the men and horses, which occupied ten days,
they proceeded to join Clark. Arriving, they found he had gone
down the river the day before, leaving a 'Major Craycroft, with a
few men and a boat for the transportation of the horses, but with
out either provisions or ammunition, of which they had an inade
quate supply. Clark had, however, promised to await their arrival
at the mouth of the 'Kanawha, but on their reaching that point
they found that he had been obliged, in order to prevent desertion
arnong his men, to proceed down the river, leaving only a letter
affixed to a pole, directing them to follow. Their pro^visiona and

1781. lochry's expedition. 333
forage were nearly exhausted ; there was no source of supply but
the stores conveyed by Clark; the river was low, they were unac
quainted with the channel, and could not therefore hope to over
take him. Under these embarrassing circumstances. Col. Lochry
dispatched Captain Shannon with four men, in a small boat, with
the hope of overtaking the main army, and of securing supplies,
leaving his company under the command of Lieut. Isaac Ander
son; but before they had proceeded far they were taken prisoners
by the Indians, and ¦with them was taken a letter to Clark, detail
ing the situation of Lochry's party. About the same time Lochry
arrested a party of nineteen deserters from Clark's army, whom he
afterward released, and they immediately joined the Indians.
The savages had been indeed apprised of the expedition, but
had previously supposed that Clark and Lochry were proceeding
together, and through fear of the cannon which Clark carried, re
fused to make an attack. Apprised now by the capture of Shan
non and his men, and by the reports of the deserters, of the weak
ness of Lochry's party, they collected in force below the mouth of
the Great Miami, ¦with the determination to destroy them.
They placed their prisoners in a conspicuous position on the
north shore of the river, near, it is said, the head of Lochry's island,
and promised to spare their lives on condition they would hail
their companions as they passed, and induce them to surrender.
They, however, wearied with their slow progress, and in despair
of reaching Clark's army, landed on the 25th of August, about
ten o'clock, at a very attractive spot on the same shore, at an inlet
which has since borne the name of Lochrj^'s creek,* a short dis-
taUiCe, above the point where the Indians were waiting them. Here
they removed their horses ashore, and turned them loose, to enable
them to feed sufficiently to keep them alive until they could be
taken to the. falls, some one hundred and twenty miles distant.
One of' the party had previously killed a buffalo, and all, except a
few set to guard the horses, were engaged around the fires which
they had kindled, in preparing a meal from it. Suddenly they
were assailed by a volley of rifie balls from an overhanging bluff,
cpvered;with large, trees, on which the Indians immediately ap
peared in great force. The men thus surprised seized their arms,
and defended themselves as long as their ammunition lasted, and

¦* Lochry's creek empties into the Ohio between nine and ten miles below the mouth
of the Miami, and Lochry's island, near the head of which the prisoners were confined to
decoy their friends, is three miles below the creek.

334 CAPTURE AND MASSACRE OF LOCHRY'S PARTY. 1781.
then attempted to escape by means of their boats. But they were
unwieldy, the water was low, and the force too much weakened
to make them available, and the whole party, unable to escape or
defend themselves, were compelled to surrender.
Immediately the Indians fell upon and massacred Col. Lochry
and several other prisoners, but were restrained by the arrival of
the chief who commanded them, the celebrated Brant,* who after
ward apologized for the massacre. He did not approve, he de
clared, of such conduct, but it was impossible entirely to control
his Indians ; that the murder of Lochry and his men was perpetra
ted in revenge for the massacre of the Indian prisoners taken by
Brodhead's army on the Muskingum, a few months before. At
the time of their surrender, Lochry's party consisted of only one
hundred and six men. Of these, forty-two were killed, and sixty-
four were taken prisoners. The Indians engaged numbered three
hundred or more, and consisted of various tribes. Among these
the prisoners and plunder were divided, in proportion to the num
ber of warriors of each engaged.
The next day they set out on their return to the Delaware towns.
There they were met by a party of British and Indians, com
manded by Col. Caldwell, and accompanied by the two Girtys and
M'Kee, who professed to be on their way to the falls to attack Gen.
Clarke. They remained there two days. Brant, with the greater
part of the Indians who had captured them, returned with Cald
well toward the Ohio. A few only remained to take charge of
the prisoners and spoils. These they separated, and took to the
towns .to which they had been assigned. There they remained in
captivity until the next year, which brought the revolutionary
struggle to a close. After the preliminary articles were signed, on
the SOth of November, 1782, they were ransomed by the British
officers in command of the northern posts, to be exchanged for
British prisoners, and sent to the St. Lawrence. A few of them
had previously escaped, a few deserted from Montreal, and the re
mainder, in the spring of 1783, sailed from Quebec to New York,
and returned thence home by way of Philadelphia, having been
absent twenty-two months. More than one-half of the number
who left Pennsylvania under Col. Lochry never returned.t

* It may be uncertain whether Brant was the leader of the Indians at this place.
There is no other evidence that he was in the west at that time.
+ This statement is derived from a MS. of Gen. Orr, of Kittanning, written from the
recollection of his father, Captain Orr, who was in the party, and is corroborated by a

1781. CHARACTER OP WESTERN PIONEERS. 335\
Kentucky was, previous to 1781, organized as a county of Yir
ginia. In that year it was divided into three counties — Jefferson,
Lincoln and Fayette. Courts were organized under the laws of
Yirginia, and a corps of civil and military officers elected. Sur
veyors for each of the new counties were appointed, whose duty it
was to superintend the entry and location of land under the pro
visions of the law. One only of these was opened, and the incon
venience and delay thus occasioned to the emigrants, who were
already settling the new lands, to which thej- were attracted by their
fertility and cheapness, produced discontent. For already, in spite
of the difficulties of the West, and the hostility of the Indians,
population was beginning to pour into the region south of the Ohio.
Particularly it is noticed, that there was in that year a large emigra
tion of young unmarried women into that country^ and the conse
quent establishment of many new families, and the growth of a
better and more settled population. The pioneers of the West
who then, and earlier, established themselves in all the region west
of the mountains, were obliged to undergo many hardships, and to
encounter much danger, and to endure much suffering.
For all that region was settled with tears and blood. The meas
ures the colonial governments adopted for defense of the settlers
were so ill-concerted, that they were nearly all that period exposed to
the incursions of the savages ; nor was their condition improved by
the Declaration of Independence, for th e continental authorities were
so fully occupied with the war that they could afford them no
relief. As a consequence, they grew up a bravo, hardy race, with
all the vices and ¦virtues of a border life, and with habits, manners
and customs necessary to their peculiar situation, and suited to
their peculiar taste. Rev. Joseph Doddridge, D. D., whose early
life was spent amidst the scenes and habits of the West, has well
described the manners and customs of its early inhabitanta. He
says: "A correct and detailed view of the origin of societies, and their
progress from one condition Or point of wealth, science and civili
zation to another ia interesting, even when received through the

MS. of Ensign Hunter, who was also a sharer in it. Captain Orr was wounded, by hav
ing his arm broken in the engagement; was carried off' prisoner to Sandusky, where he
remained for several months. At length, finding they could not cure his wound, the
Indians took him to the hospital at Detroit, whence he was transferred to Montreal, in
the winter, aud exchanged with other prisoners at the end of the war. Afterward, in
1805, he was appointed a judge of Armstrong county, Pa., which station he held till his
death, in 1833, in his 89th year.

336 HABITS OP LIFE ' IN THE WEST. 1781.
dusky medium of history, oftentimes but poorly and partially writ
ten. But when this retrospect of things past and gone is drawn
from the recollections of experience, the impression it makes upon
the heart must be of the most vi-vid and lasting kind.
" The following history of the state of society, manners and cns^
toms of our forefathers has been drawn from the latter source,- and
is given to the world with the knowledge that many of my contem
poraries are still living, who, as well as myself, have ¦witnessed all
the scenes and events herein described, and whose memories will
speedily detect and expose any errors it may contain.
"The municipal as well as ecclesiastical institutions of society,"
whether good or bad, in consequence of their continued use, ^ve a
corresponding cast to the public character of the society whose con-
duet they direct, the more' so, because in the lapse of time the
observance of them becomes a matter of conscience.
" This observation applies with full force to that influence of our
early land laws which allowed four hundred acres, and no more,
to a settlement right. Many of' our first settlers seemed to regard
this amount of the surface of the earth as the allotment of Divine
Providence for one family, and believed that any attempt to get
more, would be sinful. Most of them, therefore, contented them
selves with that amount, although they might have which allowed
but one settlement right to any one indi-vidual, by' taking out the
title papers in the names of others, to be afterward transferred to
them as if by purchase. Some few, indeed, pursued this practice,
but it was held in .detestation.
"Owing to the equal distribution of real property directed by
our land laws, and the sterling integrity of our forefathers in their
observance of them, we have no districts of "sold land," as it is
called ; that is, large tracts of lands in the hands of individuals or
companies who neither sell nor improve them, as is the case in
Lower Canada and the north-western part of Pennsylvania. These
unsettled tracts make huge blanks in the population of the country
where they exist.
" The division lines between those whose lands adjoined were
generalty made in an amicable manner, before any survey 'of
them was made by the parties concerned. In doing this, they were
guided mainly by the tops of ridges and water-courses, but particu
larly the former. Henee, the greater number' of farms iu south
western Pennsylvania and Yirginia, bear a striking resemblance to
an amphitheater. The buildings occupy a low situation, and the
tops of the surrounding hills are the boundaries of the tract to
which the family mansion belongs.

1781. HABITS OF LIFE IN THE WEST. 337
" Our forefathers were fond of farms of this description, because
as they said, they are attended with this convenience, 'that every
thing comes to the house down hill.' In the hilly parts of the
State of Ohio, the land having been laid off in an arbitrary manner
by straight parallel lines, without regard to hill or dale, the farms
present a different appearance from those on the south side of the
river. There the buildings as frequently occupy the tops of the hills
as any other situation.
" Our people had become so accustomed to the mode of ' getting
land for taking it up,' that for a long time it was generally believed
that the land on the west side of the Ohio would ultimately be dis
posed of in the same way. Hence, almost the whole tract of
country between the Ohio and the Muskingum was parceled out
in tomahawk improvements, but these were not' satisfied with a
single four hundred acre tract. Many of them owned a great num
ber of tracts of the best lands, and thus, in imagination, were as
'wealthy as a South Sea dream.' Some of these land jobbers did
not content themselves with marking trees at the usual height with
the initials of their names, but climbed up the large beech trees and
cut the letters in their bark, from twenty to forty feet from the
ground. To enable them to identify those trees at a future period,
they made marks on other trees around as references.
"The settlement of a new country in the immediate neighbor
hood of an old one, is not attended with much difficulty, because
supplies can readily be obtained from the latter; but the settlement'
of a country very remote from any cultivated region, is quite a
different thing; because at the out-set, food, raiment, and the
implements of husbandry are only obtained in small supplies and
¦with great difficulty. The task of making new establishments in
a remote wilderness in a time of profound peace, is sufficiently-
difficult ; but when in addition to all the unavoidable hardships'
attendant on their business, thoae resulting from an extensive and
furious warfare with savages, are superadded ; toil, privations, and
sufferings, are then carried to the full extent of the capacity of men
to endure them.
"Such was the wretched condition of our forefathers in making
their settlements here. To all their difficulties and privations the
Indian war was a weighty addition. This destructive warfare they
were compelled to sustain almost single handed, because the Revo
lutionary contest gave full employment for the military strength
and resources on the east side of the mountain.

338

HABITS OP LIFE IN THE WEST. 1781.

"The history of the manners and customs of our forefathers will
appear like a collection of 'tales of olden times.' It is a homely
narrative, yet valuable on account of its being real history,
"Then, the women did the offices of the household; milked the
cows, cooked the mess, prepared the flax, spun, wove, and made
the garments of linen or linsey; the men hunted, and brought in
the meat; they planted, ploughed, and gathered in the corn;
grinding it into meal at the hand-mill, or pounding it into hominy in
the mortar, was occasionally the work of either, or the joint labor
of both,
"The men exposed themselves alone to danger; they fought the
Indians, they cleared the land, they reared the hut, or built the
fort, in which the women were placed for safety. Much use was
made of the skins of deer for dress ; while the buffalo and bear
skins were consigned to the floor, for beds and covering. There
might incidentally, be a few articles brought to the country for
sale, in a private way; but there was no store for supply. Wooden
vessels, either turned or coopered, were in common use as table
furniture. "A tin cup was an article of delicate luxury, almost as rare as an
iron fork. Every hunter carried his knife ; it was no less the
implement of a warrior ; not unfrequently the rest of the family
was left with but one or two for the use of all. A like workman
ship composed the table and the stool ; a slab, hewed with the axe,
and sticks of a similar manufacture, set iu for legs, supported both.
When the bed was, by chance or refinement, elevated above the
floor, and given a fixed place, it was often laid on slabs placed
across poles, supported on forks, set in the earthen fioor; or where
the floor was puncheons, the bedstead was hewed pieces, pinned
on upright posts, or let into them by auger holes. Other utensils
and furniture, were of a corresponding description, applicable to
the time.
" The food was of the most wholesome and nutritive kind. The
richest milk, the finest butter, and best meat, that ever delighted
man's palate, were here eaten with a relish which health and labor
only know. Those were shared by friend and stranger in every
cabin with profuse hospitality.
"Hats were made of the native fur; and the buffalo wool
employed in the composition of cloth, as was also the bark of the
wild nettle.
"There was some paper money in the country, which had not

1781. HABITS OF LIFE IN THE WEST. 339
depreciated one half nor even a fourth as much as it had at the seat
of government. If there was any gold or silver, its circulation was
suppressed. The price of a beaver hat, was five hundred dollars.*
" The hunting shirt was universally worn. This was a kind of
loose frock, reaching half way down the thighs, with large sleeves,
open before, and so wide as to lap over a foot or more when belted.
The cape was large, and sometimes handsomely fringed with a
raveled piece of cloth of a different color from that of the hunting
shirt itself. The bosom of his dress served as a wallet to hold a
chunk of bread, cakes, jerk, tow for wiping the barrel of the rifle,
or any other necessary for the hunter or warrior. The belt which
was always tied behind answered several purposes, besides that of
holding the dress together. In cold weather the mittens, and
sometimes the bullet-bag, occupied the front part of it. To the
right side was suspended the tomahawk, and to the left the scalping
knife in its leathern sheath.
" The hunting shirt was generally made of linsey, sometimes of
coarse linen, and a few of dressed deer skins. These last were
very cold and uncomfortable in wet weather. The shirt and jacket
were of the common fashion. A pair of drawers or breeches and
leggins, were the dress of the thighs and legs ; a pair of moccasins
answered for the feet much better than shoes. These were made
of dressed deer skin. They wore mostly made of a single piece,
with a gathering seam along the top of the foot, and another from
the bottom of the heel, without gathers, as high aa the ankle joint
or a little higher. Flaps were left on each side to reach some
distance up the legs. These were nicely adapted to the ankles and
lower part of the leg by thongs of deer skin, so that no dust,
gravel, or snow, could get within the moccasin.
"The moccasins in ordinary use cost but a few hours labor to
make them. This was done by an instrument denominated a
moccasin awl, which was made of the back spring of an old clasp
knife. This awl, with its buck-horn handle, was an appendage of
every shot pouch strap, together with a roll of buckskin for
mending the moccasins. This was the labor of almost every
evening. They were sewed together and patched ¦with deer skin
thongs, or whangs as they were commonly called,
"In cold weather the moccasins were well stuffed with deers'
hair, or dry leaves, so as to keep the feet comfortably warm ; but

*See Marshall's -History of Kentucky, i., p. 123.

340 HABITS OF LIFE IN THE WEST, 1781,
in wet weather it was usually said that wearing them was ' a decent
way of going barefooted;' and such was the fact, owing to the
spongy texture of the leather of which they were made.
" Owing to this defective covering of the feet, more than to any
other circumstance, the greater number of our hunters and war
riors were afflicted with the rheumatism in their limbs. Of this
disease they were all apprehensive in cold or wet weather, and
therefore always slept with their feet to the fire, to prevent or cure
it as well as they could. This practice unquestionably had a very
salutary effect, and prevented many of them from becoming con
firmed cripples in early life.
" The fort consisted of cabins, block houses and stockades. A,
range of cabins commonly formed one side at least of the fort.
Divisions, or partitions of logs, separated the cabins from each
other. The walls on the outside were ten or twelve feet high, the
slope of the roof being turned wholly inward. Avery few of these
cabins had puncheon fioors, the greater part were earthen.
" The block houses were built at the angles of the fort. They
projected about two feet beyond the outer walls of the cabins and
stockades. Their upper stories were about eighteen inches every
way larger in dimension than the under one, leaving an opening at
tiie commencement of the second story, to prevent the enemy from
making a lodgment under their walls. In some forts, instead of
Mock houses, the angles of the fort were furnished with bastions,.
A large folding gate, made of thick slabs, nearest the spring, closed
the fort. The stockades, bastions, cabins, and block house walls,,
were furnished with port-holes at proper heights and distances.
The whole of the outside was made completely bullet proof.
" It may be truly said that necessity is the mother of invention ;
for the whole of this work was made without the aid of a single
nail or spike of iron, and for this reason, such things were not to
be had.
" In some places, less exposed, a single block house, ¦with a cabin
OT'two, constituted the whole fort.
"For a long time after the first settlement of this country, the
inhabitants in general married young. There was no distinction
of rank, and very little of fortune. On these accounts the first
impression of love resulted in marriage; andia family establishment
cost but a little labor, and nothing else.
" In the first years of the settlement of this country, a wedding
engaged the attention of a whole neighborhood, and the frolic was
anticipated by old and young with eager expectation. This is not

1781. HABITS OP LIFE IN THE WEST. 341
to be wondered at, when it is told that a wedding was almost the
only gathering which was not accompanied with the labor of reap
ing, log rolling, building a cabin, or planning some scout or cam
paign. " In the morning of the wedding-day, the groom and his attend
ants assembled at the house of his father, for the purpose of reach
ing the mansion of his bride by noon, which was the usual time
for celebrating the nuptials ; which for certain must take place be
fore dinner.
"Let the reader imagine an assemblage of people, without a
store, tailor, or mantuamaker within a hundred miles; and an
assemblage of horses, without a blacksmith or saddler within an
equal distance. The gentlemen dreaaed in shoepacks, moccasins,
leather breeches, leggings, linsey. hunting-shirts, and all home
made. " The ladiea dreaaed in liiisey petticoats and linsey or linen bed
gowns, coarse shoes, stockings, handkerchiefs and buckskin gloves,
if any. If there were any buckles, rings, buttons, or ruffles, they
were the relics of old times, family pieces from parents or grand
parents. "The horses were caparisoned with old saddles, old bridles, or
halters, and pack-saddles, with a bag or blanket thrown over
them: a rope or string as often constituted the girth as a piece of
leather. " The march, in double file, was often interrupted by the narrow
ness and obstructions of our horse-paths, as they were called, for
we had no roads : and these difficulties were often increased, some
times by the good, and sometimes by the ill will of neighbors, by
falling trees and tying grape vines across the way. Sometimes an
ambuscade was formed by the way-side, and an unexpected dis
charge of several guns took place, so as to cover the wedding com
pany with amoke,
" Let the reader imagine the scene which followed thia discharge :
the audden spring of the horses, the shrieks of the girls, and the
chivalrie bustle of their partners to save them from falling, Some
timea, in spite of all that could be done to prevent it, some were
thrown to the ground, - If a wristj elbow, or ankle happened to be
sprained, it waa tied with a handkerchief, and little more waa
thought or aaid about it,
"Another ceremony commonly took place before the party
reached the house of the bride, after the practice of making whisky
began, which was at an early period ; when the party were about a

342 HABITS OP LIFE IN THE WEST, 1781.
mile from the place of their destination, two young men would
single out to run for the bottle; the worse the path, the more logs,
brush, and deep hollows, the better, as these obstacles afforded an
opportunity for the greater display of intrepidity and horse
manship, " The English fox chase, in point of danger to the riders and
their horses, is nothing to this race for the bottle. The start was
announced by an Indian yell; logs, brush, muddy hollows, hill
and glen, were speedily passed by the rival ponies. The bottle was
always filled for the occasion, so that there was no use forjudges;
for the first who reached the door was presented with the prize,
with which he returned in triumph to the company,
" On approaching them he announced his victory over his rival
by a shrill whoop. At the head of the troop, he gave the bottle
first to the groom and his attendants, and then to each pair in
succession to the rear of the line, giving each a dram; and then
putting the bottle in the bosom of his hunting-shirt, took his sta
tion in the company,
" The ceremony of the marriage preceded the dinner, which waa
a aubstantial backwoods feast of beef, pork, fowls, and sometimes
venison and bear meat, roasted and boiled, with plenty of potatoes,
cabbage, and other vegetables. During the dinner, the greatest
hilarity always prevailed ; although the table might be a large slab
of timber, hewed out with abroadaxe, supported by four sticks set in
auger holes, and the furniture some old pewter dishes and plates, the
rest wooden bowls and trenchers ; a few pewter spoons, much bat
tered about the edges, were to be seen at some tables. The rest
were made of horns. If knives were scarce, the deficiency was
made up by the scalping knives which were carried in sheaths sus
pended to the belt of the hunting shirt.
"After dinner the dancing commenced, and generally lasted till
the next morning. The figures of the dances were three and four
handed reels, or square seta, and jigs. The commencement was
always a square four, which was followed by what is called jigging
it off; that is, two of the four would single out for a jig, and were
followed by the remaining couple. The jigs were often accompa
nied with what was called cutting out; that is, when either of the
parties became tired of the dance, on intimation, the place was sup
plied by some one of the company, without any interruption of the
dance, "In this way a dance was often continued till the musician was
heartily tired of his situation. Toward the latter part of the night.

¦1781, HABITS OP LIFE IN THE WEST, 343
if any of the company, through weariness, attempted to conceal
themselves, for the purpose of sleeping, they were hunted up, pa
raded on the floor, and the fiddler ordered to play, ' Hang on till
to-morrow morning,'
"About nine or ten o'clock, a deputation of the young ladies
stole ofi" the bride, and put her to be3. In doing this, it frequently
happened that they had to ascend a ladder instead of a pair of
stairs, leading from the dining and ball room to the loft, the floor
of which was made of clapboards, lying loose and without nails.
This ascent, one might think, would put the bride and her attend
ants to the blush, but as the foot of the ladder was commonly be
hind the door, which was purposely opened for the occasion, and
its rounds at the inner ends were well hung with hunting shirts,
petticoats, and other articles of clothing, the candles being on the
opposite side of the house, the exit of the bride was noticed but by
few, "This done, a deputation of young men in like manner stole off
the groom, and placed him snugly by the side of his bride. The
dance still continued ; and if seats happened to be scarce, which
was often the case, every young man, when not engaged in the
dance, was obliged to offer his lap as a seat for one of the girls ;
and the offer was sure to be accepted.
" In the midst of this hilarity the bride and groom were not for
gotten. Pretty late in the night, some one would remind the com
pany that the new couple must stand in need of some refreshment:
black Betty, which was the name of the bottle, was called for, and
sent up the ladder, but sometimes black Betty did not go alone, I
have many times seen as much bread, beef, pork, and cabbage sent
along with her, as would afford a good meal for half a dozen hun
gry men. The young couple were compelled to eat and drink,
more or less, of whatever was offered them,
"It often happened that some neighbors or relations, not being
asked to the - wedding, took offense ; and the mode of revenge
adopted by them on such occasions, was that of cutting off the
manes, foretOps, aud tails of the horses of the wedding company,
"I will proceed to state the usual manner of settling a young
couple in the world,
" A spot was selected on a piece of land of one of the parents,
for their habitation, A day was appointed, shortly after their mar
riage, for commencing the work of building their cabin. The
fatigue party consisted of choppera, whose business it was to fell
the trees, and cut them off at proper lengths ; a man with a team

344 HABITS OF LIFE IN THE WEST. 1781.
for hauling them to the place, and arranging them, properly as
sorted, at the sides and ends of the building ; a carpenter, if such
he might be called, whose business it was to search the woods for
a proper tree for making clapboards for the roof. The tree for
this purpose must be straight grained, and from three to four feet
in diameter. The boards w'ere split four feet long, with a large
frow, and as wide as the timber will allow. They were used with
out planing or shaving. Another division were employed in getting
puncheons for the floor of the cabin ; this waa done by aplitting
trees, about eighteen inches in diameter, and hewing the faces of
them with a broadaxe. They were half the length of the floor
they were intended to make.
"The materials for the cabin were mostly prepared on the first
day, and sometimes the foundation laid in the evening. The sec
ond day was allotted for the raising.
" In the morning of the next day the neighbors collected for the
raising. The first thing to be done was the election of four corner
men, whose business it was to notch and place the logs.. The rest
of the company furnished them with the timbers. In the mean
time the boards and puncheons were collecting for the floor and
roof, so that by the time the cabin was a few rounds high, the sleep
ers and floor began to be laid. The door was made by sawing or
cutting the logs in one side, so as to make an opening about three
feet wide. This opening was secured by upright pieces of timber,
about three inches thick, through which holes were bored into the
ends of the logs, for the purpose of pinning them fast. A similar
opening, but "wider, was made at the end for the chimney. This
was built of logs, and made large to admit of a back and jambs of
stone. At the square, two ¦. end logs projected a foot or eighteen
inehea beyond the wall, to receive the bunting poles, as they were
called, against which the ends of the first row of clapboads was
supported. The roof was formed by making the end logs shorter
until a single log formed the comb of the roof; on these logs the
clapboards I were placed, the ranges of them lapping some distance
over those next below them,, and kept in their places by logs, placed
at proper distances upon them.
" The roof, and sometimes the floor, were finished on the same
day of the raising. A third day was commonly spent by a few
carpenters in leveling off the fioor, making a clapboard door and a
table, i This last was made of a split alab, and supported by four
round logs set in auger holes. Some three legged stools were made
in the same manner. Some pins stuck in the logs at the back of

1781. HABITS OF LIFE IN THE WEST. 345
the house supported some clapboards which served for shelves for
the table furniture.
" A single fork, placed with its lower end in a hole in the floor,
and the upper end fastened to a joist, served for a bedstead, by
placing a pole in the fork with one end through a crack between
the logs of the wall. This front pole was crossed by a shorter one
within the fork, with its outer end through another crack. From
the front pole, through a crack between the logs of the end of the
house, the boards were put on which formed the bottom of the
bed. Sometimes other poles were pinned to the fork a little
distance above these, for the purpose of supporting the front and
foot of the bed, while the walls were the supports of its back and
head. A few pegs around the walls for a display of the coats
of the women, and hunting shirts of the men, and two small
forks or bucks' horns to a joist for the rifle and shot pouch,
completed the carpenter work.
"In the meantime masons were at work. With the heart
pieces of the timber of which the clapboards were made, they
made billets for chunking up the cracks between the logs of the
cabin and chimney — a large bed ofi mortar was made for daubing
up those cracks; a few stones formed the back and jambs of the
chimney. "The cabin being finished, the ceremony of house-warming took
place, before the young people were permitted to move into it.
" The house-warming was a dance of a whole night's continu
ance, made up of the relations of the bride and groom, and their
neighbors. On the day following the young couple took possession
of their new mansion.
"At house raisings, log rollings, and harvest parties, every one
was expected to do his duty faithfully. A person who did not
perform his share of labor on these occasions, was designated by
tiie epithet of "Lawrence," or some other title still more opprobri
ous; and when it came to his turn to require the like aid from his
neighbors, the idler soon felt his punishment, in their refusal to
attend to his calls.
"Although there was no legal compulsion to the performance of
military duty, yet every man of full age and size was expected to
do his full share of public service. If he did not do so he was
' Hated out as a coward.' Even the want of any article of war
equipments, auch as ammunition, a sharp fiint, a priming wire, a
scalping knife or tomahawk, was thought highly disgraceful. A
man who without a reasonable cause failed to go on a scout or
23

346 HABITS OF LIFE IN THE WEST. 1781.
camj)aign when it came to his turn, met with an expression of
indignation in the countenances of all his neighbors, and epithets of
dishonor were fastened upon him without mercy.
"Debts, which make auch an uproar in civilized life, were but
little known among our forefathers at the early settlement of this .
country. After the depreciation of the continental paper they had
no money of any kind ; every thing purchased was paid for in
produce or labor, A good cow and calf was often the price of a
bushel of alum salt. If the contract was not punctually fulfilled,
the credit of the delinquent was at an end,
"Any petty theft was punished with all the infamy that could
be heaped on the offender, A man on a campaign stole from his
comrade a cake out of the ashes, in ¦which it was baking: he was
immediately named 'The bread rounds,' This epithet of reproach
was bandied about in this way : when he came in sight of a group
of men, one of them would call 'Who comes there?' Another
would answer, ' The bread rounds.' If any one meant to be more
serious about the matter, he would call out, 'Who stole a cake out
of the ashes?' Another replied, by giving the name of the man
in full; to this a third would give confirmation, by exclaiming,
'That is true and no lie.' This kind of ' tongue-lashing' he was
doomed to bear for the rest of the campaign, as well as for years
after his return home.
"If a theft was detected in any of the frontier settlements, a
summary mode of punishment was always resorted to. The first
settlers, as far as I knew of them, had a kind of innate or heredi
tary detestation of the crime of theft, in any shape or degree, and
their maxim was, that 'a thief must be whipped.' If the theft
was of something of some value, a kind of jury of the neighbor
hood, after hearing the testimony, would condemn the culprit to
Moses' Law, that is to forty stripes, save one. If the theft was of
some small article, the offender M'as doomed to carry on his back
the fiag of the United States, which then consisted of thirteen
stripes. In either case, some able hands were selected to execute
the sentence, so that the stripes were sure to be well laid on.
"This punishment was followed by a sentence of exile. He
then was informed that he must decamp in so many days, and be
seen there no more on penalty of ha^ving the number of his stripes
doubled. " If a woman was given to tattling and slandering her neighbors,
she was furnished, by common consent, ¦with a kind of patent right
to say whatever she pleased, without being believed. Her tongue
was then said to be harmless, or to be no scandal.

1781. HABITS OF LIFE IN THE WEST. 347
"With all their rudeness, these people were given to hospitality,
and freely divided their rough fare with a neighbor or stranger, and
would have been offended at the offer of pay. In their settlements
and forts, they lived, they worked, they fought and feasted, or
suffered together in cordial harmony. They were warm and con
stant in their friendships. On the other hand, they were revenge
ful in their resentments ; and the point of honor sometimes led
to personal combats.
" If one man called another a liar, he was considered as having
given a challenge which the person who received it must accept,
or be deemed a coward, and the charge was generally answered on
the spot with a blow. If the injured person was decidedly unable
to fight the aggressor, he might get a friend to do it for him. The
same thing took place on a charge of cowardice, or any other dis
honorable action, a battle must follow, and the person who made
the charge must fight, either the person against whom he made the
charge, or any champion who choose to espouse his cause. Thus
circumstanced, our people in early times were much more cautious
of apeaking evil of their neighbors than they are at present.
" Sometimes pitched battles occurred, in which time, place and
seconds were appointed beforehand. I remember having seen one
of those pitched battles in my father's fort, when a boy. One of
the young men knew very well beforehand that he should get the
worst of the battle, and no doubt repented the engagement to fight ;
but there was no getting over it. The point of honor demanded
the risk of battle. He got his whipping ; they then shook hands
and were good friends afterward.
"The mode of single combats in those days was dangerous in the
extreme ; although no weapons were used, fists, teeth and feet were
employed at will ; but above all, the detestable practice of gouging,
by which eyes were sometimes put out, rendered this mode of
fighting frightful indeed ; it was not, however, so destructive as
the stiletto of an Italian, the knife of a Spaniard, the small
sword of the Frenchman, or the pistol of the American or English
duelist. "The ministry of the gospel haa contributed, no doubt, immenaely
to the happy change which has been effected in the atate of our
weatern society. At an early period of our settlements, three
Presbyterian clergymen commenced their clerical labora in our
infant aettlementa. They were pious, patient, laborious men, who
collected their people into regular congregations, and did all for,
them that their circumstances would allow. It was no disparager

348 GOSPEL LABORS IN THE WEST. 1781.
ment to them, that their first churches were the shady groves, and
their first pulpits a kind of tent, constructed of a few rough slabs,
and covered with clapboards. "He who dwelleth not exclusively
in temples made with hands," was propitious to their devotions.
From the outset, they prudently resolved to create a ministry in
the country, and accordingly established little grammar schools at
their own houses, or in their immediate neighborhoods. The
course of education which they gave their pupils was, indeed, not
extensive ; but the piety of those who entered into the ministry,
more than made up the deficiency.
"At a later period, the Methodist Society began their labors in the
western parts of Yirginia and Pennsylvania; their progress at first
was slow, but their zeal and perseverance at length overcame every
obstacle. The itinerant plan of their ministry is well calculated to
-convey the gospel throughout a thinly scattered population.
Accordingly, their ministry has kept pace with the extension of
our settlements. The little cabin was scarcely built, and the little
field fenced in, before these evangelical teachers made their appear
ance among them, collected them into societies, and taught them
the worship of God. Had it not been for the labors of these inde
fatigable men, our country, as to a great extent of its settlementa,
would have been at this day, a semi-barbaric region.
"With the Catholics, I have but little acquaintance, but have every
reason to believe, that in proportion to the extent of their flocks,
they have done well. Their clergy, with apostolic zeal, but in an
unostentatious manner, have sought out aud ministered to their
scattered flocks throughout the country, and, as far as I know, ¦with
good success. The Society of Friends in the western country are
numerous, and their establishments in good order. Their habits
of industry and attention to useful arts and improvements, are
highly honorable to themselves, and worthy of imitation. The
Baptists in the State of Kentiicky took the lead in the ministry,
and with great success. The German, Lutheran and Reformed
Churches have done well.
'' The Episcopalian Church, which ought to have heen foremost in
gathering in their scattered flocks, have been the last, and done
the least of any Christian community in the evangelical work.
Taking the western country in its whole extent, at least one-half of
its population, was originally of Episcopalian parentage; but, for
wjint of a ministry of their own, have associated with other commu-
niti'^ri. They had no alternative but that of changing their pro
fession, or living and dying without the ordinances of religion. It

1782. MORAVIAN MISSIONARY LABORS. - 349
can be no subject of regret, that those ordinances were placed
within their reach by other hands, while they were withheld by
those by whom, as a matter of right and duty, they ought to have
been given. One single chorepiseopus, or suffragan bishop of a
faithful spirit, who, twenty years ago, (1804) should have 'ordained
them elders in every place ' where they were needed, would have
been the instrument of forming Episcopal congregations over a
great extent of country, and which, by this time, would have
become large, numerous and respectable ; but the opportunity was
neglected, and the consequent loss to this church is irreparable.
So total a neglect of the spiritual interests of so many valuable
people, for so great a length of time, by a ministry so near at hand,
is a singular and unprecedented fact in ecclesiastical history, the
like of which never occurred before.
"I beg that it may be understood, that with the distinguishing
tenets of our religious societies I have nothing to do, nor yet with .
the excellencies or defects of their ecclesiastical institutions. They
are noticed on no other ground than that of their respective con
tributions to the science and civilization of the country. The last,
but not the least of the means of our present civilization, are our
excellent forms of government, and the administration of the laws."
The year 1782 was stained by a great crime, the murder of the
1782.] Moravian converts on the Muskingum.* The Moravians,
or United Brethren, originated as a distinctive society, in a revival
of religion in Fulnec, in Moravia, about 1720 ; and were collected
into a community at Bethelsdorp, in Upper Lusatia, by Count
Zinzendorf, in 1722. The visit of Zinzendorf to Copenhagen, at
the coronation of Christian YI., in 1731, made him acquainted
with the condition of the slaves of the West Indies ; and on his
return to Bethelsdorp, the congregation determined to send mis
sionaries to the Danish West Indies, to instruct the slaves. In
1732, two missionaries went out to St. Thomas, and sold them
selves into slavery, to be able to reach the slaves. Such was the
origin of the Moravian missions; they were thus commenced by a
community who had been driven from their homes by persecution,
and who then numbered only six hundred members. Nor did they

¦*¦ The principal authorities in relation to this subject, are Loskiel's History of the
Moravian Missions in North America, and Heckewelder's Narrative of the Mission of the
United Brethren to the Delaware and Mohican Indians.

350 MORAVIAN MISSIONARY LABORS. 1742.
stop with one effort to convert the heathen. In nine years after,
they had missions established in Greenland, St. Thomas, St. Croix,
Surinam, Rio de Berbice, Lapland, Tartary, Algiers, Guinea, Cey
lon, at the Cape of Good Hope, among the Indians of North
America, and the negroes of South- Carolina.
Ten of the Brethren were brought into Georgia, in 1735, by
Count Zinzendorf, to preach the gospel to the Creeks. Five years
later, they were expelled from the colony for refusing, in accord
ance with their faith, to bear arma in the war then raging between
the English and Spaniards, and retired to Pennsylvania. On their
arrival, they were offered a tract of land — a beautiful site on the
left bank of the Lehigh, at the mouth of Manockisy creek, a few
miles above its junction with the Delaware— ^which they purchased
and named Bethlehem. Three years later, Whitfield offered to
them a tract, ten miles north of Bethlehem, which he had pur
chased, and on which he had commenced to erect buildings for a
school for colored children, and named Nazareth. This they ac
cepted, finished, and settled.
In 1740, the first missionary. Christian Henry Ranch, was sent
to the Indians of New York and Connecticut. His instructions
were, the exemplification of the policy of the Brethren, and indi
cate clearly the spirit that infiuenced them. They were " not in
any wise to interfere with the labors of other missionaries or minis
ters, or cause any disturbance among them, but silently to observe
whether any of the heathen were, by the grace of God, prepared
to receive and believe the word of life ; and that, if even only one
was to be found desirous of hearing, to him should the gospel be
preached, for God must give the heathen cars to hear the gospel,
and hearts to receive it."
The mission was established at Shekomeko, an Indian village
on the borders of Connecticut, near the Stissik mountain. The
Indians were barbarous, and debauched by spirituous liquors; the
whites were hostile to the mission ; yet Ranch persevered, and, in
two years, twenty-nine converts were added to the Christian
church. Zinzendorf visited the mission in 1742, and supplied it
with assistants ; and, in consequence, a new station was established
at Scatticok, on Kent river, in Connecticut, where also converts
were made, and a congregation was organized.
In the midst of this success, persecution arose; the whites, who
at first had ridiculed their attempt to convert barbarians, were
alarmed at their success. They were interfering with the liquor
traffic, they were traitors to the government, they were concealed

1744. MORAVIAN MISSIONARIES PERSECUTED. 351
papists, they were furnishing arms to the Indians to join the
French. On these pretexts, they were arrested and examined by
the governor of Connecticut, and, on proof of their innocence,
discharged. Next, their meetings were forbidden, and they were
brought to New York, for examination before the governor of that
province. Again they were discharged, and allowed the privilege
of living according to their religious tenets.
Their persecution did not stop here ; they were, from motives of
conscience, opposed to the taking of oaths, and on that account
were accused of refusing to take, according to law, the oaths of
allegiance aud supremacy. On these representations, they were
required, by act of the Assembly of New York, to swear the pre
scribed oaths ; positively forbidden to instruct the Indians, and, in
default of obedience, were banished from that province, and retired
to the more tolerant province of Pennsylvania, in 1744. Four
years later, the Indian converts at Shekomeko, in the fear of being
murdered by the whites, were compelled to abandon their village,
and follow their teachers to Pennsjdvania, upon the invitation of
the governor of that province. Arrived at Bethlehem, they were
received with great cordiality by the Brethren, and settled them
selves at Friedenshutten, or " Tents of Peace," a small hamlet
which they built for themselves, near Bethlehem. And, as emi
gration continued, they made another settlement at the mouth of
the Mahoning, which they called Gnadenhutten, or " Tents of
Grace." The labors of the Brethren, at Bethlehem and Nazareth, were
principally devoted to the Delawares, and were rewarded with an
encouraging degree of success. At Friedenshutten, Gnadenhutten,
and other hamlets around them, grew up Christian villages of the
converts of the Moravians, who had laid aside the ferocity of their
native character, the vices of their savage life, and the warlike
spirit of their race, and who had, inatead, adopted the pure and
peaceful virtues of the Christian character, and yielded obedience
to the requirements of the Christian morality. And amid the long
suffering they were called to endure from their savage neighbors,
the heathen Indians, and their scarcely less malignant enemies
among the whites, they gave full evidence that that great change
effected among them, by the self denying labors of the Moravian
Brethren, was a change of heart; and that the profession of the
Christian faith they made was intelligent and sincere.
For a time, the Brethren were allowed peacably to pursue their
labor of love, and their converts were permitted in peace to gather

352 MORAVIAN MISSIONARIES THREATENED. 1754.
around them, and receive their teachings; and so successful were
they, that, in 1749, the congregation at Gnadenhutten alone*num-
bered five hundred native members. But they were not allowed
long to enjoy their quiet. When the war of 1754 broke out, the
Brethren and their converts were placed in a very embarrassing
situation. The Indians could form no clear idea of neutral Indian
villages, in a war with the whites, and had no conception of any
motive they might have for a neutrality, but a secret sympathy
with the English ; and, if they would not take up the hatchet with
them, they were, on the border, in the way of their incursions. In
the first instance, they sought to remove them to the wilderness,
away from their teachers, and failing to do that, or to understand
their true position, they became hostile. Nor were the whites bet
ter disposed. The old suspicions that destroyed the missions in
New York were revived. They were concealed papists, in secret
sympathy with the French, and furnished intelligence to them, and
arms to the Indians.
Accordingly, the borderers determined on their destruction, and
a mob, raised to burn their villages and massacre them, assembled
at Bethlehem. But the treatment they received, and the spectacle
of Christian resignation they beheld, disarmed them; and they
abandoned their purpose, and returned to their homes. The wilder
spirits of the border were not satisfied with less than the entire
destruction of the Indian towns, and were preparing another more
determined attack, when' their eyes were opened by a horrible
massacre perpetrated by the Indians. There was a hamlet of
Christian Indians on the Lehigh, opposite Gnadenhutten. On the
24th of November, 1775, it was suddenly attacked, by night, by
the Indians. The houses and other buildings were fired, the unre
sisting people were burned in them, or tomahawked and scalped,
as they fled from them. Eleven perished, four only escaped. All
hostile designs against them were now laid aside by the English
colonists, they were gathered in from their settlements, and troops
were stationed to protect them and their property; and, through
the whole progress of the war, the Brethren and their people
enjoyed the confidence of the whites, and the security of their
protection. The agency of Christian Frederic Post in conciliating the Indi
ans to the English interest, has been noticed. Post emigrated from
Germany with some Moravian Brethren, in 1742, and in the next
year waa appointed to join the mission at Shekomeko, where he

1762. MORAVIAN MISSIONARY LABORS. 353
married a baptized Indian woman. The mission was broken up in
the next year, but Post remained and preached the gospel to the
Indians in Connecticut until 1749. During this period he sup
ported himself by his labor as a joiner, enduring much persecution
and abuse from the colonists. In that year he re-visited Germany,
but soon returned to America, and labored as a missionary among
the Indians at Wyoming, until the breaking out of the war of 1754,
when he returned to Bethlehem.
While there he was appointed, on account of his courage and
spirit, and especially his acquaintance with the Indian character, as
an ambassador to the Delawares, Shawanese, and Mingoes, who
were in alliance with the French. He set out on the 16th of July,
1758, in company with two Delaware Indians, and after encounter
ing many difficulties and much danger, succeeded in detaching
those Indians from the French interest. On the 25th of October,
of the same year, he was commissioned to bear another message
from the governor of Pennsylvania to the Indians on the Ohio, in
advance of the march of the army of Forbes to the forks of Ohio ;
and succeeded, by his address, and the confidence he inspired, in
preventing, at that critical time, a union of the Indians and French,
and thus of compelling the abandonment of Fort Du Quesne. In
1761, he crossed the mountains again, visited the Indians further
westward, on the Muskingum, to preach the gospel to them ; ob
tained from them the privilege to establish a mission, and having
built ahouse — the first, except the stations of the traders within the
state of Ohio — on a spot designated by the Indians, he returned
to seek an associate. The historian, Heckewelder, then a youth of
nineteen, was chosen by the brethren to join the mission, and early
in March, 1762, Post and Heckewelder set out for their station on
the Tuscarawas, or upper Muskingum.
There they immediately commenced to clear a field, in order to
cultivate food for their subsistence. The Indians became alarmed,
a eouncil was called, and Post summoned before them. " Brother,"
said they, "it appears to us that you must since have changed your
mind, for instead of instructing us or our children, you are cutting
down trees on our land ; you have marked out a large spot of ground
for a plantation, as the white people do everywhere ; and by and
by another and another may come, and do the same, and the next
thing will be, that a fort will be built for the protection of these
intruders; and thus our country will be claimed by the white peo
ple, and we driven further back, as has been the case ever since the
white people came ij|to this country. Say, do we not speak the

^54 MORAVIAN MISSIONARY LABORS. 1763.
truth ? " Post replied that he came indeed to teach them, but a
teacher must live. He did not wish them to be burdened with his
support, and therefore he designed to raise his own food. But he
did not want a foot of their land, and his cultivating their land
would give him no claim upon it.
The council, after consultation, replied, "You say you are come,
at the instigation of the Great Spirit, to teach and to preach to us.
So also say the priests at Detroit, whom our father, the king of the
French, has sent among his Indian children. Well, this being the
case, you as a preacher want no more land than one of those do,
who are content with a garden lot to plant vegetables and pretty
flowers in, such as the French priests also have, and of which the
white people are all fond. As you are in the same employment
with them, and as we never saw them cut down trees and cultivate
the ground to get a living, we think that, since they look well,
they look to another source than labor for their living. And we
think that if, as you say, the Great Spirit wants you to preach to
the Indians, he ¦will cause the same to be done to you as he causes
to be done for those priests we have seen at Detroit. We are
agreed to give you a garden spot, even a larger spot of ground than
they .have at Detroit. It shall measure fifty steps each way, and if
it suits, you are at liberty to plant in it what you please."
To this Post agreed, and, with Heckewelder, cleared and planted
the little spot assigned him ; and in the meanwhile, they subsisted
on the game they could take, and the vegetables they could gather.
During the summer, a conference was to be held with the Dela
wares, at Lancaster, and Post had been deputed by the governor of
Pennsylvania, to accompany the chiefs thither. It had been the
direction of the Brethren, that Heckewelder should return with
him ; but, to avoid the appearance of abandoning the post, he re
mained for a time. The series of encroachments and outrages
that led to the war of 1763, had already stirred the resentment of
the savages ; and during the summer, they became so suspicious
and unfriendly, that, at the advice of a trader, Heckewelder aban
doned the station, and returned to Fort Pitt. On his way, he met
Post returning to the Muskingum. The position of affairs in the
Indian country was threatening; Post was especially suspected as
an emissary of the whites, and, on consultation, the mission was
finally abandoned. Heckewelder returned to Bethlehem ; Post^, in
despair of success among the Indians of the north, retired to the
Bay of Honduras, and established a mission among the Musquito
Indians.

1764. MORAVIAN CONVERTS PROTECTED AT PHILADELPHIA. 355
The Moravians and their converts enjoyed a little respite, only to
be again exposed to greater persecutions. The war of 1763 was
waged along the frontier with unexampled ferocity ; and the bor
der of Pennsylvania was occupied by a class of men, to whom an
indiscriminate hatred of Indians was a ruling passion, and whom
the many border wars had made almost as cruel as the Indians
themselves. A band of peaceful Indians were settled at Cones-
toga. It was suspected that they were connected, in some way,
with the hostile Indians, and the borderers assembled and massacred
all they could find of them. The suiwivors were collected, and
placed in the jail of Lancaster for protection. There they were
massacred by the exasperated mob.
The popular rage next turned upon the Moravian converts.
Several of them were murdered by a party of drunken rangers.
They in turn were surprised and killed. In the excitement of the
hour, the Moravian converts were suspected of the act; and a mob
approached Wequetank, with the design of exterminating them.
A storm defeated their plan of attack, and the converts, now sensible
of their danger, immediately removed to Nazareth. To protect
them and to allay the resentment of the borderers, they with their
teachers were removed, by order of the Assembly, to Philadelphia,
and confined on Province Island. The borderers, fired with impla
cable resentment, followed, an attack on the city was threa;tened,
and the Moravians were sent to New York. The governor of that
province refused to receive them within its borders, and they were
taken back to Philadelphia and imprisoned for a year in the
barracks. On the conclusion of the war, they were released,
returned to the Susquehanna, and rebuilt their deserted and ruined
villages. The missionary spirit of the Moravians was not checked by these
difficulties, and no sooner had they established themselves again,
than they sent out their missionaries to teach the heathen Indians
on the north and west. In the fall of 1767, the Rev. David
Zeisberger, learning that some Indians on the Allegheny were
desirous of having the gospel preached to them, went thither, in
company with the assistant, Anthony, and a convert named Papun-
hank. He was at first regarded as a spy, but his demeanor disarmed
suspicion, and he was received with especial kindness by a Seneca
chief. Goschgosking, "the place of hogs," a Delaware town of
three villages, situated on the Allegheny, some twenty-five or thirty
miles above the mouth of French creek, was the place Zeisberger
had chosen as the station he designed to occupy. The chief advi-

356 MORAVIANS ON ALLEGHENY RIVER. 1768.
sed him not to settle there on account of the great wickedness of
the people. That, to Zeisberger, was however an additional motive.
He accordingly proceeded thither, was well received, and allowed
to preach. The great depravity of the place was not however
over stated by the Seneca chief. The missionary was shocked at
the wickedness of the people ; an Indian orator resisted the new
doctrines of the white man, and it was vnth difficulty he received
an invitation to come and settle among them.
In the spring of 1768, Zeisberger, with the assistant, Senseman,
and three families from Friedenshutten, removed to Goschgosking.
There they located themselves, built a chapel, planted corn, and
commenced immediately the work of evangelization. In that,
they were, as usual, successful. A great number of Indians
resorted to their hamlet, and "the Brethren ceased not by day' and
by night to teach and preach Jesus." The old chief, AUemewi,
believed their teachings, was baptized, and joined himself to them.
Others followed his example, and soon a little village of believing
Indians grew up around them. As usual, their success excited
enmity. It was affirmed, if the missionaries were allowed to
remain, the whites would come, build a fort, and take possession
of the country; and messages were sent from the Six Nations to
the Delawares, that they must, in order to be safe, either kill the
missionaries, or drive them out of the country. The old women
went about complaining that the corn was devoured by worms,
that the game had began to fiee the country, that neither chestnuts
nor bilberries ripened any more ; all which they ascribed to the
fact that the Indians were changing their old way of living on
account of what these white men had told them. The power of
superstition was invoked. An Indian prophet, Wangomen, de
claimed against the missionaries. He had been, he pretended,
favored with a vision of the spirit land. The Indians there, were
in the enjoyment of plenty and happiness, the whites were in want
and misery. The Indians, in their natural state, were the most
acceptable to the Great Spirit. The Great Spirit was displeased
with the presence of these white teachers, and it was necessary to
offer sacrifices to him to appease his wrath.
The missionaries felt that their lives were in danger, and accord
ingly they removed with their converts, in the spring of 1769, to
Lawunakhannak, "the middle stream," fifteen miles distant from
Goschgosking. Here they built huts for their residence and a chapel for their
worship. AUemewi and other converts settled around their dwel-

1770. MORAVIANS REMOVE TO BEAVER. 357
lings, more converts were added, and an abundant success seemed
about to reward their labors. Among the many visitors to Lawun
akhannak, was a distinguished Indian orator from the Delaware
¦village of Kushkushkee, on the Big Beaver, named Glikkikan.
The Indians there had heard of the new doctrines the white
teachers were disseminating among the Indians on the Allegheny ;
and he was deputed by the chief, Pakanke, to go and refute them.
When he arrived, he resolved first to hear the missionary, and
then reply to his teachings. Zeisberger preached, and he listened
¦with great attention. Anthony, the assistant, invited him and his
company to dine with him, and explained to him, in simple but
expressive language, the religion taught by the Moravians. Glik
kikan was convinced, and in the presence of his friends, and of the
chiefs of Goschgosking, declared his belief of the truth of the new
religion. On his return to Kushkushkee, he honestly related the
result of his mission, and bore an honorable testimony to the char
acter of the missionaries, and to the truth of their doctrine. The
influence of the example of Glikkikan produced an effect even
on the Allegheny. Many of the people followed from Goschgos
king and joined the congregation, more came to hear, and a new
chapel was built for their accommodation. In the midst of this
success, a difficulty arose between the Six Nations and the Chero
kees. The Six Nations had broken the treaty with the Cherokees,
and murdered several of them. In revenge the Cherokees took
two prisoners, cut off their fingers, and sent them back ¦with an
insulting message. A war between the two nations ensued ; the
Christian Indians were located immediately between them, and
the thoroughfare exposed to the hostility of both. Under these
circumstances, they determined to accept the repeated invitations
of Pakanke and Glikkikan, to settle on the Beaver, and made
preparations to remove thither.
Accordingly, on the 17th of April, 1770, the congregation at
Lawunakhannak broke up, and set out in sixteen canoes, passing
down the Allegheny and Ohio to the mouth of the Beaver, which
they entered and proceeded up to the falls. There they were
compelled to unload their cargoes and transport their canoes by
land. In this they were aided by Glikkikan, who had come from
Kushkushkee, with horses for their use. On the 3d of May, they
reached their destination, informed Pakanke of their arrival, and
were welcomed to their new homes, according to the Indian
ceremony, by the chiefs. On the site designated for them, the

358 MORAVIANS ON BEAVER RIVER. 1770.
Christian Indians immediately set to work, erected cabins, and
opened farms. In a short time a settlement was formed, to which
they gave the name of Languntoutenuenk, or Friedenstadt, "the
town of peace."
Dr. I Pollock, of Newcastle, Pa., says in a letter to the publisher :
"The sites of the principal establishments of the Moravians, on
Beaver river, were at the Kushkushkee and Mora^vian towns,
(Friedenstadt). These villages were both situated in what is now
Lawrence county, Pennsylvania; the sites of them were well chosen
in regard both to their comfort and health, being on the west side
of the principal streams, and connected with alluvial bottom lands
of surpassing fertility. Kushkushkee occupied an elevated pla^
teau of rich bottom land on the south-west side of the Mahoning
river, four miles above its junction, with the Shenango, where they
constitute the Big Beaver river. It was four miles east of the Ohio
State line, four miles west of New Castle, the seat of justice for
Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, and six miles north-west from its
sister establishment at the Moravian town. Several war paths
converged here at the War Post, on the west side of the village,
and 'the Kushkushkee trace,' long known and traveled by the
early white settlers, passing by the ' Scalp Spring,' near the ' Forks
of the Beaver,' and through the Moravian town, connected it with
the Ohio river at the mouth of Beaver, and up along the Ohio to
Logstown, and what is now Pittsburgh. The 'Moravian Town'
was situated on a bluff on the west side of Beaver river, two miles
below its 'forks,' and twenty miles up from its mouth.
" The societies formed at these two Indian towns by these pious
and philanthropic missionaries, soon abandoned their savage habits
and superstitious worship ; and under the direction of these devoted
men, cleared and cultivated several hundred acres of their rich
bottom lands, the" products of which, added to the abundant supply
of fish aftbrded by their rivers, and of game from the chase, placed
them above the fear of want, and gave them leisure for intellectual
and mcffSl culture. They had schools in which their children were
^„ae^auously taught ; churches where they often convened for reli
gious worship, and workshops in which the most necessary of the
mechanical arts were taught and practiced. Among the first
lessons taught them by their Christian teachers, was one that came
directly in conflict with the fixed habits and immemorial usages of
savage life. They must no longer learn and practice the 'Art of
War.' They must be men of peace, no longer shed the blood of
their brother man. They must no longer resent or retaliate

1771. MORAVIANS ON BEAVER RIVER. 359
wrongs; all retribution must be left to the 'Great Spirit,' the com
mon Father of all. These principles and practices, ao uncongenial
to immemorial modea of thinking and acting, were nevertheless
embraced and adhered to. Their schools flourished; the teeming
earth yielded to moderate cultivation an abundant supply of the
necessaries of life, while their workshops furnished their common
clothing, and the tools and utensils necessary for a peaceful life.
Here was a young paradise blooming and fructifying in the
wilderness. " But mutation and instability are written on the face of all things
earthly. This state of prosperity and felicity was destined to be of
short duration. We have aaid that these associations of non-
resistant Indians were parts of the Delaware tribe, who were fre
quently at war with the whites, and sometimes with the neighboring
tribes; and failing to enlist these bands to assist in their wars, and
not understanding or appreciating their motives, naturally enter
tained jealousies and unfriendly feelings toward them. Residing
as they did, on the great war path, along which these tribes and
other northern nations marched to attack the frontier settlements
of the whites, or the tribes of the south ; and near their grand
rendezvous at the Scalp Spring and War Post, they were often
pressed to join the hostile bands, and even threatened on their
refusal. Finding themselves thus environed with difficulties and
dangers, and that, located as they were, between their enemiea,'
they could not maintain their neutrality but at the risk of exter
mination, they abandoned all their improvements and betook
themselves to the wilderness, locating and renewing their improve
ments, and re-organizing their community on the waters of the
Muskingum." The history of the mission on the Beaver, is thus given by
Loskiel :
"April 17th, 1770, the congregation of Lawunakhannak broke up,
and set out in sixteen canoes, passing down the river Ohio by Pitta-
burgh, to the mouth of the Beaver creek; which they entered, and
proceeded up to the falls, where they had to unload and transport
their goods and canoes by land. One of these carrying places de
tained them two days. The frequent repetition of this troublesome
work caused them to be very thankful ¦when they met Glikkikan,
with some horses from Kaskaskunk (Kushkushkee) for their use.
"Thus after a tedious journey, during which they had, however,
held their daily meetinga as often as their aituation would permit.

S60 MORAVIANS ON BEAVER RIVER. 1771.
refreshing their souls by the comfortable word of God, they at
length arrived, on the 3d of May, in the country where they in
tended to build their new settlement. The spot appointed for
them could not have been better chosen, and there was good
land sufficient to supply an hundred families. They now in
formed Pakanke, the head chief in Kaskaskunk, and his coun
cil, of their arrival. During the formalities usual on such occasions
both Brother Zeisberger, and the Indian deputies, delivered
several copious speeches, to give the inhabitants of Kaskaskunk,
from the very beginning, a just idea of their new neighbors,
and Pakanke bid them welcome in the same number of speeches.
Captain Glikkikan could now no longer bear to live at Kaskaskunk,
but desired leave to dwell with the Brethren. The latter exhorted
him well to consider, that iu so doing he would exchange an hon
orable office, power, and friends, for reproach, contempt, and per
secution. But his declarations were so firm and sincere, that it
was impossible for them to refuse his request.
" The Indians were now diligently at work in their plantations,
and dwelt in the meantime in bark huts. They also built a large
hut for the meetings of the congregation, which were numerously
attended by the people from Kaskaskunk. The settlement made
by the Brethren here was called Languntoutenuenk, or Friedenstadt,
'the town of peace.'
" June 12th, the first baptism was administered in this place, to
the wife of the blind Chief Solomon, who had formerly opposed
her husband ¦with great violence, but afterward became thought
ful, and anxious to obtain salvation. Glikkikan and others, who
had never seen this transaction, were struck with wonder and
amazement, and the whole assembly was so powerfully pervaded
by the sensation of the presence of God, that the Brethren Zeisber
ger and Senseman were overcome with joy, and filled with renewed
courage, boldly to maintain their post, even under the most grievous
oppressions, and gladly to venture their lives in endeavoring to lead
soula to Christ.
The Indians in the neighboring country were astonished, or ra
ther alarmed, to see a people settle among them so much differ
ing in manners and customs from the heathen, and to hear a
doctrine preached, of which they never before had any idea. In
some, this aatoniahment waa soon changed into displeasure and
animosity, Glikkikan'a retiring from Kaakaakunk to Friedenstadt
occasioned universal dissatisfaction. His friends spared no pains
to prevent it by kind persuasions ; but finding them useless, they

1770. MORAVIANS ON BEAVER RIVER. 361
railed most bitterly against him, calling him a sorcerer, by which
they even endangered his life. The old chief, Pakanke, who had
always employed him as his speaker, and looked upon him as his
right hand, altered his friendly behavior toward the Brethren, and
denied his having invited them into the country, charging Glikki
kan with it. He even attacked him publicfy, and in great wrath
said, ' And even you have gone over from this council to them, I
suppose you intend to get a white skin ? But I tell you, not even
one of your feet will turn white, much less your body. Was you
not a brave and honored man, sitting next to me in council, when
we spread the blanket, and considered the belts of wampum lying
before us ? Now you pretend to despise all this, and think to have
found something better. Some time or other you will find your
self deceived.' Glikkikan replied briefly thus: 'It is very true I
have gone over to them, and with them I ¦will live and die.' Though
Colonel Croghan, an English officer, exhorted Pakanke not to op
pose the brethren, but to sufiier all those Indians who wished to
hear the Gospel to go to them, adding, that they aimed at nothing
but the real welfare and interest of the Indians ; and though Pa
kanke promised fair, yet he remained an enemy, and many were
deterred from coming to Friedenstadt.
"About this time a very bad epidemical disease prevailed among
the Delawares, which took off great numbers, and was ascribed by
the heathen to the power of magic. Many of the chiefs and coun
selors at Gekelemukpechuenk and other places, conceived a notion
that they could not remedy this evil in any other way, than by
unanimously resolving to receive and believe the word of God. As
it was soon known that Pakanke was averse to the cause, the chief
and council of Gekelemukpechuenk sent him a black belt of wam
pum of a fathom in length, with the following message : ' There is
a contagion among us : many Indians die, and this evil has lasted
some years: we shall all soon be destroyed, unless some help be
procured. Convene a council upon this belt. Whoever does not
receive this belt, shall be considered as an enemy aud murderer of his
people, and we shall know how to treat him according to his de
serts.' This message being of mysterious import, Pakanke was left
to guess its meaning. But he pretended not to understand that it
implied that they should receive the Gospel as the only remedy,
" The Brethren found, meanwhile, that it would be highly neces
sary for the cause of the Gospel, to remove a misunderstanding
which prevailed among the heathen to the prejudice of the Chris
tian Indians, They asserted, that aa soon as the latter changed
24

362 MORAVIANS ON BEAVER RIVER, 1770.
their mode of living, and refused to join^fn their vices, they like
wise withdrew their contributions toward the support of the affairs
of the nation, and would no more assist in furnishing the usual
quantity of wampum, allowed for the use of the chiefs. The mis
sionaries therefore took the necessary steps to procure a formal
declaration from tho believing Indians, in all places, to this effect;
'That though they never intended to interfere, either with the
affairs of state, or with the wars of the savages, yet they were
always willing to bear their share of the public burden, in times of
peace, and to contribute toward the expenses attending all mea
sures adopted for the welfare of the nation, which were not meant
to molest either the white people or the Indian nations ; but upon
this positive condition, that the chiefs, counselors, and captains of
all the different tribes, should never claim the least authority over
the missionaries, but leave them at full liberty to go where they
please, and in case of their return to Bethlehem, to send other
Brethren in their room.' This declaration gave universal satisfac
tion, was answered by all the chiefs in very civil terms, and by
some by formal embassies, and prevented much enmity, to which
the believing Indians and their teachers might have otherwise been
exposed. " At Goschgoschuenk, Wangomen was appointed deputy, and
sent by the council with a full and concise answer, couched in the
most courteous terms, to Friedenstadt, and thence to Pakanke at
Kaskaskunk, to inform him and his council of the adoption of the
Brethren into the Monsy tribe, desiring him to send the message
forward to the rest of the Delaware tribes, and with their consent
to the Iroquois, Delamattenoos, and Shawanese, and to appoint and
acknowledge the above-mentioned umpire, appointed to watch
over the due observance of the covenant thus made between the
Brethren and the Indian nations. Wangomen executed all these
commissions with much punctuality, and appeared to have laid all
enmity against the Brethren aside ; he was even commissioned by
old Pakanke, ¦who also pretended to be reconciled to them, to go
in person to Friedeushuetten, and invite the believing Indians to
come to the neighborhood of Kaskaskunk and build a town for
themselves, upon any spot of ground they might choose.
" In the meantime our Indians began, on the 23d of July, to
build a regular settlement on the west side of the Beaver creek,
erecting block houses, and working with such perseverance and
diligence, that before winter they and their teachers were safely
and conveniently housed. Then the statutes of the congregation

1770. MORAVIANS ON BEAVER RIVER. 363
were made known to the inhabitants, and every thing regulated as
in Friedeushuetten.
" October 28th, the missionary, John George Jungman, and his
wife, arrived from Bethlehem, to have the care of this congrega
tion, and brought a string of wampum from Colonel Croghan in
Pittsburgh, to Pakanke, desiring him to receive the missionary and
his wife with kindness, as they came merely from benevolent
motives, to promote the welfare and prosperity of the Indians.
This unsolicited kind interference of the colonel gave much plea^
sure to our Indians and their teachers, and made a good impression
upon Pakanke, Brother Senseman returned to Bethlehem, in
November, having been a faithful and useful assistant to brother
Zeisberger, with whom he willingly shared distress and danger,
"Both missionaries rejoiced greatly at the gracious visitation of
this country by the Lord." The power of the Holy Ghost was
remarkably evident during the preaching of the precious Gospel of
Christ Jesus, and the heart of one poor sinner after the other was
opened, and led to accept of the gracious invitation which he gives
to all that labor and are heavy laden. Glikkikan was so much
moved by a discourse delivered in the daily meeting, that he after
ward wept aloud on his way home. The heathen were astonished,
that such a noted and valiant captain should weep in the presence
of his former acquaintance ; but the Brethren praised God for such
visible proofs, that the word of the cross of Jesus can even break
and melt the most stubborn and proud heart of a wild Indian. One
of Pakanke's sons, having listened with attention to a sermon, said,
* I have understood all I have now heard, and your words have
penetrated into my heart: now I believe that they are true.' An
unbaptized Indian said to a visitor : ' Whoever will consider but
for a moment, must plainly see that the doctrine of the Brethren
is true; and even though our senses cannot rightly comprehend its
meaning, yet our hearts feel something of its power, as often as we
hear it.'
" Many people from distant places, especially from Shenenge,
came to hear the comfortable gospel, which encourages sinners,
with all their misery, to turn to their Redeemer.
"As to Friedenstadt itself, the peace of God, brotherly love, and
a desire to cleave to and love God our Saviour, prevailed moat
powerfully in the congregation. The baptized improved daily in
a Christian walk and conversation, and greatly valued their high
and heavenly calling. One of them said to a strange Indian : ' I
cannot indeed speak much to you at present, but I will give you an

364 MORAVIANS ON BEAVER RIVER. 1771.
opportunity to hear the precious words of our Saviour, with which
the most delicious food in the world is not to be compared for
sweetness;' and then brought him to the chapel. A noted sorcerer,
who came to see Friedenstadt, stood listening to an Indian sister,
who was boldly declaring the gospel to some female visitors; and
afterward said that he had a great inclination to try his legerdemain
tricks upon her, and to do her an injury. When she heard this,
she said: 'I do not fear his threats; for if any one could even take
away my life by such practices, I should then go home to my
Saviour, where I should enjoy much greater happiness than in this
life.' " The labor of the Spirit of God was likewise so evident in the
children, and the Lord perfected praise even out of the mouths of
babes in such a manner, that the missionaries were filled with
astonishment. Among the unbaptized and catechumens, the
awakening was solid and general, and their longing after grace and
the remission of sins in the blood of Jesus appeared on all occa
sions. The missionaries were more particularly rejoiced to see
that the above-mentioned Captain Glikkikan, and a chief called
Genaskund, who retired with them from Goschgoschuenk, were
the most humble and contrite among all the unbaptized, con
fessing with great openness their sinful and abominable manner of
living among the heathen, praying God for mercy and forgiveness
as the most undeserving prodigals, and earnestly requesting to be
baptized. They both received this favor on the 24th of December^
and remained living and distinguished examples of that divine
truth, that no sinner is so proud and depraved but he may be
thoroughly humbled, changed, and converted to God by the power
of the blood of Jesus.
" In the spring of 1771, Wangomen came to Friedenshuetten, to
deliver the above-mentioned message from the principal chiefs of
the Delaware nations to the Indian congregation, and also to invite
them and the congregation in Tschechschequaunink to the Alle
gheny, that ia, to the country on the Ohio. The chiefs declared
that they would receive the believing Indians into their arms as
friends, and permit them to choose a tract of land, where they
might live together, as Christians, in peace and safety ; and that
they should bring their white teachers with them, who should be
considered aa being of the same color with the Indians,
" At the particular request of the chiefs. Brother Zeisbei^er gave
a letter of recommendation to the deputies, assuring the Indian
congregation, that this invitation concealed no bad design, but

1771. MORAVIANS ON BEAVER RIVER. 365
rather that the chiefs,T)eing now truly desirous that they and their
young people might hear the gospel, wished on that account alone
that Brethren might reside among them; our Indians, however,
mistrusted the contents of this message, and therefore gave the
following short answer to Wangomen and the other delegates :
' We rejoice that Pakanke and the other chiefs have thought on ua
with ao much kindness. But we are as yet too heavy to rise, and
when we have lightened ourselves, we will send word to the chiefs,'
Some time after. Chief Netawatwees, in Gekelemukpechuenk,
repeated this invitation in a pressing manner, which occasioned
our Indians to consider more particularly about it, especially as the
Wyandots had likewise invited them to remove to their land on
the Ohio, assuring them that they would not sell the ground under
their feet, as the Iroquois had done,
"However, no resolution was taken till the month of May, when
Friedenshuetten was visited by the Brethren Christian Gregor and
John Loretz, who some time ago arrived from Europe, to hold a
visitation in all the Brethren's settlements in North America.
Bishop Nathaniel Seidel accompanied them from Bethlehem, a man
known and highly respected by many of our Indians, who expressed
extraordinary joy at their visit. The joy of the two European
Brethren was great indeed. They saw here for the first time, a
fiock of Christian Indians, and could not sufficiently praise and
thank God our Saviour, for the gracious work begun among these
nations, supported amidst so many and heavy trials, and miracu
lously preserved, although exposed to so many threatening and
imminent dangers.
"They devoted their whole time and labor to the service of the
two congregations in Friedenshuetten and Tschechsehequannink,
conversed with every individual, and delivered several powerful
discourses, especially during the Whitsuntide holidays, the inter
preters translating their words with great exactness. They bap
tized several Indians, visited every family, and both their conver
sation with individuals, their public ministry and their benevolent
behavior, tended to the edification and blessings of all the inhabi
tants. They likewise examined into every particular relating to
the inward and outward state of the mission, and in this view held
several conferences with the missionaries and the Indian assistants.
The above mentioned invitation given to our people by the Dela
wares was also maturely considered, and the conference, with the
concurrence of the Indian congregation, came to a resolution, that
next autumn aome families ahould remove from hence to Frieden-

366 MORAVIANS ON BEAVER RIVER. 1771.
stadt, that some regard might be shown to the message; but as to the
emigration of the whole congregation, that should be considered and
finally decided in Bethlehem. On the return of these visitors and
their company to Bethlehem, the Indians took leave of them with
the naost cordial expression of love and gratitude, recommending
themselves to the prayers and remembrance of all their brethren in
Europe. "David Zeisberger was soon after called from Friedenstadt to
Bethlehem, to attend a conference, in which the whole situation of
the mission among the Indians was maturely weighed and consid
ered. The Brethren were convinced that the Indian congregations
at Friedenshuetten and Tschechsehequannink would not be able to
maintain themselves long in these places, partly because the Iro
quois had sold the land, and various troublesome demands upon
them were continually renewed, partly on account of a contest
between the New Englanders and the Indians of Wajomick, by
which Friedensheutten was much disturbed by occasion of its
vicinity. Besides this, the Sennekas, by their bad behavior, gave
our Indians much trouble, the white people being too apt to sus
pect the latter as accomplices. One of the most powerful argu
ments in favor of their emigration was this, that the number of
European settlers daily increased, both above and below Frieden
shuetten, and the rum trade tended to seduce the young people.
A final resolution was therefore taken, to advise the Indian congre
gation to accept of the proposal repeatedly made to them, to
remove to the Ohio, and to consider it as proceeding from a gracious
direction of the providence of God.
"Brother Zeisberger, upon his return, mentioned this advice to
the Indians at Friedenshuetten and Tschechsehequannink, and
both congregations resolved to remove in the following spring, and
first to go to Friedenstadt. Some families went thither immedi
ately, iu order to lay out plantations of Indian corn, both for them
selves and the congregations that were to accompany them,
"In the meantime, many people followed the Brethren from
Goschgoschuenk, on the Ohio, to the Beaver creek, some of whom
settled in Kaskaskunk; others, who showed an earnest wish to be
convertejl, and promised to live in conformity to the rules of the
congregation, obtained leave to live at Friedenstadt,
" The Brethren were at this time incessantly troubled by the
most daring lies, propagated by the savages, who even counterfeited
letters and messages from the chiefs to them. In the beginning of
the year 1771, a very peremptory message of thia kind was brought to

1771. MORAVIANS ON BEAVER RIVER, 367
Friedenstadt, as coming from the chief and council at Gekelemuk
pechuenk; demanding that an Indian woman, lately converted to
the truth, and baptized by the Brethren, should be sent back imme
diately, or she should be taken away by force. This message
appearing dangerous in its consequences, Brother Zeisberger him
self set out on the 5th of March, with three Indian brethren, for
Gekelemukpechuenk, "On the road they experienced great hardships, in wading
through tracts of deep snow and much water, and did not arrive
there until the 13th, They lodged in the house of the head chief,
Netawatwees, where they met with a kind reception, and had soon
an opportunity of preaching Jesus and him crucified to the inhabi
tants; who assembled in great numbers to hear the missionary.
Brother Zeisberger then requested a meeting of the council, and
read to them the above-mentioned letter. It was then discovered
that neither the chief nor the council knew any thing of it, but
that one of the counselors present had written it on his own author
ity, and signed it with two fictitious names. Being thus detected,
he was publicly confounded; the whole council expressed great
indignation at the contents of the letter, and agreed perfectly with
the declaration of the missionary and the Indian brethren, that aa
they could and would not detain any Indian in their settlement
against his will, either by persuasion or force, so no Indian ought
to be compelled to leave them, the Indians being altogether
a free people, who in all things might act according to their own
minds. " After this. Brother Zeisberger staid several days in Gekele
mukpechuenk, and found many attentive hearers, but likewise
many avowed enemies, who, though they dared not publicly to
contradict the missionary .himself, raged with immoderate fury
against his Indian assistants, and their testimony. One said
to Isaac: ' What do you come here for, spreading your new doc
trines among our people ? I have a good mind to kick you alto
gether out of doors. Andeven if all the Indians should embrace
your doctrine, I certainly would not.' This opposition arose chiefiy
from the insinuations of the above-mentioned Indian preachers,
who had so strenuously recommended emetics, as a sure mode of
cleansing from sin, that in this town the practice was general. The
missionary endeavored to convince the people, that though an
emetic might benefit their stomachs, yet it could never cleanse
their hearts, but that the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, ap
plied in faith to our sin-sick souls, was alone able to cleanse and

368 MISSIONARIES THREATENED BY INDIANS. 1771.
change them. Having recommended these people in fervent
prayer to the mercy of God our Saviour, he returned -with his com
pany to Friedenstadt.
"He had scarcely left Gekelemukpechuenk, when a renowned
heathen preacher arrived, and spread great confusion among the
people, by declaring that the missionary' was even known among
the whites as a noted seducer of the Indians, who, whenever he had
drawn a large party aside, sent them over the great ocean, and sold
them for slaves, where they were harnessed to the plough, and
whipped on to their work. By these lying insinuations he gained
such an ascendency over the timid minds of the Indians, that he
soon became the leader of a large party, and the Brethren were
soon convinced, that to plant the gospel in the country, to which
the congregations at Friedenshuetten and Tschechsehequannink
were now invited, would be attended with great difficulties. Brother
Ziesberger says in one of his letters: 'Here God must work a
miracle, for Satan has many strongholds, which he has well
fortified.' " In Kaskaskunk, the enmity against the Brethren became more
general, especially as the lies spread in Gekelmukpechuenk soon
found their way thither, and though it afterward happened, that
their author, and Indian preacher, lost his senses, and ran about
the woods raving mad, yet the enmity against the Brethren, and all
who attended their meetings, did not subside in the least.
"To this, we may add the dreadful rumors of war, heard about
this time ; for which several murders, committed by the white peo
ple, seemed to hold out sufficient provocation. Many people were
on these accounts led to forsake their dwellings, and to remove to
Kaskaskunk and its neighborhood. Thus Friedenstadt was soon
surrounded by troops of savages, from whom nothing but disturb
ance could be expected ; which, alas, they too soon experienced.
Some, who staid only a few days at Friedenstadt, proved exceedingly
troublesome, by their drunken and riotous behavior, and even
threatened to murder all the inhabitants, and destroy the set
tlement. "Brother Zeisberger, who by this time was well known among
various Indian tribes, was a marked object of their hatred and
malice, and frequently in danger of being shot. Some malicious
people came one evening very late to Friedenstadt, and would pos
itively compel the inhabitants to get drunk. When they found all
their efforts vain, they threatened to murder, first the teachers, and
then the whole congregation, and made such a hideous roar, that

1772. MORAVIANS INVITED TO MUSKINGUM, 369
the Indian sisters fled into the woods, and the Brethren were
obliged to keep a strong and strict watch around the dwelling of
the missionaries,
" Notwithstanding all these troubles, the work of God prevailed
and increased in Friedenstadt, and the congregation grew in grace
and number. May the 27th, 1771, the foundation-stone of the
chapel was laid, and on the 20th of June, the building was dedica
ted unto the Lord, with praise, thanksgiving, and prayer, as a place
where the Gospel should be preached to the poor. The number of
constant hearers daily increased ; among these, there was one who
had lost his scalp in the war, and one of the same party which de
stroyed the Brethren's house on the Mahony, in the year 1755.
This man was often so moved in hearing the Gospel, that he shed
floods of tears. Another visitor expressed a great desire to know
which was the true way to happiness. He said: 'The Quakers
maintain that their doctrine is true, the English church asserts the
same of theirs, and the Brethren say that the word they preach ia
the word of God.' The Indian assistants told him, that if he was
truly desirous to be informed, he should come to Jesus, who,
through God blessed forever, became a man, and had been wounded
for our transgressions. He would then soon learn to know him,
and receive a certainty in his heart, concerning the way to salva
tion : but that afterward it was required to be obedient to his com
mandments. " After much opposition and hesitation. Chief Pakanke, hitherto
an enemy of the Gospel, resolved at last to go to Friendenstadt.
He staid there several days, heard the Gospel with great attention,
changed his sentiments, and even exhorted his children to go to
the Brethren, hearken to their words, and believe on Jesus.
" October 21st, Brother John Heckewelder, who was appointed
assistant missionary, and November 27th, the four families expected
from Friedenshuetten, arrived safe at Friedenstadt. All rejoiced
at the resolution of the two congregations to follow them hither,
and willingly offered their assistance in making plantations, and
planting Indian corn for them.
"As the enmity of the greater part of the inhabitants of Kas
kaskunk and other savage neighbors rather increased, and the latter
encroached more and more upon the borders of Friedenstadt, the
believing Indians petitioned the chief and council at Kaskaskunk
for protection, but were told that their request could not be
granted. Thia waa in the beginning of the year 1772. At the
same time the Brethren received a kind message from the chief

370 ZEISBERGER VISITS MUSKINGUM. 1772.
and council at Gekelemukpechuenk, inviting them and the two
congregations at Friedenshuetten and Tschechsehequannink to
come and settle in their country, near the river Muskingum, upon
whatever tracts of laud they might choose. Upon mature consid
eration, it was found most expedient that Brother Zeisberger should
first take a journey to view the country on the Muskingum, and
there fix upon a spot suitable for a settlement, that he should then
consult and settle every thing relating to this affair with the chiefs
at Gekelemukpechuenk, and soon after remove to the new place
with a few families from Friedenstadt, and establish a regular mission
there ; but that the congregations at Friedenshutten and Tschech
sehequannink should first go and dwell in or near Friedenstadt,
until it should be proper for them to move to the Muskingum.
"Brother Zeisberger set out on this expedition on the 11th of
March, 1772, with a few Indian brethren, and on the 16th discov
ered a large tract of land situated not far from the banks of the
Muskingum, about thirty miles from Gekelemukpechuenk, with a
good spring, a small lake, good planting grounds, much game, and
every other convenience for the sijpport of an Indian colony.
This place was about seventy miles from Lake Erie, and seventy-
five miles west of Friedenstadt. It appeared, that formerly a large
fortified Indian town stood on this spot, some ramparts and the
ruins of three Indian forts being still visible. After this discovery he
went to Gekelemukpechuenk, and informed the council that the
converted Indians' had thankfully accepted of their invitation,
desiring that the tract of land he had just now discovered might be
given to them. In answer to this request he heard with great
pleasure, that this was the very spot of ground destined by the
chiefs and council for them. They also determined, in a solemn
manner, that all the lands, from the entrance of the Gekelemuk
pechuenk creek into the river Muskingum to Tuscarawi should
belong to the converted Indians, and that no other Indians should
be permitted to settle upon them : further, that all Indians dwel
ling on the borders of this country should be directed to behave
peaceably toward them and their teachers, and neither disturb
their worship, nor prevent people from going to them to hear the
word of God.
"Zeisberger praised the Lord for his gracious help in the execu
tion of this important commission, and having again visited the
above-mentioned country, took possession of it in the name of the
Christian Indians, who were uncommonly rejoiced by the account
of his success, given on his return to Friedenstadt.

1772. MISSIONARY FAMILIES REMOVE TO MUSKINGUM. 371
"Five families, consisting in all of twenty-eight persons, were
now appointed to begin the new settlement, and were willing to
undertake it. Brother Zeisberger set out with them on the 14th
of April, 1772, and after a safe but tedious journey, arrived May
8d at the new land on the Muskingum. The day following they
marked out their plantations, erected field-huts, and were all
diligently employed in clearing land and planting."
The place they chose for the new settlement on the Muskingum,
was about seventy miles south-west from JFriedenstadt, and about
an equal distance from Lake Erie. It appeared that formerly a
large Indian town stood on the spot, some ramparts and ruins of
three Indian forts being still visible. The mission of the Moravians
to the Indians in North America had existed for thirty years, and
during that period there had been baptized seven hundred and
twenty Indians. The first settlement they made on the Mus
kingum was called Schonbrun, "a beautiful clear spring," and waa
located about three miles south of New Philadelphia, in Tus
carawas county, Ohio. Shortly afterward they settled also at
Gnadenhutten, seven miles south of Schonbrun, and Salem, a few
miles below Gnadenhutten. In 1776, a new settlement named
Lichtenau was made, thirty miles from Schonbrun; and around
these grew up other villages and hamlets of Christian Indians, who
had adopted the civilization and the faith of the Moravians. The
chiefs of the tribe were favorably disposed, the people manifes
ted a great intereat, the Moravian church steadily increased,
and the knowledge of the Moravian teachings spread among the
children of the wilderness.
For a while too, they were beyond the border and away from
the infiuence and hostility of the white men, and away from the
embarrassment of the border wars.
The war of 1774 in no way affected them, other than it excited
the fear that the war might extend to their country, and both the
missionaries and their people were prepared to escape to the
Cuyahoga river, if the whites had been beaten at the battle of
Point Pleasant. During the years that followed, the Brethren were
allowed peaceably to pursue their labor, in the confidence of the
people and under the protection of the council of the Delaware
tribe. But their peace was soon broken. They were between two parties
in the war of Independence. Detroit was the head-quarters of the
British, and Fort Pitt of the Americans. The Wyandots and part

872 MISSIONARIES AND CONVERTS SETTLED AT. MUSKINGUM. 1773.
of the Delawares were the partisans of the British ; the Christian
villagers were neutral, in accordance with their principles. While
they declined the alliance of either party, they felt obliged by
their religion to extend the duties of hospitality to both. It thus
became exceedingly difficult to preserve any neutrality between
the contending parties. It was necessary, in order to avoid their
hostility, to furnish provisions to the Indian war parties on their
way to attack the whites ; it was an act of Christian benevolence to
extend sympathy to their prisoners, and, in that way, they were
suspected of partiality to the British interest. It was contrary to
their religion to take up the hatchet so persistently oflered them by
the warlike Indians, and their motives for refusing could only be in
terpreted by the warriors as a sympathy with the Americans. On the'
one hand, therefore, a party of Americans crossed the Ohio in the fall
of 1777, with the design of destroying the Moravian towns, but
were met and defeated by a party of Wyandots. On the other
hand, the commandant at Detroit sent them a message in 1778,
declaring that he would compel all the Indians, Christian or not, to
fight the Americans, and if they did not obey his orders, all
missions among them should be at an end.
They were fully warned of the dangerous position they occupied,
but failed to realize the extent of their danger. A chief of the
Wyandots visited them] in the spring of 1781, to advise them of
their peril, and to persuade them to seek a place of greater safety.
"My cousins," said he, "you Christian Indians in Gnadenhutten,
Schonbrun and Salem, I am concerned on your account, as I see
you live in a dangerous situation. Two mighty and angry gods
stand opposite to each other with their mouths open, and you stand
between them and are in danger of being crushed by the one or
the other or both of them, and crumbled with their teeth."
"Uncle," replied they, "and you Shawanese, our nephews, we
have not hitherto seen our situation so dangerous as not to stay
here. We live in peace with all mankind and have nothing to do
with the war. We desire and request no more than that we may
be permitted to live in peace and quiet. We will preserve your
words and consider them, and send you, uncle, an answer."
McKee, Girty and Elliot were especially hostile to the mission
aries, and were continually seeking to excite the heathen Indians
to murder Zeisberger, and destroy the mission. Girty, indeed, led
a party at one time from Sandusky, to capture aud murder the
venerable missionary, and had even taken him prisoner, but he was
rescued by a band of friendly Delawares, and saved. Girty and

1781. BIRTH OF MARY HECKEWELDER. 373
his associates, however, continued to excite the Indians to rid them
aelves of the missionaries. Under their infiuence, the Six Nations
sent a message to the Chippewas and Ottawas, asking them to
murder the Christian Indians. They declined, and the same mes
sage was sent to the Wyandots. They too were unwilling to bear
the odium of the act; but a party of them, after great persuasion,
was induced by Elliot to accompany him to the Christian settle
ment. Arrived there, Elliot professed great friendship to the
missionaries, to conceal his purpose. His design was to murder
the Christians; but his Indians could not be trusted to perform the
work. He therefore contented himself with taking the mission
aries prisoners to Sandusky, and with compelling the Christian
Indians to abandon their improvements and remove thither.
Accordingly they abandoned their villages, and the corn in their
fields, taking with them only their cattle and some provisions, and
on the 11th of September set out, in obedience to the orders of the
Indians, to proceed to Sandusky. Mary Heckewelder, the daughter
of the missionary, who was born on the 16th of April, 1781, and is
supposed to be the first white child born north of the Ohio, says :
" Soon after my birth, times becoming very troublesome, the
settlements were often in danger from war parties ; and finally, in
the beginning of September, of the same year, we were all made
prisoners. First, four of the missionaries were seized by a party of
Huron warriors, and declared prisoners of war ; they were then led
into the camp of the Delawares, where the death-song was sung
over them. Soon after they had secured them, a number of war
riors marched off" for Salem and Schonbrun.
" About thirty savages arrived at the former place in the dusk of
the evening, and broke open the mission house. Here they took
my mother and myself prisoners, and having led her into the street,
and placed guards over her, they plundered the house of everything
they could take with them and destroyed what was left. Then,
going to take my mother along with them, the savages were pre
vailed upon, through the intercession of the Indian females, to let
her remain at Salem till the next morning — the night being dark
and rainy and almost impossible for her to travel ao far — they, at
laat, consented on condition that she should be brought into the
camp the next morning, which was accordingly done, and she was
safely conducted by our Indians to Gnadenhutten.
"After experiencing the cruel treatment of the savages for some
time, they were aet at liberty again, but were obliged to leave their
flourishing aettlements, and forced to march through a dreary

374 MORAVIANS FORCED FROM MUSKINGUM TO SANDUSKY, 1781,
wilderness to Upper Sandusky, We went by land through
Goseachguenk to the Walhonding, and then partly by water and
partly along the banks of the river, to Sandusky creek.
"All the way I was carried by an Indian woman, carefully wrapt
in a blanket, on her back. Our journey was exceedingly tedious
and dangerous ; some of the canoes sunk, and those that were in
them lost all their provisions and everything they had saved.
Those that went by land drove the cattle, a pretty large, herd. The
savages now drove us along, the missionaries with their families
usually in their midst, surrounded by their Indian converts. The
roads were exceedingly bad, leading through a continuation of
swamps, "Having arrived at Upper Sandusky, they built small huts of
logs and bark to screen them from the cold, having neither beds
nor blankets, and being reduced to the greatest poverty and want;
for the savages had by degrees stolen almost everything, both from
the missionaries and Indians, on the journey. We lived here
extremely poor, often-times very little or nothing to satisfy the
cravings of hunger; and the poorest of the Indians were obliged to
live upon their dead cattle, which died for want of pasture,"
The missionaries were carried prisoners to Detroit, and examined
before the commandant. Nothing appeared to implicate them in
the revolutionary interest, except the fact of translating letters to
the Indians from the officers at Fort Pitt, and after strict inquiryj
they were set at liberty, treated with kindness, and permitted to
return to their flock at Sandusky. No sooner had they arrived
thither, than Girty again began to plot their destruction. To further
his purpose, he forged a letter in the name of the half-king, to the
commandant at Detroit, charging the missionaries with being in
correspondence with the Americans at Pittsburgh, and demanding
their removal again to Detroit. On this pretext, an order was sent
to Girty to bring them back. They were immediately sent off
under the charge of Lavallie, a Frenchman, who treated them on
the way with especial kindness. At Lower Sandusky, they were
transferred to the custody of Girty, and on their way from there to
Detroit, suffered all the indignity and abuse his savage nature was
capable of inflicting.
The British commandant received them kindly, assured them
that he was convinced of their innocence, and that he had sent for
them only to protect them. They remained there under his pro
tection for a time ; and, convinced that they could not safely re-
occupy the settlement on the Muskingum, they chose a location

1782. INDIAN CONVERTS RETURN TO GATHER CORN, 375
for a new aettlement on the west side of the Huron river, about
thirty miles above Detroit, Thither they removed, gathered their
Indian converts around them, and built a village, to which they
gave the name of New Gnadenhutten,
Meanwhile, the Christian Indians, who had been carried in the
fall to Sandusky, were exposed to great suffering, for want of suffi
cient food and of protection from the inclemency of the winter.
In order to relieve the distress of the congregation, about one
hundred and fifty of them, including men, women, and children,
returned, in February, 1782, to the Muskingum, to gather the corn
that had been left in the fields, and carry it to Sandusky for their
support. Intelligence of. their return soon reached the white set
tlements ; and a party of eighty or ninety men rendezvoused on
the Mingo bottom, under the command of Col, David Williamson,
and marched immediately to the Muskingum, for the purpose of
destroying the settlements, and of massacring the Christian
Indians, As soon as Colonel Gibson heard of their design, he dispatched
messengers to the Indians, to warn them of their danger, but they
arrived too late. They were, however, advised by a white man,
who had escaped from the savages, to, save themselves by an imme
diate flight. But the warning was disregarded, and they deter
mined to trust to what they supposed was the friendly feeling of
the Americans,
The historian Loskiel details at length the story of their mas
sacre, the most infamous act in the border war of that period, and
the most disgraceful event in the history of the country :
"Meanwhile the murderers marched first to Gnadenhutten;
where they arrived on the 6th of March, About a mile from the
settlement, they met young Shebosch, the son of Brother Shebosch,
in the woods, fij'cd at him, and wounded him so much that he
could not escape. He then, according to the account of the mur
derers themselves, begged for his life ; representing that he waa
Shebosch, the son of a white Christian man. But they paid no
attention to his entreaties, and cut him to pieces with their hatch
ets. They then approached the Indians, moat of whom were in
their plantationa, and surrounded them almost imperceptibly ; but
feigning a friendly behavior, told them to go home, promising to
do them no injury. They even pretended to pity them on account
of the mischief done to them by the English and the savages ;
assuring them of the protection and friendship of the Americans.

3T6 INDIAN CONVERTS MURDERED, 1782.
The poor, believing Indians, knowing nothing of the death of
young Shebosch, believed every word they said, went home with
them, and treated them in the most hospitable manner. They
likewise spoke freely concerning their sentiments, as Christian
Indians who had never taken the least share in the war. They
were now informed that they should not return to Sandusky, but
go to Pittsburgh; where they would be out of the way of auy
assault made by the English or the savages. This they heard with
resignation ; concluding that God would perhaps choose this
method to put an end to their present sufferings. Prepossessed
with this idea, they cheerfully delivered their guns, hatchets, and
other weapons, to the murderers; who promised to take care of
them, and in Pittsburgh to return every article to its rightful
owner. Our Indians even showed them all those things which
they had secreted in the woods, assisted in packing them up, and
emptied all their beehives for these pretended friends,
" In the meantime the assistant, John Martin, went to Salem,
and brought the news of the arrival of the white people to the
believing Indians; assuring them that they need not be afraid to
go with them, for they were come to carry them to a place of safety,
and to afford them protection and support. The Salem Indians did
not hesitate to accept of this proposal ; believing that God had sent
the Americans to release them from their disagreeable situation at
Sandusky, and imagining that, when they had arrived at Pitts
burgh, they might soon find a safe place to build a settlement, and
easily procure advice and assistance from Bethlehem, Thus John
Martin, with two Salem Brethren, returned to Gnadenhutten, to
acquaint both their Indian brethren and the white people with
their resolution. The latter expressed a desire to see Salem, and
a party of them was conducted thither, and received ¦with much
friendship. Here they pretended the same good will and affection
toward the Indians as at Gnadenhutten ; and easily persuaded them
to return with them. By the way they entered into much spiritual
conversation with our Indians ; some of whom spoke English well,
giving these people, who feigned great piety, proper and spiritual
answers to many questions concerning religious subjects. The
assistants, Isaac Glickhican, a converted Indian chief, and Israel,
¦were no less sincere and unreserved in their answers to some politic-
cal questions started by the white people; aud thus the murderers
obtained a full and satisfactory account of the present situation and
sentiments of the Indian congregation,
"In the meantime, the defenseless Indians at Gnadenhutten

1782. INDIAN CONVERTS MURDERED. 377
were suddenly attacked and driven together by the white people ;
and without reaiatance seized and bound. The Salem Indians now
met the same fate. Before they entered Gnadenhutten, they were
at once surprised by their conductors, robbed of their guns, and
even of their pocket knives, and brought bound into the settle
ment. Soon after this, the murderers held a council, and resolved
by a majority of votes, to murder them all the very next day.
Those who were of a different opinion wrung their hands, calling
God to witness that they were innocent of the blood of these harm
less Christian Indiana. But the majority remained unmoved, and
only differed concerning the mode of execution. Some were for
burning them alive, othera for taking their scalps ; and the latter
was at last agreed upon ; upon which one of the murderers was
sent to the prisonera, to tell them that, as they were Christian
Indians, they might prepare themselves in a Christian manner, for
they must all die to-morrow,
" It may easily be conceived how great their terror was, at hear
ing a sentence so unexpected. However, they soon recollected
themselves ; and patiently suffered the murderers to lead them into
two houses, in one of which the Brethren, and in the other the
Sisters and children, were confined like sheep ready for slaughter.
They declared to tke murderers, that though they could call God
to witneaa that they were perfectly innocent, yet they were pre
pared and willing to auffer death. But as they had, at their con
version and baptism, made a solemn promise to the Lord Jesus
Christ, that they would live unto him, and endeavor to please him
alone in this world, they knew that they had been deficient in
many respects, and therefore wished to have some time granted, to
pour out their hearts before him in prayer, and to crave his mercy
and pardon. This request being complied with, they spent their
last night here below in prayer, and in exhorting each other to
remain faithful unto the end,
" One brother, named Abraham, who, for some time past, had
been in a lukewarm state of heart, seeing his end approaching,
made the following public confession before his brethren : ' Dear
Brethren! It seems as if we should all soon depart unto our
Saviour, for our sentence is fixed. You know that I have been an
untoward child ; and have grieved the Lord and my brethren by
my disobedience, not walking as I ought to have done. But still,
I will now cleave to my Saviour with my last breath, and hold him
fast, though I am ao great a ainner, I know aasuredly, that he will
forgive me all my sins, and not cast me out,' The Brethren assured
25

378 INDIAN CONVERTS MURDERED. 1782.
him of their love and forgiveness ; and both they and the Sisters
apent the latter part of the night in singing praises to God their
Saviour, in the joyful hope that they would soon be able to praise
him ¦without sin.
" When the day of their execution arrived, namely, the 8th of
March, two houses were fixed upon, one for the Brethren, and
another for the Sisters and children ; to which the wanton mur
derers gave the name of slaughter-houses. Some of them went to
the Indian Brethren, and showed great impatience that the execu
tion had not yet begun ; to which the Brethren replied that they -
were all ready to die, having commended their immortal souls to
God ; who had given them that divine assurance in their hearts,
that they should come to him and be with him forever.
" Immediately after thia declaration, the carnage commenced.
The poor innocent people, men, women, and children, were led,
bound two and two together with ropes, into the above-mentioned
slaughter-houses, and there scalped and murdered.
" According to the testimony of the murderers themselves, they
behaved with uncommon patience, and went to meet their death
with cheerful resignation. The above-mentioned Abraham was
the first victim." ¦" One of the party took up a cooper's mallet,
which lay in the house, saying, ' how exactly thia will anawer for
the business !' He then began with Abraham, and continued
knocking down one after the other until he had counted fourteen
whom he had killed with his own hands. He now handed the
inatrument to one of his fellow-murderers, saying, ' my arm fails
me; go on in the aame way ; I think I have done pretty well.' "¦
" A Sister, called Christina, who had formerly lived with the
Sisters at Bethlehem, and spoke English and German well, fell on
her knees before the captain of the gang, and begged for her life;
but waa told that he could not help her.
" Thua ninety-six persona magnified the name of the Lord, by
patiently meeting a cruel death. Sixty-two were grown persona,
among whom were five of the moat valuable assistants ; and thirty-
four were children,
" Only two youths, each between fifteen and sixteen years old,
escaped almoat miraculously from the hands of the murderera. One
of them, aeeing that they were in earnest, was ao fortunate as to
disengage himaelf from his bonds ; then slipping unobserved from
the crowd, he crept through a narrow window into the cellar of
that houae in which the Siatera were executed. Their blood aoon
penetrated through the flooring; and, according to hia account, ran

1782. SCHONBRUN CONVERTS ESCAPE. 379
in streams into the cellar, by which it appears probable that moat,
if not all of them, were not merely acalped, but killed with hatch
ets or sworda. The lad remained concealed till night ; and provi
dentially no one came down to search the cellar. He then, with
much difficulty, climbed up the wall to the window, crept through,
and escaped into a neighboring thicket.
" The other youth's name was Thomaa. The murderera atruck
him only one blow on the head, took hia acalp and left him. But
after aome time he recovered his senaes, and saw himaelf sur-
.rounded by bleeding corpaes. Among these he observed one Bro
ther, named Abel, moving and endeavoring to raise himself up.
But he remained lying still, as though he were dead, and thia cau
tion proved the meana of deliverance ; for aoon after, one of the
murderera coming in and obaerving Abel'a motiona, killed him
vdth two or three blowa, Thomas lay quite still till dark; though
suffering the moat exquiaite torment. He then ventured to creep
toward the door; and obaerving nobody in the neighborhood, got
out and eacaped into the wooda, in which he concealed himself
during the night. Theae two youtha afterward inet in the woods,
and God preserved them from harm on their journey to Sanduaky ;
though they purposely took a long circuit, and suffered great hard
ships and danger. Before they left the neighborhood of Gnaden
hutten, they observed the murderers, from behind the thicket,
making merry after their successful enterprise ; and at last setting
fire to the two alaughter-houaea filled with corpaes.
" The remainder of the Indian congregation, who were at Schon
brun, escaped from the bloody hands of the white murderers.
Messengers going to Gnadenhutten found young Shebosch lying
dead and scalped by the way-side; and looking forward, aaw many
white people in and about Gnadenhutten. The congregation at
Schonbrun immediately took to flight, and ran into the woods.
They now heaitated a long while, not knowing whither to turn, or
how to ^proceed. Thua, when the murderera arrived at Schon
brun, the Indians were still near, observing every thing that hap
pened there, and might easily have been discovered. But here the
murderers seemed, as it were, struck ¦with blindneaa. Finding
nobody at home, they examined the woods about the town, but
without aucceaa. They then deatroyed and set fire to the settle
ment ; and, halving done the same at Gnadenhutten and Salem,
they set off with the scalps of their ¦victims, about fifty horses, a
number of blankets, and other articles, and marched back to
Pittsburgh.

380 BORDERERS MAKE ANOTHER EXPEDITION, 1782.
" To describe the grief and terror of the Indian congregation,
on hearing that so large a number of its members were so cruelly
massacred, is impossible. Parents wept and mourned for the loss
of their children, husbands for their wives, wives for their hus
bands, children for their parents, brothers for their sisters, and sis
ters for their brothers. And having now also lost their teachers,
who used to sympathize with and participate in all their sorrows,
and to strengthen their reliance upon the faithfulness of God, their
grief was almost insupportable. But they murmured not, nor did
they call for vengeance upon the murderers, but prayed for them ;
and their greatest consolation was a full assurance, that all their
beloved relations were now at home, in the presence of the Lord,
and in full possession of everlasting happiness."
The success of the expedition of Williamson, excited the bor
derers to prepare another invasion of the Indian country, to finish
the deatruction of the Christian Indians by the massacre of the
fugitives at Sandusky. It was aet on foot immediately after the
return of Williamson's party from the Muskingum. The number
of men who volunteered for the campaign was four hundred and
eighty, composed of the greater number of Williamson's men, of
the Yirginia borderers on the Ohio, and of one company from
Washington county, Pennsylvania. They rendezvoused at the
Mingo bottoms, on the 25th of May. Here an election for comman
der was held; Colonels Williamson and Cra^wford were the candi
dates. Crawford was elected, and accepted the office, it is said,
with reluctance.
The army marched along Williamson's trail, and arrived at the
ruins of the Moravian towns on the fourth day of their march.
There aome Indians were discovered, but they escaped. They had
been observing the motiona of the troops ever aince they had
crossed the river; they had learned the objects of the expedition,
and even the threat that " no quarter should be given to any Indian,
whether man, woman or child," had been copied, carried to San
dusky, and read to them.
On the 4th of June, they arrived at the Moravian village on the
Sandusky river, but it was abandoned. Here many of the men
were anxious to abandon the enterprise and return home ; but a
council of the officers was held, and it was determined to advance
for another day in the direction of Sandusky, then forty milea dis
tant. They had not proceeded far when the advance was suddenly
attacked by a large force of Indians, concealed in the grass. The

1782, BORDERERS OVERPOWERED AT SANDUSKY, 381
battle lasted without cessation till dark, and the army rested in
position during the night, and the next day a council of the officers
was held. The Indians were apparently increasing every hour, and
it was resolved to retreat during the next night. After dark
the army was disposed in order for retreat, when several shots
were fired by the Indians, and many of the men thinking that
the movement of the army was discovered, left the main body
in disorder and attempted to escape in the darkness. The Indians
followed the main army but a short distance and turned to pursue
the stragglers. More than a hundred of these were killed or
taken, Crawford would probably have made good his retreat, but that
he lingered behind in anxiety for his son, whom he supposed was
yet in the rear. After wandering two days in the wooda
with Dr, Knight, both were taken by a party of Delawarea, and
conducted to the Old Wyandot town. Here Captain Pipe, with
hia own handa, painted the prisoners black, a certain premonition
of the doom that awaited them. From thence they were taken to
the New Wyandot town, passing on the way the mangled remains of
a number of their fellow captives. At the new town, the place
appointed for the execution of Crawford, they found the noted
Simon Girty, It had been decided that Crawford should die by
the most aggravated torture, to atone in some degree for the mur
ders by Williamson and his men at Gnadenhutten. After he was
bound to the fatal post, the surviving Christian Indians were called
upon to come forth and take vengeance on the prisoner; but they
had withdrawn, and their savage relations stepped forward in their
stead. Before the work of torture was commenced. Captain Pipe
addressed the Indians at some length, and in the most earnest man
ner, at the close of which they all joined in a hideous yell, and
prepared for the work in hand. The fire was kindled, when it
occurred to poor Crawford, that among the sachems he had a par
ticular friend, named Wingemund. "Where is my friend Winge-
mund ? " he asked, "I wiah to see him." It ia true that this chief
had been the warm friend of Colonel Crawford, by whom he had
been entertained at his own house. Under these circumstances,
Crawford indulged a faint degree of hope, that if he could see the
chief, his life might yet be saved. Wingemund was not far dis
tant, having, in fact, retired from the place of execution, that he
might not behold what he could not prevent. He was sent for,
however, and an interesting and even affecting conversation en
sued between himself and the prisoner. This conversation waa

382 COLONEL CRAWFORD TORTURED. 1782.
commenced by Crawford, who aaked the chief if he knew Mm. He
replied that he believed he did, and aaked — " Are you not Colonel
Crawford?" "I am," replied the Oolonel, and the conversation
was thua continued — ^the chief diacovering much agitation and em
barrassment, and ejaculating — " So ! — ^Yes ! — ^Indeed ! "
" Colonel Crawford. Do you not recollect the friendship that
always existed between us, and that we were always glad to see
each other?
" Sachem. Yea, I remember all thia; and that we have often
drunk together, and that you have been kind to me.
" Col. C. Then I hope the aame friendahip atill continues.
" Sachem. It would, of courae, were you where you ought to be,
and not here.
" Col. C. And why not here ? I hope you would not desert a
friend in time of need ; now is the time for you to exert yourself in
my behalf, as I should do for you were you in my place.
" Sachem. Col, Crawford, you have placed yourself in a situa
tion which puts it out of my power, and that of others of your
friends, to do any thing for you,
" Col. C. How so. Captain Wingemund ?
"Sachem. By joining yourself to that execrable man, William
son and his party. The man who, but the other day, murdered
such a number of the Moravian Indiana, knowing them to be
friends ; knowing that he ran no risk in murdering a people who
would not fight, and whose only buaineaa waa praying.
" Col. C. But, I assure you, Wingemund, that had I been with
him at the time, this would not have happened. Not I alone, but
all your friends, and all good men, reprobate acts of this kind,
" Sachem. That may be, yet these friends, these good men, did
not prevent him from going out again to kill the remainder of those
inoffensive, yet foolish Moravian Indians, I say foolish, because
they believed the whites in preference to us. We had often
told them they would one day be so treated, by those people who
called themselves their friends. We told them there was no faith
to be placed in what the white men said; that their fair promises
were only intended to allure, that they might the more easily
kill us, as they have done many Indians before they killed those
Moravians, " Col. C. I am sorry to hear you speak thus. As to William-
aon'a going out again, when it waa known that he was deter
mined on it, I went out with him to prevent him from committing
fresh murders.

1782. COLONEL CRAWFORD TORTURED. 383
" Sachem. Thia the Indians would not believe, were I to tell
them so.
" Ool. C. And why would they not believe it?
" Sachem. Because it would have been out of your power to
prevent his doing what he pleased.
" Col. O. Out of my power ? Have any Moravian Indiana been
killed or hurt aince we came out ?
" Sachem. None. But you fir&t went to their town, and finding
it empty and deaerted, you turned on the path toward ua. If you
had been in search of warriors only, you would not have gone
thither. Our spies watched you closely. They saw you while you
were embodying yourselves on the other side of the Ohio. They
saw you cross that river; they saw where you encamped at night ;
they saw you turn off from the path to the deserted Moravian town ;
they knew you were going out of your way ; your atepa were con
stantly watched ; and you were auffered quietly to proceed until you
reached the spot where j^ou were attacked.
". Col. C. (With emotion.) What do they intend to do with me ?
" Sachem. I tell you with grief. As Williamson, with his whole
cowardly host, ran off in the night at the whistling of our warriors'
balla, being aatisfied that now he had no Moravians to deal with,
but men who could fight, and ¦with such he did not wiah to have
any thing to do ; I say, as he haa eacaped, and they have taken you,
they will take revenge on you in hia atead.
" Ool. 0. And is there no possibility of preventing this ? Can
you devise no way to get me off? You ahall, my friend, be well
rewarded, if you are inatrumental in aaving my life.
" Sachem, Had Williamaon been taken with you, I and some
frienda, by making use of what you have told me, might, perhaps,
have succeeded in saving you ; but as the matter now stands, no
man would dare to interfere in your behalf. The king of England
himself, were he to come to this spot with all his wealth and
treasure, could not effect thia purpose. The blood of the innocent
Moravians, more than half of them women and children, cruelly
and wantonly murdered, calls aloud for revenge. The relatives of the
slain, who are among us, cry out and stand ready for revenge. The
Shawanese, our grand-children, have asked for your fellow-prisoner ;
on him they will take revenge. All the nations connected with ua
cry out, revenge ! revenge ! The Moraviana, whom you went to de
stroy, having fled instead of avenging their Brethren, the offense
has become national, and the nation itaelf is bound to take revenge.

384 COLONEL CRAWFORD TORTURED. 1782.
"Ool. C. My fate is then flxed, and I must prepare to meet
death in its worst form.
" Sachem. Yes, Colonel. I am sorry for it, but I cannot do auy
thing for you. Had you attended to the Indian principle, that
good and evil cannot dwell together in the same heart, so a good
man ought not to go into evil company, you would not have been
in this lamentable situation. You see now, when it is too late,
after Williamson has deserted you, what a bad man he must be.
Nothing now remains for you but to meet your fate like a brave
man. Farewell, Colonel Crawford! They are coming. I will
retire to a solitary spot."*
On turning away from his friend, whom it was not in his power
to assist, it is said the old Sachem was affected to tears, and could
never afterward speak of the incident without deep emotion. The
moment the chief had left the colonel, a number of the execution
ers rushed upon him, and commenced the work of torture, which
was in progress three hours before the victim fell upon his face, and
expired with a groan. During the proceedings against him, he
was continually and bitterly upbraided for the conduct of the white
men at Gnadenhutten. If not himself a participator in that atro
cious affair, they reproached him for having now come against
them with the worst kind of murderers — such as even the Indians
had not among them.
"Indians," said they, "kill their enemies, but not their friends.
When once they have stretched forth their hand, and given that
endearing name, they do not kill. But how was it with the be
lieving Indians on the Muskingum ? You professed friendship for
them. You hailed and welcomed them as such. You protested
they should receive no harm from you. And what did you after
ward to them ? They neither ran from you, nor fired a single shot
on jour approach. And yet you called them warriors, knowing
they were not such. Did you ever hear warriors pray to God, and
sing praises to him, as they did ? Could not the shrieks and cries of
the innocent little children excite you to pity, aud to save their lives ?
No ! you did not ! You would have the Indians believe you are
Christians, because you have the Great Book among you, and yet
you are murderers in your hearts ! Never would the unbelieving
Indians have done what you did, although the Great Spirit has not
put his Book into their hands as into yours. The Great Spirit

* Heckewelder's Indian Nations.

1782. DR. knight's narrative. 385
taught you to read all that he wanted you to do, and what he for
bade that you should do. These Indians believed all that they
were told was in that Book, and believing, strove to act accord-
iagly. We knew you better than they did. We often warned
them to beware of you, and your pretended friendship; but they
would not believe us. They believed nothing but good of you, and
for this they paid with their lives."*
The son of Crawford and Dr. Knight were both present at the
scene. Young Crawford was immediately afterward tortured.
Knight was taken to be burned at a Shawanese town, about forty
miles distant, but escaped on the way, and returned to the settie
ments. He thus describes the death of the unfortunate Crawford :
"Monday morning, the 10th of June, we were paraded to march
to Sandusky, about thirty-three miles distant; they had eleven
prisoners of ua, and four scalps, the Indians being seventeen in
number. " Colonel Crawford was very desirous to see a certain Simon
Girty, who lived with the Indians, and was on this account permit
ted to go to town the same night, with two warriors to guard him,
having orders at the same time to pass by the place where the
Colonel had turned out his horse, that they might, if posssible,
find him. The rest of us were taken as far as the old town, which
was within eight miles of the new.
"Tuesday morning, the 11th, Colonel Crawford was brought
out to us on purpose to be marched in with the other prisoners.
I asked the Colonel if he had seen Mr. Girty ? He told me he had,
and that Girty had promised to do every thing in his power for
him, but, that the Indians were very much enraged against the
prisoners ; particularly Captain Pipe, one of the chiefs ; he like-
¦wise told me that Girty had informed him that his son-in-law.
Colonel Harrison, and his nephew, William Crawford, were made
prisoners by the Shawanese, but had been pardoned. This Captain

¦* Heckewelder's Narrative of the Moravian Missions. " There was further a circum
stance much against this unfortunate man, which enraged the Indians to a high degree.
It was reported that the Indian spies sent to watch their movements, on examining a
camp which Crawford and Williamson had left, west of the Ohio, had found on trees
peeled for the purpose, the words, written with coal and other mineral substances — ' No
quarters to be given to any Indian, whether man, woman, or child.' When the Indians find
inscriptions on trees or other substances, they are in the habit of making exact copies
of them, which they preserve until they find some one to read or interpret them.
Such was the fact in the present case, and the inscription was suf&cient to enrage
them."— Idem.

386 DE. knight's narrative. 1782.
Pipe had come from the town about an hour before Colonel Craw
ford, and had painted all the prisoners' faces black. As he was
painting me he told me that I should go to the Shawanese towns
and see my friends. When the Colonel arrived, he painted him
black also, told him he was glad to see him, and that he would
have him shaved when he came to see hia friends at the Wyandot
town. When we marched, the Colonel and I were kept back
between Pipe and Wyngenim, the two Delaware cMefs; the other
nine prisonera were aent forward witk another party of Indians.
As we went along we saw four of the prisoners lying by the path,
tomahawked and scalped ; some of them were at the distance of
half-a-mile from each other. When we arrived witMn half-a-mile
of the place where the Colonel was executed, we overtook the five
prisonera that remained alive ; the Indiana had caused them to sit
down on the ground, as they did also the Colonel and me, at some
distance from them. I was there given in charge to an Indian
fellow to be taken to the Shawanese towns.
" In the place where we were now made to sit down, there was
a number of squaws and boys, who fell on the five prisoners and
tomahawked them. There was a certain John McKinly amongst
the prisoners, formerly an officer in the 13th Yirginia regiment,
whose head an old squaw cut off, and the Indians kicked it about
upon the ground. The young Indian fellows came often where
the Colonel and I were, and dashed the scalps in our faces. We
were then conducted along toward the place where the Colonel
was afterward executed ; when we came within about half-a-mile
of it, Simon Girty met us, with several Indians on horseback ; he
spoke to the Colonel, but as I was about one hundred and fifty
yards behind, could not hear what passed between them.
" Almost every Indian we met, struck us either with sticks or
their fists. Girty waited till I was brought up, and asked, was that
the Doctor ? I told him yes, and went toward him, reaching out
my hand, but he bid me begone, and called me a damned rascal,
upon which the fellows who had me in charge pulled me along.
Girty rode up after me and told me I was to go to the Shawanese
towns. " When we went to the fire the Colonel was stripped naked,
ordered to ait down by the fire, and then they beat him with sticks
and their fists. Presently after I was treated in the same manner.
They then tied a rope to the foot of a post about fifteen feet high,
bound the Colonel's hands behind hia back and fastened the rope
to the ligature between his wrists. The rope waa long enough for

1782, DR. knight's narrative. 387
him to ait down or walk round the poat once or twice, and return
the same way. The Colonel then called to Girty, and asked if
they intended to burn him ? Girty answered, yes. The Colonel
said he would take it all patiently. Upon this, Captain Pipe, a
Delaware chief, made a speech to the Indiana, viz : about thirty or
forty men, sixty or seventy squaws and boys.
"When the speech was finished they all yelled a hideous and
hearty assent to what had been said. The Indian men then took
up their guns, and shot powder into the Colonel's body, from his
feet aa far up as his neck. I think that not less than seventy loads,
were diacharged upon hia naked body. They then crowded about
him, and to the beat of my obaervation, cut off his ears ; when the
throng had dispersed a little, I saw the blood running from both
sides of his head in consequence thereof,
" The fire was about six or seven yards from the post to which
the Colonel was tied ; it was made of small hickory poles, burnt
quite through in the middle, each end of the poles remaining about
six feet in length. Three or four Indiana by turna would take up,
individually, one of theae burning pieces of wood and apply it to
Ma naked body, already burnt black with the powder, "Theae tor-
mentora preaented themselves on every aide of him with the burn
ing faggots and poles. Some of the squaw s took broad boards
upon which they would carry a quantity of burning coals and hot
embers and throw on -him, so that in a short time he had nothing
but coals of fire and hot ashes to walk upon,
" In the midst of these extreme tortures, he called to Simon
Girty and begged of him to shoot him ; but Girty making no
anawer, he called to him again, Girty, then, by way of derision,
told the Colonel he had no gun, at the same time turning about to
an Indian who was behind him, laughed heartily, and by all his
gestures seemed delighted at the horrid scene,
"Girty then came up to me and bade me prepare for death.
He said, however, I was not to die at that place, but to be burnt at
the Shawanese towns. He swore by G — d I need not expect to
escape death, but should suffer it in all its enormities,
" He then observed that aome prisoners had given him to under-
Btand, that, if our people had him they would not hurt him ; for
hia part, he aaid, he did not believe it, but deaired to know my
opinion of the matter, but, being at the time in great anguish and
distress for the torments the Colonel was suffering before my eyes,
as well aa the expectation of undergoing the aame fate in two days,
I made little or no anawer. He expressed a great deal of ill-will

DR. knight's narrative, 1782.
for Colonel Gibson, and aaid he waa one of hia greateat enemies,
and more to the same purpose, to all which I paid vety little
attention. " Colonel Crawford, at this period of his suffering, besought the
Almighty to have mercy on his soul, spoke very low, and bore his
torments with the most manly fortitude. He continued in all the
extremities of pain for an hour and three-quarters or two hours
longer, as near as I can judge, when at last, being almost exhausted,
he lay down on his belly ; they then scalped him, and repeatedly
threw the scalp in my face, telling me, " that was my great cap
tain." An old squaw, (whose appearance every way answered the
ideas people entertain of the Devil,) got a board, took a parcel of
coals and ashes and laid them on his back and head, after he had
been scalped ; he then raised himself upon his feet and began to
walk round the post; they next put a burning stick to him as usual,
but he seemed more insensible of pain than before,
" The Indian fellow who had me in charge, now took me away
to Captain Pipe's house, about three-quarters of a mile from the
place of the Colonel's execution, I was bound all night, and thus
prevented from seeing the last of the horrid spectacle. Next
morning, being .June 12th, the Indian untied me, painted me black,
and we set off for the Shawanese towns, which he told me was some
what less than forty miles distant from that place. We soon came
to the place where the Colonel had been burnt, as it was partly in
our way ; I saw his bones lying amongst the remains of the fire,
almost burnt to ashes ; I suppose after he was dead they laid his
body on the fire. The Indian told me that was my big Captain,
and gave the scalp halloo."
During the year 1782, the war was waged on both sides with
the greatest animosity and the most relentless severity. In May,
a party of twenty-five Indians appeared before Estill's station, on
Kentucky river, killed one man, wounded another, and destroyed
all the cattle in the neighborhood. On their retreat. Captain Estill
pursued them with a company of twenty-five men, and overtook
them on Hinkston's fork of Licking, about two miles below the
Little Mountain. The Indians were on one side of the stream, the
whites on the other, both sheltered by trees; the numbers, position
and bravery of both parties were equal. It was impossible for either
to retreat or advance without equal danger. The equal contest
lasted for an hour, and one-fourth of each party were killed and
several wounded, without giving any advantage to either, Estill

1782, DEFEAT OF KENTUCKIANS AT ESTILL'S STATION, 389
saw that it was impossible to dislodge the Indians by an attack in
front, and equally impossible to maintain his position or to retreat;
and accordingly he ordered Lieutenant Miller, with six men, to
cross the creek above, and attack the Indians in flank. The chief
detected at once the maneuver, and immediately with his men
crossed the creek, and fell upon the whites, weakened by this
division, with the tomahawk;, killed Estill, and eight of his men,
and drove back the remainder. Miller never executed his order,
but with his men fled precipitately, and left the survivors to escape
as they best could from the savages.
The defeat and death of Estill, produced a profound impression
upon the settlers of Kentucky. His popularity and his bravery
had endeared him to them, and his losa under the circumstances,
perhaps more than any other single event, aroused the Kentuckians
to deeper hostility against the savages.
Nor did the red men, on their part, show any signs of losing
their animosity. Elliot, McKee and Girty urged them on, M'ith a
fury that is not easy to account for. Again the woods teemed
witii savages, and no one was safe from attack beyond the walls of
a station. The influence of the British, and the constant pressure
of the Long Knives upon the red men, had produced a union of
the various tribes of the north-west, who seemed to be gathering
again to strike a fatal blow at the frontier settlements, and had
they been led by a Philip, a Pontiac, or a Tecumthe, it is impossi
ble to estimate the injury they might have inflicted.
August was half gone, before the anticipated storm burst upon
the pioneers in its full force, when, upon the night of the 14th of
that month, the main body of the Indians, five or six hundred in
number, gathered silently around Bryant's station, a post on the bank
of the Elkhorn, about five miles from Lexington. The garrison of this
post had heard, on the evening of the 14th, of the defeat of a party
of whites not far distant, and during that night were busy in
preparations to march, with day-break, to the assistance of their
neighbors. All night long their preparations continued, and what
little sound the aavagea made as they approached, was unheard
amid the comparative tumult within.
In the morning the woodsmen rose from their brief slumbers
took their arms, and were on the point of opening their gates to
march, when the crack of rifles, mingled with yells and howls, told
them, in an instant, how narrowly they had escaped captivity or
death. Rushing to the loop-holes and crannies, they saw about a

390 ATTACK ON BRYANT'S STATION. 1782
hundred red men, firing and gesticulating in full view of the fort.
The young men, full of rage at Estill's defeat, wished instantly to
rush forth upon the attackers, but there was aomething in the
manner of the Indiana so peculiar, that the older heads at once
suspected a trick, and looked anxiously to the opposite side of the
fort, where they judged the main body of the enemy were proba
bly concealed. Nor were they deceived. The savages were led
by Simon Girty. Thia white savage had proposed, by an attack
upon one side of the station ¦with a small part of his force, to draw
out the garrison, and then intended, with the main body, to fall
upon the other side, and secure the fort; but his plan was defeated
by the over-acting of hia red alliea, and the sagacity of his oppo
nents. The garrison, however, had still a great difficulty to
encounter; the fort was not supplied with water, and the spring
was at aome distance, and in the immediate ¦vicinity of the thicket
in which it was suppoaed the main force of the Indians lay con
cealed. The danger of going or sending for water waa plain, the
absolute necessity of having it was equally so ; and how it could
be procured, was a difficult question.
At length a plan, equally sagacious and bold, was hit upon, and
carried into execution by as great an exertion of womanly presence
of mind, as can, perhaps, be found on record. If the savages were,
as was supposed, concealed near the spring, it was believed they
would not show themselves until they had reason to believe their
trick had succeeded, and the garrison had left the fort on the other
side. It was, therefore, proposed to all the females to go with
their buckets to the spring, fill them, and return to the fort, before
any sally was made against the attacking party.
The danger to which they must be exposed was not to be con
cealed, but it was urged upon them that this must be done, or all
perish ; and that if they were steady, the Indiana would not molest
them ; and to the honor of their sex be it said, they went forth in
a body, and directly under five hundred rifles, filled their buckets,
and returned in auch a manner aa not to suggest to the quick-
sighted aavagea that their presence in the thicket waa suapected,
Thia done, a small number of the garrison were sent forth against
the attackers, with orders to multiply their numbers to the ear by
constant firing, while the main body of the whites took their
places to repel the anticipated rush of those in concealment. The
plan succeeded perfectly. The whole body of Indiana rushed from
their ambuscade aa they heard the firing upon the oppoaite aide of
the fort, and were received by a fJair, well-directed diaeharge of all

1782. ATTACK ON BBYANT'S STATION. 391 ,
the rifles left within the station. Astonished and horror-stricken,
the aaaailanta turned to the forest again aa quickly aa they had left
it, having loat many of their number.
In the morning, aa aoon aa the presence of the Indians was
ascertained, and before their numbers were suspected, two messen
gers had broken through their line, bearing to Lexington tidings of
the aeige of Btyant'a atation, and aaking succora. These succors came
about two in the afternoon ; sixteen men being mounted, and thirty
or more on foot. The savages expected their arrival, and prepared
to deatroy them, but the horsemen, by rapid riding, and enveloped
in dust, reached the fort unharmed, and of the footmen, after an
hour's hard fighting, only two were killed and four wounded. The
Indian's courage rarely supports him through long-continued exer
tion; and Girty found Ms men so far disheartened by their
failures — that of the morning in the attempt to take the fort, and
that in the afternoon to destroy the troops from Lexington — that
before night they talked of abandoning the aeige.
Thia their leader was very unwilling to do ; and thinking he
might frighten the garrison into surrender, he managed to get
within speaking distance, and there, from behind a large stump,
commenced a parley. He told the white men who he was, assured
them of his great deaire that they ahould not auffer, and informing
them that he looked hourly for reinforcementa with cannon, againat
which they could not hope to hold out, begged them to aurrender
at once ; if they did ao, no one ahould be hurt, but if they waited
till the cannon came up, he feared they would all fall victima. The
garrison looked at one another with uncertainty and fear ; against
cannon they could do nothing, and cannon had been used in 1780.
Seeing the effect of Girty's speech, and disbelieving every word of
it, a young man named Reynolds, took it upon himself to answer
the renegade.
" You need not be so particular," he cried, "to tell us your name ;
we know your name and you too. I've had a villainous, untrust
worthy cur-dog, thia long while, named Simon Girty, in compli
ment to you ; he's so like you— just as ugly and just as wicked.
As to the cannon, let them come on ; the countty's roused, and
the scalps of your red cut-throats, and your own too, will be drying
on our cabins in twenty-four hours. And if by any chance, you or
your allies do get into the fort, we've a big store of rods laid in on
purpose to scourge you out again."
The method taken by Reynolda waa much more effectual than
any argument with his comrades would have been, and Girty had

392 BRITISH AND INDIANS RETIRE TO BLUE LICKS, 1782,
to return to the Indian council-fire unsuc<'e8sful. But he and the
chiefs well knew that though their reinforcements and cannon
were all imaginary, the expected aid of the whites was not, Boone,
Todd and Logan would soon be upon them; the ablest and boldest
of the pioneers would cut them off from a retreat to the Ohio, and
their destruction would be insured. On the other hand, if they
now began to retire, and were pursued, as they surely would be,
they could choose their own ground, and always fight with their
way home clear behind them. All night they lay still, their fires
burning, but when day broke, the whole body of savages was
gone. By noon of the 18th of August, about one hundred and eighty
men had gathered at Bryant's station, among them were Boone
and his son. After counting the fires,, and noticing other signs,
they determined on immediate pursuit, without waiting for the
arrival of Colonel Logan and his party; accordingly, on the 18th,
the whole body set forward under the command of Colonel John
Todd. The trail of the savages was as plain as could be wished;
indeed, to Boone and the more refiecting, it was clear that the
retiring army had taken pains to make it so, and the sagacious
woodsmen at once concluded that a surprise at some point was
intended, and that point Boone was confident was the Lower Blue
Licks, where the nature of the ground eminently favored such a
plan. With great caution the little army proceeded until, upon
the following day, they reached the Licking river, at the point
designated by Boone as the one where an attack might be expected;
and as they came in sight of the opposite bank, they discovered
upon its bare ridge a few Indians, who gazed at them a moment
and then passed into the ravine beyond.
The hills about the Blue Licks are even now almost wholly with
out wood, and the scattered cedars which at present lend them
some green, did not exist in 1782, Ascending the ridge of the
hill above the spring, a point is reached where two ravines, thickly
wooded, run down from the bare ground to the right and left,
affording a place of concealment for a very large body of men, who
could thence attack on front and flank and rear, any who were
pursuing the main trace along the higher ground ; in these ravines
Boone, who was looked to by the commanders for counsel, said
that the Indians were probably hidden. He proposed, therefore,
that they should send a part of their men to cross the Licking fur
ther up, and fall upon the Indiana in the rear, while the remaining
troops attacked them in front.

1782. KENTUCKIANS PURSUE THEM, 393
While Boone's plan waa under discussion hy the officers of the
pursuing party, "Major Hugh McGary," according to the common
account, "broke from the council, and called upon the troops who
were not cowards to follow him, and thus collecting a band, went
without order, and against his orders, into the action, and in con
sequence of this act a general pursuit of officers and men took place,
more to save the desperate men that followed McGary, and from the
dread of being called cowards, than from a hope of a successful
fight with the Indians,"
Col, Boone, in a letter to the Governor of Yirginia, dated August
SOth, 1782, makes the following statement in regai-d to the action,
"We formed our columns in one singleline, and marched up in
their front within about forty yards before there was gun fired.
Colonel Trigg commanded on the right, myself on the left. Major
McGary in the centre, and Major Harlan the advance party in the
front. From the manner iu which we had formed, it fell to my lot
to bring on the attack. This was done with a very heavy fire on
both sides, and extended back of the line to Col. Trigg, where the
enemy was so strong that they rushed up and broke the right wing at
the first fire. Thus the enemy got in our rear, and we were com
pelled to retreat, with the loss of seventy-seven of our men and
twelve wounded,"
Elsewhere he, says: "The savages observing us, gave way, and
we, being ignorant of their numbers, passed the river. When the
enemy saw our proceedings, having greatly the advantage of us in
situation, they formed the line of battle, from one bend of Licking
to the other, about a mile from the Blue Licks, An exceedingly
fierce battle immediately began, for about fifteen minutes, when
we, being overpowered by numbers, were obliged to retreat, with
the loss of sixty-seven men, seven of whom were taken prisoners,"
Governor Morehead, however, has derived from the accounts of
eye-witnesses, some particulars, which, if correct, will reconcile the
common story with Boone's statement. He says :
"Scarcely had Boone submitted his opinions, when Major
McGaty 'raised the war-whoop,' and spurring his horse into the
river, called vehemently upon all who were not cowards to follow
hint, and h£ would show them th.e enemy. Presently the army waa
in motion. The greater part suffered themselves to be led by
McGary — the remainder, perhaps a third of the whole number,
lingered a while with Todd and Boone in council. All at length
passed over, and at Boone's suggestion, the commanding officer
ordered another halt,
26

394 KENTUCKIANS ENTIRELY DEFEATED. 1782,
" The pioneer then proposed a second time that the army should
remain where it was, until an opportunity waa afforded to recon
noiter the suspected region. So reasonable a proposal was acceded
to, and two bold and experienced men were selected to proceed
from the Lick along the Buffalo, to a point half a mile beyond the
ravines, where the road branched off in different directions. They
were instructed to examine the countty with the utmost care on
each side of the road, especially the spot where it passed between
the ravines, and upon the first appearance of the enemy to repair
in haste to the army. The spies discharged the dangeroua and
and responsible task. They crossed over the ridge — proceeded to
the place designated beyond it, and returned in safety, without
having made any discovery. No trace of the enemy was to be seen.
The little army of one hundred and eighty-two men now marched
forward — Colonel Trigg was in command of the right wing, Boone
of the left, McGary in the centre, and Major Harlan with the party
in front."*
After this disastrous defeat, the sorest calamity that ever befell
Kentucky, those who escaped, on foot, plunged into the thickets,
and made their way to Bryant's station, thirty-six miles distant,
and the nearest place of shelter.
Colonel Logan, and his party, were met by the fugitives, within
six miles of the station, to which he returned until the most of them
had arrived. Of the one hundred and eighty-two persons who went
out to the battle, about one-third were killed, twelve wounded, and
seven carried off prisoners, who were put to the torture when they
reached the Indian towns.
In this short, but severe action, Todd, Trigg, Harlan, and Boone's
son, all fell. It was a sad day for Kentucky. The feelings and
fears of the Fayette county settlers may be inferred from the
following extract from Boone's letter to Yirginia: when he felt
anxiety, what must they have auffered !
"By the aigns, we thought the Indians had exceeded four
hundred; while the whole of the militia of this county does not
amount to more than one hundred and thirty. From these facts,
your Excellency may form an idea of our situation. I know that
your own circumstances are critical, but are we to be wholly
forgotten ? I hope not. I trust about five hundred men may be
aent to our assistance immediately. If these shall be stationed as

* Morehead's Address.

1782. VERSION OF THE BATTLE BY A CANADIAN. 395
our county lieutenants shall deem necessary, it may be the means
of saving our part of the country; but if they are placed under the
direction of General Clark, they will be of little or no service to
our aettlement. The Falla lie one hundred miles west of us, and
the Indians north-east; while our men are frequently called to
protect them. I have encouraged the people in this countty all
that I could, but I can no longer justify them or myself to risk our
lives here under such extraordinary hazards. The inhabitants of
this county are vety much alarmed at the thoughts of the Indians
bringing another campaign into our country this fall. K this
should be the case, it will. break up these settlements."
In regard to this expedition, the following statement is made by
an individual who was in the party of the enemy, and who after
ward emigrated from Canada, and settled in the Miami valley :
"In the summer of 1782, the British commandant at Detroit
ordered Major Caldwell to take Simon Girty, a few traders, a
company of provincial militia, together with whatever Indians
could be collected at Detroit, and by the way and with these forces,
to attack and destroy the settlements the rebels were making south
•of the Ohio. Caldwell collected his men, was joined by a party
of Indians iat Detroit, and by other parties on the Maumee, on the
Great Miami, and from other points along the line of march.
When he reached the Ohio, his forces, thus increased, amounted
to about four hundred men. It was Caldwell's intention to attack
the station at Beargrass (LouisviUe,) first; but receiving information
that Clark was there, and that the place was supplied with cannon,
he changed his plan, and led his forces up the Kentucky river, and
thence to Bryant's station. Before they arrived there they were
discovered, and the inhabitanta were ao well fortified, that a siege
of two days and a half made no impression upon them, and gave
no hope that they could be compelled to surrender.
"Under theae circumstancea, Caldwell withdrew his forces from
the station, and fell back as far as the Blue Licks, where game waa
suppoaed to be aufficiently abundant to aupport them, until he
could find some other and weaker point of attack. At first the
Indians were unwilling to alarm the buffaloes, by encamping too
near the Licks; but Caldwell, a vigilant and efficient commander,
suspecting the Kentuckians were in pursuit, over-ruled their
objection, and selected a position near the Licks most favorable
for defense. They had not been twenty-four hours in their new
location, before the Long Knives caniie. They were supposed to
number about two hundred men, many of whom fought on horse-

896 ANECDOTE OP m'gary. 1782.
back, and appeared to have several commanders. All of them,
who were fairly brought into action, fought desperately ; but it
seemed that they were more blind than brave. For, in a battle of
one hour only, their loss was sixty-five killed, and many wounded.
Of these several were carried off by their companions, and the
remainder were massacred by the Indians. Many more of the
Kentuckians must have fallen, had the Indians continued to fight,
instead of scrambling after spoils, and even fighting among them
selves for choice rifles, which were found near the dead, and, in,
some instances, wounded men. Immediately after the battle, asi
provisions were very scarce, and the savages unwilling to remain
embodied, and even hard to control under any circumstances.
Major Caldwell retired with his troops to Canada, and the Indians,
after crossing the Ohio, separated, and returned to their hOmes,"
"Several years after the battle of the Blue Licks, a gentleman of
Kentucky fell in company with M'Gary, at one of the circuit
courts, M'Gary acknowledged that he was the immediate cause
of that defeat, and assigned his reasons with great heat for urging
on the battle. He said, that in the hurried council that was held
at Bryant's, on the 18th of the month, he had strenuously urged •
Todd and Trigg to halt for twenty-four hours, assuring them that,
with the aid of Logan, they would be able to follow the Indians even
to Chillicothe, if necessary ; and that their numbers then were too
weak to encounter them alone. He offered to pledge his head that the
Indians would not return with such precipitation as was supposed,
but would afford ample time to collect more force, and give them
battle with a prospect of success. He added that Col. Todd scouted
his arguments, and declared that if a single day was lost, the In
dians would never be overtaken, but would cross the Ohio and
disperse ; that now was the time to strike them while they were in
a body ; that to talk of their numbers was nonsense — the more the
merrier; that for his part he was determined to pursue without a
moment'a delay, and did not doubt that there were brave men
enough on the ground to enable him to attack them with effect.
" M'Gary declared he felt somewhat nettled at the manner in
which his advice had been received ; that he thought Todd and
Tiigg jealous of Logan, who, as senior colonel, would be entitied
to the command on his arrival; and that they, in their eagerness to
have the honor of the victory to themselves, were rashly throwing
themselves into a condition which would endanger the safety of
the country, ' However, sir,' said he, 'when I saw the gentlemen
eo keen for a fight, I gave way and joined in the pursuit as wil-

1782. CLARK'S SECOND EXPEDITION TO MIAMI. 397
lingly aa any, but when we came in sight of the enemy, and the
gentiemen began to talk of 'numbers,' 'position,' 'Logan,' and
< waiting,' I burst into a passion, cursed them for a set of cowards,
who would not be wise till they were scared into it, and swore that
since they had come so far for a fight, they should fight, or I would
disgrace them forever. That when I spoke of waiting for Logan
on the day before, they had scouted the idea, and hinted some
thing about ' courage,' that now it would be shown who had cour
age or who were cowards, that could talk big when the enemy were
at a distance, but turned pale when the danger was near, I then
dashed into the river, and called upon all who were not cowards to
follow."* The battie of the Blue Licks aroused the people of Kentucky to
the determination of inflicting a signal vengeance on thelndians;
and, at the request of the people. General Clark, who possessed
¦their entire confidence, took command of a mounted expedition
against the hostile towns on the Miami river. The brigade con
sisted of two divisions, one under Col, Logan, to rendezvous at
¦ Bryant's station ; the other under Col. Floyd, to rendezvous at the
falls. They were united at the Licking, and from thence Clark,
¦with a force of one thousand and fifty men, marched rapidly up
the Miami one hundred and thirty miles, before the Indians discov
ered their approach.
"We surprised," says Clarke, " the principal Shawanese town on
the evening of the lOth of November.f Immediately detaching
strong parties to different quarters, in a few hours two-thirds of the
town was laid in ashes, and every thing they were possessed of de
atroyed, except such articles as might be useful to the troops. The
enemy had no time to secrete any part of their property which was
in the town. The British trading post J at the head of the Miami,
and carrying place to the waters of the lake, shared the same fate,
at the hands of a party of one hundred and fifty horse, commanded
by Col. Benjamin Logan. The property destroyed was of great
amount, and the quantity of provisions burned surpassed all idea
we had of the Indian stores. The loss of the enemy was ten scalps,

¦* Life of Boone.
f There is some uncertainty in the date of this exped'ition. Other authorities usually
represent it as having taken place in September.
X Supposed to have been the trading post known as Loramie's store, on Loramie's creek
Shelby county, Ohio.

398 FRONTIERS OF PENNSYLVANIA HARASSED BY INDIANS, 1782,
seven prisoners, and two whites retaken ; ours was one killed and
one wounded. After lying part of four days at their towns, and
finding all attempts to bring the enemy to a general engagement
fruitless, we retired, as the season was advancing, and the weather
threatening. We might probably have got many more scalps and
prisoners, could we have known in time whether we were discov
ered or not. We took for granted that we were not, until getting
within three miles, some circumstances happened which caused
me to think otherwise. Col, John Floyd was then ordered to ad
vance with three hundred men, to bring on an action or attack the
town, while Major Wells, with a party of horse, had previously
been detached by a different route, as a party of observation. Al
though Col, Floyd's motions were so quick as to get to the town
but a few minutes later than those who discovered his approach,
the inhabitants had sufficient notice to effect their escape to the
woods, by the alarm cry which was given on the first discovery.
This was heard at a great distance, and repeated by all that heard
it, consequently our parties only fell in with the rear of the enemy,"
This expedition, though attended with little loss, practically
closed the Indian wars in the West, The principal resources of the
savages were cut off. Their towns were destroyed, and they were
convinced that the white settlementa could not be broken up. No
formidable invasion of Kentucky was afterward attempted. The
incursions of scalping parties ceased to harass the country, and the
people began to feel some security in their homes.
The frontiers of Pennsylvania suffered greatly during the same
year, from the hostility of the Indians, In the summer, an expe
dition of three hundred British soldiers, and five hundred Indians,
was sent from Canada to attack Fort Pitt, The detachment pro
ceeded to Lake Chatauque, and had actually embarked in canoes
to descend the Allegheny, when information of the strength and
repairs of that post was received, through their spies ; and, in con
sequence, the enterprise was abandoned, and the British returned
to Canada. Detached parties of the Indians were sent out, how
ever, to harass the settlements on the borders of Pennsylvania.
One of these, under the command of the famous Seneca chief,
Guyasutha, attacked and burned Hannastown, the seat of justice
for Westmoreland county. A detailed account of that inroad is
furnished in the Greensburg Argus, of 1836 :
" About three miles from Greensburg, on the old road to New
Alexandria, there stand two modern-buUt log tenements, to one of

1782. FRONTIERS OF PENNSYLVANIA HARASSED BY INDIANS. 399
which a sign-post and a sign is appended, gi-ving due notice that
at the Seven Yellow Stars, the wayfarer may partake of the good
things of tMa world. Between the tavern and the Indian gallows-
hill on the west, once stood Hannastown, the first place west of the
Allegheny mountains where justice was dispensed, according to
the legal forms, by the white man. -The county of Westmoreland
was established by the provincial legislature on the 26th of
February, 1773, and the courts directed to be held at Hannastown.
It consisted of about thirty habitations, some of them cabins, but
most of them aspiring to the name of houses, having two stories,
of hewed logs. There was a wooden court-house, and a jail of the
like construction. A fort, stockaded with logs, completed the civil
and military arrangements of the town. The firat prothonotary
and clerk of the courta was Arthur St. Clair, Esq., afterward gene
ral in the revolutionary army. Robert Hanna, Esq., was the first
presiding justice in the courts; and the first Court of Common
Pleas was held in April, 1773. Thomas Smith, Esq., afterward
one of the judges on the supreme bench, brought quarterly, from
the east, the most abstruse learning of the profession, to puzzle the
backwoods lawyers ; and it was here that Hugh Henty Brecken-
ridge, afterward also a judge on the supreme bench, made Ms
debut, in the profession which he afterward illustrated and adorned
by hia genius and learning. The road first opened to Fort Pitt, by
General Forbes and his army, passed through the town. The
periodical return of the court brought together a hardy, adven
turous, frank, and open-hearted set of men from the Redstone, the
Georges creek, the Youghiogheny, the Monongahela, and the Cat
fish settlements, aa well as from the region, still, in its cir
cumscribed limits, called ' Old Westmoreland.' It may well be
supposed that on such occasions there was manj' an uproarious
merry-making. Such men, when they occasionally met at courts,
met joyously. But the plough has long since gone over the place
of merry-making ; and no log or mound of earth remains to tell
where justice had her scales.
" On the 13th of July, 1782, a party of the townsfolk went to
O'Connor's fields, about a mile and a half north of the village, to
cut the harvest of Michael Huffhagle. The summer of 1782 was a
sorrowful one to the frontier inhabitants. The blood of many a
family had sprinkled their own fields. The frontier north-west of
the town was almost deserted ; the inhabitants had fled for safety
and repose toward the Sewickley settlement. At this vety time
there were a number of families at Miller's station, about two

400 HANNASTOWN DESTROYED. 1782.
miles south of the town. There waa, therefore, little impediment
to the Indiana, either by way of resistance, or even of giving warn
ing of their approach. When the reapers had cut down one field,
one of the number who had crossed to the side next to the woods,
returned in great alarm, and reported that he had seen a number
of Indians approaching. The whole reaping party ran for the
town, each one intent upon his own safety. The scene which then
presented itself may more readily be conceived than described.
Fathers seeking for their wives and children, and children calling
upon their parents and friends, and all hurrying in a state of con
sternation to the fort. Some criminals were confined in jail, the
doors of which were thrown open. After some time it was pro
posed that some person should reconnoiter, and relieve them from
uncertainty. Four young men, David Shaw, James Brison, and
two others, with their rifles, started on foot through the highlands,
between that and Crabtree creek, pursuing a direct course toward
O'Conner's fields; whilst Capt. J  >, who happened to be in the
town, pursued a more circuitous route on horseback.
"The captain was the first to arrive at the fields, and his eye
was not long in doubt, for the whole force of the savages was there
mustered. He turned his horse to fly, but was observed and
pursued. When he had proceeded a short distance, he met the
four on foot — told them to fly for their lives — ^that the savages
were coming in great force — that he would take a circuitous route
and alarm the settlements. He went to Love's, where Frederick
Beaver now lives, about a mile and a quarter east of the town,
and assisted the fiimily to fly, taking Mrs. Love on the horse
behind him. The four made all speed for the town, but the fore
most Indians obtained sight of them, and gave them hot pursuit.
By the time they had reached the Crabtree creek, they could hear
the distinct footfalls of their pursuei-s, and see the sunbeams glis
tening through the foliage of the trees upon their naked skins.
When, however, they got into the mouth of the ravine that led up
from the creek to the town, they felt almost secure. The Indians,
who knew nothing of the previous alarm given to the town, and
supposed that they would take it by surprise, did not fire, lest that
might give notice of their approach; this saved the lives of David
Shaw aud his companions. When they got to the top of the hill,
the atrong instinct of nature impelled Shaw to go first into the
town, and see whether his kindred had gone into the fort, before
he entered it himself. As he reached his father's threshold and
saw all within desolate, he turned and saw the savages, -with their

1782. HANNASTOWN DESTROYED. 401
tufts of hair flying in the wind, and their brandished tomahawks,
for they had emerged into the open space around the town, and
commenced the war-whoop. He resolved to make one of them
give his death halloo, and raising his rifle to his eye, his bullet
whizzed true, for the stout savage at whom he aimed bounded into
the air and fell upon his face. Then, with the speed of an arrow,
he fled to the fort, which he entered in safety. The Indians were
exasperated when they found the town deserted, and after pillaging
the houses, they set them on fire. Although a considerable part
of the town was within rifle range of the fort, the whites did but
little execution, being more intent on their own safety than solicit
ous about destroying the enemy. One savage, who had put on the
military coat of one of the inhabitants, paraded himself so osten
tatiously that he was shot down. Except this one, and the one
laid low by Shaw, there was no evidence of any other execution,
but some human bones found among the ashes of one of the houses,
where they, it was supposed, burnt those that were killed. There
were not more than fourteen or fifteen rifles in the fort ; and a
company having marched from the town some time before, in
Lochry's ill-fated campaign, many of the most efficient men were
absent; not more than twenty or twenty-five remained. A maiden.
Jennet Shaw, was killed in the fort; a child having run opposite
the gate, in which there were some apertures through which a
bullet from the Indians occasionally whistled, she followed it, and
as she stooped to pick it up, a bullet entered her bosom — she thua
fell a victim to her kindness of heart. The savages, with their
wild yells and hideous gesticulations, exulted as the fiames spread,
and looked like demoniacs rejoicing over the lost hopes of mortals.
" Soon after the arrival of the marauders, a large body of them
was obseiwed to break off, by what seemed concerted signals, and
march toward Miller's station. At that place there had been a
wedding the day before. Love is a delicate plant, but will take
root in the midst of perils in gentle bosoms. A young couple,
fugitives from the frontier, fell in love and were married. Among
those who visited the bridal festivity, were Mrs. H  , and her
two beautiful daughters, from the town. John Brownlee, who
then owned what is now the fine farm of Frederick J. Cope, and^his
family, were also there. This individual was well known in fron
tier forage and scouting parties. His courage, activity, generosity,
and manly form, won for him among his associates, as they win
evetywhere, confidence and attachment. Many of the Indians
were acquainted with his character, some of them probably bad

402 HANNASTOWN DESTROYED. 1782.
seen hia person. There were in addition to the manaion, a number
of cabins, rudely constructed, in which those families who had
been driven from their homes resided. The station was generally
called Miller's town. The bridal party were enjoying themselves
in the principal mansion, without the least shadow of approaching
danger. Some men were mowing in the meadow — people in the
cabins were variously occupied — when suddenly the war-whoop,
like a clap of thunder from a cloudless sky, broke upon their as
tonished ears. The people in the cabins and those in the meadow,
mostly made their escape. One incident always excites emotions
in my bosom when I have heard it related. Many who fled took
an east course, over the long steep hills which ascend toward
Peter George's farm. One man was carrying his child, and assist
ing his mother in the fiight, and when they got toward the top of
the hill, the mother exclaimed they would be murdered, that the
savages were gaining space upon them. The son and father put
down and abandoned his child that he might more effectually assist
his mother. Let those disposed to condemn, keep silence until
the same struggle of nature takes place in their own bosoms.
Perhaps he thought the savages would be more apt to spare the
innocence of infancy than the weakness of age. But most likely
it was the instinct of feeling, and even a brave man had hardly
time to think under such circumstances. At all events. Providence
seemed to smile on the act, for at the dawn of the next morning,
when the father returned to the cabin, he found his little innocent
curled upon his bed, sound asleep, the only human thing left
amidst the desolation. Let fathers appreciate his feelings : whether
the Indians had found the child and took compassion on it, and
carried it back, or whether the little creature had been unobserved,
and when it became tired of its solitude, had v/andered home
through brush and over briers, will never be known. The latter
supposition would seem most probable from being found in its own
cabin and on its own bed.
"At the principal mansion, the party were so agitated by the
cries of women aud children, mingling with the yell of the
savage, that all were for a moment irresolute, and that moment
sealed their fate. One young man of powerful frame grasped
a child near him, which happened to be Brownlee's, and effec
ted his escape. He was pursued by three or four savages. But
his strength enabled him to gain slightly upon his followers,
when he came to a rye field, and taking advantage of a thick copse,
which by a sudden turn intervened between him and them, he got

1782. INHABITANTS MADE PRISONERS. 403
on the fence and leaped far into the tye, where he lay down with
the child. He heard the quick tread of the savages as they passed,
and their slower steps as they returned, muttering their guttural
disappointment. That man lived to an honored old age, but is
now no more. Brownlee made his way to the door, having seized
a rifle ; he saw, however, that it was a desperate game, but made a
rush at some Indians who were entering the gate. The shrill clear
voice of his wife, exclaiming, 'Jack, will you leave me?' instantly
recalled him, and he sat down beside her at the door, yielding
himself a willing victim. The party were made prisoners, inclu
ding the bridegroom and bride, and several of the family of Miller.
At this point of time. Captain J  , was seen coming up the
lane in full gallop. The Indians were certain of their prey, and
the prisoners were dismayed at his rashness. Fortunately he
noticed the peril in which he was placed in time to save himself.
Eagerly bent upon giving warning to the people, his mind was so
engrossed with that idea, that he did not' see the enemy until he
was within full gun-shot. When he did see them, and turned to
fly, several bullets whistled by him, one of which cut his bridle
rein, but he eacaped. When those of the marauders who had
pursued the fugitives returned, and when they had safely secured
their prisoners and loaded them with plunder, they commenced
their retreat.
" Heavy were the hearts of the women and maidens as they were
led into captivity. Who can tell the bitterness of their sorrow ?
They looked, as they thought, for the last time upon the dear
fields of their country, and of civilized life. They thought of their
fathers, their husbands, their brothers, and, as their eyes streamed
with tears, the cruelty and uncertainty which hung over their fate
as prisoners of savages overwhelmed them in despair. They had
proceeded about halt-a-mile, and four or five Indians near the
group of prisoners in which was Brownlee, were observed to ex
change rapid sentences among each other and look earnestly at
him. Some of the prisoners had named him ; and, whether it was
from that circumstance or because some of the Indians had recog
nized his person, it was evident that he was a doomed man. He
stooped slightly to adjust his child on his back, which he carried
in addition to the luggage which they had put on him ; and, as he
did so, one of the Indians who had looked so earnestly at him
stepped to him hastily and buried a tomahawk in his head. When
he fell, the child was quickly dispatched by the same individual.
One of the women captives screamed at thia butchery, and the

404 INHABITANTS MADE PRISONERS. 1782.
same bloody instrument and ferocious hand immediately ended her
agony of spirit. God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb, and He
enabled Mrs. Brownlee to bear that scene in speechless agony of
woe. Their bodies were found the next day by the settlers, and in
terred where they fell. The spot is marked to this day in Mech-
ling'a field. As the shades of evening began to fall, the marauders
met again on the plains of Hannastown. They retired into the
low grounds about the Crabtree creek, and there regaled themselves
on what they had stolen. It was their intention to attack the fort
the next morning before the dawn of day.
" At nightfall thirty yeomen, good and true, had assembled at
George's farm, not far from Miller's, determined to give, that night,
what succor the}' could to the people in the fort. They set off for
the town, each with his trusty rifie, some on horseback and some
on foot. As soon as they came near the fort the greatest caution
and circumspection was observed. Experienced woodsmen soon
ascertained that the enemy was in the Crabtree bottom, and that
they might enter the fort. Accordingly, they all marched to the
gate, and were most joyfully welcomed by those within. After
some consultation, it was the general opinion that the Indians
inte'nded to make an attack the next morning; and, as there were
but about forty-five rifles in the fort, and about fifty-five or sixty
men, the contest was considered extremely doubtful, considering
the great superiority of numbers on the part of the savages. It
became, therefore, a matter of the first importance to impress the
enemy with a belief that large reinforcements were arriving. For
that purpose the horses were mounted by active men and broiight
full trot over the bridge of plank that was across the ditch which
surrounded the stockading. This was frequently repeated. Two
old drums were found in the fort, which were new braced, and
music on the fife and drum was kept occasionally going during the
night. While marching and counter-marching, the bridge was
frequently crossed on foot by the whole garrison. These measures
had the desired effect. The military music from the fort, the
trampling of the horses, and the marching over the bridge, were
borne on the silence of the night over the low lands of the Crabtree
and the sounds carried terror into the bosoms of the cowardly sav
ages. They feared the retribution which they deserved, and fled
ahortly after midnight in their stealthy and wolf-like habits. Three
hundred Indians, and about sixty white savages, in the shape of
refugees, (as they were then called,) crossed the Crabtree that day,
with the intention of destroying Hannastown and Miller's station.

1782. SECOND SIEGE OP FORT HENRY. 405
" The next day a number of the whites pursued the trail aa far
aa the Kiskiminetas, without being able to overtake them.
" The little community, which had now no homes but what the
fort supplied, looked out on the ruins of the town with the deepest
sorrow. It had been to them the scene of heartfelt jdys — embra
cing the intensity and tenderness of all which renders the domestic
hearth and family altar sacred. By degrees they all sought them
selves places where they might, like Noah's dove, find rest for the
soles of their feet. The lots of the town, either by sale or aban
donment, became merged in the adjoining farm ; and the labors of
the husbandman soon effaced what time might have spared. Many
a tall harvest have I seen growing upon the ground ; but never
did I look upon its waving luxuriance without thinking of the
severe trials, the patient fortitude, the high courage which charac
terized the early settlers."
The settlements " in Western Yirgiuia also suffered from the
inroads of the savages and their British allies. The expeditions of
Williamaon and Crawford ai-oused the fury of the Indians,, and in^
retaliation, their war parties ravaged the whole border along the
Ohio and Monongahela. Individuals and families, at exposed
points, were frequently surprised and massacred, under circum
stances of most revolting barbarity ; scalping parties were con
stantly prowling around the block houses, and the settlementa
were kept in conatant alarm.
On the llth of September, a force of three hundred British and
Indians, under the command of George Girty, appeared before
Fort Henty, then containing only twenty-seven men, of whom
eighteen only, it is said, were fit for service. Girty demanded an
immediate surrender of the fort, to which the inmates returned a
contemptuous answer, and defied him to do his worst. Soon after
dark the attack commenced, and the besiegers made a desperate
attempt to storm the fort; but they were kept at bay by a small
cannon, which had been taken out of the Monongahela after the
destruction of Fort Du Quesne. The contest lasted during the
whole night. Repeated eflbrts were made to fire the fort, but the
hemp and wood that were piled against it were wet, and could not
be made to burn. Once during the night a part of the decayed
stockade gave way and fell; but the incident was not noticed by
the Indians, and it was immediately repaired.
The attack was suapended at daybreak, and the British and

406 rice's FORT ASSAILED. 1782"
Indians retired beyond the reach of the guns of the fort.* On the
next night it was renewed, and maintained without intermission
during the whole night. About ten o'clock of the second day, the
Indian spies discovered the approach of a reinforcement of seventy
men, approaching for the relief of the garrison ; and the whole
force of British and Indians immediately crossed the river and
disappeared. Immediately afterward, a party of Indians invaded the settle
ments on Buffalo creek, and appeared before Rice's fort, then
containing only six men. The savages surrounded it, and
demanded its surrender ; but they were answered with defiance.
Soon after dark they commenced an attack, and set fire to some
out-buildings within thirty yards of the pickets. But the course
of the wind saved the fort, and the Indians finding they could
make no impression on it, gave up the attenlpt and left the place.
No other invasion of the Yirginia and Pennsylvania settlements
occurred; scalping parties, indeed, during the autumn, prowled
around the block houses on the borders ; the winter, as usual, was
passed in quiet, and the peace of the next year abated the preda-
toty war that had so long disturbed the frontier of those States.

* It was at this time that the "gunpowder exploit" occurred, according to Mrs.
Cruger's statement. See De Hass' Western Virginia, p. 270.

PERIOD IV.
1783—1789.
Provisional articles of peace between the United States of America
1783.] and Great Britain were signed at Paris, on the 30th Novem
ber, 1782. This was followed by an armistice, negotiated at
Yersailles, on the 20th of January, 1783, declaring a cessation of
hostilities; and finally a definitive treaty of peace was concluded at
Paris, on the 3d of September, 1783, and ratified by Congress on
the 14th of January, 1784. The war between the United States
and Great Britain was virtually closed by the aurrender of Lord
Cornwallia, at Yorktown, in Yirginia, on the 19th of October,
1781. By the aecond article of the definitive treaty of 1783, the
boundariea of the United Statea were defined and established as
follows: "From the north-west angle of Nova Scotia, viz: that angle
which is formed by a line drawn due north from the source of St.
Croix river to the Highlands; along the said Highlands which
divide those rivers that empty themselves into the river St. Law
rence from those which fall into the Atlantic o cean, to the north
westernmost head of Connecticut river, thence down along the
middle of that river to the forty-fifth degree of north latitude ;
from thence, by a line due west on said latitude, until it strikes the
river Iroquois or Cataraguy ; thence along the middle of said river
into Lake Ontario, through the middle of said lake until it strikes
the communication by water between that lake and Lake Erie;
thence along the middle of said communication into Lake Erie,
through the middle of aaid lake until it arrivea at the water com
munication between that lake and Lake Huron ; thence along the
middle of said water communication into the Lake Huron ; thence
through the middle of said lake to the water communication
between that lake and Lake Superior; thence through Lake Supe
rior northward of the isles Royal and Philipeaux, to the Long
Lake ; thence through the middle of the said Long Lake, and the
water communication between it and the Lake of the Woods, to
the said Lake of the Woods; thence through the said lake to the
moat north-weatern point thereof, and from thence on a due weat
course to the river Misaiasippi ; thence by a line to be drawn along

408 WASHINGTON'S PLAN FOR SETTLEMENTS. 1783.
the middle of the said river Mississippi until it shall intersect the
northernmost part of the thirty-first degree of north latitude.
South, by a line to be drawn due east from the determination of
the line last mentioned, in the latitude of thirty-one degrees north
of the equator, to the middle of the river Appalachicola or Cata-
houche; thence along the middle thereof to its junction with the
Flint river; thence straight to the head of St. Mary's river, and
thence down along the middle of St. Mary's river to the Atlantic
ocean. East, by a line to be drawn along the middle of the river
St. Croix, from its mouth, in the Bay of Fundy, to its source ; and
from its source, directly north, to the aforesaid Highlands, which
divide the rivers that fall into the Atlantic ocean from those which
fall into the river St. Lawrence : comprehending all islands within
twenty leagues of any part of the shores of the United States, and
lying between lines to be drawn due east from the points where
the aforesaid boundaries between Nova Scotia on the one part, and
East Florida on the other, shall respectively touch the Bay of Fundy
and the Atiantic ocean ; excepting such islands as now are, or
heretofore have been, within the limits of the said province of
Nova Scotia."
But the cessation of hostilities with England was not, necessarily,
the cessation of warfare with the native tribes; and while all hoped
that the horrors of the border contests in the West were at an end,
none competent to judge, failed to see the probability of a continued
and ¦violent struggle. Yirginia, at an early period, in October,
1779, had, by law, discouraged all settlements on the part of her
citizens, north-west of the Ohio ; * but the spirit of land speculation
was stronger than law, and the prospect of peace gave new energy
to that spirit; and how to throw open the immense region beyond
the mountains without driving the natives to desperation, was a
problem which engaged the ablest minds.
Washington, on the 7th of September, 1783, writing to James
Duane, in Congress, enlarged upon the difficulties which lay before
that body in relation to public lands. He pointed out the necessity
which existed for making the settlements compact, and proposed
that it should be, made even felony to settle or survey lands west of
a line to be designated by Congreaa, which line, he added, might
extend from the mouth of the Great Miami to Mad river, thence to

* ReTised, Statutes of Virginia, ii, 878.

1783. NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY CEDED TO UNITED STATES. ' 409
Fort Miami on the Maumee, and thence northward so as to include
Detroit; or, perhaps, from the Fort down the river to Lake Erie.
He noticed the propriety of excluding the Indian agents from all
share in the trade with the red men, and ahowed the wisdom of
forbidding all purchases of land from the Indians, except by the
sovereign power — Congreaa or the State Legislature, as the case
might be. Unlesa some such stringent measures were adopted, he
prophesied renewed border wars, which would end only after great
expenditure of money and of life.*
But before the Continental Congress could take any efficient
steps to secure the West, it was necessary that those measures of
cession which commenced in 1780-81, should be completed. New
York had, conditionally, given up her claims on the 1st of March,
1781,t and Congress had accepted her deed, but Yirginia had
required from the United States, a guarantee of the territories
retained by her, which they were not willing to give, and no
acceptance of her provision to cede had taken place. Under these
circumstances. Congress, on the 18th of April, again pressed the
necessity of cessions, and, on the 13th of September, six days after
Washington's letter above referred to, stated the terms upon which
they would receive the proposals of the Ancient Dominion. J To
these terms the Yirginians acceded, and, on the 20th of December,
authorized their delegates to make a deed to the United States of
all their right in the territory north-west of the river Ohio —
" Upon condition, that the territory so ceded shall be laid out and
formed into States, containing a suitable extent of territory, not
lesa than one hundred, nor more than one hundred and fifty miles
square, or as near thereto as circumstances will admit; and that the
States so formed shall be distinct republican States, and admitted
members of the Federal Union, having the same rights of sover
eignty, freedom and independence as the other States.
"That the reasonable and necessary expenses incurred by this
State in subduing any British posts, or in maintaining forts and
garrisons ¦within, and for the defense, or in acquiring any part of
the territory so ceded or relinquished, shall be fully reimbursed by
the United States, and that one Commissioner shall be appointed
by Congress, one by this Commonwealth, and another by those two
Commissioners, who, or a majority of them, shall be authorized and
empowered to adjust and liquidate the account of the necessary and

* Spark's Washington, viii. 477. f ^^^^ liay^s, 95. % Old Journals, iv. 189-267.
27

410 VIRGINIA GIVES DEED OF CESSION. 1784.
reasonable expenses incurred by this State, which they shall judge
to be comprised within the intent and meaning of the act of Con
gress of the tenth of October, one thousand seven hundred and
eighty, respecting such expenses.
" That the French and Canadian inhabitanta, and other settlers
of the Kaskaskies, St. Yincents, and the neighboring villages, who
have professed themselves citizena of Yirginia, shall have their
possessions and titles confirmed to them, and be protected in the
enjoyment of their rights and liberties.
"That a quantity not exceeding one hundred and fifty thousand
acres of land, promised by this State, shall be allowed and granted
to the then Colonel, now General George Rogers Clark, and to the
officers and soldiers of his regiment, who marched with him when
the posts of Kaakaskies and St. Yincents were reduced, and to the
officers and soldiers that have since been incorporated into the said
regiment to be laid off in one tract, the length of which not to
exceed double the breadth, in such place, on the north-west side of
the Ohio, as a majority of the officers shall choose, and to be after
ward divided among the said officers and soldiers in due propor
tion, according to the laws of Yirginia.
"That in case the quantity of good land on the south-east side
of the Ohio, upon the waters of the Cumberland river, and between
the Green river and- Tennessee river, which have been reserved by
law for the Yirginia troops upon continental establishment, should,
from the North Carolina line, bearing in further upon the Cumber
land lands than was expected, prove insufficient for their legal
bounties, the deficiency should be made up to the said troops in
good lands, to be laid off between the rivers Scioto and Littie
Miami, on the north-west side of the river Ohio, in such propor
tions as have been engaged them by the laws of Yirginia.
"That all the lands within the territory so ceded to the United
States, and not reserved for, or appropriated to, any of the before
mentioned purposes, or disposed of in bounties to the officers and
soldiers of the American army, shall be considered a common fund
for the use and benefit of such of the United States as have become,
or shall become members of the confederation or federal alliance
of the said States, Yirginia inclusive, according to their usual
respective proportions in the general charge and expenditure, and
shall be faithfully and bona fide disposed of for that purpose, and
for no other use or purpose whatsoever."
And, in agreement with these conditions, a deed was made March
1, 1784. But it was not possible to wait the final action of Yirginia,

1784. INSTRUCTIONS TO INDIAN COMMISSIONERS. 411
before taking some steps to soothe the Indians, and extinguish their
title. On the 22d of September, therefore, Congress forbade all
purchases of, or settlements on Indian lands,* and on the 15th
of October, the Commissioners to treat with the natives were
instructed —
To require the delivery of all prisoners :
To inform the Indians of the boundaries between the British
possessions and the United States :
To dwell upon the fact that the red men had not been faithful to
their agreements :
To negotiate for all the land east of the line proposed by Wash
ington, namely, from the mouth of the Great Miami to Mad river,
thence to Fort Miami on the Maumee, and thence down the Mau
mee to the Lake:
To hold, if possible, one convention with all the tribes :
To learn all they could respecting the French of Kaskaskia, &c.
To confirm no grants by the natives to individuals; and.
To look after American stragglers beyond the Ohio, to signify
the displeasure of Congress at the invasion of the Indian lands, and
the western boundary line being made to run due north from the
lowest point of the Falls of the Ohio to the northern limits of the
to prevent all further intrusions.
Upon the 19th of the following March, these instructions were
changed, at the suggestion of a committee headed by Mr. Jefferson ;
United States, and the Commissioners being told to treat with the
nations at various places and different times.
Meanwhile, steps had been taken by the Americans to obtain
possession of Detroit and the other western posts, but in vain. On
the 12th of July, Washington sent Baron Steuben to Canada, for
that purpose, ¦with orders, if he found it advisable, to embody the
French of Michigan into a militia, and place the fort at Detroit in
their hands. But when the Baron presented himself near Quebec,
General Haldimand, while he received him very politely, refused
the necessaty passports, saying that he had received no orders to
deliver up the posts along the Lakes. This measure failing,
Cassaty, a native of Detroit, was sent thither in August to learn the
feelings of the people, and to do what he might to make the
American aide popular.

* Old Journals, iv. 275.

412 LAND GRANTED CLARK AND ASSOCIATES. 1783.
About the same time, Yirginia, having no longer any occasion
for a western army, and being sadly pressed for money, withdrew
her commission from George Rogers Clark, with thanks, however,
"for his very great and singular services."
His dismission was dated on the 2d of July, 1783, and Benjamin
Harrison, the Governor of Yirginia, wrote to General Clark a letter
which contains the following extract :
" The conclusion of the war, and the distressed situation of the
State, with respect to its finances, call on us to adopt the most
prudent economy. It is for this reason alone, I have come to a
determination to give over all thoughts for the present of carrying
on offensive war against the Indians, which you ¦will easily perceive
will render the services of a general officer in that quarter unneces-
saty, and will, therefore, consider yourself out of command.
"But, before I take leave of you, I feel myself called upon, in the
most forcible manner, to return you my thanks, and those of my
council, for the very great and singular services you have rendered
your country, in wresting so great and valuable a territory out of
the hands of the British enemy, repelling the attacks of their
savage allies, and carrying on successful war in the heart of their
countty. This tribute of praise and thanks, so justly due, I am
happy to communicate to you as the united voice of the execu
tive." In October of the same year, the legislature of Yirginia made a
donation to General Clark, and to the soldiers that had served
under him in the conquest of Illinois, of one hundred and fifty
thousand acres of land north of the Ohio, to be located where they
might choose. They chose the lands on the north side of the Ohio,
and accordingly an act was passed "to establish the town of Clarks-
ville, at the falls of the Ohio, in the county of Illinois." A
board of trustees was created by the act, in whom the title of the
town site was vested in trust. They were directed to sell lots of
half an acre each at public auction, subject to the condition that
the purchasers should build upon each of them a dwelling-house,
"twenty feet by eighteen, with a brick or stone chimney," within
three years from the day of sale. The trustees located the town
immediately at the foot of the falls ; ita position at the head of
navigation for keel-boats on the lower part of the Ohio, was sup
posed to have given it great advantages for a commercial town,
and it was for a long time regarded as the rival of Louisville. But
the want of enterprise among its early citizens, combined with
other causes, long aince divested it of ita seeming importance, and
it has sunk into insignificance.

1784. TREATY OF PEACE RATIFIED BY UNITED STATES. 413
While these various steps, bearing upon the interest of the whole
West, were taken by Congress, Washington and the Assembly of
Yirginia, Kentucky herself was organizing upon a new basis —
Yirginia ha^ving united the three counties, with their separate
courts, into one district, having a court of common law and chan
cery for the whole territory that now forms the State, and to this
district restored the name, Kentucky. The sessions of the court
thua organized resulted in the foundation of Danville, whigh in
conaequence for a season became the centre and capital of the
District.It might have been reasonably hoped that peace with the mother
1784.] countty would have led to comparative prosperity within
the newly formed nation. But such was not the case. Congress
had no power to compel the States to fulfill the provisions of the
treaty which had been concluded, and Britain was not willing to
comply on her side with all its terms, until evidence was given by
the other party that no infraction of them was to be feared from
the rashness of democratic leaders. Among the provisions of that
treaty were the follo^wing :
"It is agreed that creditors on either aide shall meet with no
lawful impediment to the recovery of the full value, in sterling
money, of all bona fide debta heretofore contracted.
"It is agreed that the Congress shall earnestly recommend it to
the Legialaturea of the reapective Statea, to provide for the reatitu-
tion of all estates, rights, and properties, which have been confis
cated, belonging to real British subjects, and also of the estates,
rights, and properties of persons resident in districts in the
possession of his Majesty's arms, and who have not borne arms
against the said United States. And that persons of any other
description shall have free liberty to go to any part of the thirteen
United States, and therein to remain twelve months, unmolested
in their endeavors to obtain the restitution of auch of their estatea,
righta and properties, as may have been confiscated ; and that Con
gress shall also earnestly recommend to the several States a recon
sideration and revision of all acts or laws regarding the premises,
so as to render the said laws or acts perfectly consistent, not only
with justice and equity, but with that spirit of conciliation which,
on the return of the blessings of peace, should universally prevail.
And that Congress shall also earnestiy recommend to the several
States, that the estates, rights and properties, of such last men
tioned persons, shall be restored to them, they refunding to any

414 PROVISIONS OF THE TREATY. 1784.
persona who may now be in poasesaion, the bona fide price (where
any has been given) which such persons may have paid on purcha
sing any of the said lands, rights or properties, since the confisca
tion. And it is agreed that all persons who have any interest in
confiscated lands, either by debts, marriage settlements, or other
wise, shall meet with no lawful impediment in the prosecution of
their just rights.
" That there shall be no future confiscations made, nor any prose
cutions commenced against any person or persons for, or by reason of,
the part which he or they may have taken in the present war ; and
that no person shall, on- that account, suffer any future loss or dam
age, either in his person, liberty, or property ; and that those who
may be in confinement on such charges, at the time of the ratifica
tion of the treaty in America, shall be immediately set at liberty,
and the prosecutions so commenced be discontinued.
"There shall be a firm and perpetual peace between his Britan
nic Majesty and the said States, and between the subjects of the
one and the citizens of the other, wherefore, all hostilities, both by
sea and land, shall from henceforth cease : all prisoners, on both
sides, shall be set at liberty; and his Britannic Majesty shall, with
all convenient speed, and without causing any destruction, or car
rying away any negroes or other property of the American inhabi
tants, withdraw all his armies, garrisons, and fleets, from the said
United States, and from every post, place, and harbor, within the
same ; leaving in all fortifications the American artillery that may
be therein; and shall also order and cause all archives, records,
deeds, and papers, belonging to any of the said States, or their citi
zens, which, in the course of the war, may have fallen into the
hands of his officers, to be forthwith restored and delivered to the
proper States and persons to whom they belong."
That these stipulations were wise and just, none, perhaps,
doubted ; but they opened a door for disputes, out of which imme
diately those disagreements between England and America arose,
which for so long a time kept alive the hopes and enmities of the
Indians, contending, as they were, for their native lands and the
burial places of their fathers. The origin of the difficulty was an
alleged infraction of the provisional treaty, signed November 30th,
1782, on the part of the British, who showed an intention to take
away with them from New York, certain negroes claimed as the
"property of the American inhabitants," none of which, by the
terms both of that and the definitive treaty, were to be removed.
Against this intention, Washington had remonstrated, and Con-

1785. NORTHERN POSTS RETAINED BY BRITISH. 415
gress resolved in vain : in reply to all remonstrances, it was said
that the slaves were either booty taken in war, and as such, by
the laws of war, belonged to the captors, and could not come
within the meaning of the treaty ; or, were freemen, and could not
be enslaved. It was undoubtedly true in regard to many of the
negroes, that they were taken in war, and as such, if property at
all, the booty of the captors ; but it was equally certain that another
portion of them consisted of runaways, and by the terma of the
treaty, as the Americans interpreted it, should have been restored
or paid for.
It was in April, 1783, that the purposes of England, in relation
to the negroes became apparent; in May, the commander-in-chief
and Congress tried, ineffectually, to bring about a different course
of action. Upon the 3d of September, the definitive treaty was
signed at Paris ; on the 25th of November, the British left New
York, carrying the negroes claimed by the Americans ¦with them ;
while upon the 4th of the following January, 1784, the treaty
was ratified by the United States, and on the 9th of April by
England. Under these circumstances, Yirginia and several other States
saw fit to decline compliance with the article respecting the
recovery of debts ; refused to repeal the laws pre^vioualy existing
against British creditors ; and upon the 22d of next June, after the
ratification of peace by both parties, the Old Dominion expressly
declined to fulfill the treaty in its completeness. This refusal, or
neglect, which was equivalent to a refusal, on the part of the
States to abide strictly by the treaty, caused England, on the other
hand, to retain possession of the western posts, and threatened to
involve the two countries again in open warfare.
The inerits of the controversy are thus aet. forth in the correa-
pondence of Mr. Adams, then minister at London, with Lord
Carmarthen, the English Secretary of State.
In a communication addressed to Carmarthen, on the 8th of
December, 1785, Mr. Adams says :
"Although a period of three years has elapsed since the signa
ture of the preliminary treaty, and of more than two years since
that of the definitive treaty, the posts of Oswegatchy, Oswego,
^Niagara, Presqu' Isle, Sandusky, Detroit, Michilimackinack, with
others not necessary to be particularly enumerated, and a consid
erable territory, round each of them, all within the incontestible
limits of the United States, are still held by British garrisons, to
the losa and injury of the United States. The subscriber, therefore.

416 ADAMS NEGOTIATES FOR SURRENDER OF THE POSTS. 1786.
in the name and behalf of the said United States, and in obedience
to their express commands, has the honor to require of his Britan
nic Majesty's Ministry, that all his Majesty's armies and garrisons
be forthwith withdrawn from the United Statea, from all and evety
of the poats and fortresses herein before enumerated, and from
evety other poat, place, and harbor within the territory of the
United States, according to the true intention of the treatiea afore-
aaid." On the 28th of February, 1786, Lord Carmarthen, in an answer
to Mr. Adams, said :
" I have to observe to you, sir, that it ia his Majesty'a fixed
determination, upon the present as well as evety other occasion, to
act in perfect conformity to the strictest principles of justice and
good faith. The seventh article both of the provisional and of the
definitive treaties between his Majesty and the United States
clearly stipulates the withdrawing, with all convenient speed, his
Majesty's armies, garrisons, and fleets, from the said United States,
and from every post, place, and harbor ¦within the same ; and no
doubt can possibly arise respecting either the letter or spirit of
such an engagement. The fourth article of the same treaties as
clearly stipulates, that creditors on either side shall meet with no
lawful impediment to the recovery of the full value, in aterling
money, of all bona fide debts heretofore contracted.
" The little attention paid to the fulfilling this engagement on
the part of the subjects of the United States in general, and the
direct breach of it in many particular instances, have already redu
ced many of the King's subjects to the utmost degree of difficulty
and distress ; nor have their applications for redress, to those whose
situations in America naturally pointed them out as the guardians
of the public faith, been as yet successful in obtaining them that
justice, to which, on every principle of law as well as of humanity,
they were clearly and indisputably entitled. The engagements
entered into by treaty ought to be mutual and equally binding on
the respective contracting parties. It would, therefore, be the
height of folly as well as injustice, to suppose one party alone
obliged to a strict observance of the public faith, while the other
might remain free to deviate from its own engagements, as often
as convenience might render such deviation necessary, though at
the expense of its own national credit and importance. I fiatter
myself, however, sir, that justice will speedily be done to British
creditors ; and, I can assure you, sir, that whenever America shall
manifest a real determination to fulfill her part of the treaty. Great

1786. ENGLAND CONTINUES OBSTINATE. 417
Britain will not hesitate to prove her sincerity to co-operate in
whatever points depend upon her for carrying every article of it
into real and complete effect."
In the answer from Lord Carmarthen to Mr Adama, the govern
ment of the United Statea saw the ostensible grounds on which
Great Britain continued to keep possession of the important
militaty and trading posts at Niagara, Detroit, and Michilimacki
nack. There were other considerations, however, which, at this
period, influenced in no slight degree, the policy of the British
Ministty, The fur trade, a very profitable branch of commerce,
was carried on almost exclusively by Englishmen and Canadians,
who were subjects of Great Britain, and who, by intermarriages
with squaws, and a pacific course of trade, had acquired considerable
infiuence over all the Indian tribes of the country north-west of the
Ohio, These advantages were too well understood, and too highly
appreciated, by Great Britain, to be given up by that government
while it could show either a good reason or a plausible pretext for
retaining them ; and, of course, the British Cabinet ¦viewed with
feelings of disapprobation and jealousy, the efforta of the govern
ment of the United Statea to aubjugatethe Indian tribes and to lay
the foundations of independent states in the vast territories on the
north-western side of the river Ohio. Such were the views and
- sentiments of the British Ministers in 1791, when Governor St.
Clair was collecting an army at Fort Washington, for the purpose
of establishing a strong militaty post at the Miami village, in the
midst of various tribes of Indians who were nominally under the
protection of Great Britain,*
The political condition of Kentucky was a source of great incon
venience to its people. During the war, they had been compelled
to defend themselves against the continual incursions of the
savages, without any adequate aid from the parent state. In con
sequence, the whole male population had become a citizen soldiery,
and the neceaaitiea of their situation supplied to them the lack of
an adequate civil and military organization. But on the return of
peace, the extension of the law of Yirginia, without any legislation
suited to their peculiar circumstances, exposed them to many
inconveniences, and produced much delay, and even injustice, in
the administration of civil affairs.

* Dillon's Indiana, p. 297.

418 SURVEY OF MILITARY LANDS, 1784,
In the fall of 1784, these inconveniences were severely felt. A
report was circulated that the Cherokees were about to attack the
settlements in Kentucky, and the people were greatly alarmed for
their safety. Col. Logan attempted to raise a force for the defense
of the country, but on examination it waa discovered that there
were no military laws in force within the district. Under these
circumstances, it was determined to invite a meeting of repre
sentatives from all the settlements, to take whatever measures
were deemed expedient for the defense of the country. The
meeting assembled at Danville, and adopted a circular address to
each militia company in the district, recommending the election of
delegates from each company, to meel at Danville on the 27th of
December, to " discuss more fully the measures necessaty to be
adopted for their relief.
Twenty-five delegates appeared in the convention. There was a
great diversity in their opinions. Some of them believed that it
was only necessaty to apply for suitable, legislative aid from the
State of Yirginia; it was urged by others, that the great distance
from the State capital was an insuperable difficulty in the way of
their connection with the parent State, and that the evils that were
felt could only be removed by a separation from it, and an admis
sion as an independent State into the Union. The latter opinion
prevailed ; the convention adopted a resolution expressing its
opinion "in favor of applying for an act to render Kentucky
independent of Yirginia," and adjourned after a session of two
days.* The survey and location of the military lands in Kentucky, under
the laws of Yirginia, were commenced in the same year. The
number of soldiers in the Yirginia continental line was eleven
hundred and twenty-four. To these, as provided in the terms of
ceaaion, was allotted a tract of land within the district of Kentucky,
estimated at two millions five hundred thousand acres ; and to the
State line, a tract estimated at three millions five hundred thousand
acres. To both these lines was guaranteed the privilege of locating
lands on the north side of the Ohio, between the Miami and Scioto
rivers, when the good lands within the district assigned them were
exhausted. Richard C. Anderson was chosen surveyor by the
continental line, opened his office at Louisville on the 20th of July,

* Marshall's Kentucky, i. 190.

1784. FIRST STORE AT LOUISVILLE, 419
and the first entry of lands in behalf of the line, south of the Ohio,
was made on the first of August, 1784 The first entry north of
the Ohio was made on the first of August, 1787,*
The return of peace invited emigration, and the posts and settle
ments that were maintained throughout the war in Western Penn
sylvania, Western Yirginia, and Kentucky, now received a large
increase of population.
The population of all the settiements of Kentucky in 1783, was
about twelve thousand.f The suspension of Indian hostilities, and
the inviting character of the soil and climate, attracted a great num
ber of settlers from the Atlantic states, and especially from Yirginia ;
and in the spring of 1784, its population had increased to more
than twenty thousand. The principal settlements were on Ken
tucky river, on the sources of Salt river, on the tributaries of the
Licking, and at the falls of the Ohio. They were divided into three
counties — Jefferson on the west, Lincon on the south, and Fayette
on the north — united together under the laws of Yirginia, into one
judicial district, known as the district of Kentucky, Many new
settlements were made by the emigrants, and the population of the
stations, now changed into agricultural communities, was largely
increased. In 1784, the population of the district was further increased by
emigrants from Yirginia and North Carolina, to thirty thousand,
and the district began to assume the character of a prosperous com
munity. Agriculture began to flourish ; schools and churches were
established ; and a trade ¦with the Atlantic states was opened.
In the spring of the preceding year, merchandise from Phila
delphia and Baltimore was first transported in wagons across the
mountains, by way of Ligonier and Cumberland, to Redstone and
Pittsburgh, and thence shipped in flat boats to Daniel Brodhead,
at Louisville, who immediately opened a store at that point. In
1784, another was opened by James Wilkinson, at Lexington, At
that period, Louisville contained, it is said, sixty-three houses
finished, thirty-seven partly finished, twenty-two raised, but not
covered, and more than one hundred cabins,
Pittsburgh was, at that period, the principal town in the West.
In 1764, immediately after the close of the Indian war. Col. Camp-

* American State Papers, xTi. 7. t Monette, ii. 143.

420 SECOND SURVEY OF PITTSBURGH. 1784.
bell laid out a town consisting of four squares, outside of the walls
of Fort Pitt, to which he gave the name of Pittsburgh. The treaty
with the Six Nations in 1768, conveyed to the proprietaries of
Pennsylvania, all the lands east of the Allegheny, below Kittan
ning, and all the country south of the Ohio, within the limits of
Penn's charter. Accordingly, early in 1769, the manor of Pitts
burgh, consisting of five thousand seven hundred and sixty-six
acres, was surveyed and withdrawn from market for the private
property of the Penn family. When Washington visited it in 1770,
he described it as a town of about twenty log houses, on the
Monongahela, about three hundred yards from the fort. At the
revolution, the Penns adhered to the royal cause, and in conse
quence, all their proprietary right in Pennsylvania, except such
manors as had been surveyed and returned to the land.office before
the Declaration of Independence, were confiscated to the Common
wealth. The manor of Pittsburgh was one of these, and thus
remained in the possession of the family. In the spring of 1784,
arrangements were made by Tench Francis, the agent of the
Penns, to lay out the manor in lots, in order to offer it for sale.
George Wood and Thomas Yickroy were employed to make the sur
vey. The lots were then offered for sale, were readily purchased, and
a village immediately sprung up. In the same year it was visited
and described by Arthur Lee, who was then on his way to the
treaty at Fort Mcintosh. To him, it seems to have presented a
very unpromising appearance, and he expresses his belief^" that
the place will never be very considerable." He, however, over
looked the fact, even at that day marked by more acute observers)
that its location, climate, scenery and surroundings, would in after
days make it a city of great importance and of great wealth.
In the spring of 1781, H. H. Brackenridge, Esq., afterward a
distinguished member of the bar in Western Pennsylvania, and
subsequently a judge of the Supreme Court of that State, emigrated
from Philadelphia and located himself in Pittsburgh.
In 1786, John Scull and Joseph Hall embarked all their means in
the establishment of a newspaper at that point; and on the 29th of
July, the first number of the Pittsburgh Gazette, the first paper estab-
, lished west of the mountains, was issued. In that number, an article
was published from the pen of Mr. Brackenridge, "on the situation
of the town of Pittsburgh, and the state of society at that place." *

* Craig's History of Pittsburgh, p. 190.

1786. brackenridge's sketch of Pittsburgh. 421
"The Allegheny river running from the north-east, and the Mo
nongahela from the south-west, meet at the angle of about thirty-
three degrees, and form the Ohio. This is said to signify, in some
of the Indian languagesf-bloody ; so that the Ohio river may be
translated the River of Blood. The French have called it La
Belle Riviere, that is, the Beautiful or Fair River, but this is not
intended by them as having any relation to the name Ohio.
" It may*have received the name Ohio about the beginning of
the present century, when the Six Nations made war upon their
fellow savages in these territories, and subjected several tribes.
"The word Monongahela is aaid to aignify, in some of the Indian
languages, the Falling-in-Banks, that is, the stream of the Falling-
in, or Mouldering Banks.
"At the distance of about four or five hundred yards from the head
of the OMo, is a small island, lying to the north-west side of the river,
at the distance of seventy yards from the shore. It is covered with
wood, and at the lowest part is a lofty hill, famous for the number
of wild turkeys which inhabit it. The island is not mOre in length
than one-quarter of a mile, and in breadth about one hundred yards.
A small space on the upper end is cleared and overgrown with
grass. The savages had cleared it during the late war, a party of
them attached to the United States having placed their wigwams
and raised corn there. The Ohio, atthe distance of about one mile
from its source, winds, round the lower end of the island, and dis
appears. I call the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela
the source of the Ohio.
" It is pleasant to observe the conflict of these two waters where
they meet: when of an equal height the contest is equal, and a
small rippling appears from the point of land at their junction to
the distance of about five hundred yards. When the Allegheny-
is master, as the term is, the current keeps its course a great way
into the Monongahela, before it is overcome and falls into the bed
of the Ohio. The Monongahela, in like manner having the mas
tery, bears away the Allegheny, and with its muddy waters dis
colors the crystal current of that river. This happens frequently,
inasmuch as these two rivers, coming from different climates of
the country, are seldom swollen at the same time. The flood of
the Allegheny rises perhaps the highest. I have observed it to
have been at least thirty feet above the level, by the impression of
the ice on the branches of trees which overhang the river, and had
been cut at the breaking up of the winter, when the snow and

422 brackenridge's sketch of Pittsburgh. 1786.
frost, melting toward the north-east, throw themselves down with
amazing rapidity and violence in a mighty deluge. The current
of the Allegheny is in general more rapid than that of the Monon
gahela, and though not broader or of greater depth, yet, from this
circumstance throws forward a greater quantity of water- in the
same space of time. In this river, at the distance of about a mile
above the town of Pittsburgh, is a beautiful little island, whichj if
there are river gods and nymphs, they may be supposed to haunt.
At the upper end of the island, and toward the western shore, is a
small ripple, as it is called, where the water, bubbling as if it
sprung from the pebbles of a fountain, gives ¦vivacity and an air of
cheerfulness to the scene.
" The fish of the Allegheny are harder and firmer than those of
the Monongahela or Ohio, owing, as is supposed, to the greater
coldness and purity of the water. The fish in general of those
rivers are good. They are, the pike, weighing frequently fifteen
or twenty pounds ; the perch, much larger than any I have ever
seen in the bay of Chesapeake, which is the only tide from whence
I have ever seen perch ; there is also the sturgeon, and many other
kinds of fish.
" It is a high amusement to those who are fond of fishing, to
angle in those waters, more eapecially at the time of a gentle flood,
when the frequent nibbles of the large and small fishes entertain
the expectation, and sometimes gratify it by a bite ; and when those
of the larger size are taken, it is necessaty to play them a consider
able time before it can be judged safe to draw them in. I have
seen a canoe half loaded in a morning by some of those most
expert in the employment, but you will see in a spring evening the
banka of the rivers lined with men fishing at intervals from one
another. This, with the streams gently gliding, the woods, at a
distance, green, and the shadows lengthening toward the town,
forms a delightful scene. Fond of the water, I have been some
times highly pleased in going with a select party, in a small barge,
up or down the rivers, and landing at a cool spring, to enjoy the
verdant turf, amidst the shady bowers of ash-wood, sugar-tree, or
oak, planted by the hand of nature, not art.
"It may be said by some who will read this description which I
have given, or may be about to give, that it is minute and useless,
inasmuch as they are observations of things well known. But let
it be considered, that it is not intended for the people of this coun
try, but for those at a distance, who may not yet be acquainted ¦with

1786. brackenridge's sketch of Pittsburgh. 423
the natural situation of the town of Pittsburgh, or having heard of
it, may wish to be more particularly informed. Who knows what
families of fortune it may induce to emigrate to this place ?
" There is a rock known by the name of M'Kee's rock, at the
distance of about three miles below the head of the Ohio. It is
the end of a promontory, where the river bends to the north-west,
and where, by the rushing of the floods, the earth has been cut
away during several ages, so that now the huge overhanging rocks
appear, hollowed beneath, so as to form a dome of majesty and
grandeur, near one hundred feet in height. Here are the names of
French and British officers engraved, who in former times, in par
ties of pleasure, had visited this place. The town of Pittsburgh, at
the head of the Ohio, is scarcely visible from hence, by means of an
intervening island, the lower end of which is nearly opposite the
rocks. Just below them, at the bending of the river, is a deep eddy
water, wMch has been sounded by a line of thirty fathoms, and no
bottom found. Above them is a beautiful extent of bottom, contain
ing five or six hundred acres, and the ground rising to the inland coun
try with an easy ascent, so as to form an extensive landscape. As
you ascend the river from these rocks, to the town of Pittsburgh,
you pass by on your right hand the mouth of a brook known by
the name of the Saw-mill run. This empties itself about half a
mile below the to^wn, and is overlooked by a building on its banks,
on the point of a hill which fronts the east, and is first struck by the
beam of the rising sun. At a small distance from its mouth is a
saw-mill, about twenty perches below the situation of an old mill
built by the British, the remains of some parts of which are yet
seen. "At the head of the Ohio stands the town of Pittsburgh, on an
angular piece of ground, the two rivers forming the two sides of
the angle. Just at the point stood, when I first came to this coun
try, a tree, leaning against which I have often overlooked the wave,
or committing my garments to its shade, have bathed in the trans
parent tide. How have I regretted its undeserved fate, when the
early winter fiood tore it from the roots, and left the bank bare.
"On this point stood the old French fort known by the name of
Fort Du Quesne, which was evacuated and blown up by the French
in the campaign of the British under Gen. Forbes. The appear
ance of the ditch and mound, with the salient angles and bastions
atill remains, so as to prevent that perfect level of the ground which
otherwise would exist. It has been long overgrown with the finest

424 brackenridge's sketch of Pittsburgh. 1786,
verdure, and depastured on by cattle ; but since the town has been
laid out it has been enclosed, and buildings are erected,
"Just above these works is the present garrison, built by Gen.
Stanwix, and is said to have cost the crown of Britain £60,000. Be
that as it may, it has been a work of great labor and of littleuse —
for, situated on a plain, it is commanded by heights and rising
grounds on every side, and some at less than the distance of a mile.
The fortification is regular, constructed according to the rules of
art, and about three years ago put into good repair by Gen. Irwin,
who commanded at this post. It has the advantage of an excellent
magazine, built of stone ; but the time is come, and it is hoped will
not again return, when the use of this garrison is at an end. There
is a line of posts below it on the Ohio river, to the distance of three
hundred miles. The savages come to this place for trade, not for
war, and any future contest that we may have with them, will be
on the heads of the more northern rivers that fall into the
Mississippi. " The bank of the Allegheny river, on the north-west side of the
town of Pittsburgh, is planted with an orchard of apple trees, ¦with
some pear trees intermixed. These were brought, it is said, and
planted by a British officer, who commanded at this place early
on the first occupation of it by the crown of England. He has
deserved the thanks of those who have since enjoyed it, as the
fruit is excellent, and the trees bear in abundance every year.
Near the garrison on the Allegheny bank, were formerly what
were called the king's artillery gardens, delightful spots, cultivated
highly to usefulness and pleasure, the soil favoring the growth of
plants and fiowers, equal with any on the globe. Over this ground
the ancient herbs and plants springing up underneath the foot, it is
delightful still to walk, covered with the orchard shade.
" On the margin of this river once stood a row of houses, ele
gant and neat, and not unworthy of the European taste, but they
have been swept away in the course of time, some for the purpose
of forming an opening to the river from the garrison, that the
artillery might incommode the enemy approaching and deprived of
shelter ; some torn away by the fury of the rising river, indignant
of too near a pressure on its banks. These buildings were the
receptacles of the ancient Indian trade, which, coming from the
westward, centred in thia quarter: but of these buildings, like
decayed monuments of grandeur, no trace remains. Those who,
twenty years ago, saw them flourish, can only say, here they
stood.

1786. brackenridge's sketch of Pittsburgh. 425
" From the verdant walk on the margin of this beautiful river,
you have a view of an island about a mile above, round which the
river twines with a resplendent brightness; gliding on the eastern
bank, it would wish to keep a straight direction, once supposed to
be its course: but thrown beneath, it modestly submits, and falls
toward the town. When the poet .comes with his enchanting song
to pour his magic numbers on this scene, this little island may
aspire to live with those in the ^gean sea, where the song of
Homer drew the image of delight, or where the Cam or Isis, em
bracing in their bosoms gems like these, are sung by Milton, father
of the modern bards.
" On the west side of the Allegheny river, and opposite the
orchard, is a level of three thousand acres, reserved by the state to
be laid out in lots for the purpose of a town. A small stream, at
right angles to the river, passes through it. On this ground it is
supposed a town may stand; but on all hands it is excluded from
the praise of being a situation so convenient as on the side of the
river where the present town is placed ; yet it is a most delightful
grove of oak, cheriy and walnut trees : but we return and take a
view of the Monongahela, on the southern side of the town.
" This bank is closely set with buildings, for the distance of near
half a mile, and behind this range the town chiefly lies, falling back
on the plains between the two rivers. To the eastward is Grant's
hill, a beautiful rising ground, discovering marks of ancient culti
vation ; the forests having long ago withdrawn, and shown the head
and brow beset with green and flowers. From this hill two crystal
fountains issue, which in the heat of summer continue with a lim
pid current to refresh the taste. It is pleasant to celebrate a festi
val on the summit of this ground. In the year 1781, a bower had
been erected, covered with green shrubs. 'The sons and daughters
of the day assembling, joined in the festivity, viewing the rivers
at a distance, and listening to the music of the military on the plain
beneath them. When the moonlight rising from the east had
softened into gray, the prospect, a lofty pile of wood enflamed,
with pyramidical rising, illuminated both the rivers and the town,
which far around reflected brightness. Approaching in the appear
ance of a river god, a swain begirt with weeds natural to these
atreams, and crowned with leaves of the sugar tree, hailed us, and
gave prophetic hints of the grandeur of our future empire. His
words I remember not, but it seemed to me for a moment, that the
mystic agency of deities well known in Greece and Rome, waa not
a fable ; but that powers unaeen haunt the wooda and rivera, who
28

426 brackenridge's sketch of Pittsburgh. 1786.
take part in the affairs of mortals, and are pleased with the cele
bration of events that spring from great achievements, and from
virtue. "This is the liill, and from whence it takes its name, where in the
war which terminated in the year 1763, Grant, advancing with about
eight hundred Caledonians or .Highland Scotch troops, beat a
reveille a little after sunrise to the French garrison, who, accom
panied with a number of savages, sallied out and flanking him un
seen from the bottom on the left and right, then covered with wood,
ascended the hill, tomahawked and cut his troops to pieces, and
made Grant himself prisoner. Bones and weapons are yet found
on the hill — the bones white ¦with the weather, the weapons eoverel
with rust.
" On the summit of this hill is a mound of earth, supposed to be
a catacomb or ancient burying place of the savages. There can bo
no doubt of this, as on the opening some of the like tumuli, or hills
of earth, bones are found. In places where stones are plenty, these
mounds are raised of stones, and skeletons are found in them. To
the north-east of Grant's hill, there is one still higher, at the dis
tance of about a quarter of a mile, which is called the Quarry hill,
from the excellent stone quarry that has been opened in it. From
this hill there is an easy descent the whole way to the town, and
an excellent smooth road, so that the stones can be easily procured
to erect any building at Pittsburgh. From the Quarty hill you
have a view of four or five miles of the Allegheny river, along
which lies a fine bottom, and in high cultivation, with different in-
closures and farm-houses, the river winding through the whole
prospect. " This hill would seem to stand as that whereon a strong redoubt
might be placed, to command the commerce of the Allegheny
river, while directly opposite, on the Monongahela side, to the
south-east, stands a hill of the same height and appearance, known
by the name of Ayres' hill, so called from a British engineer of
that name, who gave his opinion in favor of this ground as that
whereon the fort ought to be constructed, as being the highest
ground, and which must command the rivers, and the plain with
the inferior rising grounds on which the town is built. The hill
has been cultivated on the summit by a Highland regiment, who
built upon it, though the buildings are now gone, and the brow of
the hill is still covered with wood,
"From Ayres' hill issue several fountains, falling chiefiy toward
tlic iu)i-th, into a sm.all brook, which increasing, encircles the foot

1786, brackenridge's sketch of Pittsburgh, 427
of the hill, and takes its course through several beautiful little
meads into the Monongahela river. On this brook, before it takes
its turn to the Monongahela, in a delightful little valley, and in the
neighborhood of some plum-trees, the natives of the country, was
the ancient risidence of a certain Anthony Thompson, the vestiges
of whose habitation still remain ; an extent of ground cleared by
him lies to the north, accustomed to long cultivation, and now
thrown out a common. The best brick may be made from this
ground, the fine loam and sand of which the soil consists, and the
water just at hand, highly favoring the object,
" As you ascend from this valley, through which a main leading
road passes from the country, you see the Monongahela, and
approaching Grant's hill on the right, you have the point of view
from whence the town is seen to the best advantage. It is hid
from you until by the winding of the road you begin to turn the
point of the hill ; you then see house by house on the Monongahela
side opening to your view, until you are in front of the main town,
in a direct line to the confluence of the rivera. Then the buildings
on the Allegheny show themselves, with the plain extending to the
right, which had been concealed. You have in the meantime a
view of the rising grounds beyond the rivers, crowned with lofty
wooda, I was once greatly struck on a summer morning, ¦viewing
from the ground the early vapor rising from the river. It hung
midway between the foot and summit of the hill, so that the green
above had the appearance of an island in the clouds.
" It may be here observed, that at the junction of these two
rivers, until eight o'clock of summer mornings, a light fog ia
uaually incumbent : but it is of a salutary nature, inasmuch as it
consists of vapor not exhaled from stagnant water, but which the
sun of the preceding day had extracted from trees and flowers, and
in the evening had sent back in dew, so that rising with a second
sun in fog, and becoming of aromatic quality, it is experienced to
be healthful.
" The town of Pittsburgh, as at present built, stands chiefly on
what is called the third bank; that is the third rising of the ground
above the Allegheny water. For there is the first bank, which
confines the river at the present time ; and about three hundred
feet removed is a second, like the falling of a garden; then a third,
at the distance of about three hundred yards; and lastly, a fourth
bank, all of easy inclination, and parallel with the Allegheny river.
These banks would aeem in auccessive periods to have been the
margin of the river, which gradually has changed its coUrse, and

428 brackenridge's sketch of Pittsburgh, 1786,
has been thrown from one descent to another, to the present bed
where it lies. In digging wells the kind of stones are found which
we observe in the Allegheny current, worn smooth by the attrition
of the water. Shells also intermixed with these are thrown out.
Nature, therefore, or the river, seems to have formed the bed of
this town as a garden with level walks, and fallings of the ground.
Hence the advantage of descending gardens' on these banks, which
art elsewhere endeavors, with the greatest industty, to form. Nor
is the soil less happy than the situation. The mold is light and
rich. The finest gardens iu the known world may be formed
here. " The town consists at present of about an hundred dwelling
houses, with buildings appurtenant. More are daily added, and
for some time past it has improved with an equal but continual.
pace. The inhabitants, children, men and women, are about fifteen
hundred ;* this number doubling almost every year, from the acces
sion of people from abroad, and from those born in the town. As
I pass along, I may remark that this new country is in general
highly prolific ; whether it is that the vegetable air, if I may so
express it, constantly perfumed with aromatic flavor, and impreg
nated with salts drawn from the fresh soil, is more favorable to the
production of men and other animals than decayed grounds.
" There is not a more delightful spot under heaven to spend any
of the summer months than at this place. I am astonished that
there should be such repairing to the Warm Springs in Yirginia, a
place pent up between the hills, where the sun pours its beams
concentrated as in a burning-glass, and not a breath of air stirs;
where the eye can wander scarcely half a furlong, while here we
have the breezes of the river, coming from the Mississippi and the
ocean; the gales that fan the woods, and are sent from the refresh
ing lakes to the northward ; in the meantime the prospect of exten
sive hills and dales, whence the fragrant air brings odors of a
thousand flowers and plants, or of the corn and grain of husband
men, upon its balmy wings. Here we have the town and country
together. How pleasant it is in a summer evening, to walk out
upon these grounds, the smooth green surface of the earth, and the
woodland shade softening the late fervid beams of the sun; how
pleasant by a crystal fountain is a tea party under one of those hills,
with the rivers and the plains beneath.

* " This estimate of the population here is a most extravagant one, being about fif-
«e«u tp a house ; which is incredible." — Craig.

1759, port burd built at redstone. 429
" Nor is the winter season enjoyed with less festivity than in
more populous and cultivated towns. The buildings warm ; fuel
abundant, consisting of the finest coal from the neighboring hills,
or of ash, hickory, or oak, brought down in rafts by the rivers. In
the meantime, the climate is less severe at this place than on the
other side of the mountain, lying deep in the bosom of the wood ;
sheltered on the north-east by the bending of the Allegheny
heights, and on the south-west warmed by the tepid winds from the
bay of Mexico and the great southern ocean.
" In the fall of the year, and during the winter season, there is
usually a great concourse of strangers at this place, from the differ
ent States, about to descend the river to the westward, or to make
excursions into the uninhabited and adjoining country. These,
with the inhabitants of the town spend the evening in parties at
the different houses, or at public balls, where they are surprised to
find an elegant assembly of ladies, not to be surpassed in beauty
and accomplishments perhaps by any on the continent.
"It must appear like enchantment to a stranger, who after fra-
veling an hundred miles from the settlements, across a dreaty
mountain, and through the adjoining countty, where in many
places the spurs of the mountain still continue, and cultivation
does not always show itself, to see, all at once, and almost on the
verge of the inhabited globe, a town with smoking chimneys, halls
lighted up with splendor, ladies and gentlemen assembled, various
muaic, and the mazea of the dance. He may auppoae it to be the
effect of magic, or that he is come into a new world where there _
is all the refinement of the former, and more benevolence of
heart." Redstone* was perhaps at that period next in importance to
Pittsburgh. In 1759 Col. Burd was dispatched with two hundred
men, to extend Braddock's road to the Monongahela, in order to
open a better communication with Fort Pitt. At the mouth of
Redstone creek, on the site of an ancient fortification, then known
as Redstone Old Fort, he built a fort which he named Fort Burd.
How long Fort Burd was maintained is not known. The site of
it, however, continued to receive the name of Redstone, and early
became a point of rendezvous for emigrants to Kentucky, As early
as 1770, the site of Redstone was claimed by Cresap, under a tom-

* Day's Historical Collections of Pennsylvania.

430 statistics of western Pennsylvania, 1781,
ahawk right, and after his location there it became the head-quar
ters of the spies in the Indian wars that followed. The protection
afforded by the posts and block-houses erected along the Mononga
hela, attracted settlers, and soon a very considerable population
found its way into the valley of that river, and especially around
Redstone, The importance of the point was greatly increased by
the emigration that set in from the region east of the mountains,
after the close of the war, along Braddock's road to Redstone, and
thence by the river to Limestone, now Maysville, and other points
in Kentucky. It was not, however, until 1785, that the present
town of Brownsville was laid out on the site of Old Fort Redstone,
and in the next year its population had increased to six hundred.
Several other points in Western Pennsylvania, now fiourishiug
towns, were then already occupied, and a very considerable popu
lation already occupied the valley of the Monongahela, and the re
gion between that river and the Allegheny. All that region was
then divided into three counties.
In 1773, all of Western Pennsylvania included in the cession of
1768, and west of Laurel Hill, was erected into the county of West
moreland, of which Hannastown was the seat of justice, until it
was destroyed by the Indians in 1782.
In 1781, all that portion of Westmoreland county west of the
Monongahela river, was erected into the county of Washington,
and in the next year the borough of Washington, at Catfish, was
laid out as the seat of justice. In 1783, the portion of Westmore
land county between the Monongahela and the Youghiogheny riv
ers,, was erected into the county of Fayette, and Uniontown, which
had been settled in 1768, was made the seat of justice. In 1790,
the population of these three counties had risen to 53,209.*
No provision was made by Great Britain, in the treaty of peace, in
1785.] behalf of her Indian allies. The most faithful of these
were the Six Nations, and their lands were included within the
boundaries secured by the treaty to the United States. They had
entered the British service on a pledge that they should be remu
nerated for all losses they might sustain. They had suffered
greatly ; their country had been ravaged with fire and sword, and
in particular, the Mohawks had been driven from the whole of
their beautiful valley. In remuneration for the loss of that eoun-

* Early lll.slory of Western Pennsylvania, App.

1784, second treaty of fort stanwix, 431
try, the governor-general of Canada conveyed to them a tract of
land on Grand river, on the north side of Lake Erie, No other
protection was afforded to the Six Nations, and all the sovereignty
claimed over them by Great Britain was conveyed to the United
States; and thus they were left at the mercy of the people whom
the policy of the British cabinet had made their enemies.
The extent of that sovereignty was exceedingly ill-defined. The
treaty of Lord Howard with the Six Nations in 1684, recognized
them as under the protection of Great Britain; and the chiefs of
the confederacy executed a deed in 1726, conveying to the English
government their lands, in trust, "to be protected and defended by
his Majesty, to and for the use of the grantors and their heirs."
But these treaties were regarded by the Indians as treaties of alli
ance only, and were never recognized by them as conveying any
sovereignty over them, or any title to their lands to the English
crown. The relation of the new government to the other Indian tribes,
was also uncertain. They were not held to be civil societies with
whom treaties might be made on the principles of the law of na
tions. They were not citizens or subjects of the new government,
and therefore were not held to be amenable to the laws of the statea
or the confederation. Under these circumstances, on the recom
mendation of Mr. Jay, in 1782, the principle that had been adopted
by the European nations was introduced into the practice of the
new government. It was that discovery was equivalent to con
quest ; and therefore the natives retained only a possessory claim
to their lands, and could only alienate it to the government cla,im-
ing the sovereignty. While this became the general policy of the
government, much difficulty was experienced in regard to the position
of the Six Nations. The legislature of New York was determined
to expel them entirely, in retaliation for their hostility during the
war, from their whole territory. Under the representations of
Washington and Schuyler, better counsels prevailed; and it was
determined by the Continental Congress to forgive the hostilities
of the past, and to dispossess them gradually by purchase, as the
extension of the settiements might demand the occupation of their
lands. It was in accordance with this policy that a treaty with the Mo
hawks, Onondagas, Senecas, Cayugas, Tuacuroras, and Seneca-O'bea 1
tribes was held in October, 1784, at Fort Stanwix. The represen
tatives of the United States were Oliver Woleott, Richard Butier,
and Arthur Lee. The most distinguished chiefs of the confeder-

432 IROQUOIS CEDE ALL THEIR WESTERN LANDS. 1784,
acy were Cornplanter and Red Jacket. Red Jacket was opposed
to peace, and his speech for war was, says La Fayette, " a master
piece, and every warrior who heard him was carried away with his
eloquence." Cornplanter saw the folly of waging a war single
handed against the whole power of the confederacy, and exerted all
his power for peace. La Fayette was present, and urged them to
preserve peace with the Americans; to rely upon their clemency,
to sell their lands only to authorized agents of Congress, and to
avoid the use of intoxicating drinks. Cornplanter sought to avoid
a definite treaty, without the concurrence of the western tribes.
But the commissioners were determined to punish the Six Nations,
by a dismemberment of their territoty, and refused to listen to any
delay. After a long conference, a treaty was signed on the 22d of
October, between the contracting parties, in the name of the con
federation and of the Six Nations. Its pro'visions were :
"Six hostages shall be immediately delivered to the commis
sioners, by tho said nations, to remain in possession of the United
States, until all the prisoners, white and black, which were taken
by the Senecas, Mohawks, Onondagas, and Cayugas, or by any of
them, in the late war, from among the citizens of the United States,
shall be delivered up.
"The Oneidas and Tuscarora nations shall be secured in the
possession of the lands on which they are settled.
"A line shall be drawn, beginning at the mouth of a creek, about
four miles east of Niagara, called Oyonwayea, or Johnson's Landing
Place, upon the lake, named by the Indians Oswego, and by us
Ontario ; from thence southernly, in a direction alwaya four miles
east of the carrying path, between Lake Erie and Ontario, to the
mouth of Tehoseroron, or Buffalo creek, or Lake Erie ; thence south,
to the north boundary of the State of Pennsylvania ; thence west, to
the end of the said north boundary ; thence south, along the west
boundary of the said State, to the river Ohio ; the said line, from
the mouth of the Oyonwayea to the Ohio, shall be the western
boundary of the lands of the Six Nations ; so that the Six Nations
shall, and do, yield to the United States, all claims to the country
west of the said boundary ; and then they shall be secured in the
peaceful possession of the lands they inhabit, east and north of the
same, reserving only six miles square, round the Fort of Oswego,
to the United States, for the support of the same.
" The commissioners of the United States, in consideration of
the present circumstances of the Six Nations, and in execution of
the humane and liberal views of the United States, upon the

1784. IROQUOIS CEDE ALL THEIR WESTERN LANDS. 433
signing of these articles, will order goods to be delivered to the
Six Nations for their own use aud comfort."
The indefinite claim which the Six Nations had so long set up to
the valley of the Mississippi, on the basis of their conquests a
hundred years before, and which had entered so largely into the
diplomacy of England and France, in the long contest they waged
for the possession of the valley, was at length extinguished.
In pursuance of the policy of the new government, a treaty was
held on the 21&t of January, 1785, at Fort M'Intosh, between the
United States, represented by. George Rogers Clark, Richard
Butler and Arthur Lee, and the chiefs of the Wyandot, Delaware,
Chippewa and Ottawa tribes. Its provisions were —
" Three chiefs, one from the Wyandot and two from among the
Delaware nations, shall be delivered up to the commissioners of
the United States, to be by them retained till all the prisoners
taken by the said nations, or any of them, shall be restored.
" The said Indian nations do acknowledge themselves, and all
their tribes, to be under the protection of the United States, and
of no other sovereign whatsoever.
" The boundaty line between the United States and the Wyandot
and Delaware nations, shall begin at the mouth of the river Cuya
hoga, and run thence up the said river, to the portage between that
and the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum; then down the
said branch to the forks at the crossing place above Fort Laurens ;
then westwardly to the portage of the Big Miami, which runs into
the Ohio, at the mouth of virhich branch the fort stood which was
taken by the French in one thousand seven hundred and fifty-two ;
then along the said portage to the Great Miami or Ome river, and
down the south-east side of the same to its mouth ; thence along
the south shore of Lake Erie to the mouth of the Cuyahoga, where
it began.
" The United States allot all the lands contained within the aaid
lines to the Wyandot and Delaware nations, to live and to hunt on,
and to such of the Ottawa nation as now live thereon ; saving and
reserving, for the establishment of trading posts, six miles square
at the mouth of Miami or Ome river, and the same at the portage
on that branch of the Big Miami which runs into the Ohio, and
the same on the lake of Sandusky, where the fort formerly stood,
and also two miles square on each side of the lower rapids of San
dusky river; which posts, and the lands annexed to them, shall be
to the use, and under the government of the United States.

434 ORDINANCE FOR DISPOSING OF WESTERN LANDS. 1785.
"If any citizen of the United States, or other person, not being
an Indian, shall attempt to settle on any of the lands allotted to
the Wyandot and Delaware nations, in this treaty, except on the
lands reserved to the United States iu the preceding article, such
person shall forfeit the protection of the United States, and the
Indians may punish him as they please.
" The Indians who sign this treaty, as well in behalf of all their
tribes as of themselves, do acknowledge the lands east, south and
west of the lines described in the third article, so far as the said
Indians formerly claimed the same, to belong to the United States;
and none of their tribes shall presume to settle upon the same, or
any part of it.
"The post of Detroit, with a district beginning at the mouth of
the river Rosine, on the west side of Lake Erie, and running west
six miles up the southern bank of the said river, thence northerly,
and always six miles west of the strait, till it strikes the lake St.
Clair, shall also be reserved to the sole use of the United States.
"In the same manner, the post of Michilimackinack, with its
dependencies, and twelve miles square about the same, shall be
reserved to the use of the United States.
" If any Indian or Indians shall commit a robbery or murder on
any citizen of the United States, the tribe to which such oftender
may belong shall be bound to deliver them up, at the nearest post,
to be punished according to the ordinances of the United States.
" The commissioners of the United States, in pursuance of the
humane and liberal views of Congress, upon the treaty's being
signed, will direct goods to be distributed among the different
tribes, for their use and comfort."
Thus were the first steps taken for securing to the United States
the Indian titles to the vast realm beyond the Ohio; and a few
months later, the legislation was commenced that was to determine
the mode of its disposal, and the plan of its settlements.
To facilitate the entry and settlement of the lands thus pur
chased by the treaties of Fort Stanwix, and Fort Mcintosh, " an
ordinance for ascertaining the mode of disposing of lands in the
Western Territorj'," was passed by the Congress on the 20th of
May, 1785. Its material provisions are these :
" A surveyor from each State shall be appointed by Congress, or
a committee of the States, who shall take an oath for the faithful
discharge of his duty, before the geographer of the United States,
who is hereby empowered and directed to administer the same;

1785. ORDINANCE FOR DISPOSING OF WESTERN LANDS. 435
and the like oath shall be administered to each chain-carrier, by
the surveyor under whom he acts.
"The geographer, under whose direction the surveyors shall act,
shall occasionally form such regulations for their conduct, as he
shall deem necessary ; and shall have authority to suspend them for
misconduct in office, and shall make report of the same to Con
gress, or to the committee of the States ; and he shall make report
in case of sickness, death, or resignation, of any surveyor.
"The surveyors, as they are respectively qualified, shall proceed
to divide the said territory into townships of six miles square, by
lines running due north and south, and others crossing these at
right angles, as near as may be, unless where the boundaries of the
late Indian purchases may render the same impracticable, and then
they shall depart from this rule no further than such particular
circumstances may require. And each surveyor shall be allowed
and paid at the rate of two dollars for evety mile in length he shall
run, including the wages of chain-carriers, markers, and every
other expense attending the same.
"The first line running north and south as aforesaid, shall begin
on the river Ohio, at a point that shall be found to be due north
from the western termination of a line which has been run as the
southern boundary of the State of Pennsylvania: and the first line
running east and west shall begin at the same point, and shall
extend throughout the whole territory; provided, that nothing
herein shall be construed as fixing the western boundary of the
State of Pennsylvania. The geographer shall designate the town
ships or fractional parts of townships, by numbers, progressively,
from south to north ; always beginning each range with No. 1 ; and
the ranges shall be distinguished by their progressive numbers to
the westward — the first range, extending from the Ohio to the
Lake Erie, being marked No. 1. The geographer shall personally
attend to the running of the first east and west line; aud shall take
the latitude of the extremes of the first north and south line, and
of the mouths of the principal rivers. .-
"The lines shall be measured with a chain; shall be plainly
marked by chaps on trees, and exactly described on a plat; whereon
shall be noted by the surveyor, at their proper distances, all mines,
salt springs, salt licks, and mill seats, that shall come to his knowl
edge; and all water courses, mountains, and other remarkable and
permanent things, over or near which such lines shall pass, and
also the quality of the land.
" The plats of the townships, respectively, shall be marked, by

436 ORDINANCE FOR DISPOSING OF WESTERN LANDS. 1785,
subdivisions, into lots of one mile square, or six hundred and forty
acres, in the same direction as the external lines, and numbered
from one to thirty-six ; always beginning the succeeding range of
the lots with the number next to that with which the preceding
one concluded. And where, from the causes beforementioned,
only a fractional part of a township shall be surveyed, the lots
protracted thereon' shall bear the same numbers as if the township
had been entire. And the surveyors, in running the external lines
of the townships shall, at the interval of evety mile, mark corners
for the lots which are adjacent, always designating the same in a
different manner from those of the townships.
" The geographer and surveyors shall pay the utmost attention
to the variation of the magnetic needle, and shall run and note all
lines by the true meridian, certifying with every plat what was the
"Variation at the times of running the lines thereon noted.
" As soon as seven ranges of townships, and fractional parts of
townships, in the direction from south to north, shall have been
surveyed, the geographer shall transmit plats thereof to the board
of treasury, who shall record the same, with the report, in well-
bound books, to be kept for that purpose. And the geographer
shall make similar returns, from time to time, of every seven
ranges, as they may be surveyed. The secretary of war shall have
recourse thereto, and shall take by lot therefrom a number of town
ships and fractional parts of townships, as well from those to be
sold entire, as from those to be sold in lots, as will be equal to one-
seventh part of the whole of such seven ranges, as nearly as may
be, for the use of the late continental army ; and he shall make a
similar draught, from time to time, until a sufficient quantity is
drawn to satisfy the same, to be applied in manner hereinafter
directed. The board of treasury shall, from time to time, cause the
remaining numbers, as well those to be sold entire as those to be
sold in lots, to be drawn for, in the name of the thirteen states,
respectively, according to the quotas in the last preceding requisition
on all the states : provided, that in case more land than its propor
tion is allotted for sale in any state at any distribution, a deduction
be made therefor at the next.
" The board of treasury shall transmit a copy of the original
plats, previously noting thereon the townships and fractional parts
of townships, which shall have fallen to the several states, by the
distribution aforesaid, to the commissioners of the loan office of the
several states, who, after giving notice of not less than two, nor
more than six months, by causing advertisements to be posted up

1785. ORDINANCE FOR DISPOSING OF WESTERN LANDS. 437
at the court houses or other noted places in every county, and to
be inserted in one newspaper published in the states of their resi
dence, respectively, shall proceed to sell the townships or fractional
parts of townships, at public vendue, in the following manner, viz :
the township or fractional part of a township No. 1, in the first
range, shall be sold entire ; and No. 2, in the same range by lots ;
and thus, in alternate order, through the whole of the first range.
The township or fractional part of a township No. 1, in the second
range, shall be sold by lots ; and No. 2, in the same range, entire ;
and so, in alternate order, through the whole of the second range ;
and the third range shall be sold in the same manner as the first,
and the fourth in the same manner as the second ; and thus, alter
nately, throughout all the ranges : provided, that none of the landa
within the aaid territory be sold under the price of one dollar the
acre, to be paid in apecie or loan office certificates, reduced to
specie value by the scale of depreciation, or certificates of liquidated
debts of the United States, including interest, besides the expense
of the survey and other charges thereon, which are hereby rated at
thirty-six dollars the township, in specie or certificates as aforesaid,
and so in the same proportion, for a fractional part of a township
or of a lot, to be paid at the time of sales, on failure of which pay
ment the said lands shall again be offered for sale.
"There shall be reserved for the United States out of every
township, the four lots, being numbered 8, 11, 26, 29, and out of
every fractional part of a township, so many lots of the same num
bers as shall be found thereon, for future sale. There shall be
reserved the lot No. 16, of every township, for the maintenance of
public schools within the said township ; also, one-third part of all
gold, silver, lead, and copper mines, to be sold, or otherwise dis
posed of, as Congress shall hereafter direct.
" And be it further ordained. That three townships adjacent to
Lake Erie be reaerved, to be hereafter disposed of by Congress, for
the use of the officers, men, and others, refugees from Canada, and
the refugees from Nova Scotia, who are or may be entitied to grants
of land, under resolutions of Congress now existing, or which may
hereafter be made respecting them, and for auch other purpoaea as
Congress may hereafter direct.
" And be it further ordained. That the towns of Gnadenhutten,
Schonbrun, and Salem, on the Muskingum, and so much of the
landa adjoining to the said towns, with the buildings and improve
ments thereon, shall be reserved for the sole uae of the Chriatian
Indiana, who were formerly settled there, or the remains of that

438 SETTLEMENT ON INDIAN LANDS FORBIDDEN. 1785.
society, as may, in the judgment of the geographer, be sufficient
for them to cultivate.
" Saving and reserving always, to all officers and soldiers entitled
to lands on the north-west side of the Ohio, by donation or bounty
from the Commonwealth of Yirginia, and to all persons claiming
under them, all rights to which they are so entitled, under the deed
of cession executed by the delegates for the State of Yirginia, on
the 1st day of March, 1784, and the act of Congress accepting the
same : and to the end that the said rights may be fully and effectu
ally secured, according to the true intent and meaning of the said
deed of cession and act aforesaid, be it ordained, that no part of the
land included between the rivers called Little Miami and Scioto,
on the north-west side of the river Ohio, be sold, or in any manner
alienated, until there shall first have been laid off and appropriated
for the said officers and soldiers, and persons claiming under them,
the lands they are entitled to, agreeably to the said deed of cession
and act of Congress accepting the same."
It had been anticipated, that so soon as the treaty of Fort Mcin
tosh was known, settlers and speculators would cross the Ohio, and
to prevent the evil which it was foreseen would follow from such
intrusion, by an order of Congress of the 15th of June, 1785, the
following proclamation was published by the Indian commis
sioners, and circulated in the country north-west of the Ohio:
"Whereas, it has been represented to the United States, in Con
gress assembled, that several disorderly persons have crossed the
Ohio and settled upon their unappropriated lands; and whereas,
it is their intention, as soon as it shall be surveyed, to open offices
for the sale of a considerable part thereof, in such proportions and
under such other regulations as may suit the convenience of all the
citizens of the said States and others who may wish to become
purchasers of the same — and as auch conduct tends to defeat the
object they have in view, is in direct opposition to the ordinances
and resolutions of Congress, and highly disrespectful to the federal
authority; they have, therefore, thought fit, and do hereby issue
this, their proclamation, forbidding all such unwarrantable intru
sions, and enjoining all those who have settled thereon to depart
with their families and effects, without loss of time, as they shall
answer the same at their peril," *

'¦¦ Dillon's Indiann, i. 199.

1785, SECOND KENTUCKY CONVENTION, 439
The peril to be apprehended from the weak hands of the con
federacy might not have deterred fearless men from filling the
forbidden land, but there were those near by who executed the
laws they made in a manner which was by no means to be disre
garded; and, when four families from Redstone attempted a settle
ment at the mouth of the Scioto, in April, 1785, they received such
a notice-to quit, from the natives, in the shape of rifle-balls, that
two persons were killed and the survivors were glad enough to
abandon their enterprise, and take refuge at Limestone, Fur
ther west, the experiment succeeded better, and some years pre
vious to this time, in 1781, a settlement was made in the neighbor
hood of the old French forts, by emigrants from Western Yirginia,
who were joined during the present year by several other families
from the same region.
In Kentucky, during 1785, events were of a different character
from any yet ¦witnessed in the West, Hitherto, to live and resist
the savages had been the problem, but now the more complicated
questions of self-rule and political power presented themselves for
discussion and answer. The convention, which met late in 1784,
finding a strong feeling prevalent in favor of separation from Yir
ginia, and unwilling to assume too much responsibility, had pro
posed, as has been stated, a second convention, to meet iu the
following May, It met upon the 23d of that month, and the same
spirit of self-dependence being dominant, atf address to the Assem
bly of Yirginia, and one to the people of Kentucky, together with
five resolutions, all relative to separation, and in favor of it, were
unanimously carried. Two of these resolutions deserve especial
notice; one of them recognized, what the constitution of Yirginia
did not, the principle of equal representation, or a representation
of the people living in a certain territory, and not the square miles
contained in it: the other referred the whole matter again to a
third convention, which was to meet in August, and continue its
sessions by adjournment until April, 1786,
As the members of the body which passed this resolve had been
chosen, it is believed, on the basis of equal representation, and for
the very purpose of considering the question of independence, it
IS by no means clear why this reference to a third assembly was
made. It may have been from great precaution, or it may have
been through the infiuence of James Wilkinson, who, though not
a member of the second convention, exercised great power in it;
and who, being chosen a member of the third, became its* leader
and controller, by the combined influence of his manners, elo-

440 MAJOR DOUGHTY BUILDS FORT HARMAR. 1785,
quence, intellect, and character. This gentleman, there appears to
be reason to think, deemed the tone of the petition to Yirginia too
humble, and wished another meeting, to speak both to the parent
State and the people of the district in more decided terms.
If such was his wish it was gratified. On the 8th of August, a
third, convention met, adopted a new, form of address to the Old
Dominion, and called upon the people of Kentucky to " arm, asso
ciate, and embody," " to hold in detestation and abhorrence, and
treat as enemies to the community, every person who shall with
hold his countenance and support of such measures as may be
recommended for the common defense;" and to prepare for offen
sive movements against the Indians, -without waiting to be
attacked,* That Wilkinson, in this address to the people of Kentucky, some
what exaggerated the danger of Indian invasion is probable; and
the propriety of his call upon his countrymen to invade the lands
beyond the Ohio, at the time that Congress was treating with the
natives owning them, and seeking to put a stop to warfare, is more
than questionable : but still his expressions of anxiety lest the
whites should be found unprepared, were not wholly without
cause. But the proper source of action in the matter at this time was
the confederation, and Wilkinson and his associates, .in proposing
to invade the north-west territory, should have sought to act under
its sanction, and not as leaders of a sovereign power. Nor was
the confederation at this very time unmindful of the West; in the
autumn of 1785, Major Doughty descended the Ohio to the mouth
of the Muskingum, and upon the point north of the former, and
west of the latter river, began Fort Harmar,
The address, or petition, though the last name seems scarcely appli-
1786.] cable, which the third Kentucky convention had sent to
the Assembly of the parent State, was by that body duly received
and listened to, and the reasons for an early separation appearing
cogent, Yirginia, in January, 1786, passed a law by which Ken
tucky might claim independence, provided she were willing to
accept of the following conditions, aa explained in a letter from
Mr. Madison to Gen. Washington, dated December 9th, 1785 :
" Kentucky made a formal application for independence. Her
memorial has been considered, and the terms of separation fixed

* American Pioiwt'v, i., 2.i — 30, and frontispicoo. Monette, ii., 22-.

1785, CONTENTION BETWEEN VIRGINIA AND KENTUCKY, 441
by a Committee of the Whole, The substance of them ia, that all
private righta and interests, derived from the laws of Yirginia, shall
be secured; that the unlocated lands shall be applied to the objects
to which the lawa of Yirginia have appropriated them ; that the
Ohio shall be a common highway for the citizena of the United
Statea, and the juriadiction of Kentucky and Yirginia, aa far as the
remaining territory of the latter will be thereon, be concurrent
only with the new States on the oppoaite shore ; that the proposed
state shall take its due share of our State debts ; and that the sepa- >
ration shall not take place unless these terms shall be approved by
a convention to be held to decide the question, nor until Congress
ahall assent thereto, and fix the terms of their admission into the
Union, The limits of the proposed State are to be the same with
the present limita of the district The apparent coolness of the
repreaentativea of Kentucky, as to a aeparation, aince theae terms
have been defined, indicates that they had some ¦views which will
not be favored by them. They dislike much to be hung upon the
will of Congreaa,"
These conditiona were to be aubmitted to & fourth convention, to
be held in the following September, If those were agreed to, the
convention was to aelect a day poaterior to September Iat, 1787,
after which the lawa of Yirginia were to ceaae forever to be in
force ¦within the weatern diatrict ; for which, meanwhile, a consti
tution and laws were to be prepared by a fifth convention, to be
called for that purpose : it being provided that this act was to be
effective only when in substance approved by the United States,
Thia act was not, however, altogether pleasant to the more zealous
of the advocates of self-rule, and an attempt was made by Wilkin
son and his friends to induce the people of the diatrict to declare
themaelvea independent of Yirginia before the comparatively diatant
period fixed by the law in question. The attempt, however, waa
oppoaed and defeated. The election of membera for the fourth
convention took place without disturbance, and in September it
would undoubtedly have met to attend to the buainess confided to
it, had not the Indian incuraiona led to an expedition against the
tribea on the Wabash, at the very time appointed for the assembly
at Dan^ville,
Before referring to thia movement beyond the Ohio, however, it
ia necesaary to mention the steps taken by Congreaa during the
early part of thia year to aecure and perpetuate peace with the
north-weatern tribes. The treaty of Fort Stanwix with the Iroquoia,
29

442 INDIAN TREATY AT FORT FINNEY, 1786,
was upon the 22d of October, 1784 ; that of Fort M'Intosh, with
the Delawares, Wyandots, &c,, upon the 21st of January, 1785;
upon the 18th of March following, it was resolved that a treaty be
held with the Wabash Indians, at Post Yincent, on the 20th of
June, 1785, or at such other time and place as might seem best to
the commissioners,* Yarious circumstances caused the time to be
changed to the 31st of January, 1786, and the place to the mouth
of the Great Miami, where, upon that day, a treaty was made by
G, R, Clark, Richard Butler and Samuel H, Parsons ; not, however, ,
with the Piankeshaws and others named in the original resolution,
but with the Delawares, Wyandots and Shawanese,
The absence of the Wabash Indians from this council was not
the result of any change of plans on the part of the Americans,
but solely of a gro^wing spirit of hostility among the savages, fos
tered, there is too much reason to think, by the agents of England.
The temper of the Indians who first met the commissioners, is
thus referred to by General Parsons, in a letter to Capt. Hart, at
Fort Harmar, dated "Fort Finney," at the mouth of the Great
Miami, December 20, 1785.
"Since we have been here, evety measure has been taken to
bring in the Indians. The Wyandots and Delawares are here ;
the other nations were coming, and were turned back by the Shaw
anese. These at last sent two of their tribe to examine our situa
tion, and satisfy themselves of our designs. With these men we
were very open and explicit. We told them we were fully con-
¦vinced of their designs in coming ; that we were fully satisfied with
it ; that they were at liberty to take their own way and time to
answer the purposes they came for; that we were desirous of living
in peace with them, and for that purpose had come with offers of
peace to them, which they would judge of, and whether peace or
war was most for their interest; that we vety well knew the mea
sures the British agents had taken to deceive them. That if they
came to the treaty, any man who had filled their ears with those
stories was at liberty to come with them, and return in safety. But
if they refused to treat with us, we should consider it as a declara
tion of war on their part, &c.
" These men stayed about us eight days, and then told us they
were fully convinced our designs were good; that they had been
deceived; that they would return home, and use their influence to

* Old Journals, iv. 487.

1786. INDIAN TREATY AT FORT FINNEY. 443
bring in their nation, and send out to the other nations. Laat
night we received a belt of wampum, and a twiat of tobacco, with
a message that they would be in when we had smoked the tobacco.
From our information, we are led to believe these people will very
generally come in, and heartily concur ¦with us in peace. I think
it not probable the treaty will begin sooner than January.
"The Britiah agenta, our own tradera, and the inhabitants of
Kentucky, I am convinced, are all opposed to a treaty, and are
using every measure to prevent it. Strange as this may seem, I
have very convincing proofs of ita reality. The causes I can as-
aign, but they are too many for the compass of a letter. Notwith-
standiiig all treaties we can make, I am con^vinced we shall not
be in safety until we have posts established in the upper country."*
The various tribes of the north-west, therefore, had been invited
to the mouth of the Miami, but owing to counter influence, neither
attended, nor took any notice of the messages sent them ; but those
who did finally attend, came, if tradition tells truly, in no amicable
spirit, and but for the profound knowledge possessed by Clark of
the Indian character, and the high rank he held in the estimation
of the natives, the meeting of January 31st might very probably
have terminated in the murder of the commissioners.
From a late work by Judge Hall, the following passage is taken,
descriptive of the scene which is said to have taken place. The
Indians had entered in a disorderly and disrespectful manner. "The
commissioners, without noticing the disorderly conduct of the
other party, or appearing to have discovered their meditated treach
ery, opened the council in due form. They lighted the peace-pipe,
and after drawing a few whiffs, passed it to the chiefs, who re
ceived it. Colonel Clark then rose to explain the purpose for
which the treaty was ordered. With an unembarrassed air, with
the tone of one accustomed to command, and an easy assurance of
perfect security and self-poaaeaaion, he atated that the commission
ers had been sent to offer peace to the Shawanese; that the presi
dent had no wish to continue the war; he had no resentment to
gratify ; and if the red men desired peace, they could have it on
reasonable terms. 'If such be the will of the Shawanese,' he con
cluded, 'let some of their wise men apeak,'
" A chief arose, drew up his tall person to ita full height, and as
suming a haughty attitude, threw his eye contemptuously over the

* See North American Review, October, 1841, p. 330.

444 INDIAN TREATY AT FORT FINNEY. 1786.
commissioners, and their small retinue, as if to measure their insig
nificance, in comparison ¦with his own numeroua train, and then
stalking to the table, threw upon ittwo belta of wampum, of differ
ent colora — the war and the peace belt.
"'We come here,' he exclaimed, 'to offer you two piece,s of
wampum ; they are of different colors ; you know what they mean:
you can take which you like ! ' and turning upon hia heel, he re-
aumed hia seat,
" The ehiefa drew themselves up, in the consciouaness of having
hurled defiance in the teeth of the white men. They offered an
inault to the renowned leader of the Long-Knivea, to which they
knew it would be hard for him to submit, while they did not sup
pose he dare resent it. The council-pipe was laid aside. Those
fierce wild men gazed intently at Clark, The Americana saw that
the crisis had arrived ; they could no longer doubt that the Indians
understood the advantage they possessed, and were disposed to use
it ; and a common sense of danger caused each eye to be turned
on the leading commissioner. He sat undisturbed and apparently
careless until the chief who had thrown the belta upon the table
had taken hia seat ; then ¦with a small cane which he held in his
hand, he reached as if playfully, toward the war belt, entangled
the end of the stick in it, drew it towards him, and then with a
switch of the cane, threw the belt into the midst of the chiefs.
The effect was electric. Every man in the council, of each party,
sprang to his feet, the savago with a loud exclamation of astonish
ment, 'Hugh 1 ' The Americans in expectation of a hopeless con
flict, againat overwhelming numbers. Every hand grasped a
weapon. " Clark alone was unawed. The expression of his countenance
changed to a ferocious sternness, and his eye flashed, but otherwise
he was unmoved. A bitter smile was perceptible upon his com
pressed lips, as he gazed upon that aavage band, whoae hundred
eyea were bent fiercely and in horrid exultation upon him, as they
stood like a pack of wolves at bay, thirsting for blood, and ready
to rush upon him whenever one bolder than the rest ahould com
mence the attack. It was one of those moments of indecision
when the slightest weight thrown into either scale will make it
preponderate ; a moment in which a bold man, conversant with the
secret springs of human action, may seize upon the minds of all
around him, and away them at hia will,
" Such a man waa the intrepid Yirginian, He apoke and there
waa no man bold enough to gainaay him — none that could return

1786, INDIAN TREATY AT FORT FINNEY, 445
the fierce glance of his eye. Raising his arm, and waiving his hand
toward the door, he exclaimed: 'Dogs! you may go!' The Indi
ans hesitated a moment, and then rushed tumultuously out of the
council room,"
Another account of the scene is given from the notes of an old
officer who was present :
" The Indians came in to a freaty at Fort Finney in the most
friendly manner, except the Shawanese, the most conceited and
warlike of the aborigines, the first in at a battle, and the last
at a treaty, TMee hundred of their finest warriors, set off in all
their paint and feathers, filed into the council-house. Their
number and demeanor, so unusual at an occasion of this sort,
was altogether unexpected and suspicious. The United States'
atockade muatered aeventy men. In the centre of the hall, at a
little table, sat the commissary general, Clark, the indefatigable
scourge of these very marauders ;' General Richard Butler and Mr.
Parsons. There was also present a Captain Denny, who, I believe,
is atill alive, and can atteat this story,
" On the part of the Indians, an old council-sachem and a war
chief took the lead. The latter, a tall, raw-boned fellow, with an
impudent and villainous look, made a boisterous and threatening
speech, which operated effectually on the paaaions of the Indiana,
who aet up a prodigioua whoop at every pause. He concluded by
presenting a black and white wampum, to aignify they were prepa
red for either event, peace or war, Clark exhibited the same
unaltered and careless countenance he had shown during the whole
scene, hia head leaning on hia left hand, and hia elbow reating
upon the table. He raised Ms little cane, and pushed the sacred
wampum off the table, with vety little ceremony,
"Evety Indian at the same time started from his seat ¦with one of
those sudden, simultaneous, and peculiar savage sounds, which
startle and disconcert the stoutest heart, and can neither be de
scribed nor forgotten,
"At this juncture Clark arose. The scrutinizing eye cowered;
at his glance. He stamped hia foot on the proatrate and inaultedl
aymbol, and ordered them to leave the hall. They did so, appa
rently involuntarily. They were heard all that night, debating ia
the bushes near the fort. The raw-boned chief was for war, the
old aachem for peace. The latter prevailed, and the next morning
they came back and aued for peace,"*
* Encyclopedia Americana, iii. 232.

446 olark's unsuccessful expedition, 1786.
The treaty at Fort Finney, in addition to the usual articles, con
tained the following:
"The Shawanee nation do acknowledge the United States to be
the sole and absolute sovereigns of all the territory ceded to them
by a treaty of peace made between them and the king of Great
Britain, the fourteenth day of January, one thousand seven hundred
and eighty-four.
"The United States do allot to the Shawanee nation, lands
¦within their territoty, to live and hunt upon, beginning at the
south line of the lands allotted to the Wyandots and Delaware
nations, at the place where the main branch of the Great Miami,
which falls into the Ohio, intersects said line ; then down the ri?er
Miami, to the fork of that river, next below the old fort which was
taken by the French in one thousand seven hundred and fifty-two;
thence, due west, to the River De La Pause ; then down that river,
to the river Wabash ; beyond which lines none of the citizens of
the United States shall settle, nor disturb the Shawanese in their
settlement and possessions. And the Shawanese do relinquish to
the United States, all title, or pretense of title, they ever had to
the lands east, west, and south of the east, west, and south lines
before described,"
But the tribes more distant than the Shawanese were in no way
disposed to cease their incursions, and upon the 16th of May, the
Governor of Yirginia was forced to write upon the subject to
Congress, which at once sent two companies down the Ohio to the
Falls, and upon the 30th of June, a,uthorized the raising of militia
in Kentucky, and the invasion of the countty of the mischief-
makers, under the command of the leading United States officer
in the district,
"Accordingly, a strong military force was raised in Kentucky, for
the purpose of making simultaneous attacks on the Indian towns
of the Wabash and the Shawanee villages in the country between
the Big Miami and the Scioto rivers. About one thousand men,
under the command of General George Rogers Clark, marched
from the Falls of the Ohio for Post Yincennes, and arrived in the
neighborhood of that place early in the month of October, The
army then encamped, and lay in a atate of inactivity for nine days,
awaiting the arrival of proviaiona and stores which had been shipped
on keel boats at Louisville and Clarksville,
" When the boats arrived at Post Yincennes, about one-half of
the provision was spoiled; and that part which had been moved
by land waa almost exhausted, A spirit of discontent began to

1786, LOGAN'S EXPEDITION AGAINST THE SHAWANESE, 447
manifest itself in camp, even before the arrival of the boats; and
when the state of auppliea waa known, this spirit became more
apparent. The Kentucky troops, however, having been reinforced
by a considerable number of the inhabitants of Post Yincennes,
were ordered to move up the Wabash, toward the Indian towns
that lay in the vicinity of the ancient post of Ouiatenon, The
people of these towns laad received intelligence of the approach of
their enemy, and had selected a place for an ambuacade among the
defilea of Pine creek,
" On reaching the neighborhood of the mouth of Yermillion
river, the army found that the Indians had deserted their villages
on that stream near its junction with the Wabash, At this crisis,
when the spirits of the officers and men were depressed by disap
pointment, hunger and fatigue, some persons circulated throughout
the camp a rumor that General Clark had sent a flag of truce to
the Indiana, with the offer of peace or war. This rumor, combined
with a lamentable change which had taken place in the once tem
perate, bold, energetic and commanding character of Clark, excited
among the troops a spirit of insubordination which neither the
commands nor the entreaties, nor the tears of the general could
subdue. At an encampment near the mouth of Yermillion river,
about three hundred men in a body left the army, and proceeded
on their way homeward. The remainder of the troops, under the
command of General Clark, then abandoned the expedition and
returned to Post Yincennes.
"The expedition which marched against the Shawanese, who
had again resumed hostilities, waa commanded by Colonel Benja
min Logan. Thia officer, at the- head of four or five hundred
mounted riflemen, crossed the river Ohio, at the point where the
town of Maysville now stands, and penetrated the Indian country
as far as the head waters of Mad river. . General Lytic says :
'Colonel Logan would have surprised the Indian towns against
which he marched, had not one of his men deserted to the enemy,
and gave notice of his approach. As it waa, he burned eight large
towna, and deatroyed many fields of corn. He took seventy or
eighty prisoners, and killed about twenty warriors, and among the
rest, the head chief of the nation. This last act caused deep regret,
humiliation and shame to the commander of his troops.' The
murder of the chief was, however, perpetrated in direct violation
of the orders of Colonel Logan, In the course of this expedition
the Kentuckians loat about ten men," *
* Dillon's Indiana, p. 202.

448 CONTROVERSY ABOUT THE MISSISSIPPI, 1785,
It was the gathering of the men of Kentucky for theae expedi-
tiona, which prevented the meeting of the convention that was to
have come together in September. So many were absent on
military duty that a quorum could not be had, and tliose who came
to the point of assembly, were forced, as a committee, merely to
to prepare a memorial for the Yirginia Legislature, setting forth
the causes which made a convention at that time impossible, and
aaking certain changes in the Act of Separation. TMs done, they
continued their meetinga by adjournment during the remainder of
the year, hoping a quorum might atill be gathered; which was not
done, however, until the ensuing January.
Meanwhile, beyond the AUegheniea, eventa were taking place
which produced more excitement in Kentucky than Indian wars,
or Acts of Separation — the Spanish negotiations, involving the
navigation of the Mississippi. In 1780, Spain expreaaed her
determination to claim the control of the great weatern river; in
January, 1781, she attacked the Fort of St. Joseph'a, and took
poaseasion of the north-weat in the name of hia Catholic Majesty;
on the 15th of the next month, Congreaa, at the instance of the
Yirginia delegates, instructed Mr. Jay, then at Madrid, not to
insist on the use of the Mississippi by the Americans, if a treaty
could not be effected without giving it up. Through 1782, the
court of Madrid labored, not only to induce the United States to
give up the stream of the West, but a great part of the West itself,
and France backed her pretensions ; * and thus matters rested for
the time.
In July, 1785, Don Diego Gardoqui, appeared before Congress,
as the representative of Spain ; on the 20th of the same month,
Mr, Jay, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, was authorized to
negotiate with him ; and, in May of the same year, negotiations
began between them were brought to the notice of Congress,
This was done in consequence of the fact, that in these transactions
Mr, Jay asked the special guidance of that body, and explained his
reasons for doing so at length. He pointed out the importance of
a commercial treaty with Spain, and dwelt upon the two difficulties
of making such a treaty; one of which was, the unwillingness of
Spain to permit the navigation of the Mississippi; the other, the
question of boundaries. Upon the first point, Mr, Jay was, and
alwaya had been, oppoaed to yielding to the Spanish claim ; but that

f Secret Journals, iv, 63 to 80. Diplomatic Correspondence.

1786. VIOLENT MEASURES AT VINCENNES. 449
claim was atill as strenuously urged, aa in 1780 ; and the court of
Madrid, their ambassador said, would never abandon it.
Under theae circumstances, the interests of the whole Union
demanding the conclusion of the Spanish commercial treaty, while
that treaty could apparently be aecured only by giving up the
right to navigate the Mississippi, which was in a manner sacrificing
the West. Mr. Jay proposed, as a sort of compromise, to form a
treaty with Spain for twenty-five or thirty yeara, and during that
time to yield the right of using the Mississippi below the bounda
ries of the United States.
To this proposition, the Southern membera in Congress were
vehemently opposed, and an attempt waa made by them to take
the whole matter out of Mr. Jay'a handa, the delegatea from
Yirginia offering a long and able argument in oppoaition to his
scheme; but the membera of the Eastern and Middle Statea out
voted the south, and the Secretaty waa authorized to continue hia
negotiations, without being bound to insist, at all hazards, upon
the immediate use of the river. *
The discussion in Congress relative to the Spanish claims, took
place during August, and the rumor of them, and of the Secretary's
proposal, in due time reached the West; but, aa ia common, the
tale spread by report differed from the truth, by representing the
proposition as much more positive than it really waa, and as being
made by John Jay, without any sanction of Congress. '
This story, wMch circulated during the winter of 1-786-87, pro
duced among those who dwelt upon the weatern watera great
indignation, and prepared the people to anticipate a contest with
Spain, or a union with her, and, in either case, action independent
of the old Atlantic colonies. And the conduct of Clark, after the
failure of the Wabash expedition, was well calculated to cause
many to think that the leading minds were already prepared for
action. On the 8th of October, a board of field officers at Yincennea
determined to garriaon that point, to raiae aupplies by impreaament,
and to enliat new troops. Under this determination, Spanish
property was seized, aoldiers were embodied, and atepa were taken
to hold a peace council with the nativea, all under the direction of
General Clark.
Soon after thia, in December, Thomas Green wrote from Louia-

* Secret Journals, iv. 81 to 132.

450 TREASONABLE LETTERS. 1786.
ville to the governor, council and legislature of Georgia — which
State was involved in the boundary quarrel with Spain — ^that Span
ish property had been seized in the north-west as a hostile measure,
and not merely to procure necessaries for the troops, which Clark
afterward declared was the case, and added, that the General was
ready to go down the river with troops sufficient to take possession
of the lands in dispute, if Georgia would countenance him.
This letter Clark said he never saw, but as he paid equally with
Green toward the expenses of the messenger who was to take it to
the south, it was natural enough to think him privy to all the plans
relative to the disputed territory, whatever they may have been.
And what they were, in some minds at least, may, perhaps, be
judged by the following extract from a letter, also written from
Louisville, professedly to some one in New England, and vety
probably by Green, which was circulated ¦widely in Frankland,
Tennessee. It is dated December 4, 1786.
" Our situation is as bad as it possibly can be, therefore every
exertion to retrieve our circumstancea must be manly, eligible and
just. We can raise twenty thousand troops this side the Allegheny
and Apalachian mountains, and the annual increase of them by
emigration from other parts, is from two to four thousand.
"We have taken all the goods belonging to the Spanish mer
chants of Post Yincennes and the Illinois, and are determined they
shall not trade up the river, provided they ¦will not let us trade
down it. Preparations are now making here (if necessary) to drive
the Spaniards from their settlements, at the mouth of the Missis
sippi. In case we are not countenanced and succored by the United
States, (if we need it,) our allegiance will be thrown off, and some
other power applied to.
" Great Britain stands ready with open arms to receive and sup
port us. They have already offered to open their resources for our
supplies. When once re-united to them, ' farewell, a long farewell
to all your boasted greatness.' The province of Canada and the
inhabitants of these waters, of themselves, in time, will be able to
conquer you. You are as ignorant of this country as Great Britain
was of America. These are hints which, if rightly improved, may
be of some service; if not, blame yourselves for the neglect."*
The seizure of the property of the Spanish merchants at Yincen
nes, was an act of retaliation on the part of the people for what

* Secret Journals, iv. 323.

1786. NEW englanders' MOVEMENT FOR WESTERN LANDS. 451
they regarded as a national injustice — the closing of the Mississippi
against them.
Wells, Green's messenger, on his way to Georgia, showed his
papers to various persons at Danville ; copies were at once taken
of them, and enclosed in a letter written on the 22d of December,
to the Executive of Yirginia, by fifteen of the leading citizens of
Kentucky, among wltom was James Wilkinson. In February,
1787, the Council of Yirginia acted upon the subject, condemned
Gen. Clark's conduct, disavowed the powers assumed by him,
ordered the prosecution of the persons concerned in the seizure of
property, and laid the matter before Congress. It was presented
in detail to that body on the 13th of April, and on the 24th of
that month it was resolved that the troops of the United States be
employed to dispossess the unauthorized intruders who had taken
possession of St. Yincents. All these things naturally tended to
excite speculation, inquiry and fear throughout the West, and
though no action was had in reference to the Mississippi question
beyond the mountains until the next spring, there was, doubtless,
discussion and feeling enough in the interval.
But in the histoty of 1786, those steps which resulted in the for
mation of the New England Ohio Company, and the founding of
the first colony, authorized by the government, north-west of the
Ohio, must not be omitted.
Congress, by the resolutions of September 16, 1776, and August
12, 1780, had promised land bounties to the officers and soldiers of
the Revolutionary army, who should continue in the service till the
close of the war, or until discharged by Congress ; and to the repre
sentatives of those who should be slain by the enemy.* In June,
1783, peace having been proclaimed. General Rufus Putnam for
warded to Washington a memorial from certain of those having
claims under these resolutions ; which Washington transmitted to
Congress, together with General Putnam's letter.
But as the States claiming the western territoty had not made
their final cessions. Congress was forced, on the 29th of October,
1783, to announce their inability to make any appropriation of
land. From that time nothing further was done until, upon the
18th of July, 1785, Benjamin Tupper, a Revolutionary officer be
longing to Massachusetts, was appointed a surveyor of western

* Land Laws, 337.

452 NEW ENGLANDERS PROPOSE A LAND COMPANY. 1786.
lands, in the place of General Putnam, who had been before chosen,
but was otherwise engaged. He, in the course of that year, visited
the West, going, however, no further than Pittsburgh, as the Indian
troubles prevented surveys.*
On his return home, he conferred with his friend Putnam, as to
a renewal of their memorial of 1783, and a removal westward;
which conference resulted in a publication, dated Januaty 10, 1786,
in which was proposed the formation of a company to settle the
Ohio lands ; and those taking an interest in the plan were in^rited
to meet in Februaty, and choose, for each county of Massachu
setts, one or more delegates ; these delegates were to assemble on
the 1st of March, at the Bunch of Grapes tavern in Boston, there
to agree upon a system of association. On the day named, eleven
persons appeared at the place agreed upon; and by the 3d of
March, the outline of the company was drawn up, and subscrip
tions under it at once commenced. The leading features of that
outline were these : A fund of a million dollars, mainly in conti
nental certificates, was to be raised for the purpose of purchasing
lands in the western territory ; there were to be a thousand shares
of one thousand dollars each, and upon each share ten dollars in
specie were to be paid, for contingent expenses. One year's inter
est was to be appropriated to the charges of making a aettlement,
and aaaiating those unable to remove without aid. The owners of
every twenty shares were to choose an agent to represent them,
and attend to their interests; and the agents were to choose the
directors.f The plan was approved, and in a year from that time
the company was organized ; and, before its organization, the last
obstacle to the purposed grant from the United States, was done
away by the ceaaion of moat of her territorial claims on the part of
Connecticut. Beside the claim of Yirginia to the north-west previously ceded
to the confederation, there were various other, and, in some
instances, confiicting claims to the same region. New York,
Massachusetts and Connecticut, in particular, claimed under their
ancient charters large tracts of country west of Pennsylvania, and
north of the Ohio.
On the 1st day of March, 1781, James Duane, William Floyd,
and Alexander McDougal, made, on behalf of the State of New

¦* Nye's Address, Transactions Ohio Historical Society, p. 817.
f Historical Collections of Ohio, Part 2.

1785. NEW YORK AND MASSACHUSETTS CEDE LANDS. 453
York, a ceaaion of all the claima of that State, to the north-weat
territory. By the terma of the cession, the western boundary of
New York, in respect both of juriadiction and title to the aoil, waa
eatablished by a line to be drawn from the north-eastern corner of
the State of Pennsylvania, along the north bounds thereof to its
north-weat corner, continued, if neceaaary, further due weat till it
is intersected by a meridian line drawn from the forty-fifth degree
of latitude through the moat weatern bent or inclination of Lake
Ontario ; thence, due north along that meridian line to the forty-
fifth degree, and along that parallel of latitude. But if, on experi
ment, that meridian line ahould not comprehend twenty miles west
from the most westerly bent or inclination of the Niagara river, it
was provided that the boundary line should be drawn due west
from the north-western corner of Pennsylvania, till it is intersected
by a meridian line drawn from the forty-fifth degree through a
point twenty milea west of the moat westerly bent or inclination of
the Niagara river ; thence, by that meridian line to, and thence
along the forty-fifth parallel of latitude. At that time the north
western corner of the State of Pennsylvania was unknown ; and
subsequently, when ascertained, it was found to be west of both
those lines.
On the 18th of April, 1785, the commonwealth of Massachusetts
ceded to the United States all ita claims west of the same meridian
line, and along it till it intersects the prolongation of the southern
line of that State.
It may be proper to refer more in detail to the cession of the
claim of Connecticut.
In 1635, a settlement was made at the mouth of the Connecticut
river, by John Wenthrop and others, from the colony of Massachu
setts bay. Finding themselves without the chartered limits of that
colony, they associated themaelvea into a voluntary political aociety,
under the name of the colony of Connecticut. In 1661, they
petitioned the crown for a formal political organization. In the
next year, a charter was granted to the colony of Connecticut, in
which ita limita were described, aa
"Bounded on the east by Narraganset river, commonly called
Narraganaet bay, where the aaid river falla into the aea; and on the
north, by the line of Maaaachusetta plantation, and on the aouth,
by the sea; and in longitude aa the line of Massachusetts colony,
running from east to west, that ia to say, from the said Narraganaet
bay on the eaat, to the aouth aea on the weat, with the islands
thereto adjoining."

454 RESOLUTION OF CONNECTICUT LEGISLATURE. 1783,
In 1664, a royal charter was granted to the Duke of York, for a
large tract of country in America, of ¦which a part was described
as including " all that island or islands, called by the several name
or names of Mattawacks, or Long Island, situate, lying and being
toward the west of Cape Cod and the Narragansets, abutting on
the main lands between the two rivers there called and known by
the name of Connecticut and Hudson rivers, together with the said
river, called Hudson river, and all the -lands from the west side of
Connecticut river to the east side of the Delaware bay, &c," A
dispute immediately ensued between the Duke of York and the
Connecticut colony, in regard to these conflicting claims under
their respective charters, which was settled by a royal commission,
who established the Monoromock river, and a'line north north-west
from thence to the line of Massachusetts, to be the dividing line
between the colony of Connecticut and the territoty claimed by
the Duke of York,
In 1681, a charter was granted to William Penn for a territory,
described as extending to, and bounded on the north by the forty-
third parallel of latitude; and westward for five degrees in longi
tude. After the transfer of the claims of the proprietaries of Pennsyl
vania to the commonwealth, in 1779, a question of jurisdiction
arose between the States of Connecticut and Pennsylvania, in
regard to tlie lands between the forty-first and forty-second degrees
of latitude, thus included in the charters of both these States. It
was tried before a commission of Congress in 1782, and a decision
was rendered in favor of the claims of Pennsylvania, in respect
both of jurisdiction and title to the soil. But the decision of the
commission did not affect the claims of Connecticut to the lands
included in its charter, west of the limits of Pennsylvania ; and, to
assert its right to those lands, the legislature of that State passed,
in 1783, the following resolution :
"Whereas, this State has the undoubted and exclusive right of
jurisdictim and pre-emption to all the lands lying west from the
western limits of the State of Pennsylvania, and east of the river
Mississifipi, and extending throughout, from the latitude of the
forty-Jirst degree to the latitude of the forty-second degree and
two minutes north; by virtue of the chartergranted by King Charles
the Scfoiid to the late colony, and now State of Connecticut,
and biai iiig date the 23d of April, 1662, which claim and title to
make known for the information of all, that they may conform
the iisfKes thdeto —

1786, CONNECTICUT CEDES WESTERN LANDS, 455
" Resolved, That his excellency the Governor be desired to issue
his proclamation, declaring and asserting the right of this State to
all the lands within the limits aforesaid, and strictly forbidding
all persons to enter or settle thereon, without special license
and authority first obtained from the General Assembly of thia
State," In conaequence of the recommendation of Congreaa, in 1784,
addressed to all the States having territorial claima in the Weat,
aaking them to cede their lands to the confederacy, to aid the pay
ment of the debts incurred during the revolution, and to promote
the harmony of the Union, the legislature of Connecticut passed
an act in 1786, ceding, " All the right, title, interest, jurisdiction,
and claim of the State of Connecticut to certain western lands,
beginning at the completion of the forty-first degree of north lati
tude, one hundred and twenty miles west of the western boundary
of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as now claimed by said
commonwealth ; and from thence by a line to be drawn parallel to
and one hundred and twenty milea west of the said west line of
Pennsylvania, and to continue north till it comes to forty-two
degrees and two minutes of north latitude ; where by all the right,
title, interest, jurisdiction, and claim of the State of Connecticut to
the lands lying west of the said line, to be drawn as aforementioned
one hundred and twenty miles west of the western boundary line
of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as now claimed by said
commonwealth, shall be included, released, and ceded to the
United States, in Congress assembled, for the common use and
benefit of said States, Connecticut inclusive,"
On the 14th of September, 1786, the delegates. from Connecticut
executed a deed of cession in accordance with the terras of this act,
which was accepted by Congress in behalf of the United States.*
It has been said that a minority of the convention called in Kentucky,
1787.] to meet in September, 1786, was adjourned from time to time
until January of this year; when, at length aquorum attended. Upon
a vote being then taken relative to separation, the feeling w.ia still,
as before, strongly in favor of it. But scarce had this been Msoer-
tained when a second act upon the subject, passed by Yir iiuia in
October, 1786, reached the West, and the whole question uas
again postponed, to be laid before ajifth convention, which wax to

¦* American State Papers, xvi. 94.

456 GREAT DISSATISFACTION IN THE WEST. 1786.
meet in September; while the time when the laws of Yirginia
ahould ceaae to be of force, was changed to the close of the year
1778. There were many, beyond doubt, to whom this delay was a
source of vexation and anger, but the people of the district
generally evinced no auch feelinga. The electiona took place
in August, and the convention assembled upon the 17th of
September, all in perfect harmony and quietness. The vote was
again unanimous in favor of separation, and the act of Yirginia was
agreed to. To form a constitution, a sixth convention waa to be
- choaen in the ensuing April, and to complete the work of inde
pendence. Congress was to assent to a formation of Kentucky into
a State, before July 4, 1788,
Nor was the spirit of moderation shown this year by the Ken
tuckians in relation to self-government, confined to that subject;
in regard to the vexatious affair of the Spaniah claims, there was a
like temper manifested. Mr. Jay, aa already related, had been
authorized by Congreas to abandon the right of using the Missis
sippi for a term of years, but not to yield the pretensions of the
United States to its navigation after that period closed.
In October, 1786, under these instructions, he resumed his nego
tiations with I^on Gardoqui, but without auccess, aa Spain required
an entire relinquishment of the American claim.* In November
of that year, alao, Yirginia had pasaed aeveral reaolutions against
giving up the uae of the river, even for a day, and had instructed
her delegates to oppose every attempt of the kind. When, there
fore, the people of Kentucky met at Danville, early in May, 1787,
to act in relation to the subject — having been called together by
Mesara. Muter, Innia, Brown and Sebastian, for that purpose — they
found that little or nothing was to be done; the plan of the Secre
tary was not likely to succeed, and had been fully protested against.
The assembly at Danville having been informed of these things,
quietly adjourned.
What connection existed between thia better spirit of the people
of Kentucky, and the absence of Wilkinson, it ia impoaaible to say,
but it ia probable that, if he had remained at home, he would, with
the influence he waa able and diaposed to exert, have induced the
convention to adopt a line of policy which would have made a
peaceable aeparation from Yirginia impossible. That indeed was

?Secret Journals, iv. 297-301.

1787. GREAT DISSATISFACTION IN THE WEST, 457
t!ie object to which he and his accomplices directed their schemes,
and to affect which he was willing to sacrifice his own honor, the
integrity of the Union, and the liberties of the district. In fur
therance of that infamous purpose, and convinced that he could
not effect the dismemberment of the countty without foreign aid,
he descended the Mississippi in the summer of that year, and en
tered into a treasonable conspiracy with the Spanish governor of
Louisiana, to take advantage of the dissatisfaction of the people of
the district, to transfer their allegiance to Spain, and to give that
power the possession of the whole Mississippi valley.
There was a general discontent at that period among the people
of Kentucky, of which their leaders were as usual ready to take ad
vantage for their own aggrandizement. The desire of the people
for a separation of the district from Yirginia, familiarized their
minds to the idea of a separation from the confederacy. Harry
Innis, the attorney-general of the district, in a letter to the gover
nor of Yirginia, said: "I am decidedly of the opinion that this
western country will, in a few years, act for itself, and erect an in
dependent government;" and the same opinion was generally
entertained and freely expressed among the leading men of Ken
tucky. Nor did the prospect of the establishment of the Federal Union,
then under consideration, produce any better state of feeling.
The new constitution waa very generally circulated through the
district, by means of the Kentucky Gazette, a paper eatablished in
August, 1787, by John Bradford, at Lexington ; ita provisions were
fully understood; and yet, of fourteen representatives from the dis
trict of Kentucky, in the convention called in 1788, to deliberate
on the question of adopting it, only three voted in favor of it.
The sole reasons for this dissatisfaction, then rapidly ripening into
treason, were the delay of the state of Yirginia to provide for the
district a aeparate political organization, and eapecially the inability
of the general government to procure for them the navigation of
the Miasissippi. Mr. Jay'a proposition, to aurrender the naviga
tion of the river for a term of yeara, waa vety unfavorably received
in the West, and the discontents it excited were greatly enhanced
by the discovery that the leading statesmen of Yirginia, including
Washington himself, were disposed to favor that policy.
The policy * which Washington desired to pursue at that period.

* See Sparks' Washington, vol. ix.
30

458 WASHINGTON'S POLICY IN RELATION TO THE WEST. 1784.
with reference to the interests of the West, was not well understood,
and was therefore misapprehended by the people of Kentucky. It
was not at all his design to sacrifice the rights of the people of the
West for the benefit of those of the East, or to render the interests
of one part of the confederacy subservient to those of another. In
stead of that, he was then employed in devising measures to secure,
by means of a system of internal improvement, such a communica
tion between the East and West, as would inseparably connect
together the commercial, and, by consequence, the political inter
ests of the two sections.
The formation of a connection between the Ohio and Potomac,
for commercial purposes, was a scheme to which he was at an early
period favorably disposed. Before the Revolution he was the prin
cipal mover in the formation of a company to extend the naviga
tion of the Potomac from tide water to Wills' creek, with a view
of ultimately forming a connection with the waters of the Ohio,
but the breaking out of the war, and the jealousies of the mer
chants of Baltimore, embarrassed, and finally frustrated the
scheme. Immediately after the Revolution he began again to urge upon
the consideration of the statesmen of the country, the adoption of
a similar line of policy, with a view then, however, more to politi
cal than to commercial results. In his letter to Governor Harri
son, in 1784, he strongly urges the necessity of binding together
all parts of the Union, and especially the West with the East, with
the indissoluble bonds of interest, in order to prevent the forma
tion of commercial, and, in consequence, political connections, ¦with
either the Spaniards on the south, or the British on the north. To'
effect that end he advised the immediate survey of the Potomac
aud James rivers, of the portages to the waters of the Ohio, of the
Muskingum, and the portage from that river to the Cuyahoga; for
the purpose of opening a water communication for the commerce
of the Ohio and the lakes, to the seaboard, and this he character
ized as an object of vast commercial and political importance.
In a letter to Richard Henry Lee, in the same year, he asks:
" Would it not be worthy of the wisdom and attention of Congress
to have the western waters well explored, the navigation of them
fully ascertained and accurately laid down, and a complete and
perfect map made of the country, at least as far westerly as the
Miamis, running into the Ohio, and Lake Erie, and to see how the
watera of these communicate with the river St. Joseph, which
empties into Lake Michigan, and with the Wabash ? for I cannot

1788, Washington's topographical inquiries, 459
forbear observing that the Miami village* points to a very impor
tant post for the Union,"
In a letter to Mr, Lee, in 1785, he says: "However singular the
opinion may be, I cannot divest myself of it, that the navigation of
the Mississippi, at this time, ought to be no object with us. On the
contraty, until we have a little time allowed to open and make easy
the ways between the Atlantic states and the western territory,
the obstructions had better remain. There is nothing that binds
one country or one State to another but interest,"
In order to further, as far as practicable, the policy he had thua
suggested, Washington made it an especial object to collect all the
information available at the time, in regard to the practicability of
opening such a communication between the East and the West,
and especially in regard to the possibility of forming an available
connection between the waters of the Ohio and those of Lake Erie,
His letter to General Butler, under date of January 17th, 1788, is
an exemplification of his anxiety to obtain information on that sub
ject, as well as of the practical, inquiring disposition of his mind :
"I have received your letter of the 30th of November, 1787,
accompanied by the Indian vocabulary which you have been so
obliging as to forward me, I am so far from thinking any apology
necessary on your part, for not having furnished me with the vocab
ulary at an earlier period, that I assure you it is a matter of surprise
to me to find that you have been able to complete a work of such
difficulty and magnitude as this appears to be, iu so short a time,
under the pain which you must have suffered, and the delays occa
sioned by your misfortune,
"The pleasing satisfaction which you must enjoy, from a reflec
tion that you have exerted yourself to throw light upon the original
history of this country — to gratify the curiosity of the philosopher,
and to forward the researches in the probable connection and
communication between the northern parts of America and those
of Asia — must make you a more ample compensation for the labo
rious task which you have executed, than my warmest acknowl
edgments, which, however, I must beg you to accept,
"The observations contained in your letter respecting the
different tribes of Indians inhabiting the western country, the
traditions which prevail among them, and the reasoning deduced
therefi'om, are very valuable, and may lead to some useful dis
coveries, * Near the present site of Fort Wayne.

460 new ENGLAND ASSOCIATION LAND COMPANY FORMED. 1787.
" Those works which are found upon the Ohio, and other traces
of the country being once inhabited by a race of people more
ingenious, at least, if not more civilized than those who at present
dwell there, have excited the attention and inquiries of the curious,
to learn from whence they came, whither they are gone, and some
thing of their history. Any clue, therefore, which can lead to a
knowledge of these, must be gratefully received.
" Aa you have had opportunities of gaining extensive knowledge
and information respecting the western territory, its situation,
rivers, and the face of the country, I must beg the favor of you,
my dear sir, to resolve the following queries, either from your own
knowledge or certain information, (as well to gratify my own curi
osity as to enable me to satisfy several gentlemen of distinction in
other countries, who have applied to me for information upon the
subject,) viz:
" First. — What is the face of the country between the sources,
or canoe navigation, of the Cuyahoga, (which discharges itself
into Lake Erie,) and the Big Beaver, and between the Cuyahoga
and the Muskingum?"
"Second. — The distance between the waters of the Cuyahoga and
each of the two rivers above mentioned?
" Third. — Would it be practicable, and not very expensive, to
cut a canal between the Cuyahoga and either of the above rivers,
ao as to open a communication between the waters of Lake Erie
and those of the Ohio ?
"Fourth. — Whether there is any more direct, practicable, and
easy communication between the waters of Lake Erie and thoae
of the Ohio, by which the fur and peltry of the upper country can
be transported, than these?
" Any information you can give me relative to the above queries,
from your own knowledge, will be most agreeable; but if that is
not sufficiently accurate for you to decide upon, the best and most
authentic accounts of others will be very acceptable."
While, south of Ohio, dissatisfaction with the Federal Union was
spreading openly, as the necessary consequences of free and unfet
tered choice, the New England associates for settling the north
west were, by degrees, preparing to realize their plans of coloniza
tion. In March, 1786, it will be remembered, they began their
subscription ; on the 8th of that month, 1787, a meeting of agents
chose Gen. Parsons, Gen. Putnam, and the Rev. Manasseh Cutler
directors for the company, and these directors appointed Dr. Cutler

1787. DR. CUTLER NEGOTIATES WITH CONGRESS FOR LAND. 461
to go to New York and negotiate with Congress for the desired
tract of country. On the 5th of July that gentleman reached the
temporary capital of the Union, and then began a scene of man
agement worthy of more degenerate days. The following extracts
from Dr. Cutier's journal are given, to indicate the mode of proce
dure adopted to secure the negotiation ; of these, but a few para
graphs can be given.* The first relates to the choice of the Mus
kingum valley as the spot for settlement:
"July 7. Paid myrespects to Dr. Holton and several other gen
tlemen. Was introduced by Dr. Ewings and Mr. Rittenhouse to
Mr. Hutchins, Geographer of the United States. Consulted with
him where to make our location.
" Monday, July 9. Waited this morning, very early, on Mr.
Hutchins. He gave me the fullest information of the western
country, from Pennsylvania to the Illinois, and advised me, by all
means, to make our location on the Muskingum, which was deci
dedly, in his opinion, the best part of the whole western country.
Attended the committee before Congress opened, and then spent
the remainder of the forenoon with Mr. Hutchins.
"Attended the committee at Congress chamber; debated on
terms, but were so wide apart there appears little prospect of
closing a contract.
" Called again on Mr. Hutchins. Consulted him further about
the place of location."
The opinion thus given by Hutchins, who had been long and
familiarly acquainted with the West, agreed with that formed by
General Parsons, who had ¦visited the Ohio valley, once at least, if
not twice; the result of his observations will be found in the letter
given at length in the article of the North American Review, of
October, 1841, already quoted. The other extracts, which are taken
from the Doctor's journal, refer to the " maneuvers," as he terms
them, by which was effected a contract at least as favorable to the
Union as it was to the company :
"Colonel Duer came to me with proposals from a number of the
principal characters in the city, to extend our contract, and take in
another company ; but that it should be kept a profound secret. He
explained the plan they had concerted, and offered me generous
conditions if I would accomplish the business for them. The plan
atruck me agreeably; Sargent insisted on my undertaking; and
both urged me not to think of giving the matter up so soon.

* North American Review, October, 1841.

462 DR. CUTLER NEGOTIATES WITH CONGRESS FOR LAND. 1787.
" I was convinced it was best for me to hold up the idea of giv
ing up a contract with Congress, and making a contract with some
of the States, which I did in the strongest terms, and represented
to the committee and to Duer and Sargent the difficulties I saw in
the way, and the improbability of closing a bargain when we were
so far separated ; and told them I conceived it not worth while to
say any thing further to Congress on the subject. This appeared
to have the effect I wished. The committee were mortified, and
did not seem to know what to say ; but atill urged another attempt.
I left them in this state, but afterward explained my views to Duer
and Sargent, who fully approved my plan. Promised Duer to con
sider his proposals.
"I spent the evening (closeted) with Colonel Duer, and agreed to
purchase more land, if terms could be obtained, for another com
pany, which will probably forward the negotiation.
"Saturday, July 21. Several members of Congress called on me
early this morning. They discovered much anxiety about a contract,
and assured me that Congress, on finding I was determined not to
accept their terms, and had proposed leaving the city, had discov
ered a much more favorable disposition ; and believed, if I renewed
my request I might obtain conditions as reasonable as I desired.
I was very indifferent and talked much of the advantages of a
contract with one of the States. This I found had the desired
effect. At length I told him that if Congress would accede to the
terms I proposed, I would extend the purchase to the tenth town
ship from the Ohio to the Scioto inclusively ; by which Congress
would pay more than four millions of the public debt ; that our
intention was, an actual, large, and immediate settlement of the most
robust and industrious people in America, and that it would be
made systematically, which would instantly advance the price of
the Federal lands, and prove an important acquisition to Congress.
On these terms, I would renew the negotiation, if Congress was
disposed to take the matter up again.
"I spent the evening with Mr. Dane and Mr. Milliken. They
informed me that Congress had taken up my business again.
"July 23. My friends had made every exertion, in private con
versation, to bring over my opponents in Congress. In order to
get at some of them so as to work more powerfully on their minds,
were obliged to engage three or four persons before we could get
at them. In some instances we engaged one person who engaged
a second, and he a third, before we could effect our purpose. In
these maneuvers I am much beholden to Oolonel Duer and Major
Sargent.

1787. DR. CUTLER NEGOTIATES WITH CONGRESS FOR LAND. 463
"Having found it impossible to support General Parsons, as a
candidate for Governor, after the interest that General Arthur St.
Clair had secured, I embraced this opportunity to declare that if
General Parsons could have the appointment of first judge, and
Sargent secretary, we should be satisfied; and that I heartily
wished his Excellency General St. Clair might be the Governor ;
and that I would solicit the Eastern members in his favor. This
I found rather pleasing to Southern members.
" I am fully convinced that it was good policy to give up Parsons
and openly appear solicitous that St. Clair might be appointed
governor. Several gentlemen have told me that our matters went
on much better since St. Clair and his friends had been informed
that we had given up Parsons, and that I had solicited the Eastern
members in favor of his appointment. I immediately went to
Sargent and Duer, and we now entered into the true spirit of
negotiation with great bodies. Every machine in the city that it
was possible to work we now put in motion. Few, Bingham, and
Kearney are our principal opposers. Of Few and Bingham there
is hope ; but to bring over that stubborn mule of a Kearney, I think
is beyond our power.
"Friday, July 21. I rose very early this morning, and, after
adjusting my baggage for my return, for I was determined to leave
New York this day, I set out on a general morning visit, and paid
myrespects to all the members of Congress in the city, and informed
them of my intention to leave the city that day. My expectations
of obtaining a contract, I told them, were nearly at an end. I
should, however, wait the decision of Congress ; and if the terms I
had stated — and which I conceived to be very advantageous to
Congress, considering the circumstances of that country — were not
acceded to, we must turn our attention to some other part of the
country. New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts would sell
us lands at half a dollar, and give us exclusive privileges beyond
what we have asked of Congress.
"The speculating plan concerted between the British of Canada,
was not well known. The uneasiness of the Kentucky people,
with respect to the Mississippi, was notorious. A revolt of that
country from the Union, if a war with Spain took place, was uni
versally acknowledged to be highly probable ; and most certainly a
systematic settlement in that country, conducted by men thor
oughly attached to the federal government, and composed of young ,
robust, and hardly laborers, who had no idea of any other than the
Federal Government, I conceived to be an object worthy of some
attention."

464 DR. cutler's negotiations end. 1787.
This busineaa was carried through Congress, and brought to a
conclusion in great haste. At that time the fiscal concerns of gov
ernment were deplorable ; the treasury of the nation was exhausted,
money could not be raised on loan, as the whole revolutionaty debt
waa a terrible incubus on the national credit, and the only alterna
tive was to sell lands. Dr. Cutler's own journal showa he managed
the negotiation shrewdly, but not quite honorably.
On the 23d of July, Congress authorized the Board of Treasury
to make the contract ; on the 26th, Messrs. Cutler and Sargent
stated, in writing, their conditions ; and on the 27th, Congress re
ferred their letter to the Board, and an order of the same date was
obtained. Of this, his journal says:
"By this ordinance we obtained the grant of near five millions of
acres of land, amounting to three millions and a half dollars; one
million and a half of acres for the Ohio Company, and the remain
der for a private speculation, in which many of the principal charac
ters of America are concerned. Without connecting this speculation,
similar terms and advantages could not have been obtained for the
Ohio Company."
Messrs. Cutler and Sargent, the latter of whom the doctor had
associated with himself some days before, at once closed a verbal
contract with the Board of Treasury, which was executed in form
on the 27th of the following October.* By this contract, the vast
region bounded south by the Ohio, west by the Scioto, east by the
seventh range of townships then surveying, and north by a due west
line drawn from the north boundary of the tenth township from
the Ohio, direct to the Scioto, was sold to the Ohio associates, and
their secret co-partners, for one dollar per acre, subject to a deduc
tion of one-third for bad lands and other contingencies.
The whole tract, however, was not paid for, or taken by the
company — even their own portion of a million and a half of acres,
and extending west to the eighteenth range of townships, was not
taken ; and in 1792, the boundaries of the purchase proper were
fixed as follows : the Ohio on the south, the seventh range of town
ships on the east, the sixteenth range on the west, and a line on
the north so drawn as to make the grant seven hundred and fifty
thousand (750,000) acres, besides reservations; this grant being the
portion which it was originally agreed the company might enter into
possession of at once. In addition to this, two hundred and fourteen
thousand two hundred and eighty-five (214,285) acres of land were

*Soe Land Laws, 262 to 264.— Old Journals, iv. Appendix, 17, 18.

l'rS6. CHANGE OF DIVISION OF NORTH-WEST TERRITORY. 465
granted as army bounties, under the resolutions of 1779 and 1780 ;
and one hundred thousand (100,000) as bounties to actual settlers ;
both of the latter tracts being within the original grant of 1787,
and adjoining the purchase as above defined.
While Dr. Cutler was preparing to press his suit with Congreaa,
that body was bringing into form an ordinance for the political and
social organization of the territoty beyond the Ohio. Yirginia
made her cession March 1, 1784, and during the month following
a plan for the temporary government of the newly acquired terri
tory came under discussion. On the 19th of April, Mr. Spaight,
of North Carolina, moved to strike from that plan, which had been
reported by Mr. Jefferson, a provision for prohibiting slavery
north-west of the Ohio, after the year 1800 — and this motion pre
vailed. From that day till the 23d, the plan was debated and
altered, and then passed unanimously, with the exception of South
Carolina.* By this proposition the territory was to have been di
vided into States, by parallels of latitude and meridian lines ;t this,
it was thought, would have made ten States, which were to have
been named as follows, beginning at the north-west corner, and
going southwardly: — Sylvania, Michigania, Chersonisus, Assenis-
pia, Metropotamia, Hlinoia, Saratoga, Washington, Polypotamia,
and Pelisipia.t Surely the hero of Mount Yernon must have shud
dered to find himself in such company.
But a more serious difficulty existed to this plan than its cata
logue of names — namely, the number of States which it was
proposed to form, and their boundaries. The root of this evil waa
in the reaolution passed by Congress, October 10th, 1780, which
fixed the size of the States to be formed from the ceded lands, at
one hundred to one hundred and fifty miles square ; and the terms
of that resolution had been referred to, both by Yirginia and
Massachusetts in their grants, so as to make further legislation, at
least, by the former, needful to change them. Upon the 7th of
July, 1786, this subject was taken up in Congress, and a resolution
passed in favor of a division of not less than three nor more than
five States, to which resolution Yirginia, at the close of 1788,
assented. On the 29th of September, 1786, Congress, having thus
changed the plan for dividing the north-western territory into ten

* Old Journals, iv. 880. f Old Journals, iv. 379 ; Land Laws, 347.
J Spark's Washington, is. 48.

466 ORDINANCE FOR NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY. 1787.
States, proceeded again to consider the terms of an ordinance for
the government of that region ; and this was taken up from time
to time, until July 13th of this year, when it was finally passed,
having been somewhat changed just before its passage, at the
suggestion of Dr. Cutler. It is inserted entire, as it is the corner
stone of the constitutions of our north-western States :
" Be it ordained by the United States in Congress assembled,
That the said territoty, for the purposes of temporary government,
be one district, subject, however, to be di^vided into two districts,
as future circumstances may, in the opinion of Congress, make it
expedient. "Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid. That the estates,
both of resident and non-resident proprietors in said territoty, dying
intestate, shall descend to, and be distributed among their children,
aud the descendants of a deceased child, in equal parts; the descend
ants of a deceased child, or grand-child, to take the share of their
deceased parent in equal parts among them : And where there shall
be no children or descendants, then in equal parts to the next of
kin in equal degree ; and, among collaterals, the children of a
deceased brother or sister of the intestate shall have, in equal parts
among them, their deceased parents' share ; and there shall, in no
case, be a distinction between kindred of the whole and half-blood;
saving, in all cases, to the widow of the intestate, her third part of
the real estate for life, and one-third part of the personal estate;
atui this law, relative to descents and dower, shall remain in full
force until altered by the legislature of the district.
"And, until the governor and judges shall adopt laws as herein
after mentioned, estates in the said territory may be devised or
bequeathed by wills in writing, signed and sealed by him or her,
in whom the estate may be, (being of full age,) and attested by
three witnesses ; and real estates maybe conveyed by lease and
release, or bargain and sale, signed, sealed and delivered, by the
person, being of full age, in whom the estate may be, and attested
by two witnesses, provided such wills be duly proved, and such
conveyances be acknowledged, or the execution thereof duly proved,
and be recorded within one year after proper magistrates, courts,
and registers, shall be appointed for that purpose ; and personal
property may be transferred by delivery, saving, however, to the
French and Canadian inhabitants, and other settlers of the Kaskas
kias. St. Yincents, and the neighboring villages who have hereto
fore professed themselves citizens of Yirginia, their lawa and

1787. ORDINANCE FOR NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY. 467
customs now in force among them, relative to the descent and
conveyance of property.
"Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid. That there shall be
appointed, from time to time, by Congress, a governor, whose
commission shall continue in force for three years, unless sooner
revoked by Congress ; he shall reside in the district, and have a
freehold estate therein in one thousand acres of land, while in the
exercise of his office.
" There shall be appointed, from time to time, by Congress, a
secretary, whose commission shall continue in force for four yeara,
unleaa aooner revoked ; he shall reside in the district, and have a free
hold estate therein in five hundred acres of land, while in the exercise
of his office ; it shall be his duty to keep and preserve the acts and
laws passed by the legislature, and the public records of the district,
and the proceedings of the governor in his executive department,
and transmit authentic copies of such acts and proceedings, evety
six months, to the secretary of Congress: There shall also be
appointed a court to consist of three judges, any two of whom to
form a court, who shall have a common law jurisdiction, and reside
in the district, and have each therein a freehold estate in five hun-
"dred acres of land while in the exercise of their offices ; and their
commissions shall continue in force during good behavior.
" The governor and judges, or a majority of them, shall adopt
and publish in the district such laws of the original States, criminal
and civil, as may be necessary, and best suited to the circumstances
of the district, and report them to Congress from time to time;
which laws shall be in force in the district until the organization
of the General Assembly therein, unless disapproved of by Con
gress ; but, afterward, the legislature shall have authority to alter
them as they shall think fit.
"The governor, for the time being, shall be commander-in-chief
of the militia, appoint and commission all officers in the same
below the rank of general officers; all general officers shall be
appointed and commissioned by Congress.
" Previous to the organization of the General Assembly, the
governor shall appoint such magistrates and other civil officers, in
each county or township, as he shall find necessary for the preser
vation of the peace and good order in the same. After the General
Assembly ahall be organized, the powera and dutiea of magistrates
and other civil officera shall be regulated and defined by the said
Assembly; but all magistrates and other civil officers, not herein
otherwise directed, shall, during the continuance of this temporaty
government, be appointed by the governor.

468 ORDINANCE FOR NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY. 1787.
" For the prevention of crimes and injuries, the laws to be
adopted or made shall have force in all parts of the district, and for
the execution of process, criminal and civil, the governor shall
make proper divisions thereof; and he shall proceed from time to
time, as circumstances may require, to lay out the parts of the dis
trict, in which the Indian titles shall have been extinguished, into
counties and townships, subject, however, to such alterations as
may thereafter be made by tho legislature.
" So soon as there shall be five thousand free male inhabitants,
of full age, in the district, upon giving proof thereof to the
governor, they shall receive authority, with time and place, to elect
representatives from their counties or townships to represent them
in the General Assembly: Provided, That, for every five hundred
free male inhabitants, there shall be one representative, and so on
progressively with the number of free male inhabitants, shall the
right of representation increase, until the number of rcpresentar
tives shall amount to twenty-five ; after which, the number and
proportion of representatives shall be regulated by the legislature:
Provided, That no person be eligible or qualified to act as a repre
sentative unless he shall have been a citizen of one of the United
States three years, and be a resident in the district, or unless he
shall have resided in the district three years : and, in either case,
shall likewise hold in his own right, in fee simple, two hundred
acres of land within the same: Prodded, also. That a freehold, in
fifty acres of land in the district, having been a citizen of one of
the States, and being resident in the district, or the like freehold
and two years' residence in the district, shall be necessary to qualify
a man as an elector of a representative.
" The representatives thus elected, shall serve for the term of two
years: and, in case of the death of a representative, or removal
from office, the governor shall issue a writ to the county or town
ship for which he was a member, to elect another in his stead, to
serve for the residue of the term.
" The General Assembly, or Legislature, shall consist of the
Governor, Legislative Council, and a House of Representatives.
The Legislative Council shall consist of five members, to continue
in office five years, unless sooner removed by Congress; any three
of whom to be a quorum: and the members of the council shall be
nominated and appointed in the following manner, to wit : As soon
as representatives shall be elected, the governor shall appoint a
time aud place for them to meet together ; and when met they shall
nominate ten persons, residents in the district, and each possessed
of a freehold in five hundred acres of land, and return their names

1787. ORDINANCE FOR NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY. 469
to Congress; five of whom Congress shall appoint and commission
to serve as aforesaid ; and whenever a vacancy shall happen in the
council, by death or removal from office, the House of Representa
tives shall nominate two persons, qualified as aforesaid, for each
vacancy, and return their names to Congress; one of whom Con
gress shall appoint and commission for the residue of the term.
"And every five years, four months at least before the expiration
of the time of service of the members of the council, the said
House shall nominate ten persons, qualified as aforesaid, and return
their names to Congress ; five of whom Congress shall appoint and
commission to serve as members of the council five years unless
aooner removed. And the Governor, Legislative Council, and
House of Representatives, shall have authority to make laws in all
cases, for the good government of the district, not repugnant to the
principles and articles in this ordinance established and declared.
And all bills, having passed by a majority in the House, and by a
majority in the Council, shall be referred to the Governor for his
assent; but no bill, or legislative act whatever, shall be of any force
¦without his assent. The governor shall have power to convene,
prorogue, and dissolve the General Assembly, when, in his opinion,
it ahall be expedient.
"The Governor, Judges, Legislative Council, Secretary, and
auch other officers as Congress shall appoint in the district, shall
take an oath or affirmation of fidelity and of office — the Governor
before the President of Congress, and all other officers before the
Governor. As soon as a Legislature shall be formed in the district,
the Council and House assembled in one room, shall have authority,
by joint ballot, to elect a delegate to Congress, who shall have a
seat in Congress, with a right of debating, but not of voting, during
thia temporary government.
"And for extending the fundamental principles of civil and
religious liberty, which form the basia whereon theae republics,
their lawa and constitutions are erected; to fix and establish those
principles as the basis of all laws, constitutions, and governments,
which forever hereafter shall be formed in the said territory ; to
provide also for the establishment of States, and permanent govern
ment therein, and for their admission to a share in the federal
councils on an equal footing with the original States, at aa early
perioda aa may be conaistent with the general intereat :
"It is hereby ordained and declared by the authority aforesaid,
That the following articles shall be considered as articles of
compact between the original States and the people and States in

470 ORDINANCE FOR NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY. 1787.
the said territory, and forever remain unalterable, unless by
common consent, to wit:
"No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly
manner, shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship
or religious sentiments, in the said territoty.
"The inhabitants of the said territory shall always be entitled to
the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus, and of the trial byjuty,
of a proportionate representation of the people in the Legislature;
and of judicial proceedings according to the course of common
law. All persons shall be bailable, unless for capital offences,
where the proof shall be evident or the presumption great. AU
fines shall be moderate ; and no cruel or unusual punishments shall
be inflicted. No man shall be deprived of his liberty or property^
but by the judgment of his peers or the law of the land; and,
should the public exigencies make it necessaty, for the common
preservation, to take any person's property, or to demand his
particular services, full compensation shall be made for the same.
And, in the just preservation of rights and property, it is under
stood and declared, that no law ought ever to be made, or have
force in the said territory, that shall, in any manner whatever
interfere with or affect private contracts or engagements, bona fide,
and without fraud, previously formed.
"Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good
government and the happiness of mankind, schools aud the means
of education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith
shall always be observed toward the Indians; their lands and
property shall never be taken from them without their consent;
and, in their property, rights and liberty, they shall never be
invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized by
Congress; but laws founded in justice and humanity, shall, from
time to time, be made for preventing wrongs being done to them,
and for preserving peace and friendship with them.
" The said territory, and the States which may be formed therein,
ahall forever remain a part of this confederacy of the United States
of America, subject to the articles of confederation, and to such
alterations therein as shall be constitutionally made; and to all the
acts and ordinances of the United States in Congress assembled,
conformable thereto. The inhabitants and settlers in the said
territoty shall be subject to pay a part of the federal debts con
tracted, or to be contracted, and a proportional part of the expenses
of government, to be apportioned on them by Congress according
to the same common rule and measure by which apportionments

1787. ORDINANCE FOR NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY. 471
thereof shall be made on the other States ; and the taxes, for paying
their proportion, shall be laid and levied by the authority and
direction of the Legislatures of the district or districts, or new
States, as in the original States, within the time agreed upon by
the United States in Congress assembled. The Legislatures of
those districts or new States, shall never interfere with the primary
disposal of the soil by the United States in Congress assembled,
nor with any regulations Congress may find necessary for securing
the title in such soil to the bona fide purchasers.
"No tax shall be imposed on lands the property of the United
States; and, in no case, shall non-resident proprietors be taxed
higher than residents. The navigable waters leading into the
Mississippi and St. Lawrence, and the carrying places between the
same, shall be common highways, and forever free, as well to the
inhabitants of the said territory as to the citizens of the United
Statea, and those of any other States that may be admitted into
the confederacy, without any tax, impost or duty, therefor.
"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 Yirginia shall alter her act of cession, and consent to the
same, shall become fixed and established as follows, to wit: The
western State in the said territory, shall be bounded by the Missis
sippi, the Ohio, and Wabash rivers ; a direct line drawn from the
Wabash and Post St. Yincent's due north, to the territorial line
between the United States and Canada; and, by the said territorial
line, to the Lake of the Woods and Mississippi.
" The middle State shall be bounded by the said direct line, the
Wabash from Post St. Yincent's to the Ohio; by the Ohio, by a
direct line drawn due north from the mouth of the Great Miami,
to the said territorial line. The eastern State shall be bounded by
the last mentioned direct line, the Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the
aaid territorial line: Provided, hoicever, and it ia further underatood
and declared, that the boundaries of these three States shall be
subject so far to be altered, that if Congress shall hereafter find it
expedient, they shall have authority to form one or two States in
that part of the said territory which lies north of au east and
west line drawn through the southerly bend or extreme of Lake
Michigan. "And, whenever any of the said States shall have sixty thousand
free inha,bitants therein, such State shall be admitted, by its
delegates, into the Congress of the United States on an equal
footing with the original States in all respects whatever, and shall

472 SYMMES APPLIES TO CONGRESS FOR LAND. 1787.
be at liberty to form a permanent constitution and State govern
ment: Provided,, the constitution and government so to be formed,
shall be republican, and in conformity to the principles contained
in these articles; and so far as it can be consistent with the genemi
interest of the confederacy, such admission shall be allowed at an
earlier period, and when there may be a less number of free
inhabitants in the State than sixty thousand.
"There shall be neither slavery or involuntary servitude in the
said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof
the party shall have been duly convicted : Provided, always, That
any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is
lawfully claimed in any one of the original States, such fugitive
may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming
his or her labor or services as aforesaid.
"Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid: That the reaolutions
of the 23d of April, 1784, relative to the subject of this ordinance,
be, and the same are hereby repealed and declared null and void.
Done, &c." *
The passage of this ordinance, and the grant to the New England
associates, was soon followed by an application to government by
John Cleve Symmes of New Jersey, for the country between the
Miamis. f This gentleman had been led to visit that region by the
representations of Benjamin Stites, of Redstone, (Brownsville,)
who had examined the valleys of the Shawanese soon after the
treaty of January, 1786. Symmes found them all, and more than
all they had been represented to be, and upon the 29th of August,
1787, wrote to the President of Congress, asking that the Treasury
Board might be empowered to contract with him for the district
above named. This petition, on the 2d of October, was referred
to the Board, with power to act, and a contract was concluded the
next year. Upon the 18th of the month last named, another
application was made by Royal Flint and Joseph Parker, for landa
upon the Wabash and Mississippi; this was also referred to the
Board of Treasury.
During the autumn of the same year, the New England company
were employed in making arrangements for the settlement of the
lands they had purchased on the Ohio. At a meeting of the
directors, immediately after the completion of the contract, a
resolution was adopted, to reserve out of the purchase, a tract of

* Land Laws, p. 356. f Burnet's letters in the Ohio Historical Transactions.

1787, NEW ENGLANDERS EMIGRATE WEST, 473
five thousand seven hundred and sixty acres of land near the
confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers, for a city aud
commons ; and resolutions were adopted to provide houses for the
use of settlers, and to encourage the erection of mills.
"At a meeting of the directors of the Ohio Company, at
Bracket's tavern in Boston,' November 23d, 1787, it was ordered
that four surveyors be employed under the direction of the
superintendent hereinafter named; that twenty-two men shall
attend the surveyors; that there be added to this number, twenty
men, including six boat-builders, four house-carpenters, one black
smith, and nine common workmen — in all forty-eight men. That
the boat-builders ahall proceed on Monday next, and the aurveyora
shall rendezvous at Hartford the 1st day of Januaty next, on their
way to the Muskingum; that the boat-builders and men with the
surveyors, be proprietors in the company; their tools, and one
axe, and one hoe, to each man, and thirty pounds weight of
baggage, shall be carried in the company's wagons, and that the
subsistence of the men on their journey be furnished ; that upon
their arrival at the place of destination, and entering upon the
business of their employment, the men shall be subsisted by the
company and allowed wages at the rate of four dollars each, per
month, until discharged ; that they shall be held in the company's
service until the 1st of July next, unless sooner discharged; and
if any of the persons employed shall leave the service or willfully
injure the same, or disobey the orders of the superintendent or
others acting under him, the person so offending shall forfeit all
claim to wages ; that their wages shall be paid the next autumn in
cash, or lands upon the same terms as the company purchased
them ; that each man furnish himself with a good small-arm,
bayonet, six flints, a powder-horn and pouch, priming wire and
brush, half a pound of powder, one pound of balls, and one pound
of buck-shot. The men so engaged shall be subject to the orders
of the superintendent, and those he may appoint, as aforesaid ; in
any kinds of business they shall be employed in, as well for boat
building and surveying, as for building houses, erecting defenses,
clearing land, and planting, or otherwise for promoting the settle
ment. And as there is a possibility of interruption from enemies,
they shall be subject to ordera, as aforesaid, in military command,
during the time of their employment. That the surveyors shall be
allowed twenty-seven dollars per month and subsistence, while in
actual service ; to commence on their arrival at the Muskingum ;
that Colonel Ebenezer Sproat, from Rhode Island; Mr. Anselm
31

474 REV. DANIEL STORY APPOINTED TEACHER FOR COLONY. 1787.
Tupper and Mr. John Matthews, from Massachusetts; and Colonel
R. J. Meigs, from Connecticut, be the surveyors; that General
Rufus Putnam be the superintendent of all the business aforesaid,
and he is to be obeyed and respected accordingly; that he be
allowed for his services forty dollars per month and his expenses,
to commence from the time of his leaving home." *
At the same meeting a committee was appointed to consider and
report on "the expediency of employing some suitable person as a
public teacher, at the settlement on the Ohio." They reported
" that the directors be requested to pay as early attention as
possible, to the education of youth, and the promotion of public
worship among the first settlers ; and that for these important
purposes, they employ, if practicable, an instructor, eminent for
literary accomplishments and the virtue of his character, who shall
also superintend the first scholastic institutions and direct the
manner of instruction ; and to enable the directors to carty into
execution the intentions expressed in this resolution, the proprietors
and others of benevolent minds, are earnestly requested to con
tribute by voluntary donation to the forming a fund to be solely
appropriated thereto." In accordance with this resolution, the
Rev. Daniel Story was appointed and sent in the next year as
the first New England missionary to Ohio.
When Clark took his unauthorized possession of Yincennes, in
1788.] October, 1786, he had asked the savages of the north-west
to meet him in council in November; they replied "that it was too
late in the year, and the proposed meeting was postponed till
April. Of this meeting, Messrs. Marshall, Muter, and others,
when writing to Yirginia, gave information, and suggested that
the government should take Clark's place in it. The-council of
Yirginia coincided with the suggestion, and recommended to Con
gress, James Wilkinson, Richard C. Anderson, and Isaac Shelby,
as commissioners on behalf of the United States. Congress, how
ever, received notice of Clark's movements too late for the proposed
treaty, and nothing seems to have been done until July 21st, when
the superintendent of Indian affairs in the north, or, if he could
not go. Colonel Harmar, was instructed to proceed to Yincennes,
or some other convenient place, and there hold a council .with the
Wabash Indians and Shawanese, for the purpose of putting an end
to the warfare.

* Hildreth's Pipneer History, 202.

1787-8, NEW ENGLANDERS AT YOUGHIOGHENY, 475
Favorable notice was also taken of a council which had been
held at the mouth of Detroit river, in December, 1786, by the Iro
quois, Wyandots and othera, the purpose of which was pacific, and
from which an address relative to the Indian troubles had been
sent to Congress, This was considered, and on the 5th of October,
it was resolved that a treaty should be held early in the year 1788,
with these tribes, by the governor of the new territory, who was
instructed on the subject, on the 26th of the month last mentioned.
At the same time, however, that measures were thus taken to pre
serve peace, troops were placed at Yenango, Fort Pitt, Fort Mcin
tosh, the Muskingum, the Miami, Yincennes, and Louisville, and
the governor of Yirginia was requested to have the militia of Ken
tucky in readiness for any emergency.
All these measures, however, produced no results during 1788 ;
the Indians were neither overawed, conquered nor satisfied; from
May until the middle of July, they were expected to meet the
whites upon the Muskingum, but the point which had been selected,
and where goods had been placed, being at last attacked by the
Chippewas, it was thought best to adjourn the meeting and hold
it at Fort Harmar, where it was at length held in January, 1789.
The hostile attitude of the Indians, however, did not deter the
New England associates from the prosecution of their enterprise.
In the winter of 1787, General Rufus Putnam, with forty-seven
pioneers, advanced to the Youghiogheny river, and commenced
building a boat for their transportation down the river in the spring.
In allusion to their pilgrim fathers, their boat was named the May
flower, She was forty-five feet long, and twelve feet wide, with an
estimated burthen of fifty tons. Her bows were raking, or curved
like a galley, strongly timbered; her sides were made bullet proof,
and she waa covered with a deck roof. Captain Devol, the first
ship builder in the West, was placed in command. On the 2d of
April, she was launched, and the band of pioneers sailed down the
Monongahela and Ohio, and on the 7th, landed at the mouth of
the Muskingum, There, oppoaite Fort Harmar, they choae the
location of their settlement, moored their boat at the shore for a
temporary shelter, and commenced to erect houses for their
occupation. About the 1st of July, the colony was reinforced by another
company from Massachusetta, They had been nine weeks on their
way, had traveled by land ¦with their wagona and stock to Wheeling,
and thence paaaed down the river in flat boata to the settlement.

476 NEW ENGLANDERS NAME THEIR SETTLEMENT, 1788,
As St, Clair, Avho had been appointed governor the preceding
October, had not arrived, it became necessary to erect a temporary
government for their internal security ; for which purpose a set of
laws was passed, and published by being nailed to a tree in the
village, and Return Jonathan Meigs was appointed to administer
them. It is a strong evidence of the good habits of the people of
the colony, that during three months, but one difference occurred,
and that was compromised,* Indeed, a better set of men altogether,
could scarce have been selected for the purpose, than Putnam's
little band, Washington might well say, "no colony in America
was ever settled under such favorable auspices as that which has
first commenced at the Muskingum, Information, property, and
strength will be its characteristics, I know many of the settlers
personally, and there never were men better calculated to promote
the welfare of such a community,"
On the 2d of July, a meeting of the directors and agents was
held on the banks of the Muskingum, for the purpose of naming
the new born city and its public squares. As yet the settlement
had been merely "The Muskingum," but the name Marietta was
now formally given it, in honor of Marie Antoinette ; the square
upon which the block-houses stood was named Campus Martins ;
the square No, 19, Gapitolium; the square No. 61, Ceinlia; and the
great road through the covert way. Sacra Via.-\[
On the 4th of July an oration was delivered by James M, Yar-
num, who, with H, S, Parsons and John Armstrong, had been
appointed to the judicial bench of the territory, on the 16th of
October, 1787, Five days after, the governor arrived and the
colony began to assume form. The. ordinance of 1787, provided
two distinct grades of government for the north-west territory,
under the first of which the whole power was in the hands of the
governor and the three judges, and this form was at Once organized
upon the governor's arrival. The first law, which was " for regu
lating and establishing the militia," was published upon the 25th
of July ; and the next day appeared the following proclamation of
the governor, erecting all the country that had been ceded by the
Indians east of the Scioto river into tne county of Washington.
" To all persons to whom these presents shall come, greeting :
Whereas, by the ordinance of Congress, of the 13th of July, 1787,
for the government of the territory of the United States north-west

catern Monthly Wagazine, 1833, vol. i. p. 895. f Owey's Jlugeom, vol. iv. p.

1788. FIRST COURT HELD IN OHIO. 477
of the river Ohio, it is directed that for the due execution of pro
cess, civil and criminal, the governor shall make proper divisions
of the said territory, and proceed from time to time, as circum
stances may require, to lay out the part of the- same, where the
Indian title has been extinguished, into counties and townships,
subject to future alterations as therein specified. Now, know ye,
that it appearing to me to be necessary, for the purposes alcove
mentioned, that a county should immediately be laid out, I Ijiave
ordained and ordered, and by these presents do ordain and order,
that all and singular the lands lying and being within the foll6iW-
ing boundaries, viz : Beginning on the bank of the Ohio river,
where the western boundary line of Pennsylvania crosses it, and
running with that line to Lake Erie ; thence along the southern
shore of the said lake to the mouth of the Cuyahoga river; thence
up said river to the portage between that and the Tuscarawas
branch of the Muskingum ; thence down the branch to the forks,
at the crossing place above Fort Laurens; thence with a line to be
drawn westerly to the portage of that branch of the Big Miami, on
which the fort stood that was taken by the French in 1752, until it
meets the road from the lower Shawanese town to the Sandusky;
thence south to the Scioto river; thence with that river to the
mouth, and "thence up the Ohio river to the place of beginning ;
shall be a county, and the same is hereby erected into a county,
named and to be called hereafter the county of Washington ; and
the said county of Washington shall have and enjoy all and sin
gular, the jurisdiction, rights, liberties, privileges, and immunities
whatever to a county belonging and appertaining, and which any
other county, that may hereafter be erected and laid out, shall or
ought to enjoy, conformably to the ordinance of Congress before
mentioned. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and
caused the seal of the territory to be affixed, this twenty-sixth day
of July, in the thirteenth year of the independence of the United
States, and in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred
and eighty-eight."
From that time forward, notwithstanding the' doubt yet existing
as to the Indians, all at Marietta went on prosperously and plea
santly. On the 2d of September the first court was held, with
becoming ceremonies.
" The procession was formed at the Point, (where most of the
settlers resided,) in the following order : the high sheriff, with his
drawn sword ; the citizens ; the officers at the garrison at Fort
Harmar ; the members of the bar ; the supreme judges ; the

478 FIVE THOUSAND EMIGRANTS DESCEND OHIO. 1788.
governor and clergyman ; the newly appointed judges of the
court of common pleas. Generals Rufus Putnam and Benjamin
Tupper. " They marched up a path that had been cut and cleared through
the forest to Campus Martins Hall, (stockade,) where the whole
counter-marched, and the judges, (Putnam and Tupper,) took their
seats. The clergyman, Rev. Dr. Cutler, then invoked the divine
blessing. The sheriff. Colonel Ebenezer Sproat, proclaimed with
his solemn ' 0 yes, that, a court is open for the administration of
even-handed justice, to the poor and the rich, to the guilty and the
innocent, without respect to persons ; none to be punished without
a trial by their peers, and then in pursuance of the laws and
evidence in the case.'
"Although this scene was exhibited thus early in the settlement
of the State, few ever equaled it in the dignity and exalted charac
ter of its principal participators. Many of them belonged to the
history of our country, in the darkest as well as the most splendid
periods of the Revolutionary war. To witness this spectacle, a
large body of Indians was collected, from the most powerful tribes
then occupying the almost entire West. They had assembled for
the purpose of making a treaty. Whether any of them entered
the hall of justice, or what were their impressions, we are not told."*
" The progress of the settlement," says a letter from Muskin
gum, "is sufficiently rapid for the first year. We are continually
erecting houses, but arrivals are faster than we can possibly provide
convenient covering. Our first ball was opened about the middle
of December, at which were fifteen ladies, as well accomplished in
the manners of polite circles, as any I have ever seen in the old
States. I mention this to show the progress of society in this new
world; where I believe we shall vie with, if not excel, the old
States, in every accomplishment necessary to render life agreeable
and happy."
The emigration westward, even at this time, was very great ; the
commandant at Fort Harmar reporting four thousand five hundred
persons as having passed that post between February and June,
1788 ; many of whom would have stopped on the purchase of the
Associates, had they been ready to receive them.
During the following year, and indeed until the Indians, who, in
spite of treaties, had been committing depredations all the time.

* American Pioneer, i. 165.

1788. symmes' ASSOCIATES AT THE MIAMIES. 479
stealing horses and sinking boats, went fairly and openly to war,
the settlement on the Muskingum grew slowly, but steadily, and
to good purpose; the first attack made by Indians on the Muskin
gum settlements began January 2d, 1791.
Nor were Symmes and his New Jersey friends idle during this
year, though his purchase was far more open to Indian depreda
tions than that of the Massachusetts men. His first proposition had
been referred, as before mentioned, to the Board of Treasury, with
power to contract, upon the 2d of October, 1787.
Upon the 26th of the next month, Symmes issued a pamphlet,
addressed "to the respectable public," stating the terms of his con
tract, and the scheme of sale which he proposed to adopt. This
waa, to iasue his warrants for not less than a quarter section, (an
hundred and sixty acres,) which might be located anywhere, ex
cept, of course, on reservations, and spots previously chosen. No
section was to be divided, if the warrant held by the locator would
cover the whole. The price was to be sixty cents and two-thirds
per acre, till May, 1788; then one dollar till November; and, after
that time, was to be regulated by the demand for land.
Every locator was bound to begin improvements within two
years, or forfeit one-sixth of his purchase to whoever would settle
thereon, and remain seven years. Military bounties might be taken
in this as in the purchase of the associates. For himself, Symmes
retained one township, near the mouth of the Great Miami, on
which he proposed to build his great city ; to help the growth of
which he offered each alternate lot to any one that would build a
house, and live therein three years.
As Continental certificates were rising, in consequence of the
great land purchases then making with them, and as difficulty was
apprehended in procuring enough to make his first payment,
Symmes was anxious to send forward settlers early, that the true
value of his purchase might become known at the east. He had,
however, some difficulty in arranging with the Board of Treasury
the boundaries of the 'first portion he was to occupy.*
In January, 1788, Mathias Denman, of New Jersey, took an
interest in Symmes' purchase, and located among other tracts the
sectional and fractional section upon which Cincinnati has been
built. Retaining one-third of this particular locality, he sold

•* Manuscript Letteri; of Symmes. See Bornet's Lottcv^, IOC.

480 LOSANTIVILLE AT CINCINNATI LAID OUT. 1788.
another third to Robert Patterson, and the remainder to John Fil-
son ; and the three, about August, 1788, agreed to lay out a town
on the spot, which was designated as being opposite Licking river,
to the mouth of which they proposed to have a road cut from
Lexington, Kentucky, to be connected with the northern shore
by a ferry.
Mr. Filson, who had been a schoolmaster, was appointed to name
the town ; and, in respect to its situation, and as if with a prophetic
perception of the mixed races that were in after days to inhabit
there, he named it LosantiviUe, which, being interpreted, means
ville, the town ; anii, opposite to ; os, the mouth ; L, of Licking.
This may well put to the blush the Campus Martius of the Marietta
scholars, and the Fort Solon of the Spaniards.
Meanwhile, in July, Symmes got thirty people and eight four-
horse wagons under way for the West. These reached Limestone
(now Maysville) in September, where they found Mr. Stites with
several persons from Redstone. But the mind of the chief pur
chaser was full of trouble. He had not only been obliged to relin
quish his first contract, which was expected to embrace two millions
of acres, but had failed to conclude one for the single million which
he now proposed taking. This arose from a difference between
him and the government, he wishing to have the whole Ohio from
between the Miamies, while the Board of Treasury wished to con
fine him to twenty miles upon the Ohio.
This proposition, however, he would not for a long time agree
to, as he had made sales along nearly the whole Ohio shore. Leav
ing the bargain in this unsettled state. Congress considered itself
released from its obligation to sell ; and, but for the representations
of some of his friends, our adventurer would have lost his bargain,
his labor, and his money. Nor was this all. In February, 1778,
he had been appointed one of the judges of the north-west territoty,
in place of Mr. Armstrong, who declined serving. This appoint
ment gave offense to some, and others were envious of the great
fortune which it was thought he would make.
Some of his associates complained of him, also, probably of
his endangering the contract to which they had become parties.
With these murmurs and reproaches behind him, he saw before
him danger, delay, suffering, and, perhaps, ultimate failure and
ruin, and, although hopeful by nature, apparently he felt dis
couraged and sad. However, a visit to his purchase, where he
landed on the 22d of September, revived his spirits, and upon hia
return to Maysville, he wrote to Jonathan Dayton, of New Jersey,

1789, DISAPPOINTMENTS AND TROUBLES OF SYMMES, 481
who had become interested with him, that he thought some of the
laud near the Great Miami "positively worth a silver dollar the
acre in its present state,"
It may be well to give here a sketch of the changes made in
Symmes' contract. His first application was for all the country
between the Miamies, running up to the north line of the Ohio
Company's purchase, extending due west. On the 22d of October,
1787, Congress resolved that the Board of Treasury be authorized
to contract with any one for tracts of not less than a million acres
of western lands, the front of which, on the Ohio, Wabash and
other rivers, should not exceed one-third the depth.
On the 15th of May, 1788, Dayton and Marsh, as Symmes' agents,
concluded a contract with the Commissioners of the Treasury for
two millions of acres, in two equal tracts. In July, Symmes con
cluded to take only one tract, but differed with the Commissioners
on the grounds stated in the text. After much negotiation, upon
the 15th of October, 1788, Dayton and Marsh concluded a contract
with the government, bearing date May 15th, for one million of acres,
beginning twenty miles up the Ohio from the mouth of the Great
Miami, and to run back for quantity between the Miami and a line
drawn from the Ohio, parallel to the general course of that river.
In 1791, Symmes found this would throw his purchase too far back
from the Ohio, and applied to Congress to let him have all between
the Miamies, running back so as to include a million acres, which
that body, on the 12th of April, 1792, agreed to do.
When the lands between the Miamies were surveyed, however,
it was found that the tract south of a line drawn from the head of
the Little, due west to the Great Miami, would include less than
six hundred thousand acres ; but even this Symmes could not pay
for, and when his patent issued, upon the 30th September, 1794,
it gave him and his associates but two hundred and forty-eight
thousand five hundred and forty acres, exclusive of reservations,
which amounted to sixty-three thousand one hundred and forty-
two acres. This tract was bounded by the Ohio, the two Miamies,
and a due east and west line, run so as to comprehend the desired
quantity. As Symmes made no further payments after this time,
the rest of hia purchase reverted to the United States, who gave
those that had bought Under Symmes ample pre-emption rights.*
About this time the Indians were threatening. "In Kentucky,"
aaya Symmea, " they are perpetually doing mischief; a man a week.

* Land Laws, p. 272-382.

482 DISAPPOINTMENTS AND TROUBLES OF SYMMES. 1789.
I believe, falls by their hands." But still the government gave him
little help toward defending himself; for, while three hundred men
were stationed at Muskingum, he had "but one ensign and seven
teen men for the protection and defense of 'the slaughter-house,'"
as the Miami valley was called by the dwellers upon the " dark and
bloody ground" of "Kentucke." And when Capt. Kearney and
forty-five soldiers came to Maysville in December, they came with
out provisions, and but made bad worse.
Nor did their coming answer any purpose; for when a little
band of settlers were ready to go, under their protection, towards
the mouth of" the Miami, to the grand city of Symmes that was to
be, the ice stove their boats, their cattle were drowned, and their
provisions lost ; and so the settlement was prevented. But the
fertile mind of a man like Symmes could, even under these circum
stances, find comfort in the anticipation of what was to come. In
the words of Return Jonathan Meigs, who was probably the first
Ohio poet — "To him glad Fancy brightest prospects shows.
Rejoicing Nature all around him glows;
Where late the savage, hid in ambush, lay,
Or roamed the uncultured valleys for his prey,
Her hardy gifts rough Industry extends.
The groves bow down, the lofty forest bends;
And see the spires of towns and cities rise.
And domes and temples swell unto the sides.''
But alas ! so far as his pet city was concerned, "glad fancy" proved
but a gay deceiver, for there came "an amazing high freshet," and
the site of his city was covered with water.
Before Symmes left Maysville, which was on the 29th of January,
1789, two settlements had been made within his purchase. The
first was by Mr. Stites, the original projector of the whole plan,
who, with other Redstone people, had located themselves at the
mouth of the Little Miami, where the Indians had been led, by the
great fertility of the soil, to make a partial clearing. To this
point, on the 18th of November, 1788, came twenty-six persons,
who built a block-house, named their town Columbia, and prepared
for a winter of want and hard fighting. The land at this point
was so fertile, that from nine acres were raised nine hundred and
sixty-three bushels of Indian corn.
But they were agreeably disappointed ; the Indians came to them,
and though the, whites answered, as Symmes says, "in a black
guarding manner," the savages sued for peace. One, at whom a

1789, DEVASTATING FLOOD OF THE OHIO. 483
rifie was presented, took off his cap, trailed his gun, and held out
his right hand, by which pacific gestures he induced the Americans
to consent to their entrance into the block-houses. In a few days
this good understanding ripened into intimacy ; the " hunters fre
quently taking shelter for the night at the Indian camps," and the
red men and squaws "spending whole days and nights" at Colum
bia, "regaling themselves with whisky,"
This friendly demeanor on the part of the Indians was owing to
the kind and just conduct of Symmes himself, who, during the
preceding September, when examining the country about the
Great Miami, had prevented some Kentuckians who were in bis
company from injuring a band of the savages that came within
their power ; which proceeding, he says, " the Kentuckians thought
unpardonable," The Columbia settlement was, however, like that proposed at
the bend, upon land that was under water during the high rise in
January, 1789, " But one house escaped the deluge," The soldiers
were driven from the ground-floor of the block-house into the loft,
and from the loft into the solitaty boat which the ice had spared
them. This flood deserves to be remembered ; for, while it demonstrated
the dangers to which the three chosen spots of all Ohio, to wit :
Marietta, Columbia, and Symmes city, near the point, must be ever
exposed, it also proved the safety, and led to the rapid settlement
of LosantiviUe. The great recommendation of the spot upon
which Denman and his comrades proposed to build their " Mosaic"
town, as it has been called, appears to have been the fact, that it
lay opposite the Licking; the terms of Denman's purchase having
been, that his warrants were to be located, as nearly as possible,
over against the mouth of that river; though the advantage of the
noble and high plain at that place could not have escaped any eye.
But the freshet of 1789 placed its superiority over other points
more strongly in view than anything else could have done.
John Filson was killed by the Indians in the Miami valley in
the autumn of 1788.
As nothing had been paid upon his third of the plat of Losanti
viUe, his heirs made no claim upon it, and it was transferred to
Israel Ludlow, who had been Symmes' surveyor. This gentleman,
with Colonel Patterson, one of the other proprietors, and well
known in the Indian wars, with about fourteen others, left Mays
ville upon the 24th of December, 1788, "to form a station and lay
off a town opposite Licking," The river was filled with ice " from

484 WRANGLING BETWEEN KENTUCKY AND VIRGINIA, 1788,
shore to shore;" but, says Symmes, in May, 1789, "perseverance
triumphing over difficulty, they landed safe on a most delightful
high bank of the Ohio, where they founded the tov;rn of LosantiviUe,
¦which populates considerably,"
The settlers of LosantiviUe built a few log huts and block
houses, and proceeded to improve the town; though they placed
their dwellings in the most exposed situation, yet, says Symmes,
"they suffered nothing from the freshet,"
It is a curious fact, that the date of the settlement of Cincinnati
is unknown, even though the testimony of the vety men that made
the settlement ia on record. Judge Symmes says in one of his
letters : " On the 24th of December, 1788, Colonel Patterson, of
Lexington, who is concerned with Mr. Denman in the section at
the mouth of Licking river, sailed from Limestone," &c. Some,
supposing it would take about two days to make tho voyage, have
dated the being of the Queen City of the West, from December
26th. This is uncertain, however; for, as the river was full of ice,
it might have taken ten days to have gone the sixty-five miles from
Maysville to Licking. But, in the case in chancery, to which
reference has been made, the evidence of Patterson and Ludlow
sets forth that they landed opposite the Licking " in the month of
January, 1789;" whUe William McMillan testifies that he "was
one of those who formed the settlement of Cincinnati on the 28th
day of December, 1788."
There were, as has been seen, two main causes of the dissatisfac
tion of the people of Kentucky; the unwillingness of the State of
Yirginia to relinquish her jurisdiction over the district, and the
failure of the Continental Congress to secure for them the free
na^vigation of the Mississippi. That dissatisfaction ripened in
many minds into a wish to throw off the authority of the con
federation, and to frame an independent government. The
inconvenience of the jurisdiction of Yirginia, exercised at the dis
tance of several hundred miles from her capital, the difficulties she
interposed in the way of a separate organization of the district, and
the delay of Congress in providing for that organization, were
causes that infiuenced the movements of the party of independence,
as they called themselves ; the hope of securing the trade of Loui
siana, through an alliance with Spain, was the true motive that in
cited their desire for separation. The profits of a trade was a
sufficient motive to induce those men to dismember a union juat
formed with such great exertions and sacrifices, and to relinquish a

1788. FACTIONS IN KENTUCKY AND THEIR OBJECTS. 485
freedom just purchased by so much blood and suffering. Yet,
though united in their desire of a dismemberment of the federal
union, they were by no means unanimous in their plans for accom
plishing their object. There were five factions among them.*
The first was in favor of the formation of a new republic, inde
pendent of the United States, and in close alliance with Spain.
The second was willing to separate from the Union, and to place
the district under the government of Spain.
The third desired a war with Spain, and the seizure of Louisiana.
The fourth sought, by a show of hostility, to extort the opening
of the Mississippi from the Spanish government.
The fifth aimed to solicit France to procure a retrocession of Lou
isiana, and to extend her authority over Kentucky.
Miro, governor of Louisiana, and Guardoqui, minister of Spain,
at Philadelphia, both saw their opportunity, and both sought to use
the popular discontent existing in the West, to further the scheme of
the extension of the Spanish authority over Kentucky. Their want
of concert, arising from mutual jealousy or ambition, led them to
counteract each other, and in the end ruined the schemes of both.
The agent through whom they sought to accomplish their purposes,
the leader of the first party of disunion, and the arch conspirator in
the first treason in our history, was James Wilkinson.f
The better to serve his ulterior purposes, Wilkinson went down
the Mississippi in June, 1787, in the character of a merchant, with
a cargo of tobacco, flour, butter, and bacon. According to the
Spanish laws, the cargo was confiscated. Wilkinson obtained an
interview with Miro, and secured from him, not only the restora
tion of his property, but the privilege of free trade with New Or
leans, on his own account. To cover his real designs, he presented
to the governor a written opinion in respect to the policy Spain
ought to pursue in regard to the navigation of the Mississippi, and
of the danger to be apprehended from a joint invasion of Louisi
ana, by the Kentuckians and the British, in the case the trade of
the Mississippi should be closed against them. At the same time
he presented another secret memorial to Miro, the tenor of which
is best explained by his subsequent courae. After spending three
months at New Orleana, in intimate intercourae with Miro, he
sailed to Philadelphia, and returned to the West in the spring of
the next year.

* Martin's History of Louisiana. f Gayarre's Spani;.li domination ia Louisiana.

486 WILKINSON OBTAINS PRIVILEGE OF FREE TRADE. 1788.
In the meantime, Guardoqui, in pursuance of his plan of dis
memberment, dispatched D'Arges to the West, to excite emigra
tion to the Spanish colony. For this end he, in conformity with his
instructions, invited the people of Kentucky to settle in Louisiana,
promising them the gift of land, the free introduction of stock, and
the privilege of importing merchandise, on payment of a duty
of fifteen per cent. On his arrival at New Orleans, Miro was
greatly perplexed. He feared 'to trust D'Arges with the secret of
his intrigues with Wilkinson, lest his jealousy might prompt him
to betray them. He feared lest the commercial privileges D'Ar
ges offered, would take away the great motive the Kentuckians
might have to submit to the Spanish domination, which, he averred,
Wilkinson was pledged to secure ; and in that belief, under various
pretexts, he detained D'Arges, and interposed all the obstacles he
dared, to the success of his schemes.
Wilkinson, in the meanwhile, was prepared on his return, to ex
hibit a plausible statement of the nature of his connection with the
Spanish government, and of the mode in which he succeeded in
securing for himself the monopoly of the trade of the Mississippi.
The statement of Daniel Clark, the nephew of Wilkinson's agent,
of the same name, furnishes in detail the pretexts under which the
arch traitor concealed his designs :
" About the middle of the year 1787, the foundation of an inter
course with Kentucky and the settlements on the Ohio was laid,
which daily increased. Previous to that time, all those who ven
tured on the Mississippi had their property seized by the first com
manding officer they met, and little or no communication was kept
up between the two countries. Now and then an emigrant who
wished to settle in Natchez, by dint of entreaty, and solicitation of
friends who had interests in New Orleans, procured permission to
remove there with his family, slaves, cattle, furniture, and farming
utensils; but was allowed to bring no other property, except
cash. " An unexpected incident, however, changed the face of things,
and was productive of a new line of conduct. The arrival of a
boat, belonging to General Wilkinson, loaded with tobacco and
other productions of Kentucky, was announced in town, and a
guard was immediately sent on board of it. The general's name
had hindered this being done at Natchez, as the commandant was
fearful that such a step might be displeasing to his superiors, who
might wish to show aome respect to the property of a general
officer; at any rate, the boat was proceeding to Orleans, and they

1788. WILKINSON OBTAINS PRIVILEGE OP FREE TRADE. 487
would then resolve on what measures they ought to pursue, and
put into execution.
" The government, not much disposed to show any mark of
respect or forbearance toward the general's property, he not having
at that time arrived, was about proceeding in the usual way of con
fiscation, when a merchant in Orleans, who had considerable infiu
ence there, and who was formerly acquainted with the general,
represented to the governor that the measures taken by .the Intend
ant would very probably give rise to disagreeable events ; that the
people of Kentucky were already exasperated at the conduct of the
Spaniards in seizing on the property of all those Avho navigated
the Mississippi ; and if this system was pursued, they would very
probably, in spite of Congress and the Executive of the United
States, take upon themselves to obtain the navigation of the river
by force, which they were well able to do; a measure for some time
before much dreaded by this government, which had no force to
resist them, if such a plan was put in execution.
" Hints were likewise given that Wilkinson was a very popular
man, who could influence the whole of that country ; and probably
that his sending a boat before him, with a wish that she might be
seized, was but a snare at his return to influence the minds of the
people, and, having brought them to the point he wished, induce
them to appoint him their leader, and then, like a torrent, spread
over the country, and carry fire aud desolation from one end of the
province to the other.
" Governor Miro, a weak man, unacquainted with the American
government, ignorant even of the position of Kentucky with
respect to his own province, but alarmed at the very idea of an
irruption of Kentucky men, whoni he feared without knowing
their strength, communicated his wishes to the Intendant that the
guard might be removed from the boat, which was accordingly
done; and a Mr. Patterson, who was the agent of the general, was
permitted to take charge of the property on board, and to sell it,
free of duty.
" The general, on his arrival in Orleans, some time after, was
informed of the obligation he lay under to the merchant who had
impressed the government with such an idea of his importance and
infiuence at home, waited on him, and, in concert with him, formed
a plan for their future operations. In his interview with the gov
ernor, that he might not seem to derogate from the character given
of him, by appearing concerned in so trifling a business as a boat
load of tobacco, hams, and butter, he gave him to understand that

488 WILKINSON OBTAINS PRIVILEGE OF FREE TRAt)B. 1788.
the property belonged to many citizens of Kentucky, who, availing
themselves of his return to the Atlantic States, by way of Orleans,
wished to make a trial of the temper of this government, as he, oii
his ^arrival, might inform his own what steps had been pursued
under his eye, that adequate measures might be afterward taken to
procure satisfaction.
" He acknowledged with gratitude the attention and respect
manifested by the governor toward himself, in the favor shown to
his agent; but at the same time mentioned that he would not wish
the governor to expose himself to the anger of his court by refrain
ing from seizing on the boat and cargo, as it was but a trifle, if
such were the positive orders from the court, and he had not the
power to relax them according to circumstances. Convinced by
this discourse that the general rather wished for an opportunity of
embroiling affairs, than sought to avoid it, the governor became
more alarmed. For two or three years before, particularly since
the arrival of the commissioners from Georgia, who had come to
Natchez to claim that country, he had been fearful of an invasion
at every annual rise of the waters, and the news oi a few boats
being seen was enough to alarm the whole province.
" He revolved in his mind what measures he ought to pursue,
(consistent with the orders he had from home to permit the free
navigation of the river,) in order to keep the Kentucky people
quiet ; and, in his succeeding interviews with Wilkinson, having
procured more knowledge than he had hitherto acquired of their
character, population, strength, and disposition, he thought he
could do nothing better than hold out a bait to Wilkinson to use
his influence in restraining the people from an invasion of this
province till he could give adyice to his court, and require further
instructions. This was the point to which the parties wished to
bring him ; and, being informed that in Kentucky two or three
crops were on hand, for which, if an immediate vent was not to
be found, the people could not be kept within bounds, he made
Wilkinson the offer of a permission to import, on his own account,
to New Orleans, free of duty, all the productions of Kentucky,
thinking by this means to conciliate the good will of the people,
without yielding the point of navigation, as the commerce carried
on would appear the effect of an indulgence to an individual, which
could be withdrawn at pleasure.
" On consultation with his friends, who well knew what further
concessions Wilkinson would extort from tho fears of the Spaniards,
by the promise of his good offices in preaching peace, harmony,

1788. ' TRADE OPENED WITH NEW ORLEANS. 489
and good understanding with his government, until arrangements
were made between Spain and America, he was advised to insist
that the governor should insure him a market for all the flour and
tobacco he might send, as in the event of au unfortunate shipment,
he would be ruined whilst endeavoring to do a service to Louisiana.
This was accepted. Flour was always wanted in New Orleans, and
the king of Spain had given orders to purchase more tobacco for
the supply of his manufactories at home than Louiaiana at that
time produced, and which was paid for at about $9.50 per cwt. In
Kentucky it cost but $2, and the profit waa immense. In conse
quence, the general had appointed hia friend, Daniel Clark, hia
agent here, returned by way of Charleston in a vessel, ¦with a par
ticular permission to go to the United Statea, even at the very mo
ment of Gardoqui'a information; and, on his arrival in Kentucky,
bought up all the produce he could collect, which he shipped and
disposed of as before mentioned; and for aome time all the trade
for the Ohio w.aa carried on in hia name, a line from him sufficing
to enaure the owner of the boat every privilege and protection,"
A report such aa this, of Wilkinson's auccess in opening the
market of New Orleans, was well calculated to encourage the
Spanish party in Kentucky, on which he relied to carry out his
scheme of treason ; and to lead them to believe that the freedom of
the Mississippi could certainly be secured, either by an alliance or
a war with Spain, Accordingly they looked forward with greater
eagerness to the ratification of the act of separation, by the conti
nental Congreaa, as the first step towards the accomplishment of
their wishes. That ratification was looked to as a matter of course ;
the desire of the people of Kentucky had been often expressed, and
the State of Yirginia had given ita consent by the passage of the
act of separation. When John Brown, who had been sent as a
delegate to Congress in 1787, brought up the subject of the admis
sion of Kentucky into the confederacy, it was believed the matter
would soon be disposed of. But the question of the adoption of
the constitution waa under discussion, final action on the application
of Kentucky was delayed until after its ratification, and then referred
to the new government in the next year.
On the 28th of July the sixth Convention met at Danville, to
proceed with the business of making a Constitution, when newi
reached them that their meeting was premature, as the Legislature
of the Union had not given the necessary sanction to the act of
Yirginia. Thia intelligence amazed aud irritated them, and being
accompanied or followed by intimations from Mr, Brown,, that
32

490 OFFERS OF SPAIN TO KENTUCKY, 1788,
Spain would make easy terms with the West, were the Weat once
her own mistress ; surely, it is not strange, that the leaders of the
"Independence " party were disposed to act with decision and show
a spirit of self-reliance, WUkinson, on the one hand, could speak
of his vast profits and the friendly temper of the south-western
rulers, while Brown wrote home thus :
" The eastern States would not, nor do I think they ever wUl
assent to the admission of the district into the Union, as an inde
pendent State, unless Yermont, or the province of Maine, is brought
forward at the same time,
" The change which has taken place in the general government is
made the ostensible objection to the measure; but, the jealousy of
the growing importance of the western country, and an unwUling-
ness to add a vote to the southern interest, are the real causes of
opposition. The question which the district wiU now have to
determine upon. Will be — whether, or not, it will be more expedient
to continue the connexion with the State of Yirginia, or to declare
their independence and proceed to frame a constitution of govern
ment? " In private conferences which I have had ¦with Mr, Gardoqui,
the Spanish minister, at this place, 1 have been assured by him in
the most explicit terms, that if Kentucky will declare her independ
ence, and empower some proper person to negotiate with him, that
he has authority, and will engage to open the navigation of the
Mississippi, for the exportation of their produce, on terms of mutual
advantage. But that this privilege never can be extended to them
while part of the United States, by reason of commercial treaties
existing between that court and other powers of Europe.
"As there ia no reason to doubt the sincerity of this declaration,
I have thought proper to communicate it to a few confidential
friends in the district, with his permission, not doubting but that
they will make a prudent use of the information — which is in part
¦ confirmed by dispatches yesterday received by Congress, from Mr.
Mr. Charmichal, our minister at that court, the contents of which
I am not at liberty to disclose." *
But even under the excitement produced by such prospects
offered from abroad, and such treatment at the hands of their
fellow-citizens, the members of the July convention took no hasty
or mischievous steps. Finding their own powers legally at an end

* See Marshall's History of Kentucky, i. p. 305.

1788. A SEVENTH CONVENTION CALLED IN KENTUCKY. 491
in consequence of the course pursued by Congress, they determined
to adjourn, and in doing so, advised the calling of a seventh conven
tion, to meet in the following November, and continue in existence
until January, 1790, with full power —
" To take such measures for obtaining admission of the district,
as a separate and independent member of the United States of
America, and the navigation of the Mississippi, as may appear most
conducive- to those important purposes; and also to form a consti
tution of government for the district, and organize the same when
they shall judge it necessaty; or to do and accomplish whatsoever,
on a consideration of the state of the diatrict, may in their opinion
promote its interests."
These terms, although they contain nothing necessarily implying
a separation from Yirginia against her wish, or directly authorizing
the coming convention to treat with Spain, were still supposed to
have been used for the purpose of enabling or even inviting that
body to take steps, however much against the letter of the law ;
and as Mr. Brown's letters showed that strong temptations were
held out to the people of the district to declare themselves inde
pendent, and then enter into negotiations with Spain, George
Muter, Chief Justice of the District, on the 15th of October, pub
lished a letter in the Kentucky Gazette, calling attention to the
fact that a separation without legal leave from the parent State,
would be treason against that State, and a violation of the Federal
Constitution then just formed.
This letter, and the efforts of the party who favored strict
adherence to legal proceedings, were not in vain. The electiona
took place, and on the 4th of November the Convention met; the
contest at once began, but the two parties being happily balanced,
both in and out of the convention, the greatest caution was observed
by both, and all excess prevented.
An address to the people of the district was proposed by Wil
kinson, the purpose of which was to test their dispositiona aa to
the contested points of illegal independence and negotiation with
Spain — but the plan of isauing such a paper was afterward dropped,
Congreas was memorialized respecting the Mississippi, Yirginia
was again asked for an act of separation, and the Convention
quietly adjourned until the 1st Monday of the following August.
It is not improbable that one tranquilizin^ influence waa, the con
tradiction by members of Congreas, of the report that the naviga
tion of the Miaaiasippi was to be relinquished by the United States.
Thia contradiction had been authorized on the 16th of September.

492 Connolly's plan of treason. 1788.
During the autumn of this same year, John Connolly, formerly of
Pittsburgh, appeared again in Kentucky. The following statement
sent by Colonel Thomas Marshall, to General Washington, in the
month of February, 1789, details his purposes and movements:
"About this time, (November, 1788,) arrived from , Canada the
infamous Doctor (now Colonel) Connolly: hia ostensible business
was to inquire after, and re-possess himself of, some lands he
formerly held at the Falls of the Ohio ; but I believe his real busi
ness was to sound the dispositions of the leading men of this dis
trict respecting this Spanish business. He knew that both Colonel
Muter and myself had given it all the opposition in convention we
were able to do, and before he left the district paid us a visit,
though neither of us had the honor of the least acquaintance with
him. "He was introduced by Colonel John Campbell, his old co-
purchaser of the land at the Falls, formerly a prisoner taken by the
Indians, and confined in Canada, who previously informed us of
the proposition he was about to make. He (Connolly) presently
entered upon his subject, urged the great importance the navigation
of the Mississippi must be to the inhabitants of the western waters,
showed the absolute necessity of our possessing it, and concluded
with assurances that were we disposed to assert our right respecting
that navigation. Lord Dorchester, (formerly Sir Guy Carlton,) was
cordially disposed to give us powerful assistance ; that his lordship
had (I think he said) four thousand British troops in Canada,.
beside two regiments at Detroit, and could furnish us with aims,
ammunition, clothing and money ; that, with this assistance, we
might possess ourselves of New Orleans, fortify the Balize at the
mouth of the river, and keep possession in spite of the utmost
efforts of Spain to the contrary,
" He made very confident professions of Lord Dorchester's wishes
to cultivate the most friendly intercourse viith the people c£ this
country, and of his own desire to become aerviceable to us, and
with so much seeming sincerity, that had I not before been
acquainted with hia character as a man of intrigue and artful
address, I ahould in all proljability have given him my confidence,
"I told him that the minds of the people of this country were
so strongly prejudiced against the British, not only from cir
cumstances attending the late war, but from a perauaaion that the
Indiana were at this time stimulated by them against ua, and that
so long aa those aavagea continued to commit auch horrid cruelties
on our defenaeless frontiera, and were received as friends and allies

1789. WILKINSON'S TREASONABLE LETTER, 493
by the Britiah at Detroit, it would be impossible for them to be
convinced of the sincerity of Lord Dorchester's offers, let hia
profeasiona be ever ao strong; and, that if his lordship would have
us believe him really dispoaed to be our friend, he muat begin by
showing hia disapprobation of the ravages of the Indians.
"He admitted the justice of my observation, and said he had
urged the same to his lordship before he left Canada, He denied
that the Indians are stimulated against us by the British, and says.
Lord Dorchester observed, that the Indians are free and indepen
dent nations, and have a right to make peace or war as they think
fit, and that he could not ¦with propriety interfere. He promised,
however, on his return to Canada to repeat his arguments to his
lordship on the subject, and hopes, he says, to succeed. At taking
his leave he begged very politely the favor of our correspondence ;
we both promised him, providing he would begin it, and devise a
means of carrying it on. He did not tell me that he was au
thorized by Lord Dorchester to make us these offers in his name,
nor did I ask him ; but General Scott informs me that he told him
that his lordship had authorized him to use his name in this
business." While Connolly waa thua engaged in the attempt to seduce the
people of Kentucky from their allegiance to the Union, and to
attach them to the British interest, Wilkinson was employed in
the execution of his treasonable scheme of reducing them to
condition of vassals of Spain. A letter addressed by him to Miro,
on the 12th of February, 1789, details at great length the purposes
he entertained, the plans he and his accomplices were pursuing,
and the depths of degradation into which they had plunged
themselves. It is worthy of insertion, as the record of the most
infamous episode in the-history of the west.*
"Immediately after having aent you my dispatch by Major
Dunn, 'I devoted all my faculties to our political designs, and I have
never since turned aside from the pursuit of the important object
we have in view. If subsequent events have not come' up to our
expectations, still I conceive that they are such as to inspire us
with flattering hopes of success in due time, and, although in the
conjectural opinions which I presented to you and Navarro, I may,
in some particulars, have been deceived, you will yet eee that, in
the main, I expreaaed myaelf with a prophetic spirit, and that im-

¦* See Gayarre's Spanish domination in Louisiana, p. *223.

494 WILKINSON'S TREASONABLE LETTER. 1789,
portant events have occurred, to confirm the accuracy of my sen
timents, "When Major Dunn left Kentucky, I had opened myself only to
the Attorney-General Innis, and to Colonel Bullitt, who favor our
designs, and indirectly I had sounded others, whom I also found
well disposed to adopt my ideas. But, having made a more strict
examination, I discovered that the proposed new government of
the United States had inspired some with apprehensions, and
others with hopes — so much so that I saw that this circumstance
would be a cause of some opposition and delay. I also perceived
that all idea that Kentucky would subject itself to Spain, must be
abandoned for the present, and that the only feasible plan to the exe
cution of which I had to direct my attention, was that of a separation
from the United States, and an alliance with Spain, on conditions
which could not yet be defined with precision, I considered that,
whatever be the time when the separation should be brought about,
this district being then no longer under the protection of the Uni
ted States, Spain might dictate her own terms ; for which reason,
I embraced without delay this last alternative,
" The question of separation from the United States, although
discussed with vehemence among the most distinguished inhabi
tants" of this section of the country, had never been mentioned, in
a formal manner, to the people at large, but now was the time for
making this important and interesting experiment, and it became
my indispensable mission to do so, I had to work on a ground
not yet prepared for the seed to be deposited in it, and I felt that,
to produce a favorable impression, I had to proceed -with reserve,
and avoid with the utmost care, any demonstration which might be
calculated to cause surprise or alarm. For these motives, I gave
an equivocal shape to the expression of my design, speaking of it
in general terms, as being recommended by eminent politicians of
the Atlantic coast, with whom I had conversed on this affair, and
thus, by indirect suggestions and arguments, I inspired the people
with my own views, without presenting them as such, because it
would have been imprudent in me to divulge them under the exist
ing circumstances, and I can give you the solemn assurance, that I
found all the men belonging to the first class of society in the dis
trict, with the exception of Colonel Marshall, our surveyor, and
Colonel Muter, one of our judges, decidedly in favor of separation
from the United States, and of an alliance with Spain. At first,
these two men had expressed this same opinion with warmth, but
now their feelings have taken a different direction, from private

1789. WILKINSON'S TREASONABLE LETTER. 495
motives of interest and personal pique ; for which reasons I have
very little to dread from their influence ; but, at the same time, I
foresaw that they would avail themselves of the opposition made by
aome literary demagoguea, who were under the influence of fear
and prejudice. Nevertheleaa, I determined to lay the question
before our Convention, and I took the necessary measures ac
cordingly. " I was thus occupied until the 28th of July, on which day our
Convention met at Danville, in conformity with the ordinance you
saw in the Gazette, which I sent you by Major Dunn. The Hon
orable Samuel M'Dowell, President of the Convention, had, the
day before, received a packet from the Secretary of Congress, con
taining an account of the proceedings of that body on the subject
which excited our solicitude — that is, our intended separation from
the State of Yirginia.
" You will remember that, in my memorial, I was of opinion
that the Atlantic States would not consent to the admission of this
district into the Union, as an independent State, but, on my return
from New Orleans, I was induced to alter my opinion, from the in
formation which I received through.persons of the highest authority,
and, under that new impression, I wrote you by Major Dunn. Thus
we were not prepared for an unexpected event, of which we could
have received no premonition. You will at first sight discover, on
perusing the aforesaid paper. No. 1, that this Act of Congress was
passed with the intention to gain time, amuse and deceive the people
of this district, and make them believe that they could rely on the
good dispositions of the Atlantic States, until the formation of the
new government, when our opponents flatter themselves that it will
be able to check our designs. Unfortunately, this artifice produced
but too much effect on the members of this Convention, and con
firmed the apprehensions of others.
" From thia proceeding of Congress it resulted, that the Conven
tion was of opinion, that our proposed independence and separation
from Yirginia not being ratified, its mission and powera were at an
end, and we found ourselves in the alternative, either of proceed
ing to declare our independence, or of waiting, according to the
recommendation of Congress. This was the state of affairs, when
the Honorable Caleb Wallace, one of our Supreme Judges, the
Attorney-General Innis, and Benjamin Sebastian, proposed a
prompt separation from the American Union, and advocated with
intrepidity the necessity of the measure. The artifice of Congress
was exposed, its proceedings reprobated, the consequences of de-

496 WILKINSON'S TREASONABLE LETTER. 1789.
pending on a body whose interests were opposed to ours, were
depicted in the most vivid colors, and the strongest motives were
set forth to justify the separation.
" The arguments used were unanswerable, and no opposition was
manifested in the courae of the debates. It was unanimously con
ceded that the present connection was injurious to our interests,
and that it could not last any length of time. Nevertheless, sir,
when the question was finally taken, fear and folly prevailed against
reason and judgment. It was thought safer and more convenient
to adhere to the recommendation of Congress, and, in consequence,
it was decided that the people be advised to elect a new convention,
which should meet in the month of November, in conformity with
the ordinance which you will find in the Gazette, No. 2.-
"I am afraid of fatiguing you with theae detaila, but I felt that
it is my duty, in an affair of so much importance, to relate facts as
they have occurred. You may also blame me for having raised
this question so soon, and at a time when I had grounds to doubt
of its being decided favorably, but I flatter myself that my inten
tions justify my course of action.
" To consolidate the interests and confirm the confidence of our
friends, to try our strength, to familiarize the people with what we
aim at, to dissipate the apprehension which important innovations
generally produce, and to provoke the resentment of Congress,
with a view to stimulate that body into some invidious political
act, which might excite the passions of the people; these are the
motives which influenced me, and on which I rely for my justifica
tion. " The last convention was legally elected, and met at Danville in
the month of November, in conformity with the decree above
mentioned. Marshall and Muter had, in the meantime, been scat
tering distrusts and apprehensions calculated to do injury to our
cause. It is evident, however, that it has acquired considerable
force ; but, in order to elicit an unequivocal proof of the disposi
tions of that assembly, I submitted to its examination my original
memorial and the joint answer of yourself and Navarro. I receivedj
in the terms which you will find in the Gazette, No. 3, the unani
mous thanks of that body, in token of its approbation of my conduct
on that occasion. Some of our friends urged me to avail myself
of this opportunity to revive the great question, but I thought that
it was more judicious to indulge those who, for the moment, wish
only that a new application be made in relation to the independ
ence and separation of Kentucky from Yirginia, and that a memo-

1789. Wilkinson's treasonable letter. 497
rial be addresaed to Congress on the necessity of obtaining the
free uae of the navigation of the Mississippi. I assented to these
last propositions the more readily, that it waa unanimously resolved
that, should auy of them be rejected, then the people would be
invited to adopt all the measures necessary to secure for themselves
a separate government from that of the United States, because it
would have become evident that Congress had neither the will nor
the power to satisfy their hopes. I determined, therefore, to wait
for the effects which will result from the disappointment of those
hopes, and on which I rely to unite the country into one opinion.
This is the basis on which the great question now rests, and the
convention has adjourned to the next month.
" Thus, sir, if we review the policy favored by the inhabitants ot
Kentucky, we see that the moat intelligent and the wealthiest relish
our designs, which are opposed by only two men of rank, who,
controlled by their fears of silly demagogues, and filling their fol
lowers with hopes from the expected action of the new Congress,
have caused the suspension of the meaaurea we had in view to
unite the people, and thus to secure the success of our plans with
out involving the country in violent civil commotion.
" There are three conditions which are requisite to perpetuate
the connection of this section of the countty with the Atlantic
States. The first, and the most important, is the na^vigation of the
Mississippi; the second, which is of equal consequence, is the
admission of thia district into the Union as an independent State,
and on the same footing with the others; the third, and the last,
which is of less moment, is the exemption from taxes until the
befalling of the two events previously mentioned. Now, Sir, as
two of these conditiona are inadmissible, either by the Atlantic
States or by Spain, can any one hesitate to declare what will be
the consequences ? With due deference, I say. No ; because, aa it
ia not rational to auppose the voluntary casting away of property,
that another may profit by it, so it is not to be presumed that the
Eastern States, which at present have the balance of power in their
favor in the American government, will consent to strip themselves
of thia advantage, and increase the weight of the Southern Statea,
by acknowledging the independence of this district and admitting
it to be a member of the Federal Union. That the people of
Kentucky, as soon aa they are certain of their being refused what
they claim, will aeparate from the United Statea, is proclaimed
even by Marshall, Muter, and their more timid followers.

498 Wilkinson's treasonable letter. 1789.
"The same effect will be produced by the suspension of the
navigation of the Mississippi, which lies entirely in the power of
Spain,'and which must reduce this section of the countty to misety
and ruin ; and as it has been stipulated that the operations of the
Federal Government shall be uniform, the new Congress will have
to lay taxes, without exception whatever, over the whole country
submitted to its jurisdiction. The people here, not having the
means of paying those taxes, will resist them, and the authority of
the new government will be set at naught, which will produce a
civil war, and result in the separation of the West from the East.
" This event is written in the book of destiny. But if, to
produce it, we trust solely to the natural effect of political measures,
we shall experience some delay. It is in the power of Spain,
however, to precipitate its accomplishinent by a judicious co-opera^
tion ; and permit me here to illustrate the observations which I
presented some time ago to yourself and Navarro, in my answer t6
your inquiries as to the nature of that co-operation.
"As long as the connection between the Americans of the East
and of the West on this side of the Appalachian mountains shall
produce reciprocal benefits, and an equal security to their common
interests and happiness, the Union will maintain itself on a solid
foundation, and will resist any effort to dissolve it ; but, as soon as it
shall be ascertained that one section of the confederacy derives from
the Union more advantages than the other, and that the blessings
of a good government — such as peace and protection — cannot be
equally distributed, then harmony will cease, and jealousies will
arise, producing discord and disunion. In order to aid the favor
able dispositions of Providence, to foment the suspicions and
feelings of distrust already existing here, and infiame the animosity
between the Eastern and Western States, Spain must resort to
every artifice and other means which may be in her power.
"I have stated that the navigation of the Mississippi, and its
admission a,s an independent State and a member of the Union, are
rights claimed by the people of this part of the country, and con
stituting one of the principal conditions under which its connection
with the Atlantic States is to continue. Hence it follows, that
every manifestation of the power of Spain and of the debility of
the United States, every evidence of the resolution of the former
to retain exclusively for herself the right of navigation on the
Mississippi, and every proof of the incapacity of the latter, will
facilitate our views. Every circumstance also that will tend to

1789. WILKINSON'S TREASONABLE LETTER. 499
impede our admisaion aa an independent State, will loosen the
attachment of many individuala, increaae the diacontent of the
people, and favor the execution of our plan.
" Until I devoted myself entirely to the affair in which we are
engaged, I confess that I could not discover the aim of the first
treaty proposed by Gardoqui to Congress, but it seems to me now
that I can penetrate its policy. I consider it as profoundly judicious,
and I am of opinion that it ought to be renewed and vigorously
carried on, until its objects be attained, cost what it may, because,
besides that the proposed relinquishment of the right of navigating
the Mississippi would immediately disrupt the Union, and separate
forever the West from the East, the sanction of the treaty by Con
gress would make our situation so truly desperate, that Great Bri
tain would not venture to intervene in our favor, and all our hopes
would reat on the liberality of Spain.
" Whilat thia affair ia pending, Spain ought to consider the navi
gation of the Misaiasippi as one of the most precious jewels of her
crown. For, whatever power shall command that navigation, will
control all the countty which is watered by that river and by those
streams which fall into it. This control will be as effective and
complete aa that of the key upon the lock, or that of the citadel
over the exterior worka which it commands. The grant of thia
boon ought to be looked upon as the price of our attachment and
gratitude, and I beg leave to be permitted to repeat, that there
must be known no instance of ita being extended to any other
than thoae who underatand and promote the interests of Spain in
this part of the country. I entreat you, sir, to believe, that this
question of navigation is the main one on which depends the union
of the 'West and East, and that, if Congress can obtain the free use
of the Mississippi, and if Spain should cede it without condition,
it would strengthen the Union, and would deprive Spain of all ita
influence on this district.
" The sanguine spirit of an American impels him to construe in
his favor every thing that is left doubtful, and therefore Spain can
not act with too absolute precision on this important question.
You must not forget, sir, that such was my first impression, in
which I have been daily confirmed by subsequent observations and
experience. The concessions of the Americans will be in propor
tion to the energy and power exhibited by Spain ; but were she to
yield, she would lose much in dignity and consideration, and she
would breed in the Americans a spirit of pride and self-importance
quite incompatible with our designs. Thus, the privileges con-

500 WILKINSON'S TREASONABLE LETTER. 1789.
ceded to emigrants are an obstacle in the way of our great under
taking, because, as they were bestowed before they were asked for,
and as they were entirely unexpected, they have been considered
here by many as the effects of fear, and as a prelude to the removal
of all restrictions whatever on our commerce.
" The generality of our population are constantly discussing and
foatering these ideas, and as long as the hopes they have conceived
on this subject are kept up, it is a circumstance which will militate
in favor of the Union, and ¦will delay the effect of my operations.
" With due deference I may be permitted to say, that to people
the banks of the Mississippi with Americans ought to be an object
of secondary importance to the interests of his Catholic Majesty,
because there is no necessity to transplant a population which can
be controlled and governed on the soil where it grows naturally.
The engrafted branch retains the primitive qualities of the parent
trunk. Moreover, if Spain can establish colonies of Americans on
the Mississippi, there is no reason why she should not have them
also on the Ohio. It is an incontestible fact, worthy of your atten
tion, that the emigrants who have come down the Ohio, in order
to settle in Louisiana, are insolvent debtors and fugitives from jus
tice, and are poor and without principles. Such people are not
only unworthy vassals, but also ought to be looked upon as dan
gerous characters, against whom it is prudent to be on one's
guard. " But, sir, should unforeseen events produce results contrary to
my wishes, to my logical deductions and to my hopes, should an
obatinate resistance to forming a connection with Spain, or should
an unexpectedly hostile disposition manifest itself in these settle
ments, then the true policy would be to make of emigration the
principal object to be obtained, and Spain would always have the
power, through some agenta of an eminent rank here, to draw to
her the most respectable portion of the population of this district
Hundreds have applied to me on this subject, who are determined
to follow my example, and I do not deceive myself, nor do I de
ceive you, sir, when I affirm that it is in my power to lead a large
body of the most opulent and most respectable of my feUow-
citizens whither I shall go myself at their head, and I fiatter my
self that, after the dangers I have run and the sacrifices which I
have made, after having put my honor and my life in your hands,
you can have no doubts of my favorable dispositions toward the
intereata of his Catholic Majesty, aa long as my poor services shall
be necesaaty.

1789. WILKINSON'S TREASONABLE LETTER. 501
" After having read these remarks, you will be aurpriaed at being
informed, that lately I have, jointly with aeveral gentlemen of thia
country, applied to Don Diego Gardoqui for a conceasion of land,
in order to form a settlement on the river Yazoo. The motive of
this application ia to procure a place of refuge for myaelf and my
adherents, in case it should become necessary for us to retire from
this country, in order to avoid the resentment of Congress. It is
true that there is not, so far, the alighteat appearance of it, but it ia
judicioua to provide for all possible contingencies.
" Theae observations are sincere and well meant, and although
I still continue to be without any anawer from the Spanish minis
try, I consider myself bound in honor to proceed in my under*
taking until I obtain favorable results. Ardent are my wishes and
strong are my hopes, but may not both be illusive ? Is it not pos
sible that Great Britain may have accomplished her desires, by
exchanging Gibraltar for the two Floridas and the Island of New
Orleans ? It is a rumor which ia afioat in America, and I must
confess that it fills me with anxiety; for I have a very recent proof
that that power turna ita attention to thia countty with the utmost
earnestness, and sets in motion evety sort of machinery to secure
its aim, because, whilst William Eden is negotiating in Madrid
with his Excellency the Count of Florida Blanca, Lord Dorchester,
the Governor of Canada, scatters his emissaries in this district, to
win over the people to the interests of Great Britain. The docu
ment No. 4 contains an authentic copy of the letter of General St.
Clair, governor of the northern portion of the territory of Ohio, to
Major Dunn. That letter, sir, is the proof that the part which I
play in our great enterprise, and the dangers to which I am exposed
for the service of his Catholic Majesty, are known; and it will
serve at the same time to evidence the correctness of the informa*
tion which I gave in my memorial in relation to the designs of
Great Britain. Whence and how General St. Clair has acquired
any knowledge of the views of Spain, I cannot guess, unless ha
should have inferred them from the indiscreet zeal of Don Diegd
Gardoqui, which may have hurried that gentleman into confiden'
tial communications to persons unworthy of that trust, aud evea
to strangers^ aa muat have been demonstrated to you by the extract
of his letter to Colonel Morgan, which you will find in the paper
marked No. 5, and which is now circulating over the whole of thia
district. So far as I am concerned, having shared in .this impor
tant affair, I will endeavor to discharge with fidelity the part
assigned to me, without being detereed by the fear of consequenceft,

602 WILKINSON'S TREASONABLE LETTER. 1789.
always relying on the generosity of his majesty, who will indem
nify me or my family for whatever loss of fortune I may incur.
"The British Colonel Connolly, who is mentioned in General
St. Clair's letter, arrived at Louisville in the beginning of October,
having traveled from Detroit through the woods, to the mouth of
the river Big Miami, from which he came down the Ohio in a
boat. My agent in that town (Louisville) gave me immediate
information of that fact, and of the intention which Connolly had -
to visit me. Suspecting the nature of the negotiation he had on
hand, I determined, in order to discover his secret views, to be
beforehand with him, and to in^vite him here. Consequently he
came to my house on the 8th of November. I received him
courteously, and, as I manifested favorable dispositions toward the
interests of his Britannic Majesty, I soon gained his confidence —
so much so, that he informed me that Great Britain, desiring to
assist the American settlers in the West, in their efforts to open
the navigation of the Mississippi, would join them with ready zeal,
to dispossess Spain of Louisiana. He remarked that the forces in
Canada were not sufficient to send detachments of them to us, but
that Lord Dorchester would supply us with all the implements ¦ of
war, and with money, clothing, &c. ... to equip ten thousand
men, if we wished to engage in that enterprise. He added that,
as soon as our plan of operation should be agreed upon, these
articles would be sent from Detroit, through Lake Erie, to the
the river Miami, and thence to the Wabash, to be transported to
any designated point on the Ohio, and that a fieet of light
vessels would be ready at Jamaica to take posaeaaion of the Balize,
at the same time that we should make an attack from above. He
assured me that he was authorized by Lord Dorchester to confer
honors and other rewards on the men of influence who should
enter on that enterprise, and that all those who were officers
in the late continental army, should be provided with the same
grade in the service of Great Britain. He urged me much to favor
his designs, offering me what rank and emoluments I might wish
for, and telling me at the same time that he was empowered to
grant commissions for the raising of two regiments which he hoped
to form in Kentucky. After having pumped out of him -all that
I wished to know, I began to weaken his hopes by observing that
the feelings of animosity engendered by the late revolution were
ao recent in the hearta of the Americana, that I considered it
impossible to entice them into an alliance with Great Britain ; that,
in thia district, particularly in that part of it where the inhabitants

1789. WILKINSON'S TREASONABLE LETTER. 503
had suffered so much from the barbarous hostilities of the Indians,
which were attributed to British influence, the resentment of evOry
individual was much more intense and implacable. In order to
justify this opinion of mine and induce him to go back, I employed
a hunter, who feigned attempting his life. The pretext assumed
by the hunter was the avenging of the death of his son, murdered
by the Indians at the supposed instigation of the English. As I
hold the commission of a Civil Judge, it was, of course, to be my
duty to. protect him against the pretended murderer, whom I
caUsed to be arrested and held in custody. I availed myself of
this circumstance to communicate to Connolly my fear of not being
able to answer for the security of his person, and I expressed my
doubts whether he could escape with life. It alarmed him so
much, that he begged me to give Mm an escort to conduct him out
of our territory, which I readily assented to, and on the 20th of
November, he recrossed the Ohio on his way back to Detroit. I
did not dismiss him without having previously impressed upon
him the propriety of informing me, in as short a time as possible,
of the ultimate design of Lord Dorchester. As this man was
under the protection of the laws of nations, and as he carefully
avoided to commit any offence against our government, I con
sidered the measure I had resorted to as the most appropriate to
destroy his hopes ¦with regard to this country, and I think that the
relation he will make on his return to Canada will produce the
desired effect. But should the British be disposed to renew the
same attempt, as it may very well turn out to be the case, I shall
be ready to oppose and crush it in the bud.
"Thus, sir, you see realized the opinions I expressed in my
memorial relatively to the views which Great Britain had on this
part of the country. But whilst I reveal to you the designs of that
power, permit me a few reflections on the conduct of France with
regard to these settlements. I know that the family compact will
compel her to assist Spain against any hostility whatever. May
not Spain, however, be exposed to suffer from the subtile policy
and machinations of the most intriguing and the craftiest of all
nations ? It is to my knowledge that the Court of Yersailles has,
for years past, been collecting every sort of information on this
district, and that it would give a great deal to recover its posses
sions on the Mississippi. In the year 1785, a Knight of St. Louis,
named D'Arges, arrived at the falls of the Ohio, gave himself out
for a naturalist, and pretended that his object was to inquire into
the curious productions of this country ; but his manner of living

504 WILKINSON'S TREASONABLE LETTER. 1789.
contradicted his assertion. He made few acquaintances, lived very
retired, and during one year that he remained here, he never went
out of Louisville, where he resided, further than six miles. On his
perusing the first memorial which the people of this district pre
sented to the Legislature of Yirginia on the question of separation,
he expressed his admiration that there should be in so new a coun
try a writer capable of framing such a composition ; and, after
having made some reflections on the progressive importance of our
settlements, he exclaimed, with enthusiasm, "Good God! my country
has been blind, but its eyes shall soon be open!" The confidential
friend of this gentleman was a Mr. Tardiveau, who had resided
many years in Kentucky. D'Arges used to draw drafts on M. de
Marbois, then Consul of France at New York, and, finally, he
lived as one who belonged to the family of Count de Moustier, the
French minister, and I am informed from a good source, that he
presented to this same Count de Moustier a very elaborate memo
rial on these settlements, which was forwarded to the Court of
France. " Perhaps, sir, you will think this information frivolous, buti am
sure you will believe that it proceeds from my devoted zeal for the
interests of Spain. Please remember that trifles aa light as air
frequently are, for the-faithful and the zealoua, proofa as strong as
those of Holy Writ.
" Before closing this letter, I shall take the liberty to observe
that, in order to secure the success of our schemes, the most entire
confidence must be reposed in your agent here, because, without it,
his representations will be received with suspicion, and his recom
mendations disregarded, or executed with tardy precaution — which
is capable of defeating the most ably devised plan. Whether I
possess that confidence or not, is what I am ignorant of, but the
Almighty, who reads the hearts of all men, knows that I deserve it,
because nobody ever undertook a cause with more honest zeal and
devotion than I have this one. You may therefore conceive the
anxiety which I feel on account of the silence of your government
on my memorial, and I infinitely regret that some communication,
in relation to this part of the country, should not be transmitted
through Louisiana, because I know that the negotiations may be
conducted through that channel with more secrecy, and with bet
ter results.
"I deem it uaeleas to mention to a gentleman well versed in po
litical history, that the great spring and prime mover in all negoti
ations is money. Although not being authorized by you to do so,

1788. COLONEL MORGAN REMOVES TO LOUISIANA. 505
yet I found it necessary to use this lever, in order to confirm some
of our moat eminent citizena in their attachment to our cause, and
to supply others with the means of operating with vigor. For these
objects I have advanced five thousand dollars out of my own funds,
and half of this sum, applied opportunely, would attract Marshall
and Muter on our side, but it is now impossible for me to dis
burse it.
" I ahall not ¦write you again before the month of May, unlesa
some unexpected event should require it. At that time, I will
inform you of the decision of Yirginia, and of Congress, on our
last application, and I do not doubt but that our affairs will soon
assume a smiling aspect."
While the intrigue of Wilkinson and Miro was in progress,
Gardoqui, in ignorance of the plot, was seeking in another
way tp turn the discontents of the West to the advantage of
Spain. He had not fathomed the policy so strongly urged by
Wilkinson, to hold the navigation of the river, and the enjoyment
of commercial privilege, as the price of disunion ; and was seeking
to serve the same end, by holding out inducements to Americans
dissatisfied with the government, to emigrate to the Spanish
dominions. Col. George Morgan, of New Jersey, was sent to New
York by a land company in that State, to negotiate the purchase
of a large tract of land in Illinois, from the continental Congress.
WMle there he became acquainted with the inducements Gardoqui
was offering to emigrants from the United States, and determined
to transfer his negotiations from the confederacy to Spain. Accord
ingly he addreased a memorial to Gardoqui, setting forth at length
the advantages that would accrue to Spain from a settlement near the
mouth of the Ohio, and asking for a grant of twenty miles square,
for the purpose of founding a colony from the TTnited States near
that point. Gardoqui approved his scheme ; hia memorial waa
forwarded to the Spanish court, and a grant, extending from the
mouth of the St. Francis river to Point Cinq Hommes, containing
some twelve to fifteen millions of acrea, waa conceded to him for
that purpoae.
In the spring of 1788, Morgan paaaed down the river with a amall
colony and took poaaeaaion of his grant. There on the site of the
old hamlet of L'Anae d' la Greaae, he laid the foundation of a
city, which, in compliment to the Spaniards, he called New Madrid.
The position of the new city, the inducements offered to immi
grants and the trade of the Misaiaaippi, which had been guaranteed
33

506 yriMiMo^ DBNOuNeEs eOLoWEt MomsAff, 1788.
to its population, evideMy impressed Morgan with the belief, that
New Madrid was destined to become a place of great imfportane© ;
aUd accordingly it waa laiid out oU ai scale supposed t© be in kee|^
ing with the pretensions of the metropolis of the Miss'issrppi vaiiey*
The survey extended from the mouth of tlie Bayou St. Johsf to the
outlet of the lake Ste Marie, fronting a mile cnn the river and ran*
ning back an equal distance. A broad plateat! or common was
laid off in the rear of the town, to separate it from the plantations
in the country. Wide streets were laid off" at right angle* to eaeh
Other, and spaiCious squares were surveyed in different parts of the
town, for public buildings, churches aind pleasure grounds. T^
site of the city was well chosen on a beautiful plateau of crescent
form, commanding a view of the river both above and below for
many miles.
Morgan's a'cheme of colonization was very distasteful to WilMn-
sOn, and accordingly he took occasion at once to denounce it to
MirO. In a political view, he said, Morgan's colony would have
the most pernicious consequences, because the Americans settled
there, would preserve their old prejudices and be Americans still,
and that would destroy the noble fabric of which they had laid the
foundatioUs, and which they were endeavoring to complete.
Miro became alarnied, and addressed a remonstrance to his
government against the impolitic concessions of Gardoqui. Imme
diately afterward he ¦wrote to Morgan to inform him that the
conditions of his grant were inadmissible, and therefore, he would
be under the necessity of rescinding it. But because he had only
been influenced by- an excess of zeal to serve the king, he would
grant him a concession of one thousand aicres for himself, and an
equal aha.re for each of his sons, and that a fort should be consfructed
on the site of his new city, with a Spanish garrison to protect him
dnd his colOiiifeta;
Wilkinsbfa was not the only traitor to hia country in that eventful
dk.y. A considerable population had found its way over the moun-
tiains into the eastern part of Tennessee, as early as the period of
the revolutionary War. In 1777; the jurisdiction of North Carolina
was formally extended over the new settlement, under her colonial
claim to the Miaaiasippi, and the county of Washington was formed,
cbmprising the whole State of Tennessee. In the next yearj a
colony of refhgees frOM the tyranny of the British iU Carolina
^fenetr^ted the wilderness, and located themselves on the Cumber
land, near the site of Naahville.
After the reV6liltion a large emigration aet in from the Southern

1788. TROUBLES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 507
States to the aettlementa on the Holaton and the Cumberland.
The city of NaahvUle was founded in 1784, and the population
of the Cumberland river, at the same period, had risen to three
thousand, while that on the Holston, being both older and nearer
to the States, was much larger. To accommodate the wants of
these growing colonies, two judicial districts, consisting of four
counties, were formed, Washington comprising the settlementa in
eastern, and Cumberland, thoae in middle Tenneasee.
The juriadiction of North Carolina proved very inconvenient,
exercised thus over isolated settlements at a great distance from
its capital ; and, accordingly the question of separation was early
agitated. The legislature of North Carolina was willing to aflbrd
relief to the people of the western districta, and in 1785, proposed
to cede the territory west of the mountains, at the expiration of
two years, to the confederation, for the purpose of forming a new
State. But the people of the districts were harassed by the
hostility of the Cherokees; were cut off from the protection of
the parent State ; were deprived of an efficient military organiza
tion; and, were, therefore, dissatisfied with the remote period
designated for their separation.
To provide for the necessities of their situation, an informal
convention of the people of Washington district was held, and it
was resolved to memorialize Congress for an immediate separation
from North Carolina, and to call a legislative convention to provide
for the government of the district, until the question of cession
was decided. The convention met at Jonesborough, declared
the Washington district independent of North Carolina, organized
the "State of Frankland," appointed a corps of judicial aud
executive officers, and sent a delegate to Congress to ask an
admission into the confederacy.
But the Congress declined to recognize the new State, thus
irregularly formed, or to receive its delegate ; and the State of
North Carolina refused to relinquish her jurisdiction, and prepared
to enforce the supremacy of her laws. In the meantime, the
legislative convention of Frankland met, enacted laws, levied taxes,
and made another application to Congress for its interpoMtion.
Thus a confliot of jurisdiction was created, the officers of the
courts of Frankland seized the papers and cloaed the courts of
North Carolinaj and the officera of that State retaliated in the same
way on the courts of Frankland. In the meantime, Cocke, the
delegate of Frankland, appeared before Confess and asked it»
interposition to restore order in the district. That waa promptly

508 TROUBLES IN NORTH CAROLINA. 1788.
afforded; the authority of North Carolina was maintained, the laws
of the new State were declared void, and an amnesty for all past
offenses recommended.
The new organization was abandoned, and in 1787 the jurisdic
tion of the parent State was re-established. But the difficulties of
the district did not end here. Col. John Sevier had been appointed
governor of Frankland. Col. Tipton was his personal enemy and
political rival, and in his absence on an expedition against the
Indians, procured the passage of an act of outlawry and confisca
tion against him. Sevier resisted the execution of the process of
the court against his property — a contest between the partisans of
the new and old State ensued. Sevier's party was dispersed, and
all resistance to the laws of North Carolina was suppressed.
Sevier himself removed to the frontier and employed himself iu
the defense of the settlements against the Indians. Again he was
arrested on the charge of treason, taken to Jonesborough and
imprisoned in irons. But at length, public sentiment pronounced
in his favor; he was allowed to escape, and in 1789, the act of
attainder and outlawry against him was repealed.
It was under these circumstances that Sevier entered into a trea
sonable intrigue with the Spanish government. On the 12th of Sep
tember, 1788, he wrote to Gardoqui to say "that the inhabitants
of Frankland were unanimous in their vehement desire to form an
alliance and treaty of commerce with Spain, and to put themselves
under her protection," and to ask on the faith of the new State a sup
ply of arms and money from Spain to enable them to throw oft" the
yoke of North Carolina. The people of the Cumberland disfrict,
partly in sympathy with the State party of Frankland, but especially
infiuenced by the desire of enjoying the trade of the Mississippi,
shared the wish for a Spanish alliance to such a degree that in ful
some fiattery of the Spanish governor, they changed the name of
their diatrict to that of Miro.
To foment this discontent, and to turn thia deaire of a Spanish
alliance to the advantage of the Spanish crown, Gardoqui immedi
ately dispatched Dr. James White, a delegate to Congress, whom
he had bought for a bribe of four hundred dollars, to prepare the
minds of the people of Frankland and Miro for disunion. White
visited the districts and proceeded to Louisiana. On the 18th of
April, 1789, he addressed a communication to Miro, "that Don
Diego Gardoqui gave me letters for the chief men of the district of
Frankland with instructions to assure them that if they wished to
put themaelves under the protection of Spain and favor her interests.

1788. TROUBLES IN NORTH CAROLINA. 509
they should be protected in their ci^vil and political government in
the form and manner most agreeable to them, on the following
conditions :
"That it shall be absolutely necessary not only in order to hold
any office, but also any land in Frankland, that an oath of allegi
ance be taken to his majesty, the object and purport of which
should be to defend his government and faithful vassals, on all
occasions and against all enemies whoever they might be.
"That the inhabitants of that district shall renounce all submis
sion or allegiance, whatever, to any other sovereign or power.
"They have eagerly accepted these conditions, and the Spanish
minister has referred me to your favor, patronage and assistance,
to facilitate my operations. With regard to Cumberland, what I
have said of Frankland applies to it with equal force and truth."
Notwithstanding all this, Miro received White coldly. He was
determined not to share the honor of effecting the dismemberment
of the confederacy with Gardoqui and his agents ; and he chose
rather to endanger the success of his policy than to favor the
achemea of hia rival. Accordingly, he replied to White that his
master was ready to do much for the people of those districts, from
motives of pure generosity, that therefore he was disposed to grant
many favors and pri^vileges to those of them who would emigrate
to Louisiana, and that he was willing to grant to them the trade of
New Orleans, on payment of a duty of 15 per cent., which he
would further reduce in favor of men among them who were
known to be devoted to the interests of Spain. But he could
assist or foment no scheme to separate those districts from the
union, on account of the harmony which existed jjetween the Uni
ted States and Spain. If, indeed, they should secure a complete
independence from the United States, then his majesty would grant
them out of his royal beneficence, all the help, favor, and advantages
which might be adapted to their condition, and compatible with
the interests of the Spanish monarchy.
Miro's desire to discredit Gardoqui, induced him to write to
the ministry to disparage the efforts of White, in the disaffected
districts. "The inhabitants of Frankland," said he, "had already
thrown off the mask before White's arrival among them, and would
most certainly have had recourse to me, as is proved by John
Sevier's, letters, without the interference of the doctor." Never
theless, he was anxious to assist and foment the scheme to sepa
rate those districts from the union, and was ready to use even
White to effect that purpose. "The answer," says he, "which I

510 SOUTH CAROLINA LAND COMPANY. 1788,
have given to White, and which he is to show to the principal men
of Miro and Frankland, is so framed that should it miscarty, it
will afford no cause or complaint to the United States ; but verbally,
I have energetically recommended to him to use'the most strenuous
efforts to effect the desired separation."
At the same time, he wrote to Wilkinson to give him the details
of the intrigue he was carrying on through White. " Since you
are the principal actor in our favor," said he, "it is proper that you
be made acquainted with all this affair, in case that it ahould be
deemed useful to induce thoae districts to act in concert ¦with Ken
tucky, when that province ahall have achieved her separation from
the United States."
"I have just received," he continued, ^'letters from General
Daniel Smith, and Col. James Eobertaon, of the district of Miro,
informing me that the inhabitanta of Miro would, in September,
send delegatea to North Carolina in order to aolicit from the legisla
ture of that State an act of separation, and that as soon as that should
be obtained, other delegates would be sent from Cumberland to
New Orleans with the object of placing that territory under the
domination of his majesty."
The spirit of treason was not confined to the people of Tennessee.
In 1789, a company composed of Alexander Moultrie, Isaac Huger,
William Snipes, and Col. Washington, was formed at Charleston,
South Carolina, and purchased from the State of Georgia, a tract of
country between the Yazoo and the Mississippi, including, it is said,
fifty-two thousand nine hundred square miles. Wilkinson immedi
ately applied for the agency of the company, in order, as he wrote
Miro, that he might induce them to sue for the Spanish protection,
and in consequence add their establishment to the domains of his
majesty. He failed to secure the appointment, however, and
James 0 'Fall on received the agency of the company. The substi
tution was not material. O'Fallon was as thoroughly a traitor as
Wilkinson, and his letter to Miro of the 24th of May, 1790, will
show that he was not easily to be outdone in baseness.
"The detention," said he, "wMch I shall probably experience in
Kentucky, where I have just arrived on my way to New Orleans ;
the importance of the mission for which I am sent to you, not only
with regard to the Spanish Empire in general, but also particularly
with regard to Louisiana and West Florida, as well as in relation
to the interests in the Yazoo territory, of the South CaroUna Com
pany, whose general agent I have the honor to be, in virtue of a
unanimous nomination, under the seal and formal diploma of the

1788. SOUTH CAROLINA LAND COMPANY. 511
chief director, and of the other proprietors of an extensive territo
rial concession in the vicinity of your government, finally granted
to them by the State of Georgia ; the weighty political bearing of
my negotiation with you, and the propriety of your being made
acquainted with the general design of our plan, before my arrival,
and my presenting to you my full credentials, with other authentic
documents, which clothe me with the most extensive and confiden
tial powers, and which I ahall communicate to you with my char
acteristic frankness; the obligations resulting from the public
situation in which I am, as well as my natural disposition to con
tribute to the glory and prosperity of the crown which you serve,
(which disposition is quite notorious at the Spanish Court, through
the information afforded by its minister at New York, and the
governor of St. Augustine, who, from abundant experience, can
testify to it:) — All these motives now prompt me to address you,
in order to give in advance the following intelligence, which you
will examine in your moments of leisure.
" The affair which I have the honor to lay before you is pregnant
with events of the greatest importance, which must promptly and
inevitably be brought forth, if opportunely favored by the court of
Spain arid yourself, and which are such, that, even in the eye of
the most indifferent, they must assume proportions of the moat
considerable magnitude. This great project was conceived by
myself, a long time ago. Through my persuasion and influence,
the members of the General Company, who, in particular, are all
dissatisfied with the present Federal Government, have, immedi
ately and spontaneously, fallen in with my plan, for the execution
of which, considering that it was my conception, they have ap
pointed me their delegate, as one of the twenty proprietors of the
concession, with plenary powers to complete it, as you will see
after my arrival. At the same time that thia important aft'air waa
in agitation, and progreaaing among the most influential members
of the Legislature of Georgia, the Company was honoring me with
their entire confidence ; and, without their having suspected in the
beginning what I was aiming at, I insensibly prevailed upon them
to acquiesce in my political views, (after the obtaining of the con
cession,) and led them to consent to be the slaves of Spain,* under
the 'appearance of a free and independent State, forming a rampart
for the adjoining Spanish territories, and eatablishing with them an

*EsclaTos d« la Espana.

512 o'fallon's letter to miro. 1788,
eternal, reciprocal aUiance, offensive and defensive. This, for a
beginning, when once secured ¦with the greatest secrecy, will serve,
I am fully persuaded, as an example to be followed by the settie
ments on the western side of the mountains, which will separate
from the Atlantic portion of the confederacy, because, on account
of the advantages which they will expect from the privilege of
trading with our colony, under the protection of Spain, they will
unite with it in the same manner, and as closely as are the Atlantic
States with France, receiving from it evety assistance in war, and
relying on its power in the moment of danger.
" In order to induce the Company to pursue this course, I refused
to take any share in the enterprise under any other conditions;
and, in order to confirm their hostility to Congress, which then was
acting despotically, as well as to the president and his ministers,
who were opposing their pretensions, I used indirect means, which
decided them to form the resolution of separating themselves from
the Union, and of removing with their families, dependents, and
effects, to their conceded territory, with the determination, if Spain
favored them, not to subject themselves, nor the numerous colony
which they will soon form, to the administration of Congress, or
of Washington. The individuals interested in that concession are
gentlemen of the greatest influence, power, and talent, among the
most gifted in the confederacy; and they are sure of having, ¦within
eighteen months after the date of their first settlements, ten thou
sand men established in their territory, and capable of bearing
arms. All that they desire from the Spanish crown for their pro
jected establishment, is a secret co-operation, which, in reality,
will soon ripen into a sincere friendship. I assure you that Spain
will obtain everything from them in return, except the sacrifice of
their liberty of conscience, and of their civil government. I affirm
all this, because I am authorized to do so by the plenary powers
which they have given me, both in writing and verbally, as will
.ippear by my secret instructions, which I shall communicate to
you with the utmost sincerity on my arrival. For I intend, in my
proceedings, to keep aloof from all dissimulation whatever.
" Whilst the Company was making the most strenuous efforts to
obtain their concessions, in which two years were secretly employed,
I was corresponding with Don Diego Gardoqui, in New York, and
¦with the governor of East Florida, through my intimate friehd,
Captain Charles Howard, the Secretary of that province. At the
same time, at the request of the same minister, I was confidentially
engaged in obtaining for the court of Spain information of the

1788. o'fallon's letter to miro. 513
highest importance, in relation to Great Britain and the United
States, and was also working to procure the emigration often thou
sand Irish, American, and German families to the deserts of East
Florida. In order to bring these affairs to an end, I was preparing
to follow that minister to Madrid, when, in spite of Congress and
the President, the Legislature of Georgia, as it were unanimously,
conceded to the South Carolina Company, the Yirginia Company,
and the Tennessee Company, the territories which they had re
spectively sued for in the vicinity of your government : in conse
quence of which, these companies found themselves incorporated
and organized by an act of that legislature, and, by virtue of said
incorporation and organization, were empowered, under the sanc
tion of the new federal constitution and authorities, and against the
will and wishes of the president, and of some of his ministers, to
treat and negotiate in relation to the contemplated colonization.
"In this conjuncture, I fully informed the minister Gardoqui,
and the governor of St. Augustine, of the circumstances that had
occurred, and of the intention of a few members of the Company to
have recourse to Great Britain for their own private views and ben
efit. It was in my power to cause that disposition to evaporate,
and, the better to obtain this result, I abandoned the project of in
troducing families into West Florida. I then succeeded in
persuading them as I wished, and, with a view of conciliating the
interests of the company with those of Spain, I consented to be
appointed their general agent, to negotiate with you, as I have
already expressed it above, and thereby be enabled to treat for the
eatabliahment of the new colony, combining their interests with
those of Louisiana, on principles of reciprocal advantage and de
fense. "These premises being taken for granted, it remains for me to
inform you that, some time in June next, I intend to depart for
New Orleans, in order to have frank, sincere, and unreserved con
ferences with you on these matters. I will do nothing without
your approbation and consent, because I aim at nothing else than
serving the interests of Spain, to which I am hereditarily attached,
abandoning all other purauit, more lucrative for my family, in order
merely to follow the bent of my inclination. I need not say to you
how much the company and myself rely on your honor, secrecy,
and good will, on which depends our security, as you may infer
from what I have so ingeniously related. The company waits only
for your determination, in order to carry its plan into execution in
a short time, &c., &c."

514 MIRO'S DISPATCH TO GOVERNMENT. 1788.
Miro was uncertain what course to pursue in regard to the
schemes of O'Fallon and the South CaroUna company, and accord
ingly he forwarded a long communication to his government,
presenting the reasons for and against the question of encouraging
them: "O'Fallon's propositions," said he, "require the most serious
refiection, because it is necessary to weigh the advantages resulting
from their being accepted, with the danger of permitting such a
settlement in such close contiguity with the possessions of hig
Majesty, or to speak more to the point, of taking as it were a
foreign Slate to board with us. I will therefore presume to offer to
you a few observations, which my very limited experience suggests
to me, in order that they may serve as materials which may be of
some use to you in proposing to his majesty what you may deem
best. " The United States have not consented so far to have their Umits
determined in that region, and maintain the right, which in their
opinion, they derive from their treaty of peace with Great Britain,
unduly granting them a portion of the banks of the river Mississippi,
down to the thirty-first degree, which ia found at thirty-six miles
below the fort at Natchez. They labor with incessant ardor to
gain the Indian nations, because, no doubt, they look upon them
as a barrier which now prevents them from taking possession of
the -territory which they claim, while those tribes would help them
to it if friendly. Should the plan of colonization of the Souli
Carolina company be permitted to be carried into execution, all the
hopes of the United States would vanish, or at least they would
find it no trifling enterprise to send an army to gain their point.
" With regard to the territory granted to the Yirginia company
in the Yazoo district, it extends from the thirty-third degree, which
is the upper limit of the other company, to thirty-four degrees and
forty minutes, comprehending one hundred and twenty miles along
its banks by one hundred and twenty in depth. I do not think we
have a positive right to those lands which are the hunting grounds
of the Chickasaws, who could with justice oppose the settlement
contemplated by the Yirginia company. As the leaders in thi«
company act from the same motives that infiuence tiie South Caff-
olina company, what I have said as applicable to the former ie
equally so to the latter, inasmuch as they would both pursue the
same course. This would also prove true in relation to the Ten
nessee company, whose concession runs from the mouth of the
Tennessee river to about one hundred and twenty miles back, and

1788. MIRO's DISPATCH TO GOVERNMENT. 515
belongs to the territory bought from the Cherokees and Chick
asaws." But there were, he averred, great difficulties attending the
encouragement of these companies. There was great danger that
they would not adhere to their present intentions, or perhaps they
they were not sincere in the professions they had made. The
population they would introduce into the neighborhood of the
Spanish territoty, might not be easily dispossesed if they should
support the pretensions of the United States, as there waa reason to
fear they might. Besides, it would be perilous to have a powerful
neighbor so near, who might prepare to conquer the province,
without its being possible for the Spanish authorities to resist the
execution of such a purpose. It was, therefore, manifestly easier
to prevent the establishment intended by the South Carolina com
pany, than to correct the evils that might result from it.
It might be better, neither to concur in or reject the plans of the
company, but rather to permit them to colonize the country, on
conditions that they would swear allegiance to the Spanish crown.
But, even then, there was a difficulty. The emigrants might indeed
accept any condition for the time, but, perhaps, would violate them
as soon as they might be able to do so.
Under all these circumstances he announced the plan he intend
ed to pursue, and it was a fitting response to the treason of the
company. He would treat O'Fallon in such a way as to allow him
to hope for the success of his mission. But he would take effec
tual measures to excite the Indians against the American settlers.
"I have recommended them," says he, "to remain quiet, and told
them, that if these people presented themselves with a view to
settle on their lands, to make no concessions and warn them off,
but to attack th&m, in case they refuse to withdraw, and I have
promised that I would supply them with powder and ball to defend
their legitimate rights."
Thus, at that period, there was a general spirit of disunion along
the whole border south of the Ohio. Wilkinson and his confede
rates were plotting the surrender of Kentucky to Spain. Sevier
and Robertson, ¦with their party in Tennessee, were vehement in
their unanimous desire to put that region under the protection of
the Spanish crown. The land companies of the south-west were
ready, for the sake of profit, to declare themselves the slaves of
Spain. In all the settlements and the districts of the south-west,
at the formation of the federal constitution, there was a general
hostUity to the federal government, and the leading politicians of

516 MIRO'S TREATMENT OF WILKINSON. 1788.
that country, acting as it were with a common impulse, were plot
ting the dissolution of the Union, and the surrender of their coun
try to the domination of Spain.
It was a magnificent prize they offered to the agents of the
Spanish crown. To secure the extension of the Spanish authority
over the whole Mississippi valley was an object well worthy of the
exertions of Miro and Gardoqui, and one for which they were dis
posed to use any means, and to employ any agents to effect. Yet
they failed to conceal the contempt they felt for the men whom
they were using to effect their purpose, and the contempt and dis
trust they entertained of the crowd of traitors, small and great,
who were suing for their favor and coveting their bribes, were the
fitting reward for the treason they were anxious to commit, and
furnish only another illustration of the maxim that though men
may rejoice at a treason, they ever hate the traitor.
Miro was ready to encourage the advances of the South Carolina
company, and to receive graciously their professions of devotion to
the interests of his master ; but, at the same time, he was prepared
to let loose the savages on men he saw were false to their country
and their race, and could not be true to him. He was ready to
foment the discontent of the people of Tennessee, who were eager
to swear allegiance to Spain, but he could not assist them to secure
their separation from the Union, "on account of the good under
standing which exists between his Catholic Majesty and the United
States." But his treatment of Wilkinson is a most exquisite example of
the traitor's reward. On the 26th of January, 1790, Wilkinson
wrote to Miro a letter filled with complaints at the failure of his
plans. The permission to trade with New Orleans, he said, had
cooled all the ardor of the Kentuckians for a Spanish alliance ; the
great motive for disunion was thus removed. The politicians who
had so loudly denounced the Union had received offices, and they
were grown patriotic. None of them could be relied on, unless
they were liberally bribed. None of his accomplices were left hut
Sebastian ; he himself was suspected, and his movements were
watched. He abhorred all duplicity, and yet he was obliged to
dissemble. He therefore desired to resort to some contrivance to
enable him to declare himself a vassal of Spain, in order that he
might claim its protection. To all this, Miro returned a fitting
reply :
"I much regret that Gen. Washington and Congress suspect your
eonnection with me, but it does not appear to me opportune that

1789. TREATY OF CONFIRMATION AT FORT HARMAR. 517
you declare yourself a Spaniard, for the reasons which you state.
I am of the opinion that this idea of yours is not convenient, and
that, on the contrary, it might have prejudicial results. Therefore,
continue to dissemble, and to work as you promised, and as I have
above indicated."
Nevertheless, he proposed to his government that Wilkinson
ought to be retained in the service of his majesty, with a pension,
in order that he might report any hostile movements the people of
Kentucky might set on foot against the province of Louisiana ; and
that Sebastian ought to be pensioned, in order that he might enlighten
them on the conduct of Wilkinson. And this was the end of the
intrigue that promised such great results, and exhibited so much
baseness. Wilkinson was bribed as a spy upon the actions of the
people of Kentucky, and Sebastian was bribed as a spy on the actions
of Wilkinson.
Preparations, as has been stated, had been made early in 1788, for
1789.] a treaty with the Indians, and during the whole autumn,
the representatives of the Indian tribes were lingering about the
Muskingum settlement: but it was not till January 9th of this
year, that the natives were brought to agree to distinct terms. On
that day, one treaty was made ¦with the Iroquois* confirming the
previous one of October, 1784, at Fort Stanwix ; and another with
the Wyandots, Delawares, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawattamies,
and Sacs, confirming and extending the treaty of Fort Mcintosh,
made in January, 1785. Of the additions the following are
quoted :
" It is agreed between the United States and the said nations,
that the individuals of said nations shall be at liberty to hunt
within the territoty ceded to the United States, without hindrance
or molestation, so long as they demean themselves peaceably, and
offer no injury or annoyance to any of the subjects or citizens of
the said United States.
" Trade shall be opened with the said nations, and they do hereby
respectively engage to afford protection to the persons and property
of such as may be duly licensed to reside among them for the pur
pose of trade, and to their agents, factors and servants ; but no
person shall be permitted to reside at their towns, or at their hunt
ing camps, as a trader, who is not furnished with a license for that

* Land Laws, 149.— See also Carey's Museum for April, 1789, p. 415.

518 TREATY OF CONFIRMATION AT FORT HARMAR. 1789.
purpose, under the hand and seal of the governor of the territory
of the United States north-west of the Ohio, for the time being,
or under the hand and seal of one of his deputies for the manage
ment of Indian affairs ; to the end that they may not be imposed
upon in their traffic.
" And if any person or persons shall intrude themselves ¦without
such license, they promise to apprehend him or them, and to bring
them to the said governor, or one of his deputies, for the purpose
before mentioned, to be dealt with according to law; and that they
may be defended against persons who might attempt to forge such
licenses, they further engage to give information to the said gov
ernor, or one of his deputies, of the names of all traders residing
among them, from time to time, and at least once evety year.
" Should any nation of Indiana meditate a war against the United
States, or either of them, and the same shall come to the knowledge
of the before mentioned nations, or either of them, they do hereby
engage to give immediate notice thereof to the governor, or, in his
absence, to the officer commanding the troops of the United States
at the nearest post. And should any nation, with hostile inten
tions against the United States, or either of them attempt to pass
through their country, they will endeavor to prevent the same, and
in like manner give information of such attempt to the said gov
ernor or commanding officer, as soon as possible, that all causes of
mistrust and suspicion may be avoided between them and the
United States : in like manner, the United States shall give notice
to the said Indian nations, of any harm that may be meditated
against them, or either of them, that shall come to their knowledge;
and do all in their power to hinder and prevent the same, that the
friendship between them may be uninterrupted.*
But these treaties, if meant in good faith by those who made
them, were not respected, and the year of which we now write, saw
renewed the old frontier troubles in all their barbarism and variety.
The Wabash Indians especially, who had not been bound by any
treaty as yet, kept up constant incursions against the Kentucky
settlera and the emigrants down the Ohio,t and the Kentuckians
retaliated, striking foes and frienda, even " the peaceable Pianke
shaws, who prided themaelvea on their attachment to the United
Statea." Nor could the President take any effectual steps to put

* See Land Laws, p. 152.
¦f Marshall, i. 348, 354.— American State Papers, vol. v., 84, 85.— Carey's Museum.

1789, WAR ON WABASH INDIANS PROPOSED, 519
an end- to this constant partisan warfare. In the first place, it
was by no means clear that an attack by the forces of the govern
ment upon the Wabash tribes could be justified. Says Wash
ington :
" I would have it observed forcibly, that a war with the Wabash
Indians ought to be avoided by all means consistently with the
security of the frontier inhabitants, the security of the troops^ and
the national dignity. In the exercise of the present indiscriminate
hostilities, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to say that a
war without further measures would be just on the part of the
United States, But if, after manifesting clearly to the Indians the
disposition of the General Government for the preservation of
peace, and the extension of a just protection to the said Indians,
they ahould continue their incursions, the United States will be
constrained to punish them with severity,"*
But how to punish them was a difficult question, again, even
supposing punishment necessary. Says General Knox :
"By the best and latest information it appears that, on the
Wabash and its communications, there are from fifteen hundred
to two thousand warriors. An expedition against them, with a
view of extirpating them, or destroying their towns, could not be
undertaken with a probability of success, with less than an army
of two thousand five hundred men,
" The regular troopa of the United States on the frontiers^ are
lesa than six hundred: of that number, not more than four
hundred could be collected from the posta for the purpose of the
expedition. To raise, pay, feed, arm, and equip one thousand
nine hundred additional men, with the necessary officers, for six
montha, and to provide everything in the hospital and quarter
master's line, would require the sum of two hundred thousand
dollars, a sum far exceeding the ability of the United States to
advance, consistently with a due regard to other indispensable
objects." Such, however, were the representations of the governor of the
new territory, and of the people of Kentucky, that Congress, upon
the 29th of September, empowered the President to call out the
militia to protect the frontiers, and he, on the 6th of October,
authorized Governor St. Clair to draw fifteen hundred men from
the western counties of Yirginia and Pennsylvania, if absolutely

' American State Papers, v. 13, 97, pp. 84 to 93.

520 MUSKINGUM SETTLEMENTS INCREASE RAPIDLY. 1789.
necessary ; ordering him, however, to ascertain, if possible, the real
disposition of the Wabash and IlUnois Indians. In order to do
this, speeches to them were prepared, and messengers sent among
them, whose observations will be hereafter mentioned.
Kentucky, especially, felt aggrieved this year by the withdrawal
of the Yirginia scouts and rangers, who had hitherto helped to
protect her. This was done in July, by the governor, in conse
quence of a letter from the federal executive, stating that national
troops would thenceforward be stationed upon the western streams.
The governor communicated this letter to the Kentucky conven
tion held in July, and that body at once authorized a remonstrance
against the measure, representing the inadequacy of the federal
troops, few and scattered as they were, to protect the countty, and
stating the amount of injuty received from the savages since the
first of May.*
Nor was the old separation sore healed yet. Upon the 29th of
December, 1788, Yirginia had passed her third act to make Ken
tucky independent ; but as this law made the district liable for a
part of the State debt, and also reserved a certain control over the
lands set apart as army bounties, to the Old Dominion, — ^it was hy
no means popular; and when, upon the 20th of July, the eighth
convention came together at Danville, it was only to resolve upon
a memorial requesting that the obnoxious clauses of the late law
might be repealed. This, in December, was agreed to by the
present State, but new proceedings throughout were at the same
time ordered, and a ninth convention directed to meet in the
following July.
North of the Ohio, during this year, there was less trouble from
the Indians than south of it, especially in the Muskingum country.
There all prospered: the Eev. Daniel Story, under a resolution of
the Directors of the Ohio Company, passed some time in 1788, in
the spring of this year came westward as a teacher of youth and a
preacher of the Gospel. By November, nine associations, com
prising two hundred and fifty persons, had been formed for the
purpose of settling different points within the purchase ; and, by
the close of 1790, eight settlements had been made; two at Belpre,
(belle prairie,) one at Newbury, one at Wolf creek, one at Duck
creek, one at the mouth of Meigs' creek, one at Anderson's Bottom,
and one at Big Bottom.
* Marshall, i. 352. American State Papers, t. 84, &c.

1789, symmes' city proves a failure, 521
Between the Miamies, there was more alarm at this period, but
no great amount of actual danger. On the 15th of June, news
reached Judge Symmea that the Wabash Indians threatened his
settlements, and as yet he had received no troops for their defense,
except nineteen men from the Falls, Before July, however. Major
Doughty arrived at the "Slaughter House," and commenced the
building of Fort Washington on the site of LosantiviUe,
Through the infiuence of the Judge (Symmes,) the detachment
sent by General Harmar, to erect a fort between the Miami rivers,,
for the protection of the settlers, landed at North Bend, Thia
circumstance induced many of the first emigrants to repair to that
place on account of the expected protection which the garrison
would afford. On the 14th of June, before Fort Washington was
commenced, and when the only soldiers in the purchase were at
North Bend, Symmes writes to Dayton :
"It is expected, that on the arrival of Governor St, Clair, this
purchase ¦will be organized into a county ; it is therefore of some
moment which place shall be made the county seat, LosantiviUe, at
present, bids the fairest; it is a most excellent site for a large town,
and is at present the most central of any of the inhabited towns;
but if South Bend might be finished and occupied, that would be
exactly in the centre, and probably would take the lead of the
present villages until the city can be made somewhat considerable,*
This is really a matter of importance to the proprietors, but can
only be achieved by their exertions and encouragements. The
lauds back of South Bend are not very much broken, after you
ascend the first hill, and will aftbrd rich aupplies for a country
town, A few troops stationed at South Bend will effect the settle
ment of this new ¦village in a very short time,"
The truth is, that neither the proposed city on the Miami, North
Bend or South Bend, could compete, in point of natural advantages,
with the plain on which Cincinnati has since arisen; and had Fort
Washington been built elsewhere, after the close of the Indian war,
nature would have ensured the rapid growth of that point where
even the ancient and mysterious dwellers along the Ohio had reared
the earthen walls of one of their vaateat temples.

* Symmes had already planned and laid out the " City of Cleves," extending from the
Ohio to the Miami, at North Bend, where those rivers converge to within a mile of each
other. 34

PERIOD V.
1790—1795.
The most important events connected with the history of the
West, in the period from 1790 to 1795, were the Indian wars of
the north-western territory. In order to understand properly their
origin and causes, it is necessaty to refer to the relations previously
existing between the Indians and the whites, and the various
treaties that had been made at different times between them.
The French, it will be remembered, made no large purchases
from the western Indians; so that the treaty of Paris, in 1763,
transferred to England only small grants about the various forts,'
Detroit, Yincennes, Kaskaskia, &c. Then followed Pontiac's war
and defeat; and then the grant by the Iroquois at Fort Stanwix,
in 1768, of the land south of the Ohio ; and even this grant, it will
be remembered, was not respected by those who actually hunted
on the grounds transferred. Next came the war of 1774, Dunmore's
war, which terminated without any transfer of the Indian posses
sions to the whites; and when, at the close of the Kevolution, in
1783, Britian made over her western claims to the United States,
ehe made over nothing more than she had received from France,
gave the title of the Six Nations and the southern savages to a
portion of the territoty south of the Ohio ; as against the Miamies,
western Delawares, Shawanese, Wyandots or Hurons, and the
tiibes still further north and west, she transferred nothing.
But this, apparently, was not the view taken by the Congress of
the time ; and they, conceiving that they had, under the treaty
with England, a full right to all the lands thereby ceded, and
regarding the Indian title as forfeited by the hostilities of the
Revolution, proceeded, not to buy the lands of the savages, but
to grant them peace, and dictate their own terms as to boundaries.
In October, 1784, the United States acquired in this ¦way what
ever title the Iroquois possessed to the western country, both north
and south of the Ohio, by the second treaty of Fort Stanwix, a
treaty openly and fairly made, but one the validity of which many
of the Iroquois always disputed. The ground of their objection
appears to have been, that the treaty was with a part only of the
Indian nations, whereas the wish of the natives waa, that every

1790. RECAPITULATION OF TREATIES. 523
act of the States with them, should be as with a confederacy,
embracing all the tribes bordering upon the great lakes.
It will be remembered that the instructions given the Indian
Commiasionera in October, 1783, provided for one convention with
all the tribea ; and that thia proviaion waa changed in the following
March, for one by which as many aeparate conventions were to be
had, if poaaible, as there were separate tribes. In pursuance of
this last plan, the Commissioners, in October, 1784, refused to
listen to the proposal which is said then to have been made
for one general congress of the northern tribes, and in opposition
to Brant, Bed Jacket and other influential chiefs of the Iroquoia,
concluded the treaty of Fort Stanwix.
Then came the treaty of Fort M'Intosh, in Januaty, 1785, with
the " Wyandot, Delaware, Chippewa and Ottawa nations " — open
to the objections above recited, but the validity of which was
never disputed, at least by the Wyandots and Delawares; although
the general council of north-western Indians, representing sixteen
tribes, asserted in 1793, that the treaties of Fort Stanwix, Fort
M'Intosh and Fort Finney, (mouth of the Great Miami,) were not
only held with separate tribes, but were obtained by intimida
tion, the red-men having been asked to make treatiea of peace, and
forced to make cessions of territory.
The third treaty made by the United States was with the
Shawanese at Fort Finney, in January, 1786; which, it will be
remembered, the Wabash tribes refused to attend. The fourth
and fifth, which were acts of confirmation, were made at Fort
Harmar, in 1789, one with the Six Nations, and the other with the
Wyandots and their aaaoeiatesj namely, the Delawares, Ottawas,
Chippewas, Pottawattamies, and Sacs. This last, fifth treaty, the,
confederated nations of the lake especially, refused to acknowledge
as binding; their council using in relation to it, in 1793, theae
worda :
"Brothers: A general council of all the Indian confederacy was
held, aa you well know, in the fall of the year 1788, at this place ;
and that general council waa invited by your commissioner. Gov.
St. Clair, to meet him for the purpose of holding a treaty, with
regard to the lands mentioned by you to have been ceded by the
treaties of Fort Stanwix and Fort Mcintosh.
"Brothers: We are in poaseaaion of the apeechea and lettera
which passed on that occasion, between those deputed by the con
federate Indians, and Gov. St. Clair, the commissioner of the Uni
ted Statea. Theae papers prove that your said commissioner in the

524 RECAPITULATION OF TREATIES. 1790.
beginning of the year 1789, after having been informed by the
general council of the preceding fall, that no bargain or sale of any
part of these Indian lands would be considered as valid or binding,
unless agreed to by a general council, nevertheless persisted in col
lecting together a few chiefs of two or three nations only, and with
them held a treaty for the cession of an immense country, in which
they were no more interested, than as a branch of the general con
federacy, and who were in no manner authorized to make any
grant or cession whatever.
"Brothers : How then was it possible for you to expect to enjoy
peace, and quietly to hold these lands, when your commissioner
was informed, long before he held the treaty of Fort Harmar, that
the consent of a general council was. absolutely necessary to convey
any part of these lands to the United States."*
And iu 1795, at Greenville, Massas, a Chippewa chieftain, who
signed the treaty at Fort Harmar, said :
"Elder Brother: When you yesterday read to us the treaty of
Muskingum, I understood you clearly; at that treaty we had not
good interpreters, and we were left partly unacquainted with many
particulars of it. 1 was surprised when I heard your voice, through
a good interpreter, say that we had received presents and compen
sation for those lands which were thereby ceded. I tell you now,
that we, the three fires, never were informed of it. If our uncles,
the Wyandots, and grandfathers, the Delawares, have received such
presents, they have kept them to themselves. I always thought
that we, the Ottawas, Chippewas, and Pottawattamies, were the true
owners of those lands, but now I find that new masters have under
taken to dispose of them; so that, at this day, we do not know to
whom they, of right, belong. We never received any compensa
tion for them. I don't know how it is, but ever since that treaty
we have become objects of pity, and our fires have been retiring
from this country. Now, elder brother, you see, we are objects of
compassion, aud have pity on our weakness and misfortunes; and,
since you have purchased these lands, we cede them to you ; they
are yours."
The Wyandots, however, acknowledged even the transfer made
on the Muskingum, to be binding: "Brother," said Tarke, who
signed the treaty foremost among the representatives of that tribe at
Greenville, and who had also signed the treaty at Fort Harmar —

¦* American State Papers, v. pp. 356, 357.

1790. INDIANS DISPOSED FOR WAR. 525
"You have proposed to us to build our good work on the treaty
of Muskingum; that treaty I have always considered as formed
upon the fairest principles.
"You took pity on us Indians. You did not do as our fathers,
the British, agreed you should. You might by that agreement
have taken all our lands; but you pitied us, and let us hold part.
I always looked upon that treaty to be binding upon the United
States and us Indians." *
The truth in reference to thia treaty of Fort Harmar seems to
have been, that the confederated nations, as a whole, did not sanc
tion it, and in their council of 1778 could not agree one with
another in relation to it. Said Brant, before the council met —
"I have still my doubts whether we will join or not, some being
no ways inclined for peaceable methods. The Hurons, Chippewas,
Ottawaa, Pottawattamiea and Delawares, will join with us in trying
lenient steps and having a boundaty line fixed ; and, rather than
enter headlong into a destructive war, will give up a small part of
their country. On the other hand, the Shawanese, Miamies and
Kickapoos, who are now so much addicted to horse-stealing, that
it will be a difficult task to break them of it, as that kind of busi
ness is their best harvest, will of course declare for war, and not
giving up any of their country, which, I am afraid, will be the
means of our separating. They are, I believe, determined not to
attend the treaty with the Americans. Still I hope for the best.
As the major part of the nations are of our opinions, the rest may
be brought to, as nothing shall be wanting on my part to convince
them of their error, "f
Le Gris, the great chief of the Miamies, in April, 1790, said to
Gamelin, that the Muskingum treaty was not made by chiefs or
delegates, but by young men acting without authority, although
Tarke, the head of the Wyandots, signed and sanctioned it, as well
as Captain Pipe of the Delawares, while Brant himself was present.
Thus then stood the relations of the Indians and the United
States, in 1789. Transfers of territory had been made by the Iro
quois, the Wyandots, the Delawares and the Shawanese, which
were open to scarce any objection; but the Chippewaa, Ottawaa,
Kickapooa, Weaa, Piankeshawa, Pottawattamies, Eel River Indians,
Kaskaskias, and above all the Miamies, were not bound by any
existing agreem'ent to yield the lands north of the Ohio.

* American State Papers, v. p. 570, 671. f Stone ii. 278.

526 WASHINGTON DOUBTS THE JUSTICE OF INDIAN WAR. 1790.
They wished the Ohio to be a perpetual boundary between the
white and red men of the West, and would not sell a rod of the
region north of it. So strong was this feeling that their young
men, they said, could not be restrained from warfare upon the
invading Long Knives, and thence resulted the unceasing attacks
upon the frontier stations and the emigrants.
Washington expressed doubts as to the justness of an offensive
war upon the tribes of the Wabash and Maumee ; and had the
treaty of Fort Harmar been the sole ground whereon the United
States could have claimed of the Indians the North-western Terri
tory, it may be doubted whether right would have justified the
steps taken in 1790, 1791, and 1794 ; but the truth was, that before
that treaty, the Iroquois, Delawares, Wyandots and Shawanese had
yielded the south of Ohio, the ground on which they had long
dwelt; and neither the sale to Putnam and his associates, nor that
to Symmes, was intended to reach beyond the lands ceded. Of
this there is proof in the third article of the ordinance of 1787,
passed the day before the proposition to sell to the OMo company
was for the first time debated ; which declares that the lands of the
Indians shall never be taken from them without their consent. It
appears evident, therefore, that the United States were fully justified
in taking possession of the north-west shore of the Ohio, and that
without reference to the treaty at Fort Harmar, which may have
been, if the Indians spoke truly, and they were not contradicted
by the United States commissioners, morally worthless. But it
also appears that in adopting the measures it did in 1790 and 1791,
the federal government acted unwisely ; and that it should then, at
the outset, have done what it did in 1793, after St. Clair's terrible
defeat, — ^it should have sent commissioners of the highest character to
the lake tribes, and in the presence of. the British, learned their causes
of complaint, and offered fair terms of compromise. That such a
step was wise and j.ust, the government acknowledged by its after
action ; and surely no one can question the position that it was
more likely to have been effective before the savages had twice
defeated the armies of the confederacy than afterward."
The north-west territory was organized under the ordinanc e o
1787, as has been seen, in 1788, and a corps of officers, consisting of
Arthur St. Clair, Governor, and Samuel H. Parsons, James M.
Yarnum, and John Armstrong, Judges, and Winthrop Sargent,
Secretary. Subsequently, Mr. Armstrong decUned the appoint
ment, and it was given to John Cleves Symmes. As St. Clair was

1790. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF ST. CLAIR. 527
the first governor of the north-western territory, and as his name,
Ms services, and his misfortunes are inseparably connected with ita
MstOry, it may be proper to refer to his history.
He was a native of Scotiand, from which country he came to the
Britiah Colonies of North America in' 1755; having joined the
Royal American, or sixtieth British regiment, and served under
General Amherst, at the taking of Louisburg, in 1758. He carried
a standard at the storming and capture of Quebec, under General
Wolfe, in 1759.
Soon after the peace of 1763, he settled in Ligonier valley, in
Western Pennsylvania, where he continued to reside until the Rev
olutionary war. Being a firm friend of liberty, and the rights of
the colonies, he received from Congress the commission of colonel,
and joined the American army with a regiment of seven hundred
and fifty men. Having been promoted to the rank of Major-Gen
eral, he was tried by a court martial, in 1778, for evacuating Ticon
deroga and Mount Independence, and unanimously acquitted with
the highest honors.*
The late General James Wilkinson, who waa a major under St.
Clair at the time, states in the "Memoir of his own Times," that
the general said to him, " I know I can save my character by sacri
ficing the army, but were I to do so, I should forfeit that which the
world cannot restore, and which the world cannot take away — my
own conscience."t
He continued in the service with honor until the peace. He waa
rigid, some thought arbitrary, in his government, and, therefore,
unpopular, but he was acrupulously honest — had no talent for specu
lation, and died poor. In a letter to the Hon. W. B. Giles, of Yir
ginia, he said :
" In the year 1786, I entered into the public service in civil life,
and was a member of Congress, and President of that body, when
it was determined to erect a government in the country to the
West, that had been ceded by Yirginia to the United States ; and
in the year 1788, the office of governor was in a great measure
; forced on me.
"The losses I had sustained in the Revolutionary war, from the de
preciation of the money, and other causes, had been very great;
and my friends saw in this new government means that might be
in my power to compensate myself, and to provide handsomely for

* Dillon's Indiana, 231. f Wilkinson's Memoirs, i. 85.

528 ST. CLAIR AT LOSANTIVILLE, CINCINNATI. 1790.
my numerous family. They did not know how little I waa quali
fied to avail myself of those advantages, if they had existed. I had
neither taste nor genius for speculation in land ; neither did I think
it very consistent with the office."
On entering on the responsible office of Governor of this new
territoty, instructions were received by him from Congress. He
was authorized and required :
To examine carefully into the real temper of the Indians.
To remove, if possible, all causes of controversy with them, so
that peace and harmony might exist between them and the United
States. To regulate the trade with them.
To use his best efforts to extinguish the rights of the Indians to
lands westward to the Mississippi, and northward to the forty-first
degree of latitude.
To ascertain, as far as possible, the names of the real head men
and leading warriors of each tribe, and to attach these men to the
United States.
To defeat all combinations among the tribes by conciliatoty
means.* About the first of January, 1790, Governor St. Clair, with the
officers of the territory, descended the river from Marietta to Fort
Washington, at LosantiviUe. There he organized the county of
Hamilton, comprising the whole country contiguous to the Ohio,
from the Hockhocking river to the Great Miami, appointed a corps
of civil and militaty officers, and established a Court of Quarter
Sessions for the administration of justice. At the same time he
changed the name of the village of LosantiviUe to Cincinnati, in
allusion to the society of that name which had recently been formed
among the officers of the Revolutionary army, and eatablished it as
the seat of justice for the county of Hamilton. With the impor
tance attached to it as the county town, and the head-quarters of
the army, the village of Cincinnati began at once to improve in
appearance, and to increase in population; and it is noticed that in
the succeeding summer frame houses began to appear, and that
forty log cabins were erected.
On the 8th of January, the Governor and Secretaty arrived at
Clarksville, at the falls of the Ohio, on their way from Cincinnati
to Yincennes, to organize the government of that region, and to

* Dillon's Indiana, p. 232.

1790. ST. CLAIR PROCEEDS TO VINCENNES. 529
carry into eftect the resolution of Congress in regard to the lands
of the French inhabitants of the Illinois. Thence he dispatched
a messenger to Major Hamtramck, commanding at Yincennes, with
speeches to be forwarded by him to the Indians on the Wabash,
who were then beginning to exhibit a feeling of hostility toward
the whites. Along with these, he addressed a letter to Hamtramck
in regard to the scarcity of corn which it was represented existed
at Yincennes.
"It is represented to me," said he, "that unless a supply of that
article can be sent forward, the people must actually starve. Corn
can be had here in any quantity; but can the people pay for it? I
entreat you to inquire into that matter, and if you find they cannot
do without it, write to the contractor's agent here, to whom I will
give ordera to send forward such quantity as you may find to be
absolutely necessary. They must pay for what they can of it, but
they must not be left to perish ; and though I have no direct
authority from the government for this purpose, I must take it
upon myself."
Shortly afterward, St. Clair, along with Sargent, proceeded by
land along an Indian trail to Yincennes, where he organized the
county of Knox, comprising all the country along the Ohio, from
the Miami to the Wabash, and established Yincennes as the seat of
justice. Thence he proceeded to Kaskaskia, and there established
the county of St. Clair, (so named by Winthrop Sargent, in com
pliment to the Governor,*) comprising all the territory from the
Wabash.to the Mississippi. There he issued a proclamation calling
upon the French inhabitants to exhibit the titles to their lands, in
order to have them examined, confirmed, and the lands they repre
sented suiweyed. The requisition was very generally complied
with, but the people objected, on account of the misfortunes they
had encountered, to the payment, according to law, of the expense
of the surveys.
A memorial presented to St. Clair by Pierre Gibault, the priest
who had interested himself ao much in the American cause at the
time of the conquest of Illinois, in behalf of himself and eighty-
seven others, furnishes a striking picture of the condition of the
French inhabitants of Illinois at that period. It sets forth —
" That by an act of Congress of June 20th, 1788, it was declared
that the lands heretofore possessed by the said inhabitants, should

¦*It is said that St. Clair was indisposed to receive the compliment, and only assented
tfl the use of the name of St. Clair county after it had been introduced into the records.

530 ST. CLAIR ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 1790.
be surveyed at their expense ; and that this clause appears to them
neither necessary nor adapted to quiet the minds of the people.
It does not appear necessary, because from the establishment of the
colony to this day, they have enjoyed their property and posses
sions withoutr disputes or lawsuits on the subject of their limits;
that the surveys of them were made at the time the concessions
were obtained from their ancient kings, lords and commandants;
and that each of them knew whaf belonged to him without at
tempting an encroachment on his neighbor, or fearing that his
neighbor would encroach on him. It does not appear adapted to
pacify them, because, instead of assuring to them the peaceable
possession of their ancient inheritances, aa they have enjoyed it
till now, that clause obliges them to bear expenses which, in their
present situation, they are absolutely incapable of paying, and for
the failure of which they .must be deprived of their lands.
" Your excellency is an eye-witness of the poverty to which the
inhabitants are reduced, and of the total want of pro^visions to
subsist on. Not knowing where to find a morsel of bread to nourish
their families, by what means can they support the expense of a
survey which has not been sought for on their part, and for which,
it is conceived by them, there is no necessity ?
"Loaded with misery, and groaning under the weight of misfortune,
accumulated since the Virginia troops entered their country, the unhappy
inhabitants throw themselves under the protection of your excel
lency, and take the liberty to solicit you to lay their deplorable
situation before Congress ; and, as it may be interesting for the
United States to know exactly the extent and limits of their ancient
possessions in order to ascertain the lands which are yet at the
disposal of Congress, it appears to them, in their humble opinion,
that the expenses of the survey ought more properly to be borne
by Congress, for whom alone it is useful, than by them who do not
feel the necessity of it. Besides, this is no object for the United
States ; but it is great, too great, for a few unhappy beings who, your
.excellency sees yourself, are scarcely able to support their pitiful exis
tence." While St. Clair was employed in organizing the government,
and arranging the civil affairs of the territory. Major Hamtramck
was engaged in the effort to conciliate the tribes on the Wabash.
Antoine Gamelin, an intelligent French merchant of Yincennes
was employed to carry the messages of the government to the
Indians, and to ascertain their disposition and sentiments. Mr,

1790. ANTOINE GAMELIN'S JOURNAL. 531
Gamelin set out on his mission from Yincennes on the 5th of April,
and visited all the principal villages along the Wabash, and as far
east as Ke-ki-ong-gay, the Miami village at the junction of the St.
Joseph and the St. Mary's (Fort Wayne). An extract from his
journal will show the spirit in which he was received:
"The first village I arrived at," says Mr. Gamelin, " ia called
Kikapouguoi. The name of the chief of this village is called Les
Jambes Oraches. He and his tribe have a good heart, and accepted
the speech. The second village is at the river du Yermillion, called
Piankeshaws. The first chief, and all the warriors, were well
pleased with the speeches concerning the peace : but they said they
could not give presently a proper answer, before they consult the
Miami nation, their eldest brethren. They desired me to proceed
to the Miami town," Ke-ki-ong-gay, and, on coming back, to let
them know what reception I got from them. The said head chief
told me that he thought the nations of the lake had a bad heart,
and were ill disposed for the Americans : that the speeches would
not be received, particularly by the Shawanese at Miami town.
The llth of April I reached a tribe of Kickapoos. The head chief
and all the warriors being assembled, I gave them two branches of
white wampum, with the speeches of his Excellency Arthur St.
Clair, and those of Major Hamtramck. It must be observed that
the speeches have been in another hand before me. The messen
ger could not proceed further than the Yermillion, on account of
some private wrangling between the interpreter and some chief
men of the tribe.
" Moreover, something in the speech displeased them very much,
which is included in the third article, which says, ' I do now make
you the offer of peace: accept it, or reject ii, as you please.' These
words appeared to displease all the tribes to whom the first mes
senger was sent. They told me they were menacing ; and finding
that it might have a bad effect, I took upon myself to exclude them ;
and, after making some apology, they answered that he and hia
tribe were pleased with my speech, and that I could go up without
danger, but they could not preaently give me an answer, having
some warriors absent, and without consulting the Ouiatenons, being
the owners of their lands.
" They desired me to stop at Quitepiconnse, (Tippecanoe,) that
they would have the chiefs and warriors of Ouiatenons and thoae
of their nation assembled there, and would receive a proper answer.
They said that they expected by me a draught of milk from the
great chief, and the commanding officer of the post, for to put the
old people iu good humor ; also some nowder and ball for the young

532 ANTOINE GAMELIN'S JOURNAL. 1790.
men for hunting, and to get some good broth for their women and
children : that I should know a bearer of speeches should never be
with empty hands. They promised me to keep their young men
from stealing, and to send speeches to their nations in the prairies
for to do the same.
" The 14th April the Ouiatenons and Kickapoos were assembled.
After my speech one of the head chiefs got up and told me — ' You,
Gamelin, my friend, and son-in-law, we are pleased to see in
our village, and to hear by your mouth the good words of thegreat
chief. We thought to receive a few words from the French people;
but I see the contrary. None but the Big-Knife is sending speeches
to us. You know that we can terminate nothing without the con
sent of our brethren the Miamies. I invite you to proceed to their
village and speak to them. There is one thing in your speech I
do not like : I will not tell of it : even was I drunk, I would per
ceive it: but our elder brethren will certainly take notice of it in
your speech. You invite us to stop our young men. It is impos
sible to do it, being constantly encouraged by the British.' Another
chief got up and said — ' The Americans are very fiattering iu their
speeches : many times our nation went to their rendezvous. I was
once myself. Some of our chiefs died on the route ; and we always
came back all naked : and you, Gamelin, you come with speech,
with empty hands.' Another chief got up and said to his young
men, ' If we are poor, and dressed in deer skins, it is our own fault
Our French traders are leaving us and our villages, because
you plunder them every day; and it is time for us to have another
conduct.' Another chief got up and said, 'Know ye that the vil
lage of Ouiatenon is the sepulchre of all our ancestors. The chief
of America invites us to go to him, if we are for peace. He has
not his leg broke, having been able to go as far as the Illinois. He
might come here himself; and we should be glad to see him at our
village. We confess that we accepted the axe, but it is by the re
proach we continually receive from the English and other nations,
which received the axe first, calling us women : atthe present time
they invite our young men to war. As to the old people, they are
wishing for peace.' They could not give me an answer before
they received advice from the Miamies, their elder brethren.
"The 18th April I arrived at the river a L'Anguille, (Eel River.)
The chief of the village,* and those of war were not present. I

* This village stood on the north side of Eel river, about six miles above the junction
of that stream with the Wabash.

1790. ANTOINE GAMELIN'S JOURNAL. 533
explained the speeches to some of the tribe. They said they were
well pleased ; but they could not give me an answer, their chief
men being absent. They desired me to stop at their village com
ing back ; and they sent with me one of their men for to~^ hear the
answer of their eldest brethren.
" The 23d of April I arrived at the Miami town. The next day
I got the Miami nation, the Shawanese, and Delawares all assem
bled. I gave to each nation two branches of wampum, and began
the speeches, before the French and English traders, being invited
by the chiefs to be present, having told them myself I would be
glad to have them present, having nothing to say against anybody.
After the speech I showed them the treaty concluded at Muskin
gum, (Fort Harmar,) between his Excellency Governor St. Clair,
and sundry nations, which displeased them.
" I told them that the purpose of this present time waa not to aub-
mit them to any condition, but to offer them the peace, which made
disappear their displeasure. The great chief told me that he was
pleased with the speech ; that he would soon give me an answer.
In a private discourse with the great chief, he told me not to mind
what the Shawanese would tell me, having a bad heart, and being
the perturbators of all the nations. He said the Miamies had a bad
name, on account of mischief done on the river Ohio ; but he told
me it was not occasioned by his young men, but by the Shawanese;
his young men going out only for to hunt.
" The 25th of April, Blue Jacket, chief warrior of the Shawanese,
invited me to go to his house, and told me, ' My friend, by the
name and consent of the Shawanese and Delawares, I will speak
to you. We are all sensible of your speech, and pleased with it ;
but, after consultation, we cannot give an answer without hear
ing from our father at Detroit; and We are determined to give you
back the two branches of wampum, and to send you to Detroit, to
see and hear the chief, or to stay here twenty nights for to receive
his answer. From all quarters we receive speeches from the Amer
icans, and not one is alike. We suppose that they intend to de
ceive us. Then take back your branches of wampum.'
"The 26th, five Pottawattamies arrived here with two negro men,
which they sold to English traders. The next day I went to the
great chief of the Miamies, called Le Gris. His chief warriOr was
present. I told him how I had been served by the Shawanese.
He answered me that he had heard of it: that the aaid nationa be
haved contraty to hia intentions. He desired me not to mind those
strangers and that he would soon give me a positive answer.

534 ANTOINE GAMELIN'S JOURNAL 1790.
" The 28th April, the great chief desired me to call at the French
trader's and receive his answer. 'Don't take bad,' said he, 'of
what I am to tell you. You may go back when you please. We
cannot give you a positive answer. We must send your speeches
to all our neighbors, and to the Lake nations. We cannot give a
definitive answer without consulting the commandant at Detroit.'
And he desired me to render him the two branches of wampum
refused by the Shawanese ; also, a copy of speeches in writing.
He promised me that, in thirty nights, he would send an answer
to Post Yincennes, by a young man of each nation,
" He was well pleased with the speeches, and aaid to be worthy
of attention, and ahould be communicated to all their confederates,,
having resolved among them not to do anything without an unanimous
consent. I agreed to hia requiaitions, and rendered him the two
branchea of wampum, and a copy of the speech. Afterward, he
told me that the Five Nations, so called, or Iroquoia, were training
something; that five of them, and three Wyandota, were in this
village with branchea of wampum. He could not tell me presently
their purpose ; but he said I would know of it very soon,
." The same day. Blue Jacket, chief of the Shawanese, invited me
to his house for supper ; and, before the other chiefs, told me that,
after another deliberation, they thought necessary that I should go
myself to Detroit, for to sec the commandant, who would get all
his children assembled for to hear my speech. I told them I
would not answer them in the night; that I was not ashamed to
speak before the sun,
" The 29th April, I got them all assembled, I told them that I
was not to go to Detroit ; that the speeches were directed to the
nations of the river Wabash and the Miami ; and that, for to prove
the sincerity of tho speech, and the heart of Governor St, Clair, I
have willingly given a copy of the speeches, to be shown to the
commandant of Detroit; and, according to a letter wrote by the
commandant of Detroit to the Miamies, Shawanese, and Dela<-
vrares, mentioning to you to be peaceable with the Americans^ I
would go to him vety willingly, if it was in my directiona, being
sensible of his sentiments, I told them I had nothing to aay to
the commandant; neither him to me. You muat immediately
resolve, if you intend to take me to Detroit, or else I am to go back
as soon as possible,
"Blue Jacket got up and told me, 'My friend, we are v<e\\
pleased with what you say. Our intention is not to force you, to
go to Detroit : it ia only a proposal, thinking it for tiie best. Onr

1790. ANTOINE GAMELIN'S JOURNAL. 535
answer is the same aa the MiamieSi We will send, in thirty
nights, a full and positive answer, by a young man of each nation,
by writing to Post Yincennes.' In the evening. Blue Jacket, chief
of the Shawanese, ha^ving taken me to supper with him, told me,
in a private manner, that the Shawanee nation was in doubt of
the sincerity of the Big Knives, so called, having been already
deceived by them. That they had first destroyed their landa, put
out their fire, and sent away their young men, being a hunting,
without a mouthful of meat : also, had taken away their women ;
wherefore, many of them would, with great deal of pain, forget
these affronts. Moreover, that some other nations were appre
hending that offers of peace would, may be, tend to take away, by
degrees, their landa ; and would serve them aa they did before ; a
certain proof that they intend to encroach on our lands, is their
new settlement on the OMo.
"If they don't keep this side (of the Ohio) clear, it will never
be a proper reconcilement with the nations Shawanese, Iroquois,
Wyandots, and perhaps many others, Le Gris, chief of the
Miamies, aaked me, in a private diacourae, what chief had made a
treaty with the Americans at Muskingum, (Fort Harmar,) I
answered him that their names were mentioned in the treaty. He
told me he had heard of it some time ago ; but they are not ehiefa;,
neither delegatea, who made that treaty : they are only young men,
who, without authority and instructions from their chiefs, have
concluded that treaty, which will not be approved. They went to
the treaty clandestinely, and they intend to make mention of it in
the next council to be held,
"The 2d of May, I came back to the river a rAnguille, One of
the chief men of the tribe being witness of the council at Miami
town, repeated the whole to them ; and, whereas, the first chief
was absent, they said they could not for present time give answer ;
but they were willing to join their speeck to those of their eldest
brethren, " ' To give you proof of au open heart, we let you know that one
of our chiefs is gone to war on the Americans; but it was before
we heard of you; for certain they would not have been gone thither.'
Tkey also told me that a few days after I passed their village,
seventy warriors, Chippewas and Ottawaa from Michilimackinack,
arrived there ; aome of them were Pottawattamies, who, meeting in
their route, the Chippewas and Ottawas joined them, 'We told
them what we heard by you; that your speech was fair and true.
We could not stop them from going to war. The Pottawattamies

636 ANTOINE GAMELIN'S JOURNAL, 1790%
told US that, as the Chippewas and Ottawas were more numerous
than them, they were forced to follow them,'
" The 3d of May I got to the Weas. They told me that they
were waiting for an answer from their eldest brethren, 'We approve
very much our brethren for not to give a definitive answer, with
out informing of it all the Lake nations; that Detroit was the
place where the fire was lighted; then it ought first to be put out
there ; that the English commandant is their father, since he threw
down our French father: they could do nothing without his
approbation.' " The 4th of May I arrived at the ¦village of the Kickapooa. The
chief, presenting me two branchea of wampum, black and white,
said, ' My son, we cannot stop our young men from going to war.
Every day some set off clandestinely for that purpose. After auch
behavior from our young men, we are aahamed to say to the great
chief at the Illinois and of the Post Yincennes, that we are busy
about some good affairs for the reconcilement; but be persuaded
that we will speak to them continually concerning the peace; and
that, when our eldest brethren ¦will have aent their anawer, we wiU
join ours to it,'
"The 5th of May I arrived at Yermillion, I found nobody but
two chiefs ; all the rest were gone a hunting. They told me they
had nothing else to say but what I was told going up,"
On the 8th of May, Gamelin returned to Fort Knox, and on the
llth, some traders arrived from the Upper Wabash, bringing the
intelligence that war parties from the north had joined the Wabash
Indians, that the whole force of the savages had gone to make an
attack on the settlements, and that three daya after Gamelin left
the Miamies, an American captive had been burned in their
village. These rumors, together with the report of Gamelin, were con
veyed to St, Clair at Kaskaskia; and the threatening state of affairs
they indicated, induced him to leave the further regulation of the
aftaira of St, Clair county in the handa of Winthrop Sargent, and
proceed immediately to Fort Waahington, to provide for the de
fense of the frontier.
In the meanwhile, straggling parties of Indians were carrying on
a predatory war along the whole line of the Ohio, against the
exposed settlers, and especially against the emigrants, great num
bers of whom were descending the river at that season in boats, to
the new settlements. Under these circumstances, it was deter
mined by the people of Kentucky to make an immediate attack on

1790, SCOTT AND HARMAR AT SCIOTO, 537
the Indians on the Scioto, and General Wilkinaon wrote on the
7th of April to General Harmar, to co-operate in the expedition,
"I write to you," said he, "at the public request, on a subject
deeply interesting to Kentucky, to our national honor, and to hu
manity. For more than a month past, a party of savages has occupied
the north-western bank of the Ohio, a few miles above the mouth
of the Scioto, from whence they make attacks upon every boat that
passes, to the destruction of much property, the loss of many li^^es,
and the great annoyance of all intercourse to the northward. By
very recent accounts, we are apprised that they still continue in
force at that point, and that their last attack was made against five
boats, one of which they captured. It is the general, and I con
ceive a well founded opinion, that if this party is not dislodged
and dispersed, the navigation of the Ohio must cease. In a case so
very critical, the people of this district conceive themselves justi
fied in appealing to arms, because their dearest interests, and the
the lives of their lirethren are at hazard; but being extremely un
willing to proceed, except in a legal, regular, and authorized way,
they call upon you for advice, succor, and assistance, in the hope
and the expectation that you will be able to co-operate with a de
tachment of the troops under your command, and carry an imme
diate expedition against the before mentioned party of savages
from Limestone, where it ia propoaed to rendezvoua a body of
militia volunteera."
Accordingly, on the 18th of April, General Harmar, with one
hundred regular troops, and General Scott, with two hundred and
thirty Kentucky volunteers, marched^ from Limestone, by a cir
cuitous route, to the Scioto, and thence proceeded to its mouth, in
order to intercept some of the hostile bands. Only four Indians
were discovered, who were killed by a party of the militia. Har
mar complained that hia endeavors were so unsucceaaful. "Evety
exertion in my power," aaid he, " waa made without effect, aa the
villains had retreated, Wolvea might as well have been pursued,"
The hostility of the Indians at this period, and the great uneasi
ness they had manifested during the preceding yeara, are generally
and juatly attributed to the intrigues of the Britiah agenta in the
north-weat; and it therefore may be proper here to refer more par
ticularly to the motivee and enda of "their policy, and the means by
which they sought to effect it.
Most of the tribea adhered to England during the Revolutionaty
struggle. When the war ceased, however, England made no pro-
35

538 INDIAN HOSTILITIES THREATENED. 1790.
vision for them, and transferred the North-West to the United
States, without any stipulation as to the rights of the natives. The
United States, regarding the lands of the hostile tribes as conquered
and forfeited, proceeded to give peace to the savages, and to grant
them portions of their own lands. This produced discontent, and
led to the formation of the confederacy headed by Brant* To
assist the purposes of this union, it was very desirable that the
British should still hold the posts along the lakes, and supply the
red men with all needful things.
The forts they claimed a right to hol.d, because the Americana
disregarded the treaty of 1783 ; the trade with the Indians, even
though the latter might be at war with the United States, they
regarded as perfectly fair and just. Having thus a sort of legal
right to the position they occupied, the British did, undoubtedly
and purposely, aid and abet the Indians hostile to the United States.
In 1785, after the formation- of his, confederacy. Brant went to
England, and his arrival was thus announced* in the London
prints :
" This extraordinary personage is said to have presided at th«
late grand Congress of confederate chiefs of the Indian nations in
America, and to be by them appointed to the conduct and chief
command in the war which they now meditate against the United
States of America, He took his departure for England imme
diately as that assembly broke up ; and it is conjectured that his
embassy to the British court is of great importance,
" This country owes much to the services of Colonel Brant
during the late war in America, He was educated at Philadel
phia ; is a very shrewd, intelligent person, possesses great courage
aud abilities as a warrior, and is inviolably attached to the British
nation," On the 4th of January, 1786, he visited Lord Sidney, the Colo
nial Secretary, and after plainly and boldly stating the trouble of
the Indians at the forgetfulness of Britain — the encroachments of
the Americans — and their fear of serious consequences, he closed
with these words :
" This we shall avoid to the utmost of our power, aa dearly as
we love our lands. But should it, contrary to our wishes, happen,
we desire to know whether we are to be considered as his majesty's
faithful allies, and have that support and countenance auch asi old
and true friends expect,"

» Heckewelder's Niirrativo, 379. Stone's Life of Brant, ii., 247, 240.

1790, INDIAN HOSTILITIES THREATENED, 569
The English minister returned a perfectly non-committal answer;
and when the Mohawk chieftain, upon his return, met the confede
rated natives in November, 1786, he could give them no distinct
assurances of aid from England, But while all definite promises
were avoided, men situated as John Johnson, the Indian superin
tendent, did not hesitate to write to him —
" Do not suffer an idea to hold a place in your mind that it will
be for your interest to sit still and see the Americans attempt the
posts. It is for your sakes, chiefly, if not entirely, that we hold
them. If you become indifterent about them, they may, perhaps,
be given up; what security would you then have?
"You would be left at the mercy of a people whose blood calls
aloud for revenge ; whereas, by supporting them, you encourage us
to hold them, and encourage the new settlements, already conside
rable, and every day increasing by numbers coming in, who find
they cannot live in the States. Many thousands are preparing to
come in. This increase of his majesty's subjects will serve as a
protection for you, should the subjects of the States, by endeavor
ing to make further encroachments on you, disturb your quiet."
This letter was written in March, 1787, and two months after^
ward. Major Matthews, who had been in the suite of the Governor
of Canada, Lord Dorchester, after being appointed to command
at Detroit, speaks still more explicitly, and in the Governor's
name also:
"His lordship was sorry to learn," he says, "that while the
Indians were soliciting his assistance in their preparations for war,
some of the Six Nations had sent deputies to Albany to treat with
the Americans, who, it is said, have made a treaty with them,
granting permission to make roads for the purpose of coming to
Niagara; but that, notwithstanding these things, the Indians should
have their presents, as they are marks of the king's approbation of
their former conduct.
"In future, his lordship wishes them to act as is best for their
interest. He cannot begin a war with the Americans because
some of their people encroach and make depredations upon parts
of the Indian country; but they muat see it is his lordship's inten
tion to defend the posts, and that while these are preserved, the
Indians must find great security therefrom, and consequently the
Americans' greater difficulty in taking possession of their lands.
But should they once become masters of the posts, they will
surround the Indians, and accomplish their purpose with little
trouble.

540 BRITISH ENCOURAGE INDIAN HOSTILITIES. 1790.
"From a consideration of all which, it therefore remains with
the Indiana to decide what is most for their own interest, and to
let his lordship know their determination, that he may take his
measures accordingly. But, whatever their resolution is, it should
be taken as by one and the same people, by which means they will
be respected, and become strong; but if they di-vide, and act one
part against the other, they will become weak, and help to destroy
each other,
" This is tlie substance of what his lordship desired me to tell
you, and I request you will give his sentiments that mature con
sideration which their justice, generosity, and deaire to promote
the welfare and happiness of the Indians, must appear to all the
world to merit.
" In your letter to me, you seem apprehensive that the English
are not very anxious about the defense of the posts. You will soon
be satisfied that they have nothing more at heart, provided that it
continues to be the wish of the Indians, and that they remain firm
in doing their part of the business, by preventing the Americans
from coming into their country, and consequently from marching
to the posts,
"On the other hand, if the Indians think it more for their
interest that the Americans should have possession of the posts,
and be established in their country, they ought to declare it, that
the English need no longer be put to the vast and unnecessaty
expense and inconvenience of keeping posts, the chief object of
which is to protect their Indian allies, and the loyalista who have
suffered with them. It is well known that no encroachments ever
have or ever will be made by the English upon the lands or
property of the Indians in consequence of possessing the posts;
how far that will be the case, if ever the Americans get into them,
may vety easily be imagined, from their hostile perseverance, even
without that advantage, in driving the Indiana oft' their lands and
taking posaession of them," *
These assurances on the part of the British, and the delay of
Congress in replying to the address of the confederated nations,
dated December, 1786, led to the general council of 1788; but the
divisions in that body, added to the uncertain support of the
English government, at length caused Brant for a time to give up
his interest to the efforts of the western natives, among whom the

* See Stone's Brant, iii. 271.

1790. INDIAN NATIONS UNITE AGAINST AMERICANS. 541
Miamis thenceforth took the lead; although, as the extracts given
from GameHn'a journal ahow, a true apirit of union did not, even
in 1790, prevail among the various tribes. Indeed, aome of the
Delawares and Miamies so far quarreled, that the former left the
Miami country, and settled in Upper Louisiana. At that time,
however, the British infiuence over .the Miamis and their fellows,
was in no degree lessened, as is plain from the entire reference of
their affaira, when Gamelin went to them.
"You invite us," said one of the war chiefs to GameUn, "to stop
our young men. It is impossible to do it, being constantly encour
aged by the British."
"We confess," said another Indian, "that we accepted the axe,
but it is by the reproach we continually receive from the English
and other nationa, which received the axe firat, calling ua women;
at the present time, they invite our young men to war ; as to the
old people, they are wishing for peace."
Evcty peaceful message from the officers of the crown was
stopped on its way to the excited children of the forest ; but every
word of a hostile character, exaggerated and added to.
McKee, Elliot and Girty possessed great power over the Indians
of the north-west, and perhaps more than any other partiea con
tributed to keep aUve their attachment to the British, and their
hostility to the Americana. Girty has been already referred to.
Alexander McKee was, before the revolution, an Indian trader, and
in 1773 waa living among the Shawanese on Paint creek, in Ohio.
Early in 1776, he received an invitation from Col. Butler, then the
Indian agent at Niagara, to visit him with a view to his employ
ment as a British emissary among the Indians. In conaequence of
thia, he fell under the auapieion of the American settlers, and was
compelled to give to the revolutionary committee of West Augusta
a parole of honor, that he would have nothing to do with the
Indians on account of Great Britain; and that parole was afterward,
it appears, accepted by Congress. Early in 1778, however, he
broke his parole, escaped from Pittsburgh, and joined the British
in the north. He received a colonel's commission in the British
service, and became a leader among the Indians, among whom he
continued to reside until Ms death. Matthew Elliott was also a
trader among the Indians, and was taken prisoner at Waketameki,
with a cargo of gooda, in 1776, and carried to Detroit. There he
was released on condition that he would join the British and
receive a captain's commiaaion in the aervice. Thence he returned

542 MOVEMENTS OF BRANT AND m'KEB. 1790,
to Pittsburgh, probably as a spy, deserted from that place along
with Girty and McKee to the enemy, and served during the war
mainly as a leader of the hostile Indians. After the revolution he
settled and carried on farming and trade with the Indians at
the mouth of the Detroit river.
It is hard to say hoio far the British agents aided the savages,
in 1790 and 1791. The following is from a certificate by Thomas
Rhea, taken by the Indians in May, 1781, and who escaped in
June. He is stated to have been untrustworthy, but Ms account
is in part confirmed by other evidence.
" At this place, the Miami, were Colonels Brant and McKee,
with Ma son Thomas ; and Captains Bunbuty and Silvie, of the
British troops. These officers, &c., were all encamped on the south
side of the Miami or Ottawa river, at the rapids above Lake Erie,
about eighteen miles ; they had clever houses, built chiefly by the
Pottawattamies and other Indians ; in these they had stores of goods,
with arms, ammunition and provision, which they issued to the
Indians in great abundance, viz : corn, pork, peas, &c.
" The Indians came to this place in parties of one, two, three,
four and five hundred at a time, from different quarters, and recei
ved from Mr. McKee and the Indian officers, clothing, arms,
ammunition, provisions, &c., and set out immediately for the upper
Miami towns, where they understood the forces of the United States
were bending their course, and in order to supply the Indians from
other quarters collected there, pirogues, loaded -with the above-
mentioned articles, were sent up the Miami river, wrought by
French Canadians.
"About the last of May, Captain Silvie purchased me from the
Indians, and I staid with him at this place till the 4th of June, (the
king's birth-day,) when I was sent to Detroit. Previous to leaving
the Miami river, I saw one Mr. Dick, who, with his wife, was taken
prisoner near Pittsburgh, in the Spring, I believe, by the Wyan
dots. Mr. McKee was about to purchase Mr. Dick from the Indians,
but found it difficult. Mrs. Dick was separated from him, and left
at a village at some distance from thia place. I alao saw a young
boy, named Brittle, (Brickell,) who was taken in the spring from a
mill, (Captain O'Hara's,) near Pittsburgh, his hair was cut, and he
was dressed and armed for war ; could not get speaking io him.
"About the 5th of June, in the Detroit river, I met from sixty
to one hundred canoes, in three parties, containing a large party of
Indians, who appeared to be very wild and uncivilized; they were
dressed chiefly in buffalo" and other skin blankets, with otter skin

1790. BRITISH AGENTS URGE INDIANS TO AVAR. 543
and other fur breech cloths, armed with bows and arrows and
spears ; they had no guns, and seemed to set no store by them, or
know little of their use, nor had they any inclination to receive
them, though offered to them. They said they were three moons
on their way. The other Indians called them Manitoes.
"About this time there was a field day of the troops at Detroit,
which I think is from five to six hundred in number ; the next day
a field day of the French militia took place, and one hundred and
fifty of the Canadians, with some others, turned out volunteers to
join the Indians, and were to set off on the 8th for the Miami vil
lage, with their own horses, after being plentifully supplied with
arms and ammunition, clothing and provisions, &e., to fit them for
the march.
"While I was at the Miami or Ottawa river, as they call it, I
had mentioned to Colonel McKee and other officers, that I had seen
Colonel Proctor on his way to Fort Franklin ; that I understood
that he was on his way to the Miami or Sandusky, with some of
the Senecas, and that he expected the Cornplanter would accom
pany him, in order to settle matters with the hostile nations ; and
that he expected to get shipping at Fort Erie, to bring him and
those people to the Miami or Sandusky, &c. That the officers, in
their conversation with each other, said, if they were at Fort Erie,
he should get no shipping there, &c. That the Mohawks and
other Indians, that could speak English, declare that if he, meaning
Colonel Proctor, or any other Yankee messenger, came there, they
ehould never carry mesaagea back. Thia was frequently expressed
by the Indians ; and Simon Girty and a certain Pat Hill, declared
Proctor should not return if he had a hundred Senecas with him;
and many other such threats were used, and every movement,
appearance and declaration, seemed hostile to the United States.
And I understood that Colonel McKee and the other officers,
intended only to stay at the Miami till they had furnished the war
parties of Indians with the necessaries mentioned above, to fit them
for war, and then would return to Detroit. That Elliott had
returned to Detroit, and Simon Girty, and that Girty declared he
would go and join the Indians, and that Captain Elliott told him
he was going the next day, with a boat load of goods for the Indians
and that Girty might have a passage with him. That on the 7th
of June the ship Dunmore sailed for Fort Erie, in which I got a
passage. We arrived there in four days.
"About the 12th of June I saw taken into this vessel, a number
of cannon, eighteen pounders, with other mUitary storea, and better

544 ST. CLAIR MEDITATES A CAMPAIGN. 1790.
than two companies of artillery troops destined, as I understood,
for Detroit and the upper posts ; some of the artUlery-men had to
remain behind, for want of room in the vessel. I have just recol
lected that, while I was at the Ottawa river, I saw a party of war
riors come in with the arms, accoutrements, clothing, &c., of a
sergeant, corporal, and, they said, twelve men, whom they had
killed in some of the lower posts on the Ohio ; that a man of the
Indian department offered me a coat, which had a number of Mllet
and other holes in it, and was all bloody, which I refused to take,
and Colonel McKee then ordered me clothes out of the Indian
store."* When Governor St, Clair returned to Fort Washington, he de
termined, on consultation with General Harmar, to send an
expedition against the towns on the Maumee. Accordingly, on the
15th of July he addressed circular letters, in accordance with the
authority vested in him by the president, to the militia officers of
Western Pennsylvania, Yirginia, and Kentucky, caUing on them
for militia, to co-operate ¦with the federal troops in the campaign.
But in order to prevent any misunderstanding of the purposes of
the expedition on the part of the British, he addressed, in obedi
ence to the instructions of the president, the following letter, on
the 19th of September, from Fort Harmar, to the commandant at
Detroit, " Sir: — As- it is not improbable that an account of the military
preparations going forward in this quarter of the countty may
reach you, and give you some uneasiness, while the object to which
they are to be directed is not perfectly known to you, I am com
manded by the President of the United States to give you the
fullest assurances of the pacific disposition entertained towards
Great Britain and all her possessions ; and to inform you expUcitly
that the expedition about to be undertaken, is not intended against
the post you have the honor to command, nor any other place at pres
ent in the possession of the troops of his Britannic Majesty ; but is on
foot with the sole design of humbling and chastising some of the sav
age tribes, whose depredations are become intolerable, and whose
cruelties have of late become an outrage, not on the people of
America only, but on humanity; which I now do in the most une
quivocal manner. After this candid explanation, sir, there is every

?American State Papers, v. 196.

1790. ST. CLAIR CALLS OUT WESTERN MILITIA. 545
reason to expect, both from your own personal character, and from
the regard you have for that of your nation, that those tribes will
meet with neither countenance nor assistance from any under your
command, and that you will do what in your power lies, to restrain
the trading people, from whose instigations there ia too good rea
sons to believe, much of the injuries committed by the savages haa
proceeded. I have forwarded thia letter by a private gentleman, in
preference to that of an officer, by whom you might have expected
a communication of thia kind, that every suspicion of the purity
of the views of the United States might be obviated."
According to the plan of the campaign, three hundred of the
militia were to rendezvous at Fort Steuben, (Jeffersonville,) march
thence to Fort Knox at Yincennes, and join Major Hamtramck in
an expedition up the Wabash, from that point ; seven hundred
were ordered to rendezvous at Fort Washington, and five hundred
below Wheeling, to join the regular army on the expedition to the
Maumee towns. Immediately upon the arrival of the militia at
Fort Washington, they were mustered into service, and organized
for the campaign.
"The Kentuckians composed three battalions, under the Majors
Hall, M'MuUen, and Bay, with Lieutenant Colonel-commandant
Trotter at their head. The Pennaylvaniana were formed into one
battalion, under Lieutenant-Colonel Trubley, and Major Paul, the
whole to be commanded by Colonel John Hardin, subject to the
orders of General Harmar.
" The 30th, the general having got forward all the supplies that he
expected, he moved out with the federal troops, formed into two
small battalions, under the immediate command of Major Wyllys,
and Major Doughty, together with Captain Ferguson's company of
artillery, and three piecea of ordnance.
" On the 3d of October, General Harmar joined the advance
troopa early in the morning; the remaining part of the day waa
apent in forming the line of march, the order of encampment and
battle, and explaining the same to the militia field officers. Gen.
Harmar'a ordera will ahow the aeveral formations.
" On the 4th, the army took up the order of march aa ia described
in the orders. On the 5th, a reinforcement of horsemen and
mounted infantty joined from Kentucky. The dragoons were
formed into two troops ; the mounted riflemen made a company,
and this small battalion of light troops were put under the com
mand of Major Fontaine."
The whole of General Harmar's command, then, consisted of

546 harmar's EXPEDITION. 1790.
three battalions of Kentucky militia, one battalion of Pennsylvania
militia, one battaUon of Kentucky mounted riflemen, amounting
to eleven hundred and thirty-three men; and two battalions of
regulars, amounting to three hundred and twenty men. The total
force of the expedition consisted therefore of fourteen hundred and
fift^'-three men.
The militia were in great measure unfit for service, as may be
inferred from the evidence of Major Ferguson:
" They were very illy equipped, being almost destitute of camp
kettles and axes; nor could a supply of these essential articles be
procured. Their arms were, generally, very bad, and unfit for
service ; as I was the commanding officer of artillety, they came
under my inspection, in making what repairs the time would per
mit; and as a specimen of their badness, I would inform the court,
that a rifle was brought to be repaired without a lock, and anothw
without a stock.
" I often asked the owners what induced them to think that those
guns could be repaired at that time ? And they gave me for
answer, that they were told in Kentucky that all repairs would be
made at Fort Washington. Many of the officers told me, that they
had no idea of there being half the number of bad arms in the
whole district of Kentucky as was then in the hands of their
men. "As soon as the principal part of the Kentucky militia arrived,
the general began to organize them ; in this he had many difficul
ties to encounter. Colonel Trotter aspired to the command,
although Colonel Hardin was the eldest officer, and in this he was
encouraged both by men and officers, who openly declared, unless
Colonel Trotter commanded them, they would return home. After
two or three days the business was settled, and they [i. e. the Ken
tucky men] were formed into three battalions, under the command
of Colonel Trotter, and Colonel Hardin had the command of all
the militia (both Pennsylvania and Yirgiuia).
"As soon as they were arranged, they were mustered, and, on
the 26th, marched and encamped about ten miles from Fort Wash
ington. The last of the Pennsylvania militia arrived on the 25th
September. They were equipped nearly as the Kentucky miUtia,
but were worse armed; several were without any. The general
ordered all the arms in store to be delivered to those who had none,
and to those whose guns could not be repaired.
"Amongst the militia were a great many hardly able to bear
arms, such as old, infirm men, and young boys ; they were not

1T90. ¦ harmar's EXPEDITION. 547
Buch aa might be expected from a frontier country, that is, the
smart, active woodsman, well accustomed to arms, eager and alert
to revenge the injuries done them and their connections. No, there
were a great number of them substitutes, who probably had never
fired a gun. Major Paul, of Pennsylvania, told me, that many of
his men were so awkward, that they could not take their gun locks
off to oil them, and put them on again, nor could they put in their
flints so as to be useful ; and even of such materials, the numbers
came far short of what waa ordered, aa may be seen by the
returns."* Trouble had been anticipated from the aversion of the frontier
men to act with regular troops; General Harmar had been warned
on the subject by the Secretary of War; every pains had been
taken to avoid the evils apprehended, and when, upon the 30th
Septembei', Harmar left Fort Washington, every step seemed to
have been taken which experience or judgment could suggest to
secure the success of the expedition. The same seems to have been
true of the march, since the Court of Inquiry, held in 1791, ap
proved every arrangement of the campaign.
On the 13th of October, the army being then thirty or thirty-
five miles from the Miami villages, it was determined, in conse
quence of information given by a captured Indian, to send forward
Colonel John Hardin, with a detachment of six hundred militia
men, and one company t)f regulars, to surprise the enemy, and
keep them in their forts until the main body could come up with
the artillery.
On the 14th this party marched forward, and upon the next day
about three o'clock reached the villages, but they were deserted.
On the morning of the 17th, the main army arrived, and the work
of destruction commenced; by the 21st, the chief town, five other
villages, and nearly' twenty thousand bushels of corn in ears, had
been destroyed. When Harmar reached the Maumee towns and
found no enemy, he thought of pushing forward to attack the
Wea and other Indian settlements upon the Wabash, but waa
prevented by the loss both of pack horses and cavalry horses, a
great number of which the Indiana aeem to have atolen, in conae
quence of the willful carelessneaa of the owners.
The Wabash plan being dropped. Colonel Trotter was dispatched
with three hundred men to scour the woods in search of an enemy,

* American state Papers, xii., 20.

548 harmar's expedition. 1790,
as the tracks of women and children had been seen near by. No
better idea of the utter want of discipline in the army can be
given, than by some extracts from the evidence of Lieutenant
(afterwards Captain) Armstrong ; this gentleman was with Trotter
during the 18th of October, and also with Hardin, who, on the
19th, took the command. General Harmar being much dissatisfied
with Trotter's ineffective Indian chase of the previous day,
"After we had proceeded about a mile, "says Armstrong," the
cavalry gave chase to an Indian, who was mounted ; him they over
took and killed. Before they returned to the column a second
appeared, on which the four field officers left their commands and
pursued, leaving the troops near half an hour without auy direc
tions whatever. The cavalry came across the second Indian, and,
after he had wounded one of their party, killed him also,
"When the infantry came up to tMs place they immediately fell
into confusion, upon which I gained permission to leave them
some distance on the road, where I formed an ambuscade. After I
had been some time at my station, a fellow on horseback came to
me, who had lost the party in pursuit of the first Indian ; he was
much frightened, and said he had been pursued by fifty mounted
Indians, On my telling this story to Colonel Trotter, notwith
standing my observations to him, he changed his route, and
marched in various directions until night, when he returned to
camp, *
" On our arrival in camp. General Harmar sent for me, and after
asking me many questions, ordered one subaltern and twenty
militia to join my command. With these I reached the river St.
Joseph about ten at night, and with a guide proceeded to an
Indian town, about two miles distant, where I continued with my
party until the morning of the 19th. About nine o'clock I joined
the remainder of the detachment under Colonel Hardin. We
marched on the route Colonel Trotter had pursued the day before,
and after passing a morass about five miles distant, we came to
where the enemy had encamped the day before. Here we made a
short halt, and the commanding officer dispoaed of the partiea at a
distance from each other ; after a halt of half au hour, we were
ordered to move on, and Captain Faulkner's company was left on
the ground ; the Colonel having neglected giving him ordera to
move on.
" After we had proceeded about three miles, we fell in with two
Indians on foot, who threw off their packs, and the brush being
thick, made their escape. I then asked Colonel Hardin where

1790. harmar's expedition. 549
Captain Faulkner was ? He aaid he waa loat, and then sent Major
Fontaine with part of the cavalry in search of him, and moved on
with the remainder of the troops. Some time after, I informed
Colonel Hardin a gun had been fired in our front, which might be
considered aa an alarm gun, and that I aaw where a horse had come
down the road, and returned again ; but the Colonel still moved
on, giving no orders, nor making any arrangements for an attack.
"Some time after, I discovered the enemy's fires at a distance,
and informed the Colonel, who replied that they would not fight,
and rode in front of the advance, until fired on from behind the
fires; when he, the Colonel, retreated, and with him all the miUtia
except nine, who continued with me, and were instantly killed,
with twenty-four of the federal troops. Seeing my last man fall,
and being surrounded by the savages, I threw myself into a thicket,
and remained there three hours in day-light. During that time I
had an opportunity of seeing the enemy pass and rc-pass, and con
ceived their numbers did not amount to one hundred men ; some
were mounted, others armed with rifles, and the advance with
tomahawks only.
"I am of opinion that had Colonel Trotter proceeded, on the
18th, agreeably to his orders, having killed the enemy's sentinels,
he would have surprised their camp, and with ease defeated them ;
or had Colonel Hardin arranged his troops, or made any military
disposition, on the 19th, that he would have gained a victory. Our
defeat I therefore ascribe to two causes : the unofficer-like conduct
of Colonel Hardin, (who, I believe, was a brave man,) and the
cowardly behavior of the militia ; many of them threw down their
arma, loaded, and I believe that none, except the party under my
command, fired a gun."
At thia time, probably, the jealouay between the regulara and
militia, which had been anticipated, and which had threatened
trouble at Fort Waahington, began effectually to work miachief ;
the regular troopa disliked to be commanded by Trotter and Hardin,
the army officers deapiaed the militia, and the militia, hating
them, were impatient under the control of Harmar and his staffs
Again, the rivalry between Trotter and Hardin was calculated to
make the elementa of diacord and diaobedience yet more wide
spread, ao that all true confidence between the officers and men was
destroyed, and ¦with it, of neceaaity, all true atrength.
But though the troops had been diaappointed and defeated, the
houaea and crops had been burned and wasted, and upon the 2l8t
of October the army commenced ita homeward march. But Har-

550 harmar's expedition. 1790.
din was not easy under his defeat, and the night of the 21st being
favorable, he proposed to Harmar to send back a detachment to
the site of the villages just destroyed, supposing the savages would
have already returned thither. "The General was not very willing
to try further experiments, but Hardin urged him, and at last
obtained an order for three hundred and forty militia, of which
forty were mounted, and sixty regular troops; the former under
Hardin himself, the latter under Major Wyllys. How they fared,
ahall be told by Captain Asheton, an actor in the aftray:
" The detachment marched in three columns, the federal troops
in the centre, at the head of which I was posted, with Major
Wyllys and Colonel Hardin in my front ; the militia formed the
columns to the right and left. From delays, occasioned by the
militia's halting, we did not reach the banks of the Omee [Maumee]
till sometime after sunrise. The spies then discovered the enemy,
aud reported to Major Wyllys, who halted the federal troops, and
moved the militia on some distance in front, where he gave his
orders and plan of attack to the several commanding officers of
corps. Those orders were not communicated to me. Major
Wyllys reserved the command of the federal troops to himself.
" Major Hall with his battalion, was directed to take a circuitous
route around the bend of the Omee river, cross the Pickaway fork,
(or St. Mary's) which brought him directly in the rear of the enemy,
and there wait until the attack should commence with Major
McMuUen's battalion. Major Fontaine's cavalry, and Major AVyllys
with the federal troops, who all crossed the Omee at, aud near;
the common fording place.* After the attack commenced, the
troops were by no means to separate, but were to embody, or the
battalions to support each other, as circumstancea required,
" From thia disposition, it appeared evident that it was the inten
tion of Major Wyllys to surround the enemy, and that if Colonel
Hall, who had gained his ground undiscovered, had not wantonly
disobeyed Ms orders, by firing on a single Indian, the surprise
must have been complete. The Indians then fled with precipitar
tion, the battalions of militia pursuing in difterent directions.
"Major Fontaine made a charge upon a small party of savages —
he fell the first fire, and his troops dispersed. The federal troojtsi
who were then left unsupported, became an easy sacrifice to much
the largest party of Indiana that had been, seen that day. It waa

* The theatre of these operations was in the vicinity of the flourishing city of Fort
Wiiyue, Indiana.

1790. harmar's expedition. 551
my opinion that the misfortunes of that day were owing to the
separation of the troops, aud disobedience of orders.
"After the federal troops were defeated, and the firing in all
quarters neariy ceased. Colonel Hall and Major McMullen, with
their battaUons, met in the town, and after discharging, cleaning
and fresh loading their arms, which took up about half an hour,
proceeded to join the army unmolested. I am convinced that the
detachment, if it had been kept embodied, was sufficient to have
answered the fullest expectations of the General, and needed no
support; but I was informed a battalion under Major Ray waa
'ordered out for that purpose."*
When Hardin returned to camp after thia skirmish, he wished
the General either to send another party, or take the whole army
to the battle ground, but Harmar would not favor either plan. He
did not wish, he said, to divide his troops; he had little food for
his horses; and he thought the Indians had received "a very good
scourging;" upon the next morning, accordingly, the army took
up its line of march for Fort Washington, in a regular, soldier-like
way. Two men, aaya Hardin, wished to have another tussle with
the Miamies,^ — of the whole army, only two ! Before reaching Fort
Washington, however, new trouble occurred.
"At old ChiUicothe, on Little Miami," says Colonel Hardin, "a
number of the militia, contrary to orders, fired off their guns. I
endeavored to put a stop to such disorderly behavior, aud com
manded that those offenders that could be taken should be punished
agreeably to general orders; and having caught a soldier myself in
the vary act of firing his gun, ordered a file of men to take Mm
immediately and carry him to the six-pounder, and for the drum
mer to tie him up and give him six lashea; I was shortly after met
by Colonel Trottor and Major McMullen, and a number of militia
aoldiers who, in an abrupt manner, asked me by what authority I
ordered that soldier whipped; I replied in support of general
orders, on which a very warm dispute ensued between Colonel
Trotter, Major McMullen and myself.
"The general being informed of what had happened, came for
ward and gave Colonel Trotter and Major McMullen a very severe
reprimand, ordered the federal troops to parade, and the drummer
to do his duty, swearing he would risk his Ufo in support of his

^ See American State Papers, xii. 28. See account in Cist's Cincinnati Miscellany,

552 harmar's expedition. 1790,
orders; the man received the number of laahes ordered, and
aeveral that were confined were set at liberty ; numbers of the militia
seemed much pleased with what was done. This intended mutiny
being soon quashed, the army proceeded in good order to Fort
Washington, " When the army arrived at the mouth of Licking, the general
informed me he had determined to arrest some of the militia offi
cers for their bad conduct, and send them home with disgrace; hut
I opposed his intention, alleging that it would be a disgrace to the
whole militia ; that he would perhaps stand in need of their assist
ance on some future occasion, and it would sour their minds and'
cauae them to turn out with reluctance ; and that his discharging
them generally with honor, perhaps, would answer a better pur
pose; the general readily indulged my request,"*
To this last act, which^ caused much discontent among the fron
tier men ; to the two defeats of the 19th and 22d of October, (for
such they were ;) and to the want of any efficiency on the part of
Harmar, who, though guilty of no breach of militaty care or com
mon skill, acted woman-like, compared with such men as Clark
and Wayne, must be ascribed the great unpopularity of thia cam
paign. The army, aa a whole, effected all that the popular expedi
tions of Clark, in 1782, and of Scott and Wilkinaon, in 1799, did:
the annihilation of towna and corn, and waa by Harmar and St,
Clair conaidered very successful, but in reality, in the view of the
Indians, it was an utter failure and defeat. Their account of it
was thia :
" There have been two engagements about the Miami to^wns, be
tween the Americans and the Indians, in which it is said the
former had about five hundred men killed, and that the rest have
retreated. The loss was only fifteen or twenty on the side of
the Indians. The Shawanese, Miamies, and Pottawattamies,
were, I underatand, the principal tribes who were engaged;
but I do not learn that any of the nationa have refuaed their alli
ance or aaaiatance, and it ia confidently reported that they are now
marching againat the frontiera on the Ohio."
Nor was the report of the invasion of the settlements on the
Ohio shore far from the truth, aa may be seen from the following
letter: "On the evening of the 2d January, 1791," says Rufus Put-

¦* American State Papers, xii. 35.

1791. LETTER FROM RUFUS PUTNAM. 653
nam, writing to the president, "between aunaet and daylight-in,
the Indiana aurpriaed a new settlement of our people, at a place on
the Muskingum, called the Big Bottom, nearly forty miles up the
river, in which diaaater eleven men, one woman, and two children,
were killed ; three men are missing, and four others made their
escape. Thus^sir, the war, which was partial before the campaign
of last year, ia,. in all probability, become general. I think there
ia no reason to suppoae that we are the only people on whom the
aavagea will wreak their vengeance, or that the number of hoafile
Indiana have not increased aince the late expedition.
"Our aituation is truly critical ; the governor and secretaty both
being absent, no assistance from Yirginia or Pennsylvania can be
had. The garrison at Fort Harmar, consisting at this time of little
more than twenty men, can afford no protection to our settlements,
and the whole number of men in all our settlements^ capable of
bearing arms, including all civil and militaty officers,, do not exceed
two hundred and eighty-seven, and these, many of them, badly
armed. " We are in the utmost danger of being swallowed up, ahould
the enemy push the war with vigor during the winter; this, I be
lieve, will fully appear, by taking a short ¦view of our aeveral aet
tlementa, and I hope justify the extraordinary measures we have
adopted, for want of a legal authority in the territory, to apply for
aid in the busiuesa. The aituation of our people ia nearly as
follows :
"At Marietta are about eighty houses, in the distance of one
mile, with acattering houaea about three miles up the Ohio. A aet
of mills at Duck creek, four milea distant, and another mill two
miles up the Muakingum. Twenty-two miles up this river is a set
tlement, consisting of about twenty families ; about two miles" from
them, on Wolf creek,, are five families and a set of milla.
"Down the Ohio, and oppoaite the Little Kanawha, commences
the settlement called Belle Prairie, which extenda down the river,
with little interruption, about twelve miles, and contains between
thirty and forty houaea. Before the late diaaster, we had aeveral.
other settlements, which are already broken upi I have taken the
liberty to enclose the proceedings of the Ohio company, and jua-
ticea of the seaaiona on this occasion, and beg leave, with the gresKt-
est deference, to observe, that, unleas government apeedily sends a
body of troopa for our protection, we are a ruined people.
" The removal of the women and children, etc., will reduce many
of the poorer sort to the greateat straits; but if we add to this-the
36

554 ANOTHER CAMPAIGN PROJECTED. 1791.
destruction of their corn, forage, and cattle, by the enemy, which
ia very probable to enaue, I know of no way they can be aupported ;
but, if thia should not happen, where these people are to raise
bread another year, is not easy to conjecture, and most of them
have nothing left to buy with.
"But my fears do not stop here; we are a people so far detached
from all others, in point of situation, that we can hope for no timely
relief, in case of emergency, from any of our neighbors ; and among
the number that compose our present military strength, almost
one-half are young men, hired into the country, intending to settle
by and by ; these, under present circumstances, will probably leave
us soon, unless prospects should brighten ; and, as to new settlers,
we can expect none in our present situation ; so that, instead of
increasing in strength, we are likely to diminish daily ; and, if we
do not fall a prey to the savages, we shall be so reduced and dis
couraged as to give up the settlement, unless government shaU give
us timely protection. It has been a mystery with some, why the
troops have been withdrawn from this quarter, and collected at the
Miami ; that settlement is, I believe, within three or four days'
march of a very populous part of Kentucky, from whence, in a few
days, they might be reinforced with several thousand men, where
as, we are not within two hundred miles of any settlement that can
probably more than protect themselves."*
The spirit thus manifested by the tribes which had just been at
tacked, and the general feeling along the frontier in relation to
Harmar's expedition, made the United States government sensible
that their first step in the conduct of backwoods warfare, had been
a failure, and that prompt and strong meaaurea, calculated either to
win or force a state of peace, muat be adopted. The plan which
was resorted to was a three-fold one:
To send a messenger to the western Indians with ofters of peace,
to be accompanied by some of the Iroquois chieftains favorable to
America; At the same time to organize expeditions in the West, to strike
the Wea, Miami, and Shawanese towns, in case it should be clear
the peace messenger would fail in his mission ; and
To prepare a grand and overwhelming force with which to
take posaeaaion of the country of the enemiea, and build forta in
their midst.

*See American State. Papers, v. 121.

1791. BRITISH VIEWS OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 555
The person selected to convey the messages of peace was Colonel
Thomas Proctor, who received his commission upon the 10th or
llth of March, 1791, and upon the 12th left Philadelphia for the
settlement of Cornplanter, Captain O'Beel, or O'Biel, the chief
warrior of the Senecas, and the firm friend of Washington and the
Union. This chief, with others of similar sentiments, had been in
Philadelphia in the previous December, and had promised to use
all their infiuence to secure peace.* To them Proctor was sent, in
the hope that they would go with him westward, and be the means
of preventing further bloodshed. In this hope, however, Washing
ton and Knox were disappointed ; for, when, with great difficulty,
the American messenger had prevailed upon certain of the Iro
quois to accompany him, provided a water passage could be had,
the British commandant at Niagara would not allow an English
vessel to be hired to convey the ambassadors up Lake Erie ; and as
no other could be obtained, the whole enterprise failed.
But in order to understand the difficulties which Proctor met
with, the -views of the British, and of those Indians who remained
firm to the British at this period, must be conaidered. After
Harmar's campaign, the tribea of the north-weat sent a deputation
to Lord Dorchester, to learn what aid England would give them in
the contest now fairly opened. What answer, precisely, was given
by the Governor, we do not know, but his wishes seemed to have
been that peace might be restored and preserved. Colonel Gordon,
the British commandant at Niagara, who afterwards stopped Proc
tor, was also an advocate of peace, and on the 4th of March wrote
to Brant in these words:
"I hope you will embrace the present opportunity of the meet
ing of the chiefs of the Five Nations in your neighborhood, to use
your endeavors to heal the wounds between the Indians and Ameri
cans. I dare say the States wish to make peace on terms which
will secure to the Indians their present possessions in the Miami
country, provided the young men are restrained from committing
depredations in future."
It ia evident, from their whole course of procedure, that the
British authorities did their utmoat to prevent American aettle
menta from being made in the North-Weatern territory. They
wiahed to have their Indian alliea continue in possession ; this was
their chief motive for retaining the western posts.

¦* American State Papers, v. 140-145. Cornplanter, like Brant, was a half-breed.

556 REASONS OF INDIAN DISSATISFACTION. 1791.
Brant himaelf, on the 7th of March, ¦writing to M'Kee, the agent
among the Miamies, says :
"I have received two letters from the States, from gentlemen
who have lately been in PMladelphia, by which it appears the
Americans secretly wish to accommodate the matter, which I
ahould, by all means, advise, if it could be effected upon honorable
and liberal terms, and a peace become general."
With these views prevailing, why did Brant, Gordon, and the
other officers of Britain do so little afterward to preserve pacific
relations? First, it would seem that the Mohawk chieftain was
offended by the favor shown Cornplanter, his deadly foe,* and by
the attempt of the Americans to divide the Iroquois ; and in regard
to the latter point, at least, the British sympathized with him.
Secondly, it is clear that the representatives of England in Canada
were offended at the entire disregard shown by the American gov
ernment of their influence over the savages of the north-west.
Those tribes were closely connected with the British agenta, and
under their control, and Lord Dorchester, Colonel Gordon and
Brant looked for an appeal to them as mediators in the quarrel
about to burst forth, or, at any rate, for an acceptance by the
Americans of their mediation, if asked by the Indians ; an accept
ance of the kind given in 1793, after St. Clair's defeat, and which
was not, of course, dishonorable or degrading. Thirdly, both the
Indians and English were puzzled and excited by the seeming want
of good faith on the part of the States, which, at the same moment,
almost, commissioned Scott to war upon the Wabash Indians,
Proctor to treat of peace with them, St. Clair to invade and take
possession of their lands on the Maumee, and Pickering to hold a
council with their brethren for burying the fatal hatchet, and
quenching the destructive brand.
" From the inconsistent proceedings of the Americana," says
Colonel Gordon to Brant, upon the llth of June, " I am perfectly
at a loss to understand their full intentions. Whilst they are assem
bling councils at different quarters, with the avowed purpose of
bringing about a peace, the Six Nations have received a speech
from General St. Clair, dated at Pittsburgh, 23d April, inviting
them to take up the hatchet against their brothers, the western
nations. " Can any thing be more inconsistent, or can they poaaibly

•American State Papers, v. 167; stated by Gen. Knox.

1791. brant's FRIENDSHIP IS SOUGHT. 657
believe the Indians are to be duped by auch- shallow artifices?
Thia, far from being the case ; the Indiana at Buffalo creek saw
the business in its proper light, and treated the invitation with the
contempt it deserved. It must strike you very forcibly, that in all
the proceedings of the different commisioners from the American
States, they have cautiously avoided applying for our interference,
as a measure they affect to think perfectly unnecessary ; wishing to
impress the Indians with the ideas of their own consequence, and
of the little influence they would wilUngly believe we are pos
sessed of.
" Thia, my good friend, ia not the way to proceed. Had they,
before matters were pushed to extremity, requested the assistance
of the British government to bring about a peace on equitable
terms, I am convinced the measure would have been fully accom
plished long before this time.
" I would, however, willingly hope they will yet see the propriety
of adopting this mode of proceeding ; and that peace, an object ao
much to be deaired, will, at length be permanently aettled.
" I am the most sanguine in the attainment of my wishes, by
your being on the spot, and that you will call forth the exertion of
your influence and abilities on the occasion."
The Americans also were desirous to enlist Brant as a peace
maker, and Governor Clinton, of New York, was written to by
General Knox, in the hope that he might influence the Mohawk
leader; but the chieftain was beyond his reach, in the far west,
among the tribes who were likely to be foremost in the contest ;
nor could any learn whether he went thither as a peace-maker or
promoter of war.
Early in May, the United States Government was informed that
he had revived his plan of a great Indian confederacy ; and about
the 19th of that month. Proctor, at Buffalo, heard from the West
that Brant was there, not to pacify, but to inflame the Miamies and
their allies ; but yet, as the chiefs of the Six Nations represented
his purpose to be that of a messenger sent to learn the feelings of
the western tribes, and asked Proctor again and again to wait his
return, the impression produced upon the American Government
was that he had nothing in view but the cessation of hostilities.*
Before Proctor, after the failure of his mission, left Buffalo
creek, which he did upon the 21st of May, measures had been

•American State Papers, v. 117; also, 161, 168, 181.

558 proctor's MISSION A FAILURE. 1791.
taken to secure a council of the Six Nations on the 16th of June,
at the Painted Post, near the junction of the Coshocton and Tioga
rivers. The purpose of this council was to secure the neutrality of
the Iroquois by presents and fine words ; and the plan appears to
have succeeded. " Treaty," says Knox, writing to St. Clair, on the
4th of August, " closed on the 15th, (of July,) and the Indians
returned satisfied. Colonel Pickering did not attempt to persuade
any of them to join our army, as he found such a proposal would
be very disagreeable to them." *
It had been calculated when Proctor left Philadelphia upon the
12th of March, that he would either succeed or distinctly fail in
his enterprise, in time to reach Fort Washington by the 5th of
May. Thia expectation, as has been seen, was entirely defeated,
as he was so delayed that he did not reach Buffalo creek until the
27th of April, and did not make his first application for a vessel to
cross Lake Erie until May 5th. But upon the above calculation,
mistaken as it proved, were based the arrangements of the United
States for carrying into effect the second part of the plan for the
campaign, — "the desultory operations " (as they were termed) for
annoying the enemy in case Proctor failed. These operations
were to be carried out by the backwoodsmen under their own
commandera. The depredations of the Indians on the OMo after Harmar's
expedition, produced great alarm in Western Yirginia, and the
delegates of several of the western counties of that State, sent a
memorial to the governor, in which they say :
" The defenseless condition of those counties, forming a line of
nearly four hundred miles along the Ohio river, exposed to the
hostile invasion of their Indian enemies, destitute of every kind of
support, is truly alarming ; for notwithstanding all the regulations
of the General Government in that country, we have reason to
lament that they have been hitherto ineffectual for our protection ;
nor, indeed, could it happen otherwise : for the garrisons kept by
the continental troops on the Ohio river, if they are of any use, it
must be to the Kentucky settlements ; as they immediately cover
that countty. To us they can be of no service, being from two to
four hundred miles below our frontier settlements.
" We further beg leave to observe that we have reason to fear
that the consequences of the defeat of our army by the Indians, on

•American State Papers, v. 181.

1791. GENERAL CHARLES SCOTT'S EXPEDITION. 5.')9
the late expedition, will be severely felt on our frontiers : as there
is no doubt but that the Indians will, in their turn, (being flushed
with ¦victory,) invade our settlements, and exercise all their horrid
murder upon the inhabitants thereof, whenever. the weather will
permit them to travel. Then is it not better to support us where
we are, be the expense what it may, than to oblige such a number
of your brave citizens, who have so long supported, and still con
tinue to support, a dangerous frontier, (although thousands of their
relatives in the flesh have, in the prosecution thereof, fallen a
sacrifice to aavage inventiona) to quit the country, after all they
have done and suffered, when you know that a frontier must be
supported somewhere."
In consequence of these representations, the Legislature of Yir
ginia passed a resolution on the 20th of December, authorizing the
govornor to make pro^vision for the protection of the frontier, till
the General Government should take efficient measures to effect
that object. Governor Randolph immediately dispatched ordera
to the commanding officera of the weatern counties, for the enliat-
ment, before the 1st of March, of several companies of rangers,
for the defense of the frontier, and appointed Charles Scott briga
dier-general of the militia of Kentucky, with orders to raise a
volunteer force for the protection of that district. These proceed
ings were reported to Congress, and that body, early in Januaty,
eatablished a local Board of War for the district of Kentucky,
composed of General Scott, Harry Innis, John Brown, Benjamin
Logan, and Isaac Shelby, with discretionaty powers to provide for
the defense of the settlements and the prosecution of the war.
On the 3d of March, Congress passed an " Act for the raising
and adding another regiment to the military establishment of the
United States, and for making further provision for the protection
of the frontiers." In the execution of the provisions of that act,
the President immediately appointed Governor St. Clair com
mander-in-chief of the army in the North-West, and authorized
him to raise an army of three thousand men, to be employed
against the hostile Indians in that territory.
It was considered necessary, however, to make an immediate
attack on the Wabash Indians ; and accordingly orders were sent
to General Scott, to raise, under the direction of the Kentucky
Board of War, a volunteer force of about seven hundred and fifty
men, and lead an expedition against the Wea towns on the
Wabash. The time of rendezvous was fixed on the 10th of May,
but the march was poatponed for a few daya, to await the return of

660 GENERAL CHARLES SCOTT'S EXPEDITION. 1791.
Proctor. No intelligence, however, was received from him; the
hostility of the Indians was becoming more apparent, and, on the
23d of May, General Scott with a force of eight hundred mounted
men crossed the Ohio, at the mouth of the Kentucky, and com
menced his march to Ouiatenon, where he arrived on the Ist of
June. " I immediately detached Colonel John Hardin," says Scott in
his report, " with sixty mounted infantry, and a troop of light horse
under Captain McCoy, to attack the villages to the left-, and moved
on briskly with my main body, in order of battle, toward the town,
the smoke of which was discernible. My guides were deceived
with respect to the situation of the town ; for, instead of standing
at the edge of the plain through which I marched, I found it on
the low ground bordering on the Wabash: on turning the point of
woods, one house presented in my front. Captain Price was
ordered to aaaault that with forty men. He executed the command
with great gallantry, and killed two warriora.
" When I gained the summit of the eminence which overlooks
the villages on the banks of the Wabash, I discovered the enemy
in great confusion, endeavoring to make their escape over the river
in canoes. I instantly ordered Lieutenant Colonel-commandant
Wilkinson to rush forward with the first battalion.
" The order was executed with promptitude, and this detach
ment gained the bank of the river just as the rear of the enemy
had embarked; and, regardless of a brisk fire kept up from a
Kickapoo town on the opposite bank, they, in a few minutes, by a
well-directed fire from their rifles, destroyed all the savages with
which five canoes were crowded. To my great mortification, the
Wabash was many feet beyond fording at this place : I therefore
detached Col. Wilkinson to a ford two miles above, which my
guides informed me was more practicable.
" The enemy still kept possession of Kickapoo town : I deter
mined to dislodge them; and for that purpose ordered Captains
King's and Logsdone's companies to march down the river below
the town, and cross, under the conduct of Major Barboe. Sereral
of the men swam the river, and others passed in a small canoe.
This movement was unobserved ; and my men had taken post on
the bank before they were discovered by the enemy, who imme
diately abandoned the village.
" About this time word was brought to me that Colonel Hardin
was encumbered with prisoners, and had discovered a stronger vil
lage further to my left than those I had observed, which he was

1791. GENERAL CHARLES SCOTT'S EXPEDITION. 661
proceeding to attack. I immediately detached Captain Brown
with hia company, to aupport the colonel : but the distance being
six miles, before the captain arrived the business was done, and
Colonel Hardin joined me a littie before aun-aet, having kiUed six
warriors, and taken fifty-two prisoners. Captain Bull, the warrior
who discovered me in the morning, had gained the main town, and
given the alarm, a short time before me; but the villages to my
left were uninformed of ray approach, and had no retreat.
¦"The next morning I determined to detach my Lieutenant
Colonel-commandant, with five hundred men, to deatroy the im
portant town of Keth-tip-e-ea-nunk, (Tippecanoe,) eighteen miles
from my camp, on the west side of the Wabash; but, on examina
tion, I discovered my men and horses to be so crippled and worn
down by a long, laborious march, and the active exertions of the
preceding day, that three hundred and sixty men only could be
found in a capacity to undertake tiie enterprise, and they prepared
to march on foot.
" Colonel Wilkinson marched ¦with this detachment at half after
five in the evening, and returned to my camp the next day-at one
o'clock, having marched thirty-six miles in twelve hours, and de
stroyed the most important settlement of the enemy in that quarter
of the federal territory.
" Many of the inhabitanta of the ¦village (Ouiatenon) were French,
and lived in a state of civilization. By the booka, letters, and other
documenta found there, it is evident that place was in close con
nection with, and dependent on, Detroit. A large quantity of
corn, a variety of household goods, peltty, and other articles, were
burned with this village, which consisted of about seventy houses,
many of them well finished."*
The theatre of this event is thus described in the Indiana Ga
zetteer, published at Indianapolis, 1850 :
" Weaf prairie, or Wea plains, covers more than a township of
excellent land, juat below the mouth of Wea creek. On the oppo
aite side of Wabash river was the Indian town Ouiatenon, and the
site of a Jesuit mission once flourishing. Here, too, were the most
extensive improvements probably ever made by Indians within the
limits of this State, of which scarce a trace now remains.

* American State Papers, v. 131.
•f- Wah-wee-ah-tenon was the original Indian name of the settlement, made classic
(Ouiatenon) by the Jesuits.

562 COLONEL WILKINSON'S EXPEDITION. 1791,
" For richness of soil and beauty of natural situation no place
in the State, or perhaps in the West, can compare with the Wea
plains," A few miles above this ancient post is located the flourishing
city of La Fayette.
On the recommendation of Governor St. Clair, the Kentucky
Board of War resolved to send another expedition under Colonel
Wilkinson to destroy the towns on Eel river. The volunteers
raised for the service, were ordered to rendezvous at Fort Wash- .
ington, on the 20th of July, armed and mounted? with provisions
for thirty days ; and on the 1st of August, Wilfcinson, with five
hundred and twenty-five men, commenced Ms march against the
hostile towns. His report, made on the 24th of August, to Gover
nor St. Clair, is a sufficient histoty of the expedition:
"Having carried into complete effect the enterprise which you
were pleased to direct against L'Anguille, (a village on Eel river,)
and having done the savages every other damage on the Wabash,
to which I conceived my force adequate, I embrace the first
moments recess from active duty, to detail to your excellency the
operations of the expedition entrusted to my conduct.
"I left the neighborhood of Fort Washington on the 1st inst., at
one o'clock, and agreeably to my original plan,'feinted boldly at the
Miami villages, by the most direct course the nature of the ground
over which I had to march would permit. I persevered in this
plan until the morning of the 4th inst., and thereby avoided the
hunting ground of the enemy, and the paths which lead direct from
White river to the Wabash, leaving the head waters of the first to
my left ; I then, being about seventy miles advanced of Fort Wash
ington, turned north-west.
" I made no discovery until the 5th, about nine o'clock, A. M.,
when I crossed three much frequented paths within two miles of
each other, and all bearing east of north ; my guides were urgent
for me to follow these paths, which betrayed their ignorance of the
country, and convinced me that I had to depend on my own
judgment only. In the afternoon of that day, I was obliged to
cross a deep bog, which injured several of my horses exceedingly,
and a few miles beyond I struck a path bearing north by west,
marked by the recent footsteps of five or six aavagea.
" My guides renewed their application to me to follow this path,
but I pursued my course which had been N. 60 W- since two
o'clock, " I had not got clear of my encampment next morning, before

1791, COLONEL WILKINSON'S EXPEDITION, 563
my advance reported an impassable bog in our front, extending
several miles on either hand ; and the guides asserted that the
whole country to the Wabash was cut by such bogs, and that it
would be impossible for me to proceed unless I followed the
Indian paths, which avoided these bogs, or led through them at
places where they were least difficult. Although I paid little
regard to thia information, as delay was dangerous, and every
thing depended on the preservation of my horses, I determined to
turn to the right, and fall into the path I had passed the evening
before, which varied in ita course from N. by W. to NE. The
countty now had become pondy in every direction; I therefore
resolved to pursue this path until noon, in the hope that it would
conduct me to better ground, or to some devious trace which
might lead to the object sought.
" At seven o'clock I crossed an east branch of Calumet * river,
about forty yards ¦wide, and about noon my advance guard fired on
a small party of warriors, and took a prisoner ; the rest ran off to
the eastward. I halted about a mile beyond the spot where thia
affair happened, and on examining the priaoner found him to be a
Delaware, living near the site of the late Miami village, which he
informed me was about thirty miles distant; I immediately retro-
gradei four miles, and filed off by the right over some rising
ground which I had observed between the east branch of Calumet
river and a creek four or five miles in advance of it, taking my
course N. 60 W.
"Thia measure fortunately extricated me from the bogs and
ponds, and soon placed me on firm ground ; late in the afternoon
I crossed one path running from N. to S. and shortly after fell
into another varying from NW. to N. by W. I pursued thia
path about two miles, when I encamped— but J.nding it still
inclined northward, I determined to abandon it in the morning,
"I resumed my march on the 6th at four o'clock; the Calumet
being to the westward of me, I was fearful I should strike the
Wabash too high up, and perhaps fall In with the small town,
which you mentioned to me, at the mouth of the former river, I
therefore steered a due west course, and six o'clock. A, M., crossed
a road, much used both by horse and foot, bearing due north,
"I now knew that I was near a Shawanese village, generally
supposed to be on the waters of White river, but actually on those

* At present not known hy that name.

564 COLONEL WILKINSON'S EXPEDITION, 1791.
of the Calumet, and was sensible that every thing depended on the
celerity and silence of my movements, as my real object bad become
manifest. I therefore pushed my march vigorously, leaving an
officer and twenty men in ambush, to watch the road, in order to
intercept Or beat off any party of the enemy which might casually
be passing that way, and thereby prevent as long as possible, the
discovery of my real intentions.
"At eight o'clock I crossed Calumet river, now eighty yards
wide, and running down NNW. and pursuing my course, I crossed
one path near the western bank of the river, taking the same
course, and at six miles distance, another bearing to the NE. I
was now sensible from my reckoning compared with my own
observations, during the late expedition under General Scott, and
the information received from your excellency and others, that I
could not be very far distant from L'Anguille. The party left at
the road soon fell in with four warriors encamped half a mile from
the right of my line of march, killed one and drove off the others to
the northward. My situation had now become extremely critical,
the whole countty to the north being in alarm, which made me
greatly anxious to continue my march during the night; but I had
no path to direct me, and it was impossible to keep my course, or
for horsemen to march tMough a thick swampy country, in utter
darkness. I quitted my camp on the 7th as soon as I could see
my way, crossed one path at three miles distance bearing NE.
and at seven miles I fell into another very much used, bearing
NW. by N. which I at once adopted, as the direct route to my
object and pushed forward with the utmost dispatch.
" I halted at twelve o'clock to refresh the horses and examine
the men's arms and ammunition ; marched again at half after one,
and at fifteen minutes before five I struck the Wabash, at one and
a half leagues above the mouth of Eel river, being the very spot
for which I had aimed from the commencement of my march. I
crossed the river, and following the path a N. by E course; at the
distance of two and a half miles my reconnoitering party announced
Eel river in front, and the town on the opposite bank. I dismoun
ted, ran forward and examined the situation of the town as far as
was practicable, without exposing myself; but the whole face of the
country from the Wabash to the margin of Eel river, being a
continued thicket of brambles, black jacks, weeds and shrubs of
different kinds, it was impossible for me to get a satisfactory -new
without endangering a discovery.
" I immediately determined to post two companies near the bank

1791. COLONEL WILKINSON'S EXPEDITION, 565
of the river oppoaite to the town, and above the ground I then
occupied, to make a detour with Major Caldwell, and the second
battalion, until I fell into the Miami trace, and by that route to
cross the river above and gain the rear of the town, and to leave
directions vrith Major M'Dowell, who commanded the first bat
talion, to lie perdue until I commenced the attack ; then to dash
through the river with hia corpa advanced, and asaault the houses
in front and upon the left. In the moment that I was about to put
this arrangement into execution, word was brought me that the
enemy had taken the alarm and were flying, I instantly ordered
a general charge, which was obeyed with alacrity, the men forcing
their way over every obstacle plunged through the river with vast
intrepidity. The enemy was unable to make the smallest resists
ance, "Six warriors and, in the hurty and confusion of the charge, two
squaws and a child were killed, thirty-four prisonera were taken and
an unfortunate captive released — with the loss of two men killed
and one wounded. I found this town scattered along Eel river
for full three milea, on an uneven scrubby oak barren, interaected
alternately by boga almost impassable, and impervious thickets of
plum, hazel and black jack. Notwithstanding these difficulties,
if I may credit the report, of the prisonera, very few who were in
the town escaped ; expecting a second expedition, their gooda were
generally packed up or buried. ,
"Sixty warriors had crossed the Wabash to watch the paths
leading from the Ohio ; the head chief ¦with all the prisoners, and a
number of families, were out digging a root which they substitute
in the place of the potatoe, and about one hour before my arrival
all the warriora, except eight,, had mounted their horses and rode
up the river to a French store. to purchase ammunition. TMs am
munition had arrived from the Miami village that veiy day, and
the squaws informed me was stored about two miles from the
town. "I detached Major Caldwell in quest of it, but he faUed to make
any discovery, although he scoured the country for seven or eight
miles up the river, I encamped in the town, that night, and the
next morning cut up the corn scarcely in the milk, burnt the cab
ins, and mounted my young warriojs, squaws and cMldren in the
best manner in my power, and leaving two. infirm squaws and a
child with a short talk, (a copy of which I have the honor to enclose
you,) I commenced my march for the Kickapoo town in the prairie.
I felt my prisoners avast incumbrance, but I waa not in force to

666 COLONEL WILKINSON'S EXPEDITION. 1791.
justify a detachment, having barely five hundred and twenty-three
rank and file, and being then in the bosom of the Ouiatenon
country, one hundred and eighty milea removed from succor and
not more than one and a half days forced march from the Potta^
wattamies, Shawanese and Delawares.
" Not being able to discover any path in the direct course to the
Kickapoo towns, I marched by the road leading to Tippecanoe, in
the hope of finding some diverging trace which might favor my
design. I encamped that evening about six miles from Kenapa-
comaqua, the Indian name for the town I had destroyed, and
marched next morning at four o'clock. My course continued west
till nine o'clock when I turned to the north-west on a small hunt
ing path, and at a short distance I launched into the boundless
prairies of the west with the intention to pursue that course until
I could strike a road which leads from the Pottawattamies of Lake
Michigan immediately to the town I sought.
" With this view I pushed forward, through bog after bog, to the
saddle skirts in mud and water, and after persevering for eight
hours I found myself environed on all sides ¦with morasses which
forbade my advancing and at the same time rendered it difficult
for me to extricate my little army. The way by which we had
entered was so much beat and softened by the horses that it was
almost impossible to return by that route, and my guides pronoun
ced the morass in front impassable, A chain of thin groves
extending in the direction of the Wabash at this time presented to
my left; it was necessary I should gain these groves, and for this
purpose I dismounted, went forward, and leading my horse through
a bog to the arm-pita in mud and water, ¦with great difficulty and
fatigue I accompliahed my object, and changing my course to 8.
by W, I regained the Tippecanoe road at five o'clock and encamped
on it at seven o'clock, after a march of thirty milea, which broke
down several of my horaea,
"I am the more minute in detailing the occurrencea of this day,
because they produce the most unfavorable effect, I was in motion
at four next morning, and at eight o'clock my advanced guard
made some discoveries which induced me to believe we were near
an Indian town, I immediately pushed that body forward on a
trot and followed with Major Caldwell and the second battalion,
leaving Major M'Dowell to take charge of the prisoners, I reached
Tippecanoe at twelve o'clock, which had been occupied by the
enemy, who watched my motions and abandoned the place that
morning. After the deatruction of the town in June laat, the

1791, COLONEL WILKINSON'S EXPEDITION, 567
enemy had returned and cultivated their corn and pulse, which I
found in high perfection and in much greater quantity than at
L'Anguille, " To refresh my horses and give time to cut down the com, I
determined to halt until the next morning, and then to resume my
march to the Kickapoo town, in the prairie, by the road which
leads from Ouiatenon to that place. In the course of the day, I had
discovered some murmurings and discontent among the men, which
I found on inquiry to proceed from their reluctance to advance fur
ther into the enemy's country ; thia induced me to call for a atate
of the horses and provisions, when, to my great mortification, two
hundred and seventy horses were returned lame and tired, "with
barely five days provisions for the men,
"Under these circumstances, I waa compelled to abandon my
deaigna upon the Kickapooa of the prairie ; and with a degree of
anguish not to be comprehended but by those who have experienced
similar disappointmenta, I marched forward to a town of the same
nation, situate about three leagues west of Ouiatenon, As I
advanced to that town, the enemy made some show of fighting me,
but vanished at my approach. I destroyed thia town, consisting of
thirty houses, with a considerable quantity of corn in the hills, and
the same day I moved on to Ouiatenon, where I forded the Wabash,
and proceeded to the site of the villages on the margin of the
prairie, where I encamped at seven o'clock.
" At this town and the villages destroyed by Gen. Scott, in June,
we found the corn had been replanted, and was now in high culti
vation, several fields being well ploughed, all which we destroyed.
On the 12th, I resumed my march, and falling into Gen. Scott's
return trace, I arrived without any material incident at the rapids
of the Ohio, on the 21st inst., after a march by accurate computar
tion of four hundred and fifty-one miles from Fort Washington.
" The volunteers of Kentucky have, on this occasion, acquitted
themselves with their usual good conduct, but as no opportunity
offered for individual distinction, it would be unjust to give one
the plaudits to which all have an equal title. I cannot, however,
in propriety, forbear to express my warm approbation of the good
conduct of my Majors M'Dowell and Caldwell, and of Col, RusseU,
who, in the character of a volunteer, without commission, led my
advance; aud I feel myself under obligations to Major Adair and
Capt, Parker, who acted immediately about my person, for the
services they rendered me, by the most prompt, active and ener
getic exertioBS,

568 BCOTT'S CAMPAIGN BY IMLAY, 1791,
" The services which I have been able to render, fall fe,r short of
my wishes, my intention and expectation; but, sir, when you
reflect on the causes which checked my career, and blasted my
designs, I flatter myself you will believe everything has been done
which could be done in my circumstances ; I have destroyed the
chief town of the Ouiatenon nation, and made prisoners the sons
and sisters of the King; I have burnt a respectable Kickapoo
village, and cut down at least four hundred and thirty acres of
corn, chiefly in the milk. The Ouiatenons, left without houses;
home or provision, must cease to war, and will find active employ
to subsist their squaws and children during the impending
winter," Aside from the official reports of Scott and Wilkinson, a very
interesting account of their expedition, as well as of the country
they invaded, as it then appeared, ia furnished in the letter of an
officer in Wilkinaon'a campaign,*
" General Scott, at the head of eight hundred Kentucky volun
teera, marched from oppoaite the mouth of the Kentucky river,
about the beginning of June ; the courae he ateered was about
north 20° west, and in about fifteen daya he atruck and surprised
the lower Weaucteneau (Ouiatenon) towns, on the Wabash river,
and the prairie adjoining; but unfortunately, the river at that time
was not fordable, or the Kickapoo town, on the north-west side,
with the Indians who escaped in their canoes from the Weau
town on the south, must have fallen completely into our hands ;
however, about twenty warriors were killed in the Weau (Ouia)
villages, and in the river crossing the Wabash, and forty-seven of
their squaws and children taken prisoners,
"Immediately after the engagement, a council of war was called,
when it was determined that Wilkinson should cross the Wabash
under cover of the night, with a detachment of four hundred men,
and endeavor to surprise the town of Kathtippacamunck, which
was situated upon the north aide of that river, at the mouth of Kip-
pacanoe creek, (Tippecanoe,) and about twenty miles above the
Lower Weau towns. This expedition was conducted with so much
caution and celerity, that Wilkinaon arrived at the margin of the
prairie, within a mile, and to the weat of the town, about an hour
before the break of day ; whilst a detachment was taking a eireuit
through the prairie, to co-operate with the main body on a given

Imlaj's America^ p. 402.

1T91, imlay's version of scott's march, 569
signal; day appeared, and the volunteers rushed into the town with
an impetuosity not to be resisted. The detachment in advance
reached the Rippacanoe creek* the very moment the last of the
Indians were crossing, when a very brisk fire took place between
the detachment and the Indians on the opposite side, in which sev
eral of their warriors were kiUed, and two of our men wounded.
" This town, which contained about one hundred and twenty
houses, eighty of which were shingle roofed, was immediately
burnt and leveled with the ground ; the best houses belonged to
French traders, whose gardens and improvements round the town
were truly delightful, and, everything considered, not a little won
derful; there was a tavern, with cellars, bar, public, and private
rooms ; and the whole marked a considerable share of order, and
no small degree of civilization.
" Wilkinson returned with his detachment, after destroying the
town, and joined the main army about seven in the evening; and
the day following our little army were put in motion, with their
prisoners ; and steering about south, in twelve days reached the
rapids of the Ohio, with the loss only of two men, who unfortu
nately were drowned in crossing Main White river.
" The success of this expedition encouraged government to set
another on foot, under the command of Colonel Wilkinson ; which
was destined to operate against the same tribes of Indians ; whose
main towjj, near the mouth of Ell river, on the Wabash, had not
been attacked in the first excursion; and accordingly, on the 1st of
August foUowing, the colonel, at the head of five hundred mounted
volunteers, marched from Fort Washington, north sixteen degrees
west, steering, as it were, for the Manmic villages, on the Picaway
fork of the Manmic, (or Miami of the lake,) and St. Mary's river.
This movement was intended as a feint, and the Indians, who
afterward fell upon our trail, were completely deceived ; nor did
we ehange our course untU by the capture of a Delaware Indian,
we ascertained that we were within thirty miles of the principal of
the Manmic viUages, and having marched down our northing, at
the very time we received the information, shifted our course to
due west, and at the distance of one hundred and eighty miles
from Fort Washington, we struck the Wabash within two miles and
a half of Longuille, or, as the Indians call it, Kenapacomaqua, It
was about 4, P, M, when we reached that river, and crossing it im-

* Rather the Wabash.
37

570 imlay's version of scott's march, 1791.
mediately, we marched in four columns across the neck of land,
formed by the junction of the Wabash and Ell (Eel) rivers, passing
several Indian war posts that had been fresh painted, we arrived
completely concealed on the south bank of Ell river, and directly
opposite the town of Kenapacomaqua.
" The surprise of this town was so very complete, that before we
received orders to cross the river and rush upon the town,-we ob
served several children playing on the tops of the houses, and could
distinguish the hilarity and merriment that seemed to crown the
festivity of the villagers, for it was in the season of the green corn
dance. "The want of daylight, and a morass, that nearly encircled the
town, prevented us from suddenly attacking, which enabled several
of the Indians to escape, and in some measure obscured the bril
liancy of the enterprise, by limiting the number of warriors killed
to eleven, and capturing forty squaws and their children, after
burning all the houses, and destroying about two hundred acres of
corn, which was then in the iriilk, and in that stage when the In
dians prepare it for Zoflbmanony, This success was achieved with
the loss of two men, who were killed,
"About four o'clock in the afternoon we mounted our prisoners,
and took a west and by north course toward the Little Kickapoo town,
which the colonel hoped to surprise on his way to the Great Kick
apoo town, in the prairie, on the waters of the Illinois river; but
the difficulties we encountered in this march, through these almost
boundless prairies, were such, that upon our arrival at the Little
Kickapoo town, we found one half the horses in the army non
effective, and unlikely to reach the Ohio by the nearest course we
could take, which consideration induced the colonel to relinquish
the enterprise against the Great Kickapoo town; and, accordingly,
after destroying about two hundred acres of corn at Kathtippaca-
nunck, Kickapoo, and the lower Weaucteneau towns, we gained
General Scott's return tract, aud on the 21st of August, after a cir
cuitous march of four hundred and eighty-six miles, arrived with
our prisoners at LouisviUe."
The expeditions of Harmar, Scott and Wilkinson were directed
against the Miamies and Shawanese, and served only to exasperate
them. The burning of their towns, the destruction of their corn,
and the captivity of their women and children, only aroused them
to more desperate efforts to defend their country, and to harass
their invaders. To carry on the war more vigorously. Little Turtle,
the chief of the Miamies, Blue Jacket, the chief of the Shawanese,

1791. PURPOSE OP ST. clair's campaign. 571
and Buokongahelaa, the chief of the Delawarea, were engaged in
forming a confederacy of all the tribea of the north-west, strong
enough to drive the whites beyond the Ohio.
Meanwhile, preparationa were going forward for the main expe
dition of St. Clair, which, it waa intended, was to secure the control
over the aavagea, by eatablishing a chain of forts from the Ohio to
Lake Erie, and especially by securing the commanding position at
the head of the Maumee.
At a very early period, the admirable position of the Miami vil
lage, at the junction of the St. Mary and St Joseph, had struck
Washington's sagacious mind, and when Harmar's expedition was
undertaken, one purpose of it would doubtless have been the estab
lishment of a military post at the Miami town, had it been com
patible with the public finances.* But Harmar's defeat having
proved the necessity of some strong check upon the northern
savages, it became the main purpoae of the campaign of 1791 to
build a fort at the point designated, which was to be connected by
other intermediate stations with Fort Washington and the Ohio.
Of this there is proof in the language of the government, after St.
Clair's defeat: "the great object of the late campaign," says Gen.
Knox, in his official report, dated December 26, 1791, "was tg
establish a atrong military post at the Miami village," (Maumee,
at the junction of the St. Joseph and the St. Mary). This object,
too, was to be attained, if possible, even at the expense of a contest
which might be otherwise avoided, as the following instructions,
issued to St. Clair by the Secretary of War, will indicate :
" The President of the United States having, by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate, appointed you a Major-General
in the service of the United States, and of consequence invested
you ¦with the chief command of the troops to be employed upon
the frontiers during the ensuing campaign, it is proper that you
should be possessed of the views of the government respecting the
objects of your command.
"I am, therefore, authorized and commanded by the President
of the United States, to deliver you the following instructions, in
order to serve as the general principles of your conduct.
" But, it is only general principles which can be pointed out. In
the execution of the duties of your station, circumstances which
cannot now be foreseen may arise, to render material deviations

* See Enox's letter to St. Clair, September 12, 1790. American State Papers, v. 100.

572 instructions to st. clair. 1791.
necessary. Such circumstances will require the exercise of your
talents. " The government possesses the security of your character and
mature experience, that your judgment will be proper on all occa
sions. You are well informed of the unfavorable impressions
which the issue of the last expedition has made on the public mind,
and you are also aware of the expectations which are formed of
the success of the ensuing campaign.
"An Indian war, under any circumstances, is regarded by the
great mass of the people of the United States as an event which
ought, if possible, to be avoided. It is considered that the sacri
fice of blood and treasure in such a war exceeds any advantages
which can possibly be reaped by it.
" The great policy, therefore, of the General Government, is to
establish a just and liberal peace with all the Indian tribes within
the limits and in the vicinity of the territoty of the United States.
Your intimations to the hostile Indians, immediately after the late
expedition, through the Wyandots and Delawares ; the arrange
ments with the Senecas who were lately in this city, that part of
the Six Nations should repair to the said hostile Indians, to influ
ence them to pacific measures ; together with the recent mission
of Colonel Proctor to them ¦ for the same purpose, will strongly
evince the desire of the General Government to prevent the
effusion of blood, and to quiet all disturbances. And when you
shall arrive upon the frontiers, if any other or further measures to
effect the same object should present, you will eagerly embrace
them, and the reasonable expenses thereof shall be defrayed by the
public. But, if all the lenient measures taken, or which maybe
taken, should fail to bring the hostile Indians to a just sense of
their situation, it will be necessary that you should use such
coercive means as you shall possess, for that purpose.
" You are informed that, by an act of Congress, passed the 2d
inst., another regiment is to be raised, and added to the military
establishment, and provision made for raising two thousand levies,
for the term of six months, for the service of the frontiers. It is
contemplated that tho mass of the regulars and levies may be
recruited and rendezvous at Fort Washington, by the 10th of July.
In this case, you will have assembled a force of three thousand
effectives at least, besides loavi ng small garrisons on the Ohio, in
order to perform your main expedition, hereinafter mentioned.
" But, in the meantime, if the Indiana refuae to Usten to the
messengers of peace sent to them, as it is moat probable they will,

1791. INSTRUCTIONS TO ST. CLAIR. 573
unless prevented, spread themselves along the line of frontiers, for
the purpose of committing all the depredations in their power.
In order to avoid so calamitous an event, Brigadier-General Charles
Scott, of Kentucky, has been authorized by me, on the part of the
President of the United States, to make an expedition against the
Wea, or Ouiatenon towns, with mounted volunteers, or miUtia
from Kentucky, not exceeding the number of seven hundred and
fifty, officers included.
You will perceive, -by the instructions to Brigadier General
Scott, that it is confided to your discretion, whether there should
be more than one of the said expeditions of mounted volunteers or
militia. Your nearer view of the objects to be effected, by a
second desultory expedition, will enable you to form a better
judgment than can at present be formed, at this distance. The
propriety of a second operation would, in some degree, depend on
the alacrity and good composition of the troops of which the first
may have been formed; of its success; of the probable effects a
second similar blow would have upon the Indians, with respect to
its influencing them to peace ; or, if they should be still hostilely
disposed, of preventing them from desolating the frontiers by their
parties. "You will observe, in the instructions to Brigadier-General
Scott, which are to serve as a basis for the instructions of the com
manders who may succeed him, that all captives are to be treated
with-great humanity. It "will be sound policy to attract the Indians
by kindness, after demonstrating to them our power to punish
them, on all occasions. While you are making such use of desul
tory operations as in your judgment the occasion may require, you
will proceed vigorously, in every operation in your power, for the
purpose of the main expedition ; and having assembled your force,
and all things being in readiness, if no decisive indications of peace
should have been produced, either by the messenger, or by the
desultory operations, you will commence your march for the Miami
village, in order to establish a strong and permanent military post
at that place.
" In your advance, you will establish such posta of communica
tion with Fort Washington, on the Ohio, as you may judge proper.
The post at the Miami village is intended for the purpose of awing
and curbing the Indians in that quarter, and as the only preventive
of future hostilities. It ought, therefore, to be rendered secure
against all attempts and insults of the Indians. The garrison
which should be stationed there ought not only to be sufficient

574 INSTRUCTIONS TO ST. CLAIR. 1791.
for the defense of the place, but always to afford a detachment of
five or six hundred men, either to chastise any of the Wabash, or
other hoatile Indians, or to secure any convoy of provisions.
" The establishment of such a post is considered as an important
object of the campaign, and is to take place in all events. In case
of a previous treaty, the Indians are to be conciliated upon this
point if possible; and it is presumed, good arguments may be
offered, to induce their acquiescence. The sitaation, nature, and
construction of the works you may direct, will depend upon vour
own judgment. Major Ferguson, of the artillety, will be fiilly
capable of the execution. He will be furnished ¦with three five
and a half inch howitzers, three six-pounders, and three three-
pounders, all brass, with a sufficient quantity of shot and shells,
for the purpose of the expedition. The appropriation of these
pieces will depend upon your orders.
" Having commenced your march, upon the main expedition,
and the Indians continuing hostile, you will use evety possible
exertion to make them feel the effects of your superiority; and
after having arrived at the Miami village, and put your works in a
defensible state, you will seek the enemy with the whole of your
remaining force, and endeavor, by all possible means, to strike
them with great severity.
"It will be left to your discretion whether to employ, if attain
able, any Indians of the Six Nations, and the Chickasaws or other
southern nations. Most probably the employment of about fifty of
each, under the direction of some discreet and able chief, would be
advantageous, but these ought not to be assembled before the line
of march is taken up, because they are soon tired and will not be
detained. The force contemplated for the garrison of the Miami
village, aud the communications, has been from a thousand to
twelve hundred non-commissioned officers and privates. This is
mentioned as a general idea, to which you will adhere, or from
which you will deviate, as circumstances may require. The garri
son stationed at the Miami village, and its communications, must
have in store at least six months good salted meat, and flour in
proportion. " It is hardly possible, if the Indiana continue hoatile, that you will
be suffered quietly to estabUsh a post at the Miami village ; conflicts,
therefore, may be expected ; and it is to be presumed that disci
plined valor will triumph over the undisciplined Indians. In this
event it is probable that the Indians will sue for peace; if this
should be the ease, the dignity of the United States will require

1791. INSTRUCTIONS TO ST. CLAIR. 575
that the terms should be liberal. In order to avoid future wars,
it might be proper to make the Wabash, and thence over to the
Miami, and down the same to its mouth at Lake Erie, the boun
dary, excepting so far as the same shall relate to the Wyandots and
Delawares, on the supposition of their continuing faithful to the
treaties. But, if they should join in the war against the United
Statea, and your army be •victorious, the said tribes ought to be
removed without the boundary mentioned. You will also judge
whether it would be proper to extend the boundary, from the
mouth of the river au Pause of the Wabash, in a due weat line to
the Miaaissippi. Few Indians, beside the Kickapoos, would be
affected by such a line ; this ought to be tenderly managed.
"The modification of the boundary must be confided to your
discretion, with this single observation, that the policy and interest
of the United States dictate their being at peace with the Indians.
This is of more value than millions of uncultivated acres, the right
to which may be conceded by some, and disputed by others. The
establishment of a post at the Miami village will properly be
regarded by the British officers on the frontiers, as a circumstance
of jealousy; it may, therefore, be necessaty that you should, at a
proper time, make such intimations as may remove all such dispo
sitions. This intimation had better follow than precede the
possession of the post, unless circumstances dictate otherwise.
"As it is not the ineUnation or interest of the United States to
enter into a contest with Great Britain, every measure tending to
any discussion or altercation must be prevented. The delicate
situation of affairs may, therefore, render it improper at present to
make any naval arrangement upon Lake Erie. After you shall
have effected all the injury to the hostile Indians of which your
force may be capable, and after having established the posts and
garrisons at the Miami village and its communications, and placing
the same under the orders of an officer worthy of such high trust,
you will return to Fort Washington on the Ohio.
"It is proper to observe, that certain jealousies have existed
among the people of the frontiers, relative to a supposed interference
between their interest, and those of the marine States : that these
jealousies are ill-founded, with respect to the present Government,
is obvious. The United States embrace, with equal care, all parts
of the Union ; and, in the present case, are making expensive
arrangements for the protection of the frontiers, and partly in the
modes, too, which appear to be highly favored by the Kentucky
people.

676 ST. CLAIR PREPARES FOR CAMPAIGN. 1788.
" The high stations you fiU, of commander of the troops, and
governor of the western territoty, will afford you frequent opportu
nities to impress the frontier citizens of the entire good disposition
of the general government toward them in all reasonable things,
and you will render acceptable service, by cordially embracing all
such opportunities." *
Under these instructions, St. Clair proceeded to organize his
army. At the close of April, he was in Pittsburgh, toward which
point troops from all quarters, horses, stores and ammunition, were
going forward. The forces, it was thought, would be assembled
by the last of July or first of August. By the middle of July, how
ever, it was clear that the early part of September would be as soon
as the expedition could get under way ; but the commander was
urged to press everything, and act with the utmost promptness and
decision. But this was more easily urged than accompUshed.
On the 15th of May, St. Clair had reached Fort Washington, and
at that time, the United States' troops in the west amounted to but
two hundred and sixty-four non-commissioned officers and privates
fit for duty ; of these, seventy-five were at Fort Washington, forty-
five at Fort Harmar, sixty-one at Fort Steuben, and eighty-three at
Fort Knox. On the 15th of July, this number was more than
doubled, however, as the first regiment, containing two hundred
and ninety-nine men, on that day reached Fort Washington.
General Butler, who had been appointed second in command,
was employed through part of April and May in obtaining recruits ;
but when obtained, there was no money to pay them, nor to pro
vide stores for them. In the quarter-master's department, mean
time, everything went on slowly and badly ; tents, pack-saddles,
kettles, knapsacks and cartridge boxes, were all "deficient in quan
tity and quality." Worse than this, the powder was poor or injured,
the arms and accoutrements out of repair, and not even proper
tools to mend them. Of six hundred and seventy-five stand of
arms at Fort Washington, (designed by St. Clair for the militia)
scarcely any were in order; and with two traveling forges furnished
by the quarter-master, there were no anvils.f And as the troops
gathered slowly at Fort Washington, after wearisome detentions
at Pittsburgh and upon the river, a new source of troubles arose,
in the habits of intemperance acquired and indulged in by the idlers.
To withdraw them from temptation, St. Clair was forced to remove

* American State P.ipers, v. 171.
¦f American State Papers, xii. 86.

1791. ST. CLAIR BUILDS FORT HAMILTON. 577
his men, now numbering two thousand, to Ludlow's station, about
six miles from the fort ; by which, however, he more than doubled
his cost of providing for the troops. Here the army continued
until September 17th, when, being two thousand three hundred
strong, including the garrisons of Forts Washington and Hamilton,
and exclusive of militia, it moved forward to a point upon the
Great Miami, where Fort Hamilton was built, the first in the pro
posed chain of fortresses.
" The circuit of that fort," says St. Clair, " is about one thousand
feet, through the whole extent of which a trench about three feet
deep was dug, to set the pickets in, of which it required about two
thousand to inclose it; and it is not trees taken promiscuously that
wUl answer for pickets, they must be tall and straight, and from
nine to twelve inches in diameter, for those of a larger size are too
unmanageable ; of course, few trees that are proper are to be found
without going over a considerable space of woodland. When
found, they are felled, cleared of their branches and cut into
lengths of about twenty feet. They were then carried to the
ground and butted, that they might be placed firm and upright in
the trench, with the axe or cross-cut saw. Some hewing upon
them was also necessary, for there are few trees so straight that the
sides of them will come in contact when set upright. A thin
piece of timber, called a ribbon, is run around the whole near the
top of the pickets, to which every one of them is pinned with a
strong pin, without which they would decline from the peipendicu-
lar with every blast of wind, some hanging outward and some in
ward, which would render them in a great measure useless. The
earth thrown out of the trench is then returned, and strongly
rammed, to keep the pickets firmly in their places, and a shallower
trench is dug outside, about three feet distant, to carry off" the
water, and prevent their being removed by the rains ; about two
thousand pickets are set up on the inside, one between every two
of the others; the work is then inclosed. But previously, the
ground for the site of the fort had to be cleared, and two or three
hundred yards around it, which was very thickly wooded, and was
a work of time and labor.
" The ground where this fort stands is on the east side of
the Miami river, on the first bank; but there is a second bank,
considerably elevated, within point blank shot, which rendered it
necessary to make the pickets, particularly along the land side, of
a height sufficient to prevent an enemy from seeing into the area,
and taking the side of the river in reverse, and a high platform

578 ST. CLAIR MARCHES NORTH. 1791.
was raised in one of the bastions on the land side, to scour the
second bank with artillery. Another, made with the trunks of
trees, and covered with plank as that was, was raised in one of the
bastions toward the river, in order to command the ford, and the
river for some distance up and down. Plank was sawed for the
platforms, and the gate, and barracks for one hundred men; a
guard-room, two store-houses for provisions, and barracks for the
officers, were constructed within it ; and all this was done in about
fourteen days, almost entirely by the labor of men ; though some
use was made of oxen in drawing the timber, the woods were so
thick and encumbered with underwood it was found to be the most
expeditious method to carry it."*
After the completion of Fort Hamilton, the troops moved on
forty-four miles further, and on the 12th of October commenced
Fort Jefferson, about six miles south of the town of GreenviUe,
Darke county. On the 24th the toilsome march through the wil
derness began again. At this time the commander-in-chief, whose
duties through the summer had been very severe, was suffering
from an indisposition which by turns affected his stomach, lungs,
and limbs; provisions were scarce, the roads wet and heavy, the
troops going with " much difficulty," seven miles a day; the militia
deserting sixty at a time.f Thus toiling along, the army, rapidly
lessening by desertion, sickness, and troops sent to arrest deserters,
on the 3d of November reached a stream twelve yards wide, which
St. Clair supposed to be the St. Mary of the Maumee, but which
was in reality a branch of the Wabash, just south of the head
waters of the stream for which the commander mistook it. Upon
the banks of this creek the army, now about fourteen hundred
strong, encamped in two lines,
" The right wing," says St. Clair, iu his letter to the Secretaty of
War after the battle, " composed of Butler's, Clark's, and Patter
son's battalions, commanded by Major-General Butler, formed the
first line; and the left wing, consisting of Bedinger's and Gaither's
battaUons, and the second regiment, commanded by Lieutenant-
Colonel Darke, formed the second line, with an interval between
them of about seventy yards, which was all the ground woul4
allow. The right flank was pretty well secured by the creek;
a steep bank, and Faulkner's corps, some of the cavalry, and their

* St. Clair's Narrative, p. 152.
f St. Clair's Journal. — American State Papers, t. 136-37.

1791. ST. CLAIR IS ATTACKED. 579
picquets, covered the left flank. The militia were thrown over the
creek, and advanced about a quarter of a mile, and encamped in
the same order. There were a few Indians who appeared on the
opposite side of the creek, but fled with the utmost precipitation
on the advance of the militia.
"At this place, which I judged to be about fifteen miles from
the Miami village, I determined to throw up a slight work, the
plan of which was concerted that eveMng with Major Ferguson,
wherein to have deposited the men's knapsacks, and every thing
else that was not of absolute necessity, and to have moved on to
attack the enemy as soon as the first regiment was come up. But
they did not permit me to execute either; for, on the 4th, about
half an hour before sunrise, and when the men had just been dis
missed from parade, (for it was a constant practice to have them
all under arms a considerable time before day-light,) an attack was
made upon the militia. Those gave way in a very little time, and
rushed into camp through Major Butler's battalion, (which, together
with a part of Clark's, they threw into considerable disorder, and
which, notwithstanding the exertions of both those officers, was
never altogether remedied,) the Indians following close at their
heels. The fire, however, of the front line checked them ; but
almost instantly a very heavy attack began upon that line ; and in
a few minutes it was extended to the second likewise.
" The great weight of it was directed against the centre of each,
where the artillery was placed, and from which the men were
repeatedly driven with great slaughter. Finding no great effect
from our fire, and confusion beginning to spread from the great
number of men who were falling in all quarters, it became neces
sary to try what could be done by the bayonet. Lieutenant-Colonel
Darke was accordingly ordered to make a charge with a part of the
second line, and to turn the left fiank of the enemy. This was
executed with great spirit. The Indians instantly gave way, and
were driven back three or four hundred yards ; but for want of a
sufficient number of riflemen to pursue this advantage, they soon
returned, and the troops were obliged to give back in their turn.
At this moment they had entered our camp by the left flank, hav
ing pushed back the troops that were posted there. Another
charge waa made here by the second regiment, Butler's and Clark's
battalions, with equal effect, and it was repeated several times, and
always ¦with success ; but in all of them many men were lost, and
particularly the officers, which, with so raw troops, was a loss alto
gether irremediable. In that I just spoke of, made by the second

580 ST, CLAIR IS DEFEATED. 1791,
regiment and Butler's battalion. Major Butler was dangerously
wounded, and every officer of the second regiment fell except three,
one of which, Mr. Greaton, was shot through the body.
"Our artillery being now silenced, and all the officers kiUed
except Captain Ford, who was very badly wounded, and more than
half of the army fallen, being cut off from the road, it became
necessary to attempt the regaining it, and to make a retreat, if pos
sible. To this purpose, the remains of the army were formed as
well as circumstances would admit, toward the right of the encamp
ment, from which, by the way of the second line, another charge
was made upon the enemy, as if with the design to turn their right
flank, but in fact to gain the road. This was effected, and as soon
as it was open the miUtia took along it, followed by the troops.
Major Clark, with his battalion, covering the rear.
" The retreat, in those circumstances, was, as you may be sure, a
very precipitate one ; it was, in fact, a flight. The camp and the
artillery were abandoned; but that was unavoidable, for not a horse
was left alive to have drawn it off, had it otherwise been practicable.
"But the most disgraceful part of the business is, that the great
est part of the men threw away their arms and accoutrements, even
after the pursuit, which continued about four miles, had ceased. I
found the road strewed with them for many miles, but was not able
to remedy it; for, having had all my horses killed, and being
mounted upon one that could not be pricked out of a walk, I could
not get forward myself, and the orders I sent forward, either to halt
the front or to prevent the men from parting with their arms, were
unattended to. The rout continued quite to Fort Jefferson, twenty-
nine miles, which was reached a little after sun-setting.
"The action began about half an hour before sun-rise, and the
retreat was attempted at half an hour after nine o'clock. I have
not yet been able to get returns of the killed and wounded; but
Major-General Butler, Lieutenant-Colonel Oldham, of the militia,
Major Ferguson, Major Hart, and Major Clark are among the
former; Colonel Sargent, my Adj utant-General, Lieutenant-Colonel
Darke, Lieutenant-Colonel Gibson, Major Butler, and the Yiscount
Malartie, who served me as Aid-de-camp, are among the latter, and
a great number of captains and subalterns in both.
"I have now, sir, finished my melancholy tale — a tale that wiU
be felt sensibly by every one that has sympathy for private distress
or for public misfortune. I have nothing, sir, to lay to the charge
of the troops, but their want of discipline, which, from the short
time they had been in service, it was impossible they should have

1791, ST, clair's OFFICIAL DISPATCH 581
acquired, and which rendered it very difficult, when they were
thrown into confusion, to reduce them again to order, and is one
reason why the loss has fallen so heavy on the officers, who did
everything in their power to effect it,
"Neither were my own exertions wanting: but, worn down with
illness, and suffering under a painful disease, unable either to
mount or dismount a horse without assistance, they were not so
great as they otherwise would, and perhaps ought to have been,
"We were overpowered by numbers; but it is no more than
justice to observe that, though composed of so many different
species of troops, the utmost harmony prevailed through the whole
army during the campaign,
"At Fort Jefferson I found the first regiment, which had returned
from the service they had been sent upon, without either overtaking
the deserters, or meeting the convoy of provisions, I am not cer
tain, si*r, whether I ought to consider the absence of this regiment
from the field of action as fortunate or otherwise, I incline to
think it was fortunate, for I very much doubt whether, had it been
in the action, the fortune of the day had been turned; and, if it
had not, the triumph of the enemy would have been more complete,
and the country would have been destitute of every means of
defense, " Taking a view of the situation of our broken troops at Fort
Jefferson, and that there was no provisions in the fort, I called upon
the field officers, viz : Lieutenant Colonel Darke, Major Hamtramck,
Major Ziegler and Major Gaither, together with the Adjutant-Gene
ral, Winthrop Sargent, for their advice what would be proper fur
ther to be done ; and it was their unanimous opinion, that the
addition of the first regiment, unbroken as it was, did not put the
army on so respectable a footing as it was in the morning, because
a great part of it was now unarmed; that it had been found unequal
to the enemy, and should they come on, which was possible, would
be found so again; that the troops could not be thrown into the
fort, both because it was too small, and that there were no provi
sions in it ; that provisions were known to be on the road, at the
distance of one, or at most two marches ; that, therefore, it would
be more proper to move, without loss of time, to meet the provi
sions, when the men might have the sooner an opportunity of some
refreshment, and that a proper detachment might be sent back
with it, to have it safely deposited in the fort. This advice was
accepted, and the army was put in motion at ten o'clock, and
marched all night, and the succeeding day met with a quantity of

582 ST. clair's official dispatch. 1791.
flour. Part of it was distributed immediately, part taken back to
supply the army on the march to Fort Hamilton, and the remainder,
about fifty horse loads, aent forward to Fort Jefferaon. The next
day a drove of cattle was met with, for the same place, and I have
information that both got in. The wounded, who had been left at
that place, were ordered to be brought to Fort Washington by the
return horses.
" I have said, sir, in a former part of thia letter, that we were
overpowered by numbers. Of that, however, I have no other evi
dence but the weight of the fire, which was always a most deadly
one, and generally delivered from the ground — few of the enemy
showing themselves afoot, except when they were charged; and
that, in a few minutes our whole camp, which extended above three
hundred and fifty yards in length, was entirely surrounded and at
tacked on all quarters. The loss, sir, the public has sustained by
the fall of so many officers, particularly General Butler and Major
Ferguson, cannot be too much regretted ; but it is a circumstance
that will alleviate the misfortune in some measure, that all of them
fell most gallantly doing their duty. I have had vety particular
obligations to many of them, as well as to the survivors, but to none
more than Colonel Sargent. He has discharged the various duties
of his office with zeal, with exactness, aud with intelligence, and
on all occasions afforded me every assistance in his power, which I
have alao experienced from my Aid-de-camp, Lieutenant Denny,
and the Yieeount Malartie, who aerved with me in the station as a
volunteer." To thia official account of the commander, ia added the follow
ing sketch by Benjamin Yan Cleve, who waa in the quarter-master
general's service, and fought as a volunteer on the occasion, Mr,
Yan Cleve waa a reaident of Cincinnati, early in 1790, removed t&
Dayton in 1797, and during the principal part of hia Ufe kept a
journal ormemorandum of the eventa that tranapired. It ¦vividlypor-
traya the confuaion of the battle and fiight :
" On the 4th of November, at daybreak, I began to prepare for
returning to Fort Waahington, and had got about half my luggage
on my horse, when the firing commenced. We were encamped
just within the linea, on the right. The attack waa made on the Ken
tucky militia. Almost instantaneously the small remnant of them
that escaped broke through the line near us, and this fine gave

'*Am«ican State Papers, v. 137.

1791, VAN clevb's story op the battle, 583
way. Followed by a tremendous fire from the enemy, they passed
me, I threw my bridle over a stump, from which a tent pole had
been cut, and followed a short distance, when finding the troops
had ha;lted, I returned and brought my horse a little further, I
was now between the fires, and finding the troops giving way
again, was obliged to leave him a second time. As I quitted him
he was shot down, and I felt rather glad of it, as I concluded that
now I should be at liberty to share in the engagement.
" My inexperience prompted me to calculate on our forces be
ing far superior to any that the savages could assemble, and that we
should soon have the pleasure of driving them. Not more than
five minutes had yet elapsed, when a soldier near me had his arm
swinging with a wound. I requested hia arma and accoutrements,
as he was unable to use them,- promising to return them to him,
and commenced firing. The smoke was settled do^wn to about
¦within three feet of the ground, but I generally put one knee on
the ground, and with a rest from behind a tree, waited the appear
ance of an Indian's head from behind his cover, or for one to run
and change his position,
"Before I was con^vinced of my mistaken calculations, the battle
was half over, and I had become familiarized to the scene. Hear
ing the firing at one time unusually brisk near the rear of the left
wing, I crossed the encampment. Two levy officers were just or
dering a charge, I had fired away my ammunition, and some of
the bands of my musket had flown off, I picked up another, and
a cartridge box nearly full, and pushed forward with about thirty
others. The Indians ran to the right, where there was a small ra
vine filled with logs, I bent my courae after them, and on looking
round, I found I waa with only aeven or eight m"6n, the othera hav
ing kept straight forward, and halted about thirty yards off. We
halted also, and being ao near where the aavagea lay concealed, the
second fire from them, left me atanding alone. My cover was a
small sugar tree or beech, scarcely large enough to hide me, I
fired away all my ammunition ; I am uncertain whether with any
effect or not, I then looked for the party near me, and saw them
retreating, and half way back to the lines, I followed them, run
ning my beat, and was aoon in,
"By thia time our artillery had been taken, I do not know
whether the first or second time, and our troops had juat retaken
it, and were charging the enemy acrosa the creek in front ; and
some peraon told me to look at an Indian running with one of our
kega of powder, but I did not aee him. There were about thirty

584 VAN cleve's story of the battle. 1791.
of our men and officers lying scalped, around the pieces of artillety.
It appeared that the Indians had not been in a hurry, for their hair
was all skinned off,
"Daniel Bonham, a young man raised by my uncle and brought
up with me, and whom I regarded as a brother, had by this time
received a shot through his hips and was unable to walk, I pro
cured a horse and got him on. My uncle had received a ball near
his wrist that lodged near his elbow. The ground was literally
covered with dead and dying men — the commander gave orders to
take the way — perhaps they had been given more explicitly. Hap
pening to see my uncle, he told me that a retreat had been ordered
and that I must do the best I could and take care of myself Bon
ham insisted that he had a better chance of escaping than I had,
and urged me to look to my own safety alone. I found the troops
pressing like a drove of bullocks to the right.
"I saw an officer whom I took to be Lieutenant Morgan, an aid
to General Butler, with six or eight men start on a run a little to
the left of where I was. I immediately ran and fell in with them.
In a short distance we were so suddenly among the Indians, who
were not apprised of our object, that they opened to us and ran to
the right and left without firing. I think about two hundred of
our men passed through them before they fired, except a chance
shot. When we had proceeded about two miles, most of those
mounted had passed me.
"My friend Bionham I did not see on the retreat, but understood
he waa thrown off about this place, and lay on the left of the trace,
where he was found in the winter and was buried. I took the
cramp violently and could scarcely walk until I got within a hun
dred yards of the rear, where the Indians were tomahawking the
old and wounded men ; and I stopped here to tie my pocket hand
kerchief round a wounded man's knee. I saw the Indians close in
pursuit at this time, and for a moment my spirits sunk and I felt in
despair for my safety. I considered whether I should leave the
road or whether I was capable of any further exertion. If I left the
road the Indians were in plain sight and could easily overtake me.
I threw the shoes off my feet, and the coolness of the ground seemed
to revive me. I again began to run, and recollect that when a bend
in the road offered and I got before half-a-dozen persons, I thought
it would occupy some time to massacre them before my turn would
come. By the time I had got to Stillwater, about eleven miles, I
had gained the centre of the flying troops, and like them came to
a walk and arrived at Fort Jefferson a little after aunaet.

1791. VAN cleve's story of the battle. 585
"The commander-in-chief had ordered Colonel Darke to press
forward to the convoys of provisions and hurry them on to the
army. Major Truman, Captain Sedan and my uncle were setting
forward with Mm. A number of soldiers and pack-horsemen on
foot, and myself among them, joined them. We came on a few
miles, when all, overcome with fatigue, agreed to halt.
" Darius Curtius Orcutt, a pack-horse master, had stolen at Jeffer
son, one pocket full of flour and the other full of beef. One of the
men had a kettle, and one Jacob Fowler and myself groped about
in the dark until we found some water, where a tree had been
blown out of root. We made a kettle of soup, of which I got a
small portion among the many. It was then concluded, as there
was a bend iu the road a few miles further on, that the Indians
might undertake to intercept us there, and we decamped and
traveled about four or five miles further. I had got a rifle and
ammunition at Jefferson, from a wounded militia-man, an old
acquaintance, to bring in. A sentinel was set and we lay down
and slept, until the governor came up a few hours afterward. I
think I never slept so profoundly. I could hardly get awake after
I was on my feet.
"On the day before the defeat the ground was covered with
snow. The flats were now filled with water frozen over, the ice as
thick as a knife-blade. I was worn out with fatigue, with my feet
knocked to pieces against the roots in the night and splashing
through the ice without shoes. In the morning we got to a camp
of pack horsemen, and amongst them I got a doughboy or water-
dumpling, and proceeded. We got witliin seven miles of Hamilton
on this day, and arrived there soon on the morning of the sixth."
The defeat of St. Clair was the most terrible reverse the Ameri
can arms ever suffered from the Indians. Even the defeat of
Braddock was less disastrous. Braddock's array consisted of
twelve hundred men and eighty-six officers, of whom seven
hundred and fourteen men and sixty three officers were killed or
wounded. St. Clair's army consisted of fourteen hundred men
and eighty-six officers, of whom eight hundred and ninety men
and sixteen officers were kiUed or wounded. But the comparative
losses of the two engagements, represent very inadequately the
crushing effect of the defeat of St. Clair. An unprotected frontier
of a thousand miles, from the Allegheny to the Mississippi, was at
once thrown open to the attack of the infuriated and victorious
38

586 CONSTERNATION IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA. 1791.
savages. The peace enjoyed for the aeveral preceding years had
wrought a great change in the Western aettlements.
The Indian hunters of the Revolutionary war had laid aside
their arma and habits, and devoted themselves to the cultivation of
the soil; the blockhouses and forts, around which the first settlers
had gathered, were abandoned; and cabins, clearinga, and hamlets
instead, were scattered, in exposed situations, all along the border.
Every where the settlers, unprotected and unprepared, were ex:
pecting in terror the approach of the savages, and evety where
abandoning their homes, or awaiting in helpless despair, the,
burnings, massacres and cruelties of Indian war.
The extent of the consternation that pervaded the border, may
be inferred from the tone of the memorials of the people of the
western counties of Pennsylvania and Yirginia to the governors of
those States.*
" In consequence," says a committee of the citizens of Pittsburgh,
" of the late intelligence of the fate of the campaign to the West
ward, the inhabitants of the town of Pittsburgh have convened, and
appointed us a committee for the purpose of addressing your excel
lency. The late disaster of the army must greatly affect the safety
of this place. There can be no doubt but that the enemy will now
come forward, and with more spirit, and greater numbers, than
they ever did before, for success ¦will give confidence and secure.
allies. "We seriously apprehend that the Six Nations, heretofore
wavering, will now avow themselves ; at least, their young men
will come to war. Be that as it may, the Indians at present
hostile, are well acquainted ¦with the defenseless situation of this
town. During the late war there was a garrison at thia place,
though, even then, there waa not auch a combination of the savage
nations, nor so much to be dreaded from them. At present, we
have neither garrison, arms nor ammunition, to defend, the place.
If the enemy should be disposed to pursue the blow they have
given, which it is morally certain they will, they would, in our
situation, find it easy to destroy us ; and, should thia place be lost,
the whole country is open to them, and must be abandoned."
"Your excellency is well aware," say the people of Western
Pennsylvania, " of the great extent of oqr frontier ; and, when you
consider the high degree of spirit ¦vyhich the savages, animated by

¦* American State Papers, v. 216, 216, 222.

1791. CONSTERNATION IN WESTERN VIRGINIA. 587
two successive ¦victories, entertain, you may more easily conceive
than we can describe, the fears which pervade the breasts of those
men, women and children, who are more immediately subject to
their barbarities and depredations. Had the people a sufficiency
of arms in their hands, they might, in some measure, defend
themselves until the General Government, to whose care the
common defense is entrusted, should adopt efficient steps for that
purpose. At the same time, we beg leave to state to your excel
lency, what occurs to us as the most speedy and effectual mode.
When the extent of country to be protected is taken into view, we
conceive that eight hundred effective men will not be deemed more
tiian sufficient. They should be active partisans, under experi
enced officers, and provided with good rifles, to suit the grand
object of meeting the enemy upon equal terms ; of scouting, and
giving the alarm when needful. Such a body should have encour
agement proportioned to the price of common labor in this country,
which averages fifty shillings per month, as the pay allowed to
the troopa of the United States would not be a aufficient induce
ment to able-bodied men, possessing the requisite qualifications.
We suggest these general ideas from our knowledge of local cir
cumstances, which they who are at a distance, unacquainted with
the actual aituation of the western countty, cannot so well perceive.
It ia not our wiah to enter into a minute detail, being convinced
that your excellency is not only fully acquainted with, but feelingly
alive to, those impressions, which a state, such as ours, must give
rise to ; nor can we apply to any person more proper than yourself
to procure that assistande which it requires."
" The alarming intelligence lately received," say the people of
Western Yirginia, "of the defeat of the army in the western
countty, fiUa our minds with dreadful fears and apprehensions,
concerning the safety of our fellow-citizens in the country we
represent, and we confidently hope will be an excuse to your
excellency, whose zeal has been so frequently evinced in behalf of
the distressed frontier counties, for the request we are now com
pelled to make.
"In the courae of last year, upwarda of fifty of our people were
killed, and a great part of our countty plundered, notwithstanding
the aid afforded by the Pennsylvanians^ who joined the Yirginians
for our defense; The succeas of the Indiana in their late engage
ment with General St. Clair, will, no doubt, render them more
daring and bold in their future incursions and attacks upon our
defenseless inhabitants ; those adjoining the county of Harrison,

588 CAUSES OF ST. clair's defeat. 1791.
extending a hundred miles ; covering the county of Monongalia ;
and we conceive that not less than sixty or seventy men will be
sufficient to defend them. Through you, sir, we beg leave to
request this assistance.
The popular clamor against St. Clair was loud and deep. In
militaty affairs, blame is almost always attached to misfortune; for
the greater number of those who judge, have no rule to guide them
but the event. Misconduct is ever inferred from the want of suc
cess, and the greatest share of blame always falls upon the principal
officer. Thus it was in the case of St. Clair. He had suffered a
great reverse, aud was, therefore, accused by the public voice, of
great incompetence. Aware of the public odium under which he
lay, he asked from the President the appointment of a court of
inquiry, to investigate his conduct; but the request was denied,
because there were not officers enough in the ser^vice of the proper
rank, to constitute such a court. He then offered to resign his
commission on condition that his conduct should be investigated;
but the exigencies of service would not admit of delay, and his
request was again refused.
The true causes of the disaster have been made the subject of
much controversy. The Secretary of War, in his report on the
state of the frontiers, affirms that the principal causes of the failure
of the expedition were the deficiency of good troops according to
the expectation in the earlier part of the year, the want of sufficient
discipline according to the nature of the seiwice, and the lateness
of the season.
The committee of the House of Representatives, to whom was
referred the subject, reported that the causes of the failure of the
expedition, were the delay in preparing estimates for the defense
of the frontiers, and the late passage of the aet for that purpose;
the delay caused by the neglects in the quarter-master's depart
ment, the lateness of the season when the expedition was com
menced, and the want of discipline and experience in the troops,
and exonerated St. Clair from all blame in relation to everything
before and during the action.*
It is obvious, however, that these causes were insufficient to
account for the disaster. The late passage of the act for the defense
of the frontiers, tlie delays of the expedition, the misconduct of the
quarter-master, and the advanced period of the season were, of

* American Stf.tc P.aperp, xii. 38.

1791. CAUSES OF ST. clair's defeat. 589
course, sufficient reasons for the failure to secure the position at
the head of the Maumee, which was the ultimate object of the
army; but they could not of themselves have occasioned the defeat
of the army. The want of discipline and experience in the troops
doubtless contributed to, but did not occasion the disaster of their
bravery, there can be no doubt. The battle began at six o'clock
and lasted till about half-past nine, and the troops, though exposed
to a destructive fire from a foe so placed that they could not
efficiently return it, nevertheless behaved with all the resolution
and coolness it was possible for them to exhibit, under the circum
stances of the case. They were not overwhelmed, as St. Clair sup
posed, by superior numbers. The army consisted of more than
fourteen hundred men ; the Indians, according to the best accounts,
did not exceed a thousand. They, however, fought with desperate
valor, and at a great advantage, from the nature of the ground, and
from the facilities the forest afforded for their favorite mode of
attack. They were led, too, by the greatest chieftain of that age.
It has been the received opinion, that the leader of the confederated
tribes on that fatal day was Little Turtle, the chief of the Miamies ;
but from the family of that celebrated warrior and statesman, it is
ascertained that Joseph Brant,* with one hundred and fifty Mohawk
braves, was present, and commanded the warriors of the wilderness.
The true reasons then of the disaster of the day were, doubtless,
the surprise of the army and the consequent confusion and fiight
of the militia who were first attacked. Had the attack been
expected, the troops prepared, all chance of confusion avoided, and
had the officers who commanded been obeyed — with all the dis
advantages of raw troops, the event might have been, probably
would have been, wholly different. The militia, as St. Clair says,
were a quarter of a mile in advance of the main army, and beyond
the creek; still further in advance was Captain Slough, who, with
a volunteer party of regulars, went out to reconnoiter: and orders
had been given Colonel Oldham, who commanded the miUtia, to
have the woods thoroughly examined by the scouts and patrols, as
Indians were known to be hanging about the outskirts of the army.
In aU this, St. Clair seems to have done his entire duty, as far as
sickness would permit him; could he have attended in person to
the details of the command, it would have been better.
During the night. Captain Slough, who was a mile beyond the

¦* stone's Brant, ii. p. 313.

590 causes of ST. clair's defeat. 1791.
miUtia, found so large a body of savages gathering about him, that
he fell back and reported hia observations to General Butler. But
the general, for reasons unexplained, made no dispositions in con
sequence of this information, and did not report it to the comman
der-in-chief Colonel Oldham also obeyed Ms orders, the woods
were searched, and the presence of the enemy detected; but he,
too, reported, through' Captain Slough, to General Butler, beyond
whom the information did not go.
The death of General Butler in the engagement, in regard to
which there are many conflicting statements, precluded the possi
bility of any explanation on his part of his conduct, so much calcu
lated to mislead the commander-in-chief, and so to endanger the
safety of the army, as this withholding of indispensable information
at such an important juncture. It is only known that there was an
unfriendly feeling existing between Generals St. Clair and Butler,
during the whole progress of the campaign.
According to St. Clair's account of it, the difficulty first arose on
the march to Fort Jefferson. Butler, in St. Clair's absence, changed
the order of march, and on his arrival an altercation occurred be
tween them, the result of which was, says St. Clair, "he afterward
seldom came near me." Subsequently, at Fort Jefferson, Butler
proposed to proceed at once with one thousand men, and take post
at the Miami village, in advance of the march of the remainder of
the army. St. Clair received the proposition with undisguised con
tempt, and that circumstance greatly heightened the animosity
between them. These altercations produced, it appears, so much
mutual aversion between the parties, that, during the subsequent
part of the campaign, little intercourse was maintained between
them. Whatever then may have been the motives which influenced
General Butler to withhold the information he possessed in regard
to the presence of the Indians in the neighborhood, and thus ex
posed the army to the surprise it experienced, and which may
have been the immediate cause of the disaster; the circumstances
under which the omission occurred, would favor an inference
that he sacrificed the safety of the army to the gratification of
hia animosity against St. Clair. The evidence given before the
committee of Congress is conclusive that he failed, at least to
perform his whole duty in the premises. Captain Slough deposes,
that he was sent out during the night with a party of obser
vation, that he saw a large body of Indians going toward the
camp, apparently for the purpose of reconnoitering it, and that in

1791. CAUSES OF ST. clair's defeat. 591
that belief he had hastened back to the militia camp, to communi
cate the information he had received. "I halted my party," said
he, "near Colonel Oldham's tent, went into it, and awakened him,
I believe about twelve o'clock. I told him that I was of his opin
ion, that the camp would be attacked in the morning, for I had
seen a number of Indians, I proceeded to the camp, and as soon
as I had passed the camp guard, dismissed the party, and went to
General Butler's tent. As I approached it, I saw him come out of
the tent, and stand by the fire, I went up to him, and took him
some distance from it, not thinking it prudent that the sentry
should hear what I had seen, I also told him what Colonel Old
ham had said, and that, if he thought proper, I would go and make
the report to General St, Clair, He stood some time, and after a
pause, thanked me for my attention and vigilance, and said, as I
must be fatigued, I had better go and lie down."
General St. Clair afterward affirmed that, if he had known that
the Indians were near and in force, he would have attacked them
during the night, under, as he supposed, such circumstances aa
would ensure victory.
To all these circumstances is to be added, that General St. Clair
was suffering from severe indisposition, and for a portion of the
march had to be carried on a litter. And in the morning of the
attack the army was taken by surprise and unprepared. Even
under these disadvantages, the American army might have been
victorious had the troops not been unexpectedly attacked, and
thrown into disorder at the onset. It could not have been the sin
gle fact that they were militia or volunteers, for in too many
instances have this class of troops from this western valley, stood
their ground in severe and deadly conflicts with both Indians and
British. Proofs enough of firmness and self-government have been
given by this class of men, to put an end to the prejudices hereto
fore existing against volunteer troops.
The following communication from Colonel John Armstrong, an
experienced warrior with Indians, and the hero of Kittanning, de
serves attention in this connection :
"It seems probable, that too much attachment to regular or mil
itary rule, or a too great confidence in the artillery (which it seemed
formed part of the lines, and had a tendency to render the troopa
stationary,) must have been the motives which led to the adopted
order of action. I call it adopted, because the general does not
speak of having intended any other, whereby he presented a large
and visible object, perhaps in close orders, too, to an enemy near

592 GENERAL KNOX PROPOSES FURTHER ACTION. 1791.
enough to destroy, -but from their known modes of action, com
paratively invisible ; whereby we may readily infer, that five hun
dred Indians were fully sufficient to do us all the injury we have
sustained, nor can I conceive them to have been many more. But
tragical as the event has been, we have this consolation, that du
ring the action our officers and troops discovered great bravery, and
that the loss of a battle it not always the loss of the cause. In
vain, however, may we expect success against our present adversa
ries, without taking a few lessons from them, which I thought
Americans had learned long ago. The principles of their military
action are. rational, and therefore often successful. We must, in a
degree, take a similar method in order to counteract them."
If these opinions are correct, there was no such neglect on the
part of St. Clair as on the part of Braddock in his defeat; no over
whelming self-confidence, or disregard of sound advice; there was
nothing, absolutely nothing, to excuse the abuse and persecution
to which he was afterward subjected. There was, however, appa
rent neglect on the part of General Butler and Colonel Oldham,
leading to surprise ; a mistaken position assigned the miUtia by St.
Clair, in accordance with the maxims of most officers of the day;
and a needless adherence to military rules on the part of the
commander-in-chief, which made his force a target for the Indians
to shoot at.
The defeat of St. Clair occurred on the 4th of November. On
the 8tli, the remains of the army reached Fort Washington; on
the 9th, St. Clair wrote to the Secretary of War; on the 12th of
December the information was communicated to Congress, and on
the 26th of December General Knox laid before the President two
reports, the second of which contained suggestions as to future
operations. After noticing the policy of the government toward the native
tribes, the futility of all attempts to preserve peace, and the justice
of the United States claim, the Secretary proceeds —
" Hence, it would appear that the principles of justice, as well as
policy, and it may be added, the principles of economy, all com
bine to dictate that an adequate military force should be raised as
soon as possible, placed upon the frontiers, and disciplined accord
ing to the nature of the service, and in order to meet, with the
prospect of success, the greatest probable combination of the Indian
enemy, "Although the precise manner in which the force to be raised be
employed cannot be pointed out, with propriety, at this time, as it

1791, KNOX PLANS ANOTHER CAMPAIGN. 693
will depend on the circumstances of the moment, yet it may not
be improper to observe that, upon a review of the merits of the
main object of the late campaign, to wit, the establishment of a
strong military post at the Miami village, with the necessary posts
of communication, the necessity and propriety thereof remain the
same; that this necessity will probably continue until we shall be
possessed of the posts upon Lake Michigan, of Detroit and Niagara,
withheld from us by Great Britain, contrary to treaty.
" Without remarking upon the principles of this conduct, it may
be observed generally, that every arrangement in the power of the
United States, for establishing the tranquillity of the frontiers, will
be inferior to the possession of said posts. That it is, however,
considered that, if the said posts were in our possession, we ought
also to have a strong post at the Miami village, in order to render
the protection effectual, and that the posts above mentioned will
require garrisons whensoever they shall be given up.
"The subscriber having deliberately contemplated the present
state of affairs upon the frontiers, from the south to the north,
having recurred to the past, in order to estimate the probable future
events, finds himself constrained by his public duty, although with
great reluctance, to state, as the result of his judgment, that the
public service requires an increase of the military force, according
to the following arrangement:
" That the military establishment of the United States shall,
during the pleasure of Congress, consist of five thousand one
hundred and sixty-eight non-commissioned officers, privates and
musicians, " That the said non-commissioned officers and privates shall be
enlisted to serve three years, unless sooner discharged,
" That the said troops be organized as follows :
" One squadron of cavalry, of fOur troops, each of seventy-six
non-commissioned officera and privatea,
"It should be a stipulation in the engagements of these men,
that they should serve on foot whenever the service requires the
measure, " One battalion of artillery, of four companies each, to consist of
seventy-six non-commissioned officers and privates,
"Each company of artillery to have, as part of its composition,
ten artificers each, including the pay of artillerists to have ten dol
lars per month,
" Five regiments of infantty, one of which to be riflemen entirely,
each of three battaUons ; each battalion of four companiea ; each

594 KNOX'S PLAN OF ANOTHER CAMPAIGN. 1791.
company of seventy-six non-commissioned officers and privates,
amounting, for each regiment, to nine hundred and twelve.
"That, in addition to the foregoing arrangements, it would be
proper that the President of the United States should be authorized,
besides the employment of militia, to take such measures for the
defensive protection of the exposed parts of the frontiera, by calling
into service expert woodsmen, as patrols or scouts, upon such terms
as he may judge proper. That he be further authorized, in case he
should deem the measure expedient, to engage mounted militia for
defensive operations, for auch time, and on such terms, as he may
judge equitable. That he be further authorized, in case he should
deem the measure expedient, to employ a body of Indians belong
ing to tribes in alliance with the United States, to act against the
hostile Indians; and that he be authorized to stipulate such terms
as he shall judge right.
"That it does not seem essential, at this time, that there should
be any special appropriations for the defensive protection, the
mounted militia, or the employment of Indians, although the actual
expenses for those objects may amount to considerable sums,
because the estimates, before mentioned, comprehend the entire
expense, for one year, of the proposed establishment, as complels.
But, let the exertions to complete it be ever so great, yet it is
probable a deficiency will exist, which will, of course, occasion a
less expense.
" The moneys, therefore, which may be appropriated to the estab
lishment, and not expended, may be applied to the extra objects
above mentioned. If, however, there should be a deficiency, it
may hereafter be provided for. That the net pay of the private
soldier, at present, free of all dednctions, is two dollars per month.
But, as the experience of the recruiting service of the present year
evinces that the inducement is insufficient, it seems necessaty to
raise the pay to three dollars per month, free of all deductions, and
the non-commissioned officers in proportion. The rifle corps will
require more. But whether, under present circumstances, even
the additional pay, and an extension of bounty to eight dollars,
would give such an impulse to the recruiting service as to fill the
battalions immediately, remains to be tried.
"Nothing has been said upon an increased pay to the commis
sioned officers, because a memorial upon that subject has been pre
sented to Congress. But it cannot be doubted that a small increase
would be highly grateful to the officers, and probably beneficial to
the service. The mounted militia is auggeated to be uaed during

1791. KNOX's PLAN OF ANOTHER CAMPAIGN. 595
the preparation for the main expedition, and afterward, if circum
stances should render it indispensable. The effect of such desul
tory operations upon the Indians will, by occupying them for their
own safety, and that of their families, prevent their spreading terror
and destruction along the frontiers. These sort of expeditions had
that precise effect during the last season, and Kentucky enjoyed
more repose, and sustained less injury, than for any year since the
war with Great Britain. This single effect, independent of the
injury done to the force of the Indians, is worth greatly more than
the actual expense of such expeditions.
"But, while it is acknowledged that mounted militia may be
very proper for sudden enterprises, of short duration, it is conceived
that mUitia are utterly unsuitable to carry on and terminate the
war in which we are engaged, with honor and aucceaa. And, be
sides, it would be ruinoua to the purposes of husbandry to keep
them out long, if it were practicable to accomplish it.
" Good troops, enlisted for a considerable period, armed and well
disciplined, in a suitable manner for the nature of the service, will
be equal, individually, to the best militia ; but when it is considered
to these qualities are added the obedience, the patience, the prompt
ness, the economy of discipline, and the inestimable value of good
officers, possessing a proper pride of reputation, the comparison no
longer holds, and disciplined troops attain, in the mind and in
actual execution, that ascendency over the miUtia which is the
result of a just comparative view of their relative force, and the
experience of all nations and ages.
"The expediency of employing the Indians in alliance with us
against the hostile Indians, cannot be doubted. It has been shown
before how difficult, and even impracticable, it will probably be to
restrain the young men of the friendly tribes from action, and that
if we do not employ them, they will be employed against us. The
justice of engaging them would depend upon the justice of the
war. If the war be just on our part, it will certainly bear the test
of examination, to use the same sort of means in our defense as
are used against us. The subscriber, therefore, submita it aa his
opinion, that it would be proper to employ judiciously, as to time
and circumstances, as many of the friendly Indians as may be
obtained, not exceeding one thousand in number."*
In the necessity for a competent army, all seem to have agreed.

* American State Papers, i. 198, 199.

696 PACIFIC OFFERS TO THE IROQUOIS. 1792.
but it was the wish of Washington that before this army was
organized every effort should be again made to prevent bloodshed.
Colonel Pickering, in his meeting of June and July, 1791, with
the Iroquois, at the Painted Post, had, among other things, pro
posed that certain chiefs should, in the following January, go to
Philadelphia while Congress was in session, and shake hands with
their newly adopted father.
The importance of the proposed visit became more evident after
the news of St. Clair's discomfiture, for the fidelity of the New
York Indians even was doubted. On the 20th of December, 1791,
accordingly, Knox wrote to the Rev. Samuel Kirkland, the
Iroquois missionary, pressing through him the invitation given by
the commissioner, and especially urging the presence of Brant.
To aid the proposed peace measures, a respectful and kind
message was sent to the Senecas on the 7th of January, 1792;
while, to guard against surprise, means were adopted to learn the
purpose of a great council called at Buffalo creek, and also to
ascertain the intentions of the tribes on the Wabash and Miami.
This was done in part through the agency of the Rev. Mr. Kirkland,
and partly by the mission of Captain Peter Pond and WiUiam
Stedman, who, on the 9th of January, two days before Knox's two
plans above referred to were laid before Congress, received their
instructions as secret messengers or spies among the western
Indians. From those instructions a few paragraphs are quoted:
"Repair to Niagara and Detroit, without suffering your business
to escape you, until the proper time. When at Detroit, assume the
character of traders with the Indians — a business Mr. Pond is well
acquainted with. Mix with the Miami and Wabash Indians.
Find their views and intentions through such channels as your
discretion shall direct. Learn the opinions of the more distant
Indians. Insinuate upon all favorable occasions, the humane
disposition of the United States ; and, if you can by any means
ripen their judgment, so as to break forth opeuly, and declare the
readiness of the United States to receive, with open arms, the
Indians, notwithstanding all that is passed, do it. If such declara
tion should be made, at the Miami or Wabash, and be well
received, you might persuade some of the most infiuential chiefs
to repair to our posts on the Ohio, and so, from post to post, to
this place.
"But if you should be so fortunate as to succeed in persuading '
the chiefs of the Miami, and hostile, and any other neighboring
tribes, to repair here, every possible precaution must be taken by

1792. PEACE MESSAGE TO MAUMEE INDIANS. 597
you, and by the commanding officer of the troops, who is hereby
required to afford the necessary escorts, in order to guard the
Indians from being injured by the whites.
"While among the Indians, or at Niagara, or Detroit, endeavor
to find out the numbers and tribes of the Indians who were in the
attack of General St. Clair, and their loss, killed and wounded;
what number of prisoners they took, and what they did with them ;
what disposition they made of the cannon taken, arms, tents, and
other plunder; what are their intentions for the next year; the
numbers of the association; how they are supplied with arms,
ammunition, and provisions.
"You will readily perceive, that the information required, must
be given me at the earliest period possible. You will, therefore,
let me know, by some means which you must devise, your arrival
at Niagara, Detroit, and the Miami village; and, if possible, from
thence, what are your prospects." *
Pond and his companion, however, could get no further than
Niagara. While by the northern route this waa'attempted, Wil
kinson, commanding at Fort Washington, on the 10th of February,
was instructed to send word to Major Hamtramck, at Yincennes,
that the government wished to secure the agency of the French
colonists and friendly Indians in quelling the war-spirit. In
February also, further friendly messages were sent to the Senecas,
and an invitation forwarded to Brant from the Secretaty of War
himself, asking him to come to Philadelphia.
In March, fifty Iroquois chiefs reached the city of brotherly love,
and in the spirit of love transacted their business with the American
rulers; and. during April and May, Captain Truman and others
were sent from the Ohio to the hostile tribes, bearing messages of
friendship. But before we relate the unhappy issue of Truman's
expedition, we must notice the steps taken by the Federal Govern
ment in reference to mUitary preparations, which were to be looked
to in case all else should fail.
St. Clair had requested a court of inquiry to examine the reasons
of his defeat, and had expressed his wish to surrender his post as
commander of the western forces so soon as the examination had
taken place ; but this proposition to retain his commission until
afte'r his trial was rendered nugatory by the fact, that under the
existing system no court of inquiry could be constituted to adjudge

* American State Papers, v. 227.

598 WAYNE SELECTED TO COMMAND. 1792,
hie case, and Washington accordingly informed him that it was
neither possible to grant him the trial he desired nor allow him to
retain his position, St, Clair having withdrawn, it became a very
difficult question for the Executive to hit upon a person in all
respects suited for such a charge. General Morgan, General Scott,
General Wayne, Colonel Darke, and General Henty Lee were all
thought of. Of these, Wayne was the one selected, although hir
appointment caused, as General Lee^ then Governor of Yirginia,
wrote Washington, " extreme disgust " among all ordera in the Old
Dominion,* But the Preaident had selected Wayne not hastily
nor through "partiality or infiuence," and no idle words,' affected
him. In June, General Wayne moved westward to Pittsburgh, and
proceeded to organize the army which was to be the ultimate
argument of the Americans with the Indian confederation. Through
the summer of 1792. the preparation of the soldiers was steadily
attended to ; " train and discipline them for the service they are
meant for," said Washington, "and do not spare powder and lead,
80 the men be made, markamen."
In December, 1792, the forcea now recruited and trained, wer&
gathered at a point about twenty-two mUea below Pittsburgh, on
the Ohio, called Legionville ; the army itself having been denomi
nated the Legion of the United States, divided into four sub-legionet
and provided with, legionary and sub-legionaty officers. Meantime,
at Fort Washington, Wilkinson had succeeded St. Clair as com
mandant, and in January had ordered an expedition to examine
the field of the late disastrous conflict. This body reached the
point designated on February 1st, and from the letter of Captain
Buntin to St. Clair, relative to what waa found there, is taken the
fipllowing pasaage :
"In my opinion, those unfortunate men who fell in the enemy's
handa, with life, were uaed with the greatest torture — ^having their
limbs torn off; and the women have been treated with the most
indecent cruelty, having stakes aa thick as a person's arm
drove through their bodies. The first I observed when burying
the dead, and the latter was discovered by Colonel Sargent and
Doctor Brown. We found three whole carriages; the other five
were somuch damaged that they were rendered useless.
"By, the general's orders, pits were dug in different places, and
all the' dead bodiea that were exposed to view or could be conveni-

* See American State Papers, v. 228, 229, 235. Sparks' Washington, x. 240, 244, Note.

1792. DESCRIPTION OF ST. CLAIR'S BATTLE GROUND. 599
ently found, the snow being very deep, were buried. During this.
time there were sundry partiea detached, some for our safety, and
othera in examining the course of the creek; and aome distance in
advance of the ground occupied by the militia, they found a large
camp, not less than three-quarters of a mile long, which waa suppo
sed to be that of the Indians the night before the action. We
remained on the field that night, and next morning fixed geared
horses to the carriages and moved for Fort Jefferson.
"As there is little reason to believe that the enemy have carried
off" the cannon, it is the received opinion that they are either buried
or thrown into the creek, and I think the latter the moat probable ;
but as it was frozen over with a thick ice and that 'covered with a
deep snow, it was impossible to make a search with any prospect,
of success. In a former part of this letter I have mentioned the
camp occupied by the enemy the night before the action ; had
Colonel Oldham been able to have complied with your orders on
that evening, things at this day might have worn, a different
aspect."* While Wayne's, army was being collected and drilledi, the peace
measures of the Umted States were pressed with equal perse
verance. In the first place the Iroquois, through their chiefs who
c^me to Philadelphia, were led to act as peace-makera; in addition
to them, on the 3d of April, Colonel Truman received his instruc
tions to repair to,the Miami village, with friendly messages, offering
all reasonable terms :
"Brothers:— The Preaident of thC: United Statea entertains:
the opinion, that; the war wMch ^xiata ia founded in error and;misT
take on your parts. That you, believe the United Statea want to
deprive you of your lands and drive you. out of the country. Be
assured this is not so : on the contrary, that we should be greatly
gratified with the opportunity of imparting to you all the, blessings
of civUized, life; of teaching you tccultivafe theearthiand raise
corn; to raise, oxen, sheep, and other domestic animala; to buUd
comfortable houses and to educate your children, so aa ever to
djwell uppn the land.
"Brothers:— The Preaident of the United States req,ueats you,
to take, this subject into, your serious consideration,, and to refiect
hpw abundantly, more, it will be for your interest; to be, at peace
wijth the United States^ and tp receive all the benefits thereof, than

* Dillon, i. 308. See also Cist's Cinoinnati Miscellany, ii. 30.

600 FURTHER OFFERS OF PEACE TO INDIANS. 1792.
to continue a war, which, however flattering it may be to you for
a moment, must in the end prove ruinous.
"This desire of peace has not arisen in consequence of the late
defeat of the troops under Major-General St. Clair ; because, in the
beginning of the last year, a similar message was sent you by Col.
Procter, but who was prevented from reaching you by some insur
mountable difficulties. All the Senecas at Buffalo creek can
witness for the truth of this assertion, as he held, during the month
of April last, long conferences with them, to devise the means of
getting to you in safety.
" War, at all times, is a dreadful evil to those who are engaged
therein, and more particularlj^ so where a few people engage to act
against so great numbers as the people of the United States.
"Brothers: — ^Do not suffer the advantages you have gained to
mislead your judgment, and to infiuence you to continue the war;
but refiect upon the destructive consequences which must attend
such a measure.
" The President of the United States is highly desirous of seeing
a number of your principal chiefs, and convincing you, in person,
how much he wishes to avoid the evils of war for your sake, and
the sake of humanity.
"Consult, therefore, upon the great object of peace; call in
your parties, and enjoin a cessation of all other depredations : and
as many of the principal chiefs as shall choose, repair to Philadel
phia, the seat of the General Government, and there make a peace,
founded upon the principles of justice and humanity. Remember
that no additional lands will be required of you, or any other
tribe, to those that have been ceded by former treaties, particularly
by the tribes who had a right to make the treaty of MusMngum in
the year 1789.
" But, if any of your tribes can prove that you have a fair right
to any lands, comprehended by the said treaty, and have not been
compensated therefor, you shall receive full satisfaction upon that
head. "The chiefs you send shall be safely escorted to this city; and
shall be well fed and provided with all things for their journey;
and the faith of the United States is hereby pledged to you for
the true and liberal performance of everything herein contained
and suggested ; and all this is confirmed, in your manner, by the
great white belt, hereunto attached."*
* American State Papers, v. 230.

1792. INSTRUCTIONS TO RUFUS PUTNAM. 601
To assist further in attaining the desired objects. Captain Hen
drick, chief of the Stockbridge Indians, on the 8th of May, was
dispatched to urge the views of Washington at the approaching
council of the north-western confederacy ; and on the 22d of the
same month, the following instructions were also issued to General
Rufua Putnam, to go in company with the Moravian miaaionaty,
John Heckewelder, into the Indian country, and strive to secure
peace and a permanent treaty.*
"The chiefs of the five nations of Indians, who were ao long in
this city, lately, were astonished at the moderation of our claim of
land, it being very different from what they had been taught, by
designing people, to believe.
" It would seem that the Indians have been misled with respect
to our claims, by a certain map, published in Connecticut, wherein
are laid out ten new States, agreeably to a report of a committee
of Congress.
" The United States are desirous, in any treaty which shall be
formed in future, to avoid all causes of war, relative to boundaries,
by fixing the same in such a manner as not to be mistaken by the
meanest capacity. As the basis, therefore, of your negotiation,
you will, in the strongest and most explicit terms, renounce, on the
part of the United States, all claim to any Indian land which
shall not have been ceded by fair treaties, made with the Indian
nations. "You may say — that we conceive the treaty of Fort Harmar to
have been formed by the tribea having a just right to make the
same, and that it was done with their full understanding and free
consent. " That if, however, the said tribes should judge the compensa
tion to have been inadequate to the object, or that any other tribes
have a just claim, in both cases they sliall receive a liberal allow
ance, on their finally settling all disputes upon the subject.
"As the United States never made any treaties with the Wabash"
Indians, although the said Indians have been repeatedly invited
thereto, their claims to the lands east and south of the said
Wabash have not been defined.
"This circumstance will be a subject of your inquiry with the
assembled Indian tribes ; and you may assure the parties con
cerned, that an equitable boundary shall be arranged with them.

?American State Papers, r. 233
39

602 " FURTHER OFFERS OF PEACE TO THE INDIANS. 1792.
" You will make it clearly understood, that we want not a foot
of their land, and that it is theirs, and theirs only ; that they have
the right to sell, and the right to refuse to sell, and the United
States will guarantee to them the said just right.
" That all we require of the Indians is a peaceable demeanor ;
that they neither plunder the frontiers of their horses, or murder
the inhabitants; that the United States are bound to protect the
inhabitants at the risk of every inconvenience of men or money.
" You will represent to them, that a new state of things has
taken place in the United States ; that formerly we were an asso
ciation of several separate States, like their several separate tribea,
and that there was no portion of union and strength sufficient to
regulate the several parts, as belonging to the aame machine.
"Bui, that now we have a general government embracing aU
parts of the Union, as respects foreign nationa and Indian tribes.
That General Washington is placed at the head of this govern
ment ; and that he, or some person immediately authorized by him,
must make all treaties with the Indian tribes.
" That, therefore, in future, all the Indian nations may rest with
great confidence upon the justice, the humanity, and the liberality
of the United States.
" That it is not only the sincere desire of the United States to
be at peace with all the neighboring Indian tribes, but to protect
them in their just rights, against lawless violent white people. If
such should commit any injury on the person or property of a
peaceful Indian, they will be regarded equally as the enemies of
the general government aa of the Indiana, and will be punished
accordingly. " That the United States are highly desirous of imparting to all
the Indian tribes, the blessings of civilization, as the only means
of perpetuating them on the earth.
" That we are willing to be at the expense of teaching them to
read and write, to plough and to sow, in order to raise their own
bread aud meat with certainty, as the white people do.
" In short, that the United States, willing to believe that the
conduct of the hostile Indians hitherto has been more the effect of
misrepresentations of bad people, than any hardened malignity of
the human heart, are desirous of forgetting and burying deep
forever, all the evils that have passed, and to administer such good
things to the said Indians as will make them rejoice forever at the
annual return of the day on which they may conclude a treaty with
the United States.

1792. A GENERAL TREATY PROPOSED. 603
"Your first object on meeting with the Indians, will be to
convince them that the United States require none of their lands.
" The second, that we shall guarantee all that remain, and take
the Indians under our protection.
" Thirdly : they must agree to the truce, and immediately to call
iu all their war parties. It will be iu vain to be negotiating with
them while they shall be murdering the frontier citizens.
"Having happily effected a truce founded on the above assu
rances, it will then be your primaty endeavor to obtain from each
of the hostile and neighboring tribes, two of the most respectable
chiefs, to repair to the seat of the government, and there conclude
a treaty with the President of the United States, in which all causes
of difference should be buried forever.
"You will give the chiefs every assurance of personal protection,
while on their journey to Philadelphia, aud, should they insist upon
it, hostages of officers for the safe return of the chiefs, and,'in case
of their compliance, you will take every precaution by the troops
for the protection of the said chiefs, which the nature of the case
may require.
"But if, after having used your utmost exertions, the chiefs
ahould decUne the journey to Philadelphia, then you will agree
with them on a plan for a general treaty.*
"In considering upon this plan, perhaps Pittsburgh or its vicinity
would be as proper a place as could be decided upon. Provisions
could be procured in abundance, and it would be the point to which
the goods could be easily transported.
"In this event, it wUl be necessary that I should be informed
by the earliest opportunity, in order that the principles and
arrangements for the treaty should be fixed. It has been conceived
that were you to repair to Fort Washington, and thence to Fort
Jefferson, you would more readily than from any other point, find
a communication with the hostile Indians. Upon a nearer approach
you will form your own judgment, and take your own measures.
Having given you a view of the object and the train in which
things are, the rest must be left entirely to your discretion."
The invitation given in February by the Secretary of War to
Brant to visit Philadelphia, has been mentioned. Some of his
English friends urged the Mohawk by no means to comply with
the request, but he had the independence to think and act for him-

* American State Papers, t. 234, 236.

604

PEACE MESSENGERS MURDERED. 1792.

self, and on the 20th of June, appeared at the then federal capital.
He remained there ten or twelve days, and was treated by all with
marked attention ; great pains were taken to make him understand
the posture of affairs and the wishes of the United States; and, in
the hope that he would prove a powerful pacificator, on the 27th
of June, a letter was addressed to him by General Knox, laying
before him the wishes of the government, and making him another
messenger of peace.
The fact that five independent embassies, asking peace, were
sent to the inimical tribes; and the tone of the papers which have
been extracted so fully, will demonstrate the wish of the United
States to do the aborigines entire justice. But the victories they
had gained, and the favorable whispers of the British agents, closed
the ears of the red men, and all propositions for peace were rejected
in one form or another. Freeman, who left Fort Washington,
April 7th; Truman, who left it May 22d for the Maumee, and
Colonel Hardin, who on the same day started for Sandusky, were
all murdered ; Truman, it would seem, however, not by a body of
Indians, but by a man and boy whom he met in hunting.* Brant,
from sickness or caution, did not attend the western council, as had
been expected. Hendricks gave his message into the hands of
Colonel McKee, and kept away from the gathering of the nations;
and of the four individual messengers, Truman, Brant, Hendricks,
and Putnam, Putnam alone reached his goal. That gentleman
left Marietta on the 26th of June, and on the 2d of July was at
Fort Washington ; here he heard of Indian hostilities at Fort Jef
ferson, and of the probability of Truman's murder. He found also
that it would be in vain to ask the chiefs, under any circumstances,
to go to Philadelphia, and that it was extremely doubtful if they
could be prevailed on to visit even Fort Washington.
Under these circumstances, conceiving it desirable that some
step should be taken at once, he determined to proceed to Fort
Knox, and there meet such of the Wabash leaders as could be got
together, in the hope that they might at least be detached from the
general league. This determination he carried into effect on the
17th of August, when, with several Indian prisoners to be restored
to their friends, and presents for them beside, he left Cincinnati
and reached Yincennes iu due time, accompanied by the missionary
Heckewelder. On the 27th of September, he met thirty-one chiefs.

* May's Deposition. — American State Papers, t. 243.

1792. PUTNAM'S INDIAN TREATY AT VINCENNES. 605
representing the Weas, Piankeshaws, Kaskaskias, Peorias, Illinois,
Pottawattamies, Musquitoes, Kickapoos and Eel river Indians, and
concluded with them a treaty of peace and friendship, on the fol
lowing terms : *
"A treaty of peace and friendship made and concluded between
the President of the United States of America, on the part of the
said States, and. the undersigned kings, chiefs and warriors, of the
Wabash and Illinois Indian tribes, on the part and behalf of the
said tribes :
" The parties being desirous of establishing a permanent peace
and friendship between the United States and the said Indian
tribes, and the citizens and members thereof, and to remove the
causes of war, the President of the United States by Rufus Putnam,
one of the judges of the territory of the United States north-west of
the river Ohio, and Brigadier-General in the army, whom he hath
vested with full powers for these purposes ; and the said Wabash
and Illinois tribes, by the undersigned kings, chiefs, and warriors,
representing the said tribes, have agreed to the following articles,
namely :
" There shall be perpetual peace and friendship between all the
citizens of the United States of America, and all the individuals,
villages and tribes of the said Wabash and Illinois Indians.
"The undersigned kings, chiefs, and warriors, for themselves,
and all parts of their villages and tribea, do acknowledge themselves
to be under the protection of the United States of America, and
stipulate to live in amity and friendship with them.
" The said tribes shall deliver, as soon as practicable, to the
commanding officer at Fort Knox, all citizens of the United States,
white inhabitants or negroes, who are now prisoners among any of
the said tribes.
" The United States solemnly guarantee to the Wabash and Illinois
nationa or tribea of Indians, all the landa to which they have a juat
claim, and no part shall ever be taken from them, but by a fair
purchase and to their satisfaction. That the lands originally
belonged to the Indians : it is theirs, and theirs only. That they
have a right to sell, and a right to refuse to sell. And that the
United States will protect them in their said just rights.
" The said Mugs, chiefs, and warriors solemnly promise, on their
part, that no future hostilities or depredations shall be committed

* DiUon's Indiana, p. 317.

606

GRAND INDIAN COUNCIL AT AU GLAIZE. 1792.

by them, or any belonging to the tribes they represent, against the
persons or property of any of the citizens of the United States.
That the practice of stealing negroes and horses from the people of
Kentucky, and other inhabitants of the United States, shaU forever
cease. That they will, at all times, give notice to the citizens of
the United States of any designs which they may know, or suspect
to be formed, in any neighboring tribe, or by any person whatever
against the peace and interest of the United States.
" In cases of violence on the persons or property of the individu
als of either party, neither retaliation or reprisal shall be committed
by the other until satisfaction shall have been demanded of the
party, of which the aggressor is, and shall have been refused.
" All animosities for past grievances shall henceforth cease, and
the contracting parties will carry the foregoing treaty into full
execution, with all good faith and sincerity."
This treaty was laid before the Senate for confirmation on the
13th of February, 1793, but the fourth article was deemed objec
tionable, as containing a guarantee to the Indians of their lands ;
and after much discussion the Senate refused, on that account, to
ratify it.
In October, a great council of all the tribes of the north-west was
held at Au Glaize.* It was the largest Indian council of the time.
The chiefs of all the tribes of the north-west territory were there.
The representatives of the seven nations of Canada were in attend
ance. Cornplanter, and forty-eight chiefs of the Six Nations of New
York, repaired thither. "Beside these," says Cornplanter, "there
were so many nations that we cannot tell the names of them.
There were three men from the Gora nations ; it took them a whole
season to come; aud twenty-seven nations from beyond Canada."
The question of peace or war was long and earnestly discussed.
The chiefs of the Shawanese were the only speakers for war, and
Red Jacket, the Seneca chief, for peace. A report made by the
chiefs of the Six Nations, to the Indian agent in a conference at
Buffalo, of the result of their mission to the council, will serve as
the best account of its proceedings and conclusions:!
"Brothers, people of the United States, and King's people, take
notice :
"Last winter, the President took us by the hand and led us to

* Fort Defiance, Ohio. f American State Papers, v. 323.

1792. GRAND INDIAN COUNCIL AT AU GLAIZE. 607
the council fire at Philadelphia; there they made known to us
their friendship, and requested of us to proceed to the westward,
and to use our influence to make peace with the hostile Indians;
we went accordingly, and made known to them our agreement.
"When we retiirned from Philadelphia to Buffalo creek, the
chiefs that remained at home on their seats, were well pleased with
what we had done at Philadelphia ; and after we had determined
to proceed on our journey, some of our chiefs were detained
by sickness.
" Brothers, people of the United States, and King's people :
" After we arrived at the westward, we met with an agreeable
reception ; they informed us that we were their oldest brothers,
and appeared as the sun risen upon them, as they always looked
to them for advice. It is now four years since we have heard your
voices, and should be happy now to hear what you have to relate
to us."
The Six Nations then requested of the western Indians what
they had to relate to them, as they kindled the council fire.
The western Indians replied:
" About four years since, your voices came to us, desiring us to
combine ourselvea together, aa we were the eldeat people of this
island, and all of one color, that our minds may be one.
" This they informed us, they had attended to, and exhibited a
large belt of wampum to prove the same, from each nation.
"To confirm it still further, they informed us, wc sent them a
pipe, which passed through all the nations at the west and south
ward; all smoked out of it, both women and children ; and as this
pipe has been through all the nations, and all smoked out of it,
they then returned it to us, and bid us smoke out of it ourselves.
"Brothers: Listen once to your eldest brothers; our forefathers
have handed down to us that we are one people, of one color, on
this island, and ought to be of one mind, aud had made our minds
strong, and had become as one people in peace and friendship.
" This being done, our chiefs agreed to hand it down to future
posterity, and the same combination to continue down to them.
"The nation called the Unions, took a brand from our fire and
kindled it, and became a people with us ; then we considered our
selves as one people combined together.
" And now there is a white people on this island who are watch
ing our conduct; but let us attend to our own concerns, and
brighten the chain of friendship with our nations; and as our
minds are one, let us consider future posterity, and not consider

608 GRAND INDIAN COUNCIL AT AU GLAIZE. 1792.
those young warriors who are in the prime of life, and so much
engaged in the pursuit of land, which is the cause of so much diffi
culty at-present.
"Brothers, consider your countty, which is good, and conduct
yourselves in such a way as to keep it to yourselves and posterity.
" Now brothers, you present us the pipe you aay your oldest
brothers sent you ; you say your head chiefs all smoked out of it,
and returning it to us again, all took it and smoked out of it our
selves in friendship. Now, as we are thus combined together, we
are able to lift a heavy burden."
The Shawanese nation replied:
" Our Eldest Brothers : — ^We have heard what you have related ;
we have heard it with attention ; we consider it as if you delivered
it from the outside of your lips; although you consider us your
younger brothers, your seats are not at such a distance but that
we can see your conduct plainly; these are the reasons why we
consider you to speak from the outside of your lips; for whenever
you hear the voice of the United States, you immediately take
your packs and attend their councils.
"We see plainly folded under your arm the voice of the United
States, we wish you to unfold it to us, that we may see it and
consult on it. (Speaking on a string of wampum of three strings,
throwing it across the fire to us, instead of handing it to us in a
friendly manner.)
¦ "Then we proceeded to relate the instructions of Congreaa,
which is too tedious to relate, and which they already know ; but
when we first related it, we failed for interpreters, so that they had
not a proper idea of it ; they appeared to be vety much ruffled in
their minds, and adjourned till the next day; then it was inter
preted properly to them, and they appeared easy in their minds.
" Eldest Brothers : — ^You desire us to consider our country and
our property ; we will accept of your advice, and proceed ac
cordingly." The Six Nations replied :
" Let us look back to the time of white people coming into this
countty ; very soon they began to traffic for land. Soon after. Sir
William Johnson was sent as an agent for the king, and he began
to purchase at the treaty of Port Stanwix, and purchased all east
of the Ohio river.
"A few years after this purchase, the people of the States and
the king's people broke apart, and we being persuaded to take the
king's part became very bad for us. After a few years, the king

1792. GRAND INDIAN COUNCIL AT AU GLAIZE. 609
was beat; then the States took possession of all the land the
English formerly took from the French.
" You tell us we come with the voice of the United States ; we
do, together with the advice of the king. He tells us not to throw
our minds on either side, but to Usten to reason, and remain a
people confederated."
The Shawanese nation replied :
"Now Eldest Brothers: — ^You come to us with your opinion and
the voice of the United States. It is your mind to put an end to
all hostilities.
"Brothers: — Now we will relate what took place last fall, in our
countty. General Washington sent out an army into our country,
which fell into our hands ; their orders were thus, to proceed into
our countty as far as the Miami towns, to the Glaize ; thence to
Detroit ; but not to molest the king's people ; and if the army
should meet any people that appeared friendly, to leave them
behind their backs without harm.
" The President of the United States, must well know why the
blood is so deep in our paths. We have been informed, that he
has sent messengers of peace on these bloody roads, who fell on
the way ; and now, as he knows that road to be bloody, no commu
nication can take place through that bloody way, as there is a path
through the Six Nations' country, which is smooth and easy. If
he wants to send 'the voice of peace, it must pass through this
road. "Eldest Brothers: — ^We have been informed that the President
of the United Statea thinka himself the greatest man on this
island. We had thia country long in peace, before we aaw any
person of a white skin ; we consider the people of a white skin the
younger. " Brothers : — ^You inform us that it is the wish of the white
people to hold council with ua. General Waahington being the
head man ; we will consent to treat with them; we desire you, our
older brothers, to inform General Washington we will treat with
him, at the rapids of Miami, next apring, or at the time when the
leaves are fully out,
" We consider onraelves still the proper owners of some land on
the east side of the Ohio ; but we will deliver up that, for money
that has been paid to some individuals for land on the west side of
the river Ohio,
" Brothers : — ^You have given ua a dish and one spoon, desiring
the whole combination to eat with them ; we accept of them, and
shall do accordingly.

610 CLOSE OF THE GRAND COUNCIL, 1792,
"We are now about to complete the business you came on.
When you return, you will make known to the President what we
have done ; it may be that he will consent to what we have pro
posed ; and if he will not, we must call on you to assist in the
heavy burden that will lie upon us. We have opened a path for
them and pointed out a way, and if he will not walk in it we must
have your assistance,
" Now our Eldest Brothers: — When the President came to you,
he took you aside to hear what he had to say. He desired you to
come to us, and deliver the messages ; you have delivered them,
and we desire you to deliver the messages we have given you to
deliver to him ; and desire him to send a message back, what he
will do, respecting what we have done and concluded on; to
forward it to you, and you to us. We will lay the bloody toma
hawk aside, until we hear from the President of the United States,
and when this message comes to us, we will send it to all the dif
ferent nations."
After having reported the history and result of their mission in
this peculiar way, the chiefs of the Six Nations prepared and for
warded the following report to the President, embodying their
advice in regard to the course of policy necessaty to be pursued in
order to secure a peace with the hostile tribes:
" You sent us on to the westward, with a message of peace to
the hostile Indians.
"We proceeded according to your directions, and were protected,
going and coming, by the Great Spirit.
" We give thanks to the Great Spirit, that we have all returned
safe to our seats.
"While we were at the westward we exerted ourselves to bring
about peace. The fatigues we underwent are not small. Now it
is our desire for your people on the Ohio to lay down their arms,
or otherwise it is all in vain what we have done.
"Now, if you wish for peace, you must make every exertion,
and proceed through this path we have directed for you. If peace
does not take place, the fault must arise from your own people.
" We now desire you, brother, to send forward agents, who are
men of honesty, not proud land-jobbers, but men who love and
desire peace. Also, we desire that they may be accompanied by
some Friend, or Quaker, to attend the council.
" We wish you to exert yourself to forward the message to the
western Indians as soon as possible ; and we are taken by the hand,
and have agreed, next spring, to attend the council at the rapids of
the Miami, when we shall hear all that takes place there."

1792, ADAIR ATTACKED NEAR FORT ST, CLAIR, 611
The armistice which the hostile Indians promised to observe till
spring was not, however, vety faithfully kept. On the 6th of No
vember, the Kentucky mounted infantry, under Major Adair, waa
attacked by a body of Indians, in the neighborhood of Fort St,
Clair, a post recentiy estabUshed about twenty-five miles north of
Fort Hamilton, and near the present site of the town of Eaton,
Ohio. "This morning," says Adair in his report to Wilkinson, "about
the first appearance of day, the enemy attacked my camp, within
sight of this post. The attack was sudden, and the enemy came
on with a degree of courage that bespoke them warriors indeed.
Some of my men were hand in hand with them before we retreated,
which, however, we did to a kind of stockade, intended for stables;
we then made a stand. I then ordered Lieutenant Madison to take
a party and gain their right flank, if possible. I called for Lieu
tenant HaU, to send to the left, but found he had been slain. I
then-led forward the men that stood near me, which, together with
the ensigns, Buchanan and Florin, amounted to about twenty-five,
and pressed the left of their centre, thinking it absolutely neces
sary to assist Madison. We made a manly push, and the enemy
retreated, taking all our horses except five or six. We drove them
about six hundred yards, through our camp, where they again
made a stand, and we fought them some time; two of my men
were here shot dead.
" At that moment I received information that the enemy were
about to fiank us on the right, and on turning that way I saw about
sixty of them running to that point. I had yet heard nothing of
Madison. I then ordered my men to retreat, which they did with
deliberation, heartily cursing the Indians, who pursued us close to
our camp, where we again fought them till they gave way ; and
when they retreated our ammunition was nearly expended, although
we had been supplied from the garrison in the course of the action.
I did not think proper to follow them again, but ordered my men
into the ganison, to draw ammunition. I returned in a few min
utes to a hill to which we had first driven them, where I found two
of my men scalped, who were brought in.
" Since I began to write this, a few of the enemy appeared in
sight, and I pursued them with a party about a quarter of a mile,
but could not overtake them, and did not think proper to go fur
ther. Madison, whom I sent to the right, was, on his first attack,
wounded, and obliged to retreat into the garrison, leaving a man
or two dead. To this misfortune I think the enemy are indebted

612 COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED TO TREAT WITH INDIANS. 1793.
for the horses they have got; had he gained their right flank, and
I once had possession of their left, I think we might have routed
them at that stage of the action, as we had them On the retreat.
" I have six killed and five wounded ; four men are missing. I
think they went off" early in the action, on horseback, and are, I
suppose, by this time, at Fort Hamilton. My officers, and a num
ber of my men, distinguished themselves greatly. Poor Hail died,
calling to his men to advance. Madison's bravery and conduct
need no comment; they are well known. Florin and Buchanan
acted with a coolness and courage that do them much honor;
Buchanan, after firing Ms gun, knocked an Indian down with the
barrel. " They have killed and taken a great number of the pack-horses,
I intend following them this evening, some distance, to ascertain
their strength and route, if possible. I can, with propriety, say
that about fifty of my men fought with a bravery equal to any men
in the world ; and had not the garrison been so nigh, as a place of
safety for the bashful, I think many more would have fought well.
The enemy have, no doubt, as many men killed as myself; they
left two dead on the ground, and I saw two carried off. The only
advantage they have gained is our horses, which is a capital one,
as it disables me from bringing the interview to a more certain and
satisfactory conclusion."*
This action, however, together with other evidences of continued
hostilities, did not prevent the United States from taking measures
to meet the hostile tribes "at the rapids of the Miami (Maumee)
when the leaves were fully out." For this purpose the President at
first selected Charles Carroll and Charles Thompson, but as they
declined the nomination, Benjamin Lincoln, Beverly Randolph, and
Timothy Pickering were, on the first of March, 1793, appointed to
attend the proposed meeting, which it was concluded should be
held at Sandusky.
On the 26th of April, the commissioners received their instruc
tions; on the 27th, General Lincoln left Philadelphia for Niagara,
by the way of New York; and on the SOth, Pickering and Randolph
started by the route through Pennsylvania, which led up the vaUeya
of the Schuylkill, Susquehanna, Lycoming, and Coshocton, and
acrosa to Genessee. These, traveling more rapidly, for Lincoln had

?American State Papers, v. 335.

1793, commissioners' letter to governor simcoe, 613
the stores and baggage, reached Niagara on the 17th of May, and
were at once invited by Lieutenant-Gen eral Simcoe to take up
their residence at his seat. Navy Hall ; with this invitation they
complied and remained there until the 28th of June, The cause
of this delay was the belief expressed by M'Kee and others, that
the Indians would not be ready to meet the commissioners before
the last of June, as private councils had first to be held among the
various tribes. While there, the ambassadors, on the 7th of June,
presented the following note to Governor Simcoe :
"The commissioners of the United States, for making peace
with the western Indians, beg leave to suggest to Governor Simcoe :
that the very high importance of the negotiation committed to
their management, makes them desirous of using every proper
means that may contribute to its success. That they have observed,
with pleasure, the disposition manifested by the Governor to afford
every requisite assistance in the preparatoty arrangements for
holding the treaty with the hostile Indiana.
" But all the facilitiea thus afforded, and all the expenaes incurred
by the British government, on this occasion, will, perhaps, be fruit
less, unless some means are used to counteract the deep-rooted
prejudices, and unfounded reports among the Indian tribes : for,
the acts of a few bad men, dwelling among them, or having a
familiar intercourse with them, by cherishing those prejudices, or
raising and spreading those reports, may be sufficient to defeat
every attempt to accomplish a peace. As an instance of such
unfounded reports, the commissioners have noticed the declaration
of a Mohawk, from Grand river, that Governor Simcoe advised the
Indians to make peace, but not to give up any of their lands,
" The commissioners further observe, that if any transactions at
former treaties were exceptionable, the principles of the present
treaty are calculated to ren_j,ve the causes of complaint; for the
views of government are perfectly fair. And, although it is
impossible to retrace all the steps then taken, the United States
are disposed to recede, as far as shall be indispensable, and the
existing state of things will admit ; and for the lands retained, to
make ample compensation. The views of the United States being
thus fair and liberal, the commissioners wish to embrace evety
means to make them appear so to the Indians, against any contrary
suggestions. "Among these means, the commissioners consider the presence
of some gentlemen of the army to be of consequence ; for, although
the Indians naturally look up to their superintendents as their

614 governor SIMCOE'S pacific RESPONSE. 1793.
patrons, yet the presence of some officers of the army will probably
induce them to negotiate with greater confidence on the terms of
peace. Independently of these considerations, the commissioners,
for their own sakes, request the pleasure of their company. The
commissioners, feeling the greatest solicitude to accomplish the
object of their mission, will be happy to receive from the governor
every information relating to it, which his situation enables him
to communicate. He must be aware that the sales and settlements
of the lands over the Ohio, founded on the treaties of Forts M'Intosh
and Harmar, render it impossible now to make that river the
boundary. The expression of his opinion, on this point in
particular, will give them great satisfaction." *
To this note the following answer was sent :
"Colonel Simcoe, commanding the King's forces in Upper
Canada, has the honor, in answer to the paper delivered to him
tills morning by the commissioners of the United States for making
peace with the western Indians, to state to those gentlemen, that
he is duly impressed with the serious importance of the negotiation
committed to their charge, and shall be happy to contribute by
every proper means that may tend to its success. He is much
obliged to them for the polite manner in which they have expressed
their sense of his readiness to afford them such facilities as may
have been in his power, to assist in the preparatory arrangements
for holding the treaty. He is perfectly aware that unfounded
reports and deep-rooted prejudices have arisen among the Indian
tribes ; but whether from the acts of a few bad men living among
them, he cannot pretend to say.
"But, he must observe, upon the instance given by the commis
sioners, of one of ' those unfounded reports, that a Mohawk from
the Grand river should say, that Gov. Simcoe advised the Indians
to make peace, but not to give up their lands,' it is of that nature
that cannot be true ; the Indians, as yet, not having applied for his
advice on the subject ; and it being a point, of all others, on which
they are the least likely to consult the British officers commanding
in Upper Canada.
" Colonel Simcoe considers himself perfectly justified in admit
ting, on the requisition of the commissioners, some officers to
attend the treaty; and, therefore, in addition to the gentlemen
appointed to control the delivety of the British provisions, &c., he

* American State Papers, v. 327.

1793. COUNCIL OPENS AT NAVY HALL, 615
will desire Captain Bunbury, of the fifth regiment, and Lieutenant
Givens, who has some knowledge of one of the Indian languages,
to accompany the commissioners. Colonel Simcoe can give the
commissioners no further information than what is afforded by the
speeches of the confederate nations, of which General HuU has
authentic copies. But, as it has been, ever since the conquest of
Canada, the principle of the British government to unite the
American Indians, that, all petty jealousies being extinguished, the
real wishes of the several tribes may be fully expressed, and in
consequence of all the treaties made with them, may have the most
complete ratification and universal concurrence, so, he feels it
proper to state to the commissioners, that a jealousy of a contrary
conduct in the agents of the United States, appears to him to have
been deeply impressed upon the minds of the confederacy."
On the day before this, correspondence, the six Quakers, who, by
their own request, and that of the Indians, had accompanied the
deputation, together with Heckewelder and others, sailed for
Detroit to learn how matters stood ; and, on the 26th of the month,
the commissioners themselves, receiving no news from Sandusky,
prepared to embark for the mouth of Detroit river. On the 15th
of July, while still detained by head winds. Colonel Butler,!
Brant and some fifty natives, arrived from the Maumee, .and two
days after, in the presence of the Governor, Brant thus addressed
the Americans: —
" Brothers : — We have met to-day our brothers, the Bostonians
and English ; we are glad to have the meeting, and think it is by
the appointment of the Great Spirit.
"Brothers of the United States:— We told you the other day at
Fort Erie, that at another time, wc would inform you why we had
not assembled at the time and place appointed for holding the
treaty with you. We now inform you that it is because there is so
much of the appearance of war in that quarter.
"We have given the reason for our not meeting you; and now
we request an explanation of those warlike appearances.
" The people you see here are sent to represent the Indian
nations who own the lands north of the Ohio, as their common
property, and who are all of one mind — one heart.
"We have come to speak to you for two reasons; one, be
cause your warriors being in our neighborhood, have prevented

f The commander of the Tories at Wyoming, afterward Indian Agent.

616 BRANT ADDRESSES THE COMMISSIONERS. 1793.
our meeting at the appointed place ; the other, to know if you are
properly authorized to run and establish a new boundary line
between the lands of the United States and the Indian nations.
We are still desirous of meeting you at the appointed place.
"We wish you to deliberate well on this business. We have
spoken our sentiments in sincerity, considering ourselves in the
presence of the Great Spirit, from whom, in time of danger, we
expect assistance."
On the following day the commissioners replied :
"Brothers : — ^You have mentioned two objects of your coming to
meet us at this place. One, to obtain an explanation of the war
like appearances on the part of the United States on the north
western side of the Ohio ; the other, to learn whether we have
authority to run and establish a new boundary line between your
lands and ours.
" On the first point we cannot but express our extreme regret,
that any reports of warlike appearances, on the part of the United
States, should have delayed our meeting at Sandusky. The nature
of the case irresistibly forbids all apprehensions of hostile incur
sions into the Indian country north of the Ohio, during the treaty
at Sandusky.
"We are deputed by the Great Chief and the Great Council
of the United States to treat with you of peace ; and is it possible
that the same Great Chief and hia Great Council could order their
warriors to make fresh war, while we were sitting around the same
fire with you, in order to make peace? Is it possible that our
Great Chief and his Council could act so deceitfully toward us,
their commissioners, as well as toward you ?
"We think it not possible; but will quit arguments and come
to facts.
"We assure 'you, that our Great Chief, General Washington,
has strictly forbidden all hostilities against you, until the event
of the proposed treaty at Sandusky ahall be known. Here is
the proclamation of his head warrior. General Wayne, to that
effect. "But our Great Chief is so sincere in his professions for peace,
and so desirous of preventing everything which could obstruct
the treaty and prolong the war, that, besides giving the above
orders to his head warrior, he has informed the governors of
the several States adjoining the Ohio, of the treaty proposed to
be held at Sandusky, and desired them to unite their power with
his to prevent any hostile attempts againat the Indians north of

1793. COMMISSIONERS AND INDIANS IN COUNCIL. 617
the OMo, until the result of the treaty is made known. Those
governors have accordingly issued their orders, strictly forbidding
all such hostilities. The proclamations of the Governors of Penn
sylvania and Yirginia, we have here in our hands.
"If, after all these precautions of our Great Chief, any hostilities
should be committed north of the Ohio, they must proceed from a
few disorderly people, whom no considerations of justice or public
good can restrain. But we hope and believe that none such can
be found.
"After these explanations, we hope you wUl possess your minds
in peace, relying on the good faith of the United States that no
injury is to be apprehended by you during the treaty.
"We come now to the aecond point: whether we are properly
authorized to run and eatablish a new boundary line between
your lands and ours.
"We answer explicitly that we have that authority. Where
this line should run, will be the great aubject of discussion at the
treaty between you and us; and we sincerely hope and expect
that it may then be fixed to the satisfaction of both parties. Doubt
less some concessions must be made on both sides. In all disputes
and quarrels, both parties usually take some wrong steps ; so that
it is only by mutual concessions that a true reconciliation can be
effected. "We wish you to understand us clearly on this head; for we
mean that all our proceedings should be made with candor. We
therefore repeat and say explicitly that some concession will be
necessary on your part, as well as on oura, in order to establish a
just and permanent peace.
"After this great point of the boundary shall be fully considered
at the treaty, we shall know what concessions and stipulations it
wiU be proper to make on the part of the United States ; and we
trust they will be such as the world will pronounce reasonable and
just. "You told us you represent the nations of Indians who own the
lands north of the Ohio, and whose chiefs are now assembled at the
rapids of the Maumee.
"It would be a satisfaction to ua to be informed of the namea
of thoae nations, and of the numbers of the chiefs of each so
assembled. "We once more turn our eyes to your representation of war
like appearances in your country ; to give you complete satisfac
tion on this point, we now assure you as soon as our council at
40

618 INDIAN TRIBES PRESENT AT THE COUNCIL, 1793"
this place is ended, we will send a messenger on horseback to
the Great Chief of the United States, to desire Mm to renew
and strongly repeat his orders to his head warrior, not only to
abstain from all hostUities against you ; but to remain quietly at his
posts until the event of the treaty shall be known,"
On the next day, according to the customary form, the council
was convened again, and Brant replied : ?
"We are glad the Great Spirit has preserved us in peace, to meet
together this day,
"Brothers of the United States : Yesterday you made an answer
to the message delivered by us, from the great council at the Mau
mee, in the two particulars which we have stated to you,
"You may depend upon it we fully understood your speech.
We shall take with us your belt and white strings, and repeat it to
the chiefs at the great council at the Maumee,
" We have something further to say, though not much. We are
small compared with our great chiefs at Maumee. But, though
small, we have something to say.
"We think from your speech, that there is a prospect of us
coming together. We, who are the nations at the westward, are
of one mind ; and, if we agree with you, as there is a prospect we
shall, it will be binding and lasting.
"Our prospects are the fairer, because all our minds are one;
you have not before spoken to us unitedly. Formerly, because
you did not speak to us unitedly, what was done waa not binding.
Now you have an opportunity of speaking to us together, and we
now take you by the hand, to lead you to the place appointed for
the meeting."
Recollecting that he had not replied to the inquity of the com
missioners, in regard to the tribes assembled at the Maumee, Brant
rose again and said :
"Brothers: — Yesterday you expressed a wish to be informed of
the names of the nations, and numbers of chiefs assembled at the
Maumee ; but, as they were daily coming in, we cannot give you
exact information. You will see for 3'ourselves in a few days.
When we left it the following nations were there, to wit : Five
Nations, Wyandots, Shawanese, Delawares, Munsees, Miamies,
Chippewas, Ottawas, Pottawattamies, Nantikokies, Mingoes, Chero
kees, — the principal men of these were there."
The commissioners then replied :
"Brothers: — Our ears have been open to your speech. It is
agreeable to us. We are ready to accompany you to the place of

1793, INDIANS JEALOUS OF WAYNB'S MOVEMENTS. 619
treaty, where, under the direction of the Great Spirit, we hope for
a speedy termination of the present war, on terma equally interest
ing and agreeable to all parties,"
The great anxiety and distrust manifested by the Indians at this
conference, arose from what they deemed the hostile movements
of General Wayne, in violation, as they affirmed, of the armistice
previously agreed upon. Wayne's head-quarters was then near
Fort Washington, and he was engaged there in organizing and
drilling his army, in forwarding supplies to Fort Jefferson, and in
cutting military roads through the Indian country. These proceed
ings, altogether justifiable on the supposition that a resumption of
hostilities was inevitable, were, at that juncture, ill-timed, and
calculated to endanger the success of the negotiation and the lives
of the commissioners.. Under these circumstances the commia
sionera addressed, under date of July 10th, the following letter to
the secretary of war, to ask that all warlike demonstrationa ahould
be suspended until the result of their mission should be ascer
tained :
"We think the coming of the deputation from the western
Indians a fortunate event. It muat have been their extreme
jealousy of the United States that made them aolicitoua to apeak
with us in presence of the governor; and our answer being
satisfactory, we beUeve it will have a better effect, than the same
sentiments delivered under any other circumstances.
"Our promise to send a special messenger to the President, to
desire fresh ordera might be sent to General Wayne, not only to
abstain from hostilities, but to remain quietly ai his posts, waa thought a
very neceaaaty measure ; and it will be alike necessary that those
orders be issued and strictly observed. In a former letter we
intimated our opinion and wishes on this point. We now think
and our duty obliges us to declare it, that an exact observation of
the laws of a truce ia essential to the success of the treaty,
" The Indians have information, confirmed by repeated scouts,
that General Wayne has cut and cleared a road, straight from Fort
Washington into the Indian country, in a direction that would have
missed Fort Jefferson, but that, meeting with a large swamp, it
waa of necessity, turned to that fort, and then continued six miles
beyond it : that large quantities of provisions are accumulated at
the forts, far exceeding the wants of the garrisons, and numerous
herds of horaea and cattle assembled beyond Fort Jefferaon,

620 COMMISSIONERS OPPOSE WAYNE'S MOVEMENTS, 1793.
guarded by considerable bodiea of troopa. With these preparations
for war in their neighborhood, for it is but three days' journey
from thence to the Glaize, they say their minds cannot rest easy.
The distance here mentioned, is from Captain Brant's information,
and is, no doubt, exact. We suppose that twenty to twenty-five
miles may be deemed a day's journey.
"The manner in which negotiations for peace are conducted by
Indians, demands a particular consideration. On such occasions,
not commissioners or a few counselors, but the body of the nations
assemble. The negotiations will of course be delayed or interrup
ted, if the movements of their enemies call the warriors from the
council to watch or check them. The measures pursued by Gen.
Wayne appear to have produced this unhappy effect, and probably
strengthened jealousies, before almost insurmountable. We know
that those measures are viewed by the British as unfair and
unwarrantable, and we cannot suppose that their opinion will be
concealed from the Indians; if the latter have not previously
entertained the same ideas.
"After this detail, it can hardly be necessary to express our
opinions on the subject. It is obvious, that to ensure a quiet,
uninterrupted treaty, the cattle, horses, and troops, beyond what
are proper for the posts themselves, should not be advanced from
the Ohio : any that are now in advance beyond Fort Jefferson,
should certainly be immediately withdrawn ; and we doubt whether
that would be satisfactory, if their numbers, in any degree, corres
pond with the reports among the Indians at their council."
On the 14th of July the commissioners left Fort Erie, and ar
rived on their way to the council, on the 21st, at the mouth of the
Detroit river. Their further advance was prevented by the British
authorities at Detroit; and accordingly they took up their quarters
at the house of Mathew Elliott, the famous renegade, then a subor
dinate agent in the British Indian department, under Alexander
M'Kee. M'Kee was in attendance at the council, and the commis
sioners addressed him a note, borne by Elliott, to inform him of
their arrival, and to ask when they could be received.
Elliott returned on the 29th, bringing with him a deputation of
twenty chiefs from the council. On the next day a conference was
held, and Sa-wagh-da-wunk, a chief of the Wyandots, presented to
the commissioners in writing, the following explicit demand in re
gard to their powers and purposes :
"Brothers : — The deputies we sent you did not fully explain our

1793. INDIANS INSIST ON OHIO FOR BOUNDARY. 621
meaning. We have therefore sent others to meet you once more,
that you may fully understand the great question we have to ask
you, and to which we expect an explicit answer in writing.
"You are sent here by the United States, in order to make peace
with us, the confederated Indians.
"You know very well that the boundary line which was run
by the white people and us, at the treaty of Fort Stanwix, was
the river Ohio,
"If you seriously design to make a firm and lasting peace, you
will immediately remove all your people from our side of the river,
"We therefore ask you. Are you fully authorized by the United
States to continue and fix firmly on the Ohio river, as the
boundary line between your people and ours ?
"Done in general council, at the foot of the Miami rapids, on
the 27th of July, 1793. In behalf of ourselves and the whole con
federacy, and agreed to in full council,"
This message was signed by the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawa
nese, Miamies, Mingoes, Pottawattamies, Ottawas, Connoys, Chip
pewas, and Munsees, In the afternoon of the next day, the
commissioners delivered the following answer to them in writing :
"Brothers: — ^You yesterday addressed us, mentioning a former
deputation who met us at Niagara. At that meeting you aaid we
did not come to a right understanding ; that your deputies did not
fully explain your meaning to us, nor we ours to them ; that you de
sired we might rightly understand each other, and therefore thought
it best that what you had to say should be put into writing. Then,
handing us a paper, you said, ' here is the meaning of our hearts.'
Brothers : That paper is directed to the commissioners of the United
States, and speaks to them these words, viz : [Hero was repeated
the written address of the Indians.]
"Brothers, the deputies present: We have now repeated the
words contained in the paper which you delivered to us; and those
words are interpreted to you. We presume the interpretation
agrees with your ideas of the contents of the paper. It is expressed
to be signed by the Wyandots, Delawares, Miamies, Shawanese,
Mingoes, Pottawattamiea, Ottawas, Connoys, Chippewas, and
Munsees, in behalf of themselves and the whole confederacy, and
agreed to in full council.
" We are a little surprised at the suggestion, that, in the
conference at Niagara, we did not come to a right understand
ing, and that your deputies did not fully explain your meaning.
Those deputies appeared to be men of good understanding, and

622 INDIANS INSIST ON OHIO FOR BOUNDARY. 1793.
when we saw them they were perfectly sober : in short, we never saw
men in public council more attentive, or behave with more propri
ety. We could not, therefore, suppose they could mistake
your meaning or ours. Certainly we were sufficiently explicit, for,
in plain terms, we declared, 'that in order to establish a just and
permanent peace, some concessions would be necessary, on your
part as well as on ours.'
" These words, brothers, are a part of our speech to your depu
ties; and that speech, they assured us they fully understood. What
those concessions should be, on both sides, and where the boundar
ry line should be fixed, were proper subjects of discussion at the
treaty, when we should speak face to face. This we are certain
would be the best way to remove all difficulties. But your nations
have adopted another mode, which, by keeping us at a distance,
prevents our knowing each other, and keeps alive those jealousies
which are the greatest obstacles to a peace. We are, therefore,
desirous of meeting your nations in frill council, without more de
lay. We have already waited in this province sixty days beyond
the time appointed for opening the treaty.
"We have now expressed our opinion of the proper mode of
settling the differences between you and the United States; but,
as your nations have desired answers to certain questions, previous
to our meeting, and we are disposed to act with frankness and
sincerity, we will give you an explicit answer to the great question
you have now proposed to us. But, before we do this, we think
it necessary to look back to some former transactions, and we
desire you patiently to hear us.
" We do know very well, that, at the treaty of Fort Stanwix,
twenty five years ago, the river Ohio was agreed on as the boun
dary line between you and the white people of the British
colonies; and, we all know that, about seven years after that
boundary was fixed, a quarrel broke out between your father, the
king of Great Britain, and the people of those colonies, which are
now the United States. This quarrel was ended by the treaty of
peace made with the king, about ten years ago, by which the
Great Lakes, and the waters which unite them, were by him de
clared to be the boundaries of the United Statea.
"Peace having been thus made, between the king of Great
Britain and the United States, it remained to make peace be
tween them and the Indian nations, who had taken part with
the king; for thia purpose, commissioners were appointed, who
sent messengers to all those Indian nationa, inviting them to come and

1793. RECAPITULATION OF TREATIES. 623
nmke peace. The first treaty was held about nine years ago, at Fort
Stanwix, with the Six Nations, which has stood firm and unviola-
ted to this day. The next treaty was made about ninety days after, at
Fort M'Intosh, with the Half-King of the Wyandots, Captain Pipe,
and other chiefs, in behalf of the Wyandot, Delaware, Ottawa, and
Chippewa nations.
"Afterward, treaties were made with divers Indian nations south
of the Ohio river ; and the next treaty was made with Ka-kia-pila-
thy, here present, and other Shawanee chiefs, in behalf of the
Shawanee nation, at the mouth of the Great Miaini, which runs into
the OMo.
"The commissioners who conducted the treaties in behalf of
the United States, sent the papers containing them to the Great
Council of the States, who, supposing them satisfactory to the
nations treated with, proceeded to dispose of large tracts of
land thereby ceded, and a great number of people removed from
other parts of the United States, and settled upon them: also many
families of your ancient fathers, the French, came over the great
waters, and settled upon a part of the same lands.*
"After some time, it appeared that a number of people in
your nations were dissatisfied with the treaties of Fort Mcintosh
and Miami; therefore, the Great Council of the United States
appointed Governor St. Clair their commissioner, with full powers,
for the purpose of removing all causes of controversy, regulating
trade, and settling boundaries, between the Indian nations in the
northern department and the United Statea. He accordingly sent
messages, inviting all the nations concerned to meet him at a council
fire which he kindled at the falls of the Muskingum.
"While he was waiting for them, some mischief happened at
that place, and the fire was put out; so he kindled a council fire at
Fort Harmar, where near six hundred Indians, of different nationa,
attended. The Six Nations then renewed and confirmed the treaty
of Fort Stanwix; and the Wyandots and Delawares renewed and
confirmed the treaty of Fort Mcintosh ; some Ottawas, Chippewaa,
Pottawattamies, and Sacs were also parties to the treaty of Fort
Harmar. "All these treaties we have here with us. We have, also, the
apeechea of many ehiefa who attended them, and who voluntarily
declared their aatiafaction with the terms of the treaties.

* The French settlement at GalUpolis.

624 COMMISSIONERS DENY THE INDIANS' CLAIM. 1793.
"After making all theae treaties, and after hearing the chiefs
expresa freely their satisfaction with them, the United States
expected to enjoy peace, and quietly to hold the lands ceded by
them. Accordingly large tracts have been sold and settled, as
before mentioned. And now, brothers, we answer explicitly, that,
for the reaaona here stated to you, it is impossible to make the river
Ohio the boundary between your people and the people of the United
States. "You are men of understanding, and if you consider the
customs of white people, the great expenses which attend their
settling in a new countty, the nature of their improvements, in
building houses and barns, and clearing and fencing their lands,
how valuable the lands are thus rendered, and thence how dear
they are to them, you will see that it is now impracticable to
remove our people from the northern aide of the Ohio. Your
-brothers, the English, know the nature of white people, and they
know that, under the circumstances wMeh we have mentioned, the
United States cannot make the Ohio the boundary between you
and ua.
"You seem to consider all the lands in dispute on your side
of the Ohio, aa claimed by the United Statea; but auffer ua to
remind you that a large tract was sold by the Wyandot and
Delaware nations to the State of Pennsylvania. This tract lies
east of a line drawn from the mouth of Beaver creek, at the Ohio,
due north to Lake Erie. TMs line is the western boundaty of
Pennsylvania, as claimed under the charter given by the king of
England to your ancient friend, WiUiam Penn ; of this sale made
by the Wyandot and Delaware nations, to the State of Pennsyl
vania, we have never heard any complaint.
"We are, on this occasion, obliged to make a long speech.
We again desire you to hear us patiently. The business is of the
highest importance, and a great many words are necessary fully
to explain it; for we desire you may perfectly understand us, and
there is no danger of your forgetting what we say, because we will
give you our speech in writing.
" We have explicitly declared to you, that we cannot now make
the Ohio river the boundary between us. This agrees with our
speech to your deputies at Niagara, 'that in order to estabUsh a
just and permanent peace, aome concessions would be necessary on
your part, as well as on oura.'
" The concessions which we think necessary on your part are,
that you yield up, and finally relinquish to the United States,

1793. COMMISSIONERS DENY THE INDIANS' CLAIM. 625
some of the lands on your side of the river Ohio. The United
Statea wish to have confirmed all the lands ceded io them by
the treaty of Fort Harmar; and, also, a small trad of land at the
Rapids of the Ohio, claimed by General Clark, for the use of himself
and warriors. And, in consideration thereof, the United States
would give such a large mm, in money or goods, as was never given, at
one time, for any quantity of Indian lands, since the white people first
set iheir foot on this island. And because thoae landa did, every
year, furnish you with skins and furs, with which you bought
clothing and other necessaries, the United States will now furnish
the like constant supplies ; and, therefore, besides the great sum to
be delivered at once, they will, every year, deliver you a large
quantity of such goods as are best suited to the wants of yourselves,
your women and children.
"If all the lands, before mentioned, cannot be delivered up
to the United States, then we shall deaire to treat and agree
with you on a new boundary line ; and for the quantity of land
you relinquish to ua within that new boundary line we ahall stipu
late a generous compensation, not only for a large sum to be paid
at once, but for a yearly rent, for the benefit of yourselves and your
children forever.
" Here you see one concession, which we are willing to make
on the part of the United States. Now, listen to another, of a
claim which probably has more disturbed your minds than any other
whatever. " The commissioners of the United States have formerly set up a
claim to your whole country, southward of the Great Lakes, as the
property of the United States; grounding this claim on the tre'aty
of peace with your father, the king of Great Britain, who declared,
as we have before mentioned, the middle of those lakes, and the
waters which unite them, to be the boundaries of the United
States. "We are determined that our whole conduct shall be marked
with openness and sincerity. We therefore frankly tell you, that
we tMnk those commissioners put an erroneous construction on
that part of our treaty with the king. Aa he had not purchaaed
the country of you, of course he could not give it away. He
only relinquished to the United States his claim to it. That
claim was founded on a right acquired by treaty with other white
nations, to exclude them from purchasing or settling in any part
of your country ; and it ia this right which the king granted to the
United States, Before that grant, the king alone had a right to

626 ANOTHER COUNCIL PROPOSED. 1793,
purchase of the Indian nations, any of the lands between the Great
Lakes, the Ohio and the Mississippi, excepting the part within the
charter boundary of Pennsylvania; and the king, by the treaty of
peace, having granted this right to the United States, they alone
have now the right of purchasing ; so that now neither the king
nor any of his people, have any right to interfere with the United
States, in respect to any part of those lands. All your brothers,
the English, know this to be true ; and it agrees with the declara
tions of Lord Dorchester, to your deputies, two years ago at
Quebec, "We now concede this great point. We, by the express authority
of the President of the United States, acknowledge the property,
or right of soil, of the great country above described, to be in the
Indian nations, so long as they desire to occupy the same. We
only claim particular tracts in it, as before mentioned, and the
general right granted by the king, as above stated, and which is
well known to the English and Americans, and called the right of
pre-emption, or the right of purchasing of the Indian nations dis
posed to sell their lands, to the exclusion of all other white people
whatever, " We have now opened our hearts to you. We are happy in
having an opportunity of doing it; though we should have been
more happy to have done it in the full council of your nations.
We expect soon to have this satisfaction, and that your next
deputation wUl take us by the hand, and lead us to the treaty.
When we meet, and converse with each other freely, we may
easily remove any difficulties which may come in the way of
peace." On the next day, Sa-wagh-da-wunk replied :
"Brothers : — We are all brothers you see here now.
" It is now three years since you desired to speak with us. We
heard you yesterday, and understood you well — perfectly weU.
We have a few words to say to you.
"You mentioned the treaties of Fort Stanwix, Beaver creek,*
and other places. Those treaties were not complete. There were
but a few chiefs who treated with you. You have not bought our
lands. They belong to us. You tried to draw off some of us.
"Many years ago, we all know that the Ohio was made the
boundary. It was settled by Sir WiUiam Johnson. This side ia
ours. We look upon it as our property,
*Fort Mcintosh.

1793. COUNCIL AT CAPTAIN ELLIOTT'S OPENED. 627
"You mentioned General Washington. He and you know you
have your houses and your people on our land. You say you
cannot move them off: and we cannot give up our land,
"We are sorry we cannot come to an agreement. The line
has been fixed long ago, *
"We don't say much. There has been much mischief on both
sides. We came here upon peace, and thought you did the same.
We shall talk to our head warriors. You may return whence you
came, and tell Washington."
The council here breaking up. Captain Elliott went to the Shawa
nese chief Ka-kia-pilathy, and told him that the last part of the
speech was wrong. The chief came back and said it was wrong.
Girty said that he had interpreted truly what the Wyandot chief
spoke. An explanation took place ; and Girty added as follows :
"Brothers: — Instead of going home, we wish you to remain here
for an anawer from ua,' We have your apeech in our breasts, and
shall consult our head warriors," *
On the 16th of August, the commissioners received from two
Wyandot runners, the following final answer from the council to
their message of the 31st of July :
" To the Commissioners of the United States. — Brothers : We have
received your speech, dated the 31st of last month, and it has
been interpreted to all the different nations. We have been long
in sending you an answer, because of the great importance of the
subject. But we now answer it fuUy; having given it all the con
sideration in our power,
"You tell us that, after you had made peace with the king,
our father, about ten years ago, 'it remained to make peace
between the United States and the Indian nations, who had
taken part with the king. For thia purpoae commissioners were
appointed, who sent messages to all those Indian nations, inviting
them to come and make peace;' and after reciting the periods at
which you say treaties were held, at Fort Stanwix, Fort Mcintosh
and Miami, all which treaties, according to your own acknowl
edgment, were for the sole purpose of making peace, you then
say, 'Brothers, the commissioners who conducted these treaties, in
behalf of the United States, sent the papers containing them to
the general council of the States, who, supposing them satisfactoty

*American State Papers, v. 349.

628 RECAPITULATION OF TREATIES. 1793.
to the nations treated with, proceeded to dispose of the lands
thereby ceded.'
"This is teUing us plainly, what we always understood to be
the case, and it agrees with the declarations of those few who
attended^ those treaties, viz : That they went to your commis
sioners to make peace ; but, through fear, were obliged to sign any
paper that was laid before them ; and it has since appeared that
deeds of cession were signed by them, instead of treaties of peace.
"You then say, 'after some time it appears that a number of
people in your nations were dissatisfied with the treaties of Forts
Mcintosh and Miami, therefore the council of the United States
appointed Governor St. Clair their commissioner, with full power,
for the purpose of removing all causes of controversy relating to
trade, and settling boundaries, between the Indian nations in the
northern department and the United States. He accordingly sent
messages, inviting all the nations concerned to meet him at a
council fire he kindled at the falls of the Muskingum. WMle he
was waiting for them, some mischief happened at that place, and
the fire was put out; so he kindled a council fire at Fort Harmar,
where near six hundred Indians, of different nations, attended.
The Six Nations then renewed and confirmed the treaty of
Fort Stanvsdx; and the Wyandots and Delawarea renewed and
confirmed the treaty of Fort Mcintosh ; some Ottawas, Chippewas,
Pottawattamies, and Sacs, were also parties to the treaty of Fort
Harmar.' Now, brothers, these are your words; and.it is necessary
for us to make a short reply to them.
"A general council of all the Indian confederacy was held, as
you well know, in the fall of the year 1788, at this place ; and that
general council was invited by your commissioner. Governor St.
Clair, to meet him for the purpose of holding a treaty, with regard
to the lands mentioned by you to have been ceded by the treaties
of Fort Stanwix and Fort Mcintosh.
"We are in possession of the speeches and letters which passed
on that occasion, between those deputed by the confederated
Indians, and Governor St, Clair, the commissioner of the United
States, These papers prove that your said commissioner, in the
beginning of the year 1789, and after having been informed by the
general council of the preceding fall, that no bargain or sale of any
part of these Indian lands would be considered as valid or binding
unless agreed to by a general council, nevertheless, persisted in
collecting together a few chiefs of two or three nations only, and
with them held a treaty for the cession of an immense country, in

1793, INDIAN PHILOSOPHY AND LOGIC. 629
which they were no more interested, than as a branch of the
general confederacy, and who were in no manner authorized to
make any grant or concession whatever.
"How then was it possible for you to expect to enjoy peace, and
quietly to hold these lands, when your commissioner was informed,
long before he had the treaty of Fort Harmar, that the consent of
a general council was absolutely necessary to convey any part of
these lands to the United States. The part of these lands which
the United States now wish us to relinquish, and which you say are
settled, have been sold by the United States since that time.
"You say 'the United States wish to have confirmed all the
lands ceded to them by the treaty of Fort Harmar, and also a small
tract at the rapids of the Ohio, claimed by General Clark, for the
use of himself and his warriors. And, in consideration thereof, the
United States would give such a large sum of money or goods, as
was never given, at any one time, for any quantity of Indian lands,
since the white people first set their feet on this island. And, be
cause these lands did every year furnish you with skins and furs,
with which you bought clothing and other necessaries, the United
States will now furnish the like constant aupplies. And, therefore,
beside the great sum to be delivered at once, they will every year
deliver you a large quantity of sucMgoods as are best fitted to the
wants of yourselves, your women, and children.'
"Money to us is of no value; and to most of us unknown; and,
as no consideration whatever can induce us to sell the lands on
which we get sustenance for our women and children, we hope we
may be allowed to point out a mode by which your settlers may be
easily removed, and peace thereby obtained.
"We know that these settlers are poor, or they would never have
ventured to live in a countty which has been in continual trouble
ever since they crossed the Ohio. Divide, therefore, this large sum
of money, which you have offered to us, among these people. Give
to each, also, a proportion of what you say you would give to us,
annually, over and above thia very large aum of money; and, as we
are persuaded, they would most readily accept of it, in Ueu of the
land you sold them. If you add, also, the great sums you must
expend in raising and paying armies, with a view to force us to
yield you our country, you will certainly have more than sufficient
for the purpose of repaying these aettlera fqr all their labor and
their improvements.
"You have talked to ua about conceasions. " It appears strange
that you should expect any from us who have qnly beeii defending

630 INDIAN PHILOSOPHY AND LOGIC. 1793.
our just rights against your invasions. We want peace. Restore
to us our country, and we shall be enemies no longer.
"You make one concession to us by offering us your money;
and another by having agreed to do us justice, after having
long and injuriously withheld it; we mean in the acknowledgment
you now have made, that the king of England never did, nor
never had a right to give you our countty, by the treaty of
peace. And you want to make this act of common justice
a great part of your concessions; and seem to expect that,
because you have at last acknowledged our independence, we
should, for such a favor, surrender to you our countty.
"You have talked, also, a great deal about pre-emption, and
your exclusive right to purchase Indian lands, as ceded to you by
the king, at the treaty of peace.
"We never made any agreement with the king, nor with any
other nation, that we would give to either, the exclusive right of
purchasing our lands; and we declare to you, that we consider
ourselves free to make any bargain or cession of lands, whenever
and to whomsoever we please. If the white people, as you say,
made a treaty that none of them but the king should purchase of
us, and that he has given that right to the United States, it is an
affair which concerns you and him, and not us ; we have never
parted with such a power.
"At our general council, held at the Glaize last fall, we agreed
to meet commissioners from the United States, for the purpose of
restoring peace, provided they consented to acknowledge and
confirm our boundary line to be the Ohio, and we determined not
to meet you, until you gave us satisfaction on that point; that is
the reason we have never met.
"We desire you to consider, that our only demand is the
peaceable possession of a small part of our once great country.
Look back and review the lands from whence we have been driven
to this spot. We can retreat no further; because the countty
behind hardly affords food for its inhabitants ; and we have, there
fore, resolved to leave our bones in this amall apace to which we
are now confined.
"We ahall be perauaded that you mean to do ua justice, if
you agree that the Ohio ahall remain the boundary line between
ua. If you will not conaent thereto, our meeting will be altogether
unneceasary. Thia ia the great point which we hoped would have
been explained before you left your homes, as our message, last
fall, waa principally directed to obtain that information.

1793. COUNCIL AT CAPTAIN ELLIOTT'S CLOSED. 631
"Done in general council, at the foot of the Maumee Rapids, the
13th day of August, 1793."
The commissioners immediately sent the following answer to the
council. " To the chiefs and warriors of the Indian nations, assembled at the
foot of the Maumee rapids.
"Brothers: We have just received your answer, dated the 13th
instant, to our speech of the 31st of last month, which we delivered
to your deputies at this place. You say it was interpreted to all
your nations ; and we presume it was well understood. We therein
explicitly declared to you that it was now impossible to make the
river Ohio the boundary between your lands and the lands of the
United States ; your answer amounts to a declaration that you will
agree to no other boundary than the OMo. The negotiation ia
therefore at an end. We sincerely regret that peace is not the
result, but knowing the upright and liberal views of the United
States, which, so far as you gave us an opportunity, we have ex
plained to you ; we trust that impartial judges will not attribute
the continuance of the war to them.
"Done at Captain Elliott's, at the mouth of Detroit river, on the
16th day of August, 1793."
Thus closed the efforts of the government to negotiate with the
Indiana, and there remained of neceaaity no other mode of settling
the question at issue, than the decision of war. Liberal terms were
indeed offered to them, but the boundary of the Ohio was the only
condition on which the confederate tribes would lay down their
arms. Among the rude statesmen of the wilderness, there was
exhibited here as pure patriotism and as lofty devotion to the
good of their race, as ever won applause among civUized men. The
white men had, ever since they came into the country, been en
croaching upon their lands. They had long before occupied all the
regions beyond the mountains. They had crushed the confederacy
which the far-sighted Pontiac had formed to protect his race, thirty
years before. They had taken possession of the common hunting
grounds of all the tribea, on the faith of treaties they did not
acknowledge. They were now laying out aettiementa and building
forta in the heart of the country, to which aU the tribea had been
driven, and which now waa all they could call their own. And
now they aaked that it ahould be guaranteed to them, that the
boundaty which they had so long aaked for should be drawn, and
a final end ahould be made of the continual aggressions of the
whites, or, if not, they solemnly determined to stake their all

632 REMINISCENCES OF CAPTAIN BRANT. 1793.
against fearful odds, in defense of their homes, their country and
the inheritance of their children. Nothing could be more patriotic
than the position they occupied, and nothing could be more noble
than the declarations of their great council.
But while it was noble and patriotic thus to stake their very
existence on the issue of the contest for their rights, a prudent
policy would have dictated to them the necessity of acceding to
the very liberal terms offered by the government. But there were
two reasons for the decision they made. They had a very inade
quate idea of the strength and resources of the white men, and the
victories they had gained were to them the presage of success.
Aside from this, they had hope of British, and even of Spanish
aid in their contest with the Americans. The proof of this is to be
found in the declarations of the Indians themselves, and in the
recorded speeches and messages of the British and Spanish emis
saries. " For several years," said Brant, " we were engaged in getting a
confederacy formed, and the unanimity occasioned by these en
deavors among our western brethren, enabled them to' defeat two
American armies. The war continued without our brothers, the
English, giving any assistance, except a little ammunition ; and
they seeming to desire that a peace might be concluded, we tried
to bring it about at a time that the United States desired it vety
much, BO that they sent commissioners from among their first people,
to endeavor to make peace with the hostile Indians.
" We assembled also for that purpose at the Miami (Maumee)
river, in the summer of 1793, intending to act as mediators in
bringing about an honorable peace ; and if that could not be ob
tained, we reaolved to join our western brethren in trying the for
tune of war. But to our surprise, when upon the point of entering
upon a treaty with the commissioners, we found that it was opposed
by those acting under the British government, and hopes of further
assistance were given to our western brethren, to encourage them
to insist on the Ohio as a boundary between them and the United
States."* Through Elliott, McKee and Butler, this confidence in English
aid was thus excited among the savages, before their final refusal
of the generous terms offered by Washington ; and soon after, the
higher functionaries endorsed the representations of their subordi-

* stone, ii., 358.

1794. LORD DORCHESTER'S SPEECH TO INDIANS. 633
nates. In Februaty, 1794, Lord Dorchester, addresaing" the depu
ties from the council of 1793, said :
" Children :— I was in expectation of hearing from the people of
the United States what was required by them ; I hoped that I should
have been able to bring you together, and make you friends.
" I have waited long, and listened with great attention, but have
• not heard one word from them.
" I flattered myself with the hope that the line proposed in the
year eighty-three, to aeparate ua from the United Statea, which loas
immediately broken by themselves as soon as the peace was signed, would
have been mended, or a new one drawn, in an amicable manner.
Here, alao, I have been disappointed. ,
" Since my return, I find no appearance of a line remains ; and
from the manner in which the people of the United States rush on,
and act, and talk on this side ; and from what I learn of their con
duct toward the sea, I shall not be surprised if we are at war with
them in the course of the present year ; and if so, a line must then
be drawn by the warriors.
" You talk of seUing your lands to the State of New York. I
have told you that there is no line between them and us. I shall
acknowledge no lands to be theirs which have been encroached on
by them since the year 1783. They then broke the peace ; as they
kept it not on their part, it doth not bind on ours.
" They then destroyed their right of pre-emption. Therefore,
all their approaches toward us since that time, and all the purchases
made by them, I consider as an infringement on the king's righta.
And when a line ia drawn between us, be it in peace or war, they
must lose all their improvements and houses on our side of it.
Those people must all be gone who do not obtain leave to become
'the king's subjects. What belongs to the Indians wiU, of course,
be secured and confirmed to them. ^~-^
" What further can I say to you ? You are witnesses that on our
parts we have acted in the most peaceable manner, and borne the
language and conduct of the people of the United States with
patience. But I believe our patience ia almoat exhausted."
And when, during the summer of 1794, there was a conteat
between the United States and the Six Nationa, relative to the
erection of a fort by the former at Preaqu' lale, on Lake Erie,
Brant, in writing to the Britiah authoritiea, on the 19th of July,

" In regard to the Presqu' lale buainess, should we not get an
anawer at the time limitedj it is our business to push thoae fellowf
41

634 LORD DORCHESTER'S SPEECH TO INDIANS. 1794.
hard, and therefore it is my intention to form my camp at Pointe
Appineau ; and I would esteem it a favor if his Excellency the
Lieutenant-Governor would lend me four or five batteaux. Should
it so turn out, and should those fellows not go off, and O'Biel con
tinue in the same opinion, an expedition against those Yankees
must of consequence take place.
" His Excellency has been so good as to furnish us with a hun
dred weight of powder, and ball in proportion, which is now at
Fort Erie ; but in the event of an attack upon Le Bosuf people, I
could wish, if consistent, that his Excellency would order a like
quantity in addition to be at Fort Erie, in order to be in readiness ;
y likewise I would hope for a little assistance in provision."
But the conduct of England, in sending, as she did. Governor
Simcoe, in the month of April, 1794, to the rapids of the Maumee,
there, within the acknowledged territories of the United States, to
erect a fort, was the strongest assurance that could have been given
to the north-western tribes, that she would espouse their quarrel.
In May of 1794, a messenger from the Mississippi provinces of
Spain also appeared in the north-west, offering assistance.*
" Children !" he said, " you see me on my feet, grasping the
tomahawk to strike them. We will strike together. I do not
desire you to go before me, in the front, but to follow me.
" I present you with a war-pipe, which has been sent in all our
names to the Musquakies, and all those nations who live toward
the setting sun, to get upon their feet and take hold of our toma
hawk: and as soon as they smoked it, they sent it back with a
promise to get immediately on their feet, and join us, and strike
this enemy.
" You hear what these distant nations have said to us, so that
we have nothing further to do but to put our designs into imme
diate execution, and to forward this pipe to the three warlike
nations who have so long been struggling for their countty, and
who now sit at the Glaize. Tell them to smoke this pipe, and for
ward it to all the lake Indians and their northern brethren. Then
nothing will be wanting to complete our general union from the
rising to the setting of the sun, and all nations will be ready to
add strength to the blow we are going to make."t
The explanation of the conduct of England is not difficult. In

* American State Papers, t. 503.
t Stone's Brant, ii., 375.

1794. BRPTISH AND SPANISH AID HOPED FOR. 635
March, 1793, Great Britain and Russia had united for the purpose
of cutting off all the commerce of revolutionary France, in the hope
thereby of conquering her. In June, the court of St. James, in
accordance with this agreement, issued orders —
"To stop and detain all vessels loaded wholly or in part with
corn, flour, or msal, bound to any port in France, or any port occu
pied by the armies of France, and to send them to such ports as
should be most convenient, in order that such corn, meal, or flour
might be purchased on behalf of his majesty's government, and the
ships to be released after such purchase, and after a due allowance
for freight; or that the masters of such ships, on giving due secu
rity, to be approved by the court of admiralty, be permitted to dis
pose of their cargoes of corn, meal, or flour, in the ports of any
country in amity with his majesty."
Against this proceeding the United States protested, while Eng
land justified the measure as a very mild application of international
law. On both sides great irritation prevailed, and during thia
period it was that the various acts of Governor Simcoe and others
took place.
As for Spain, she had long been fearful and jealous of the
western colonists; she had done all in her power to sow dissen
sions between the Americans and the southern Indians, aud now
hoped to cripple her Anglo-Saxon antagonist by movements at the
north. But the Americans were not disposed to yield even to this "Hy
dra " of British, Spanish, aud Indian hostiUty, as General Wayne
characterized it. On the 16th of August, the .commissioners
received the final answer of the councU. On the 17th they left the
mouth of the Detroit river, and arrived on the 23d at Fort Erie,
where they immediately dispatched messengers to General Wayne,
to inform him of the issue of the negotiation. Wayne had spent
the winter of 1792 at Legionville, in collecting and organizing his
army. On .the 30th of AprU, 1793, the army moved ' down the
river, and encamped near Fort Washington, at a point called by
the soldiers Hobson's Choice, because from the extreme high wa
ter they were prevented from landing elsewhere. Here Wayne
was engaged, during the negotiations for peace, in drilUng his sol
diers in cutting roads and coUecting supplies in the Indian country,
and in making preparations for an immediate campaign in case
that the efforts of the commissioners to obtain peace ehould be un
successful. On the 5th of October, he addressed the following letter to the
secretary of war :

636 GENERAL WAYNE'S LETTER. 1793.
"Agreeably to the authority vested iu me by your letter of the
17th of Maj', 1793, 1 have used every means in my power to bring
forward the mounted volunteers from Kentucky, as you wiU observe
by the enclosed correspondence with his excellency Governor
Shelby and Major-General Scott upon this interesting occasion. I
have even adopted their own proposition, by ordering a draft of
militia. Add to this, that we have a considerable number of offi
cers and men sick and debilitated, from fevers and other disorders,
incident to all armies. But this is not all ; we have recently been
visited by a malady called the influenza, which has pervaded the
whole line in a most alarming and rapid degree. Fortunately, this
complaint has not been fatal except in a few instances, and I have
now the pleasure of informing you, that we are generally recov
ered, or in a fair way; but our effective force will be much reduced.
After leaving the necessary garrisons at the several posts, which
will generally be composed of the sick and invalids, I shall not be
able to advance beyond Fort Jefferson with more than twenty-sLs
hundred regular effectives, officers included. What auxiliary force
we shall have is yet to be determined ; at present their numbers
are only thirty-six guides and spies, and three hundred and sixty
mounted volunteers.
" This is not a pleasant picture, but something must be done im
mediately, to save the frontiers from impending savage futy.
" I will therefore advance to-morrow with the force I have, in
order to gain a strong position about six miles in front of Fort Jef
ferson, so as to keep the enemy in check (by exciting a jealousy
and apprehension for the safety of their own women and children,)
until some favorable circumstance or opportunity may present to
strike with effect.
" The present apparent tranquillity on the frontiera, and at the
head of the line, is a convincing proof to me, that the enemy are
collected or collecting in force, to oppose the legion, either on its
march, or iu some unfavorable position for the cavalry to act in.
Disappoint them in this favorite plan "or maneuver, they may prob
ably be tempted to attack our lines. In thia case I trust they will
not have much reason to triumph from the encounter.
"They cannot continue long embodied for want of provision, and
at their breaking up they will most certainly make some desperate
effort upon some quarter or other; should the mounted volunteers
advance in force, we might yet compel those haughty savages to
sue for peace, before the next opening of the leaves. Be that as it
may, I pray you not to permit present appearances to cause too
much anxiety either in the mind of the president, or yourself, on

1793. GENERAL WAYNE's SECOND LETTER. 637
account of thia army. Knowing the critical aituation of our infant
nation, and feeling for the honor and reputation of government,
(which I will support with my latest breath,) you may rest assured
that I will not commit the legion unnecessarily ; and unless more
powerfully supported than I at present have reason to expect, I
will content myself by taking a strong position in advance of Jef
ferson, and by exerting every power, endeavor to protect the fron
tiers, and to secure the posts and army during the winter, or until
I am honored with your further orders.
On the 23d of October, Wayne wrote again to the Secretary of
War, from his camp on the aouth-weat branch of the Great Miami,
six miles beyond Fort Jefferson.
"I have the honor to inform you that the legion took up its line
of march from Hobson's Choice, on the 7th inst., and arrived at
this place in perfect order, and without a single accident, at ten
o'clock on the morning of the 13th, when I found myself arrested
for want of provisions. Notwithstanding this defect, I do not
despair of supporting the troopa in our present position, or rather
at a place called Still Water, at an intermediate distance between
the field of St. Clair's battie and Fort Jefferson. The safety of
the western frontiers, the reputation of the legion, the dignity and
interest of the nation, all forbid a retrograde maneuver, or giving
up one inch of ground we now possess, until the enemy are com
pelled to sue for peace. The greatest difficulty which at present
presents itself, is that of furnishing a sufficient escort to secure our
convoys of provisions and other suppUes from insult and disaster,
aud at the same time to retain a sufficient force in camp to sustain
and repel the attacks of the enemy, who appear to be desperate
and determined. We have recently experienced a littie check to
our convoys, which may probably be exaggerated into something
serious by the tongue of fame, before this reaches you. The fol
lowing is, however, the fact:
" Lieutenant Lowry, of the second sub-legion, and Ensign Boyd,
of the first, with a command consisting of ninety non-commissioned
officers and privates, having in charge twenty wagons, belonging
to the quartermaster-general's department, loaded with grain, and
one of the contractor's wagons, loaded with stores, were attacked
early on the morning of the 17th instant, about seven mUes
advanced of Fort St. Clair, by a party of Indians. Those gaUant
young gentiemen, (who promised, at a future day, to be ornaments
to their profession,) together with thirteen non-commissioned offi
cers and privatea, bravely fell, after an obstinate resistance againat

638 WAYNE DISMISSES KENTUCKY MILITIA. 1793.
superior numbers, being abandoned by the greater part of the
escort, upon the first discharge. The savages killed or carried off
about seventy horses, leaving the wagons and stores atanding in
the road, which have all been brought to this camp, without any
other loss or daniage, except some trifiing articles.
" One company of light infantry, and one troop of dragoons,
have been detached this morning, to reinforce four other companies
of infantry commanded by Colonel Hamtramck, as an escort to
the quartermaster-general's and contractor's wagons and pack-
horses. I have this moment received the return of the mounted
volunteers, consisting of about one thousand men, from Kentucky,
under General Scott, recently arrived and encamped in the vicinity
of Fort Jefferson. I shaiU immediately order a strong detachment
of those volunteers, as a further reinforcement to Colonel Ham
tramck. I fear the season is too far advanced to derive that essen
tial service which, otherwise, might be expected from them.
Whether they can act with effect or not, is yet eventual. It is
reported that the Indians at Au Glaize have sent their women and
children into some secret recess or recesses, from their towns, and
that the whole of the warriors are collected or collecting in force.
The savages, however, cannot continue long embodied, for want of
provisions. On the contrary, we have, by great exertions, secured
in this camp seventy thousand rations. I expect one hundred and
twenty thousand, in addition, by the return of the present convoy,
unless they meet with a disaster — a thing that can scarcely happen,
should my orders be duly executed, which- 1 have no cause to doubt,
from the character, vigilance, and experience of the commanding
officer. Colonel Hamtramck. A great number of men, as well as
Officers, have been left sick and debilitated at the respective garri
sons, from a malady called the influenza. Among others. General
Wilkinson has been dangerously ill ; he is now at Fort Jeffei-son,
and on the recovery. I hope he will soon be sufficiently restored
to take Ms command in the legion."
The approach of winter, which was regarded as an unfavorable
season for carrying on active hostilities against the Indians, in
duced General Wayne to dismiss the Kentucky militia, and to
place the regular troops in winter quarters. On a tributary of the
southwest branch of the Great Miami river he erected Fort Green
ville, near the site of the present town of Greenville, Ohio, where
he established his head-quarters.
This being done on the 23d or 24th of December, a detachment
was sent forward to take possession of the field of St. Clair's defeat.

1794. EVIDENCE OF BRITISH INTENTIONS. 639
They arrived upon the spot upon Christmas day. " Six hundred
skulls," says one present, "were gathered up and buried; when
we went to lay down in our tents at night, we had to scrape the
bones together and carry them out, to make our beds."* Here
was built Fort Recovery, which was properly garrisoned, and
placed under the charge of Captain Alexander Gibson. During
the early months of 1794, Wayne was steadily engaged in pre
paring everything for a sure blow when the time came, and by
meana of Captain Gibson and hia varioua apies, kept himself in
formed of the plans and movements of the savages. All his
information showed the faith in British assistance which still
animated the doomed race of red men ; thus, two Pottawattamies,
taken by Captain Gibson, June 6th, in reply to various questions,
answered as follows :
" When did your nation receive the invitation from the Britiah
to join them, and go to war with the Americana ?
"On the first of the last moon; the message was sent by three
chiefs, a Delaware, a Shawanee, and a Miami.
"What was the message brought by those Indian chiefs, and
what number of British troops were at Roche de Bout, (foot of
rapids of the Maumee,) on the 1st of May ?
"That the British sent them to invite the Pottawattamies to go
to war against the United States ; that they, the British, were then
at Roche de Bout, on their way to war against the Americans ;
that the number of British troops then there was about four
hundred, with two pieces of artillety, exclusive of the Detroit
miUtia, and had made a fortification around Colonel McKee's
house and stores at that place, in which they had deposited all
their stores of ammunition, arms,_ clothing and provision with
which they promised to supply all the hostile Indians in abund
ance, provided they would join and go with them to war.
"What tribes of Indians, and what were their numbers, at Roche
de Bout on the 1st of May ?
"The Chippewas, Wyandots, Shawanese, Tawas, Delawares, and
Miamies. There were then collected about one thousand warriors
and were daily coming in and collecting from all those nations.
"What number of warriors do you suppose actually coUected at
that place at this time, and what number of British troops and
mihtia have promised to join the Indians to fight this army?

?American Pioneer, i. 294. Letter of George Will. Dillon's Indiana, i. 360.

640 EVIDENCE OF BRITISH INTENTIONS. 1794.
"By the latest and best information, and from our own knowl
edge of the number of warriors belonging to those nations, there
cannot be less than two thousand warriors now assembled ; and
were the Pottawattamies to join, agreeably to invitation, the whole
would amount to upward of three thousand hostile Indians. But
we do not think that more than fifty of the Pottawattamies will go
to war. The British troops and militia that will join the Indians
to go to war against the Americans, will amount to fifteen hundred,
agreeably to the promise of Governor Simcoe.
" At what time and at what place do the British and Indians
mean to advance against this army ?
"About the last of this moon, or the beginning of the next, they
intend to attack the legion of this place. Governor Simcoe, the
great man who lives at or near Niagara, sent for the Pottawattamies,
and promised them arms, ammunition, provisions, and clothing,
and everything they wanted, on condition that they would join
him, and go to war against the Americans; and that he would
command the whole.
"He sent us the same message last winter; and again on the
first of the last moon, from Roche de Bout ; he also said he was
much obliged to us for our past services, and that he would now
help us to fight, and render us all the services in his power against
the Americans.
" All the speeches that we have received from him, were as red
as blood ; all the wampum and feathers were painted red; the war
pipes and hatchets were red, and even the tobacco was painted
red. " We received four different invitations from Governor Simcoe,
inviting the Pottawattamiea to join in the war; the last was on the
first of the last moon, when he promised to join us with fifteen
hundred of his warriors, as before mentioned. But we wished for
peace ; except a few of our foolish young men.
"Examined, and carefully reduced to writing, at Greenville, this
7th of June, 1794. *
A couple of Shawanese warriors, captured June 22d, were less
sanguine as to their white allies, but still say that which proves
the dependence of Indian action upon English promises. As their
evidence gives some data relative to the Indian forces, as well as
the temper of the western tribes we extract nearly the whole of it.

?American State Papers, v. 489.

1794. FORCES OF THE INDIANS RELATED. 641
"They say that they left Grand Glaize five moons since, i. e.
about the time that the Indians sent in to Wayne a flag, with
propositions of peace.
"That they belonged to a party of twenty, who have been hunt
ing all this spring on the waters of the Wabash, nearly opposite
the mouth of the Kentucky river, and were on their return when
taken. " That, on their way in, they met with a party consisting of four
Indians, i. e. three Delawares and one Pottawattamie, who were
then on their way to the Big-bone Lick, to steal horses ; that this
party informed them that all the Indians on White river were sent
for to come immediately to Grand Glaize, where the warriors of
several nations were now assembled; that the chiefs are yet in
council and would not let their warriors go out ; that they could
not depend upon the British for effectual support ; that they were
always setting the Indians on, like dogs after game, pressing them
to go to war and kill the Americans, but did not help them ; that
unless the British would turn out and help them, they were deter
mined to make peace ; that they would not be any longer amused
by promises only.
" That the Shawanese have three hundred and eighty warriors
at and in the vicinity of Grand Glaize, and generally can, and do,
bring into action about three hundred.
" Their great men or sachems, are the Black Wolf and Kakia-
pi-la-thy or Tame Hawk ; their principal warriors are Blue Jacket
and Captain Johnny; that the Delawares have in and about Grand
Glaize, four hundred and eighty warriors ; that they actually had
four hundred in the action against St. Clair; that the Miamies are
at present but about one hundred warriors, who live near Grand
Glaize, several of them having removed toward Post Yincennea
and by the Misaiasippi ; that the Wyandots never send into action
more than about one hundred and fifty warriors ; they live along
the lake, towards Sandusky; they don't know the number of the
Pottawattamies, nor the number of the other Indians or nationa
that would actually join in war, ahould they determine to continue
it ; that the Chippewas would be the most numerous, and were
generally on their way to the council ; but, that war or peace
depended on the conduct of the British ; if they would help them,
it would probably be war, but if they would not, it would be peace ;
that the Indians would no longer be set on like dogs, by themselves,
unless the British would help them to fight; that the British were
at the foot of the rapids, and had fortified at Roche de Bout; that

642 FORT RECOVERY ATTACKED BY INDIANS AND BRITISH. 1794.
there was a great number of British soldiers at that place ; that
they told the Indians they were now come to help them to fight;
and if the Indians would generally turn out and join them, they
would advance and fight the American army ; that Blue Jacket
had been sent by the British to the Chippewas and northern
Indians, a considerable time since, to invite them, and bring them
to Roche de Bout, there to join the British and other hostile
Indians, in order to go to war."
And the conduct of the Indians demonstrated the truth of these
representations. On the 30th of June, an escort of ninety rifiemen
and fifty dragoons, under the command of Major McMahon, was
attacked under the walls of Fort Recovery, by a force of more
than one thousand warriors, led by the celebrated Miami chief,
Littie Turtie.
"They were soon repulsed," says Wayne in his letter to the
Secretary of War, " with great slaughter, but immediately rallied,
and reiterated the attack, keeping up a very heavy and constant
fire, at a more respectable distance, for the remainder of the day;
which was answered with spirit and effect by the garrison, and that
part of Major McMahon's command that had regained the post.
"The savages were employed during the night, which was dark
and foggy, in carrying off' their dead by torch-light, which occa
sionally drew a fire from the garrison. They, nevertheless, suc
ceeded so well that there were but eight or ten bodies left on the
field, and those close under the fire from the fort.
" The enemy renewed the attack on the next morning, but were
ultimately compelled to retreat, with loss and disgrace, from the
very field where they had, upon a former occasion, been proudly
victorious. "It would appear that the real object of the enemy was to have
carried that post by a coup de main, for they could not possibly have
received intelligence of the escort under Major McMahon, whose
presence there was an accidental, perhaps "a fortunate event. By
every information, as well as from the extent of their encamp
ments, which were perfectly square and regular, and their line of
march, in seventeen columns, forming a wide and extended front,
their numbers could not have been less than fifteen hundred to two
thousand warriors. It would also appear that they were rather in
want of provisions, as they killed and ate a number of pack-horses
iu their encampment, on the evening after the assault; also, at
their next encampment, on their retreat, which was but seven
miles from Fort Recovery.

1794. ASSAILANTS REPULSED AND DEFEATED. 643
"I had detached three small parties of Chickasaw and Choctaw
Indians, a few days previous to this affair, toward Grand Glaize, in
order to obtain provisions, and for the purpose of gaining intelli
gence. One of these parties fell in with a large body of Indians,
at the place called Girty's town, on Harmar's route, apparently
bending their course toward Chillicothe, near the Great Miami.
This party returned on the 28th, with the further information that
there was a great number of white men with the Indians.
"The other two parties got much scattered in following the
trails of the hostile Indians, at some distance in tiieir rear, and
were also in with them when the assault comriienced on Fort
Recovety. These Indians all insist that there was a considerable
number of armed white men in the rear, whom they frequently
heard talking in our language, and encouraging the savages to per
severe in the aaaault; that their facea were generally blacked, except
three British officers, who were dressed in scarlet, and appeared to
be men of great distinction, from being surrounded by a large body
of white men and Indians, who were very attentive to them. These
kept a distance in the rear of those that were engaged.
"Another strong corroborating fact -that there were British,
or British militia, in the assault, is, that a number of ounce
balls and buck shot were lodged in the block-houses and stock
ades of the fort. Some were delivered at so great a distance as not
to penetrate, and were picked up at the foot of the stockades.
"It would also appear that the British and savages expected to
find the artillery that were lost on the 4th of November, 1791, and
hid by the Indians in the beds of old fallen timber, or logs, which
they turned over, and laid the cannon in, and then turned the logs
back into their former berth. It was in this artful manner that we
generally found them deposited. The hoatile Indians turned over
a great number of logs during the' assault, in search of those can
non, and other plunder, which they had probably hid in this man
ner, after the action of the 4th of November, 1791.
"I, therefore, have reason to believe that the British and Indians
depended much upon this artillery to assist in the reduction of that
post; fortunately, they served in its defense."
On the 26th of July, Scott, with some sixteen hundred mounted
men from Kentucky, joined Wayne at Greenville, and on the 28th
the legion moved forward. On the 8th of August, the army was
near the junction of Au Glaize and Maumee, at Grand Glaize,
and proceeded at once to build Fort Defiance, where the rivers

644 WAYNE'S LAST OFFER OF PEACE. 1794.
meet.* The Indians had hastily abandoned their towns upon
hearing of the approach of the army, from a runaway member of
the quarter-master's corps, who was afterward taken at Pitts
burgh. It had been Wayne's plan to reach the head-quarters of the sav
ages. Grand Glaize, undiscovered ; and in order to do this, he had
caused two roads to be cut, one toward the foot of the rapids,
(Roche de Bout,) the other to the junction of the St. Maty and St.
Joseph, while he pressed forward between the two ; and this strata
gem he thinks would have been successful but for the deserter
referred to.
While engaged upon Fort Defiance, the American commander
received full and accurate accounts of the Indians, and the aid they
would receive from the volunteers of Detroit and elsewhere; he
learned the nature of the ground, and the circumstances favorable
and unfavorable ; and upon the whole, considering the spirit of his
troops, officers and men, regulars and volunteers, he determined to
march forward and settle matters at once. But yet, true to the
last, to the spirit of compromise and peace, so forcibly taught by
Washington, on the 13th of August, he sent Christopher Miller,
who had been naturalized among the Shawanese, and had been tar
ken prisoner on the llth, by Wayne's spies, as a special messenger,
offering terms of friendship in these words :
" To the Delawares, Shawanese, Miamies, and Wyandots, and to each
and every of them, and io all other nations of Indians north-west of
the Ohio, whom ii may concern :
"I, Anthony Wayne, Major-General and Commander-in-chief of
the federal army, now at Grand Glaize, and commissioner plenipo
tentiary of the United States of America, for settling the terms
upon which a permanent and lasting peace shall be made with each
and every of the hostile tribes, or nations of Indians north-west of
the Ohio, and of the said United States, actuated by the purest
principles of humanity, and urged by pity for the errors into which
bad and designing men have led you, from the head of my army,
now in possession of your abandoned villages and settlements, do
hereby once more extend the friendly hand of peace towards you,
and invite each and every of the hostile tribes of Indians to appoint
deputies to meet me and my army," without delay, between this
* See American Pioneer, ii. 387, for plan and account of Fort Defiance.

1794. WAYNE MARCHES DOWN MAUMEE. 645
place and Roche de Bout, in order to settle the preliminaries of a
lasting peace, which may eventually and soon restore to you, the
Delawarea, Miamies, Shawanese, and all other tribes and nations
lately settled at this place, and on the margins of the Miami and
Au Glaize rivers, your late grounds and possessions, and to preserve
you and your distressed and hapless women and children from dan
ger and famine, during the present fall and ensuing winter.
"The arm of the United States is strong and powerful, but they
love mercy and kindness more than war and desolation.
"And, to remove any doubts or apprehensions of danger to the
persons of the deputies whom you may appoint to meet this army,
I hereby pledge my sacred honor for their safety and return, and
send Christopher Miller, an adopted Shawanee, and a Shawanee
warrior, whom I took prisoner two days ago, aa a flag, who will
advance in their front to meet me.
"Mr. Miller waa taken priaoner by a party of my warriors, six
moons since, and can testify to you the kindness which I have
shown to your people, my prisoners, that is, five warriors and two
women, who are now all safe and well at Greenville.
" But, should this invitation be disregarded, and my fiag, Mr.
Miller, be detained, or injured, I will immediately order all those
prisoners to be put to death, without distinction, and some of them
are known to belong to the first families of your nation.
"Brothers: — Be no longer deceived or led astray by the false
promises and language of the bad white men at the foot of the
Rapids ; they have neither power nor inclination to protect you.
No longer shut your eyes to your true interest and happiness, nor
your ears to this overture of peace. But, in pity to your innocent
women and children, come and prevent the further effusion of
your blood ; let them experience the kindness and friendship of the
United States of America, and the invaluable blessings of peace
and tranquillity.
ANTHONY WAYNE.
Grand Glaize, August 13th, 1794."
Unwilling to waste time, the troops moved forward on the 15th,
and on the 16th met Miller returning, with the message, that if the
Americans would wait ten days at Grand Glaize, they (the Indians)
would decide for peace or war, to which Wayne replied only by
marching straight on. On the 18th, the legion had advanced forty-
one milea from Grand Glaize, and being near the long-looked for
foe, began to throw up some light works called Fort Deposite,

646 WAYNE'S BATTLE. 1794.
wherein to place the heavy baggage during the expected battie. On
that day, five of Wayne's spies, among whom was May, the man
who had been sent after Truman, and had pretended to desert to
the Indians, rode into the very camp of the enemy; in attempting
to retreat again. May's horse feU, and he was taken. The next
day, and day before the battle, he was tied to a tree, and shot at aa
a target.* During the 19th, the army still labored on their works;
on the 20th, at seven or eight o'clock, all baggage having been
left behind, the white forces moved down the north bank of the
Maumee —
" The legion on the right, its flank covered by the Maumee; one
brigade of mounted volunteers on the left, under Brigadier-General
Todd, and the other in the rear under Brigadier-General Barbee.
A select battaUon of mounted volunteers moved in front of the
legion, commanded by Major Price, who was directed to keep suf-
ficently advanced, so as to give timely notice for the troops to form
in case of action, it being yet undetermined whether the Indians
would decide for peace or war.
" After advancing about five miles. Major Price's corps received
so severe a fire from the enemy who were secreted in the woods
and high grass, as to compel them to retreat. The legion was im
mediately formed in two lines, principally in a close thick wood,
which extended for miles on our left, and for a very considerable dis
tance in front; the ground being covered with old fallen timber,
probably occasioned by a tornado, which rendered it impracticable
for the cavalry to act with effect, and afforded the enemy the most
favorable covert for their mode of warfare.
" The savages were formed in three lines, within supporting dis
tance of each other, and extending for near two miles at right
angles with the river. I aoon diacovered, from the weight of their
fire and extent of their lines, that the enemy were in full force in
front, in possession of their favorite ground, and endeavoring to
turn our left fiank. I therefore gave orders for the second line to
advance and support the first; and directed Major-General Scott to
gain and turn the right fiank of the savages, with the whole of the
mounted volunteers, by a circuitous route ; at the same time ordered
the front line to advance and charge with trailed arms, and rouse
the Indians from their coverts at the point of the bayonet, and
when up, to deliver a close and well directed fire on their backs,

* American Pioneer, i. 52, 318. — American State Papers, t. 243.

1794. WAYNE'S BATTLE. 647
followed by a brisk charge, so aa not to give them time to load
again. "I also ordered Captain Campbell, who commanded the le
gionary cavalry, to turn the left flank of the enemy next the river,
and which afforded a favorable field for that corps to act in. All
these orders were obeyed with spirit and promptitude ; but auch
was the impetuosity of the charge by the first Une of infantry, that
the Indians and Canadian militia and volunteers, were drove from
all their coverts in so short a time, that although every possible
exertion was used by the officers of the second line of the legiOn,
and by Generals Scott, Todd, and Barbee, of the mounted volun
teers, to gain their proper positions, but part of each could get up
in season to participate in the action ; the enemy being drove in
the course of an hour, more than two miles, through the thick
woods already mentioned, by less than one half their number.
From every account the enemy amounted to two thousand com
batants. "The troops actually engaged against them were short of nine
-kundred. This horde of savages, with their allies, abandoned
themselves to fiight, and dispersed with terror and dismay, leaving
our victorious army in full and quiet possession of the field of battle,
which terminated under the influence of the guns of the British
garrison, as you will observe by the enclosed correspondence
between Major Campbell, the commandant, and myself, upon the
occasion. "The bravery and conduct of every officer belonging to the
army, from the generals down to the ensigns, merit my highest
approbation. There were, however, some whose rank and situa
tion placed their conduct in a very conspicuous point of view,
and which I observed with pleasure, and the most lively gratitude.
Among whom I must beg leave to mention Brigadier-General
Wilkinson, and Colonel Hamtramck, the commandants of the
right and left winga of the legion, whoae brave example inspired
the troops. To those I must add the names of my faithful and
gallant aids-de-camp. Captains De Butt and T. Lewis, and Lieu
tenant Harrison, who, with the Adjutant-General, Major Mills,
rendered the most essential service by communicating my orders
in evety direction, and by their conduct and bravcty exciting the
troops to press for victory.
"Enclosed ia a particular return of the killed and wounded.
The loaa of the enemy waa more than that of the federal army.
The woods were strewed for a considerable distance with the dead

648 Wayne's account of the battle. 1794.
bodies of Indians, and their white auxiliaries, the latter armed
with British muskets and bayonets.
"We remained three -days and nights on the banks of the
Maumee, in front of the field of battle, during which time aU the
houses and cornfields were consumed and destroyed for a consider
able distance both above and below Fort Miami, as well as within
pistol shot of the garrison, who were compelled to remain tacit
spectators to this general devastation and conflagration, among
which were the houses, stores and property of Colonel McKee, the
British Indian agent, and principal stimulator of the war now ex
isting between the United States and the savages.
"The army returned to this place (Fort Deflance,*) on the 27th,
by easy marches, laying waste the villages and cornfields for about
fifty miles on each side of the Maumee. There remains yet a
great number of villages and a great quantity of corn, to be con
sumed or destroyed, upon the Au Glaize and the Maumee above
this place, which will be effected in the course of a few days."
The loss of the American army in this engagement according
to the official returns was, of the legion, twenty-one privates and
five officers killed, and seventy-four privates and thirteen officers
wounded ; of the Kentucky, volunteers, seven privates MUed and
ten privates and three officera wounded. It is difficult to deter
mine the force of the enemy. A Canadian who M'as taken in the
battle givea the following eatimatea :
"That the Delawares have about five hundred men, including
those who live on both rivera, the WMte river, and Bean creek.
" That the Miamies are about two hundred warriors ; part of them
live on the St. Joseph's, eight leagues from thia place; that the
men were all in the action, but the women are yet at that place, or
Piquet'a village; that a road leada from thia place directly to it ;
that the number of warriors belonging to that place, when alto
gether, amounts to about forty.
" That the Shawanese have about three hundred warriors ; that
the Tawas, on this river, are two hundred and fifty; that the
Wyandots are about three hundred.
" That those Indiana were generally in the action on the 20th
inatant, except aome hunting parties. That a reinforcement of
regular troops, and two hundred militia, arrived at Fort Miami a
few daya before the army appeared ; that the regular troopa in the
fort amounted to two hundred and fifty, exclusive of the militia.
*Au Glaize.

1794. WAYNE AND CAMPBELL'S CORRESPONDENCE. 649
"That about seventy of the militia, including Captain Cald
well's corps, were in the action. That Colonel McKee, Captain
Elliott, and Simon Girty, were in the field, but at a respectable
distance, and near the river.
"That the Indians have wished for peace for some time, but that
Colonel McKee always dissuaded them from it, and stimulated
them to continue the war."
Immediately after the engagement the army marched down the
Maumee, and encamped on its bank within view of the British
fort.* Alarmed at the near approach of the Americans, and
doubtless chagrined at the defeat of his allies. Major Campbell
addressed the following note, on the next day after the battle, to
General Wayne :
"An army of the United States of America, said to be under
your command, having taken post on the banks of the Miami,
(Maumee,) for upward of the last twenty-four hours, almost within
reach of the guns of this fort, being a post belonging to his majesty
the king of Great Britain, occupied by his majesty's troops, and
which I have the honor to command, it becomes my duty to inform
myself, as speedily as possible, iu what light I am to view your
making such near approaches to this' garrison. I have no hesita
tion, on my part, to say, that I know of no war existing between
Great Britain and America."
To this demand General Wayne returned at once the following
decided answer :
" I have received your letter of this date, requiring from me the
motives which have moved the army under my command to the
position they at present occupy, far within the acknowledged juris
diction of the United States of America. Without questioning the
authority or the propriety, sir, of your interrogatory, I think I may,
without breach of decorum, observe to you, that were you entitled
to an answer, the most full and satisfactory one was announced to
you from the muzzles of my small arma, yesterday morning, in the
action against the horde of savages in the vicinity of your post,
which terminated gloriously to the American arms ; but, had it
continued until the Indians, &c., were driven under the influence
of the post and guns you mention, they would not have much im
peded the progress of the victorious army under my command, aa

* Port Miami, built in the spring of 1794, by order of Governor Simcoe.
42

650 WAYNE AND CAMPBELL'S CORRESPONDENCE. 1794.
no auch poat waa established at the commencement of the present
war between the Indiana and the United Statea."
On the next day Major Campbell replied :
"Although your letter of yesterday's date fully authorizes me
to any act of hostility against the army of the United States in this
neighborhood, under your command, yet still anxious to prevent
that dreadful decision which, perhaps, ia not intended to be appealed
to by either of our countries, I have foreborne, for these two days
past, to resent those insults you have offered to the British flag
flying at this fort, by approaching within pistol shot of my works,
not only singly, but in numbers, with arms in their hands. Neither
is it my wish to Wage war with individuals ; but, should you, after
this, continue to approach my post in the threatening manner you
are at this moment doing, my indispensable duty to myking and
country, and the honor of my profession, will oblige me to have
recourse to those measures, which thousands of either nation may
hereafter have cause to regret, and which I solemnly appeal to God
I have used my utmost endeavors to arrest."
Immediately upon the receipt of this communication the fort
was reconnoitered in every direction. It was found to be a regular,
strong work, the front covered by a wide river, and protected by
four guns. The rear had two regular bastions, furnished with
eight pieces of artillery ; the whole surrounded by a wide, deep
ditch, about twenty feet deep from the top of the parapet. After
thus making provision for an assault if neceaaary, Wayne dis
patched the following note to Campbell:
" In your letter of the 21st instant, you declare, ' I have no hea-
tation, on my part, to say, that I know of no war existing between
Great Britain and America.' I, on my part, declare the same, and
that the only cause I have to entertain a contrary idea at present,
is the hostile act you are now in commission of, i. e. by recently
taking post far within the well known and acknowledged limits of
the United States, and erecting a fortification in the heart of the
settlements of the Indian tribes now at war with the United States.
This, sir, appears to be an act of the highest aggreaaion, and
destructive to the peace and interest of the Union. Hence it
becomes my duty to desire, and I do hereby desire and demand,
in the name of the Preaident of the United States, that you imme
diately desist from any further act of hostility or aggression, by
forbearing to fortify, and by withdrawing the troops, artillety, and
stores, under your orders and direction, forthwith, and removing
to the nearest post occupied by his Britannic majesty'a. troops at

1794. ARMY ASCENDS MAUMEE AND BUILDS FORT WAYNE. 651
the peace of 1783, and which you will be permitted to do unmo
lested by the troops under my command."
To this demand Major Campbell replied:
" I have this moment to acknowledge the receipt of your letter
of this date ; in answer to which I have only to say, that, being
placed here in command of a British post, and acting in a military
capacity only, I cannot enter into any discussion either on the right
or impropriety of my occupying my present position. Those are
matters that I conceive will be best left to the ambasaadora of our
different nations.
" Having aaid thia much, permit me to inform you that I cer
tainly will not abandon this post, at the summons of any power
whatever, until I receive orders for that purpose from those I have
the honor to serve under, or the fortune of war should oblige me.
I must still adhere, sir, to the purport of my letter this morning,
to desire that yOur army, or individuala belonging to it, will not
approach within reach of my cannon, without expecting the con-
aequencea attending it.
" Although I have said, in the former part of my letter, that my
aituation here is totally military, yet, let me add, air, that I am
much deceived if hia majeaty, the king of Great Britain, had not a
post on this river at and prior to the period you mention."
" The only notice taken of this letter," aaya Wayne, " was by
immediately setting fire to and destroying every thing within view
of the fort, and even under the muzzlea of the guns. Had Major
Campbell carried his threats into execution, it is more than probable
he would have experienced a storm."
On the 14th of September the army marched from Fort Defiance
towards the Miami village, at the juncture of the St. Joseph's and
the St. Mary's. It reached that place on the 17th, and on the 18th,
General Wayne selected a site for a fort. On the 22d of October,
the fort was completed and garrisoned by a detachment, under
Major Hamtramck, who gave to it the name of Fort Wayne.
During this period the army auffered much from disease and from
the want of provisions, so much so, indeed, that a pint of salt, it is
aaid, was sold, on the 24th of September, for six dollars. On the
14th of October, the mounted volunteers, from Kentucky, who had
become dissatisfied and mutinous, were moved to Fort Washing
ton, where they were immediately mustered out of the service and
diachaj-ged. On the 28th of October, the legion marched from
Fort Wayne to Fort GreenviUe, wh^e, on his arrival. General
Wayne re-established hia head-quartera.

652 CONDUCT OF BRITISH AFTER THE BATTLE. 1794.
While the army remained at Fort Wayne, the brother of a Cana
dian, taken in the battie on the 20th of August, came into the
camp with three American prisonera, whom he had purchaaed
from the Indians, to exchange for his brother. The exchange waa
of course granted, and, in addition, he was induced to make the
following statement :
" Governor Simcoe, Colonel McKee, and Captain Brant, arrived
at Fort Miami, at the foot of the rapids, on the 30th ultimo^ (Sep
tember.) Brant had with him one hundred Indians, Mohawks and
Messasagoes. " Governor Simcoe sent for the chiefs of the different hostile
Indians, and invited them to meet him at the mouth of Detroit
river, eighteen miles below Detroit, to hold a treaty; Simcoe,
Colonel McKee, and Captain Brant, together with Blue Jacket,
Buckongehelas, the Little Turtle, Captain Johnny, and other chiefs
of the Delawarea, Miamies, Shawanese, Tawas, and Pottawattamies,
set out accordingly for the place assigned for the treaty, about the
1st instant ; the Indians are well and regularly supplied with pro
visions from the British magazines, at a place called Swan Creek,
near Lake Erie.
"Previously to the arrival of Governor Simcoe, Blue Jacket, the
Shawanese chiefs, two of the principal chiefs of the Tawas, and
the principal chiefs of the Pottawattamies, had agreed to accom
pany him with a fiag to this place.
"Blue Jacket informed him, after the arrival of Simcoe, he would
not now go with him until after the intended treaty ; but, that hia
wishes, at present, were for peace; that he did not know what
propositions Governor Simcoe had to make them, but that he and
all the chiefs would go and hear ; and, in the interim, desired him
to inquire of General Wayne in what manner the chiefs should
come to him and whether they would be safe, in case they should
determine on the measure, after the treaty with Simcoe and after
he should return to Detroit; had it not been for the arrival of
Governor Simcoe, Colonel McKee and Captain Brant, with his
Indians, he is confident the chiefs already mentioned would have
accompanied him to this place, at this time, as before related."*
This communication was further confirmed by statements from
the Wyandots, some of whom were in the American intereat. In
deed it appeared afterward that on the 10th of October, the Indians

* American State Papers, v. 52<5.

1794. CONDUCT OF BRITISH AFTER THE BATTLE. 653
met the British at the Big Rock, and were advised that their griefs
would be laid before the king; and in connection with this, as
General Wayne learned from the friendly Wyandots, —
Governor Simcoe insisted that the Indians should not listen to
any terms of peace from the Americans, but to propose a truce, or
suspension of hostilities, until the spring, when a grand council
and assemblage of all the warriors and tribes of Indians should
take place, for the purpose of compelling the Americans to cross
to the east side of the Ohio; and in the interim, advised every
nation to sign a deed or conveyance of all their lands, on the west
side of the Ohio, to the king, in trust for the Indians, so as to give
the British a pretext or color for assisting them, in case the
Americans refused to abandon all their posts and possessions on
the west side of that river ; and wMch the Indians should warn
them to do, immediately after they, the Indians, were assembled
in force in the spring, and to call upon the British to guarantee
the lands thus ceded in trust, and to make a general attack upon
the frontiers at the same time ; that the British would be prepared
to attack the Americans, also, in. every quarter, and would compel
them to cross the Ohio, and to give up the lands to the Indians.
Captain Brant also told them to keep a good heart, and be
strong ; to do as their father advised ; that he would return home
for the present, with his warriors, and come again early in the
spring, with an additional number, so as to have the whole summer
before them, to fight, kill, and pursue the Americans, who could
not possibly stand against the force and numbers that would be
opposed to them ; that he had been always successful, and would
insure them victory. But that he would not attack the Americans
at this time, as it would only put them upon their guard, and
bring them upon the Indians in this quarter, during the AVinter ;
therefore he advised them to amuse the Americans with a prospect
of peace, until they should collect in force to fall upon them early
in the spring, and when least expected.
That, agreeably to this plan or advice, the real hostile tribes will
be sending flags frequently during the winter, with propositions of
peace, but thia is all fraud and art, to put the Americana off their
^uard. The British made large presents to the Indians at the late
council, and continued to furnish them with provision from
Colonel M'Kee's new storea, near the mouth of the Miames of
Lake Erie, where all the Indians are hutted or in tents, whoae
towna and property were deatroyed laat aummer, and who will

654 INDIANS DESIRE PEACE. 1795.
sign away their lands and do exactly what the British request
them; this waa the general prevailing opinion at the breaking up
of the council; since which period, the message and propositions
of the 5th of November, addresaed to the different tribea of Indians
proposing the treaty of the 9th of January, 1789, held at the mouth
of Muskingum, as a preliminary upon which a permanent peace
should be established, has been communicated to them; upon
which, a considerable number of the chiefs of several of the tribes
assembled again, and were determined to come forward to treat, say
about the first of this moon. But Colonel M'Kee was informed of
it, and adviaed them againat the meaaure, and to be faithful to their
father, as they had promised. He then made them additional
presents, far beyond any thing that they had ever heretofore
received, which inclined a majority to adhere to Governor Simcoe's
propositions, and they returned home accordingly.
That, notwithstanding this, the chiefs and nations are much
divided, aome for peace, and some for -war; the Wyandots of San
dusky are for peace; those near Detroit for war; the Delawares
are equally divided, so are the Miamies, but are dependent on the
Britiah for provision ; the Shawanese and Tawas are for war; the
Pottawattamies and Chippewas are gone home, sore from the late
action. That such of the chiefs and warriors as are inclined for peace
will call a council, and endeavor to bring it about, upon the terms
proposed, as they wish to hold their lands under the Americans;
and not under the Britiah, whose title they do not like.*
News also came from the West that the Indians were crossing
the Mississippi; in New York, on the llth of November, Pickering
made a new treaty with the Iroquois ; while in the north fewer and
fewer of the savages lurked about Forts Defiance and Wayne,
Nor waa it long before the wiah of the nativea to make peace be
came still more apparent; on the 28th and 29th of December, the
chiefs of the Chippewas, Ottawas, Sacs, Pottawattamies, and
Miamies, came with peace messages to Colonel Hamtramck, at
Fort Wayne, and on the 24th of January, 1795, at GreenvUle,
entered, together with the Delawares, Wyandots, and Shawanese,
into preliminary articles with the commander-in-chief.
The truth was, the red men had been entirely disappointed in
the conduct of their white allies after the action of the 20th of

* American State Papers, v. 548, 550, 559, 566, 567.

1795. INDIANS DESIRE PEACE. 655
August; as Brant said, " a fort had been built in their country
undf^r pretense of giving refuge in case of necessity, but when that
time came, the gates were shut against them as enemies." During
the winter, Wayne having utterly laid waste their fertile fields, the
poor savages were wholly dependent on the English, who did not
half supply them; their cattle and doga died, and they were them-
selvea nearly starved. Under these circumstances, losing faith in
the English, and at last impressed with sj, respect for American
power, after the carnage experienced at the hands of the " Black
Snake," the various tribes, by degrees, made up their minds to ask
for peace. During the winter and spring they exchanged prisoners,
and made ready to meet General Wayne at Greenville, in June^
for the purpose of forming a definite treaty, as it had been agreed
ahould be done by the preliminaries of January 24th. One scene
among the many of that time seems deserving of a transfer to these
pages; it is from the narrative of John Brickell, who had been a
captive for four years among the Delawares, and adopted into the
family of Whingwy Pooshies,- or Big Cat, a noted warrior of that
tribe: " On the breaking up of spring," Brickell says, "we all went up
to Fort Defiance, and, on arriving on the shore opposite, we saluted
the fort with a round of rifles, and they shot a cannon thirteen
ti,me8. We then encamped on the spot. On the same day, Whingwy
Pooshies told me I must go over to the fort, The children hung
round me crying, and asked me if I was going to leave them ? I
told them I did not know. When we got over to the fort, and
were seated with the officers, Whingwy Pooshies told me to stand
up, which I did; he then rose and addressed me in about these
words :
" ' My son, there are men the same color with yourself. There
may be some of your kin there, or your kin may be a great way off
from you. You have lived a long time with us. I call on you to
say if I have not been a father to you ? If I have not used you as
a father would use a son ?' I said, ' You have used me as well as a
father could use a son.' He said, ' I am glad you aay ao. You
Jiave lived long with me ; you have hunted for me ; but our treaty
aaya you muat be free. If you chooae to go with the people of your
own color, I have no right to say a word ; but if you choose to stay
with me, your people have no right to speak. Now reflect on it,
and take your choice, and tell us as soon as you make up your
mind,' " I was sUent a few minutes, in which time it seemed aa if I

^^^ INDIANS DESIRE PEACE, 1795,
almost thought of evcty thing. I thought of the children I had
just left crying; I thought of the Indians I was attached to, and I
thought of my people which I remembered ; and thia latter thought
predominated, and I aaid, 'I will go with my kin.' The old man
then aaid, ' I have raised you — ^I have learned you to hunt. You
are a good hunter — you have been better to me than my own sons,
I am now getting old, and I cannot hunt. I thought you would be
a support to my age, I leaned on you as a staff. Now it is broken
— ^you are going to leave me and I have no right to say a word, but
I am ruined.' He then sunk back in tears to Ms seat. I heartily
joined Mm in his tears — parted with him, and have never seen nor
heard of him since."*
During the month of June, the representatives of the north
western tribes began to gather at Greenville, and on the 16th of
that month, Wayne met in council, the Delawares, Ottawas, Potta
wattamies, and Eel river Indians ; and the conferences, which
lasted till August 10th, commenced. On the 21st of June, Buck
ongehelas arrived; on the 23d, the Little Turtle and other
Miamies ; on the 13th of July, Tarke and other Wyandot chiefs
reached the appointed spot ; and upon the 18th, Blue Jacket with
thirteen Shawanese, and Masass with twenty Chippewas.
Most of these, as it appeared by their statements, had been tam
pered with by McKee, Brant and other English agenta, even after
they had agreed to the preliminaries of January 24th, and while
Mr. Jay's treaty was still under discussion. They had, however,
all determined to make a permanent peace with the thirteen fires,
and although some difficulty as to the ownership of the lands to be
ceded, at one time seemed likely to arise, the good sense of Wayne
and of the chiefs prevented it, and upon the 30th of July, the
treaty was agreed to which was to bury the hatchet forever.
Between that day and the 3d of August it was engrossed, and
having been signed by the various nations upon the day last
named, on the 7th was finally acted upon, and the presents from
the United States distributed forthwith. While the council was in
session, some mischief had been done in Yirginia by a band of
Shawanese, but on the 9th of September these also came to Green
viUe, gave up their prisonei-s, and asked for forgiveness.
The basis of the treaty of Greenville was the previous one made
at Port Harmar, and its leading provisions were as follows : — hos
tilities were to cease and all prisoners were to be restored.

* See American Pioneer, i. 54,

1795. TREATY OP GREENVILLE. 657
"The general boundary lines between the lands of the United
States and the lands of the said Indian tribes, shall begin at the
mouth of the Cuyahoga river, and run thence up the same to the
portage between that and the Tuscarawas branch of the Mus
kingum; thence down that branch to the crossing place above Fort
Laurens; thence westwardly, to a fork of that branch of the
Great Miami river, running into the Ohio, at or near which fork
stood Loramie's store, and where commences the portage between
the Miami of the Ohio and St. Mary's river, which is a branch of
the Miami which runs into Lake Erie ; thence a westerly course,
to Fort Recovery, which stands on a branch of the Wabash ; thence
southwesterly, in a direct line to the Ohio, so as to intersect that
river opposite the mouth of Kentucky or Cuttawa river.
"And in consideration of the peace now established; of the
goods formerly received from the United States ; of those now to
be delivered ; and of the yearly delivery of goods now stipulated
to be made hereafter; and to indemnify the United States for the
injuries and expenses they have sustained during the war — the
aaid Indian tribes do hereby cede and relinquish, forever, all their
claims to the lands lying eastwardly and southwardly of the gen
eral boundaty line now described ; and these lands, or any part of
them, shall never hereafter be made a cause or pretense, on the
part of the said tribes, or any of them, of war or injury to the
United States, or any other people thereof.
"And for the same consideration, and as an evidence of the
returning friendship of the said Indian tribes, of their confidence
in the United States, 'and desire to provide for their accommoda
tion, and for that convenient intercourse which will be beneficial
td both parties, the said Indian tribes do also cede to the United
States the following pieces of land, tO wit :
"One piece of land six miles square, at or near Loramie's store,
before mentioned.
" One piece, two miles square, at the head of the navigable water
or landing, on the St. Mary's river, near Girty's town.
" One piece, six miles square, at the head of the navigable waters
of the Au Glaize river.
" One piece, six miles square, at the confluence of the Au Glaize
and Miami rivers, where Fort Defiance now stands.
" One piece, aix miles square, at or near the confluence of the
rivers St. Mary's and St. Joaepha, where Fort Wayne now stands,
or near it.
"One piece, two mUea square, on the Wabaah river, at the end of

658 TREATY OP GREENVILLE. 1795.
the portage from the Miami of the lake, and about eight milea
weatward from Fort Wayne.
"One piece, aix miles square, at the Ouiatenon, or old Wea towna,
on the Wabash river.
"One piece, twelve miles square, at the British fort on the
Miami of the lake, at the foot of the rapids.
"One piece, six miles square, at the mouth of the said river,
where it empties into the lake.
" One piece, six miles square, upon Sandusky lake, where a fort
formerly stood.
" One piece, two miles square, at the lower rapids of Sandusky
river. "The post of Detroit, and all the lands to the north, the wesl^
and the south of it, of which the Indian title has been extinguished
by gifts or grants to the French or English governments ; and so
much more land to be annexed to the district of Detroit, as shall
be comprehended between the river Raisin on the south, and Lake
St. Clair on the north, and a line, the general course whereof shall
be six miles distant from the west end of Lake Erie and Detroit
river. "The post of Michilimackinack, and all the land on the island
on which that post stands, and the main land adjacent, of which
the Indian title haa been extinguished, by gifts or grants to the
French or English government ; and a piece of land on the main,
to the north of the island, to measure six miles on Lake Huron, or
the strait between Lakes Huron and Michigan, and to extend three
miles back from the water on the lake or strait; and also the Island
de Bois Blanc, being an extra and voluntary gift of the Chippewa
nation. " One piece of land, six miles square, at the mouth of Chicago
river, emptying into the south-west end of Lake Michigan, where
a fort formerly stood.
" One piece, twelve miles square, at or near the mouth of the
Illinois river, emptying into the Mississippi.
"One piece, six miles square, at the old Peorias fort and village,
near the south end of the Illinois lake, on said Illinois river.
"And whenever the United States shall think proper to survey
and mark the boundaries of the lands hereby ceded to them, they
shall give timely notice thereof to the said tribes of Indians, that
they may appoint some of their wise chiefs to attend and aee that
the linea are run according to the terma of thia treaty.
"And the aaid Indian tribes will allow to the people of the United

1795. TREATY OF GREENVILLE. 669
States a free passage, by land and by water, as one and the other
shall be found convenient, through their countty, along the chain
of posts hereinbefore mentioned ; that ia to say, from the com
mencement of the portage aforesaid, at or near Loramie's store,
thence along said portage to the St. Mary's, and down the same to
Fort Wayne, and then down the Miami to Lake Erie ; again, from
the commencement of the portage, at or near Loramie's store, along
the portage, from thence to the river Au Glaize, and down the
same to its junction with the Miami, at Fort Defiance; again, from
the commencement of the portage aforesaid, to Sandusky river,
and down the same to Sandusky bay and Lake Erie, and from
Sandusky to the post which shall be taken at or near the foot of
the rapids of the Miami of the lake ; and from thence to Detroit.
Again, from the mouth of the Chicago to the commencement of
the portage between that river and the Illinois, and down the
Illinois river to the Mississippi; also, from Fort Wayne, along the
portage aforesaid, which leads to the Wabash, and then down the.
Wabash to the Ohio. And the said Indian tribes will also allow
to the people of the United States the free use of the harbors and
mouths of rivers, along the lakes adjoining the Indian lands, for
sheltering vessels and boats, and liberty to land their cargoes, when
necessary for their safety.
" In consideration of the peace now established, and of the ces
sions and relinquishments of lands made in the preceding article,
by the said tribes of Indians, and to manifest the liberality of the
United States, as the great means of rendering this peace strong
and perpetual, the United States relinquiah their claima to all other
Indian lands, northward of the river Ohio, eastward of the Missis
sippi, and westward and southward of the great lakes, and the
waters uniting them, according to the boundary Une agreed on by
the United Statea and the king of Great Britain, in the treaty of
peace made between them in the year 1783. But from this relin
quishment by the United States, the following tracts of land are
explicitly excepted :
" The tract of one hundred and fifty thousand acres, near the
rapids of the river Ohio, which has been assigned to General Clark,
for the use of himself and his warriora.
" The post at St. Yincennes, on the river Wabash, and the lands
adjacent, of which the Indian title has been extinguished.
"The lands at all other places, in possession of the French peo
ple, and other white settlera among them, of which the Indian title
haa been extinguiahed, aa mentioned heretofore.

660 TREATY OF GREENVILLE. 1795.
" The post of Fort Massac, toward the mouth of the Ohio. To
which several parcels of land, so excepted, the said tribes relinquish
all the title and claim which they, or any of them, may have.
"And, for the same considerations, and with the same views as
above mentioned, the United States now deliver to the said Indian
tribes a quantity of goods to the value of twenty thousand dollars,
the receipt whereof they do hereby acknowledge; and hencefor
ward, every year, forever, the United States will deliver, at some
convenient place northward of the river Ohio, like useful gooda,
suited to the circumstances of the Indians, of the value of nine
thousand five hundred dollars, reckoning that value at the first cost
of the goods, in the city or place in the United States where they
shall be procured. The tribes to which those goods are to be annu
ally delivered, and the proportions in which they are to be delivered,
are the following :
To the Wyandots, the amount of one thousand dollars. -
To the Delawares, the amount of one thousand dollars.
To the Shawanese, the amount of one thousand dollars.
To the Miamies, the amount of one thousand dollars.
To the Ottawas, the amount of one thousand dollars.
, To the Chippewas, the amount of one thousand dollars.
To the Pottawattamies, the amount of one thousand doUars.
And to the Kickapoo, Wea, Eel River, Piankeshaw and Kaskas
kia tribes, the amount of five hundred dollars each.
"Provided, that if either of the said tribes shall hereafter, at an
annual delivery of their share of the goods aforesaid, desire that a
part of their annuity should be furnished in domestic animals, im
plements of husbandry, and other utensils, convenient for them,
and in compensation to useful artificers who may reside with or
near them, aud be employed for their benefit, the same shall, at the
subsequent annual deliveries, be furnished accordingly.
"To prevent any misunderstanding about the Indian lands re
linquished by the United States, in the fourth article, it is now
expUcitly declared, that the meaning of that relinquishment is this:
the Indian tribes who have a right to these lands, are quietly to en
joy them, hunting, planting, and dwelling thereon, so long as they
please, without any molestation from the United States; but when
those tribes, or auy of them, shall be disposed to sell their lands, or
any part of them, they are to be sold only to the United States;
and until such sale, the United States will protect all the said In
dian tribea, in the quiet enjoyment of their landa, against all citi
zens of the United States, and againat all other white persons who

1795. CLOSE OF THE OLD INDIAN WAR. 661
intrude upon the same. And the said Indian tribes again acknowl
edge themselves to be under the protection of the aaid United
States, and no other power whatever.
" The Indians or United Statea may remove andpuniah intruders
on Indian landa.
"Indians may hunt within ceded landa.
" Trade ahall be opened in aubstance, aa by proviaiona in treaty
of Fort Harmar.
" All injuriea shall be referred to law ; not privately avenged ;
and all hostile plana known to either, shall be revealed to the other
party. "All previous treaties annulled."
This great and abiding peace document waa aigned by the vari
ous nations named in the fourth article, and dated August the 3d,
1795. It waa laid before the Senate, December 9th, and ratified
December 22d. So closed the old Indian wars of the West.*
During the aix years through which the Indian wara of the
north-west continued, many events of great importance in the his
tory of the West occurred, to which it is proper now to make refer
ence. Among the firat of these stands the admisaion of Kentucky
into the Union. In 1789, ahe had requeated certain changes in
the law authorizing aeparation, which had been passed by Yir
ginia, and these changes were made ; it being requested, however,
at the same time, that a ninth Kentucky convention should meet,
in July, 1790, to express the sentiments of the people of the western
diatrict, and to take other needful ateps.
Upon the 26th of July, accordingly, the convention came to
gether; the terma of Yirginia were agreed to; June 1, 1792, waa
fixed aa the date of independence ; and measures adopted to procure
the agreement of the federal legislature. It was also reaolved, that
iu December, 1791, peraons ahould be choaen, to aerve seven
months, who, on the first Monday in April, 1792, should meet at
Danville, to form a constitution for the coming state, and deter
mine what laws should be in force.
In December, 1790, the preaident of the United States presented
the- subject of tho admisaion of Kentucky, to Congress, and upon
the 4th of February, 1791, that action waa taken, which terminated
the long frustrated efforts of the land of Boone, Clark, and Logan,

» See the treaty and minutes of the council, American State Papers, t. 562 to 583.

662 CESSATION OF BOUNDARY DIFFICULTIES. 1795."
to obtain self-government. In the foUowing December the elec
tions took place, for persons to frame a constitution, and in April,
1792, the inatrument which waa to lie at the basis of Kentucky law,
waa prepared, mainly, it would seem, by George Nicholas, of Mer
cer county.*
The ultimate design of the British agents, in their long intrigue
with the Indians of the north-west, was to unite them together in
a great confederacy, in order that the United tribes might be
able to secure, either by negotiation or war, the recognition of the
Ohio as a permanent boundary between them and the Americans.
They were influenced by no philanthropic desire to protect the
rights of the savages, in the attempt to secure them against the en
croachments of the American settlers ; on the contrary, they sought
through that policy to establish a British protectorate over the
north-western tribes, and thus, in effect, to remove the line of
Canada to the Ohio, and to extend the authority of the British
crown over the whole region covered by the ordinance of 1787.
It was to further this ultimate policy, aa well aa to retaliate upon
the confederation the injury done to Britiah creditora, by the re-
fuaal of the State of Yirginia to repeal her laws againat the payment
of their claims, that the British cabinet refused, in contravention of
the treaty of 1783, to surrender the posta retained at the close of
the war of independence, within the limits of the United States.
But the defeat of the Indians at the battle of the Fallen Timbers,
deranged that policy, dispelled all hope they entertained of ever
recovering the British supremacy in that region, and diaposed them
to cultivate more friendly relations with the Americans, and to
aurrender the posts in the north-west, and by consequence, their
control over the savages into the handa of the American gov
ernment. The difficulties that had exiated for ten years between the United
States and Great Britain, in regard to their mutual infractions of
the treaty of 1783, asaumed, during the period of the Indian war,
a very grave aapect and threatened to involve the two nationa again
in war, and it waa the apprehenaibn of auch a result, in addition to
the motivea of an ulterior policy, that atimulated the British cabi
net and its agenta in Canada to excite the hostilities of the Indians
againat the Americans. But all those difficulties were at length

• Marshall's Kentucliy, i. 360, 414.— Sparks' Washington, xii. 13, 82.

1795. jay's treaty formed. 663
aettled amicably by negotiation, and the imminent danger of
another war averted.
On the 19th of April, 1794, John Jay waa appointed the Envoy
Extraordinary of the United Statea to Great Britain, with full
power to negotiate with the representatives of the British Govern
ment, concerning all matters of difference between the two coun
tries. After a long negotiation Mr. Jay concluded, on the 19th of
November, a treaty of amity, commerce and navigation, with Lord
Greenville, the British Secretary of Foreign Affairs, which included
and decided all the questions at issue. The second article of that
treaty provided that —
" His Majesty will withdraw all hi& troops and garriaons from all
posts and places within the boundary lines assigned by the treaty
of peace to the United Statea. Thia evacuation ahall take place
on or before the fir§t day of June, onethouaand aeven hundred and
ninety-six, and all the proper measures shall be taken, in the inter
val, by concert, between the government of the United States and
his Majesty'a Governor-X3-eneral in America, for aettling the pre-
vioua arrangementa which may be necessary respecting the delivery
of the aaid posts : the United Statea, in the meantime, at their
discretion, extending their settlements to any part within the said
boundary line, except within the precincts or juriadiction of any of
the aaid posts.
" All settlers and traders within the precincts or juriadiction of
the said poats, shall continue to enjoy, unmolested, all their pro
perty, of every kind, and shall be protected therein. They shall
be at full liberty to remain there, or to remove with all or any part
of their effects; and it shall also be free to them to sell their lands,
houses or effects, or retain the property thereof, at their discretion ;
such of them as ahall continue to reside within the said boundary
lines ahall not be compelled to become citizens of the United States,
or to take any oath of allegiance to the government thereof; but
they shall be at full liberty so to do if they think proper; they shall
make and declare their election within one year after the evacua
tion aforesaid. And all persona who ahall continue there after the
"expiration of the said year, without having declared their intention
of remaining subjects to his Britannic Majeaty, ahall be considered
as having elected to become citizens of the United Statea."
The attempt of the agenta of the French minister in the United
States, to enlist the people of Kentucky in an invasion of Louiai
ana, deserves to be noticed.

664 FRENCH EMISSARIES IN THE WEST. 1795.
A great interest waa exhibited by the people of the United States
in the popular cause, at the outbreak of the revolution in France ;
and when M. Genet presented himself at Philadelphia, on the 18th
of May, 1793, aa the representative of the French Republic, he was
received with unbounded enthusiasm. That feeling of sympathy
he at once began to use to serve the ulterior purposes of the leaders
of the revolution. It appears that he brought with him open
instructions, in which the United States were spoken of as naturally
neutral, in the contest between France and united Holland, Spain
and England ; and secret instructions, the purpose of which was to
induce the government, and if that could not be done, the people
of the American republic, to make common cause with the foun
ders of the dynasty of the guillotine.
In pursuance of this plan. Genet began a system of operations,
the tendency of which was to involve the people of the United
Staites in a war with the enemies of France, without any regard to
the views of the federal government; and knowing very well the
old bitterness of the frontier-men, in relation to the navigation of
the Mississippi, he formed the plan of embodying a band of troops
beyond the Alleghenies, for the conquest of Louisiana. Early in
November, 1793, four persons were sent westward to raise troops
and issue commissions, in the name of the French republic. They
moved openly and boldly, secure in the strong democratic feelings
of the inhabitanta of the region drained by the great river which
Spain controlled ; and so far succeeded as to persuade even the
political founder of Kentucky, George Rogers Clark, to become a
Major-General in the armiea of France, and Commander-in-chief
of the revolutionary forcea on the Miaaissippi.*
Nor did the French emissaries much mistake the temper of the
people of Kentucky, as is evident from an "address to the inhabi
tants of the United Statea, west of the Allegheny and Appallachian
mountains," issued by the Democratic Society of Kentucky, on the
13th of December, 1793, over the signature of John Breckenridge,
chairman :
"Fellow Citizens: — The Democratic Society of Kentucky having
had under consideration the measures necessary to obtain the exer
cise of your righta to the free navigation of the Miaaissippi, have

Pitkin's United States, ii. 359, 360. — Genet's pamphlet and correspondence with
.nil. Jefferson, published in Philadelphia, 1793. — American State Papers, i.454 to 460.—
Marshall's Kentucky, ii. 99 to 100, 103.— Butler's Kentucky, 224 to 234, and 524 to 531.
Second Edition.

?
Mr,

1795. ADDRESS OP THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY. 665
determined to address you upon that important topic. In so
doing, they think that they only use the undoubted right of citizena
to conault for their common welfare. Thia meaaure is not dictated
by party or faction ; it is the consequence of unavoidable necessity.
It has become so from the neglect shown by the general govern
ment to obtain for those of the citizens of the United States who
are interested therein, the navigation of that river.
"Experience, fellow citizens, has shown us that the general gov
ernment is unwilling that we should obtain the navigation of the
river Misaiasippi. A local policy appears to have an undue weight
in the councils of the Union. It seems to be the object of that
policy to prevent the population of this country, which would draw
from the Eastern States their industrious citizens. This conclusion
inevitably follows, from a consideration of the measures taken to
prevent the purchase and settlement of the lands bordering on the
Mississippi. Among those measures, the unconstitutional inter
ference which rescinded sales, by one of the States, to private indi
viduals, makes a striking object. And, perhaps, the fear of a suc
cessful rivalship, in every article of their exports, may have ita
weight. But, if they are not unwilling to do us justice, they are,
at least, regardless of our rights and welfare.
"We have found prayers and supplications of no avail, and
should we continue to load the table of Congress with memorials
from a part only of the western country, it is too probable that
they would meet with a fate similar to those which have been for
merly presented. Let us, then, all unite our endeavors in the
common cause. Let all join in a firm and manly remonstrance to
the President and Congress of the United States, stating our juat
and undoubted right to the navigation of the Mississippi, remon
strating againat the conduct of the government with- regard to that
right, which muat have been occasioned by local policy or neglect,
and demanding of them speedy and effectual exertions for ita
attainment. We cannot doubt that you will cordially and unani
mously join in this measure.
"It can hardly be necessary to remind you that considerable
quantities of beef, pork, flour, hemp, tobacco, &c., the produce of
this countty, remain on hand for want of purchasers, or are sold
at inadequate prices. Much greater quantities might be raised, if
the inhabitants vpere encouraged by the certain sale which the free
navigation of the Mississippi would afford. An additional increase
of those articles, and a greater variety of produce and manufao-
43

666 ADDRESS OF THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY. 1795.
tures, would be supplied by means of the encouragement which
the attainment of that great object would give to emigration.
" But it is not only your own righta which you are to regard ;
remember that your poaterity have a claim to your exertions to
obtain and secure that right. Let not your memory be stigmatized
with a neglect of duty. Let not history record that the inhabitanta
of this beautiful country lost a most invaluable right, and half the
benefits bestowed upon it by a bountiful Providence, through your
neglect and supineness. The present crisis is favorable. Spain ia
engaged in a war which requires all her forces. If the present
golden opportunity be sufl'ered to pass without advantage, and ahe
shall have concluded a peace with France, we must then contend
against her undivided strength.
" But what may be the event of the proposed application is atill
uncertain. We ought, therefore, to be still upon our guard, and
watchful to seize the firat favorable opportunity to gain our object.
In order to this, our union should be as perfect and lasting as pos
sible. We propose that societies should be formed, in convenient
districts, in every part of the western country, who shall preserve
a correspondence upon this and every other subject of a general
concern. By means of these societies, we shall be enabled speedily
to know what may be the result of our endeavors, to consult upon
such further measures as may be necessary to preserve union, and
finally, by these means, to secure success.
"Remember that it is a common cause, which ought to unite us;
that cause is indubitably just, that ourselves and posterity are
interested, that the crisis is favorable, and that it is only by union
that the object can be achieved. The obstacles are great, and so
ought to be our efforts. Adverse fortune may attend us, but it
shall never dispirit us. We may, for awhile, exhaust our wealth
and strength, but until the all-important object is procured, we
pledge ourselves to you, and let us all pledge ourselves to each
other, that our perseverance and our friendship will be inex
haustible." And the same spirit is manifested in a remonstrance of the citi
zens of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, to the President and
Congress of the United States, prepared, probably, at the same
time. It sets forth —
" That your remonstrants, and the other inhabitantaof the United
Statea, west of the Allegheny and Apallachian mountains, are en
titied, by nature and stipulation, to the free and undisturbed
navigation of the river Mississippi; and that, from the year 1783

1795. REMONSTRANCE OF THE KENTUCKIANS. 667
to this day, they have been prevented uniformly, by the Spanish
king, from exercising that righi Your remonstrants have ob
served, with concern, that the general government, whose duty it
was to have preserved that right, have used no effectual measures
for ita attainment ; that even their tardy and ineffectual negotia-
tiona have been veiled with the most mysterious secrecy ; that that
secrecy is a violation of the political rights of the citizens, aa it
declares that the people are unfit to be entrusted with important
facts relative to their righta, and that their aervants may retain
from them the knowledge of those facts. Eight years are surely
sufficient for the discussion of the most doubtful and disputable
claim. The right to the navigation of the Mississippi admits
neither of doubt or diapute.
"Your remonstrants, therefore, conceive that the negotiations
on that subject have been unnecessarily lengthy, and they expect
that it be demanded categorically of the Spanish king whether he
will acknowledge the right of the citizens of the United States to
the free aud uninterrupted navigation of the river Mississippi, and
cause all obstructions, interruption, and hindrance to the exercise
of that right, in future, to be withdrawn and avoided ; that imme
diate answer be required, and that such answer be the final period
of all negotiations upon the subject.
"Your remonstrants further repreaent, that the encroachment
of the Spaniarda upon the territory of the United Statea, ia a
striking and melancholy proof of the situation to which our
country will be reduced, if a tame policy should still continue to
direct our councils.
" Your remonstrants join their voice to that of their fellow-citi
zens in the Atlantic States, caUing for satisfaction for the injuries
and insults offered to America; and they expect such aatiafaction
shall extend to every injury and insult done or offered to any part
of America, by Great Britain and Spain ; and as the detention of
the posts, and the interruption to the navigation of the Mississippi,
are injuriea and insults of the greatest atrocity, an4 of the longest
duration, they require the most particular attention to those sub
jects." The pretensions and proceedings of Genet and his agenta, at
once excited the solicitude of the government; the ministers of
Great Britain and Spain, remonstrated againat the poUcy they were
pursuing, and it was determined by the cabinet to demand the
recall of the obnoxious minister. Accordingly, Mr, Jefferaon^ ad
dreased a communication to Governeur Morria, the American

668 GENET IS REBUKED BY GOVERNMENT. 1793.
Minister at Paris, intended for the French Government, in which
he thus characterizes the conduct of Genet :
" When the government forbids their citizens to arm and engage
in the war, he undertakes to arm and engage them. When they
forbid vessels to be fitted in their ports for cruising on nations
with whom they are at peace, he commissions them to fit and
cruise. When they forbid an unceded jurisdiction to be exercised
within their territoty by foreign agents, he undertakes to uphold
that exercise, and to avow it openly. That friendship, which
dictates to us to bear with Ms conduct yet awhile, lest the interests
of Ms nation here should suffer injury, will hasten them to replace
an agent whose disposition is such a misrepresentation of theirs,
and whose continuance here is inconsistent with order, peace,
respect, and that friendly correspondence which we hope will ever
subsist between the two nations. His government wiU see, too,
that the case ia preaaing. That it is impossible for two sovereign
and independent authorities to be going on within our territory, at
the same time, without collision. They will foresee that if M,
Genet perseveres in his proceedings, the consequences would be so
hazardous to us, the example so humiliating and pernicious, that we
may be forced even to suspend Ms functions before a successor can
arrive to continue them. If our citizens have not already been
shedding each other's blood, it is not owing to the moderation of
M. Genet, but to the forbearance of the government" *
A copy of this letter from the Secretary of State to Mr. Morria,
was sent to M. Genet, who, on the 18th of September, 1793, wrote
to Mr. Jefferson a letter which contained the following remarkable
expressions :
"It is in the name of the French people, that I am sent to their
brethren — to free and sovereign men. It is then for the represen
tatives of the American people, and not for a single man, to exhibit
against me an act of accusation, if I have merited it. A despot
may singly permit himself to demand from another despot the
recall of his representative, and to order his expulsion in case of
refusal. That is what the' Empress of Russia did with respect to
myself, from Louis XYI. But in a free state it cannot be so,.
unless order be entirely subverted ; unless the people in a moment
of blindness, choose to rivet their fetters, in making to a single
individual the abandonment of their most precious righta.

•American State Papers, i. 170.

1794. genet's letter to jefferson. 669
" You are made to reproach me with having indiscreetly given
to my official proceedings, a tone of color, which has induced a
belief, that they did not know, in France, either my character or
my manners. I will tell you the reason, sir : it is that a pure and
warm blood runs with rapidity in my veins; that I love passionately
my country ; that I adore the cause of liberty ; that I am always
ready to sacrifice my life to it; that to me, it appears inconceivable
that all the enemies of tyranny, that all virtuous men, do not
march with us to the combat; and that, when I find an injustice is
done to my fellow citizens, that their interests are not espoused
with the zeal which they merit, no consideration in the world
would hinder either my pen or my tongue from tracing, from
expressing my pain. I will tell you then without ceremony, that
I have been extremely wounded, sir: —
" That the President of the United States was in a hurry, before
knowing what I had to transmit to him, on the part of the French
republic, to proclaim sentiments, on which decency and friendship
should at least have drawn a veil.
"That he did not speak to me at my first audience, but of the
friendship of the United States toward France, without saying a
word to me, with announcing a single sentiment, on our revolution ;
while all the towns from Charleston to Philadelphia, had made
the air resound with their most ardent wishes for the French
republic. "That he had received and admitted to a private audience,
before my arrival, Noailles and Talon, known agents of the French
counter-revolutionists, who have since had intimate relations with
two members of the federal government.
" That this first magistrate of a free people, decorated his parlor
with certain medallions of Capet * and his family, which served at
Paris as signals of rallying.
" That the first complaints which were made to my predecessor
on the armaments and prizes which took place at Charleston on
my arrival, were, in fact, but a paraphrase of the notes of the
English minister.
" That the Secretaty of War, f to whom I communicated the
wish of our governments of the Windward Islands, to receive
promptly aome fire-arma and some cannon, which might put into
a state of defense, possessions guarantied by the United States,

* Louis XVI. t General Henry Knox.

670 genet's letter to jefferson. 1794.
had the front to answer with an ironical carelessness, that the
principles established by the President, did not permit him to lend
us so much as a pistol.
"That the Secretary of the Treasuty,* with whom I had a con
versation on the proposition which I made to convert almost the
whole American debt, by means of an operation of finance author
ized by law, into flour, rice, grain, salted provisions, and other
objects of which France had the most pressing need, added to the
refusal which he had already made officially of favoring thia
arrangement, the positive declaration, that, even if it were
practicable, the United States could not consent to it because
England would not fail to consider this extraordinaty reimburse
ment furnished to a nation with which she is at war, as an act of
hostility. " That, by instructions from the President of the United States,
the American citizens who ranged themselves under the banners
of France, have been prosecuted and arrested; a crime against
liberty unheard of, of which a virtuous and popular juty avenged
with eclat the defenders of the beat of causes.
"That incompetent tribunals were suffered to take cognizance
of facts relative to prizes which treaties interdict them expressly
from doing: that, on their acknowledgment of their incompetency,
this property, acquired by the right of war, waa taken from us,
that it was thought ill of, that our consuls protested against these
arbitrary acta, and that, as a reward for his devotion to his duty,
the one at Boston was imprisoned as a malefactor.
" That the President of the United States took on himself to
give to our treaties arbitrary interpretations, absolutely contrary to
their true sense, and that, by a series of decisions which they
would have us receive as laws, he left no other indemnification to
France for the blood she spilt, for the treasure she dissipated in
fighting for the independence of the United States, but the iUusory
advantage of bringing into their porta the prizea made on their
enemies, without being able to sell them.
" That no answer is yet given to the notification of the decree of
the National Convention for opening our ports in the two worlds
to the American citizens, and granting the same favors to them as
to the French citizens — advantages which will cease if there be a
continuance to treat us with the same injustice.

? Alexander Hamilton.

1794. genet recalled by French government. 671
" That he (Washington) has deferred, in spite of my respectful
insinuations, to convoke congress immediately, in order to take
the true sentiments of the people, to fix the political system of the
United States, and to decide whether they will break, suspend or
tighten their bands with France — an honest measure which would
have avoided to the general government much contradiction and
subterfuge, to me much pain aud disgust, to the local governments,
embarrassments so much the greater, as they found themselves
placed between treaties, which are laws, and decisions of the
federal government, which are not: in fine, to the tribunals, dutiea
so much the more painful to fulfill, aa they have been often under
the necessity of giving judgments contrary to the intentions of the
government. . It results from all these facts, sir, that I could not
but be profoundly affected with the conduct of the federal govern
ment toward my country." *
Genet was recalled in compliance with the demand of the
American Government, his acts were disowned, and M. Fauchet
was appointed his successor; and during the period of his eonnec
tion with the government, " used all the means in his power to
prevent French armaments in the United States."
The recall of Genet, however, did not immediately arrest the
scheme of his emissaries, and the preparations they were making
for the invasion of Louisiana were for the time prosecuted with
unabated vigor. It was the first object of the conspirators to
excite the sympathy, and thus to secure the co-operation of the
French inhabitants of Louisiana; and the Democratic Society of
Philadelphia with that view published and circulated in Louisi
ana, the foUowing address "from the freemen of France to their
brothers in Louisiana:" f
"Liberty, Equality.
"The Freemen of France to their brothers in Louisiana: 2d year
of the French Republic.
" The moment has arrived when despotism must disappear from
the earth. France, having obtained her freedom, and constituted
herself into a republic, after having made known to mankind their
rights, after having achieved the most glorious victories over her
enemies, is not satisfied with successes by which she alone would
profit, but declares to aU nations that ahe ia ready to give her pow-

* American State Papers — Foreign Relations, i. 172.
f Gayarre's Spanish domination in Louis ana, p. 337.

672 ADDRESS OF FRENCH JACOBINS. 1794.
erful assistance to those that may be disposed to foUow her virtuous
example. "Frenchmen of Louisiana, you still love your mother country;
such a feeling is innate in your hearts. The French nation, know
ing your sentiments, and indignant at seeing you the victims of the
tyranta by whom you have been so long oppressed, can and will
avenge your wrongs. A perjured king, prevaricating ministers,
vile and insolent courtiers, who fattened on the labors of the people
whoae blood they aucked, have suffered the punishment due to
their crimes. The French nation, irritated by the outrages and
injustices of which it had been the object, rose against those
oppressors, and they disappeared before its wrath, aa rapidly as
dust obeya the breath of an impetuous wind.
" The hour has struck. Frenchmen of Louisiana ; hasten to profit
by the great lesson which you have received.
" Now is the time to cease being the slaves of a government to
which you were shamefully sold ; and no longer to be led on like
a herd of cattle, by men who, with one word, can strip you of what
you hold most dear — liberty and property.
" The Spanish despotism has surpassed in atrocity and stupidity
all the other despotisms that have ever been known. Has not bar
barism always been the companion of that government, which has
rendered the Spanish name execrable and horrible in the whole
continent of America ? Is it not that nation who, under the hypo
critical mask of religion, ordered or permitted the sacrifice of more
than twenty millions of men ? Is it not the same race that
depopulated, impoverished and degraded whole countries, for the
gratification of an insatiable avarice ? Is it not the nation that has
oppressed and still oppresses you under a heavy yoke ?
" What have been the fruits of so many crimes ? The annihUa-
tion, the disgrace, the impoverishment, and the besotting of the
Spanish nation in Europe, and a fatal lethargy, servitude, or death
for an infinite number of the inhabitants of America.
"The Indians cut down the tree whose fruits they wish to reach
and gather. A fit illustration of despotism ! The fate of nations
is of no importance in the eye of tyranny. Everything is to be
sacrificed to satisfy capricious tastes and transient wants, and all
those it rules over must groan under the chains of slavery.
" Frenchmen of Louisiana, the unjust treatment you have under
gone must have sufficiently convinced you of these sad truths, and
your misfortunea muat undoubtedly have deeply impreaaed your
aouls with the desire of seizing an honorable opportunity of aveng
ing your wrongs.

1794. ADDRESS OF FRENCH JACOBINS. 673
" Compare with your situation that of your friends — the free
Americans. Look at the province of Kentucky, deprived of outlets
for ita producta, and yet,- notwithstanding these obstacles, and
merely through the genial influence of a free government, rapidly
increasing its population and wealth, and already presaging a pros
perity which causes the Spanish government to tremble.
"Treasure up in your minds the following observations: They
divulge the secret springs of all despotic governments, because
they tear off the veil which covers their abominable designs. Men
are created and born to love another, to be united and happy, and
they would be so effectually, if those who call themselves the
images of God on earth — if kings — ^had not found out the means
of sowing discord among them and destroying their felicity.
" The peopling of Kentucky has been the work of a few years ;
your colony, although better situated, is daily losing its population,
because it lacks liberty.
" The Americans, who are free, after consecrating all their time
to cultivating their landa and to expanding their industry, are sure
to enjoy quietly the fruits of their labors ; but, with regard to your
selves, all that you possess depends on the caprice of a viceroy,
who is always unjust, avaricious, and vindictive.
" These are evils which a firm determination, once taken, can
shake off. Only have resolution and energy, and one instant will
suffice to change your unhappy, condition. Wretched indeed
would you become, if you failed in such an undertaking! Because,
the vety name of Frenchmen being hateful to all kings and their
accomplices, they would, in return for your attachment to us, ren
der your chains more insupportable, and would persecute you with
unheard of vexations.
"You quiver, no doubt, with indignation; you feel in your
hearts the desire of deserving the honorable appellation of freemen,
but the fear of not being aasisted and of failing in your attempt
deadens your zeal. Diamiaa auch apprehensiona : know ye, that
your brethren the French, who have attacked with aucceaa the
Spanish government in Europe, will in a short time present them
selves on your coasts with naval forcea ; that the republicans of the
western portion of the United States are ready to come down the
Ohio and Mississippi in company with a considerable number of
French repubUcana, and to rush to your assistance under the ban
ners of France and liberty ; and that you have every assurance of
succesa. Therefore, inhabitanta of Louiaiana, show who you are ;
prove that you have not been stupified by despotism, and that you

674

WASHINGTON VIGILANT AGAINST JACOBINS. 1794.

have retained in your breasts French valor and intrepidity ; de
monstrate that you are worthy of being free and independent,
becauae we do not aolicit you to unite yourselves with ua, but to
seek your own freedom. When you ahall have the aole control of
your actions, you will be able to adopt a republican constitution,
and being assisted by France so long as your weakness will not
permit you to protect or defend yourselves, it will be in your power
to unite voluntarily with her and your neighbors — the United
States — forming with these two republics, an alliance which will
be the liberal basis on which, henceforth, shall stand our mutual
political and commercial interests. Your country will derive the
greatest advantages from so auspicious a revolution, and the glory
with which you will cover yourselves will equal the prosperity
which you will secure for yourselves and descendants. Screw up
your courage. Frenchmen of Louisiana. Away with pusillanimity
— ga ira — ga ira — audacea fortuna juvat."
In order to prevent the invasion of the territory of a foreign
power by unlawful and unauthorized military expeditions from the
United Statea, Washington took early and efficient measures to
enforce the laws and to preserve the neutrality of the country.
For this purpose he called upon the Governors of Kentucky, and
of the North Western Territory, to take all the measures in the
course of the law, and if necessary to use military force for the
prevention of any hostile enterprise against Louisiana.
Governor St. Clair immediately published a proclamation, ex
horting all good citizens to avoid any connection with the scheme
of the French emissaries, and warning them of the consequences
of participating in it.
Governor Shelby was however in sympathy, if not directly impli
cated in the affair; and in his reply to the dispatch of the govern
ment, said:
" I have great doubts, even if they (the agents of Genet) do
attempt to carry their plan into execution, (provided they manage
their business with prudence,) whether there is any legal authority
to restrain or punish them, at least before they have actually ao
complished it ; for, if it is lawful for one citizen of this State to leave
it, it is equally so for any number of them to do so. It is also lawful
for them to carry with them any quantity of provisions, arms, and
ammunition ; and if the act is lawful in itself, there is nothing in
tho particular intention with which it is done, that can possibly
make it unlawful ; but, I know of no law which inflicts a punish
ment on intention only, or a criterion by which to decide what

1794. WASHINGTON VIGILANT AGAINST JACOBINS. 675
would be sufficient evidence of that intention if it was a legal
object of censure. I shall, upon all occasions, be averse to the
exercise of any power with which I do not consider myself aa
being clearly and explicitly inveated ; much less would I assume a
power to exercise it against men, whom I consider as friends and
brethren, in favor of a man whom I view as an enemy and a
tyrant." With the connivance of the governor and many other of the
prominent politicians of Kentucky, the French party in that State
continued their efforts through the succeeding winter, to raise an
army for the reduction of Louisiana. They enlisted men, pur
chased boata, proviaiona, arms and ammunition, and fixed the
rendezvous of the army of two thousand men, which was said was
to descend the Miasissippi under General Clark, on the 15th of
April, 1794, at the falls of the Ohio.
These hostile movements had been closely watched by the Brit
ish and Spanish governments. They doubtless contributed much
to the unfriendly feeling the British agents in Canada entertained
toward the United States, and which they were so ready to instill
into the minds of the Indians, and may have furnished the motive
for the eatabliahment of the British post that was erected during
the winter of that year on the Maumee. They assuredly did fur
nish the reaaon why the Spanish agents were employed at that
time in fomenting dissatisfaction and hostility among the Indiana,
both of the North and of the South, against the federal govern
ment. To arrest the further progress of this conspiracy against Louisi
ana, at once dishonorable to the country and at war with its peace
and interests, Washington issued a proclamation warning all good
citizens against participation in measures likely to prove so perni
cious to their country and to themselves ; forbidding all peraona
not authorized by the law to enliat troops for the purpose of any
such invasion ; and giving notice that all lawful meana would be
strictly put in execution for aecuring obedience to the laws, and
for punishing such daring and dangerous combinations against the
peace of the country.
In addition to this, he dispatched orders to General Wayne, then
near Fort Washington, directing him to send a detachment to Fort
Masaac, to arrest the progreas of the invading army from Kentucky.
Wayne ordered Major Doyle, with a detachment of infantry and
artillery, to perform the aervice. His instructions were —
"If any auch partiea make their appearance in the neighborhood

676 DE LA chaise's address. 1794.
of your garrison, and you should be weU informed that they are
armed and equipped for war, and entertain the criminal intention
described in the President's proclamation, you are to send to them
some person in whose veracity you could confide, (and if such per
son should be a peace officer he would be the most proper mes
senger,) and warn them of their evil proceedings, and forbid their
attempting to pass the fort, at their peril. But if, notwithatanding
every peaceable effort to persuade them to abandon their criminal
design, they should still persist in their attempts to pass down the
Ohio, you are to use every military means in your power for pre
venting them ; and for which this will be your sufficient justifica
tion, provided you have taken all the pacific steps before directed."
The decided measures thus adopted by the President to prevent
the infraction of the laws of the countty, effectually broke up the
schemes of the French party in Kentucky, and De La Chaise, the
principal agent of Genet, abandoned the State, leaving behind him
the following address to the Democratic Society of Lexington:
"Citizens: — Unforeseen events, the effects of causes wMch it is
unnecessary here to develop, have stopped the march of two thou
sand brave Kentuckians, who, atrong in their courage, in the justice
of their righta, in the purity of their cause, and in the general
assent of their fellow citizens, and convinced of the brotherly dis-
poaition of the Louiaianiana, waited only for their orders to go
and take away, by the irresistible power of their arms, from those
despotic usurpers, the Spaniards, the possession of the Mississippi,
secure for their country the navigation of it, break the chains of
the Americans and of their French brethren in the province of
Louisiana, hoist up the flag of liberty in the name of the French
republic, and lay the foundation of the prosperity and happiness of
two nations, destined by nature to be but one, and ao situated as to
be the most happy in the universe.
" Citizens : The greater the attempts you have made toward the
success of that expedition, the more sensible you must be of the
impediments which delay its execution, aud the more energetic
should your efforts be toward procuring new means of success.
There is one from which I expect the greatest advantages, and
which may be decisive ; that is, an address to the National Conven
tion, or to the Executive Council of France. In the name of my
countrymen of Louisiana, in the name of your own interest, I dare
once more ask you this new proof of patriotism.
"Being deprived of my deareat hopes, and of the pleasure, after.
an absence of fourteen years and a proscription of three, of return-

1791. SPANISH POLICY CHANGED. 677
ing to the bosom of my family, my friends, and my counttymen, I
have only one course to follow — that of going to France, and ex
pressing to the representatives of the French people the cry, the
general wish of the Louisianians to become part of the French
republic — informing them, at the same time, of the most ardent
desire which the Kentuckians have had, and will continue to have
forever, to take the most active part in any undertaking tending to
open to them the free navigation of the Mississippi.
"The French republicans, in their sublime constitutional act,
have proffered their protection to all those nations who may have
the courage to shake off the yoke of tyranny. The Louisianians
have the most sacred right to it. They are French, but have been
sacrificed to despotism by arbitrary power. The honor, the glory,
the duty of the National Convention, is to grant them their power
ful support.
"Every petition or plan relative to that important object would
meet with the highest consideration. An address from the Demo
cratic Society of Lexington would give it a greater weight.
"Accept, citizens, the farewell, not the last, of a brother who is
determined to sacrifice everything in his power for the liberty of
his country, and the prosperity of the generous inhabitants of
Kentucky. Salut en la patrie."
Francisco Louis Hector, Baron de Carondelet, succeeded Miro
as the governor of Louisiana, on the SOth of December, 1791. The
tMeatened invasion of that province by the partisans of the French
republic in Kentucky, greatly alarmed Carondelet, and led him to
adopt every measure within his reach to avert the impending
danger. With that view, he completed the fortifications of New
Orleans, repaired and strengthened the forta at Walnut Hill,
Natchez, and New Madrid, concluded a treaty of alliance with the
Chickasaws, and organized a militia force of aix thousand men, in
addition to the Spanish troops under his command, for the defense
of the province. Not disposed to trust entirely to these measures
of defense, he adopted the policy that had been pursued by Miro,
and sought to produce a division among the people of Kentucky,
by the bestowment of commercial privileges upon influential men
among them, whom it was desirable to attach to the Spanish inter
est. The prompt interference of the American government dis
pelled the danger of an invasion of Louisiana, and led immediately
to a change in the policy of Carondelet. The Mississippi question
was still unsettled ; the Genet intrigue had proved that the politi
cians of Kentucky were hostile to the Federal government; the

678 carondelbt's letter to Sebastian. 1795.
intrigue of Miro had proved that they were venal, and Carondelet
determined to withdraw the commercial privileges he had granted
to the Spanish party, and then to induce them, by the payment of
liberal bribes, to tempt the people of Kentucky to dismember the
Union, and to form an alliance with Spain, in order to secure the
benefits of the trade of the Mississippi.
For this purpose he selected as his emissary Thomas Power, an
Englishman, who had become a naturalized subject of Spain, and
who was full of zeal for the Spanish interest, and gifted with a
natural disposition for intrigue. Power visited Kentucky, osten
sibly for the purpose of collecting materials for a Natural Histoty
of the West, held private conferences with many of the prominent
men of the Spanish party in that State, and on his return made a
favorable report to Carondelet, of the disposition they manifested
in regard to the purposes he had in view.
Encouraged by the representations of Power, Carondelet dis
patched the following letter, under date of July 16th, 1795, to
Sebastian, who had been retained by Miro in the pay of the
Spanish government, and who, he was led to believe, was ready to
renew the intrigue :
" Sir, — The confidence reposed in you by my predecessor,
Brigadier- General Miro, and your former correspondence with him,
have induced me to make a communication to you highly interest
ing to the country in which you live, and to Louisiana.
"His majesty, being willing to open the navigation of the Mis
sissippi to the people of the western country, and being, also de
sirous to establish certain regulations, reciprocally beneficial to the
commerce of both countries, haa ordered me to proceed on the
business, and to effect, in a way the most satisfactory to the people
of the western countty, hia benevolent deaigna.
" I have, therefore, made this communication to you, in expecta
tion that you will procure agents to be choaen, and fully empow
ered, by the people of your country, to negotiate with Colonel
Gayoao on the subject, at New Madrid, whom I shall send there
in October next, properly authorized for that purpose, with direc
tions to continue in that place, or its vicinity, until the arrival of
your agenta.
"I am, by information, well acquainted with the character of
aome of the moat reapectable inhabitanta of Kentucky, particularly
of Innis, Nicholas and Murray, to whom I wish you to communi
cate the purport of this address ; and, ahould you and those gen
tlemen think aa important of it aa I do, you will doubtleas accede,

1795. treaty between united states and spain. 679
without hesitation, to the proposition I have made of sending a
delegation of your countrymen, sufficiently authorized to treat
on a aubject which ao deeply involves the interest of both our
countries." Innis, Nicholas and Murray were consulted, and it was deemed
advisable that Sebastian should meet and confer with Gayoso in
person. Sebastian met Power at Red Bank, on the Ohio, and waa
eacorted by him to the mouth of the river, opposite which Gayoso
was employed with his command in erecting a small stockade fort,
rather to furnish a pretext for his presence at that point than for
any ulterior object. Gayoso and Sebastian proceeded to New
Madrid, where a conference between them was held in regard to
the subject of the freedom of the Mississippi. Gayoso presented
the outline of a commercial treaty the Spanish government was
ready to conclude separately with the people of the West. It con
ceded to them the privilege of the navigation of the Mississippi,
and the trade with Louisiana, upon payment of a duty of four per
cent, on all articles of the growth and manufacture of the West.
Sebastian claimed that the people of Kentucky were entitled to the
free navigation of the Mississippi, and that they would not consent
to the imposition of any duty whatever. In order to determine
the difference between them, he proposed to proceed with Gayoso
to New Orleans, and to confer with Carondelet in relation to the
question of the duties. On their arrival Carondelet consented to
remove the proposed restrictions, and appointed a day for the con
clusion of the treaty with Sebastian. A few days preceding the
time appointed for the interview, Sebastian received a message
requesting him to wait immediately on the governor, who informed
him that a courier had arrived from Havana, with intelligence that
a treaty had been concluded between the United States and Spain,
in respect to all the matters in dispute between the two countries,
and that their negotiation was now at an end.
The court of Madrid had long, under vain pretexts, declined to
make any settlement of the questions that had been at issue
between it and the United States, ever since the recognition of
their independence, in the hope that its agents in Louisiana might
be able to effect a separate negotiation in respect to those ques-
tiona, with the people of the Weat, and thua to aecure a dismem
berment of the Union. There waa much to encourage the hope
that that line of policy would be auccesaful, and that the whole
Missiaaippi valley would by that means be detached from the
Union, and fall, if not under the dominion, at least under the

680

PINCKNEY'S treaty with SPAIN. 1795,

control of the Spanish crown. The American government was new,
was weak, and had not yet attached to itself the affection of the
people. It was burthened with the debts of the Revolution, it waa
engaged in a disastrous war with the Indian tribea, it was on the
eve, apparentiy, of another war with Great Britain ; the spirit of
insubordination was rife among the people, and the Spanish statea-
men, little acquainted with the inherent strength of republicanism,
were ready to conclude that the republic was on the point of dis
solution, and prepared to join the other powers of Europe in
making a partition of its territories among them.
But the schemes of the Spanish agents in the West were fruitless ;
the victory of Wayne closed the Indian war ; the difficulties with
England were adjusted by negotiations; the internal difficulties of
the Union wore overcome by the wisdom and prudence of Wash
ington, and no hope was left to the Spanish Government of success
in its policy. Aside from this, Spain was becoming involved in
the wars that grew out of the French Revolution, and, rather in
fear of the hostility of the United States than from any desire to
cultivate friendly relations with them, the Spanish cabinet pro
posed through its minister at Philadelphia, that if an envoy of
adequate powers were sent to Madrid, the questions at issue between
the two governments might be amicably arranged. Accordingly,
Mr. Pinckney was appointed envoy to Spain, on the 24th of
November, 1794, and after a long negotiation, a treaty of amity,
limits and navigation was concluded.
This treaty, signed by Thomas Pinckney, "a citizen of the
United States, and their envoy extraordinary to His Catholic
Majesty," on the one part, and on the other by "the most Excel
lent Lord Don Manuel de Godoy and Alvarez de Faria, Rios,
Sanchez, Zarzosa, Prince de la Paz, Duke de la Alcudia, Lord of
the Soto de Roma and of the State of Albala, Grandee of Spain
of the first class. Perpetual Regidor of the city of Santiago, Knight
of the Ulustrious order of the Golden Fleece and Great Cross of the
the royal and distinguished Spanish order of Charles HI, commander
of Yalencia del Yentoso Rivera, and Aceuchal in that of Santiago,
Knight and Great Cross of the religious order of St. John, Coun
selor of State, First Secretary of State and Despatcho, Secretary
to the Queen, Superintendent General of the Ports and Highways,
Protector of the Royal Academy of the noble Arts and of
the Royal Societies of Natural History, Botany, Chemistiy, and
Astronomy, Gentleman of the King's Chamber, in employment,
Captain General of hia armiea, Inspector and Major of the Royal

1791-94, PACTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES, 681
Corps of Body Guards, &c, &c, &c.," contains, among other pro
visions, the following, once deeply interesting to the West :
"It is likewise agreed that the Western boundary of the United
States, which separates them from the Spanish colony of Louisiana,
is in the middle of the channel or bed of the river Mississippi, from
the northern boundary of the said States to the completion of the
thirty-first degree of latitude north of the equator. And his
Catholic Majesty has likewise agreed that the navigation of the
said river in its whole breadth, from its source to the ocean, shall
be free only to his subjects and the citizens of the United States,
unless he should extend this privilege to the subjects of other
powers by special convention,
"And in consequence of the stipulations contained in the fourth
article, his Catholic Majesty will permit the citizens of the United
States, for the space of three yeara from this time, to deposit their
merchandise and effects in the port of New Orleans, and to export
them from thence without paying any other duty than a fair price
for the hire of the stores; and his Majesty promises either to con
tinue this permission, if he finds, during that time, that it is not
prejudicial to the interests of Spain, or if he should not agree to
continue it there, he will assign to them, on another part of the
banks of the Mississippi, an equivalent establishment,"*
Nothing has hitherto been said in relation to those political
parties which arose during the administration of Washington, and
which, for many years, divided the country. It may be proper
here to refer to their origin and principles, since, though doubtless
not responsible for the origin, they assuredly became identified
with the progress of the popular commotions in Western Penn
sylvania, growing out of the opposition to the excise upon ardent
spirits known aa the Whiaky Insurrection.
When the united coloniea had won their independence, and the
rule of George HI. over them ended, the queation, of course, arose
as to the nature of the government which was to succeed. Two
fears prevailed among the people of the freed provinces. On the
one hand, a tendency to monarchy and ultimate tyranny was
dreaded ; it was thought that a foreign despot had been warred
with in vain, if by the erection of a strong central or federal power
the foundations of domeatic deapotism were laid instead; the
sovereignty of the several Statea, balancing one another, and each

?American State Papers, i. 547, 549.
44

682

FEDERAL AND ANTI-FEDERAL VIEWS. 1791-94.

easily controlled by the voice of the people, was, with this party of
thinkers, to be the aecurity of the freedom that had been achieved.
In Europe, republicanism had been overthrown by the centralizing
procesa, which had substituted the great monarchies for the federal
system, and the Italian and Flemish commonwealths; and in
America the danger, it was thought, would be of too great a eou'
centration of power in the hands of a central Federal sovereignty.
While these views prevailed among one portion of the American
people, another portion dreaded the excess of popular democratic
passions, tending constantly to anarchy. To this party, a strong
central power seemed essential, not only for financial and commer
cial purposes, but also to restrain the inevitable disposition of
popular governments to the abandonment of all law, all reverence,
and all social unity. History and reflection, in short, showed men,
on the one side, that human rulers are readily converted into
despots ; on the other, that human subjects were impatient of even
wholesome control, and readily converted into licentious and selfish
anarchists. When at length the business aufferinga of the country, and the
worthlessness of the old confederacy, led to the formation of the
present constitution, these parties were forced to compromise, and
while the strong executive, and complete centralization of Hamil
ton, Jay and Adams, had to be abondoned by them and their
friends, the complete independence of the States, and the corres
ponding nullity of Congress, which Patrick Heniy, Mason, and
Harrison preferred, had also tq be given up, or greater evils follow.
In this aame spirit of compromise upon which our constitution
rested, Waahington framed hia cabinet, and directed his adminis
tration, and it seemed possible, that in time, the bitterness of feel
ing which had shown itself before and during the discussion of the
Bond of Union, would die away. But the difficulties of the first
administration were enormous, such as no man but Washington
could have met with succesa, and even he could "not secure th©
unanimity he wished for.
Among those diffieultiea, none were greater than the payment
of the public debt, and the airangement of a proper aystem of
finance. The party which dreaded anarchy, which favored a
atrong central rule, an efficient Federal Government — the federal-
lata, feeling that the whole country, aa auch, had contracted debts^
felt bound in honor and honeaty to do every thing to procure their
payment; it also felt that the future stability and power of the
Federal Government depended greatly upon the eatabliahment of

1791-94, FEDERAL AND ANTI-FEDERAL VIEWS. 683
its credit at the outset of its career. The anti-federalists, who
dreaded centralization, on the other hand, favoring State sover
eignty, and wiahing but a alight national union, neither desired the
creation of a national credit, nor felt the obligation of a national
debt in the same degree as their opponents, and feared the
creation of a moneyed aristocracy by apeculationa in the public
stocks. When, therefore, Mr. Hamilton, upon whom it devolved, as
Secretary of the Treasury, to offer a plan for liquidating the debts
of the confederation, attempted the solution of the financial
problem, he was certain to displease one party or the other. In
generalities, compromises had been found possible, but in details
they were not readily admitted, Hamilton, moreover, was one of
the most extreme friends of centralization, and any measure emana
ting from Mm was sure to be resisted. When he brought forward
his celebrated series of financial measures, accordingly, the whole
strength of the two divisions, of which mention has been made,
appeared for, and against his plans. And it is to be noted, that the
question was not a mere question of finance ; it involved the vital
principles for, and against which the federal and anti-federal parties
were struggling. The former actually hoped by means of the
funding and bank systems, to found a class whose interests would
so bind them to the government, as to give it permanency, while
their opponents actually anticipated the formation of a moneyed
ariatocracy, which would overthrow the power and liberties of the
people ; they felt they were " sold to stockholders," and like the
Roman debtors condemned to slavery.
In the West, the opponents of the central government were
numerous. Its formation had been resisted, and its measures were
almost all unpopular. The Indian War was a cause of complaint,
because Harmar and St, Clair had been defeated ; the army was a
cause of complaint, because it was the beginning of a system of
standing armies. The funding system was hated because of its
injustice, inasmuch as it aided speculation, and becauae it would
lead to the growth of a favored class ; the western posts were re
tained by England, the navigation of the Mississippi was under
the control of Spain, the frontier was ravaged by the aavagea, and
the popular leaders in the Weat, perauaded the people that the
federal government was doing nothing adequate to remove any of
theae grievances. It was not strange, then, that the people of
Western Pennsylvania, generally of foreign birth or deacent, ahould
object to the payment of a tax for the support of a government

684

CAUSES FOR OPPOSITION TO EXCISE. 1791-94.

they disliked and distrusted, especially, when levied in a form that
was peculiarly odious to them.
In all countries the excise has been a hated form of taxation, and
Western Pennsylvania at that period was settled chiefly by emigrants
from the north of Ireland, where then the ordinaty power of the
government was insufficient to suppresa riots having their origin
in the excise laws of England ; and they were little disposed to
submit peaceably to the imposition of a similar tax, after they had
acquired the license and insubordination that naturally grows up
on the frontier. They had already acquired a spirit of resistance to
that form of taxation. The clashing jurisdictions of Pennsylvania
and Yirginia had excited animosities in the minds of the advocates
of each party, hardly yet healed by the concessions of both ; and
opposition to the laws of Pennsylvania was not yet effaced by the
knowledge of its authority. The idea of a new State west of the
mountains had been early broached among them, and became ao
prevalent that an act of the Assembly declared it high treason to
propose it.
Under these circumstances, an attempt had been previously made
to enforce an excise law of Pennsylvania among these disaffected
people of the frontier. In 1786, the excise officer, in his progress
through Washington county, was seized by a number of persons,
collected from different quarters, his hair cut off from one half of
his head, his papers taken from him, and he compelled to tear up
his commission and trample it under his feet. Then in a body,
increasing as they proceeded, they conducted him out of the
county, with every mark of contumely toward him and the govern
ment, and with threats of death if he returned. No punishment was
inflicted upon the rioters, no further attempt was made to execute
the law, and the excise fell in consequence into disuse.
An excise upon ardent spirits moreover was supposed to be a
peculiarly oppressive form of taxation. The only means of trans
porting the produce of the settlements to the eastern markets, at
that time, was by means of pack-horses over the mountains. One
of these could carry, it was estimated, only four bushels of rye, but
was able to transport to market the whisky made from twenty-
four bushels. There was no outlet for the exportation Of the sur
plus productions of the West down the Ohio, in consequence, as the
people of that region imagined, of the remissness of the General
government in not opening for them the navigation of the Missis
sippi ; there was no other form in which that surplus could be bet
ter transported to the Eaat than in that of whiaky, and, in conse-

1791-94, CAUSES FOR OPPOSITION TO EXCISE. 685
quence, that article became almost the sole medium of exchange
between the East and the West. Aside from this, it was at that
period an article of almost universal use among all classes of the
community, and the idea of restraining by law, or otherwise, either
its use or abuse, was one that the people of that day were not pre
pared to appreciate. A tax, therefore, upon whisky was felt to
be an unequal burthen, not only or mainly upon the manufacturers
of ardent spirits, but especially upon the growers of the agricul
tural products that entered into it, and upon the whole community,
to whom it was an universal beverage. And when the tax upon
whisky assumed the form of an excise, which that community had
been accustomed to hate, and learned to oppose, it was natural to
expect that they would be ready to manifest an opposition to it.
It will thus be seen that the opposition to the excise had its ori
gin in a variety of influences at work among the people of Western
Pennsylvania, Many of the more intelligent classes of the popu
lation had become attached to the party of the anti-federalists, in
opposition to the administration of Washington ; and, in addition
to their partisan dislikes of the existing government, had many
local causes of discontent, real or imaginary, of which they were
ready to complain ; and this partiaan spirit they manifeated waa, it
proved, sufficient to induce them not merely to criticise, but to
excite opposition to the measures of the administration. The less
intelligent classes were influenced by a blind hatred of all exciaea,
a dislike of the existing government, the example of their leaders,
and a spirit of insubordination to the laws of the land.
It was found at the assembling of Congress, in 1790, that it was
indispensably necessary to provide means for increasing the reve
nue of the government. The nation was burthened by the debts
of the Revolution, the war in the north-west demanded a greatly
increased outlay of the public money, the commerce of the coun
try was small, and consequently the revenue arising from duties
was inadequate to meet the public necessities.
It was determined, in compliance with the recommendation of
the College of Physicians of Philadelpbia, to levy a duty on foreign
and domestic spirits, to meet the exigencies of the government,
A bill for that purpose was introduced into the House of Repre
sentatives, on the suggestion of Alexander Hamilton, and passed.
It imposed certain rates of taxes on all distiUed spirits, according
to their strength. Inspection districta Were created by the act,
in each of which an inapector was to be appointed, whose duty
it waa to execute the proviaiona of the law, AU diatiUers were

686 WHISKY INSURRECTION, 1791-94.
bound to furnish to the inspector of the district descriptions of
their buildings and apparatus, to allow their casks to be branded
and gauged by the inspector or his agents, and to pay the duty
on their liquors before removing them from their distUleries.
But it was provided that small distillers, not in any town or vil
lage, should pay, in lieu of the duties, an annual tax, according to
the capacity of their stills.
Immediately after the passage of the law, a spirit of opposition
began to manifest itself in the West.* At first this opposition was
confined to efforta to discourage persons from holding offices con
nected with the excise ; next, associations were formed of those who
were ready to "forbear" compliance with the laws; but as men
talked with one another, and the excise became more and more
identified with the tyranny of Federalism, stronger demonstrations
were inevitable, and upon the 27th of July, 1791, a meeting was
called at Brownsville, (Redstone,) to consider the growiug troubles
of the western district of Pennsylvania. This meeting, which was
attended by influential and able men, agreed to a convention of
representatives from the five counties of Washington, Allegheny,
Westmoreland, Fayette and Bedford, included in the fourth survey
under the law in question, to be held at Washington, upon the 23d
of August.
In relation to the proceedings of that convention, Hamilton says :
" TMs meeting passed some intermediate resolutions, which were
afterward printed in the Pittsburgh Gazette, containing a strong
censure on the law, declaring that any person who had accepted or
might accept an office under Congress, in order to carry it into
effect, should be considered as inimical to the interests of the
country; and recommending to the citizens of Washington county
to treat every person who had accepted, or might thereafter accept,
any such office, with contempt, and absolutely refuse aU kind of
communication or intercourse with the officera, and to withhold
from them all aid, support, or comfort.
"Not content with thia vindictive proscription of those who
might esteem it their duty, in the capacity of officers, to aid in the
execution of the constitutional laws of the land, the meeting pro
ceeded to accumulate topics of crimination of the Government,
though foreign to each other ; authorizing by this zeal for censure

* The principal authorities in relation to the Whisky Insurrection, used in the pre
paration of tho following sketch, are the American State Papers, toI. xx, Brackenridge's
Incidents, Findley's History, and Sparks' Washington, yol. x, &o. &c.

1791-94. WHISKY INSURRECTION. 687
a suspicion tkat they were actuated, not merely by the dislike of a
particular law, but by a disposition to render the Government
itself unpopular and odious.
"This meeting, in further proaecution of their plan, deputed
three of their membera to meet delegates from the counties of
Westmoreland, Fayette and Allegheny, on the first Tuesday of
September following, for the purpose of expressing the sense of the
people of those counties in an address to the Legislature of the
United States, upon the subject of the excise law and other
grievances." Here, for the first time, the connection of the antagonism to the
excise, with other topics, was brought forwai'd, and a political
.character given to the movement, by a general assault upon the
measures of the Federal Government. This assault assumed a yet
more distinctive character at a subsequent meeting of delegates
held at Pittsburgh, upon the 7th of September; at which the
.salaries of the Federal officera, the interest paid upon the national
debt, the want of distinction between the original holders of that
debt and those who had bought it at a discount, and the creation
of a United States Bank, were all denounced in common with the
tax on whisky. At these meetings all was conducted with pro
priety ; and the resolutions adopted gave no direct countenance to
-violence. And when did the leaders of a community, its legisla
tors, judges and clergy, ever express, in any manner, however,
quiet, their utter disregard of law, without a corresponding expres
sion by the masses, if uneducated, in acta of violence ? It waa no t
;8trange, therefore, that upon the day previoua to the meeting last
named, the collector for the counties of AUegheny and Washington
was attacked. One report says :
"A party of men, armed and disguised, waylaid him at a place
on Pigeon creek, in Washington county, seized, tarred and
feathered him, cut off his hair, and deprived him of his horse,
obliging him to travel on foot, a considerable distance, in that mor
tifying and painful situation.
" The caae was brought before the district court of Pennaylvania,
out of which processes were issued againat John Robertson, John
JIamilton, and Thomas McComb, three of the persons concerned
in the oularage.
" The serving of these processes waa confided by the then mar .
shal, Clement Biddle, to his deputy, Joseph Fox, who, in the
month of October, went into Allegheny county for the purpose of
serving them.

688

WHISKY INSURRECTION. 1791-94.

" The appearances and circumatancea which Mr. Fox obaerved
himaelf in the courae of hia journey, and learned afterward upon
his arrival at Pittsburgh, had the effect of deterring him from the
service of the processes, and unfortunately led to adopt the injudi
cious and fruitless expedient of sending them to the parties by a
private messenger, under cover.
"The deputy's report to the marshal states a number of particu
lars, evincing a considerable fermentation in the part of the countty
to which he was sent, and inducing a belief, on his part, that he
could not with safety have executed the processes. The marshal
transmitting this report to the district attorney, makes the follow
ing observations upon it: 'I am sorry to add that he, the deputy,
found the people, in general, in the western part of the State, and
particularly beyond the Allegheny mountains, in such a ferment
on account of the act of Congress for laying a duty on distilled
spirits, and so much opposed to the execution of the said act, and
from a variety of threats to himself personally, although he took
the utmost precaution to conceal his errand, that he was not only
convinced of the impossibility of serving the process, but that any
attempt to effect it would have occasioned the most violent oppo
sition from the greater part of the inhabitants ; and he declares
that, if he had attempted it, he believes he should not have returned
alive. I spared no expense nor pains to have the process of the court
executed, and have not the least doubt that my deputy would have
accomplished it, if it could have been done.'
" The reality of the danger to the deputy was countenanced by
the opinion of Gen. Neville, the inspector of the revenue, a man
who before had given, and since has given, numerous proofs of a
steady and firm temper; and what followed is a further confirma
tion of it.
"The person who had been sent with the processes was seized,
whipped, tarred and feathered; and, after having his horse and
money taken from him, was blindfolded and tied in the woods, in
which condition he remained for five hours.
"These intemperate expressions of their feelings byword and
deed, startled the government, and puzzled its executive officers:
it waa determined, however, to await the influence of time, thought,
information and leniency, and to attempt, by a reconaideration of
the law, at the earlieat possible moment, to do away any real cause
of complaint which might exist. But popular fury once aroused is
not soon allayed; the Avorst passions of the same people who sent
out the murderers of the Moravian Indians, in 1782, had been
excited, and excess foUo"'"'^ pvpp.s.«.

1791-94. WHISKY INSURRECTION. 689
" Some time in October, 1791, an unhappy man, by the name of
WUson, a stranger in the country, and manifestly disordered in his
intellects, imagining himself to be a collector of the revenue, or
invested with some trust in relation to it, was so unlucky as to
make inquiries concerning distillers who had entered their stills,
giving out that he was to travel through the United States, to
ascertain and report to Congress the number of stills, &c. This
man was pursued by a party in disguise, taken out of his bed,
carried about five miles back, to a smith's shop; stripped of his
his clothes, which were afterward burnt ; and, having been himself
inhumanly burnt in several places with a heated iron, was tarred
and feathered, and about dayUght dismissed, naked, wounded, and
otherwise in a very suffering condition.
"These particulars are communicated in a letter from the
inspector of the revenue, of the 17th of November, who declares
that he had then himself seen the unfortunate maniac, the abuse of
whom, as he expressed it, exceeded description, and was sufficient
to make human nature shudder. The affair is the more extraor
dinary, as persons of weight and consideration in that county are
understood to have been actors in it, and as the symptoms of
insanity were, during the whole time of infiicting the punishment,
apparent ; the unhappy sufferer displayed the heroic fortitude of a
man who conceived himself to be a martyr to the discharge of some
important duty.
" Not long after, a person by the name of Roseberry, underwent
the humiliating punishment of tarring and feathering with some
aggravations, for having, in conversation, hazarded the very natural
and just, but unpalatable, remark, that the inhabitants of that
county could not reasonably expect protection from a government
whose laws they so strenuously opposed.
" The audacity of the perpetrators of these excesses was so great,
that an armed banditti ventured to seize and carry off two persona
who were witnesses against the rioters, in the case of Wilson, in
order to prevent their giving testimony of the riot in a court then
sitting, or about to sit."
Notwithstanding the course of the western people, the federal
government, during the session of 1791 and ' 92, proceeded in the
discussion of the obnoxious statute ; and upon the 8th of May,
1792, passed an amendatory act, making such changes as were
calculated to allay the angry feelings that had been excited, except
so far as they were connected with political animosities, and which,
in most districts, produced the intended results.

690 WHISKY INSURRECTION. 1791-94.
But in Western Pennsylvania the opposition continued unabated,
and it was announced that the inspectors who, by the new law,
were to be appointed for all the counties, should not be allowed to
open their offices. Nor was this a mere threat ; no buildings could
be obtained for the uae of the United States, and when, at length,
in Washington county, one Captain Faulkner dared to agree that
a building of his should be occupied -by the inspector, he was way
laid by a mob, a knife drawn upon him, and waa threatened with
scalping, the burning of his property, and other injuries, if he did
not revoke his agreement. So that, upon the 20th of August,
under the infiuence of fear, he did actually break his contract, and
upon the next day advertised what he had done in the Pittsburgh
Gazette. On the day of this advertisement, a meeting was held in Pitts
burgh, headed by members of the State Legislature, judges, clergy-
¦men, and other leading characters. Of these, the late Albert
'Gallatin was secretary to the meeting; the chairman of the com
mittee was Daniel Bradford, who acted as a leader in many of the
violent proceedings.
"This meeting entered into resolutions not less exceptionable
than those of its predecessors. The preamble suggeats that a tax
on spirituous liquors is unjust in itself and oppressive upon the
poor; that internal taxes upon consumption must, in the end,
destroy the liberties of every country in which they are introduced ;
that the law in question, from certain local circumstances which
are specified, would bring immediate distress and ruin upon the
western country; and concludes with the sentiment that they think
it their duty to persist in remonstrance to Congress, and in every
other legal measure that may obstruct the operation of the law.
" The resolutions then proceed, first, to appoint a committee to
prepare and cause to be presented to Congress an address, stating
objections to the law, and praying for its repeal; secondly, to
appoint committees of correspondence for Washington, Fayette
find Allegheny, charged to correspond together, and with such
committees as should be appointed for the same purpose in the
county of Westmoreland, or with any committees of a similar
nature that might be appointed in other parts of the United States ;
and also, if found neceaaary, to call together either general meet
ings of the people in their reapective counties, or conferences of
the several committeea; and lastly, to declare that they will, in
future, consider those who hold offices for the collection of the
duty as unworthy of their friendship ; that they will have no inter-

1791-94. WHISKY INSURRECTION. 691
course nor dealings with them, will withdraw fi-om them every
assistance, withhold all the comforts of life which depend upon
those duties that, as men and fellow citizens, we owe to each other,
and will, upon all occasions, treat them with contempt, earnestly
recommending to the people at large to follow the same line of
conduct toward them."
When notice of this meeting, and of the means used to intimi
date Faulkner, was given to the government, Washington issued a
proclamation, dated September 15th ; the supervisor of the district
was sent to the seat of trouble to learn the true state of facts, and
to collect evidence; while the attorney general was instructed to
inquire into the legality of the proceedings of the Pittsburgh meet
ing, with a view to the indictment of the leaders. Mr. Randolph,
however, felt so much doubt as to the character of the meeting of
August 21st, that no prosecutions on that score were instituted,
and in serving process upon two persons, said to have been among
the assailants of Faulkner, either an error was made, or the accu
sation proved to be false, which caused that matter also to be
dropped by the government. It was then proposed to attempt a
gradual suppression of the resistance to the law, by adopting these
measures, to wit :
" The prosecution of all distillers who were not licensed, when
it could be done with certainty of success^ and without exciting
violence. The seizure of all illegal spirits on their way to market,
when it could be done without leading to outbreaks, and by care
that only spirits which had paid duty were bought for the use of
the army."
The infiuence of these measures was in part lost in consequence
of the introduction of whisky that paid no tax into the north-western
territory, over which some of the laws relative to the matter did not
extend; but still their effect was decided. In November, 1792,
Woleott wrote that the opposition was confined to a small part of
Pennsylvania, and would soon cease, and through the whole of
1793 — although the collector for Fayette county was obliged by
force to give up his books and papers, and to promise a resignation,
while the Inspector of Allegheny was burnt in effigy before the
magistrates, and no notice of the act taken by them ; and althougli
when warrants were issued for the rioters in the former case, the
Sheriff. of the county refused to execute them, yet obedience to the
excise became more general, and many of the leading distillers,
yielding to the auggestiona of pecuniary interest, for the firat time
entered their etiUs, and abandoned the party of Bradford and his
coadjutors.

692 WHISKY INSURRECTION. 1791-94.
This abandonment, the political antagonists of the law by no
means relished; stUl even they might have been subdued, but for
the introduction at that vety juncture, of Mv. Genet's famous sys
tem of democratic societies, which, like the Jacobin clubs of Paris,
were to be a power -above the government. Genet reached the
United States, April 8th; on the 18th of May, he was presented to
the President; and by the SOth of that month, the Democratic
Society of PMladelphia was organized. By means of this, its affili
ated bodies, and other societies based upon it, or suggested by it,
the French minister, his friends and imitators, waged their war
upon the administration, and gave new energy to every man who,
on any ground, was dissatisfied with the laws of his country.
Among those dissatisfied, the enemies of the excise were of course
to be numbered; and there can be little or no doubt that to the
agency of societies formed in' the disaffected districts, after the plan
of those founded by Genet, the renewed and excessive hostility of
the western people to the tax upon spirits is to be ascribed.
The proper Democratic Societies, when the crisis came, disap
proved of the violence committed, and so did Gallatin and many
others ; but, however much they may have "disliked an appeal to
force, even from the outset, their measures, their extravagances,
and political fanaticism, were calculated to result in violence and
nothing else. Through the year 1793, the law seemed gaining
ground ; but with the next January, the demon was loosed again.
" William Richmond, who had given information against some
of the rioters in the affair of Wilson, had his barn burnt, with aU
the grain and hay which it contained ; and the same thing happened
to Robert Shawhan, a distiller, who had been among the first to
comply with the law, and who had always spoken favorably of it;
but in neither of these instances, (which happened in the county of
Allegheny) though the presumptions were violent, was any posi
tive proof obtained.
"The inspector of the revenue, in a letter of the 27th of Feb
ruary, writes that he had received information that persons living
near the dividing line of Allegheny and Washington counties, had
thrown out threats of tarring and feathering one William Cochran,
a complying distiller, and of burning his distUlery; and that it had
also been given out that in three weeks there would not be a house
standing in Allegheny county of any person who had complied
with the laws. In consequence of which, he had been induced to
pay a visit to several leading individuals in that quarter, as well to
ascertain the truth of the information as to endeavor to avert the
attempt to execute such threats.

1791-94. WHISKY INSURRECTION. 693
" It appeared afterward that, on his return home, he had been
pursued by a collection of disorderly persons, threatening, as they
went along, vengeance against him. On their waj', these men
called at the house of James Kiddoe, who had recently complied
with the laws, broke into his still-house, fired several balls under
Ms still, and scattered fire over and about the house.
"In May and June new violences were committed. James
Kiddoe, the person above mentioned, and William Cochran, another
complying distiller, met with repeated injury to their property.
Kiddoe had parts of his grist-mill, at different times, carried away,
and Cochran suffered more material injuries. His still was- de
stroyed ; his saw-mill was rendered useless, by the taking away of
the saw; and his grist-mill so injured as to require to be repaired,
at considerable expense.
"At the last visit, a note in writing was left, requiring him to
publish what he had suffered in the Pittsburgh Gazette, on pain of
another visit, in which he is threatened, in figurative but intelli
gible terms, with the destruction of his property by fire. Thus
adding to the profiigacy of doing wanton injuries to a fellow-citizen
the tyranny of compelling him to be the publisher of his wrongs.
"June being the month for receiving annual entries of stills,
endeavors were used to open offices in Westmoreland and Wash
ington counties, where it had hitherto been found impracticable.
With much pains and difficulty, places were procured for the pur
pose. That in Westmoreland county was repeatedly attacked in
the night by armed men, who frequently fired upon it ; but, accord
ing to a report which has been made to this department, it was
defended with so much courage and perseverance, by John Wells,
an auxiliary officer, and Philip Ragan, the owner of the house, as
to have been maintained during the remainder of the month,
" That in Washington county, after repeated attempts, was sup
pressed. The first attempt was confined to pulling down the sign
of the office, and threats of future destruction ; the second effected
the object, in the following mode : About twelve persons, armed
and painted black, in the night of the 6th of June, broke into the
house of John Lynn, where the office was kept, ,and, after having
treacherously seduced him to come down stairs, and put himself
into their power, by a promise of aafety to himaelf and hia house,
they aeized and tied him, threatened to hang him, took him to a
retired apot in a neighboring wood, and there, after cutting off hia
hair, tarring and feathering him, awore him never again to allow
the use of hia house for an office, never to disclose their names.

694 WHISKY INSURRECTION. 1791-94.
and never again to have any sort of agency in aid of the excise ;
having done which, they bound him, naked, to a tree, and left Mm
in that situation till morning, when he succeeded in extricating
himself Not content with this, the malcontents, some days after,
made him another viait, pulled down part of his house, and put
him in a situation to be obliged to become an exile from his own
home, and to find an asylum elsewhere."
Even these acts, however, were followed by nothing on the part
of the government more stringent than the institution, in the June
following, of several suits against the rioters, and also against the
non-complying distillers, to serve process in which the Marshal of
the United States himself visited the West. This led to the catas
trophe. These suits were in the United States Court, which sat
east of the mountains, where the accused must, of course, be tried.
But the seizure of offendera to be tried out of their own neighbor
hood, waa opposed to the feelings of the Americans, and to the
principles of that English law upon which they had relied through
the discussions which preceded the Revolution. The federal gov
ernment, it was said, -in taking men to Philadelphia to be tried for
alleged misdemeanors, was doing what the British did in carrying
Americans beyond the sea. Then was shown the power of those
societies to which reference has been made. In February, 1794, a
society had been formed at MingO creek, consisting of the militia
of that neighborhood, the same peraons who led in all future
excesses. In April, a second association, of the same character,
and a regular democratic club, were formed in the troublesome
district. In the latter, nothing was done in relation to the excise,
so far as is known, but in the two first named bodies there is reason
to believe that the worst spirit of the French clubs was naturalized;
the excise and the government thoroughly canvassed, and rebel
lion, disunion and bloodshed, sooner or later, made familiar to the
minds of all.
It may be readily understood that under such circumstances,
great excitement was likely to prevail upon slight provocation.
Notwithstanding, the marshal for the State, David Lennox, was
suffered to serve his writs unresisted, until, when he went with the
last procesa in his hands, he unwisely took with him the inspector
of the county, General John Neville, a man once very popular, but
who had become odious to the misguided populace, on account of
the faithful performance of what he regarded his duty, in the*
attempt to execute the law. After serving this procesa, the marahal
and inapector were followed by a crowd and a gun waa fired,

1791-94. WHISKY INSURRECTION. 695
though without doing any injury. The marshal returned to Pitts
burgh and the inspector to his own house; but it being noised
abroad that both were at General Neville's, a number of militia
men, who were gathered, under the United States law, agreed the
next morning to pay the inspector a visit.
For soine time, Neville had been looking for an attack, knowing
his unpopularity, and had armed his negroes and barricaded hia
windowB. An attack upon his house, with a view to the destruction
of his papers, had probably been in contemplation, and those who
gathered on the morning of the 16th of July, were determined to
carry the proposed desfa-uction into effect. When General Neville
discovered the party on that morning around his door, he asked
their business, and upon receiving evasive replies, proceeded at
once to treat them as enemies; shut his door again and opened a
fire, by which six of the assailants were wounded, one of them
mortally. This, of course, added greatly to the anger and excite
ment previously existing; news of the bloodshed was diffused
through the Mingo creek neighborhood, and before nightfall steps
were taken to avenge the sufferers.
"Apprehending," says Hamiton, "that the business would not
terminate here. General Neville made application by letter to the
judges, generals of militia and sheriff of the county, for protection.
A reply to his application, from John Wilkins, Jr., and John Gib
son, magistrates and militia officers, informed him that the laws
could not be executed so as to afford him the protection to which
he was entitled, owing to the too general combination of the people,
in that part of Pennsylvania, to oppose the revenue law; adding,
that they would take every step in their power to bring the rioters
to justice, and would be glad to receive information of the indi
viduals concerned in the attack upon his house, that prosecutions
might be commenced against them; and expressing their sorrow
that should the posse comiiatus of the county be ordered out in
support of the civil authority, very few could be gotten that were
not of the party of the rioters.
"The day following the insurgents re-assembled with a consid
erable augmentation of numbers, amounting, as has been computed,
to at least five hundred; and, onihe 17th of July, renewed their
attack upon the house of the inspector, who, in the interval^ had
taken the precaution of calling to his aid a small detachment from
the garrison of Fort Pitt, wMch, at the time of the attack, consisted
of eleven men, who had been joined by Major Abraham Kirkpat-
rick, a friend and- connexion of the inspector.

696 WHISKY INSURRECTION. 1791-94.
" There being scarcely a prospect of effectual defense againat so
large a body as then appeared, and as the inspector had every thing
to apprehend for his person, if taken, it was judged advisable that
he should withdraw from the house to a place of concealment;
Major Kirkpatrick generously agreeing to remain with the eleven
men, in the intention, if practicable, to make a capitulation in
favor of the property ; if not, to defend it as long aa possible.
"A parley took place under cover of a flag, which was aent by
the insurgents to the house to demand that the inspector should
come forth, renounce his office, and stipulate never again to accept
an office under the same laws. To this it was replied, that the in
spector had left the house upon their first approach, and that the
place to which he had retired was unknown. They then declared
that they must have whatever related to his office. They were
answered that they might send persons, not exceeding six, to search
the house and take away whatever papers they could find apper
taining to the office. But not satisfied with this, they insisted,
unconditionally, that the armed men who were in the house for its
defense, should march out and ground their arms, which Major
Kirkpatrick peremptorily refused ; considering it and representing
it to them as a proof of a design to destroy the property. This
refuaal put an end to the parley.
"A brisk firing then ensued between the insurgents and thoae in
the house, which, it is said, lasted for nearly an hour, till the assail
ants, having set fire to the neighboring and adjacent buildings,
eight in number, the intenaeness of the heat, and the danger of an
immediate communication of the fire to the house, obliged Major
Kirkpatrick and his small party to come out and surrender them
selves. In the course of the firing, one of the insurgents was killed
and several wounded, and three of the persons in the house were alao
wounded. The peraon killed is underatood to have been the leader
of the party, of the name of Jamea McFarlane, then a major in the
militia, formerly a lieutenant in the Pennsylvania line. The dwell
ing house, after the surrender, shared the fate of the other build
ings, the whole of which were consumed to the ground. The losa
of property to the inspector, upon thia oeeaaion, ia estimated, and,
as it is believed with great moderation, at not less than three thous
and pounds, or ten thousand dollars.
The marshal, together with Col. Presly Neville, and several
others, were taken by the insurgents going to the inspector's house.
All, except the marshal and Col. Neville, soon made their escape;
but these were carried off some distance from the place where the

1791-94. WHISKY INSURRECTION. 697
affray had happened, and detained tUl one or two o'clock the next
morning. In the course of their detention, the marshal, in particu
lar, suffered very severe "and humiliating treatment, and was
frequently in imminent danger of his life. Several of the party
frequently presented their pieces at him with every appearance of
a design to assaaainate, from which they were with difficulty
restrained by the efforts of a few more humane and more prudent.
" Nor could he obtain aafety nor liberty, but upon the condition
of a promise, guaranteed by Col. Neville, that he would serve no
other process on the west side of the Allegheny mountains. The
alternative being immediate death, extorted from the marshal a
compliance with this condition, notwithstanding the just sense of
official dignity, and the firmness of character which were witnessed
by his conduct throughout the trying scenes he had experienced.
"The insurgents, on the 18th, sent a deputation of two of their
number (one a justice of the peace) to Pittsburgh, to require of the
marshal, a surrender of the process in hia possession -intimating
that his compliance would satisfy the people, and add to hia aafety ;
and alao to demand of Gen. Neville, in peremptory terms the reaig-
nation of his office, threatening, in case of refuaal, to attack the
place and take him by force ; demands which both these officers
did not hesitate to reject, as alike incompatible with their honor
and their duty.
" Aa it waa well aacertained that nO protection waa tO be expected
from the magiatrates or inhabitanta of Pittaburgh, it became
neceaaaty to the safety, both of the inspector and the marshal, to
quit that place; and, as it was known that all the usual rentes to
Philadelphia were beset by the insurgents, they concluded to
descend the Ohio, and proceed, by a circuitous route, to the seat of
government, which they began to put in execution on the night of
the 19th of July."
The following points, which are of great importance, do not
appear in the above narrative. First, it seems the attack was so
deliberate that a committee of three was chosen to auperintend it,
who sat upon an elevation, and directed the various movements.
Second, it seems that the object aimed at was the destruction of
official papers, and not property or Ufe. Third, McFarlane, the
commander of the rebels was shot dead, when he exposed himself
in consequence of a call from the house to ceaae firing; thia waa
regarded as intentional murder on the part of the defenders.
Fourth, there ia no doubt as to the burhing having been authorized
by the committee of attack.
45

698 WHISKY INSURRECTION. ' 1791-94.
The attack upon Neville's house was an outrage of so violent a
character, and the feeling that caused it was of so mixed a nature,
that further movements were, of necessity, to be expected. Those
who thought themselves justified, as the early actors in the Revolu
tion had been, would of course go forward; those who anticipated
the vengeance of the laws, thought it safer to press on and make
the rebellion formidable, than to stop and so be unable to hope for
terms from the government. The depraved looked for plunder,
the depressed for a chance to rise ; the ambitious had the great men
of France in view before them, and the cowardly followed what
they dared not try to withstand.
These various feelings ahowed themselves at a meeting held
July 23d, at Mingo creek, the particulars of which are given by
Brackenridge, who attended, in a vivid and clear narrative. The
masses were half-mad, filled with true Parisian fury, and drove
their apparent leaders powerless before them. At this gathering,
a general convention to meet on the 14th of August, at Parkinson's
Ferry, now Williamsport, upon the Monongahela, was agreed on ;
but the more violent meanwhile determined upon steps that would
entirely close the way to reconciliation with the government: these
were, first, the robbery of the mail, by which they expected to learn
who were their chief opponents; next, the expulsion from the coun
try of the persons thus made known; and, lastly, the seizure of the
United States arms and ammunition at Pittsburgh, The leading
man in these desperate acta was David Bradford, an attorney and
politician of some eminence.
The first step was successfully taken on the 26th of July, and
General John Gibson, Colonel Presly Neville, son of General John
Neville, and three others, were found to have written letters in re
lation to the late proceedings. This being known, the people of
Pittsburgh were requested by the Jacobins of the country to expel
these persons forthwith, and such was the fear of the citizens, that
the order was obeyed, though unwillingly. But the third project
succeeded less perfectly. In order to effect it, a, meeting of the
masses had been called for August 1st, at Braddock's field; this
call was made in the form usual for militia musters, and all were
notified to come armed and equipped, Brackenridge was again
present, though in fear aud trembling. Terror, indeed, appears to
have ruled as perfectly as beyond the Atlantic, The Pittsburgh
representatives had gone to the conference from fear of being
thought lukewarm in the rebel cause, and finding themselves sus
pected, passed the day in fear.

1791-94," WHISKY INSURRECTION, 699
The object of the gathering, an attack upon the United States
arsenal, had been divulged to few, and upon further consultation
was abandoned. But it was determined to march to Pittsburgh at
any rate, for the purpose of intimidating the disaffected, robbing a
few houses, and burning a few stores. The women of the country
had gathered to see the sack of the city at the Forks — and it was
with difficulty that the conflagration and robbery were prevented ;
the leaders in general opposed the excesses of their followers ; the
brother of the murdered M'Farlane protected the property of Ma
jor Kirkpatrick, and as others who were most interested in the in
surrection showed equal vigor in the prevention of violence, the
march to Pittsburgh resulted in nothing worse than the burning of
a few barns and sheds.
When a knowledge of the attack on Neville's house, and the
subsequent proceedings reached the federal government, it was
thought to be time to take decided steps. On the 5th of August,
Hamilton laid the whole matter before the president; Judge Wil
son of the Supreme Court, having, on the 4th, certified the western
counties to be in a state of insurrection; and upon the 7th, Wash
ington issued his proclamation, giving notice that every means in
his power would be used to put down the rebellion. As it was hia
wish, however, and also that of Governor Mifflin of Pennsylvania,
that no pains should be spared to prevent a recourse to arms, com
missioners were appointed, three by the United States, and two by
the State, to visit the West, and try to procure an abandonment of
the insurrection without bloodshed. The commissioners on the
part of the United States were James Ross, a senator in Congress,
and a gentlemen very popular with the people in Western Penn
sylvania, Jasper Yeates, an Associate Judge of the Supreme Court
of that State, and William Bradford, the Attorney General of the
United States. Those on the part of Ppnnsylvania were Thomas
M'Kean, Chief Justice of the State, and William Irvine, a Repre
sentative in Congress.
When these messengers reached the neighborhood of Pittsburgh,
the meeting at Parkinson's ferry was in session, and Gallatin and
othera were trying to prevent mattera from becoming worse than
they already were. This meeting, upon receiving notice of the
approach of the commissioners, agreed to send a committee of con
ference, consisting of delegates from the counties of Westmoreland,
Allegheny, Fayette, and Waahington, in Pennsylvania, and from
OMo county, in Yirginia, to treat with them; and at the same time
named a standing committee, one from each township, making

700 WHISKY INSURRECTION. 1791-94.
sixty in number, to whom the former were to report, and who were
authorized to call a new meeting of deputiea, or recall the old
ones, in order to accept or reject the terma offered on the part of
government. On the 21st of August, the commiaaionera and committee of con
ference met, and after aome diacussion agreed upon terms, which
the representatives of the insurgents thought their constituents
would do well to accept. They were then submitted to the atand
ing committee, but in that body ao much fear and mutual diatiuat
prevailed, aa to lead to a mere recommendation to the people, to
accept the terma offered, by a vote of thirty-four to twenty-three,
while the committee themaelvea failed to give the pledgea which
had been required of them. Thia atate of thinga and the knowl
edge of the fact that even the recommendation was obtained only
by shielding the voters through a vote by ballot, proved to the
agents for government that little waa yet done toward tranquili-
zing the country.
All the committee-men and leaders were in dread of popular
violence, and after various lettera had passed, and a second com
mittee of conference had agreed that it would be vrise to adopt the
terms offered by the government, the question was referred to the
people themselves, who were to sign their names to pledges pre
pared for the purpose ; by which pledges they bound themselves to
obey the law and help its operation ; or, unwilling to do this, they
were to refuse distinctly to sign any such promise.
This trial of popular sentiment was to take place on the llth of
September, in the presence of persons who had been at Parkinson
ferry meeting, or of magistrates ; and the result of the vote was to
be by them certified to the commissioners. It would have been
well to have given a longer time, that the good disposition of the
leaders might have had an opportunity of spreading among the
people, but as the President in his proclamation had required a
dispersion by the 1st of September, it was thought impossible to
wait. On the llth a vote was taken, but very imperfect and un
satisfactory. In some portions of the country, men openly refused
obedience to the law; in some, they were silent; in some they
merely voted by ballot for and against submiaaion ; and upon the
whole gave ao little proof of a disposition to support the legal
officera that the judgea of the vote did not feel willing to give cer-
tificatea that offices of inspection could be safely established in the
aeveral counties, and the commissioners were forced to return to
Philadelphia without having accompliahed their objects.

1791-94. WHISKY INSURRECTION. 701
On the 24th of September they reported their proceedings and
failure to the President ; who, upon the 25th, called the miUtia of
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Yirginia, into the field,
under the command of Henty Lee, Governor of the State last
named. The mal-contents being still aufficiently numerous to
reaist the execution of the revenue lawa, the government marched
forward the army, conaieting of about fourteen thousand militia.
Washington himself visited the troops, and met some deputations
from the weatern counties, but was unable to accompany the army
to Pittsburgh, whither, however. General Hamilton went to repre
sent the executive.*
"An unusual quantity of rain having fallen during the autumn,
the army suffered greatly on their march, particularly several regi
ments composed of mechanics, merchants and others, from the
cities, who were not inured to such hardships. They became so
disheartened that if the passes of the mountains had been dispu
ted by only one thousand resolute insurgents, the army might
have been greatly disheartened, if not defeated. But they met
no resistance, either in the mountains or in the infected districts.
" Bradford and a few others who had the most to fear, fled to the
Spanish country on the Mississippi. Others, equally guilty, but
less notorious offenders, sought security in sequestered settlements.
'Not a dog wagged his tongue' against the army, which marched
to Pittsburgh and took up their quarters." f
To prevent a renewal of the insurrection, and secure obedience
to the law, an armed force under General Morgan, remained through
the winter west of the mountains. Thus, at a cost of $669,992,34,
the whisky riots were ended.
But there is reason to think that the money was well spent ; and
that the insurrection was a wholesome eruption. It served several
good purposes; it alarmed the wiser- portion of the democratic
party, who saw how much of Jacobin fury lay hidden in the Ameri
can people ; it proved to the wiser part of the frienda of the ad-
miniatration, that the societies they so much hated, even if they
originated the evil feelings prevalent in the West, would not
countenance the riotous acts that followed. The unruly portion
of the western people was awed by the energy of the executive.

* It was the fixed determination of Washington that whatever expense it might cost,
whatever inconvenience it might occasion, the people must be taught obedience, and the
authority of the laws re-established.
f Wilkeeon's Recollections.

702 WHISKY INSURRECTION. 1791-94.
and to those who loved order, the readiness of the militia to march
to the support of government was evidence of a much better dis
position than most had hoped to find. In addition to these advan
tages, may be named the activity of business, caused by the
expenditure of so large a sum of money in the West, and the
increase of frontier population from the ranks of the army.
A few additional facts, selected from Day's Historical Collections
of Pennsylvania :
" The province of Pennsylvania, as early as 1756, had looked to
the excise on ardent spirits for the means of sustaining its bills of
credit. The original law, passed to continue only ten years, was
from time to time continued, as necessities pressed Upon the
treasury. ' During the Revolution, the law was generally evaded in
the West, by considering all spirits as/or domestic use, such being ex
cepted from excise ; but when the debts of the Revolution began
to press upon the States, they became more vigilant in the enforce
ment of the law. Opposition arose at once in the western counties.
Liberty-poles were erected, and the people assembled in arms,
chased off the officers appointed to enforce the law. The object of
the people was to compel a repeal of the law, but they had not the
least idea of subverting the government.
" The pioneers of this region, descended as they were fi-om
North Britain and Ireland, had come very honestly by their love
of whisky ; and many of them had brought their hatred of an
exciseman from the old country. The western insurgents followed,
as they supposed, the recent example of the American Revolution.
The first attempt of the British parliament — the very cause of the
Revolution — had been an excise law. There was nothing at that
day disreputable in either making or drinking whisky.
"No temperance societies then existed; to drink whisky was as
common and honorable as to eat bread ; and the fame of ' old Monon
gahela' was proverbial, both at the East and the West. DistUling
was then esteemed as moral and respectable as any other business.
It was early commenced, and extensively carried on in Western
Pennsylvania. There was neither home nor foreign market for
rye, their principal crop; the grain would not bear packing
across the mountains. Whisky, therefore, was the most im
portant item of remittance to pay for their salt, sugar and iron.
The people had cultivated their land for years at the peril of their
lives, with little or no protection from the Federal government ;
and when, by extraordinary efforts, they were enabled to raise a
little more grain than their immediate wants required, they were

1791-94, CLOSE OF THE WHISKY INSURRECTION, 703
met with a law restraining them in the liberty of doing what they
pleased with the surplus. The people of Western Pennsylvania
regarded a tax on whisky in the same light as the citizens of Ohio
would now regard a United States tax on lard, pork, or flour,"
It is but justice to General John Neville and his descendants,
that the following extract from the pen of the late Judge Wilke-
son should be recorded. It is to be found, with much other valu
able matter, in his " Early Recollections of the West."
"In order to allay opposition, (to the excise law,) as far as pos
sible. General John Neville, a man of the most deserved popularity,
was appointed inspector for Western Pennsylvania, He accepted
the appointment from a sense of duty to his country. He was one
of the few men of wealth who had put his all at hazard for inde
pendence. At his own expense, he raised and equipped a com-
,pany of soldiers, marched them to Boston, and placed them, with
his son, under the command of General Washington, He was the
father of Col. Pressly Neville, the brother-in-law of Major Kirk
patrick, and the father-in-law of Major Craig, both of them officers
highly respected in the western country. Besides Gen. NfeviUe's
claims as a soldier and patriot, he had contributed greatly to
relieve the sufferings of the settlers in his vicinity. He divided
his last loaf with the needy ; and in a season of more than ordi
nary scarcity, he opened his fields to those who were suffering with
hunger. If any man could have executed this odious law, General
Neville was that man."
Among those who deserve to be remembeired in connection with
the whisky riots, is Alexander Addison, presiding judge of the
court of common pleas of the fifth circuit of Pennsylvania. His
charge to the grand jury of Allegheny county, at the December
sessions in 1794, " on the late insurrection," i& a calm, temperate,
and yet manly appeal to the reason of the people, in support of the
majesty of the law. The jury, however, did not, and probably
dared not, respond to its views. He says :
" The late insurrection in this country, from the numbers con
cerned in it, the manner in which it was conducted, the object it
proposed to accomplish, the fatal effects which it produced, and
the melancholy prospects which it exhibited, may be considered as
the most alarming event that has Occurred in America for many
years. When authority has been encountered with tumult, and
laws have been suspended by armed men, when the rage of some
citizens has attacked the lives of other citizens, and destroyed their

704 JUDGE Addison's charge and remarks. 1794.
houses and property by fire, every man of a sober mind must be
impresaed with concern, and aeriously consider to what these
thinga tend.
" We profess to admire liberty, and to respect the prineiplea of
a democratic republic, as the best aource of government ; and we
conaider our own government as founded on those principles. Will
we be honest in our profession, and act on the principles which we
admire ? The principles of a democracy are, that the whole people,
either peraonally, or by their representatives, ahould have the power
of making laws. But what law ia it in which the whole people
would concur ? So various are the faculties and the intereata of
men, that unanimity of many, in any measure, ia seldom to be
expected; of a whole people, almost never. If no law were to be
made, therefore, till the whole people should aaaent to it, no law
would almost ever be made. But as lawa must be made, there ia^
a necessity that the will of some of the people should be con
strained; and reason requires that the greater number should bind
the less. In our government, therefore, the will of the majority ia
equivalent to the will of the whole, and as such must be obeyed ;
unless we will avow that we mean to change or destroy the prin
ciples of our government, by violence and terror, and abandoning
reason, the principle of action in man, degrade ourselves to the
rank of brutes.
" To permit or assume a power in any particular part of a State>
to defeat or evade a law, is to establish a principle that every part
of a State may make laws for itself; or, in other words, that there
shall be no law, no State, and no duty ; but a complication of sepa
rate societies, acting each according to its pleasure. Those socie'
ties will again be subdivided; for a majority, or the whole, of any
society will have no authority to control any one refractory mem
ber. Each man in the State wUl be fiee from all law but hia own
will. Government and society are then destroyed; anarchy is
established; and the wicked and the strong, like savages and wUd
beasts, prey on the whole, and on one another.
" I hold, therefore, that a forcible opposition fo law, instead of
favoring liberty, is the surest way to destroy it. Is, then, forcible
resistance to law never justifiable ? Never; if the law be consistent
with the constitution. If a law be not contradictory to the prin
ciples of the constitution, however erroneous those principles be, it
is entitled to obedience. If a law be bad, let those who dislike it
apply, by petition to the legislature, for ita repeal. If the legisl.a-'

1794, JUDGE Addison's charge and remarks, 705
ture refuae, let the petitionera change their representatives. If a
law be repugnant to the constitution, the conatitution, being the
paramount authority, silences the law and makea it void,
" And considering the fraternal band which ties us together, and
the source of our laws, from the appointment of the whole people;
ought we rashly to abandon a confidence that, as soon as a law is
plainly proved, by experience, to be oppressive to us, our brethren
will relieve us ? Would not we do so to others ? And have others
less virtue than we ?
" The late troubles exhibit an awful lesaon, which it would be
inexcusable to pass over without attention and improvement.
During their existence the passions were too much excited, and
the mind too little at leisure, to examine thoroughly their nature
or effects ; and terror debarred the exercise of freedom of opinion
and expression. But now, when the storm is over, it becomes our
duty to look back on the past scenes, to contemplate the ruins it
made, and speaking of the leading transactiona freely fend without
diaguise, to bestow some serious reflections on their nature and
tendency. These reflections, while they afford us an opportunity
of remarking how fatal to happiness is a resistance to lawful
authority, will show us also how opposite to liberty anarchy is,
" Some of the plainest dictates of personal liberty, if not its most
essential principles, are, that evety man be free to think, to speak,
and to act, aa his inclination and judgment may lead him, provided
he offend not against any law; that no man shall be tried or
punished according to the arbitraty will of any individual, but
according to the established forms and rules of the law; and that
the enjoyment of every man's property shall be secured to him,
until he forfeit it by the sentence of the law, and that sentence be
executed by the proper officer. With these maxims compare the
effects of anarchy, as we have experienced it. Because the interest
or inclination of some men led them to accept and execute certain
offices, established by public authority, lawless bodies of men,
assembled for the purpose of riot and violence, seized, insulted,
and abused their persons, entered their houses by force, and de
stroyed both their houses and property by fire. If any thing can
place such transactions in a more detestable light than at first
sight they must appear, it may be this : that, if these things may
be done for any cause, however good, there needs no more for their
execution, for evety cause, than that the party to execute them be
of opinion that the cause is good. Let but a mob assemble, how
ever small it be, if sufficient to accomplish its purpose; let them

706 judge Addison's charge and remarks. 1794,
agree in opinion that such a man is dangerous, and, therefore, that
his property ought to be destroyed ; and it is instantly done. Let
but one man hate another, and resolve to destroy him, he has only
to assemble a few of similar sentiments, or over whom he has
infiuence, they instantly pretend to be the people ; and the work
of malice is accomplished, under the semblance of zeal for the
public good,
" They will do deeds which they never before intended, and
from which, had they been suggested, they would have shrunk
back with horror ; and they will do them, from no motive, and to
no end of intereat to themselves or others, but merely from the
rashness of the moment, a sally of wantonness, or an impulse of
malice. Let us learn, therefore, to confine our conduct within the
strict line of duty, and remember that the first transgression ren
ders easy every subsequent one, however enormous.
" As, it seems, an opinion pretty generally prevailed, that riots
in this ease were proper, it appeared hard that those who engaged
in them should suffer for their services in the public cause; and it
seems to have been believed, that the best way to protect them was
by multiplying the number of offenders, to make the punishment
of any appear dangerous. Perhaps, here, one might find matter
for questioning whether it be not desirable that wickedness should
be accompanied with understanding; and whether folly be not the
most mischievous of all qualities.
" The danger of this country from Indian incursions had ren
dered it often necessary to assemble the militia, without waiting
for the orders of government, which would come too late for the
danger. From experience it was found that attack was the best
defense. Hence, voluntaty expeditions into the Indian country
were frequently undertaken, and government, from a sense of their
utility, afterward sanctioned them, by defraying their expenses.
In this manner, it had become habitual with the militia of these counties
to assemble at the call of their officers, without inquiring into the authority
or object of the call. This habit, well known to the contrivers of the
rendezvous at Braddock's field, rendered the execution of their
plan an easy matter. They issued their orders to the officers of
the militia, who assembled their men, accustomed to obey orders
of this kind, given on the sudden, and without authority. The
militia came together, without knowing from whom the orders
originated, or for what purpose they met. And, when met, it was
easy to communicate, from breast to breast, more or less of the
popular frenzy, till all felt it, or found it prudent to dissemble and

1794, judge Addison's charge and remarks, 707
feign that they felt it. This gave appearance, at least, of strength
and unanimity to the insurrection, silenced the well disposed, and
emboldened ruffians to proceed with audacity to subsequent out
rages, which there was no energy to restrain, nor force to punish,
"But, gentlemen, the past cannot be recalled : let us only study
to improve by it ; and strive to make some compensation, by our
future conduct. For this purpose, let us suppress the first seeds
of sedition and riot, before they grow up as before, to a strength
not to be resisted. Let every witness of such things carry the
offender before a magistate, that justice may be executed. And
let every magistrate take heed, "that he bear not the sword in
vain." To permit criminals to escape from punishment, is to en
courage crimes. Impunity begets offenses, as corruption begets
maggots, A few examples of punishment of the late disorder,
given among ourselves, in each county, will, perhaps, secure our
peace, for many years, and prevent the existence of many crirnes,
and the necessity of many and severe punishments,
"To your particular and serious consideration, gentlemen, do I
address these sentiments. You are the door, by which only, jus
tice may be come at. By you, a way may be opened to justice.
By you, justice may be shut up. In your hands, the laws of your
country have placed this authority; and for the exercise of it
strictly, according to law and truth, you are bound by your oaths,
and answerable to your God, You have no discretion to do as you
please : your opinions must be governed by the laws ; your belief
must be guided by testimony; and so you have sworn. It is not
for you to determine whether it be expedient that punishment
should be inflicted on any particular offender, but only whether it
be true that any particular person is an offender,
"I do, therefore, solemnly adjure you, to deal faithfully, and
make true presentments, in all cases of any breach of the peace,
or other offense, especially respecting the late troubles. This will
be the true test of our integrity, and will determine how far gov
ernment ought to trust us with the management of ourselves.
Whenever a bill is sent up to you, if it be proved true, I call upon
you, as you regard your oaths, and the interest of your country to
find it so. Where any offense is within the knowledge of any of
you, I call upon you, by the same regard to your oaths and your
country, that you present the facts to us, or give information of
them to the prosecutor for the State, that he may draw up a bill,
to he found on your knowledge,
"Do your duty, gentlemen, and satisfy your own consciences.

708 SETTLEMENT OP GALLIPOLIS. 1792.
Present all offenders, whatever, to the justice of your country.
This you are bound, by your oaths, to do. Whether those offend
ers shall be considered as proper objects of mercy, or of punish
ment, it is not for you to decide. That question lies with others ;
and you cannot take it up, without violating yOur oaths, and pros
trating the principles of our laws and government,"
In May or June, 1788, Joel Barlow left thia country for Europe,
" authorized to dispose of a very large body of land " in the West
In 1790, this gentleman distributed proposals in Paris, for the sale
of lands at five shillings per acre, which promised, says Yolney, "a
climate healthy and delightful ; scarcely such a thing as frost in
winter ; a river, called, by way of eminence, ' The Beautiful,'
abounding in fish of an enormous size ; magnificent forests of a
tree from which sugar flows, and a shrub which yields candles ;
venison in abundance, without foxes, wolves, lions or tigers; no
taxes to pay; no military enrollments; no quarters to find for
soldiers. Purchasers became numerous, individuals and whole
families disposed of their property ; and in the course of 1791, some
embarked at Havre, others at Bordeaux, Nantes, or Rochelle," each
with his title deed in his pocket.
Five hundred settlers, among whom were not a few carvers ajid
gilders to his majesty, coachmakers, friseurs, and peruke makers,
and other artisans and artistes, equally well fitted for a backwoods'
life, arrived in the United States in 1791-92 ; and, acting without
concert, traveling without knowledge of the language, customs or
roads, they at last managed to reach the spot designated for their
residence, after expending nearly or quite, the whole proceeds of
their sales in France.*
They reached the spot designated, but it was only to learn, that
the persons whose title deeds they held, did not own one foot of
land, and that they had parted with aU their worldly goods merely
to reach a wilderness, which they knew not how to cultivate, in the
midst of a people, of whose speech and ways they knew nothing,
and at the very moment when the Indians were carrying destruc
tion to every white man's hearth.
Without food, without land, with little money, no experience,
and with want and danger closing around them, they were in a posi
tion that none but Frenchmen could be in without despair.

* Volney's view of the climate and soil of tho United States, &c. The sugar-tree was
the maple, and the wax-bearing myrtle, tho shrub that yielded candles.

1798. SUFFERINGS OF GALLIPOLIS SETTLERS, 709
Who brought them to this pass ? Yolney aaya, the Scioto Com^-
pany, which had bought of tiie Ohio Company; Mr, Hall says in
his lettera from the West, a company who had obtained a grant
from the United States ; and, in his statistics of the Weat, the
Scioto company, which was formed from or by the Ohio company,
aa a subordinate. Barlow, he says, was sent to Europe by the
Ohio Company ; and by them the landa in question were conveyed
to the Scioto company, Kilbourn aaya, "the Scioto Land Com
pany, which intended to buy of Congreaa all the tract between the
western boundary of the Ohio Company'a purchaae and the Scioto,
directed the French aettlera to GallipoUs, supposing it to be west
of the Ohio Company'a purchase, though it proved not to be,"
The Company, he aaya, failed to make their paymenta, and the
whole proposed purchase remained with government,*
The truth undoubtedly ia, that thoae for whom Barlow acted,
were the peraons referred to by Dr, Cutler, who joined with the
Ohio Company in their purchaae to the extent of three and one-
half milliona of acres, among whom, he saya, were many of the
principal characters of America; and thia ia -demonatrated by the
fact, that Col. Duer, who applied to Dr. Cutler " to talce in another
company," aa the agent of the Scioto Company did receive the
French immigrants and send them to GalUpolis.
These peraons, however, never paid for their lands, and could
give no title to the emigrants they had allured acrosa the ocean.
Their excuse was, that their agents had deceived them, but it was
a plea good neither in naorals or law. Who thoae agents were,
and how far they were guilty, and how far the company was so, are
points which seem to be atill involved in doubt.
But whatever doubt there may be aa to the causea of the suffer
ing, there can be none aa to the sufferers. The poor gilders and
carvers and peruke makers, who had followed a jack-a-lantern into
the " howling wilderneaa," found that their lives depended upon their
labor. They must clear the ground, build their houaea, and till
their fields. Now the apot upon which they had been located by
the Scioto Oompany waa covered in part with thoae immenae syea*
more trees, wMch are so frequent along the rivers of the Weat, and
to remove which ia no amall undertaking even for the American
woodaman. The coachmakera were wholly at a loss; but at laat,
hoping to conquer by a coup-de-main, they tied ropea to the branches,

* Kilboarn's Gazetteer, 1831.

710 SUFFERINGS OP GALLIPOLIS SETTLERS. 1794.
and while one dozen pulled at them might and main, another
dozen went at the trunk with axes, hatcheta, and every variety of
edged tool, and by dint of perseverance and cheerfulness, at length
overcome the monster, though not without some hair-breadth
escapes ; for when a mighty tree, that had been hacked on all sides,
fell, it required a Frenchman's heels to avoid the sweep of the
wide-spread branches. But when they had felled the last tree, they
were little better off than before, for they could not move or burn
it. At last a good idea came to their aid; and while some chopped
off the limbs, others dug by the side of the trunk, a great grave,
into which, with many a heave, they rolled their fallen enemy.
Their houses they did not build in the usual straggling Ameri
can style, but made two rows or blocks of log cabins, each cabin
being about sixteen feet square; while at one end was a larger
room, which was used as a council-chamber and ball-room.
In the way of cultivation they did little. The land was not
theirs, and they had no motive to improve it ; and, moreover, their
coming was in the midst of the Indian war. Here and there a
little vegetable garden was formed ; but their main supply of food
they were forced to buy from boats on the river, by which means
their remaining funds were sadly broken in upon.
Five of their number were taken prisoners by the Indians ; food
became scarce; in the fall, a marsh behind the town, sent up miasm
that produced fevers ; then winter came, and, despite of Mr, Barlow's
promise, brought frOst in plenty ; and, by and by, they heard from
beyond seas of the carnage that was desolating the fire-sides they
had left. Never were men in a more mournful situation ; but still,
twice in the week, the whole colony came together, and to the
sound of the violin danced oft" hunger and care.
The savage scout that had been lurking all day in the thicket,
listened to the strange music, and hastening to his fellows, told
them, that the whites would be upon them, for he had seen them
at their war-dance ; and the careful Connecticut man, as he guided
his broadhorn in the shadow of the Yirginia shore, wondered what
mischief " the red varmint" were at next ; or, if he knew the sOund
of the fiddle, shook his head, as he thought of the whisky that
must have been used to produce all that merriment.
But French vivacity, though it could work wonders, could not
pay for land. Some of the GallipoUs settlers went to Detroit,
others to Kaskaskia ; a few bought their lands of the Ohio Com
pany, who treated them with great liberality ; and in 1795, Congress,
being informed of the circumatancea, granted to the aufferers

1790. LEGAL SURVEY OF VIRGINIA RESERVE LANDS. 711
twenty-four thousand acres of land opposite Little Sandy river, to
which, in 1798, twelve hundred acres more were added; which
tract has since been known as French Grant.
The influence of this settlement upon the State was unimpor
tant; but it forms a curious little episode in Ohio history, and
affords a strange example of national character.*
During this period, however, other settlements had been taking
place in Ohio, which in their influence upon the destinies of the
State were deeply felt ; — that of the Yirginia Reserve, between the
Scioto and Little Miami rivers, that of the Connecticut Reserve,
and that of Dayton.
In 1787, the reserved lands of the Old Dominion, north of the
Ohio, were examined, and in August of that year entries were
commenced. Against the validity of these entries. Congress, in
1788, entered their protest. This protest, which was practically a
prohibition of settlement, was withdrawn in 1790. As soon as
this was done, it became an object to have surveys made in the
reserved region, but as this was an undertaking of great danger,
in consequence of the Indian wars, high prices in land or money
had to be paid to the surveyors.
The person who took the lead in this gainful but unsafe enter
prise was Nathaniel Massie, then twenty-seven years old. He had
been for six years or more in the West, and had prepared himself
in Colonel Anderson's office for the detaUs of his business. Thus
prepared, in December, 1790, he entered into the following con
tract with certain persons therein named :
"Articles of agreement between Nathaniel Maaaie, of one part,
and the several persona that have hereunto aubacribed, of the other
part, witnesseth, that the subscribers, hereof doth oblige themselves
to settle in the town laid off, on the north-west side of the Ohio,
opposite the lower part of the Two Islands ; and make said town,
or the neighborhood, on the north-west side of the Ohio, their
permanent seat of residence for two years from the date hereof;
no subscriber shall absent himself more than two months at a time,
and during auch abaence furniah a strong, able-bodied man auffi
cient to bear arma at least equal to himself; no subscriber shall
absent Mmself the time above mentioned in case of actual danger,
nor shall such absence be but once a year; no subscriber shall

*See the communication of Mr. Meulette — Also American Pioneer, i. 94.

712 CONNECTICUT SELLS HER LAND IN OHIO. 1795,
absent himself in case of actual danger, or if absent shall return
immediately. Each of the subscribers -doth oblige themselves to
comply with the rules and regulations that shall be agreed on by
a majority thereof for the support of the settlement,
"In consideration whereof, Nathaniel Massie doth bind and
oblige himself, his heirs, &c., to make over and convey to such of
the subscribers that comply with the above mentioned conditions, ^
at the expiration of two years, a good and sufficient title unto one
in-lot in said town, containing five poles in front and eleven backj,
one out-lot of four acres convenient to said town, in the bottom,
which the said Massie is to put them in immediate possession of,
also one hundred acres of land, which the said Massie has shown
to a part of the subscribers ; the conveyance to be made to each of
the subscribers, their heirs or assigns,
"In witness whereof, each of the parties have hereunto set
their hands and seals, thia 1st day of December, 1790."
The town thus laid off was situated some twelve miles above
Maysville, and was called Manchester; it is still known to the
voyager on the Ohio. From this point, Massie and his companions
made surveying expeditions through the perilous years from 1791
to 1796, but though often distressed and in danger, they were
never wearied nor afraid ; and at length, with Wayne's treaty all
danger of importance was at an end.*
Connecticut, as has been stated, had, in 1786 resigned her claims
to western landa, with the exception of a reserved tract extending
one hundred and twenty miles beyond Pennsylvania. Of this
tract, so far as the Indian title Was extinguished, a survey was
ordered in October, 1786, and an office opened for its disposal ;
part was sold, and in 1792, half a million of acres were given to
those citizena of Connecticut, who had loat property by the acts
of the British troopS, during the Revolutionaty War, at New
London, New Haven and elsewhere ; theae lands are known aa the
"Firelanda" and the "Sufferers' landa," and lie in the western
part of the reserve. In May, 1795, the Legislature of Connecticut
authorized a committee to take steps for the disposal of the remain
der of their western domain ; this committee made advertisement
accordingly, and before autumn had disposed of it to fifty-six
persona, forming the Connecticut Land Company, for one million
two hundred thouaand dollars, and upon the 5th or 9th of Septem-

* McDonald's Sketch of General Massie.

1795, RAPID SETTLEMENT OF MIAMI VALLEY, 718
ber, quit-claimed to the purchasers the whole title of the State,
territorial and juridical.
These purchasers, on the same day, conveyed the three millions
of acrea tranaferred to them by the State, to John Morgan, John
Caldwell, and Jonathan Brace, in trust; and upon the quit-claim
deeds of those trustees, the tities to aU real estate in the Western
Reserve, of necessity, rest. Surveys were commenced in 1796, and
by the close of 1797, aU the lands east of the Cuyahoga were divi
ded into townships five miles square. The agent of the Connecti
cut Land Company was General Moses Cleveland, and in honor of
him the leading city on the Reserve, in 1796, received its name.
That township and five others were retained for private aale, and
the remainder were dispoaed of by a lottery, the first drawing in
which took place in February, 1798,
Wayne's treaty also led at once to the foundation of Dayton, and
the peopling of that fertile region. The original proposition by
Symmes had been for the purchase of two millions of acres between
the Miamies; this was changed very shortly to a contract for one
million, extending from the Great Miami eastwardly twenty miles ;
but the contractor being unable to pay for all he wished, in 1792,
a patent was issued for 248,540 acres.
But although his tract was by contract limited toward the east,
and greatly curtailed in its extent toward the north, by his failure
to pay the whole amount due. Judge Symmes had not hesitated to
sell lands lying between the eastern boundaty of his purchase and
the Little Miami, and even after his patent issued continued to
dispose of an imaginary right in those north of the quantity pat
ented. The first irregularity, the sale of lands along the Little
Miami, was cured by the act of Congress in 1792, which authori
zed the extension of his purchase from one river to the other; but
the sales of territoty north of the tract transferred to him by Con
gress, were so entirely unauthorized in the view of the govern
ment, that in 1796 it refused to recognize them as valid, and those
who had become purchasers beyond the patent line, were at the
mercy of the federal rulers, until an act was procured in their favor
in 1799, by which pre-emption rights were aecured to them.
Among those who were thus left in suspense during three years,
were the settlers throughout the region of which Dayton forms
the centre.
Seventeen days after Wayne'a treaty, St. Clair, Wilkinson, Jona
than Dayton, and larael Ludlow contracted with Symmea for the
46

714 PROCEEDINGS OF LAND COMPANIES. 1795.
seventh and eighth rangea, between Mad river and the Little
Miami. Three aettlementa were to be made, one at the mouth of
Mad river, one on the Little Miami, in the seventh range, and
another on the Mad river.
On the 2l8t of September, 1795, Daniel C. Cooper started to
survey and mark out a road in the purchase, and John Dunlap to
run its boundaries, which was done before the 4th of October,
Upon the 4th of November, Mr, Ludlow laid off the town of Day
ton, which was disposed of by lottety.
From 1790 to 1796, the Governor and Judges of the North-West
Territory published sixty-four statutes. Thirty-four of these were
adopted at Cincinnati, during June, July and August of the last
named year, and were intended to form a pretty complete body of
statutory provisions ; they are known as the Maxwell Code, from
the name of the publisher, but were passed by Governor St. Clair
and Judges Symmes and Turner.
Among them was that which provided that the common law of
England, and all statutes in aid thereof, made previous to the
fourth year of James I, should be in full force within the territoiy.
Of the system, as a whole, Mr, Chase says that, with many im
perfections, " it may be doubted whether any colony, at so early a
period after its first establishment, ever had one so good,"
Just after the conclusion of Wayne's treaty, a speculation in
Michigan, of the most gigantic kind, was undertaken by certain
astute New Englanders, named Robert Randall, Charles Whitney,
Israel Jones, Ebenezer Allen, &c., who, in connection with various
persons in and about Detroit, proposed to buy of the Indiana
eighteen or twenty million acres, lying on Lakes Erie, Huron and
Michigan, the pre-emption right of which they hoped to obtain
from the United States, by giving members of Congress an interest
in the investment.
Some of the members who were approached, however, revealed
the plan, and Randall, the principal conspirator, having been rep
rimanded, the whole speculation disappeared.
Another enterprise, equally gigantic, but far less objectionable,
dates from the 20th of February, 1795, to wit, the North American
Land Company, which was formed in Philadelphia, under the
management of Robert Morria, John Nicholaon and Jamea Green-
leaf. Thia company owned vaat tracts in various States, which,
under an agreement bearing date as above, were offered to the
public.

PERIODVl. 1796—1811.
Before the close of the year 1795, the Union had safely passed
through the first great crisis in its histoty. At its formation
it was embarrassed with debt ; it was embroiled in difficulties with
England, Spain and France ; its first years were occupied in prose
cuting a harassing war with the Indian tribes, and in quelUng the
apirit of inaubordination to its authority among its own citizens.
But these difficulties were now overcome by the wisdom and pru
dence of the firat chief Executive, and by the devotion and fidelity
of the men to whom the adminiatration of the new government
was committed ; and all the questions at issue with foreign powers,
and all the embarrassments that threatened the safety of the coun
try at home, were met and settled by them in a way that neither
compromised the national honor, nor sacrificed the national
interest. The new government inherited from the confederation a difficulty
with Great Britain, which in the end threatened to involve the two
nationa in another war, and to diamember the North-Weat from
the Union, by the meana of a protectorate over the Indian tribea ;
but the vigor and prudence of the government aecured a treaty by
which all ita righta were maintained, and the integrity of its territory
guaranteed. It inherited a difficulty with Spain, which that power
sought, through the venality of their politicians, to separate the ter
ritories of the South-West from the Union, and to extend its power
to the AUeghenies; but the schemes of the conspirators against the
integrity of their country were disconcerted, and Spain was com
pelled to aurrender the control of the Mississippi, through which
only they and she hoped for the reaUzatioh of the objects of their
tortuous policy. It encountered and defeated the attempt of the
agents of the French Republic to seduce the people of the country
into oppoaition to their government, to ally themselves with the
radical republicans of France, and to plunge the nation into the
vortex of the European war. It waa called to meet the combined
hoatUity of all the tribea of the North-Weat, and it succeeded, after
great expenditures and great aacrificea, in destroying their power.

716 RAPID SETTLEMENT OF NORTH-WEST TERRITORY. 1796.
and in extending the authority of the nation over them and their
country. It was met with great opposition in all its measures by
the disaffected portion of its own citizens — an opposition so bitter
as to break out in open insurrection against the execution of its
laws — but it overcame that opposition, and quelled that revolt,
without the shedding of blood, or without such exercise of its
authority as would alienate and embitter any portion of the
people. While the administration of Washington was thus successful in
averting the dangers that beset the new government, at home and
abroad, the beneficial effects of its policy were especially felt in the
Yfest. The successful close of the Indian war, and the treaty of
GreenviUe especiaUy, were hailed with joy everywhere along the
frontier. All the population of the West had participated in the
dangers and privations of the war, and they were all now ready to
enjoy the quiet and security of the peace. The great and fertUe
region north-west of the Ohio was now open to the enterprise of
the pioneer population of the West; the danger of Indian hostility
was at an end ; and an emigration began immediately to find its
way to the valleys of the Miamies, the Scioto, and the Muskingum,
so considerable that the population of the North-West, before the
close of the year 1796, was estimated at five thousand.
Western Pennsylvania, too, experienced the beneficial results of
the cessation of hostilities with the Indians, and the suppression of
the insubordinate spirit of a portion of its people. Settlers began
to come from the east to extend its settlements, and to fill up its
towns. The region east and south of the Ohio and AUegheny
began at once to receive a large accession of population, and, it is
said, at the close of the year 1795, Pitisburgh contained a popula
tion of fourteen hundred soula.
The region north and weat of the Allegheny and the Ohio waa,
at the close of the Indian war, mainly a wilderness, with here and
there only an isolated settiement or a solitary cabin. Several sniaU
forts and block houses were built in that region through the period
of the Revolutionary and Indian wars.
A fort was built on the site of the old village of Kittanning,
known also by the name of Appleby's fort, by the government, in
1776. In 1791, Captain Orr built a block house near the site of Taren-
tuni, on the weat aide of the Allegheny river.
In 1787 a fort named Franklin waa built near the mouth of
French creek, about a mile above the site of the old French fort,

1796. CONDITION OF NORTH-WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA. 717
Yenango, by a detachment of United States troops from Port Pitt,
under the command of Captain Hart.
In 1794, a block house was buUt near the site of the old French
fort, Le Boeuf, by Major Denny, then in command of an expedition
to Presqu' Isle, as the means of cutting off the communication of
the Six Nations with the Western Indians.
With the same object, in 1795, under the direction of General
Irvine, two block houses were built at Presqu' Isle, and a small
garrison was maintained there for a time for the protection of the
surveyors engaged in ascertaining and locating the donation lands
in that region of the State.
Around these points, and at others along the Allegheny, hardy
and adventurous settlera had gathered aa early as 1790, and, after
the passage of the land law of 1792, many settlers passed over into
that region, but the continuance of Indian hostilities drove the
greater number of them from their claims. And it was from this cir
cumstance, combined with the unwise and injudicious legislation
of the State at that period, that those difficulties arose in regard to
the titles to the lands in North-Western Pennsylvania, that so long
impeded, and still to a limited extent affects its prosperity.
It may be proper here, then, to make reference to the land laws
of North-Western Pennsylvania, and the influence they exerted on
the settlement of that region.*
The title to all the landa within the limita of Pennsylvania was
vested in William Penn, and his heirs, by the terms of the
royal charter of Charles II, on the 4th of March, 1681. The title
conveyed in that charter, however, to Penn, did not justify him in
disregarding the prior rights of the aboriginal inhabitants, and, in
a spirit of justice that contrasts nobly with the policy pursued by
his contemporaries, "he established a rule in his province that
no lands should be occupied by Ms people, until they were first
purchased from the Indians." In accordance with this wise and
just policy, between the years 1682 and 1736, twenty different pur
chases, of greater or lesa extent, were made, by the proprietor or
hia auccesaors, of the Indian lands east of the mountains, on terma
which were regarded as mutually satisfactory.
In 1737, a release to the proprietaries waa signed by certain
Delaware chiefs, on the basis of a deed said to have been made in
1686, for certain lands, a part of the boundaries of which was de-

* In relation to this subject see Smith's Laws of Pennsylvania, vol. ii. p. 105, Note.

718

PURCHASES OF THE PROPRIETARIES. 1796.

scribed aa " extending weatward to Neahamony creek, from which
aaid line doth extend itself back into the woods, aa far aa a man
can go in a day and a half." The walk waa performed, and ex
tended, it ia said, about thirty miles beyond the Lehigh hills, and
over the Kittatinny mountains. The Indians were greatly dis
satisfied with the extent of the purchase as thus measured, com
plained that the white men ran instead of walking, that they
intended the line should have been measured up the creek, by its
aeveral courses, and thus the "Walking Purchaae," as it was
called, became one of the chief grievances that alienated the feel
ings of the Delawares, and induced them to join the French in the
war of 1764.
In 1749, the chiefs of the Six Nationa, the Delawarea and the
Shawaneae aigned another deed, confirming the sale previously
made, of the landa eaat of the Susquehanna, as far up that river to
the mouth of Cantaguy creek, and bounded on the north by a line
drawn from thence to the Delaware at the mouth of Lechawachsein
creek, and thence down that river to Kittatinny hills.
At the treaty of Albany, in 1764, the chiefs of the Six Nations
made to the proprietaries a deed, conveying their title to all the
lands bounded by a line drawn "from the Kittatinny hiUa, up the
Susquehanna river, to a point one mile above the mouth of Kaya-
rondinhagh creek, thence north-west and by west as far as the said
province of Pennsylvania extends, to its western boundary; thence
along the said western line to the south Une or boundary of the
said province ; thence by the said line or boundary to the south side
of the said Kittatinny MUs, and thence along the south side of said
hills to the place of beginning." This purchase included nearly
the whole of the Indian lands in Pennsylvania: it was made with
out regard to the rights of the other tribea, and in consequence it
became the immediate occasion for the Indian war of that period.
In order, therefore, to allay their hoatUity, on the repreaentationa of
the home government, the proprietariea releaaed to them in 1758,
all the lands included within the purchase, west of a line drawn
along the east side of the Allegheny mountains.
The last purchase of the proprietaries was made at Fort Stanwix,
in 1768. It comprehended all the lands included within " a line
drawn from Owegy, on the east branch of the Susquehanna, thence
to Towanda, thence up the same and across to the head of Pine
creek and down the same to Kittanning, and from Kittanning
down the Allegheny and Ohio rivers to the south line of the pro
vince, and thence by the said Une to the Allegheny mountains, and

1796. THE DIVESTING ACT. 719
up the same across the Susquehanna to the Delaware, and thence
by the Lechawachsein creek and a line to the place of beginning."
In the conviction that the Revolutionary contest would result iu
the independence of the colonies, and in the belief that the posses
sion of so large a domain by the Penn family would endanger the
peace and liberty of the Commonwealth, the legislature of Penn
sylvania passed an act on the 28th of June, 1779, vesting the estates
of the proprietaries in the commonwealth, for the use and benefit
of all its citizena. To the proprietariea were reaerved their private
estates, and all manors surveyed before the declaration of indepen
dence, and, in lieu of their proprietary claim, a compensation of
one hundred and thirty thousand pounds sterling was granted to
them. The rights of all third parties, derived from them before
the 4th of July, 1776, were confirmed. The vacant lands belong
ing to the proprietaries within the limits of all the previous pur
chases, were constituted a fund for defraying the expenses of the
war, paying the compensation granted to the proprietaries, reward
ing the officers and soldiers of the State, and in providing for the
public expenses.
In October, 1784, a treaty was made with the Six Nations, at Fort
Stanwix, at which all their title was extinguished to the lands in
cluded within the following boundaries: "Beginning at the south
side of the Ohio river, where the western boundary of the State of
Pennsylvania crosses the said river, near Shingho's old town at the
mouth of Beaver creek, and thence by a due north line to the end of
the forty-second, and the beginning of the forty-third degrees of
north latitude ; thence by a due east line, separating the forty -second
and forty-third degrees of north latitude, to the east side of the east
branch of the river Susquehanna, and thence by the bounds of
the purchase of 1768 to the place of beginning.
And in January, 1785, at a treaty held at Fort M'Intosh, with
the chiefs of the Delawarea and the Wyandota, a purchase was
made from them of all the title of those tribes to the lands included
in the same boundaries.
Thus, in a period of one hundred and two years, the title of the
Indians to all the lands within the limita of the State of Pennsyl
vania was extinguished, and the commonwealth became possessed
of the ownership of all the vacant lands within the State. A few
years later the bounds of the State, and, by consequence, the extent
of its vacant lands, were atill further increaaed by the purchase of
what was then and is still known as the Triangle,
It haa been aeen that the cessions of New York, in 1781, and of

'^^ PURCHASE OF THE TRIANGLE, 1796.
Massachusetts, in 1785, comprehended a release of all their respec
tive claims to the lands lying west of a north and south line drawn
through the most western bent or inclination of Lake Ontario, pro
vided that line should be found to ran through a point twenty
miles west of the most westerly bent or ineUnation of the Niagara
river. The cession of Connecticut, too, in 1786, comprehended a
release of all the claims of that State to the lands in the West, ex
cept a reservation known as the Western Reserve, extending west
ward one hundred and twenty mUea from the western boundary of
Pennsylvania, There, therefore, remained a tract of land of trian
gular form, containing an area of two hundred and two thousand
one hundred and eighty-seven acres, lying west of the boundary of
New York, north of the charter boundaty of Pennsylvania, and
east of the Connecticut Reserve, that was thus out of the jurisdic
tion of any of the surrounding States, and still remaining in the
possession of the Indiana,
General Irvine discovered, while surveying the donation lands of
North-Y''estern Pennsylvania, that the northern boundary of that
State would strike Lake Erie so as to leave but a few miles of lake
coast without a harbor within the State ; and, in consequence,
through his representations, a movement was set on foot to secure
from the Indians, and from the United States, the cession of the
Triangle, in order to secure to Pennsylvania the posaession of the
harbor of Presqu' Isle, Accordingly, the board of treasury was in
duced to make, on the 6th of June, a contract of the sale to the State
of Pennsylvania, of the tract described as " bounded on the east by
New York, on the south by Pennsylvania, on the north and' west
by Lake Erie," Aud on the 4th of September, 1788, it was re
solved by Congress, " That the United States do relinquish and
transfer to Pennsylvania, all their right, titie, and claim to the gov
ernment and jurisdiction of said land forever, and it is declared and
made known, that the laws and pubUc acta of Pennsylvania shall
extend over every part of the said tract, as if the said tract had
originally been within the charter bounds of said State," And by
an act of the 2d of October, 1788, the sum of twelve hundred
pounds was appropriated to purchase the Indian title to the tract,
in fulfillment of the contract to sell it to Pennsylvania,
At the treaty of Fort Harmar, on the 9th of January, 1789, Corn-
planter, and other chiefs of the Six Nations, signed a deed, in con
aideration of the sum of twelve hundred pounds, acknowledging
" the right of soil and jurisdiction to and over that tract of coun
try bounded on the south by the north line of Pennsylvania, on the

1796. THE DEPRECIATION LANDS. 721
east by the west boundary of New York, and on the north by the
margin of Lake Erie, including Presqu' Isle and all the bays and
harbors along the margin of said Lake Erie, from the west boun
dary of Pennsylvania to where the west boundary of New York
may intersect the south margin of the said Lake Erie, to be vested
m the said State of Pennsylvania, agreeably to the act of Congress
of the 6th of July, 1788," By an act of the 13th of April, 1791,
the governor of Pennsylvania was authorized to complete the con
tract vrith the United States, which was done on the 3d of ISIarch,
1792, and the Triangle was finaUy conveyed to the State of Penn
aylvania, for the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand, six hun
dred and forty doUars, and twenty-five cents,
PreUminary steps, however, were taken by the commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, for disposing of the lands north and west of the
Allegheny and Ohio rivers, before the title to that region wias se
cured from the aboriginal owners.
During the Revolution, and especially between the years 1777
and 1781, the value of the bills of credit issued by the State of
Pennsylvania, as well as those issued by the Continental Congress,
continued gradually to depreciate until they fell to a mere nominal
value. Great losses were, in consequence, sustained by the holders
of these certificates, especially by the officers and soldiers of the
State troops, who received them in payment of their services, and
incessant disputes arose in relation to the deductions to be made
from- the face of the bills. To remedy this inconvenience, the
legislature, by the act of the 3d of April, 1781, fixed a scale of de
preciation, varying from one and a half to seventy-five per cent,,
for each month between the years 1777 and 1781, according to
which the accounts of the army ahould be settled. The State,
otherwise unable to pay the officers and soldiers of the State
establishment, gave to them certificatea in conformity with the pre-
acribed scale, and these, which were called depreciation certificates,
were made receivable in payment for lands sold by the State.
In order to provide for the redemption of these depreciation cer
tificates, it was enacted by a law of the 12th of March, 1783, "that
for the more speedy and effectual complying with the intention of
the law aforesaid, there be, and hereby is, located and laid off a
certain tract of land, as follows: Beginning where the western
boundary of this State crosses the Ohio river, thence up the said
river to Fort Pitt, thence up the Allegheny river to the mouth of
Mogulbughtiton (Mahoning) creek, thence by a west line to the
western boundary of this State, thence south by the said boundaty

722

THE DONATION LANDS. 1796.

to the place of beginning, reserving to the use of the State three
thousand acres, in an oblong of not less than one mile in depth
from the Allegheny and Ohio rivers, and extending up and down
the said rivers, from opposite Fort Pitt, as far as may be necessary
to include the same ; and the further quantity of three thousand
acres on the Ohio, and on both sides of Beaver creek, including
Fort Mcintosh, all which remaining tract of land as aforesaid is
hereby appropriated as a further fund for the purpose of redeem
ing the certificates aforesaid ; that is to say, the surveyor-general
of this State shall, according to such directions as may be given
him by the Supreme Executive Council, cause the aforesaid tract
of land to be laid out in lots of not less than two hundred, and not
more than three hundred and fifty acres each, numbering the same
lots numericaUy on the draught or plot of the country aforesaid,
and shall, as soon as the same, or one hundred lots thereof, are
surveyed, together with the aecretary of the land office, and the
receiver-general, proceed to sell the same lots in numerical order,
at such times and places, and under such regulations as shall be
appointed by the Supreme Executive Council; the full considera
tion bid at such sales shall be paid into the receiver-general's office,
either in gold or sUver, or in the certificates aforesaid, upon full
payment of which consideration, and the expense of surveying,
together with all fees of the different offices, patents shall be issued
in the usual form to the several buyers or vendees, and the different
sums in apecie, that may be paid into the receiver-general's office,
ahall be paid over by him to the treasury of this State, for the pur
pose of redeeming such certificates as may remain unsatisfied at
the end of such sales."
By an act of the 7th of March, 1780, the faith of the State was
pledged to the officers and privates .belonging to the State in the
Federal army, to bestow upon them " certain donations and quan
tities of land, according to their several ranks; to be surveyed and
divided off to them, severally, at the end of the war."
By the act of the 12th of March, 1783, it was ordained "That,
for the purpose of effectually complying with the letter and inten
tion of the said resolve, there be, and there is hereby declared to
be located and laid off a certain tract of country, beginning at the
mouth of Mogulbughtiton creek ; thence up the Allegheny river
to the mouth of Cagnawaga (Conewango) creek; thence due north
to the northern boundary of this State ; thence west, by the said
boundary, to the north-west corner of the State; thence south, by
the western boundary of the State, to the north-west corner of

1796. THE DONATION LANDS. 723
landa appropriated by this act for discharging the certificates
herein mentioned ; and thence by the same lands east to the place
of beginning; which said tract of country ahall be reserved and set
apart for the only and sole use of fulfilling and carrying into exe
cution the said resolve,"
And it was further ordained, " That aU officera and private men
entitled to land as aforesaid, shaU, and they are hereby directed to
make their respective applications for the same within two years
after peace shall be declared, and in the case of their failure to
make such application, in person, or in that of their legal repre
aentativea within one year of their deceaae, then it may be lawful
for any person or persons whatever, to apply to the land-office,
locate and take up such parts or parcels of said lands, upon such
terms as the Legislature shaU hereafter direct, as may remain unlo
cated by the said officers, non-commissioned officera, and private
men, their heira, executora, and administrators,"
By the act of the 24th of March, 1785, it was provided that the
donation lands should "be laid off in lots of four descriptions, one
to contain five hundred acres each; another, three hundred acres
each ; another, two hundred and fifty acres each; and another, two
hundred acrea each, with the usual allowances; that a quantity
equal to what may be necessary for the major-generals, brigadier-
generals, colonels, captains, and two-thirds of the lieutenant-colo
nels, shaU be laid off into lots of five hundred acres ; a quantity
equal to what may be necessary for the regimental surgeons and
mates, also for the chaplains, majors, and ensigns, into lots of three
hundred acres each; a quantity equal to what may be necessary for
one-third of the lieutenant-colonels, and for the sergeants, sergeant-
majors, and quartermaster-sergeants, into lots of two hundred and
fifty acres ; and a quantity equal to what may be necessary for the
lieutenants, corporals, drummers, fifera, drum-majora, fife-majors,
and privates, into lots of two hundred acres each,"
And for the impartial distribution of these donations, a lottery
was provided at which "each applicant, if a major-general, should
draw four tickets from the wheel containing the numbers on the five
hundred acre lota ; if a brigadier-general, three tickets from said
wheel ; if a colonel, two tickets from aaid wheel ; if a lieutenant-
colonel, one from aaid wheel, and one from the wheel containing
the numbera on the two hundred and fifty acre lots ; if a surgeon,
chaplain, or major, two tickets from the wheel containing the num
bera on the three hundred acre lota ; if a captain, one ticket from
the wheel containing the numbera on the five hundred acre lota;

724 THE SETTLEMENT ACT, 1796.
if a lieutenant, two tickets from the wheel containing the num
bers on the two hundred acre lots; if an ensign, or regimental
surgeon's mate, one ticket from the wheel containing the num
bers on the three hundred acre lots; if a sergeant, sergeant-major,
or quarter-master sergeant, one ticket from the wheel containing
the numbers on the two hundred and fifty acre lots; and if a drum-
major, fife-major, drummer, fifer, corporal, or private sentinel,
one ticket from the wheel containing the numbers on the two hun
dred acre lots,"
Under the law of 1785, an agent was to be appointed whose duty
it was to explore the donation and depreciation districts, to exam
ine the quantity of the lands, and especially to report such as in his
opinion were unfit for cultivation. General Irvine received the
appointment, explored the country, and reported that a part of the
second division of the donation lands was generally unfit for culti
vation ; and in consequence, the lots included in it were withdrawn
from the lottery, and from this circumstance, it received the name
of the " Struck District,"
The lands within the " Triangle," and the "Struck District," as
well as all the residue of the lands within the donation and depre
ciation districts, including the ,greater portion of them not taken
up by the claims of the officers and soldiers of the army, were
offered for sale under the act of the 3d of AprU, 1792, That act
provided that aU the lands north and west of the AUegheny river,
and Conewango creek, not heretofore reserved for pubUc or char
itable uses, should be offered for sale to persons who would culti
vate, improve and settle them at the rate of seven pounds and ten
shiUings per hundred acres, with an allowance of six per cent, for
highways. For such as had made actual settiements, it was provi
ded that warrants should be issued for tracts of not more than four
hundred acres to each settier. But by the ninth section, it waa
provided, "That no warrant or survey to be issued or made in
pursuance of this act, for lands lying north and west of the rivers
Ohio and Allegheny and Conewango creek, shall vest any titie in or
to the lands therein mentioned, unless the grantee haa, prior to the
date of such warrant, made, or caused to be made, or shall, within
the space of two years, next after the date of the same, make, or
cause to be made, an actual settiement thereon, by clearing, fen
cing, and cultivating at least two acres for every hundred acres
contained in one survey, erecting thereon a messuage for the habi
tation of man, and residing, or causing a family to reside thereon,
for the space of five years next following hia firat aettUng of the

1796, THE PENNSYLVANIA POPULATION COMPANY, 725
same, if he or she shall so long live, and that in default of such
actual settlement and residence, it shall, and may be lawful to and
for thia commonwealth to issue new warrants to other actual set
tlers for the said lands, or any part thereof, reciting the original
warrants, and that actual settlements and residence have not been
made in pursuance thereof, and so often as defaults shall be made
for the time and in the manner aforesaid, which new grants shall
be made under and subject to all and every the regulations contained
in this aet: provided always, nevertheless, that if any such actual
settler or any grantee, in any such original or succeeding warrant,
shall, by force of arms of the enemies of the United States, be
prevented from such actual settlement or be driven therefrom, and
shall persist in his endeavors to make such actual settlement as
aforesaid, then, in either case, he and his heirs shall be entitled to
hold the said lands in the same manner as if the actual settlement
had been made and continued,"
Under the provisions of this act, vety many adventurous settlers
passed over the Allegheny, located themselves at different points
within the limits of the territoiy now opened for settlement, com
menced improvements, and applied for warrants. But the hostilities
of the Indians prevented, almost universally, their complying with
the legal terms of the aettlement, neceaaary to complete their titles.
They were compelled to abandon their improvements, and retire
beyond the river; and thus exceedingly perplexing questions arose
in regard to the true ownership of the lands they had claimed.
The difficulties that thua arose in regard to the titles of the
settlers to their claims, were greatly enhanced by the operations of
certain land companies that were organized with a view of specu
lating in the lands of that region. The most prominent of these
were the North American Land Company, the Pennsylvania Popu
lation Company, and the Holland Land Company,
The North American Land Company has already been referred
to. Soon after the passage of the act of 1792, John Nicholson,
who was previously interested in the North American Company,
applied at the land office for three hundred and ninety warrants,
to be located in the Triangle, and for two hundred and fifty warrants,
to be located on the waters of Beaver creek— representing, in aU,
about two hundred and sixty thousand acres. Before, however,
completing his purchase, the Pennaylvania Population Company
was formed, of which he was made President, and Messra, Caze-
nove, Irvine, Mead, Leet, Hoge and Stewart, Managers, The capi
tal stock of the company conaisted of two thouaand five hundred

726

THE HOLLAND LAND COMPANY. 1796.

shares, which was laid out in the purchase of five hundred thou
sand acres of land. To this company Nicholson transferred Ms
claims, and they perfected the purchase by paying the legal price
for them. In addition, they purchased five hundred more warrants
for lands in the donation district. The terms of their purchases
were of course those provided in the law — the payment of seven
pounds ten shillings per hundred acres, and the making, or causing
to be made, of a legal settlement on each tract covered by a war
rant. In order to induce emigrants to settle on their lands, the
company proposed to grant, in fee simple, to every settier, one
hundred and fifty acres of land, if he ahould comply with the
requisitions of the law imposed upon them ; and in that way it waa
designed that the occupant should aecure hia land, together with
his improvements, and the company should secure two hundred and
fifty acres through him. But the fact that each actual settler could
aecure for himself, by the payment of the stipulated purchaae
money, a tract of four hundred acres, under the law, prevented
in a great measure the success of the company's scheme of
monopoly. Settlers generally, indeed, located themaelvea on lands
covered by their own warranta, though, in some cases, these in
fringed upon the landa of the company. In consequence, suits of
ejectment were instituted against those who had encroached upon
the lands to which the company had an incomplete title, and thia
atate of things became a fruitful aource of litigation for many
years, A far more fruitful source of litigation, however, arose from the
confiicting constructions placed upon the ninth section of the act
of 1792, in the long litigation that grew out of the "Holland Land
Case," The Holland Land Company consisted of William Willink
and eleven associates, capitalists of Holland, who had lent a large
aum of money to the United Statea during the Revolution, Prefer
ring to keep their money invested in the United States, they pur
chased large tracts of land in New York and Pennaylvania, After
the pasaage of the law of 1792, they commenced to buy warranta,
and to locate aettlera west of the Allegheny river, on similar term*
to those of the Population Company, conceding, however, only one
hundred acres to each settler on their landa.
In the courae of their operations they paid the purchase money
for one thousand one hundred and sixty-two warrants, and sur
veyed one thouaand and forty-eight more tracta for location. But
in conaequence of the Indian war, the aettlera that had located
on their landa were prevented from making the improvementi

1796. THE HOLLAND LAND CASE. 727
required by law within the prescribed two years after the date of
their warrants. In consequence, a question arose whether the
company had failed to complete their titles to their lands. On
the one hand it was claimed, that the conditions of settlement were
rendered impossible by the enemiea of the United States, and,
therefore, it was not necessary to do any thing more in order to
perfect the titles to all lands on which warrants were actually laid.
On the other it was insisted, that the right to those lands was for
feited by the neglect of the company to persist in their endeavors
to maintain their settlements.
The board of property before 1800, inclined to the former of
these constructions of the law, and devised a prevention certificate
which the warrant-holder might present at the land office, setting
forth that he had been prevented by the enemies of the United
Statea from making the aettlement of his lands preacribed in the
law, upon which he was entitled to hia patent; and the Holland
company received many patents for their landa under these pre
vention certificates. The new board of property in 1800, placed a
difterent construction upon the law, and refused the issue of any
more patents on prevention certificates. The Holland Company,
thus refused patents on these certificates, applied to the Supreme
Court of the State for a mandamus, to compel the board of pro
perty to complete their titlea. The cause was heard at the March
term of 1800. The chief justice held, that the war discharged the
company from the condition of settlement, and, therefore, their
patents were due them. Two other judges held, that under the
law the settler was bound to continuously persevere in his efforts
to make a settlement, and, as the Holland Company through their
aettlera had not done ao, their titlea were forfeited; and thUs the
application of the company was refuaed.
The decision of the Supreme Court made under these circum
stances, instead of calming, greatly increased the excitement in the
country, and indeed throughout the State powerful interests were
arrayed on each side of the question. On the one part the land
companies, the settlers who had been employed to occupy their
landa, and a large body of emigranta who had passed into the dis
puted region and made locationa for themaelvea during the war,
were claiming that the state of the country had, within the mean
ing of the law, prevented the completion of their several settle
ments, and were seeking every legal means to enforce and defend
their claims to their land. On the other, a large body of emigrants
were passing into the country, especially since the decision of the

728

THE HOLLAND LAND CASE. 1796,

Supreme Court, occupying the disputed lands, and applying for new
warrants for them, on the ground that all former titles were annul
led by the default of their holders.
To prevent the confusion thus about to arise, the Legislature, by
an act of the 2d of April, 1802, provided for the hearing of an
agreed case, before the Supreme Court, involving, as it was sup
posed, all the points in controversy. The court met at Sunbury,
in 1802, and decided that though the prevention by the enemies of
the United States suspended, it did not dispense with the condi
tions of settlement, aud therefore each settler, to perfect his title,
was bound to renew his endeavors to maintain a settiement on his
land as soon as the danger was removed. If so, his warrant was
good ; if not, it was forfeited. The HoUand Company declined to
abide by the decision of the court, and commenced proceedings in
the United States Courts, The case was first argued in the United
States Circuit Court ; the judges disagreed in their constructions of
the law, and the case was removed to the Supreme Court of the
United States. In 1805, Chief Justice Marshall decided that, un
der the law of 1792, the settler was excused by reason of the war
from making an actual settlement before January 1st, 1796, and if
he then persisted in maMng his settlement, he was entitled to his
patent, according to law. Under this decision, the Holland Com
pany, as well as the other land companies, and individuals who had
laid warrants in the disputed region during the war, were con
firmed in their titles, and thus eventually obtained quiet possession
of their lands. Many tracts of land, however, claimed by indi
viduals, remained long in litigation, in consequence of the difficulty
of making proof of what constituted an actual settlement, and as
to who were the original settlers under the law, and in accordance
with the ruling of the courts ; and thus the title to real estate was
long insecure, and the peace and harmony of the country was long
disturbed by the ill-judged and inaccurate legislation of the
State. The effect of all this uncertainty and insecurity of the titles of
land in North-Western Pennsylvania was, of course, disastrous.
Emigrants, especially those from the better and more reliable classes
of society, who would otherwise have been attracted to that region,
were disposed to avoid it, and to pass on further, to the Western
Reserve, or to other portions of the North-Weatern Territory.
Many who had located themselves in North-Western Pennsylvania,
wearied with continual litigation, abandoned their claims and
removed to the Weat, where the titlea to real eatate were aecure.

1796. ORGANIZATION OF NORTHtWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA. 729
iarge bodies of land, too long remained, and in some instancea
still remain, in the handa of speculators unoccupied, and unim
proved, or only occupied by tenants having no interest in the im
provement of the lands or the advancement of the country. From
theae combined cauaes, all of them the results of the mischievous
character of the early legialation of Pennsylvania, the north
western portion of that State was long far behind the region west
of it, in population, progress, and improvement.
Yet there was at an early day much enterpriae manifeated by
the settlera of that countty, notwithatanding the embarraaaing cir-
.cumstances with which they were surrounded. By an act of the
Legislature of the 18th of April, 1795, commissioners were ap
pointed to survey five thousand acres of the reservation at Presqu'
Isle, and lay off thereon the town of Erie ; to survey one thousand
acres of the reservation at the mouth of French creek, and lay off
thereon the town of Franklin ; to survey one thousand acres of
the reservation at the mouth of the Conewango creek, and lay off
thereon the town of Warren ; and to aurvey five hundred acres of
the reservation at Le Boeuf, and to complete thereon the laying off
of the town of Waterford, previoualy commenced by Andrew EUi-
cott. In addition to these, many other villages soon sprung up,
and the population of North-Western Pennsylvania so far increased
that the Legislature divided it, by the act of the 12t,h of March,
1800, into the counties of Beaver, Butler, Mercer, Crawford, Erie,
Warren, Yenango, and Armstrong.
The ordinance preacribing the mode of surveying and diapoaing
of the landa in the North-Weatern Territoty has already been
given. Changes were afterward made in some of ita provisions,
but its main proviaiona yet remained, and under ita operation the
many diffieultiea that have arisen elsewhere, in regard to the secu
rity of titles, and the identification of lands, have been obviated in
the Weat. All the landa in the North-Weat Territoty were held
by the United Statea, on the basia of purchaaea made at various
times from the Indians, and were all surveyed and sold junder the
proviaiona of that ordinance ; and in thia way the title given waa
alwaya secure, and the identification complete. There were, how
ever, a variety of tracts, of greater or less extent, in varioua parts
of the North-Weat, which were granted to or reaerved by other
parties, and therefore never came under the operation of the land
lawa of the United States. The more important reaervationa ex-
iating at the close of the Indian war were theae: '
47

730

LAND TITLES IN THE NORTH-WEST, 1796,

It was the custom of the Commandanta of the different French
posta in early times, to make concessions to individuals, of specified
tracts of land, on certain prescribed conditions; some of which have
already been referred to. In this way very considerable quantities
of land were conceded around all the French posts, before the
tranafer of the valley of the Mississippi to Great Britain. After
the sovereignty over that country was transferred to the United
States, commissioners were appointed at various times to examine
these titles. All titles that could be proved to have originated
in accordance with the laws of France, and the usages of the
French colonies, were confirmed, and, in consequence, large
bodies of land in Illinois, about Yincennes, Detroit, and elsewhere,
were, and are still held by titlea derived from the French gov
ernment. A tract of one hundred and fifty thouaand acres of land, on the
north side of the Ohio river, opposite to the falls, was granted in
1783, by the State of Yirginia, and reserved in the cession of the
claim of that state to the North-West, for the use of General
Clarke, and the officers and soldiers who served under him in the
conquest of Illinois.
It has been seen that the State of Connecticut, in the cession of
her claim to the North-West, in 1786, reserved the jurisdiction and
ownership over a tract of one hundred and twenty miles in length,
and of variable width, lying west of Pennsylvania, and including,
by subsequent survey, an area of three million eight hundred
thousand acres. Of these lands, as has been stated, five hundred
thousand acres were donated, in 1792, to the sufferers by the burn
ing of New London, Fairfield, Norwich, and other towna in Con
necticut, during the Revolutionary war, and the remainder of the
unsold lands of the Reserve, being about three millions of acres, was
transferred, in 1795, to the Connecticut Land Company, divided
into townships of five miles square, and sold.
The United States military lands consisted of two million five
hundred and sixty thousand acres, set apart by an act of the 1st of
June, 1796, for the officers and soldiers of the Revolution. They
were located on the east of the Scioto river, and aouth of the line
established by the Greenville treaty, divided into townships of five
miles square, and sub-divided into lota of one hundred acres each,
for the location of warrants, aa provided by the act.
The Yirginia military landa conaiated of a body of landa lying
between the Scioto and Little Miami rivers, reaerved by the State
of Yirginia in 1784, for the use of the Yirginia Continental Une,

1796, LAND TITLES IN THE NORTH-WEST, 731
It was never surveyed in any regular form, and, in consequence,
much litigation has arisen in regard to the confiict of claims and of
boundaries within that district.
The Ohio Company's lands consisted at first of one million five
hundred thousand acrea, on the Ohio river, afterward reduced to
nine hundred and aixty-four thouaand two hundred and eighty-five
acres, which that company paid for and patented.
The donation tract was a body of one hundred thousand acrea,
granted to the Ohio Company, on the north of their landa, on the
condition that they should locate one actual settler on each hundred
acres of the tract within five years from the date of the grant, upon
failure of which all of the lands not occupied within the prescribed
time ahould revert to the general government,
Symmea' purchase, as has been seen, consisted of a tract of three
hundred and eleven thousand six hundred and eighty-two acrea,
between the two Miamies,
The Refugee tract consisted of a body of one hundred thousand
acres, granted to certain refugees from the British provinces, who
had attached themselves to the American cause during the Revolu
tion, It lies eastward from the Scioto, extending forty-eight milea
in length, and four and a half in width.
The French grant was a tract of twenty-four thouaand acres, on
the Ohio, donated to the Gallipolia aettlera, in lieu of the loaaes
they sustained tMough the failure of the Scioto Company to make
good the titlea to the landa they aold to them,
Dohrman'a grant waa a townahip of land granted Arnold Henty
Dohrman, a merchant of Lisbon, for the aid he rendered to the
American cause in the Revolutionary war.
The Moravian lands consisted of three aeveral tracts, on the
Muskingum, of four thousand acres each, granted by act of Con
gress to the Moravian Brethren of Bethlehem, in trust for the
Christian Indians residing on them.
In addition to these, there were several small tracta of land in
various portions of the North-West, donated to individuals for
eminent servicea to the country.
The great event of 1796 waa the final tranafer of the northern
posts from Britain to the United States, under Jay'a treaty. This
waa to have taken place on or before the first of June, but owing
to the late period at which the House of Representatives, after
their memorable debate upon the treaty, passed the necessary appro
priations, it was July before the American government felt itself

732 SETTLEMENT OF CHILLICOTHE. 1796.^
justified in addreaaing the authorities in Canada in regard to
Detroit and the other frontier forts. When at last called upon to
give them up, the British at once did so, and. Wayne transferred
hia head-quartera to the neighborhood of the lakea, where a county
named from him waa established, including the north-west of Ohio,
the north-east of Indiana, and the whole of Michigan.*
Meanwhile, the treaty with Spain was likely to become ineffect
ual, in consequence of the alliance of Spain and France upon the
19th of August, and the difficulties which, at the same time, arose
between the latter power and the United States. Spain took advan
tage of the new position of affairs to refuse the delivery of the
posts on the Misaiaaippi, as had been stipulated, and proceeded, aa
haa been already related, to tempt the honesty of leading weatern
politiciana. During thia year settlements went on rapidly in the Weat. Early
in the year, Nathaniel Maaaie, to whom reference haa already been
made, took steps to found a town upon the Scioto, on a portion of
the lands which he had entered. This town he named, when sur
veyed, Chillicothe.
One hundred in and out-lots in the town were chosen by lotj'^by
the firat one hundred aettlera, aa a donation, according to the original
proposition of the proprietor. A number of in and out-lota were
alao sold to other persons desiring to settle in the town. The first
choice of in-lots were disposed of for the moderate sum of ten
dollars each. The town increased rapidly, and before the winter
of 1796, it had in it several stores, taverns, and ahopa for me-
chanica. The arta of civilized- life soon began to unfold their power and
influence in a more systematic manner than had ever been wit-
nesaed by many of ita inhabitanta, eapecially those who were born
and raised in the frontier settlements, where neither law nor gospel
were understood or attended to.
There were three placesin Ohio called Chillicothe by the Indians,
one of which was in the neighborhood of thia town aite. It is a
Shawaneae word, and denotes place or site. Old Chillicothe was on
the Little Miami, and the other was on or near the Maumee, or
Miami of the Lake. The Shawanese nation, which originated from
the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida, was divided into four tribea-r-
the Piqua, Mequachake, Kiakapocoke, and Chillicothe tribea.

* Washington's £|peech, American State Papers, j. 30. Chase's Sketch, p. 27.

1796. SETTLEMENT OF CHILLICOTHE. 738
The formation of the Connecticut Land Company has already
been noticed. Early in the apring of 1796, the directora of that
company aelected and sent out forty-three aurveyors, under the
direction of General Mosea Cleveland, to aurvey that portion of
their landa lying east of the Cuyahoga river. The party rendez
voused at Schenectady, in June, collected there the materials and
stores necessary for their enterprise, and thence proceeded in boata
by way of the Mohawk, the Oswego, Lake Ontario, and the Niagara,
to Buffalo. There they held a council with the chiefs of the
Seneca and Mohawk tribes, and obtained from them a ceaaion of
their claims to the landa included in the company'a purchase, for the
sum of twelve hundred dollars. Thence they proceeded along the
lake ahore, a part of them by land, and a part in their boata, and
arrived at the site of Conneaut on the 4th of July. There they
erected a cabin for the accommodation of the party, and for the
storage of their goods, to which they gave the name of " Stowe
Caatle," and immediately commenced their survey. One of the
parties commenced a meridian line from the lake at the boundaty
of Pennaylvania, and ran aouth to the high lands north of the
Mahoning river. Another, under the direction of Cleveland, sur
veyed the lake coast to the mouth of the Cuyahoga river, which
they entered and explored for eleven miles from its mouth.
After the completion of this preliminaty survey, another explora
tion of the lake shore was made from Conneaut to Sandusky. On
the return of the party to the mouth of the Cuyahoga, they com
menced the survey of a town site to which they gave the name of
Cleveland. It was laid out into two hundred and twenty lots of
eight rods in front, and forty rods in the rear, around a public
square of ten acres. About the 1st of October, a cabin waa raiaed,
and the party aoon after returned to Conneaut, leaving Job Styles
and his family, and Captain Paine, to occupy the new city.
At that time, it is said, the white inhabitants west of the Gen
essee river, consisted only of the garrison at Niagara, two families
at Lewistown, a British Indian interpreter, two Indian traders, and
one white family at Buffalo, a few settlers at Presqu' Isle, the party
of New England surveyors, with two families at Conneaut, one
family at Cleveland, a French trader at Sandusky, and the settle
ment at Detroit.
In the spring of the next year, the families at Conneaut were
removed to Cleveland, which was made the head-quarters of the
surveyors of the company. The whole territoty of the purchase
was laid off in townships of five miles square, and settlera, generally

"^24 EXTENSION OF SETTLEMENTS. 1796.
from Connecticut, commenced to occupy the lands on the Cuy ahoga
and elsewhere on the company's lands, and before the end of the
century, thirty-two aeparate aettlements had been made on the
Weatern Reaerve.*
A detachment of American troopa, consisting of aixty-five men,
under the command of Captain Moaea Porter, took possession of
the evacuated fort at Detroit, about the 12th of July. In Septem
ber, Winthrop Sargent, Secretary of the North-Western Territory,
proceeded to Detroit, and organized the county of Wayne, and
establiahed the civil authority in that quarter.
This year, alao, the settlements in the MusMngum, Scioto, and
Miami valleys were mnch extended. The immigrants from the
New England and Middle States, came into the West by way of
Brownsville and Wheeling. At Brownsville, many fitted up fiat
boats, and descended the Ohio to Limestone, and other points in
Kentucky, or else landed on the north side of the Ohio. Others
proceeded by land from Wheeling, to that section of the territoty
they had selected for their, future homes. The colonies destined
for the valleys of the Muskingum and Scioto cMefly passed by this
route. Small villages and farming settlements were made on the banks
of the Ohio, and its tributaries below the MusMngum. Symmea'
purchase, on the Miami, underwent iapid changes.
Cincinnati had increased its population and improved its style of
building. In 1792, it contained about thirty log cabins, beside the
barracks and other buUdinga connected with Fort Washington,
and about two hundred and fifty inhabitants.
The first houae of worship, for the first Presbyterian Church, waa
erected. In the beginning of the year 1796, Cincinnati had more
than one hundred log cabins, beside twelve or fifteen frame houses,
and a population of about six hundred persons.
Within the Yirginia MUitary Land District, which lay between
the Little Miami and Scioto rivers, several new settiements were
made, and surveys were executed by Nathaniel Massie, the enter
prising pioneer of the Scioto valley, over the most fertile landa
weatward to the Little Miami, as far north as Todd's fork, and on
all the branches of Paint creek, and eastward to the Scioto. He
performed much aervice aa a pioneer in extending the aettlements
and the boundaries of civilization in this part of Ohio. As early as

* American Pioneer, ii. 22-33.

1796. EXTENSION OF SETTLEMENTS. 735
1790, he laid out the town of Manchester, on the Ohio, twelve milea
above Limestone. By the following March, he had his stockade
complete, and about thirty families within it.
Emigrants from Yirginia, in great numbers, advanced into the
Scioto valley, and settlements extended on the fine lands lying on
Paint and Deer creeks, and other branches of the Scioto.
At the same time the pioneers of civilization were gradually ex
tending settlements along the Muskingum, as far as the mouth of
Licking. It waa in thia year that Ebenezer Zane obtained the
grant of a section of land as the consideration of opening a bridle
path from the Ohio river at Wheeling, across the country by Chil
licothe, to Limestone, in Kentucky, which was located where
ZanesviUe now is. The United States mail traversed this route
for the first time the following year.*
Before the close of the year 1796, the white population of the •
North-Western Territoty, now included in the State of Ohio, had
increased to about five thousand souls of all ages. These were
chiefly distributed in the lower valleys of the Muskingum, Scioto,
and Miami rivers, and on their small tributaries, within fifty miles
of the Ohio river.
With this progress of settlements, the end of the Indian war by
the treaty at Greenville, and the delivery of the northern posts by
the British, under Jay's treaty, all apprehension of danger on the
part of the whites ceased, and friendly intercourse with the natives
succeeded. Such disaffected Indians as persisted in their feelings
of hostiUty to the Americans, retired into the interior of the North-
Western wilderness, or to their allies in Canada. Forts, stations,
and stockades, became useless, and were abandoned to decay. The
hardy pioneer pushed further into the forest, and men of enter
prise and capital in the older settlements became interested in se
curing claims and titles to extensive bodies of fertile lands, and
sending out colonies for their occupation. Settlements were
made, and towns and villages planted in Western Yirginia and
Kentucky. During the period of the Indian wars in the north-west, frequent
acts of hostility were committed by the Cherokees and other south
ern Indians on the aettlementa in Tennessee, eapecially those along
the Cumberland river. Theae depredations, in which many per
sona were killed and scalped, were committed by amall marauding

* Monette's Valley of the Mississippi, ii. 316.

736 SETTLEMENTS SOUTH-WEST. 1796.
parties. The termination of the Indian war in the North-Weat
waa followed by treaties with the South- Western Indians, and the
ceaaation of hoatilities in that quarter.
In 1790, North Carolina, which claimed jurisdiction over the
territorial district of Tennessee, ceded to the federal gevemment all
this territory. The ceded countty, by act of Congress, approved
May 20th, was erected into a territoty of the United States, under
the name of the " South Western Territoty." The ordinance of
1787, for the North-Western Territoty, with the exception of the
sixth article, prohibiting slavery, waa adopted aa the fundamental
law in its organization.
Notwithstanding the hostile attitude of the Indiana, large num
bera of emigranta, each year, left Yirginia, North and South Caro
lina, and even Georgia, for thia diatrict of country, and settle
ments continued to extend into the wilderneaa. In 1793, the people
became impatient of their dependent form of government, and
adopted an addreaa to the governor, that as the territory contained
more than five thousand free white male persona, the requiaite
number, as provided by the ordinance of 1787, they migM have a
territorial legislature.
In December of that year, the Governor issued his proclamation
for the election of a General Assembly, as provided by law.
The legislature assembled at Knoxville, in February, 1794, and
passed the necessary laws to open roads, protect the inhabitanta
from Indian depredations, and other matters.
According to a census ordered by the Territorial Legislature, in
1795, the aggregate population of the territory was seventy-seven
thousand two hundred and sixty-two persons, ' of whom sixty-six
thousand four hundred and ninety were whitea, and the remainder
alaves and free peraona of color. This amount of population more
than entitled them to a State government, according to the provis
ions of the ordinance of Congreaa.
The governor of the territory iasued hia proclamation for an
election of five peraons in each county, to meet in convention for
the purpoae of forming a constitution. Thia convention assembled
at Knoxville, on the llth of January, 1796, and formed the consti
tution, and on the 9th of Februaiy, Gov. Blount, forwarded to Mr.
Pickering, Secretary of State, a copy. This waa aent by Mr.
McMinn, who waa inatructed to tarry long enough in Philadelphia^
to ascertain whether the new State would be admitted into the
Union. On the 6th of June, the act was passed by Congress to
receive the State of Tennessee.

1796. DEATH OF GENERAL WAYNE. 737
Four years after the organization of the State government, the
population had increaaed to one hundred and five thouaand aix
hundred and two soula, including thirteen thousand five hundred
and eighty-four slaves and persona of color.*
During 1796, Samuel Jackaon and Jonathan Sharpless erected
" Redstone paper-mill," four milea east of Brownaville, it being the
firat manufactory of the kind weat of the Alleghenies.
In the month of December, 1796, General Anthony Wayne, being
on his way from Detroit to Philadelphia, was attacked with sick
ness, and died in a cabin, at or near Erie, (Presqu' Isle) in the north
part of Pennsylvania. He waa born in Cheater county. Pa., Janu
ary Iat, 1745 ; hence, in a few daya, had he lived, he would have
been fifty-one years of age. He waa a diatinguiahed officer in the
Revolutionary war, a man of unparalleled bravery, and led the for
lorn hope in the attack upon Stoney Point. His remains were
removed from Presqu' Isle in 1809, by his aon. Col. laaac Wayne, to
Radnor church-yard, near the place of hia birth, and an elegant
monument erected on his tomb by the Pennsylvania Cincinnati
Society.
After the formation of the treaty with Spain, and before the sur-
1797.] render of the Spanish posts east of the Mississippi, in
accordance with its provisions, yet another effort was made by Car
ondelet to effect the separation of the West from the Union.
After the death of General Wayne, Wilkinson was appointed to
the command of the Western army. In June, 1797, Power waa
sent back to Kentucky, for the double purpose of inducing Wilkin
son to delay the mai'ch of the American troops to the posts on the
Misaiaaippi, profeaaedly until certain queationa at issue between the
two governments were adjusted, and especially for thepurpose of
testing his disposition, and the dispositions of the leading politi
cians of Kentucky, in regard to the question of separation. His
instructions from Carondelet, dated May 26th, 1797, will furnish,
however, the most satisfactory statement of the purpoae of hia
miasion :
"On your journey you will give to understand, adroitly, to those
persons tp whom you have an opportunity of speaking, that the
deUvery of the poats which the Spaniarda occupy on the Miasis
sippi, to the troops of the United States, is directly oppoaed to the

* Haywood's History of Tenuess ee, pp. 140-160.

738 INSTRUCTIONS OF POWER, 1797,
interests of those of the West, who, as they must one day separate
from the Atlantic States, would find themselves without any com
munication with lower Louisiana, from whence they ought to ex
pect to receive powerful succors in artillery, arms, ammunition and
money, either publicly or secretly, as soon as ever the Western
States should determine on a separation, which must injure their
prosperity and their independence; that, for this reaaon, Congreas
ia resolved on risking evetything to take those posts from Spain,
and that it would be forging fetters for themselves, to furnish it
with militia and means, which it can only find in the Western
States. These same reasons, diffused abroad by means of the pub
lic papers, might make the strongest impressions on the people,
and induce them to throw off the yoke of the Atlantic States.
"If a hundred thousand dollars, distributed in Kentucky, would
cause it to rise in insurrection, I am very certain that the minister,
in the present circumstances, would sacrifice them with pleasure;
and you may, without exposing yourself too much, promise them
to those who enjoy the confidence of the people,' with another
equal sum to arm them, in case of necessity, and twenty pieces of
field artillety.
"You will arrive, without danger, as bearer of a dispatch for the
General, where the army may be, whose force, discipline, and dis
position you will examine with care; and you will endeavor to
discover, with your natural penetration, the General's disposition-
I doubt that a person of his disposition would prefer, through
vanity, the advantages of commanding the army of the Atlantic
States to that of being the founder, the liberator, in fine, the Wash
ington of the Western States. His part is as briUiant as it is easy;
all eyes are drawn toward him; he possesses the confidence of hia
fellow citizens, and of the Kentuclty volunteers. At the slightest
movement, the people will name him the General of the new
republic ; his reputation will raise an army for him, and Spain, as
well as France, wUl furnish him the means of paying it.
"On taking Fort Massac, we will send him, instantly, arms and
artiUery; and Spain, limiting herself to the possession of the forts
of Natchez and Walnut Hills, as far as Fort Confederation, wiU
cede to the Western States all the eastern bank to the Ohio, which
will form a very extensive and powerful republic, connected, by its
situation and by ita interest, with Spain, and in concert with it,
will force the aavagea to become a party to it, and to confound
themaelvea, in time, with its citizena.
"The public are discontented with the new taxes; Spain and

1797, power's propositions. 73C
France are enraged at the connection of the United States with
England ; the army is weak, and devoted to Wilkinson ; the threats
of Congress authorize me to succor, on the spot, and openly, the
Western States ; money will not, then, be wanting to me, for I shall
send, without delay, a ahip to Yera Cruz in aearch of it, aa well aa
of ammunition. Nothing more wUl consequently be required, but
an instant of firmness and resolution, to make the people of the
West perfectly happy. If they suffer this instant to eacape them,
and we are forced to deliver up the posts, Kentucky and Tennessee?
surrounded by the said posta, and without communication with
lower Louisiana, will ever remain under the oppression of the
Atlantic States,"
Power proceeded at once to Kentucky, and presented the follow
ing communication from Carondelet, to Innis, Sebastian, Nicholas,
and Murray :
" Hia Excellency, the Baron of Carondelet, Commander-in-chief,
and Governor of hia Catholic Majesty's provinces of West Florida
and Louisiana, having communications of importance, embracing
the interests of said provinces, and at the same time deeply affect
ing those of Kentucky, and the western country in general, to
make to its inhabitants, through the medium of the inffuential
characters in this countty, and judging it, in the present uncertain
and critical attitude of politics, highly imprudent and dangerous
to lay them on paper, has expressly commissioned and authorized
me to submit the following proposals to the consideration of
Messrs, S,, N,, I., and M., and also of such other gentlemen as may
be pointed out by them," and to receive from them their sentiments
and determination on the subject.
" The above-named gentlemen are immediately to exert all their
influence, in impressing on the minds of the inhabitants of the
Western country, a convictio|kof the necessity of their withdrawing
and separating themselves from the Federal Union, and forming
an independent government, wholly unconnected with that of the
Atlantic States.
" To prepare and dispose the people for such an event, it will be
necessary that the moat popular and eloquent writers in this State
ahould, in well-timed publications, expose, in the most striking
point of view, the inconveniences and disadvantages that a longer
connection with, and dependence on, the Atlantic States must in
evitably draw upon them, and the great and innumerable difficul
ties in which they will probably be entangled if they do not
speedily accede from the Union; the benefits they wiU certainly

'^40 power's propositions. 1797.
reap from a aecesaion, ought to be pointed out in the moat forcible
and powerful manner ; and the danger of permitting the federal
troopa to take posaeaaion of the poata on the Mississippi; and thus
forming a cordon of fortified places around them, must be particu
larly expatiated upon.
" In consideration of gentlemen's devoting their time and talents
to this object, his Excellency, the Baron of Carondelet, will appro
priate the aum of one hundred thouaand dollara to their uae, which
ahall be paid in drafta on the royal treasury at New Orleans ; or, if
more convenient, shall be conveyed at the expense of his Catholic
Majesty, into this countty, and held at their disposal.
" Moreover, ahould auch persons as shall be insfrumental in pro
moting the views of his Catholic Majeaty, hold any public employ
ment, and in consequence of taMng an active part in endeavoring
to effect a secession, shall lose their employment — a compensation
equal at least to the emoluments of their office, ahall be made to
them, by hia Catholic Majesty, let their efforts be crowned with
success or terminate in diappointment.
" Immediately after the declaration of independence. Fort Mas
sac should be taken possession of by the troops of the new govern
ment, which shall be furnished by his CathoUc Majesty without
loss of time, together with twenty field-pieces, with their carriages,
and every necesaary appendage, including powder, ball, &c., to
gether with a number of small arma and ammunition, sufficient to
equip the troops that it shall be judged expedient to raise.
"The whole to be transported at Ma expense to the already
named Fort Massac. Hia CathoUc Majesty wiU further supply the
sum of one hundred thousand doUars, for the raising and main
taining said troops, which aum shaU also be conveyed to and de
livered at Fort Massac."
"The northern boundaty of hia 0«tholic Majeaty's provinces of
East and Weat Florida, shall be designated by a line commencing
on the Mississippi, at the mouth of the river Yazoo, extending dufi
east to the River Confederation, or Tombigbee: Provided, That aU
his Catholic Majesty'a forts, posts, and settiements on the Confed
eration, or Tombigbee, are included in the south side of such a
line ; but ahould any of his Majeaty's forts, posts, or settiements,
fall to the north side of said line, then the northern boundary of
Ma Majeaty'a provincea of East and Weat Florida, shall be desig
nated by a line beginning at the same point on the Mississippi, and
drawn in auch a direction aa to meet the River Confederation, or
Tombigbee, aix milea to the north of the most northern Spanish
post, or settlement on said river.

1797. power's propositions. 741
" All the lands north of that line shall be considered as consti
tuting a part of the territory of the new government, saving that
amall tract of land at the Chickaaaw Bluffs, on the eaateru bank of
the Miaaiasippi, ceded to his Majesty by the Chickasaw nation, in
a formal treaty concluded on the spot, in the year 1795, between
his Excellency, Senor Don Manuel Gayoso de Lemos, Governor of
Natchez, and Augleakabee, and some other Chickasaw chiefs 5
which tract of land hia Majeaty reserves for himself. The eastern
boundary of the Floridas shall be hereafter regulated.
"His Catholic Majeaty wUl, in case the Indian nations south of
the Ohio ahould declare war, or commit hostilities against the new
government, not only join and assist it in repelling its enemies,
but if said government shall at any future time esteem it useful to
reduce said Indian nations, extend its d,ominion over them, and
compel them to submit themselves to its constitution and laws, his
Majesty will heartily concur and co-operate with the new gov
ernment in the most effectual manner in obtaining this desira
ble end.
"His Catholic Majesty will not, either directly or indirectly, in
terfere in the framing of the conatitution or laws which the new
government shall think fit to adopt; nor will he, at any time, by
any meana whatever, attempt to leasen the independence of the said
government, or endeavor to acquire an undue influence in it, but
will, in the manner that shall hereafter be stipulated by treaty, de-
fend and support it in preserving its independence.
" The preceding proposals are the Outlines of a provisional treaty,
which his Excellency, the Baron of Carondelet, ia desirous of en
tering into with the inhabitanta of the weatern country, the moment
they ahall be in a situation to treat for themselves. Should they
not meet entirely with your approbation, and should you wish to
make any alterations in, or ad^ditions to them, I shall on my return,
if you think proper to communicate them to me, lay them before
his Excellency, who is animated with a sincere and ardent desire
to foster this promiaing and rising infant countty, and at the aame
time, promote and fortify the intereata of Ms beneficent and royal
master, in securing, by a generoua and disintereated conduct, the
gratitude of a juat, sensible, and enlightened people.
" The important and unexpected events that have taken place in
Europe aince the ratification of the treaty concluded on the 27th of
October, 1795, between his Catholic Majesty and the United Statea
of America, having convulsed the general system of politics in that

742 REPLY OF THE CONSPIRATORS. 1797.
quarter of the globe, and wherever its influence is extended, caus
ing a colliaion of intereata between nationa formerly living in the
most perfect union and harmony, and directing the political views
of some States toward objects the moat remote from their former
pursuits; but none being so completely unhinged and disjointed aa
the cabinet of Spain, it may be confldently asserted, without in
curring the reproach of presumption, that his Catholic Majesty
will not carry the above-mentioned treaty into execution ; never
theless, the thorough knowledge I have- of the disposition of th8
Spanish Government justifies me in saying that, so far from it be
ing his Majesty's wish to exclude the inhabitants of this western
country from the free navigation of the Mississippi, or withhold
from them any of the benefits stipulated for them by the treaty, it
is positively his intention, so soon as they shall put it in his power
to treat with them, by declaring themselves independent of the
federal government, and establishing one of their own, to grant
them privileges far more extensive, give them a decided preference
over the Atlantic States, in his commercial connections with them,
and place them in a situation infinitely more advantageous, in
every point of view, than that in which they would find themselves
were the treaty to be carried into effect."
But the time for the dismemberment of the Union had gone by.
The people were satisfied with the government. The government
had given full proof of its vigor, and the conspirators who had been
ao long plotting the ruin of their countty for Spanish gold, what
ever may have been their aecret wishes, were too aagacioua not to
know that it waa now impossible to execute their treasonable pro
ject. Accordingly, with a show of disinterested patriotism that
contrasts strongly with their long and tortuous intrigue, they made
the following reply :
" Sir :  We have seen the communication made by you to Mr.
Sebastian. In answer thereto, we declare unequivocally, tiiat we
will not be concerned, either directly or indirectiy, in any attempt
that may be made to separate the western country from the United
States. That whatever part we may at any time be induced to take
in the politics of our country, that her welfare will be our only in
ducement, and that we will never receive any pecuniary, or any
other reward, for any personal exertions made by ua, to promote
that welfare.
" The free navigation of the Miaaiaaippi muat alwaya be the fa
vorite object of the inhabitanta of the western country ; they cannot

1797. power's APPEAL TO WILKINSON. 743
be contented without it; and will not be deprived of it longer
than neceaaity ahall compel them to submit to its being withheld
from them.
"We flatter ourselves that every thing will be set right by the
governments of the two nations ; but if this should not be the case,
it appears to us that it must be the policy of Spain to encourage,
by every possible means, the free intercourse with the inhabitants
of the western country, as this will be the most efficient means to
conciliate their good will, and to obtain without hazard, and at re
duced prices, those auppliea which are indispensably neceaaary to
the Spanish government audits subjects."
Whether Sebastian signed this reply, is not known ; but upon
proof that he had, for years afterward, received two thousand dol
lars annually, as a pension from Spain, for services rendered, it waa
unanimously adjudged by the House of Representatives, in Ken
tucky, on the 6th of December, 1806, that he had been guilty,
while holding the place of Judge of the Court of Appeals, of car
rying on a criminal intercourse with the agents of the Spanish gov
ernment, and disgracing his country for pay. Before thia decision,
however, Sebastian had resigned his place, and thenceforward waa
lost to the councils of the State.
Power, however, proceeded to Detroit, to visit General Wilkin
son, for whom he had brought, from New Orleana, a large sum of
money. Aside from this appeal to his avarice, he sought to arouse
his ambition.
" The western people,"* said he, " are dissatisfied with the ex
cise on whisky, Spain and France are irritated at the late treaty
which haa bound together so closely the United States and Eng
land, the army is devoted to its talented and brilliant commander,
and it requires but firmness and resolution on your part to render
the Western people free and happy. Can a man of your superior
geniua prefer a subordinate and contracted position, as the com
mander of the small and insignificant army of the United Statea,
to the glory of being the founder of an empire, the liberator of so
many millions of his countrymen — the Washington of the West?
Is not this splendid achievement to be easily accomplished ? Have
you not the confidence of your fellow-citizens, and principally of
the Kentucky volunteers ? Would not the people at the slightest
movement on your part, hail you aa the chief of the new republic ?

* Martin's History of Louisiana, ii., 145.

744 Wilkinson's treatment of power. 1796.
Would not your reputation alone raiae you an army, which France
and Spain would enable you to pay ? The eyea of the world are
fixed upon you; be bold and prompt; do notheatitate to grasp the
golden opportunity of acquiring wealth, honors, and immortal
fame. But should Spain be forced to execute the treaty of 1795,
and aurrender all the poats claimed by the United States, then the
bright visions of independence for the Western people, and of the
most exa-lted position and imperishable renown for yourself, must
forever vanish."
But Wilkinson, though restrained by no love of his countty, or
no motives of honor or of conscience, waa far too aagacioua not to
see that it waa now a hopelesa project to attempt to sever the
Union ; and accordingly, with a ahow of patriotism, often easily
assumed by those who are destitute of its apirit, he declined to
entertain the treasonable acheme.
" Having informed him," said Power, in a letter to Gayoso, " of
the proposals of the Baron de Carondelet, he proceeded to tell me
that it was a chimerical project, which it was impossible to execute;
that the inhabitants of the Western States, having obtained by
treaty all they desired, would not wiah to form any other political
or commercial alliancea ; and that they had no motive for separat
ing themselves from the intereata of the other States of the Union,
even if France and Spain ahould make them the most advanta-
geoua offers ; that the fermentation which existed four years back
ia now appeaaed ; that the depredationa and vexations which Ameri
can commerce suffered from the French privateerS, had inspired
them with an implacable hatred for their nation ; that some of the
Kentuckians had proposed to him to raiae three thousand men to
invade Louiaiana, in caae a war should be declared between the
United Statea and Spain; that the latter had no. other courae to
pursue, under the present circumstancea, but to comply fully with
the treaty."
And in order more effectually to ahield himaelf from the sus
picion of treason, he caused Power to be removed to the Spanish
territories under the guard of Captain Shaumburgh, and immedi
ately wrote to Captain Benton, at Yincennea :
"I fear the Spaniarda will oblige us to go to blows with them— in
which case you know they must go to the wall. I shall pursue
evety means in my power to preserve to our country the bleaaings
of peace, but ahaU make evety preparation for war, and wiU be
guarded against aurpriae. Mr. Power delivered me a letter from
the Baron Carondelet, in which he statea a variety of frivolous

1798. HARRISON MADE SECRETARY OF THE TERRITORY. 745
reasons for not delivering the posts, and begs that no more troops
may be sent down the Mississippi, before certain adjustments take
place between our respective courts. I have put aside all his excep
tions, and have called on him in the most solemn manner to fulfill
the treaty, as he regards the interest or honor of his master, and
have hopes that my letter may produce some change in the conduct
of the Dons. Although Mr. Power has brought me this letter, it
is possible it might be a mask to other purposes; I have, therefore,
for his accommodation and safety, put him in care of Captain
Shaumburgh, who will see him safe to New Madrid, by the most
direct route. I pray you to continue your vigilance, and give me
all the information in your power. I am just from Michilimacki
nack, having visited that post to see it put in a state of defense."
The "occupying claimant" law of Kentucky — which was intended
1798.] to relieve those who were ejected from lands from the hard
ship of paying rent for the time they had held them, while their
improvements were not paid for or regarded — was also passed in
this year. It was afterward decided by the Supreme Court of the
United States, to be unconstitutional, but the justice of that decision
was not acquiesced in by the best men of Kentucky, and the Appel
late Court of that State never recognized it, upon the ground that
it was not a decision of the majority of the Supreme Court.
Detroit, during 1797, contained, according to Weld, three hun
dred houses.
The Congress of the United States, on the 7th of April, 1798;
passed an act organizing the territory of the Mississippi; and
Winthrop Sargent, Secretary of the North-Western Territory, was
appointed the Governor. Mr. Sargent, for some cause, was an
unpopular man as Secretaiy and acting Governor in the absence of
St. Clair. He was a pompous, over-bearing man ; and in 1801, he
was accused of misdoings in Mississippi. During the spring of
this year. Gen. Wilkinson had been ordered to the country stUl
held by the Spaniards, who, however, abandoned the region in dis
pute without serious opposition. By the 10th of October, the line
dividing the possessions of Spain and the Federal Government,
was in a great measure run, and the head-quarters of the American
commander were fixed at Loftus Heights, six miles north of the
31st degree of north latitude.
The appointment of Sargent to the charge of the South-West
Territory, led to the choice of WUUam Henry Harrison, who had
been aid-de-cam.p to General Wayne, in 1794, and whose character
48

746 TERRITORIAL REPRESENTATIVES CHOSEN. 1798.
Stood very high in the estimation of the public, to the Secretary
ship of the North-West, which place be held until appointed to rep
resent that territory in Congress.
The North-Western Territory, as may be seen by a reference tothe
ordinance of 1787, was to have a representative assembly as soon
as its inhabitants numbered five thousand. Upon the 29th of
October, Governor St. Clair gave notice by proclamation that the
required population exiated, and directed an election of representa
tives to be held on the third Monday in December.
The representatives, when assembled, were required to nominate
ten persons, whose names were sent to the President of the United
States, who selected five, and with the advice and consent of the
Senate, appointed them, for the legislative council. In this mode
the country passed into the second grade of a territorial govern
ment. During the summer of 1798, Congress passed an act concerning
aUen enemies. The first section of that act provided —
" That it shall be lawful for the President of the United States,
at any time during the continuance of this act,* to order all such
aliens as he shall judge dangerous to the peace and safety of the
United States, or shall have reasonable grounds to suspect are con
cerned in any treasonable or secret machinations against the gov
ernment thereof, to depart out of the territory of the United States,
within such time as shall be expressed in such order ; which order
shall be served on such alien by delivering him a copy thereof, or
leaving the same at his usual abode, and returned to the office of
the Secretary of State, by the Marshal, or other person to whom
the same shall be directed. And in case any alien so ordered to
depart, shall be found at large within the United States after the
time limited in such order for hia departure, and not having
obtained a license from the President to reside therein, or having
obtained auch license, shall not have conformed thereto, every such
alien shall, on conviction thereof, be imprisoned for a term not
exceeding three years, and shall never after be admitted to become
a citizen of the United States: Provided always, and be it further
enacted, that if any alien ao ordered to depart, shall prove, to the
satisfaction of the President, by evidence to be taken before such
person or persons aa the President shall direct, who are for that
purpose hereby authorized to administer oaths, that no injury or

* This act was limited to the time of two years from and after its passage.

1798. SEDITION LAWS UNPOPULAR IN THE WEST. 747
danger to the United States will arise from suffering such alien to
reside therein, the President may grant a license to such alien to
remain within the United States for such time as he shall judge
proper, and at such place as he ahall deaignate. And the President
may also require of such alien to enter into a bond to the United
States, in such penal sum as he may direct, with one or more suffi
cient sureties, to the satisfaction of the person authorized by the
President to take the same, conditioned for the good behavior of
such alien during his residence in the United Statea, and not viola
ting his license, which license the President may revoke whenever
he shall think proper."
And at the same session an act was pasaed in addition to the act
for the puniahment of certain crimes againat the United Statea.
The second section of it provided —
" That if any person shall write, print, utter or publish, or shall
cause or procure to be written, printed, uttered or published, or
ahall, knowingly and wilUngly, aasist in writing, printing, uttering
or publishing, any false, scandalous and malicious writing or wri
tings against the government of the United States, or either house
of the Congress of the United States, or the President of the
United States, with intent to defame the said government, or either
house of the said Congreaa, or the Preaident, or to bring them, or
either of them, into contempt or disrepute; or to excite against
them, or either or any of them, the hatred of the good people of
the United States, or to stir up sedition within the United States ;
or to excite any unlawful combinations therein, for opposing or
resisting any law of the United States, or any act of the President
of the United States, done in pursuance of any such law, or of the
powera in him veated by the conatitution of the United Statea ; or
to resist, oppose or defeat any such law or act ; or to aid, encourage
or abet any hostile design of any foreign nation against the United
States, their people, or government, then such person, being thereof
convicted before any court of the United States having jurisdiction
thereof, shall be punished, by a fine not exceeding two thousand
dollars, and by imprisonment not exceeding two years."
These acts, known in the political history of the country as the
Alien and Sedition Laws, passed as they were under the Federal
administration of John .Adams, excited great opposition. They
were, by the democratic party, especially, everywhere regarded with
horror, and hated; and in Yirginia and Kentucky, eapecially, called
forth in oppoaition the moat able men, and produced the most
violent meaaurea.

748 CONVENTION OF FIRST LEGISLATURE IN TERRITORY, 1799,
The governor of Kentucky caUed the attention of the Legisla
ture to them, and on the 8th of November, resolutions, prepared by
Mr. Jefferson, were introduced into the House, declaring that the
United States are "united by a compact under the style and titie
of a constitution for the United States ; that to this compact, each
State acceded, as a State, and is an integral party, its co-States
forming to Uself the other party; that the government created by
this compact, was not made the exclusive or final JTidge of the ex
tent of the powers delegated to itself; but that, as in aU other cases
of compact among parties having no common judge, each party has
an equal right to judge for himself, as well of infractions, as the
mode and manner of address."
And this doctrine was further developed by the mover of the
resolutions, John Breckenridge: said he, " I consider the co-States
to be alone partiea to the federal compact, and solely authorized to
judge in the last resort of the power exercised under the compact-
Congress not being a party, but merely the creature of the com
pact, and subject as to its assumption of power, to the final judg
ment of those by whom, and for whose use, itself and its powers
were all created." In another passage he says, "If upon the rep
resentation of the States, from whom they derive their powers,
they should nevertheless attempt to enforce them, I hesitate not to
declare it as my opinion, that it is then the right and duty of the
several States, to nullify those acts, and protect their citizens from their
operation."* To this doctrine, since disclaimed by Kentucky, in a clear and
formal declaration, in 1838, William Murray, of Franklin, alone,
offered a steady opposition, and took the ground since occupied by
Mr, Webster with so great power; but he argued in vain — the Sen
ate unanimously passed the resolutions. The House acted with
almost equal unanimity, and the governor gave them his appro
bation, A change in the Penal Code of Kentucky took place during
1798, by which the punishment of death was confined to the
crime of murder, and for all others the penitentiary system was
aubatituted.
The repreaentativea of the North-West Territory, elected under the
1799,] proclamation of Governor St, Clair, met at Cincinnati on

» Butler, pp, 285-87.

1799. burnbt's remarks on the new legislature. 749
the 22d of January, 1799, and under the provisions of the ordinance
of 1787, nominated ten persons, whose names were sent to the
President of the United States. On the 2d of March, the President
selected from the list of candidates, the names of Jacob Burnet,
James Findlay, Henry Yanderburgh, Robert Oliver, and David
Yance, and on the next day the Senate confirmed their nomination
as the Legislative Council of the North-West Territory.
The territorial legislature again met at Cincinnati on the 16th of
September, but for want of a quorum was not organized until the
24th of that month. The House of Representatives consisted of nine
teen members, of whom seven were from Hamilton county, four
from Ross, three from Wayne, two from Adams, one from Jeffer
son, one from Washington, and one from Knox.
After the organization of the legislature. Gov. St. Clair addressed
the two houses in the representatives' chamber, and recommended
such measures to their consideration as, in his judgment, were
suited to the condition of the country, and would advance the
safety and prosperity of the people.
"The legislative body," says Mr. Burnet, "continued in session
till the 19th of December, when having finished their business, the
governor prorogued them, at their request, till the first Monday in
November. This being the first session, it was necessarily a very
laborious one. The transition from a colonial to a semi-independ
ent government, called for a general revision, as well as a consid
erable enlargement of the statute-book. Some of the adopted laws
were repealed, many others altered and amended, and a long list
of new ones added to the code. New offices were to be created
and filled — the duties attached to them prescribed, and a plan of
ways and means devised to meet the increased expenditures, occa
sioned by the change which had just taken place.
"As the number of members in each branch was small, and a
large portion of them either unprepared or indisposed to partake
largely of the labors of the session, the pressure fell on the shoulders
of a few. Although the branch to which I belonged, was composed
of sensible, strong-minded men, yet they were unaccustomed to
the duties of their new station, and not conversant with the science
of law. The consequence was, that they relied chiefly and almost
entirely on me, to draft and prepare the bills and other documents,
which originated in the council, as will appear by referring to the
journal of the session.
" One of the important dutiea which devolved on the legislature,
was the election of a delegate to represent the territory in Con-

750 legislature elects delegate to congress. 1799.
gress. As aoon as the governor's proclamation made its appear
ance, the election of a person to fiU that station excited general
attention. Before the meeting of the legislature, pubUc opinion
had settied down on WUliam Henry Harrison, and Arthur Sfc
Clair, Jr., who were eventuaUy the only candidates. On the 3d of
October, the two houses met in the representatives' chamber,
according to a joint resolution, and proceeded to the election. The
baUots being taken and counted, it appeared that WiUiam Henry
Harrison had eleven votes, and Arthur St. Clair, Jr., ten votes ; the
former was therefore declared to be duly elected. The legislature,
by joint resolution, prescribed the form of a certificate of Ms election ';
having received that certificate, he resigned the office of Secretary
of the territory— proceeded forthwith to PhUadelphia, and took
his seat. Congress being then in session.
"Though he represented the territory but one year, he obtained
some important advantages for his constituents. He introduced a
resolution to subdivide the surveys of the public lands, and to offer
them for sale in small tracts — he succeeded in getting that measure
through both houses, in opposition to the interests of speculators
who were, and who wished to be, the retailers of land to the poorer
classes of the community. His proposition became a law, and was
hailed as the most beneficent act that Congress had ever done for
the territory. It put it in the power of every industrious man,
however poor, to become a freeholder, and to lay a foundation for
the future support and comfort of his family. At the same session,
he obtained a liberal extension of time for the pre-emptioners in
the northern part of the Miami purchase, which enabled them to
secure their farms, and eventually to become independent, and
even wealthy."*
The following additional information in regard to the proceed
ings of that legislature is quoted from a circular of Mr. Harrison to
the people of the territory, dated May 14th, 1800.
"Amongst the variety of objects which engaged my attention,
as peculiarly interesting to our territory, none appeared to me of
so much importance as the adoption of a system for the sale of the
public lands, which would give more favorable terma to that class
of purchasers who are likely to become actual settlers, than waa
offered by the existing laws upon that subject; and, conformably
to this idea, I procured the passage of a resolution, at an early

* Historical Transactions of Ohio, i. 71.

1799. FIRST LAWS OF THE LEGISLATURE. 751
period, for the appointment of a committee to take the matter into
consideration. " Shortly after, I reported a bill containing terma for the pur
chaser as favorable as could have been expected. This Mil waa
adopted by the House of Repreaentativea without any material
alteration ; but in the Senate, amendments were introduced, obliging
the purchaser to pay interest on that part of the money for which
a credit was given, from the date of the purchase, and directing
that one half of the land (instead of the whole, as was provided
by the bill from the House of Representatives,) should be sold in
half sections of three hundred and twenty acres, and the other half
in whole sections of six hundred and forty acrea. All my exertions,
aided by some of the ablest members of the lower house, at a con
ference for that purpose, were not sufficient to induce the Senate
to recede from their amendments ; but, upon the whole, there ia
cause of congratulation to my fellow-citizens that terms as favor
able as the bill still contains, have been procured.
" This law promises to be the foundation of a great increaae of
population and wealth to our country; for although the minimum
price of the land is still fixed at two dollars per acre, the time for
" making payments has been so extended as to put it in the power
of evety industrious man to comply with them, it being only
necessary to pay one-fourth part of the money in hand, and the
balance at the end of two, three, and four years ; besides this, the
odious circumstance of forfeiture, which was made the penalty of
failing in the payments under the old law, is entirely abolished,
and the purchaser is allowed one year after the last payment is due
to collect the money ; if the land is not then paid for it is sold,
and, after the public have been reimbursed, the balance of the mo
ney is returned to the purchaser. Four land-offices are directed to
be opened — one at Cincinnati, one at Chillicothe, one at Marietta,
and one at SteubenviUe — for the sale of the lands in the neighbor
hood of those places."
In addition to this, may properly be added the following review
of its proceedings, by Mr. Chase :
" The whole number of acts passed and approved by the gov
ernor was thirty-seven. Of these the most important related to
the militia, to the administration of justice, and to taxation. Pro
vision was made for the efficient organization and discipline of the
mUitary force of the territory; justices of the peace were author
ized to hear and determine all actions upon the case, except trover,
and aU actions of debt, except upon bonds for the performance of

752 ADJOURNMENT OF TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE, 1799,
covenants, without limitation as tothe amount in controversy; and
a regular system of taxation was estabUshed, The tax for territo
rial purposes was levied upon lands; that for county purposes upon
persons, personal property, and houses and lots,
" During this session, a bill, authorizing a lottety for a public
purpose, passed by the council, was rejected by the representatives.
Thus early was the policy adopted of interdicting this demoralizing
and ruinous mode of gambling and taxation ; a policy which, with
but a temporary deviation, has ever since honorably characterized
the Legislature of Ohio,
"Before adjournment, the legislature issued an address to the
people, in which they congratulated their constituents upon the
change in the form of government; rendered an account of their pub
lic conduct as legislators; adverted to the future greatness and im
portance of this part of the American empire ; and the provision
made by the national government for secular and religious instruc
tion in the West; and upon these considerations, urged upon the
people the practice of industry, frugality, temperance, and every
moral virtue, 'Religion, morality and knowledge,' said they, ' are
necessaty to all good governments. Let us, therefore, inculcate
the principles of humanity, benevolence, honesty and punctuality
in dealing, sincerity, and charity, and all the social affections.'
" About the same time an address was voted to the President of
the United States, expressing the entire confidence of the legisla
ture in the wisdom and purity of his administration, and their
warm attachment to the American constitution and government.
The vote upon this address proved that the differences of political
sentiment, which then agitated all the States, had extended to the
Territory. The address was carried by eleven ayes against five
noes. " On the 19th of December, this protracted session of the first
legislature was terminated by the governor. In his speech on this
occasion he enumerated eleven acts, to which, in the course of the
session, he had thought fit to apply his absolute veto. These acts
he had not returned to the legislature, because the two houses were
under no obligation to consider the reasons on which his veto was
founded ; and, at any rate, as his negative was unqualified, the only
effect of such a return would be to bring on a vexatious, and pro
bably fruitless, altercation between the legislative body and the
executive. Of the eleven acts thus negatived, six related to the
erection of new counties. These were disapproved for various
reasons but mainly because the governor claimed that the power

1800. PROPOSALS TO DIVIDE NORTH-WEST TERRITORY, 753
exercised in enacting them, was vested by the ordinance, not in the
legislature, but in himself. This free exercise of the veto power
excited much dissatisfaction among the people, and the controversy
which ensued between the governor and the legislature, as to the
extent of their respective powers, tended to confirm and strengthen
the popular disaffection."*
The great extent of the territory north-west of the Ohio, made the
1800.] ordinary operations of government extremely uncertain,
and the efficient action of Courts almost impossible. The Com
mittee of Congress, upon the 3d of March, 1800, reported upon the
subject, that —
" In the three western counties there has been but one court
having cognizance of crimes, in five years : and the immunity
which offenders experience, attracts, as to an asylum, the most vile
and abandoned criminals, and at the same time deters useful and
virtuous persons from making settlements in such society. The
extreme necessity of judiciary attention and assistance, is experi
enced in civil as well as criminal cases. The supplying to vacant
places such necessary officers as may be wanted, such as clerks,
recorders, and others of like kind, is, from the impossibility of cor
rect notice and information, utterly neglected. This territory is
exposed, as a frontier, to foreign nations, whose agents can find
sufficient interest in exciting or fomenting insurrection and discon
tent, as thereby they can more easily divert a valuable trade in
furs from the United States, and also have a part thereof on which
they border, which feels so little the cherishing hand of their
proper government, or ao Uttle dread of its energy, as to render
their attachment perfectly uncertain and ambiguous.
The committee would further suggest, that the law of the 3d of
March, 1791, granting land to certain persons in the western part
of said territory, and directing the laying out of the same, remains
unexecuted; that great discontent, in consequence of such neg
lect, is excited in those who were interested in the provisions of
aaid law, and which require the immediate attention of this legis
lature. To minister a remedy to these evils, it occura to thia com
mittee that it ia expedient that a diviaion of aaid territoty, into two
distinct and aeparate governmenta ahould be made ; and that such
division be made, by a line beginning at the mouth of the Great

* Chase's Sketch, p. 20.

754 INDIANA TERRITORY FORMED, 1800.
Miami river, running directiy north, untU it intersects the bound
ary between the United States and Canada."*
In accordance with the spirit of this resolution, an act waa
passed, and approved upon the 7th of May, from which the follow
ing provisions are extracted :
" That from and after the 4th day of July next, all that part of
the territory of the United States north-west of the Ohio river,
which lies to the westward of a line beginning at the Ohio, oppo
site to the mouth of Kentucky river, and running thence to Fort
Recovery, and thence north, until it shall intersect the territorial
line between the United States and Canada, shall, for the purpose
of temporary government, constitute a separate territoty, and be
called the Indiana Territoty.
"And be it further enacted. That there shall be established with
in the said territory a government, in all respects similar to that
provided by the ordinance of Congress, passed on the thirteenth
day of July, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, for the
government of the territory of the United States, north-west of
the river Ohio ; and the inhabitants thereof shall be entitled to, and
enjoy, all and singular, the rights, privileges, and advantages,
granted and secured to the people by the said ordinance,
" And be it further enacted. That so much of the ordinance for
the government of the territory of the United States north-west of
the Ohio river, as relates to the organization of a General Assem
bly therein, and prescribes the powera thereof, ahall be in force and
operate in the Indiana Territory, whenever satisfactory evidence
shall be given to the governor thereof that such is the wish of a
majority of the freeholders, notwithstanding there may not be
therein five thousand free male inhabitants of the age of twenty-
one years and upward: Provided, that untU there shaU be five
thousand free male inhabitants of twenty-one years and upward,
in said territory, the whole number of Representatives to the Gen
eral Assembly ahall not be leas than seven, nor more than nine,
to be apportioned by the governor to the several counties in said ter
ritory, agreeably to the number of free males of the age of twenty-
one years and upward, which they may respectively contain.
"And be it further enacted. That nothing in thia act contained,
ahall be conatrued ao as in any manner to affect the government
now in force in the territory of the United Statea, north-west of

? American State Papers, xx. 206.

1800. N. WEST TERRITORY LEGISLATURE AT CHILLICOTHE. 755
the Ohio river, further than to prohibit the exercise thereof within
the Indiana Territory, from and after the aforesaid fourth of July
next: Provided, That whenever that part of the territorj'^ of the
United States which lies to the eastward of a line beginning at the
mouth of the Great Miami river, and running thence, due north, to
the territorial line between the United States and Canada, shall be
erected into an independent State, and admitted into the Union on
an equal footing with the original States, thenceforth said line shall
become and remain permanently the boundary line between such
State and the Indiana Territory, any thing in this act contained to
the contrary notwithstanding.
"And be it further enacted. That until it shall be otherwise or
dered by the Legislatures of the said territories, respectively, Chil
licothe, on the Scioto river, shall be the seat of the government of
the territoiy of the United States north-west of the Ohio river ;
and that St. Yincennes, on the Wabash river, shall be the seat of
the government for the Indiana Territory,"*
The person appointed to govern the new-made territory was
William H. Harrison, whose commission was dated in 1801,
It has been mentioned that the State of Connecticut, in the
cession of her claims to the West, had reserved the title both to
the jurisdiction and soil of the Western Reserve, When she dis
posed of the soil, however, troubles at once arose, for the settlers
found themselves without a government upon which to lean.
Upon their representation, the mother State, in October, 1797>
authorized her Senators to release her jurisdiction over the Reserve
to the Union. Upon the 21st of March, 1800, a committee of Con
gress reported in favor of accepting this cession, and upon the 30th
of May the release was made by the Governor of the State, in
accordance with a law passed during that month ; the United States
issuing letters patent to Connecticut for the soil, and Connecticut
transferring all her claims of jurisdiction to the Federal Govern-
ment.f At that time, settlements had been commenced in thirty-
five of the townships, and one thousand persons had become set
tlers; mills had been built, and seven hundred miles of road cut
in various directions.
The "Connecticut Reserve" continued to receive numerous emi
grants from the New England States, who formed settlements chiefly

* Land Laws, 451,
+ American State Papers, xvi. 94-98. Chase's Statutes, i. G4-66.

756 GOVERNOR ST. CLAIR'S SPEECH. 1800.
near Lake Erie. The population in this part of the territory had
increased so fast, that in December, 1800, the county of Trumbull
was organized. About this period, a large number of settlers on
the military lands of North-Western Pennsylvania, who had become
involved in the troubles arising out of the land laws of that district,
abandoned their improvements, to avoid litigation, and retired to
the southern part of the Western Reserve. They were an acquisi
tion to thia part of Ohio, and by industry and frugality, in a few
years, more than retrieved the loss of their improvements.
Congress having made Chillicothe the capital of the North-
Western Territory, on the third of November, 1800, the General
Assembly met at that place. At this meeting. Governor St. Clair,
in strong terms, expressed his sense of the want of popularity under
which he labored.
"My term of office," said he, "and yours, gentlemen of the
House of Representatives, will soon expire. It is, indeed, veiy
uncertain whether I shall ever meet another Assembly in the char
acter I now hold, for I well know that the vilest calumnies and the
greatest falsehoods are insidiously circulated among the people,
with a view to prevent it. While I regret the baseness and malevo
lence of the authors, and well know that the laws have put the
means of correction fully in my power, they have nothing to dread
from me but the contempt they justly merit. The remorse of their
own consciences will, one day, be punishment sufficient. Their
arts may, however, succeed. Be that as it may, of this I am certain,
that be my successor whom he may, he can never have the interests
of the people of this territoiy more truly at heart than I have had,
nor labor more assiduously for their good than I have done ; and I
am not conscious that any one act of my administration has been
influenced by any other motive than a sincere desire to promote
their welfare and happiness."
Notwithstanding the general dislike felt toward him, however,
St. Clair was re-appointed, in 1801, to the place he had ao long
occupied. Toward the close of this year, the first missionary to the Con
necticut Reserve came thither, under the patronage of the Connect
icut Missionary Society. He found no township containing more
than eleven families.
The governor and several of the legislators of the North-Western
1801.] Territory having been insulted during the autumn of 1801,
at Chillicothe, while the Aaaembly was in session — and no measures

1801. PROCEEDINGS OF THE LEGISLATURE AT CHILLICOTHE. 757
being taken by the authoritiea of the capital to protect the execu
tive — a law waa passed, removing the seat of government to Cin
cinnati again. But it was not destined that the territorial Assem
bly should meet again anywhere. The unpopularity of St. Clair,
already referred to, was causing many to long for a State govern
ment, and self-rule. This unpopularity arose in part from the feel
ings connected with his defeat; in part from his being identified
with the Federal party, then fast falling into disrepute; and in part
from his assuming powers which most thought he had no right to
exercise, especiaUy the power of sub-dividing the counties of the
territory. But the opposition, though very powerful out of the Assembly,
was in the minority, even in the House of Representatives, and
during December, 1801, was forced to protest against a measure
brought forward in the Council, for changing the Ordinance of
1787 in such a manner as to make the Scioto and a line drawn from
the intersection of that river, and the Indian boundary to the
western extremity of the Connecticut Reserve, the limit of the
most eastern State to be formed from the Territory.
This change, if made, would long have postponed the formation
of a State government beyond the Ohio, and against it Tiffin,
Worthington, Langham, Darlinton, Massie, Dunlavy, and Morrow,
recorded solemnly their objections. Not content with this, it was
determined that some one should at once visit Washington, on be
half of the objectors; and upon the 20th of December, Thomas
Worthington obtained leave of absence for the remainder of the
session. His acts and those of his co-laborers belong to the next
year. From 1799 to 1803 the territorial legislature met annually, but
made not many laws, owing to the extraordinary powers conferred
on the governor, by the Ordinance of 1787, and the very arbitrary
manner by which he vetoed many of the bills that passed. During
the period of the territorial legislature, most of the business usually
done by territorial legislatures since, was done by the governor
of the territory. He erected new counties, fixed county seats, and
issued divers proclamations enacting laws by Ms own authority,
and put his veto upon all legislative enactments which he fancied
encroached on his prerogatives, and therefore hia administration
became extremely 'unpopular.
On the 15th of January, 1802, the legialature of that State passed
1802.] an act " for the eatabUshment of a college at danoosbwg.

758 JEFFERSON COLLEGE CHARTERED. 1802,
in the county of Washington, in the Commonwealth of Pennsyl
vania. About the year 1785, the Rev. John McMillan, who had been
the pastor of the Presbyterian congregations of Chartiers and
Pigeon creeks, since 1776, opened at his residence a school for the
purpose of preparing young men for the ministry, at which several
of the most distinguished clergymen of that denomination, at that
period, received their first training for their profession. The inter
est on the subject of education awakened in that region by the
success of McMillan's school, as well as that of one or two others,
maintained for a brief period, led the Synod of Yirginia, which
then extended its jurisdiction over Western Pennsylvania, to take
measures for the establishment of one or more institutions of learn
ing within its bounds. Accordingly that body, at its meeting in
1791, resolved to establish two academies; one in the county of
Rockbridge, Yirginia, under the care of Rev. William Graham,
and under the superintendence of the Presbyteries of Lexington
and Hanover, a school which has since grown into the Washington
College of Lexington; and the other in the county of Washington,
Pennsylvania, under the care of Rev. John McMillan, and under
the superientendence of the Presbytery of Redstone. At the
meeting of that Presbytery in October, 1792, it was resolved " to
appoint Canonsburg to be the seat of the institution of learning
which they are appointed by the Synod to superintend."
The Canonsburg Academy was, in consequence, established at
that village. A large and commodious atone building waa erected
for ita use, a corps of teachers was appointed, and many of the
most distinguished men in all departments of public life in the
West received their education there. The Academy remained un
der the care of the Redstone Presbytery until 1798, at which time
a change waa made in the inatitution. The Board of Truatees be
came a close corporation, and all ecclesiastical supeiwision over the
institution ceased. By the act of 1802, the Canonsburg Academy
was incorporated under the name of Jefferson College, and the
property of the academy was vested in the trustees of the college.
At the aame time, a donation of three thouaand dollara was made
to it by the State. The college was fully organized, the Rev.
Thomas Watson was elected President, and a corpa of profeasors
was appointed, and Jefferson College thua became the firat, as it
haa proved to be one of the most efficient institutions weat of the
mountains. More than four thouaand atudenta have been educated
at it, and it has sent out more than fourteen hundred graduates,

1802. CONVENTION FOR A NEW STATE AUTHORIZED. 759
many of whom occupy, or have occupied the highest positions in
every department of public and professional life.
In January, 1802, an act waa passed by the Legislature of the
North-Western Territory, to establish a university at the town of
Athens. Two townships of land, within the Ohio Company's pur
chase, consisting of forty-six thousand and eighty acres, had previ
ously been donated by Congress, for the support of an institution
of learning. It 1804 it was re-chartered by the State government,
and fully organized under the name of the Ohio University, with a
board of twenty- four trustees, chosen by the Legislature, and with
an endowment fund arising from its lands of about four thousand
five hundred dollars.
The great dissatisfaction which existed in the North-Western
Territoty with the administration of Governor St. Clair, excited the
wish among many of the prominent men of the Territory for the
establishment of a State government, north of the Ohio river, and,
as has been seen, Worthington aet out for Philadelphia late in the
preceding year, to secure that object, as well as to protest againat
any change in the boundariea of the North- Western. Statea, as con
templated in the ordinance.
While Worthington was on hia way to the aeat of government,
Maaaie preaented, on the 4th of January, a reaolution for choosing
a committee to addreaa Congreaa, in reapect to the propoaed State
government. Thia, upon the following day, the House refused to
pass, however, by a vote of twelve to five. An attempt was next
made to procure a census of the territory, and an act for that pur
pose passed the House, but the council postponed the consideration
of it until the next session, which was to commence at Cincinnati
on the fourth Monday. of the following November.*
Worthington, meantime at Philadelphia, pursued the ends of his
mission, and used his infiuence to effect that organization "which,
terminating the influence of tyranny," was to "meliorate the cir
cumstances of thousands, by freeing them from the domination of
a despotic chief." His efforts proved successful, and upon the 4th
of March a report was made to the House in favor of authorizing
a State Convention. This report went upon the basis that the
territory, by the United States census made in 1800, contained
more than forty-five thousand inhabitants, and as the government,
aince that time, had aold half a million of acres, that the territory

* See Journal of the Council, 53 and 78, and Journal of the House, 111, 115, 165.

760 LANDS RESERVED FOR SCHOOL FUNDS. 1802.
east of the Miami, supposing the past rate of increase to continue,
would, by the time a State government could be formed, contain
the sixty thousand persons contemplated by the ordinance; and
upon this basis proposed that a convention should be held, to deter
mine, 1st, whether it were expedient to form a State government,
and 2d, to prepare a constitution, if such an organization were
deemed best. In the formation of this State, however, a change of
boundaries was proposed, by which, in accordance with the fifth
article of the ordinance of 1787, all of the territory north of a line
drawn due east from the head of Lake Michigan to Lake Brie was
to be excluded from the new government about to be called into
existence. The report closed as follows:
"The committee observe, in the ordinance for ascertaining the
mode of disposing of lands in the Western Territory, of the 20th
of May, 1785, the following section, which, so far as respects the
subject of schools, remains unaltered:
" ' There shall be reserved for the United States out of every town
ship, the four lots, being numbered 8, 11, 26, 29, and out of every
fractional part of a township so many lots, of the same numbers,
as shall be found thereon for future sale. There shall be reserved
the lot No. 16 of every township, for the maintenance of public
schools within the said township ; also, one-third part of all gold,
silver, lead and copper mines, to be sold or otherwise disposed of,
as Congress shall hereafter direct.'
"The committee also observe, in the third and fourth articles of
the ordinance of the 13th July, 1787, the following stipulations,
to wit :
" ' Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good gov
ernment and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of
education shall forever be encouraged, &c.
'"The legislatures of those districts or new States, shall never
interfere with the primary disposal of the aoil by the United Statea
in Congress assembled, nor with any regulations Congress may
find necessary for securing the titie in such soil to the bona fide pur
chasers. No tax shall be imposed on lands the property of the
United States; and in no case shall non-resident proprietors be
taxed higher than residents.'
"The committee, taking into consideration these stipulations,
viewing the landa of the United States within the aaid Territory as
an important aource of revenue; deeming it also of the highest
importance to the stability and permanence of the union of the
eastern and western parts of the United States, that the intercourse

1802. CONVENTION OBTAIN FURTHER APPROPRIATIONS. 761
should, as far as possible, be facilitated, and their interests be libe
rally and mutually consulted and promoted, are of opinion that the
provisions of the aforesaid articles may be varied for the reciprocal
advantage of. the United States and the State of  , when
formed, and the people thereof. They have therefore deemed it
proper, in lieu of the said provisions, to offer the following propo
sitions to the convention of the eastern State of the said territory,
when formed, for their free acceptance or rejection, without any
condition or restraint whatever, which, if accepted by the conven
tion, shall be obligatory upon the United States:
" 'That the section No. 16, in every township sold or directed to
be sold by the United States, shall be granted to the inhabitants of
such township for the use of schools.
" ' That the six miles reaervation, including the aalt aprings com
monly called the Scioto salt springs, shall be granted to the State
of  -¦ — , when formed, for the use of the people thereof; the
same to be used under such terms, conditions and regulations, as
the Legislature of the said State shall direct: Provided, the said
Legislature shall never sell nor lease the same for a longer term
than  years.
" ' That one-tenth part of the net proceeds of the lands lying in
the said State, hereafter sold by Congress, after deducting all ex
penses incident to the same, shall be applied to the laying out and
making turnpike or other roads, leading from the navigable watera
emptying into the Atlantic to the Ohio, and continued afterward
through the State of  ; such roads to be laid out under
the authority of Congress, with the consent of the several Statea
through which the roads shall pass : Provided, that the convention
of the State of  shall, on its part, assent that every and each
tract of land sold by Congress shall be and remain exempt from
any tax laid by order and under authority of the State, whether for
State, county, township, or any other purpose whatever, for the
term of ten years, from and after the completion of the payment of
the purchase money on such tract to the United States,' "
In accordance with the recommendation of their committee,
Congress, upon the 30th of April, passed a law, carrying, with
slight modifications the view above given into effect. The pro
viaiona of thia law were thought by many in the territory unau
thorized, but no opposition was offered to the appointment of per
sons to attend the convention, and the legislature even gave way
to the embryo government, and failed to assemble according to
adjournment. The convention met upon the 1st of November;
49

762 JEFFERSON REMOVES • ST, CLAIR FROM OFFICE, 1802.
its membera were generally Jefferaonian in their national politics^
and had been opposed, to the change of boundaries proposed the
previous year. Before proceeding to business. Governor St, Clair
proposed to addreaa them, in hia official character, aa the chief ex
ecutive magiatrate of the territory. This proposition was resisted
by several of the members; but, after discussion, a motion was
made, and adopted, by a majority of five, that, "Arthur St, Clair,
Sen,, Esquire, be permitted to address the convention, on thoae
points which he deems of importance,"
He advised the postponement of a State organization until the
people of the original eastern division were plainly entitled to de
mand it, and were not subject to be bound by conditions,* This
advice, given as it was, caused Jefferson instantly to remove St
Clair, and when the vote was taken upon doing that which he ad
vised them not to do, but one of thirty-three, Ephraim Cutler, of
Washington, voted with the governor,!
On one point, the proposed boundaries of the new State were
altered, " To every person who has attended to this subject, and who has
consulted the maps of the western country, extant at the time the
ordinance of 1787 was passed. Lake Michigan was believed to be,
and was represented by all the maps of that day, as being very far
north of the position which it has since been ascertained to occupy.
I have seen the map in the Department of Stater, which was before
the committee of Congress, who framed and reported the ordinance
for the government of the territory. On that map, the aouthern
boundary of Michigan was represented as being above the forty-
second degree of north latitude. And there was a pencU line, aaid
to have been made by the committee, passing through the southern
bend of the lake to the Canada line, which struck the strait not
far below the town of Detroit, That line was manifestly intended
by the committee, and by Congress, to be the northern boundaty
of our State ; and on the principles by which cojirts of chancery
construe contracts, accompanied by plats, it would seem that the
map, and the Une referred to, should be conclusive evidence of our
boundaty, without reference to the real position of the lake,
"When the convention sat, in 1802, the prevailing understanding
waa, that the old maps were nearly correct, and- that the line, as
defined in the ordinance, would terminate at some point on the

?Burnet's Letters, 108, ill. -f Ibid. 110.

1802, OHIO BECOMES A STATE, 763
strait above the Maumee bay. While the convention was in ses
sion, a man who had hunted many years on Lake Michigan, and
waa well acquainted with its position, happened to be in Chilli
cothe ; and, in conversation with one of ita membera, told him that
the lake extended much further south than was generally supposed,
and that a map of the country, which he had seen, placed its
southern bend many milea north of its true position. This infor
mation excited some uneasiness, and induced the convention to
modify the clause, deacribing the north boundary, so as to guard
its being depressed below the most northern cape of the Maumee
bay,"* With this change, and some extension of the school and road
donations, the convention agreed to the proposal of Congress, and
upon the 29th of November, their agreement was ratified and
signed, as was also the constitution of the State of Ohio, Of this
constitution nothing further need be said, than that it bore in evety
provision the marks of democratic feeling; of full faith in the
people. By the people themselves, however, it was never exam
ined ; but no opposition was offered to it, and a General Assembly
was required to meet at Chillicothe on the first Tuesday of March,
1803. After the ratification by Congress of the Constitution of Ohio,
and her admission into the Union, the Peninsula of Michigan was
wholly within the territoty of Indiana,
On the 17th of September, 1802, Governor Harrison, of Indiana
Territory, at Yincennes, entered into an agreement with various
chiefs of the Pottawattamie, Eel river, Piankeshaw, Wea, Kaskaa
kia and Kickapoo tribea, by which were settled the bounda of a
tract of land near that place, aaid to have been given by the Indiana
to its founder; and certain chiefs were named who were to con-
elude the matter at Fort Wayne, Thia was the first step taken by
Harrison in those negotiations which continued through so many
years, and added so much to the dominions of the confederation.
He found the natives jealous and out of temper, owing partly to
American injustice, but also in a great degree, it was thought, to
the arta of the British traders and agents.
In January of this year. Governor Harriaon alao communicated
to the President the following letter, detailing some of the most
curioua land apeculationa of which there ia any account :

* Historical TransactiOlis of Ohio, p. 115.

764 COMPLAINT AGAINST LAND JOBBERS. 1802.
" The court establiahed at thia place, under the authority of the
State of Yirginia, in the year 1780, (aa I have before done myaelf
the honor to inform you,) assumed to themselves the right of
granting lands to every applicant. Having exercised this power
for some time without opposition, they began to conclude that
their right over the land was supreme, and that they could with
as much propriety grant to themselves as to others,
" Accordingly, an arrangement was made, by which the whole
country to which the Indian title was, supposed to be extinguished,
was divided between the members of the court ; and orders to that
effect entered on their journal, each member absenting himself
from the court on the day that the order was to be made in his
favor, so that it might appear to be the act of his fellows only.
The tract -thus disposed of, extends on the Wabash twenty-four
leagues from La Pointe Coupee to the mouth of White river, and
forty leagues into the country west, and thirty east from the
Wabash, excluding only the land immediately surrounding this
town, which had before been granted to the amount of twenty or
thirty thousand acres,
" 'The authors of this ridiculous transaction soon found that no
advantage could be derived from it, as they could find no purcha
sers, and I believe that the idea of holding any part of the land
was, by the greater part of them, abandoned a few years ago ; how
ever, the claim was discovered, and a part of it purchased by some
of those speculators who infest our country, and through these peo
ple, a number of others in different parts of the United States have
become concerned, some of whom are actually preparing to make
settiements on the land the ensuing spring. Indeed, I should
not be surprised to see five hundred families aettling under these
titles in tho course of a year,
"The price at which the land is sold enables any body to become
a purchaaer; one thousand acrea being frequently given for an in
different horse or a rifle gun. And as a formal deed is made
reciting the grant of the court, (made as it is pretended, under the
authority of the State of Yirginia,) many ignorant persons have
been induced to part with their littie all to obtain this ideal pro
perty, and they will no doubt endeavor to strengthen their claim,
aa soon as they have discovered the deception, by an actual settle
ment. The extent of these apeculationa was unknown to me until
lately. "I am now informed that a number of persona are in the habit
of repairing to thia place, where they purchase two or three

1803. FIRST LEGISLATURE OF OHIO. 765
hundred thouaand acres of thia claim, for which they get a deed
properly authenticated and recorded, and then disperse themselves
over the United States to cheat the ignorant and creduloua. In
some measure, to check this practice, I have forbidden the recorder
and prothonotary of -thia county from recording or authenticating
any of theae papera ; being determined that the official aeala of the
territory ahould not be prostituted to a purpose so base as that of
aaaiating an infamoua fraud,"
During the month of June, 1803, certain Indian chiefs, agreeable
1803,] to their promise made at Yincennes the preceding year,
met at Fort Wayne, and transferred to Governor Harriaon the
lands claimed by the United Statea about Poat Yincennes, and
their act waa confirmed at Yincennes, on the 7th of Auguat, by
varioua ehiefa and warriora. On the 13th of August, the Illinois
tribes, including the Kaskaskias, Michiganiea, Cahokias and Ta-
maroia, made a conveyance to the United States of their right to a
kirge portion of the Illinois country south and east of the Illinois river.
On the 1st of March, 1803, the first general assembly under the con
atitution of Ohio waa held at Chillicothe, for the purpoae of organizing
the State Government, and especially for the purpose of appoint
ing the judicial and executive officers provided for in the constitu
tion — a Secretary and Auditor, and a Treasurer of State, and their
respective duties assigned to them. Senators were elected, and
provisions made for the election by the people, of a representative
to Congress, Judges for the new courts were appointed, the court
of common pleas was organized, and the business of the court of
quarter sessions transferred to it; justices of the peace were provi
ded, and the business of the territorial magistrates was assigned to
them, And many other provisions for the complete organization
of the new government and for the administration of justice, were
enacted. Upon the 15th of April, the House of Representatives of the
new State of Ohio, signed a bill respecting a college township in
the district of Cincinnati. The history of this townahip ia thus
given by Judge Burnet:
"The ordinance adopted by Congress for the disposal of the
public domain, did not authorize a grant of college land, to the
purchasers, of leaa than two millions of acres. The original propo
sition of Mr, Symmes being for that quantity, entitled him to the
benefit of such a grant. It was his intention, no doubt, to close
his contract, in conformity with his proposaL He therefore stated,

766 HISTORY OP SYMMES' COLLEGE TOWNSHIP, 1803.
in his printed publication, before referred to, that a coUege town
ship had been given ; and he described hia aituation to be, as
nearly opposite tho mouth of Licking river, as an entire township
could be found, eligible in point of soU and situation. He alao
selected in good faith, one of the best townships in the purchase,
answering the description, and marked it on hia map, as the
college township,
" The township thus selected, was the third of the first entire
range on which the town of Springdale now stands. The tract
was reserved from sale, and retaine'd for the intended purpose,
until Mr, Symmea ascertained, that his agents had reUnquished
one-half of his proposed purchase, by closing a contract for one
million of acres, by which his right to coUege lands was abandoned,
and of course not provided for in the contract. He then, very
properly, erased the endorsement from the map, and offered the
township for sale, and as it was one of the best and most desirable
portions of his purchase, it was rapidly located,
" The matter remained in this situation, till the application in
1792, to change the boundaries of the purchase, and to grant a
patent for as much land as his means would enable him to pay for.
When the bill for that purpose was under consideration. General
Dayton, the agent, and one of the associates of Mr. Symmes, being
then an infiuential member of the House of Representatives, pro
posed a section, authorizing the President to convey to Mr. Symmes
and Ms associates, one entire township in trust, for the purpose of
establishing an academy, and other schools of learning, conform
ably to an order of Congress, of the 2d of October, 1787.
" The fact was, that the right, under the order referred to, had
been lost, by the relinquishment of half the proposed purchase, in
consequence of which the contract contained no stipulation for
such a grant. Notwithstanding, from some cause, either want of
correct information, or a willingness then to make the gratuity, —
most probably the latter — the section was adopted and became a
part of the law. At that time, there was not an entire township in
the purchase, undisposed of. Large quantities of all of them had
been sold by Mr, Symmes, after his right to college lands had been
lost, by the conduct of his agents, Dayton and Marsh, It was not,
therefore, in his power to make the appropriation required by the
act of Congreaa, though in arranging hia payment at the treaaury,
he waa credited with the price of the township, •
" The matter remained in that situation, till about the time the
legislature was elected, under the second grade of the territorial

1803. HISTORY OF symmes' COLLEGE TOWNSHIP. 767
government, in 1799, Mr. Symmes, then feeling the embarrass
ment of his situation, and aware that the aubject would be taken
up by the legislature, made a written proposition to the governor,
offering the second township of the second fractional range, for the
purposes of a college. On examination, the governor found, that
he had sold an undivided moiety of that township, for a valuable
consideration, in 1788 ; that the purchaser had obtained a decree
in tho circuit court of Pennsylvania, for a specific execution of the
contract ; and that he had also sold several smaller portions of the
same township to others, who then held contracts for same. Aa a
matter of courae, the township waa refused. He then appealed from
the decision of the governor, to the territorial legislature. They
also refuaed to receive it, for the same reasons which had been
assigned by the governor.
" A similar refusal was afterward made, for the same reason, by
the state legislature, to whom it was again offered. I had the
charity to believe, that when Mr. Symmes first proposed the town
ship to the governor, it was his intention to buy up the claims
against it, which he probably might have done at that time, on fair
and moderate terms ; but he omitted to do so, till that arrange
ment became impracticable, and until his embarrassments, pro
duced by the refusal of Congress to confirm his contract for the
land he had sold out of his patent, rendered it impossible for him
to make any remuneration to government, or the intended bene
ficiaries of the grant,
" The delegates representing the territoty in Congress, were
instructed, from time to time, to exert their infiuence to induce the
government in some form, to secure the grant to the people of the
Miami purchase. But nothing effectual was accomplished, till the
establishment of the State government in 1803; when a law waa
passed by Congress vesting in the legislature of Ohio, a quantity
of land equal to one entire township, to be located under their
direction, for the purpose of estabUshing an academy, in lieu of the
township already granted, for the same purpose, by virtue of the
act, entitled ' an act authorizing the grant and conveyance of cer
tain lands to John C. Symmes and his associates.' Under the
authority of an act of the Ohio legislature, passed in April, 1803,
by which commissioners were appointed who made a location of
these lands, amounting to thirty-six sections, as they are now held
by the Miami University. In consequence of the early sales, by
Judge Symmes, these lands were necessarily located west of the
Great Miami river; and, consequently, without the limit of
Symmes' purchase."

768

TREACHERY OF SPANISH INTENDANT. 1800;.

Under the administration of Gayoso, after the treaty of Madrid^
and the surrender of the posts to the American government, noth
ing occurred to disturb the friendly feeling then existing between
the province of Louisiana and the United States.* Immediately
after his death, however, the Intendant Morales, in 1799, pubUshed
an interdict, refusing any longer to allow the port of New Orleans
to be used as a place of deposit for the frade of the Ohio, without,
according to the stipulations of the treaty of Madrid, providing any
Other suitable point for that purpose.
The immediate effect of this ill-timed and faithless order was to
cut off at once the whole commerce of the American settlements in
the valley, and in consequence to derange and embarrass the busi
ness of that region. The right of the free navigation of the Missis
sippi, and the right of the deposit at New Orleans were specifically
guaranteed to the people of the West by the treaty of Madrid, after
a long and vexatious negotiation, and tMs infringement of those
rights, now without notice or without reason, excited much indig
nation among the American people.
Th'e federal government shared the feeling of the people, aud
prepared at once to compel the Spanish authorities to open a depot
for the American trade. With that view. President Adams ordered
three regiments of the army to concentrate on the lower Ohio, to
be ready for any emergency that might arise. Soon after, Congress,
for the ostensible purpose, however, of avenging the spoliations of
the French upon American commerce, authorized the enlistment
of twelve regiments to serve during the continuance of the difficul
ties with France. Washington was vested with the chief command
Of the army. Wilkinson was called to the seat of government to
arrange with the cabinet the plan of a campaign against Louisiana,
and throughout the West preparations were being made with
secrecy, but with great vigor, for an early descent upon New
Orleans ; but the recurrence of the Presidential election, and the
choice of Mr. Jefferson as the Chief Magistrate, induced Mr. Adams
to suspend the enterprise, and to leave the responsibility of the
question to his successor in office.
In the meantime, a change was effected in the political condition
of the province. On the 1st of October, 1800, a secret treaty was
held at St. Ildefonso, between the king of Spain, and the first con
sul of the French republic, at which it was stipulated that the Duke
of Parma, a prince of the Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon,

* Oayarre'd Spanish Domination in Louisiana.

1803, CONGRESS RESOLVES TO REBUKE SPAIN, 769
whose territories were annexed to the republic, ahould be put iu
possession of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, which was to be erected
into the kingdom of Etruria, under the protection and guarantee
of the French government.
As an equivalent to that guarantee, the third article of the treaty
provided that —
"His Catholic Majesty promises and engages to retrocede to the
French republic, six months after the full and entire execution of
the above conditions and stipulations relative to his Royal High
ness, the Duke of Parma, the colony or province of Lbuisiana, with
the same extent that it now has in the hands of Spain, and that it
had when France possessed it, and such as it ought to be after the
treaties subsequently entered into between Spain and other
States." Morales was superseded by Lopez in the government of Louisi
ana, his interdict was disavowed by the king, the right of deposit
was promptly restored, and thus the difficulties arising from hia
bad faith, which were abont to involve Spain in a war with the
United States, were adjusted.
Rumors of the transfer of the province to France reached Lou
isiana, and excited much sensation among its people. Especially,
they excited much distrust among the Spanish inhabitants, and
particularly in the mind of Morales, who was again Intendant,
against the large and increasing number of Americans who were
emigrating at that critical time to Louisiana. To arrest the influx
of what he regarded as a dangerous population. Morales published
a decree of the king, of the 18th of July, 1802, forbidding the
grant of any land in Louisiana to any citizen of the United States,
To further the same policy. Morales issued an order, on the 16th
of October, suspending again the right of deposit at New Orleana.
This new infraction of the treaty greatly embarrassed, and, in coa=-
aequence, aroused the indignation of the people of the Weat. Peti-
tiona, appeals, and even threata, were addreased to the general
government, aud the embarrassments of the people of the West
were urged in such a manner as to induce the government to take
immediate measures for their relief.
On the 7th of Januaty, 1803, the House of Representativea
passed resolutions, declaring " the firm determination of Congress
to sustain the Executive of the United States in such measures as
he might adopt for asserting the rights, and vindicating the inju
ries of the American citizens ; and declaring their unalterable deter
mination to maintain the boundariea, and rights of navigation and

770 PURCHASE OF LOUISIANA PROPOSED. 1803.
commerce through the river Miaaiasippi, as estabUshed by existing
treaties." And on the llth of January, the President, Mr. Jeffer
son, sent a message to the Senate, nominating Robert R. Living
ston and James Monroe ministers to the French government, and
Charles Pinckney and James Monroe to that of Spain, with full
powers to form treaties " for enlarging and more effectually secur
ing our rights and interests in the river Mississippi, and in the ter
ritories eastward thereof."
The secret treaty of St. Ildefonso, as has been seen, had been
formed on the 1st of October, 1890; on the 29th of the next March,
Rufus King, then Minister in London, wrote home in relation to a
reported cession of Louisiana, and its influence on the United
States : on the 9th of June, 1801, Mr. Pinckney, at Madrid, waa
inatructed in relation to the alleged tranafer, and upon the 28th of
September, Mr. Livingaton, at Paria, was written to upon the same
topic. On the 20th of November, Mr. King sent from London a
copy of the treaty signed at Madrid, March 21, 1801, by which the
Prince of Parma (son-in-law of the King of Spain) was estabUshed
in Tuscany ; this had been the consideration for the grant of Lou
isiana to France iu the previous autumn, and that grant was now
confirmed. From that time till July, 1802, a constant correspondence went
on between the American Secretary of State and the Ministers at
Paris, London, and Madrid, relative to the important question.
What can be done to secjure the interests of the Union in relation
to the Mississippi ? Mr. Livingston, in France, was of opinion that
a cession of New Orleans might possibly be obtained from that
power; and to obtain it he advised the payment of " a large price,"
if required. Mr. Livingston at the same time wrote and laid be
fore the French leaders an elaborate memoir, intended to show that
true policy required France not to retain Louisiana, but when, on
the last of August, he again made propositions, Talleyrand told
him that the First Consul was not ready to receive them. Still the
sagacious ambassador felt " persuaded that the whole would end in
a relinquishment of the country, and transfer of the capital to the
United States ;" and pursued his labors in hope, asking from his
government only explicit instructions aa to how much he might
offer France for the Floridas, which it waa auppoaed she would
soon get from Spain, and also for New Orleans.
His viewa were acquiesced in by the President, and Mr. Monroe
went out in March, 1803, bearing instructions, the object of which
waa " to procure a cession of New Orleana and the Floridas to the

1803. NEGOTIATIONS FOR LOUISIANA. 771
United, States." All idea of purchasing Louisiana west of the
Mississippi, was thus far disclaimed by Mr. Livingston, in October,
1802, and by Mr. Jefferson in January, 1803. Upon the 10th of
the latter month, however, Mr. Livingston proposed to the Minis
ter of Napoleon to cede to the United States not only New Orleana
and Florida, but alao all of Louisiana above the river Arkansas.
But auch were not the viewa entertained in the Cabinet of the
United Statea, and upon the 2d of March the instructions sent to
Messrs. Livingston and Monroe, gave a plan which expressly left
to France "all her territory on the west side of the Mississippi."*
In conformity with these orders, when Talleyrand, on the llth
of the next month, asked Livingston if he wished all of Louisiana,
he answered that his government desired only New Orleans and
Florida, though, in his opinion, good policy would lead France to
cede all west of the Mississippi above the Arkansas, so as to place
a barrier between her own colony and Canada. Talleyrand still
auggeated the cession of the whole French domain in North
America, and asked how much would be given for it ; Mr. Living
ston intimated that twenty millions of francs might be a fair pricej
this the Minister of Bonaparte said was too low, but asked the
American to think of the matter. He did think of it, and con
cluded that the purchase of Louisiana entire was too large an ob
ject for the United States, and that, if acquired, it ought to be
exchanged with Spain for the Floridas, reserving only New Or
leans. On the 12th of April, Mr. Monroe reached Paris, and upon the
13th the Minister of the Treasury, Marbois, who was a personal
friend of Livingston, had a long conversation with him, from which
it appeared that Napoleon, then about to renew Ms wars with
England, wished to sell Louisiana entire, and that the only ques
tion was as to price. Bonaparte had named what equaled one
hundred and twenty-five millions of francs, but to this the Repub
licans turned a deaf ear, offering only forty or fifty millions. In a
short time, however, a compromise took place, and the American
negotiators, going entirely beyond the letter of their instructions,
agreed to pay eighty millions of franca for the vast territory upon
and beyond the river first navigated by Marquette ; the treaty waa
arranged upon the 30th of the month in which the purchase had
first been suggested.

For the documents on thia subject, see American State Papers, vol. ii., pp. 525 to 544.

'''72 NEGOTIATIONS FOR LOUISIANA. 1803.
This act of the ministers, though unauthorized and unexpected,
was at once agreed to by the President. Congress was summoned
to meet upon the 17th of October, and on that day the treaty waa
laid before the Senate : by the 2l8t the transfer waa ratified, and
upon the 20th of the following December, the Province of Louisi
ana was officially delivered over to Governor Claiborne, of Missis
sippi, and General Wilkinson, who were empowered to assume the
government. To this transfer of Louisiana, Spain at first objected, as she
alleged, " on solid grounds," but early in 1804, renounced her
opposition. From thia statement it will be seen that Mr. Jefferaon had no
agency in the purchaae of Louiaiana, beyond the approval of the
unlocked for act of hia miniaters. If any one deserves to be re
membered, in connection with the great bargain, it was Mr. Liv
ingston, whose efforts to secure it were consistent and unremitting.
It was, however, more owing to the peculiar circumstances which
surrounded Napoleon, as the First Consul, that the purchase of
Louisiana was effected at all, and especially at that time, and at
such a price. The motives with which he was influenced in ita
aale, are exposed in detail by M. de Barbe Marbois, who was min
ister of the Public Treaaury at that period, and who, in the charac
ter of confidential secretary of Napoleon, conducted the negotiation,
and drew up the treaty.
The crisis was an alarming one to France. The Court of St.
James had learned the purport of the secret treaty of St. Ildefonso,
by which Louisiana had been re-ceded to France. The latter gov
ernment had its fleet fitted out, ostensibly for America. The king
of England became alarmed, and in quick succession sent mes
aagea to Parliament, and prompt action was taken to fit out the
navy. Napoleon dreaded the maritime power of England. To
Marbois he said:
"The principles of a maritime supremacy are subversive of one
of the noblest rights of nature, science and genius have secured to
man; I mean the right of traversing every sea with asmuchUberty
aa the bird fiiea through the air ; of making use of the waves, winds,
climates, and productions of the globe ; of bringing near to one
another, by a bold navigation, nations that have been separated,
since the creation ; of carrying civilization into regions that are a
prey to ignorance and barbarism."*

•Marbois' Louisiana, p. 258.

1803. NEGOTIATIONS FOR LOUISIANA. 773
The discussions in the French Cabinet continued, at intervals,
for several days. Mr. Livingston was the American minister to
the French Republic, and for two years had been negotiating for
indemnity for maritime spoliations. Mr; Monroe was on his way
thither, with instructions to secure the navigation of the Missis
sippi, and even to purchase New Orleans, and some small part of
the vast territory of Louisiana. Napoleon wanted money, and he
foresaw the probability that this province would fall into the hands
of England, and that a sale of the whole country to the United
States, would add to its national greatness, and make this govern
ment a formidable rival of Great Britain. After the close of the
conference with his counselors. Napoleon said to Marbois :
"Irresolution and deliberation are no longer in season; I re
nounce Louisiana. It is not only New Orleans that I vrill cede ; it
is the whole country, without any reservation.
" If I should regulate my terms, according to the value of theae
vast regions to the United States, the indemnity would have no
limits. I will be moderate, in consideration of the necessity in
which I am of making a sale. But keep this to yourself. I want
fifty millions (of francs,) and for less than that sum I will not treat ;
I would rather make a desperate attempt to keep these fine coun
tries. To-morrow you shall have full powers.
"Perhaps it will also be objected to me, that the Americans may
be found too powerful for Europe in two or three centuries; but
ray foresight does not embrace such remote fears. Besides, we
may hereafter expect rivalries among the membera of the Union.
The confederations, that are called perpetual, only lasta until one
of the contracting partiea finda it to ita interest to break them, and
it is to prevent the danger to which the colossal power of England
exposes us, that I would provide a remedy."
The Minister Barbois, who detaila this conversation, made no
reply. The Firat Conaul continued :
"Mr, Monroe is on the point of arriving. To this minister, go
ing two thousand leagues from hia constituenta, the preaident must
have given, after defining the object of his mission, secret inatrue-
tiona, more extenaive than the ostensible authorization of Congress,
for the stipulations of the payments to be made,
"Neither this minister nor hia colleague ia prepared for a de-
ciaion which goes infinitely beyond anything that they are to ask
of us. Begin by making them the overture, without any subter
fuge. You will acquaint me, day by day, hour by hour, of your
progreas. The Cabinet of London ia informed of the measures

774 "* PURCHASE OF LOUISIANA. 1803.
adopted at Washington, but can have no suspicion of thoae I am
now taking, Obaerve the greateat aecrecy, and recommend it to
the American ministers; they have not a less intereat than youraelf
in conforming to this council,"*
The conferences began the same day between Mr, Livingston
and M, Barbe Marboia, to whom the First Consul confided the ne
gotiation. The American minister had not the necessary powera,
and he had become diatrustful of the French cabinet. Such an
offer aa the aale of the whole of Louisiana, came so unexpected, and
being ignorant, of courae, aa he was, of the motives and views of
Napoleon, he suspected artifice, Mr. Monroe arrived on the 12th
of April, with more extensive powers, but heard with surprise
and distrust the offer of the French ambassador. The historian
says: "As soon as the negotiation was entered on, the American min
isters declared they were ready to treat on the footing of the ceaaion
of the entire colony, and they did not hesitate to take on them
selves the responsibility of augmenting the sum that they had been
authorized to offer. The draft of the principal treaty was com.
municated to them. They prepared another one, but consented to
adopt provisionally, as the basis of their conferences, that of the
French negotiator, and they easily agreed to the declaration con
tained in the first article,"
The negotiations being finished, the treaty for the aale and pur
chase of Louisiana was completed on the 30th of April, and signed
on the 3d of May, The intelligence of thia negotiation waa not
leaa astounding to the people of the United States than the propo
sition to sell the whole country, by Marbois, was to Messrs, Living
ston and Monroe, The Federal party rallied to defeat it; Mr,
Jefferson and the plenipotentiaries were aaaailed in their public
journala, and, aa ia common under high party excitement, extrava
gant tales were told on both sides. Yet, aa the prominent actors
have passed away, and the transaction ia now viewed iu the per
spective of histoty, the purchase and possession has long been
regarded as one of the moat valuable and aplendid achievements
ever acquired by thia nation.
The following observation of Napoleon to Marboia, after the
concluaion of the treaty, furniahes an inaight to his reflections :
" This accession of territory strengthens forever the power of the

• Marbois' History of Louisiana, pp. 260, 280.

1803. TRANSFER OP LOUISIANA TO UNITED STATES. 775
United Statea ; and I have juat given to England a maritime rival
that will,, aooner or later, humble her pride."*
The English ministry, when they were informed of the mission
of Mr. Monroe to France, and its object, made a proposition to
Rufus King, the American envoy at London, to undertake the con
quest of Louisiana, with the concun-ence of the United Statea, and
retrocede it to our government aa aoon as peace should be made
with France. But it appears the British ministry had no knowl
edge of the nature and extent of the negotiations at Paris, until
they were concluded. The result was communicated without
delay, and Mr. King received a satisfactory answer from Lord
Hawkesbury respecting the cession.
The treaty was forwarded to Washington with as much dispatch
as poaaible, where it arrived on the 14th of July.
And now, another difficulty arose with Spain. The Spanish
minister, having received orders from his government, made a
solemn protest against the ratification of the treaty, alleging that
France had contracted with Spain not to retrocede the province to
any other power.
-The Federalists, who opposed the treaty, imputed to France a
disgraceful deception ; that there waa a secret concert, and that
Spain waa acting under the infiuence of that government. Amidat
a aeriea of complicated embarrassments, Mr. Jefferson convened
Congress, which met on the 17th of October, and laid the several
treaties before the Senate. Both the nature of the contract, and
the magnitude of the aum, opened a wide field of debate.
The oppoaera of the treaty contended that Congress had no
power to annex, by treaty, new territories to the confederacy, aa
that right could only belong to the whole people of the United
Statea. But after a free debate, the Senate ratified the treatiea on
the 20th day of October, by a majority of twenty-four votea against
aeven, to which the Preaident gave hia aanction the next day. All
the documents were communicated to the Houae of Repreaenta-
tives, and, after a short debate, the necessary law to create the
stock and carty out the treaty, was passed without any formidable
oppoaition. The next atep waa to make the regular tranafer from Spain to
France, and from France to the United Statea, for the aecret treaty
of St. Udefonao had not been carried into effect in Louisiana.

» Marbois, 312.

776 ADDRESS OF LAUSSAT. — EXCHANGE OF BANNERS. 1803.
M. Lauaaat had been appointed the plenipotentiaty of the French
republic, and on the 30th of November he met the Spanish com
missioners in the council chamber at New Orleana, received in due
form the keya of the city, and issued a proclamation to the Louisi
anians, informing them of the retrocession of the country to France,
and by that government to the United States. At a signal given
by the firing of cannon, the Spanish flag was lowered, and the
French hoisted.
The French sovereignty lasted only twenty days, during which
M. Laussat, as Governor-General, provided for the administration
of justice only in summaty and urgent mattera.
General Wilkinson, having command of the United States troops,
establiahed hia camp, on the 19th of December, a short distance
above New Orleans ; at the same time the Spanish troopa embarked
and sailed for Havana. The next day, diacharges of artUlery from
the forta and vessels, announced the farewell of the French officers.
On the 20th, M. Laussat, with a numerous retinue, went to the
City Hall, while, by previous arrangement, the American troops
entered the capital. General Wilkinson and Governor Claiborne,
American commissioners, were received in due form in the Hall.
The treaty of cession, the respective powers of commissioners,
and the certificate of exchange of ratifications were read. M.
Laussat then pronounced these words : —
"In conformity with the treaty, I put the United States in
possession of Louisiana and ita dependenciea. The citizens and
inhabitants who wish to remain here and obey the lawa, are from
thia moment exonerated from the oath of fidelity to the Trench
republic." Mr. Claiborne, the governor of the territory of Mississippi, exer
cising the power of governor-general and intendant of the province
:of Louisiana, delivered a congratulatory discourse to the Louisi
anians. " This cession," said he, "secures to you and your descendants
the inheritance of liberty, perpetual laws, and magistrates, whom
you will elect yourselves."
The ceremonies closed with the exchange of flags, which was
done by lowering the one and raising the other. When they met
midway, they Were kept stationaty for a moment, while the artil
lery and trumpets celebrated the Union. The American flag then
rose to its full height, and while it waived in the air, the Americans
expressed their joy in a tremendous shout.
The American government went into operation quietly, and the

1804, TRANSFER OF UPPER LOUISIANA. 777
French and Spanish population aoon became accuatomed to the
new order of thinga, and after a lapae of fifty-three yeara, no dis
tinction appears, except in family namea.
Thua, in a peraevering effort to gain the free navigation of the
Miaaiasippi, and the port of New Orleans, by an unexpected and
fortuitous train of circumstances, the United States gained the
immense territories of Louisiana, and extended her boundaries to
the Pacific Ocean,
The tranafer of Upper Louisiana to the United Statea, waa effected
1804.] at St. Louia, on the 9th and 10th of March, 1804.
Amos Stoddard, a captain of artillery in the service of the United
Statea, and to whom the public ia indebted for an admirable hia-
torical aketch of Louisiana, was constituted the agent of the French
republic for receiving from the Spanish authorities, the possession
of Upper Louisiana.
He arrived at St. Louis early in March, and on the 9th day,
received in due form, possession of the province, in the name of
the French republic, and the next day made the transfer to the
United States government, which he likewise represented.
When the transfer was completely effected — when in the pres
ence of the assembled population the flag of the United States had
replaced that of Spain — the teara and lamentationa of the ancient
inhabitants proved how much they were attached to the old gov
ernment, and how much they dreaded the change which the treaty
of cession had brought about.
Congress, on the 20th of March, divided Louisiana into two ter
ritories. The southern province was denominated the territory of
Orleans ; the northern was called Upper Louisiana. Captain Stod
dard was appointed temporarily the governor, with all the powers
and prerogatives of the Spanish lieutenant-governor in Upper
Louisiana, In his sketches of Louisiana^ Stoddard aaya :
"St, Louis has two long streets, running parallel to the river,
with a variety of others interaecting them at right anglea. It con
tains about one hundred and eighty houses, and the best of them
are built of atone. Some of them include large gardens, and even
squares, attached to them, are inclosed with high stone walla; and
theae, together with the rock acattered along the shore and about
the atreeta, render the air uncomfortably warm in summer. A
small, eloping hill extenda along in the rear of the town, on the
summit of which is a garriaon, and behind it an extenaive prairie,
50

'^'^^ ADDRESS OF MAJOR STODDARD. 1804.
which affords plenty of hay, as also pasture for the cattie'and horses
of the inhabitants."
On entering upon hia office. Major Stoddard published the fol
lowing address to the inhabitants of Upper Louisiana :
" The period has now arrived, when, in consequence of amicable
negotiations, Louisiana is in possession of the United States. The
plan of a permanent territorial government for you is already un
der the consideration of Congress, and will doubtless be completed
as soon as the importance of the measure wUl admit. But in the
meantime, to secure your rights, and prevent a delay of justice,
his Excellency WUliam C, C, Claiborne, Governor of the Missia
aippi Territory, is invested with those authorities and powers (de
rived from an act of Congress) usually exercised by the governor
and intendant-general under his Catholic Majeaty; and permit me
to add, that, by virtue of the authority and power vested in him by
the President of the United States, he has been pleased to commis
sion me as first civil commander of Upper Louisiana,
" Directed to cultivate friendship and harmony among you, and
to make known the sentiments of the United States relative to the
security and preservation of all your rights, both civil and religious,
I know of no mode better calculated to begin the salutary work
than a circular addreaa,
" It will not be necessary to advert to the various preliminary
arrangements which have conspired to place you in your present
political situation; with these it is presumed you are already
acquainted. Suffice it to observe, that Spain, in 1800 and 1801,
retroceded the colony and province of Louisiana to France ; and
that France, in 1803, conveyed the same territory to the United
States, who are now in the peaceable and legal possession of it.
These transfers were made with honorable views, and under
such forms and sanctions aa are usuaUy practiced among civUized
nations, " Thus you ivill perceive that you are divested of the character
of subjects, and clothed with that of citizens. You now form an
integral part of a great community, the powers of whose govern
ment are circumscribed and defined by charter, and the liberty of
the citizen extended and secured. Between this government and
its citizens many reciprocal duties exist, and the prompt and regu
lar performance of them is necessary to the safety and welfare of
the whole,
" No one can plead exemption from these duties; they are equally
obligatory on the rich and the poor ; on men in power, as weU as

1804, ADDRESS OF MAJOR STODDARD, 779
on those not intrusted with it. They are not prescribed as whim
and caprice may dictate; on the contrary, they result from the
actual or implied compact between aociety and its members, and
are founded not only on the sober lessons of experience, but in the
immutable nature of things. If, therefore, the government be
bound to protect its citizens in the enjoyment of their liberty, pro
perty, and religion, the citizens are no less bound to obey the laws,
and to aid the magistratean the execution of them ; to repel inva
sion, and in periods of public danger, to yield a portion of their
time and exertions in defense of public liberty,
" In governments differently constituted, where popular elections
are unknown, and where the exercise of power is confided to those
of high birth, and great wealth, the public defense is committed to
men who make the science of war an exclusive trade and profes
sion ; but. in all free republics, where the citizens are capacitated
to elect, and to be elected, into offices of emolument and dignity,
permanent armies of any considerable extent are justly deemed
hostile to liberty; and therefore the militia is considered as the
palladium of their safety. Hence the origin of this maxim, that
every soldier is a citizen, and every citizen a soldier,
" With theae general principles before you, it is confidently ex
pected that you will not be less faithful to the IJnited States than
you have been to his Catholic Majesty.
"Your local situation, the varieties in your language and educa
tion have contributed to render your manners, laws, and customs,
and even your prejudices, somewhat different from those of your
neighbors, but not less favorable to virtue, and to good order in
society. These deserve something more than mere indulgence ;
they shall be respected,
" If, in the course of former time, the people on different sides
of the Miaaiaaippi foatered national prejudices and antipathies
against each other, suffer not these cankers of human happiness
any longer to disturb your repose, or to awaken your resentment ;
draw the veil of oblivion over the past, and unite in pleasing
anticipations of the future ; embrace each other as brethren of the
same mighty family, and think not, that any member of it can
derive happiness from the misery or degradation of another,
"Little will the authority and example of the beat magiatrates
avail, when the public mind becomes tainted with perverse senti
ments, or languishes under an indifference to its true interests.
Suffer not the pride of virtue, nor the holy fire of reUgion, to
become extinct. If theae be difterent in their nature, they are

780

ADDRESS OF MAJOR STODDARD, 1804.

necessary supports to each other. Cherish the sentiments of order
and tranquillity, aud frown on the disturbers of the public peace.
Avoid as much as possible all legal contests ; banish village vexa
tion, and unite in the cultivation of the social and moral affections,
"Admitted as you are into the embraces of a wiae and magnani
mous nation, patriotism will gradually warm your breasts, and
stamp its features on your future actions. To be useful, it must
be enUghtened ; not the effect of passion, local prejudice, or blind
impulse, Happy the people who possesa invaluable rights, and
know how to exercise them to the best advantage ; wretched are
those who do not think and act freely,
" It is a sure test of wisdom, to honor and support the govern
ment under which you live, and to acquiesce in the decisions of
the puWic will, when they are constitutionally expressed. Confide,
therefore, in the justice and integrity of our federal president ; he
ia the faithful guardian of the lawa.; he entertains the moat benefi
cent views relative to the gloty and happiness of this territory;
and the merit derived from the acquisition of Louisiana, without
any other, will perpetuate his fame to posterity. Place equal con
fidence in all the other constituted authorities of the Union, They
will protect your rights, and indeed your feelings, and all the ten
der felicities and. sympathies, so dear to rational and intelligent
creatures, " A vety short experience of their equitable and pacific policy
will enable you to view them in their proper light, I flatter myself
that you will give their measures a fair trial, and not precipitate
yourselves into conclusions, which you may afterward see cause to
retract. The first official acts of my present station, authorized by
high authority, will confirm these remarks,
"The United States, in the acquisition of Louisiana, were actua
ted by just and liberal views. Hence the admission of an article
in the treaty of cession, the substance of which is, that the inhabi
tants of the ceded territory shall be incorporated into the Union,
and admitted as soon as possible to the enjoyment of all the rights,
advantages and immunities of citizena of the United Statea ; and,
in the meantime, be maintained and protected in the free enjoy
ment of their liberty, property and religion.
"From these cursory hints, you will be enabled to comprehend
your present political situation, and to anticipate the future desti
nies of your country. You may soon expect the establishment of
a territorial gofemmeiit, administered by men of wisdom atid
integrity, whose salaries will be paid out 6f the treasuty 6f th'e

1804. ADDRESS OF MAJOR STODDARD. 781
United States. From your present population, and the rapidity of
its increase, thia territorial establishment must soon be succeeded
by your admission as a State into the Federal Union. At that
period, you will be at liberty to try an experiment in legislation,
and to frame such a government as may best comport with your
local interests, manners and customs ; popular suffrage will be its
basia. The enaction of lawa, and the appointment of judges to
expound them, and to carry them into effect, are among the first
privileges of organized society.
" Equal to these, indeed, and connected with them, is the inesti
mable right of trial by jury. The forms of judicial processes, and
the- rules for the admission of testimony in courts of justice, when
firmly established, are of great and obvious advantage to the people.
It is also of importance, that a distinction be made between trials of
a capital nature, and those of an inferior degree, as likewise between
all criminal and civil contestations. In fine. Upper Louisiana,
from its climate, population, soil, and productions, and from other
natural advantages attached to it, will, in all human probability,
soon become a star of no inconsiderable magnitude in the American
constellation. " Be assured that the United States feel all the ardor for your
interests, which a warm attachment can inspire. . I have reason to
believe that it will be among some of their first objects, to ascertain
and confirm your land titles. They well know the deranged state
of these titles, and of the existence of a multitude of equitable
claims under legal surveys, where no grants or concessions have
been procured. What ultimate measures will be taken on this
subject, does not become me to conjecture ; but this much I will
venture to affirm, that the most ample justice will be done ; and
that, in the final adjustment of claims, no settler or landholder will
have any just cause to complain. Claimants of this description
have hitherto invariably experienced the liberality of government;
and surely it will not be less liberal to the citizens of Upper Louisi
ana, who form a strong cordon across an exposed frontier of a vast
empire, and are entitled by solemn atipulationa to all the rights
and immunitiea of freemen.
" My duty, not more indeed than my inclination, urgea me to
cultivate friendship and harmony among you, and between you
and the United Statea. I auspect my talenta to be unequal to the
dutiea which devolve on me in the organization and temporary ad
miniatration of the government; the want of a proper knowledge of
your laws and language, is among the difficulties I have to encoun-

782 OBSERVATIONS OF BRACKENRIDGE. 1804.
ter. But my ambition and exertions bear some proportion to the
honor conferred on me ; and the heavy responsibiUty attached to
my office, admonishes me to be prudent and circumspect.
" Inflexible justice and impartiality shall guide me in all my de
terminations. If, however, in the discharge of a variety of compli
cated duties, almost wholly prescribed by the civil law, and the
code of the Indies, I be led into error, consider it as involuntary,
and not as the effect of inattention, or of any exclusive favors or
affections. Destined to be the temporary guardian of the rights
and liberties of at least ten thousand people, I may not be able to
gratify the just expectations of all ; but your prosperity and happi
ness will claim all my time and talents ; and no earthly enjoyment
could be more complete, than that derived from your public and
individual security, and from the increase of your opulence aud
power." The following observations of Hon. H. M. Brackenridge, made a
few years later, during his residence in Upper Louisiana, will illus
trate the great change that the transfer of that country to the United
States effected in the character of its government, and in the
habits of its people :
" The present government appears to be operating a general
change : its silent but subtile spirit is felt in every nerve and vein
of the body politic. The United States, acting upon broad prin
ciples, cannot be influenced by contemptible partialities between
their own sons and their adopted children. They do not want col
onies — they will disdain to hold others in the same state, which
they themselves so nobly despised. They are, in fact, both na
tives of the same land, and both can claim Freedom as their birth
right. "A singular change has taken place, which, one would think,
ought not to be the result of a transition from a despotism to a re
publican government ; luxury has increased in a wonderful degree,
and there exists aomething like a distinction in the claases of soci
ety. On the other hand, more pains are taken with the education
of youth ; some have aent their sons to the seminaries of the United
States, and all seem anxious to attain this desirable end. Several
of the young men have "entered the army of the United States, and
have discovered talents. The females are also instructed with more
care, and the sound of the piano is now heard in their dwellings for
the first time.
"Personal property, a few articles excepted, has fallen on an
averac^e, two hundred per cent, in value, and real property risen at

1804, OBSERVATIONS OF BRACKENRIDGE. 783
least five hundred. But the prices of merchandise had no propor
tion to the price of produce. Five bushels of corn were formerly
necessaty for the purchase of a handkerchief, which can now be
had for one. The cultivators raised little produce beyond what was
necessary for their own subsistence; it was therefore held at high
prices, but fell far short of the present proportion to the price of
imported articles; the petty trade was the principal dependence for
these supplies. Their agriculture was so limited, that instances
have been known, of their having been supplied by the king, on
the failure of their crops from the inundation of the Mississippi,
The low value of lands naturally arose from the great quantities
lying waste and unoccupied, in proportion to the extent of the
population, or of its probable increase, and the consequent facility
with which it could be obtained. Rent was scarcely known,
"It may be questioned, whether the poorest class has been bene
fited by the change. Fearless of absolute want, they always lived
in a careless and thoughtless manner ; at present a greater part of
them obtain a precarious subsistence. They generally possess a
cart, a horse or two, a small stock of cattle, and cultivate small
plats of ground. At St. Louis they have more employment than
in the other villages ; they make hay in the prairie, haul wood for
sale, and are employed to do trifling jobs in town ; some are boat
men or patrona. At Ste. Genevieve, they depend more upon their
agriculture, and have portions in the great field, but this will prob
ably soon be taken from them by the greater industry of the Amer
ican cultivators, who are continually purchasing, and who can give
double the sum for rent; they are sometimes employed in hauling
lead from the mines, but it will not be sufficient for their support.
A number have removed to the country, and, in imitation of the
Americans, have settled down on public lands, but here they can
not expect to remain long. Those who live in the more remote
villages, are less affected by the change, but there is little prospect
of their being better aituated. But few of them have obtained per
mission from the commandant to settle on lands ; in fact, there was
no safety from the depredations of the Indians, in forming esta
blishments beyond the villages. Land was only valued for what
it could produce, and any one could obtain as much as he chose to
cultivate. " Until possession was taken of the country by us, there was no
safety from the robberies of the Osage Indians. That impolitic
lenity, which the Spanish and even the French government have
manifested toward them, instead of a firm, though juat course, gave

784

OBSERVATIONS OF BRACKENRIDGE. 1804.

rise to the most insolent deportment on their' part, I have been
infoi-med by the people of Ste, Genevieve, who suffered infinitely
the most,, that they were on one occasion left without a horse to
turn a mill. The Osages were never followed to any great dis
tance, or overtaken ; this impunity necessarily encouraged them.
They generally entered the neighborhood of the villages, divided
into small parties, and during the night, stole iu and carried away
evety thing they could find, frequently breaking open stables, and
taking out the horses. After uniting at a small distance, their
place of rendezvous, they marched leisurely home, driving the
atolen horsea before them, and without the least dread of being
pursued. They have not dared to aet in this manner under the
present government ; there have been a few solitary instances of
robberies by them, within these three or four years, but they are
sufficiently acquainted with the Americans to know, that they will
be instantly pursued, even into their villages, and compelled to aur
render. "What servea, however, to lessen the atrocity of these outrages,
it has been remarked, that they are never known to take away the
lives of those who fall into their bands.^ The insolence of the
other nations who came openly to their villages, the Piorias, Loups,
Kickapoos, Chickasaws, Cherokees, &c,, is inconceivable. They
were sometimea perfectly mastera of the villages, and excited gene
ral conaternation, I have seen the houses on some occasions closed
up, and the doors barred by the terrified inhabitants ; they were
not always safe even there. It is strange how these people have
entirely disappeared within a few years — :there are at present scarcely
a sufficient number to supply the villages with game,
"If I am asked, whether the ancient inhabitants are more con
tented, or happy, under the new order of things, or have reason to
be so, I should consider the question a difficult one, and answer it
with hesitation. It ia not easy to know the secret sentiments of
men, and happiness is a relative term. It is true, I have heard
murmurings against the present government, and something like
sorrowing after that of Spain, which I rather attributed to moment
ary chagrin, than to real and sincere sentiment; besides, this gen
erally proceeds from those who were wont to bask in the sunshine
of favor. Yet I have not observed those signs which unequivocally
mark a suffering and unhappy people. The principal source of
uneasiness arises from the difficulties of settling the land claimed
by the commissioners, on the part of the United States, The prin
cipal inhabitants have lost much of that influence which they for-

1804, OBSERVATIONS OF BRACKENRIDGE, 785
merly possessed, and are superseded in trade and in lucrative
occupations, by strangers; their claims, therefore, constitute their
chief dependence. The subject of those claima embracea such a
variety of topics, that it is not possible to give any correct idea of
them in this cursory view. It is a subject on which the claimants
are feeUngly alive. This anxiety is a tacit compliment to our gov
ernment, for under the former, their claima would be scarcely
worth attention. The general complaint is, the want of sufficient
liberality in determining on the claims,
"The lower class have never been in the habit of thinking be
yond what immediately concern themselves ; they cannot, therefore,
be expected to foresee political consequences. They were formerly
under a kind of dependence, or rather vassalage, to the ^eat men
of viUages, to whom they looked up for their support and protec
tion. Had they been more accustomed to think it possible, that
by industry it was in their power to become rich, and independent
also, the change would have been instantly felt in their prosperity.
But they possess a certain indifference and apathy, which cannot
he changed till the present generation shall pass away. They are
of late observed to become fond of intoxicating liquors. There is
a middle claaa, whose claims or possessions were not extensive, but
sure, and from the increased value of their property, have obtained,
aince the change of government, a handsome competence. They,
upon the. whole,, are- well satisfied; I have heard many of them ex
press their approbation of the American government, in the warm
est terms. They feel and speak like freemen, and are not slow in
declaring, that formerly the field of enterprise was occupied by
the monopolies of a few, and it is now open to every industrious
citizen, "There are some things in the adminiatration of juatice, which
they do not yet perfectly comprehend; the trial by jury, and the
multifarious forms of our jurisprudence. They had not been ac
customed to distinguish between the slow and cautious advances of
even-handed ju,siiee, and the dispatch of arbitrary power. In their
simple state of society, when the subjects of litigation were not of
great value, the administration of justice might be speedy and sim
ple; but they ought to be aware, that when a society becomes ex
tensive, and ita occupationa, relatione, and intereata more numerous,
people less acquainted with each other, the lawa must be more
complex. The trial by jury is foreign to the cuetoms and mannera
of their ancestors ; it ia therefore not to be expected that they should
at once comprehend ita utility and importance.

786

STATISTICS OF UPPER LOUISIANA, 1804.

" The chief advantages which accrued from the change of gov
ernment may be summed up in a few words. The inhabitants de
rived a security from the Indians ; a more extensive field, and a
greater reward was offered to industry and enterprise ; specie be
came more abundant, and merchandise cheaper. Landed property
was greatly enhanced in value. In opposition, it may be said, that
formerly they were more content, had less anxiety ; there was more
cordiality and friendship, living in the utmost harmony, with
scarcely any clashing interests. This, perhaps, is not unlike the
notions of old people, who believe that in their early days every
thing was more happily ordered,"
Upper Louisiana included all that part of the ancient province
which lay north of a spot on the Mississippi, called Hope Encamp
ment, nearly opposite the Chickasaw bluffs ; including the territoty
now within the jurisdiction of the States of Arkansas, Missouri ,
Iowa, a large part of the territory of Minnesota, and all the vast
regions of the West, far as the Pacific Ocean, south of the forty-
ninth degree of north latitude, not claimed by Spain,
The civilized population of this territory is given by Major Stod
dard, with as much accuracy as the nature of the case admitted.
The settled portions had been divided into "Districts," for purposes
of local government. The population in 1803, in the settlementa
of Arkansas, Little Prairie, and New Madrid, was estimated on
such data as could be obtained, at one thousand three hundred and
fifty; of which two-thirds, or less, were Anglo-Americans, and the
other third French.
The District of Cape Girardeau, included the territory between
Tywappaty Bottom and Apple creek— population in 1804, one
thousand four hundred and seventy whites, and a few slaves. Ex
cepting three or four families, all were emigrants from the United
Statea. The Diatrict of Ste. Genevieve extended from Apple creek to the
Merrimac. The settiements, (beaidea the viUage of Ste. Genevieve)
included settlementa on the head waters of the St. Francois and
the lead mines. Population in 1804, two thousand three hundred
and fifty whites, and five hundred and twenty slaves. More than
half were Anglo-Americans.
The District of St, Louis, included the territory lying between
the Merrimac and Missouri rivera. It contained the villagea of St,
Louis, Carondelet, and St, Ferdinand, with several' good aettie
menta extending westward into what is now Franklin county.
The village of Carondelet contained between forty and fifty

1804, STATISTICS OF UPPER LOUISIANA. 787
houses, population chiefly Canadian-French. St. Ferdinand con
tained sixty houses. The population of the district was about two
thousand two hundred and eighty whites, and five hundred blacks,
St, Louis contained about one hundred and eighty houses, which,
allowing six persons to each house, would make the population one
thousand and eighty. About three-fifths of the population in thia
diatrict were Anglo-Americans, Each of the districts extended in
definitely west.
The largest and most populous settlement in St, Louia District,
was called St, Andrews, It was situated near tho Missouri, in the
north-western part of the present county of St. Louis.
The District of St. Charles, included all the inhabited countty
between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. It had two compact
villagea, St, Charles, and Portage des Sioux, the inhabitants of
which were French Creoles and Canadians, Femme Osage was
an extensive settlement of Anglo-American families. The popu
lation of the district in 1804, was about one thousand four hundred
whites, and one hundred and fifty blacks. The American and
French population were about equally divided,*
The aggregate population of Upper Louisiana at the period of
the cession, was about ten thousand one hundred and twenty, of
which three thousand seven hundred and sixty were French, in
cluding a few Spanish families; five thousand and ninety were
Anglo-Americans, who had immigrated to the country after 1790;
and one thousand two hundred and seventy black people, who were
alaves, wdth very few exceptions.
Several circumstances had given impulse to migration to thia
province. The transfer of the Hlinois country to the Britiah
crown, in 1765, cauaed many wealthy and respectable families to
retire across the Miaaiaaippi,
The ordinance of 1787, which prohibited involuntary servitude
in the North-Western Territory, caused slaveholders, who were
disposed to preserve thia apeciea of property, to abandon their
ancient poaaeaaions.
" The distance of this province from the capital. New Orleans,
added to a wilderneas of nearly a thousand miles in extent between
them, seemed to point out the necessity of strengthening it; and
ahe conceived it good policy to populate it by the citizens of the
United Statea, especially as they appeared disposed to act with
vigor against the English, Additional prospects, therefore, were
* See Stoddard's Sketches, pp. 211, 224.

788 CHARACTER OF POPULATION, 1804
held out to settlers, and pains were taken to disseminate them in
every direction. Large quantities of land were granted them,
attended with no other expenses than those of office fees and sur
veys, which were not exorbitant, and they were totally exempted
from taxation. This sufficiently accounts for the rapid population
of Upper Louisiana, which, in 1804, consisted of more than three-
fifths of English Americans."*
Why did so many American citizens expatriate themselves, place
themselves and their posterity under Spanish despotism, and beyond
the protection of the rights of conscience ? This is a question of
grave and momentous import, and if it remained unansweredj
might leave a suspicion on the character and motives of the Ameri
can emigrants. Happily, we have the opportunity for explanation.
We have been intimately acquainted with a large number of these
pioneers, a few of whom still linger amongst us, and more than
thirty years since we heard their own explanations.f
They acted under a presentiment that, in some way, the jurisdiction of
the United States would be extended over this country. They projected
no violent action — no revolutionary schemes. The impression
doubtless had its origin in the efforts in the western country to
obtain the navigation of the Mississippi. Of the character of the
American population, we ought to say a word, to correct an erro
neous notion that has prevailed in the Atlantic States concerning
frontier emigration.
"A number had fled their country to avoid the consequences of
crime or improvidence. But probably a majority were peaceable,
industrious, moral and well disposed persons, who, from various
motives, had crossed the " Great Water." Some from the love of
adventure, some from that spirit of restlessness which belongs to a
class; but a much larger number with the expectation of obtaining
large tracts of land, which the government gave to each settler for
the trifling expense of surveying and recording.
"Under the Spanish government, the Roman CathoUc faith was
the established reUgion of the province, and no other Christian
sect was tolerated by the laws of Spain. Each emigrant was
required to be un bon Catholique, as the French expressed it; yet, by
the connivance of the commandants of Upper Louisiana, and by
the use of a legal fiction in the examination of Americans who
applied for lands, toleration in fact existed.

* Sketches of Louisiana, 225.
I Author of Life of Daniel Boone.

1804, LARGE PURCHASES OF LAND FROM INDIANS, 789
" Many protestant families, communicants in Baptist, Methodist
and Presbyterian, and other churches, settled in the province, and
remained undisturbed in their religious principles, Protestant
itinerant clergymen passed over from Illinois, and preached in the
log cabins of the settlera, unmolested, though they were occasion
ally threatened with imprisonment in the Calabozo at St, Louis,
Yet these threats were never executed,
"No protestant religious society was organized amongst these
emigrants until after the treaty of cession,"*
During the month of Auguat in thia year, a series of treaties
was made by Governor Harrison, at Yincennes, by which the claims
of several Indian nations to large tracts of land in Indiana and
Illinois were relinquished to the United States, for due considera
tion. The Delawares sold their claim to a large tract between the
Wabash and OMo rivers ; and the Piankeshaws gave up their title
to lands granted by the Kaskaskia Indiana the preceding year.
It ahould be underatood by all that, in most instances, Indian
claims are vague and undefined; that several tribes set up a claim
to the same tract, and that the policy of the United States has been
to negotiate with each claimant, without regard to priority of
right. In November, Harrison negotiated with the chiefs of the united
nations of Sacs and Foxes, for their claim to the immense tract of
country lying between the Mississippi, Illinois, Fox river of Illinois,
and Wisconsin rivers, comprehending about fifty millions of acres.
The consideration given was the protection of the United States,
and goods delivered at the value of two thousand two hundred and
thirty-four dollars and fifty cents, and an annuity of one thousand
dollars, (six hundred to the Sacs, and four hundred to the Foxes,)
forever. An article in this treaty provided that as long aa the
United Statea remained the owner Of the land, " the Indians belong
ing to the said tribea ahall enjoy the privilege Of living [and hunt
ing" on the land.
The remark just ma,de applies to thia case. When the French
discovered and took poasesaion of Illinois, neither the Sacs nor
Foxes had any claim or existence on this tract of countty.
During this year, measures were adopted to learn the facts as to
the settlements abOut Detroit, and an elaborate report upon them
was made by C, Jouett, the Indian agent in Michigan, From that

* Life of Bocme, in Sparks' fiiograjhy, Tol. xxiii. 166.

790 DESCRIPTION OF OLD DETROIT. 1804.
report is taken aome sentences illustrative of the state of the
capital :
"The town of Detroit. — The chapter, which is for fifteen acres
square, was granted in the time of Louis XIY. of France, and is
now, from the best information I have been able to collect, at
Quebec. Of those two hundred and twenty-five acres, only four
are occupied by the town and Fort LeUault. The remainder is a
common, except twenty-four acres, which were added, twenty years
ago, to a farm belonging to William Macomb.
"As to the titles to the lots in town, I should conceive that the
citizens might legally claim, from a length of undisturbed and
peaceable possession, even in the absence of a more valid and sub
stantial tenure. Several of those lots are held by the commanding
officer, as appendages of the garrison. A stockade encloses the
town, fort and citadel. The pickets, as well as the public houses,
are in a state of gradual decay, and in a few years, without repairs,
they muat fall to the ground.
"The atreeta are narrow, straight, regular, and interaect each
other at right angles. The houses are, for the most part, low and
inelegant ; and although many of them are convenient and suited
to the occupations of the people, there are, perhaps, a majority of
them which require very considerable reparation."
Congress, during 1804, granted a township of land in Michigan
for the support of a college.
Among other eventa of interest that marked this year, was the
emigration into this country of the persons composing the society
of Harmonie.
This aociety had ita origin in Wirtemberg, in Germany, from a
sehiam in the Lutheran church, about the year 1785. On account
of the peraecution that they had met with, for their reUgious
opiniona, in their native country, a considerable body of them con
cluded to migrate, and in 1803, their pastor, Mr. George Rapp,
came to this country in their behalf, to look out a site on which
they might locate. He accordingly purchased a tract of land on
the left bank of Conoquenessing creek, in Butier county, Pennsyl
vania, and fourteen miles south-west of Butier borough, for the
new society, and in the autumn of the foUowing year, some one
hundred and fifty famUies came over, and took posseaaion of this
purchase, to which was given the name of Harmonie, (now often,
though i'ncorrectiy, spelled Harmony.) Here, in a new country,
surrounded by strangers, of whose language they were ignorant,

1804. ADVENT OF RAPP's COMMUNITY. 791
unaccustomed to our mode of clearing the forest, and possessed of
no more wealth than just sufficient to purchase the soil, and to re
move to their new possessions, they had many difficulties to con
tend with, and many privations to endure ; yet, though some
became discouraged, and left the society, the main body showed
that same indomitable courage, industry, and perseverance that
characterized the early settlers of our country generally, and that
gained for them, in a few years, the admiration of the neighboring
country. Perhaps, too, there was something in the religious char
acter of their confederation, that lent them additional courage.
They did not seem to be banded together upon mere principles of
communism, but relied upon some religious sanction derived from
Acts iv, verse 32.
Their principal occupation was the culture of the grape, and the
raising of sheep. But the soil and climate in the region where they
had located, not proving particularly favorable to these objects, they
concluded to migrate, and accordingly, in the year 1813, they de
puted Frederick Rapp, an ad(pted son of their pastor and leader,
to seek for a new location, and he, after a diligent search through
the six Western States, finally fixed on a tract of land on the Wa
bash, fifty miles from its mouth, and fifteen miles north of Mt.
Yernon, in Posey county. State of Indiana, as likely to be favorable
to their purposes. To thia place the society migrated, in the year
1814, and immediately built up a town, consisting of some two
hundred houses, including two churches, several mills, a cotton and
woolen factoty, a brew house, and a distillery, to which they gave
the name of New Harmonie, Their purchase consisted of about
seventeen thousand acres, most of it of excellent quality, on which
they proceeded to clear, as speedily as possible, an immense farm ;
they planted orchards and vineyards, and raised the sheep to sup
ply the woolen manufactories which they had erected. In this loca
tion, too, they contended with many difficulties, as the land which
they occupied was entirely unreclaimed, and they were obliged to
provide for themselves any comforts that they afterward enjoyed.
As perseverance, however, always begets prosperity, so they too
thrived admirably, and in 1824, ten years from the date of their
migration, their property consisted of thirty thousand acres of land,
together with improvements, stock, and personal effects, amounting
to the eatimated value of nearly a million of dollara.
About thia time, however, that ia, in 1824 or 1825, finding their
location in Indiana very unhealthy, they again determined to
change their place of reaidence, to return to Pennsylvania, where

792 PROGRESS OF RAPP's COMMUNITY. 1804.
they purchased a tract of land on the Ohio river, in Beaver county,
about eighteen miles below Pittsburgh, Here they again erected
a town, which they called Economy. It consisted of some one
hundred and thirty houses, an elegant church, a large woolen and
cotton factory, a store, a tavern, a large steam miU, a brewery, a dis
tillery, a tan yard, and various other workshops. Besides these,
they afterward also built a large and commodious house for a con
cert haU, in which they have a museum of natural curiosities, a
collection of minerals, a mathematical school, a library, and a
drawing school.
About the time of their migration, Mr. Frederick Rapp, acting
again under power of attorney from the . members of the society,
sold land of their possessions in Indiana, to the amount of one
hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, to Robert Owen, who
there founded a colony, the history of which will be noticed here
after. In 1831, the Economites met with a serious reverse, by the admission
among them of a German adventurer, calling himself CountDe Leon,
who succeeded in breeding a lamentable schism among the members,
80 that a large number of them left the parent society, under the guid
ance of the Count, taking with them, by agreement, some one hundred
and five thousand dollars. These established themselves in PMlips-
burg, a village situated some twelve miles below Economy, on the
Ohio river, opposite Rochester, giving to their new colony the name of
New Philadelphia, a name which has not, however, survived their ad
vent ; for the experiment proved entirely unsuccessful. The Count
was discovered to be a selfish, deceitful impostor, and the society,
which at the commencement numbered sOme three or four hun
dred members, broke up after a short time, and the Count hav
ing fled, most of them returned to the parent aociety, richer in
experience, though perhapa poorer in worldly gooda, than they had
left. The Duke of Saxe Weimar, who viaited the colony about the
year 1826, in speaking of it, aaya :
"At the inn, a fine large frame houae, we were received by Mr,
Rapp, the principal, at the head of the community. He ia a grey
headed and venerable old man; moat of the membera emigrated
twenty-one years ago from Wirtemberg, along with him,
" The warehouse was ahown to us, where the articlea made here
for sale or uae are preserved, and I admired the excellence of aU,
The articles for the uae of the aociety are kept by themaelves, as
the members have no private posaeaaions, and evety^ thing is in com-

1804, LIFE AND HABITS OF THE COMilUNITY, 793
mon ; so must they, in relation to all their wants, be supplied from
the common stock. The clothing and food they make use of is of
the best quality. Of the latter, flour, salt meat, and all long keep
ing articles, are served out monthly; fresh meat, on the contrary,
and whatever spoils readily, is distributed whenever it is killed, ac
cording to the size of the family, &c. As every house has a garden,
each family raises its own vegetables and some poultry, and each
family has its own bake-oven. For such things as are not raised
in Economy, there is a store provided, from which the members,
with the knowledge of the directors, may purchase what is neces
sary, and the people of the vicinity may also do the aame.
"Mr. Rapp finally conducted us into the factoty again, and said
that the girls had especially requested this visit, that I might hear
them sing. When their work is done, they collect in one of the
factory rooms, to the number of sixty or seventy, to sing spiritual
and other songs. They have a peculiar hymn book, containing
hymns from the Wirtemberg psalm book, and others written by the
elder Rapp. A chair was placed for the old patriarch, who sat
amidst the girls, and they commenced a hymn in a very delight
ful manner. It waa naturalty symphonious, and exceedingly well
arranged. The girls sang four pieces, at first sacred, but afterward,
by Mr. Rapp's desire, of a gay character. With real emotion did I
witness this interesting scene. The factories and workshops are
warmed during the winter by means of pipes connected with the
steam engine. All the workmen, and especially the females, had
very healthy complexions, and moved me deeply by the warm
hearted friendliness with which they saluted the elder Rapp. I
was also much gratified to see vessels containing fresh sweet-scented
flowers, standing on all the machines. The neatness which univer
sally reigns, is in every respect worthy of praise."
It has often been a subject of remark and wonder, that Mr. Rapp
had succeeded in so closely uniting a body of men and women,
numbering at one time over eight hundred, and exerting so great
a power over them, as even to, control their strongest passions ;
keeping the sexes apart from each other, and even separating those
who had been before married; for the observance of a- strict
celibacy is one of the distinguishing traits of the Economites^ It
is said that the power of religious beUef has done this wonder.
Mr. Rapp taught, that the second advent of Christ, which would be
the end of all things, was near at hand, and that men must keep
themselves perfectly pure and free from aU passions. It is in
accordance with this belief^ it is said, that they so rigidly adhere to
61

794

OBSERVATIONS ON THEIR DESTINY, 1804.'

the peculiar and strange doctrine of their teacher, even so long
after that teacher himself has gone to his long home.
George Rapp died in the faU of 1847, over ninety yeara of age,
beloved and esteemed by all who knew Mm, but especially by Ms
devoted flock, to whom he preached for the last time only a few
days before his death. The desolating effects of hia teachings in
relation to the rite of matrimony, ia now plainly viaible in the once
thriving colony, which now conaiats almoat entirely of old men and
women, their average age being over sixty, aome as old As nearly
ninety, and aome few in the prime of life. Their number, which,
in 1824, was about eight hundred, is now aomething leaa than three
hundred ; and from the age of the membera, there being no proba
bility of any new acceasions, the decrease for the next ten or twenty
yeara will no doubt be in a greater ratio. In 1828, they commenced
the culture of the mulberry, and raising of silk worms, and in 1840
their silk manufactures were the best in the country; but from the
reduction of their number, they have been forced to abandon the
enterprise ; their cotton and woolen manufactures, too, from the
same causes, have dwindled down to insignificance, so that now they
do little more than make the clothing they wear; they even have
to hire hands to assist in their field labors ; vety many of their
houses are tenantless and deaolate, aa none but membera are
allowed to occupy them, and the whole town of Economy now
weara a melancholy air of quiet and repoae, but alao of decline and
desolation, that is significantly emblematical of the increasing age
and childless lonelineaa of its worthy inhabitanta.
According to a report filed in the Circuit Court of the United
Statea for the Western District of Pennsylvania, in a chancety pro
ceeding in that court, in the year 1846, where an expeUed member
of the society sues for a distributive share of the society fund, it is
estimated that the whole value of the property then belonging to
the society, was nine hundred and one thousand seven hundred
and twenty-three dollars and forty-two cents; and there were then
three hundred and twenty-one members entitled to community ;
the number of actual members of the aociety would, however,
exceed that number. The above estimate of property is, no doubt,
low. At present, their property is estimated at about two millions
of doUars,
Honest and upright in all their dealings, peaceable and truly
virtuoua, theae people have gained for themaelves the esteem and
regard of all who have in any way come in contact with them ;
and the succeas of their undertaking, aa regarda their increased

1805, MICHIGAN TERRITORY FORMED, 795
wealth, when compared to other communistic attempts, such as
Owens and others, which have failed, shows eminently the great
power of religion as an element of success, when compared with
infidelity ; for these people are truly, and no doubt sincerely
religious; but yet they have erred in disregarding one of the great
laws of nature — that of procreation — and to this they owe the
decline of their society. Are they any happier than otherwise they
would have been ?
On the llth of Januaty, 1805, Congress made Michigan a sepa
rate territory, with William Hull for its Governor ; the change of
government was to take place on June 30th, The new governor
accordingly arrived at Detroit, the seat of government, on Monday,
the 1st day of July, having been preceded by A, B, Woodward,
the presiding judge of the territory, who arrived there on
June 29th,
A short time previous to this, on the llth of June, there had
been a confiagration at Detroit, which destroyed all the buildings
in the place, public and private, together vrith much of the personal
property of the inhabitants, and when the new functionaries of the
government arrived, they found the people, in part, encamped on
and near the site of the destroyed town, and in part scattered
through the country. The following is a passage from their
report to Congress, made in October :
" The place which bore the appellation of the town of Detroit,
was a spot of about two acres of ground, completely covered with
buildings and combustible materials, the narrow intervals of four
teen or fifteen feet, used aa atreeta or lanes, only excepted, and the
whole waa environed with a very atrong and aecure defenae of tall
and aolid picketa,
" The circumjacent ground, the bank of the river alone excepted,
waa a wide commona ; and though assertions are made respecting
the existence, among the records of Quebec, of a charter from the
King of France, confirming this commons as an appurtenance to
the town, it was either the property of the United States, or at
least such as individual claims did not pretend to cover. The folly
of attempting to rebuild the town, in the original mode, was obvi
ous to every mind ; yet there exiated no authority, either in the
country, or in the officera of the new government, to dispose of the
adjacent ground. Hence had already arisen a state of dissension
which urgently required the interposition of some authority to
quiet.

'^96 DETROIT BURNED AND REFOUNDED. 1805.
" Some of the inhabitants, destitute of shelter, and hopeless of
any prompt arrangements of government, had re-occupied their
former ground, and a few buUdings had already been erected in
the midst of the old ruins. Another portion of the inhabitants had
determined to take possession of the adjacent pubUc ground, and
to throw themselves on the liberality of the government of the
United States, either to make them a donation of the ground, as a
compensation for their sufferings, or to accept of a vety moderate
price for it. If they could have made any arrangement of the
various pretensions of individuals, or could have agreed on any
plan of a town, they would soon have begun to build.
"But the want of a civil authority to decide interfering claims,
or to compel the refractory to submit to the wishes of a majority,
had yet prevented them from carrying any particular measure into
execution. On the morning of Monday, the 1st day of July, the
inhabitants had assembled for the purpose of resolving on some
definitive mode of procedure. The judges prevailed on them to
defer their intentions for a short time, giving them assurances
that the governor of the territory would shortly arrive, and that
evety arrangement in the power of their domestic government
would be made for their relief. On these representations they con
sented to defer their measures for one fortnight. In the evening
of the same day, the governor arrived ; it was his first measure to
prevent any encroachments from being made on the public land.
" The situation of the distressed inhabitants then occupied the
attention of the members of the government for two or three days.
The result of these discussions was, to proceed to lay out a new
town, embracing the whole of old town and the public lands
adjacent ; to state to the people that nothing in the nature of a title
could be given under any authorities then possessed by the govern
ment ; and that they could not be justified in holding out any
charitable donations whatever, as a compensation for their suffer
ings, but that every personal exertion would be made to obtain a
confirmation of the arrangements about to be made, and to obtain
the liberal attention of the government of the United States to their
diatresses. "A town was accordingly surveyed and laid out, and the want
of authority to impart any regular title, without the subsequent
sanction of Congress, being firat impressed and clearly underatood,
the lota were exposed to sale under that reservation. Where the
purchaser of a lot was a proprietor in the old town, he was at
liberty to extinguish his former property in hia new acquisition,

1805. MICHIGAN LAND CLAIMS INVESTIGATED. 797
foot for foot, and was expected to pay only for the surplus, at the
rate expressed in his bid. A considerable part of the inhabitants
were only tenants in the old town, there being no means of acqui
ring any new titles. The sale of course could not be confined
merely to former proprietors, but, as far as possible, was confined
to former inhabitants. After the sale of a considerable part, by
auction, the remainder was disposed of by private contract, deduct
ing from the previous sales the basis of the terms.
"As soon as the necessities of the immediate inhabitants were
accommodated, the sales were entirely stopped, until the pleasure
of government could be consulted. As no title could be made, or
was pretended to be made, no payments were required, or any
moneys permitted to be received, until the expiration of one year,
to afford time for Congress to interpose. The remaining part was
stipulated to be paid in four successive annual installments. The
highest sum resulting from the bids, was seven cents for a square
foot, and the whole averaged at least four cents. In this way, the
inhabitants were fully satisfied to commence their buildings, and
the interfering pretensions of all individuals were eventually
reconciled. "The validity of any of the titles was not taken into view. The
possession under the titles, such as they were, was alone regarded,
and the validity of title left to wait the issue of such measures as
Congress might adopt, relative to landed titles in the territory of
Michigan, generally. It therefore now remains for the Congress of
the United States either to refuse a sanction of the arrangement
made, or by imparting a regular authority to make it, or in some
other mode, in their wisdom deemed proper, to relieve the inhabi
tants from one of the most immediate distresses, occasioned by the
calamitous conflagration."
From the same report, it appears that nearly the only titles to
land then existing in Michigan were some old grants, made by the
French government long ago, which were subject to all the feudal
and seigniorial conditions which usually accompanied titles in
France, among which was one, that the respective grantees were
required within a limited period, to obtain a eonflrmation from the
king which had, however, mostly been neglected. On the con
quests of the French possessions by Great Britain, in the war which
terminated by the treaty of Paris, in the year 1763, as well in the
original articles of capitulation in 1759 and 1760, as in the subse
quent treaty itself, the property of the inhabitants of the country
was confirmed to them ; and when, afterward, by the definitive

798 JIEST INDIANA LEGISLATURE. 1805i
treaty of peace, at Paris, in 1783, the portion of Canada which
included Michigan was ceded to the United States, a clause in the
treaty secures the inhabitants in the enjoyment of their property of
evety kind — ^land, houses or effects ; a point that waa further con
firmed and strengthened in the treaty of London, negotiated
between Mr. Jay and Lord Granville, in 1794. There seemed then
to be no doubt as to the rights of the inhabitants to the lands which
they held under this old title, yet there was a decided defect as to
the evidences of title according to American forms. Under the
American government, no titles had as yet been granted. '
WTiile in Michigan the territorial government was taking shape,
Indiana passed to the second grade of the same, as provided by the
ordinance, and obtained her General Assembly ; while various trea
ties vsdth the northern tribes were transferring to the United States,
the Indian title to large and valuable tracts of country.
On the 4th of July, the Wyandots and others, at Fort Industty,
on the Maumee, ceded all their lands as far west as the western
boundary of the Connecticut Reserve ; upon the 21st of August,
Governor Harrison, at Yincennes, received from the Miamies a re
gion containing two millions of acres, within what is now Indiana,
and upon the SOth of December, at the same place, purchased of
the Piankeshaws, a tract eighty or ninety miles wide, extending
from the Wabash west, to the cession by the Kaskaskias, in 1803.
At this time, although some murders by the red men had taken
place in the Far West, the body of natives seemed bent on peace.
But mischief was gathering. 'Tecumthe, his brother, the Prophet,
and other leading men, had formed at Greenville, the germ of that
union of tribes, by which the whites were to be restrained in their
invasions. There is no evidence that the Great Indian of that day
used any concealment, or meditated any treachery toward the Uni
ted States, for many years after this time.
The efforts of himself and his brother were directed to two
points; first, the reformation of the savages, whose habits unfitted
them for continuous and heroic effort; and second, such a union as
would make the purchase of land by the United States impossible,
and give to the aborigines a strength that might be dreaded. Both
these objects were avowed, and both were pursued with wonderful
energy, perseverance and success; in the whole country bordering
upon the lakes, the power of the Prophet was felt, and the work of
reformation went on rapidly.
It was during this year that Burr paid his first visit to the West.
On the llth of July, 1804, he had shot General Hamilton, an event

1805. burr's first visit to the west. 799
which he felt would " ostracize " him ; would force him to seek
elsewhere for power, money, and fame. On the 2d of March, 1805,
the Yice President took his celebrated leave of the Senate, and upon
the 29th of April was at Pittsburgh. His purpose of going west
ward was not the gratification of curiosity merely; and from Wil
kinson's letter, it is implied that he was concerned with Dayton
and others, in the projected canal round the Falls at LouisviUe; a
proposal which had been before the United States Senate in
January. From Pittsburgh he proceeded down the Ohio to Louisville,
thence went to Lexington and Nashville by land, and from the
latter place passed down the Cumberland, and upon the 6th of June
reached Fort Massac. During his visit to Tennessee he was
treated with great attention, and both then and previously had
some conversation relative to a residence in that State, with a view
to political advancement. * His intentions, however, seem to have
been entirely vague: among other plans, he had some thought of
trying to displace Governor Claiborne, of the Orleans Territory, and
took from Wilkinson, whom he ' met at Fort Massac, a letter to
Daniel Clark, the governor's most violent foe.
On the 25th of June, Burr reached the capitol of the South-
West, where he remained until the 10th of July, when he crossed
by land to Nashville, and apent a week with General Jackson, and
upon the 20th of August, was at Lexington again : from Lexing
ton, he went by the Falls, Yincennes, and Kaskaskia, to St. Louis,
where he met General Wilkinson, about the middle of September.
By this time, all his plans appear to have undergone another
change. At New Orleans he had been made aware of the existence
of an association to invade Mexico, and wrest it from Spain ; he
was asked to join it, but refused.
He saw, Jiowever, at that time, if not before, that, should the
diapute relative to boundaries then existing between the United
States result in war, an opportunity would be given to men of
spirit to conquer and rule Mexico, and this idea thenceforth became
his leading one. But in connection with this plan of invasion, in
case of war, there arose whispers in relation to effecting a separa
tion of the Western from the Atlantic States ; of this we have
knowledge by a letter from Daniel Clark to General Wilkinson,
written September 7th.
What Burr's conversations with the commander of St. Louis
were, are not particularly told, but it is understood that he sug-

800 pike's MISSISSIPPI expedition. 1805.
gested the Mexican plan, and also intimated that the Union was
rotten, and the western people dissatisfied. Such was the effect of
his talk, that soon after he left, Wilkinson wrote to the Secretaty
of the Navy, advising the government to have an eye on Burr, as
he was " about something, but whether internal or external," he
could not learn.
Thus, during 1805, the idea of a separation of the Western States
from the Union, by Burr and Wilkinaon, had become familiar to
many minds, even though the principals themselves may have had
no more thought of such a thing than of taking possession of the
moon, and dividing her among their friends.*
Amongst the occurrencea of 1805 and 1806, are the expeditions
of Captain Z. M. Pike ; the first to the sourcea of the Mississippi,
and the second to the sources of the Arkansas, Kansas, Platte, and
Pierre Jaune rivers, and into the provinces of New Spain. These
expeditions were conducted under the order of government, through
General Jamea Wilkinson. The journals kept by Captain Pike
were by him prepared for the press, and issued in an octavo
volume, with an atlas of maps and charts, in Philadelphia, 1810.
From this volume is given the following brief abstract :
The party, consisting of Captain Pike, " with one servant, two
corporals, and seventeen privatea, in a keel boat, seventy feet long,
provisioned for four months," left the encampment, near St. Louia,
on the 9th of August, 1805. On the 1st of September they reached
Dubuque, where the French trader, M. Dubuque, then resided.
The party reached Prairie du Chein on the 4th. From the appen
dix to part first, is made the following extract :
" The ¦present viUage of Prairie du Chein was first settled in the
year 1783, and the firat settlers were Girard, Antaya, and Dubuque.
The old viUage is about a mUe below the present one, and had
existed during the time the French were possessed of the countty.
It derives its name from a family of Reynards, (Fox Indians,) who
formerly lived there, distinguished by the appellation of Dogs. The
present village was settied under the English government, and tho
ground was purchased from the Reynard Indiana.
" There are eight houses scattered round the country, at the dis
tance of one, two, three, and five miles.
" On the weat side of the Miaaiaaippi are three housea, aituated
on a amall stream called the Girard'a river, making, in the village

' For all these facta see Davis' Memoirs of Burr ii. 327, 367, 368 to 370, 378, 379, i

1805. pike's MISSISSIPPI expedition. 801
and vicinity, thirty-seven houses, which it will not be too much to
calculate ten persons each ; making the population three hundred
and seventy souls. But this estimate will not answer for the spring
and autumn, as there are then at least five or six hundred white
persons. " This is owing to the concourse of traders and their engagees,
from Michilimackinack and other parts, who make this their last
stage, previous to their launching into the savage wilderness. They
again meet here in the spring, on their return from their wintering
grounds, accompanied by three or four hundred Indians, when they
hold a fair; the one party disposes of remnants of goods, and the
other reserved peltries.
"It is astonishing that there are not more murders and affrays at
this place as there meet such a heterogeneous mass to trade — the
use of spirituous liquors being in no manner restricted. But since
the American government has become known, such accidents are
much less frequent than formerly.
" There are a few gentlemen residing at the Prairie du Cheins,
and many others claiming that appellation ; but the rivalship of
the Indian trade, occasions them to be guilty of acts at their
wintering grounds, which they would blush to be guilty of in the
dvilized world. They possess the spirit of generosity and hospi
tality in an eminent degree ; but this is the leading feature in the
character of frontier inhabitants. Their mode of living had obliged
them to have transient connection with the Indian women ; and
what was at ^r&t policy, is now so confirmed by habit and inclina
tion, that it has become, (with a few exceptions,) the ruling prac
tice of all the traders; and, in fact, almost half of the in
habitants under twenty years, have the blood of the aborigines in
their veins."
For a description of the old village and vicinity. Carver is quoted
by Major Long, who visited Fort Crawford, 1823 :
"At Prairie du Chein, the breadth of the river is estimated at
one-half of a mile, including a long and narrow island. Its cur
rent, though rapid compared with that of many other streams, is
gentle when contrasted with that of the same river lower down ; it
is only when it has been swollen by the Missouri and the Ohio,
that it acquires the extreme rapidity which characterizes it. The
village of Prairie du Chein is situated three or four miles above the
month of the Wisconsin, on a beautiful prairie, which extends
along the eastern bank of the river for about ten miles in length,
and which ia limited to the east by a range of steep MUs rising to a

802 description of prairie du chein. 1805.
height of about four hundred and thirty-five feet, and running par
allel with the course of the river, at a distance of about a mile and
a half; on the western bank, the bluffs which rise to the same ele
vation, are washed at their base by the river.
" Pike's mountain, which is on the west bank, immediately op
posite to the mouth of the Wisconsin, is about five hundred and
fifty feet high. ' It has received its name from having been re
commended by the late General Pike, in Ms journal, as a position
well calculated for the construction of a military post, to command
the Mississippi and Wisconsin. The hill has no particular limits
in regard to its extent, being merely a part of the river bluffs, which
stretch along the margin of the river on the west, for several miles,
and retain pretty nearly the same elevation above the water. The
side fronting on the river is so abrupt as to render the summit com
pletely inaccessible, even to a footman, except in a very few places,
where he may ascend by taking hold of the bushes and rocks that
cover the slope. In general, the acclivity is made up of precipices,
arranged one above another, some of which are one hundred and
one hundred and fifty feet high. From the top we had a fine view
of the two rivers, which mingled their waters at the foot of thia
majestic hill.'
" The prairie has retained its old French appeUation, derived
fi-om au Indian who formerly resided there, and was called the
Dog. The viUage consists, exclusive of stores, of about twenty
dweUing houses, chiefly old, and many of them in a state of decay;
its population may amount to one hundred and fifty souls. It is
not in as thriving a situation as it formerly was. Carver teUs us,
that when he visited it, in 1766, it was ' a large town, containing
about three hundred famUies; the houses,' he adds, ' are weU built
after the Indian manner, and pleasantly situated on a very rich
soil, from which they raise every necessary of life in great abun
dance. This town is the great mart where aU the adjacent tribea,
and even those who inhabit the moat remote branches of the Mis
sissippi, annually assemble about the latter end of May, bringing
with them their furs to dispose of to the traders.' 'I should have
remarked," saya the aame author, ' that whatever Indians happen
to meet at La Prairie le Chien, the great mart to which aU who in
habit the adjacent country resort, though the nations to which they
belong are at war with each other, yet they are obliged to restrain
their enmity, and to forbear all hostile acta during their stay there.
This regulation has long been established among them for their
mutual convenience, as without it no trade could be carried on,'

1805. PIKE CROSSES FALLS OF ST, ANTHONY, 803
" The fort, which is one of the rudest and least comfortable that
we have seen, is situated about one hundred and fifty yards from
the river. Its site ia low and unpleaaant, as a slough extends to the
south of it. The river bank is here so low and flat, that by a swell
which took place in the Mississippi the summer before we visited
it, the water rose upon the prairie, and entered the parade, which
it covered to the depth of three or four feet ; it penetrated into all
the officers' and soldiers' quarters, so as to render it necessary for
the garrison to remove from the fort, and encamp upon the neigh
boring heights, where they spent about a month. The waters hav
ing subsided, at the end of that time, they returned to their
quarters ; the old men of the village say that such an inundation
may be expected every seven years. The viUage also suffered,
much from the inundation, though the ground being somewhat
higher, the injury done to it was not so great. The fort was ori
ginally erected for the protection of the white population at the
village ; as a military post, its situation is by no means a judicious
one, for it commands neither the Mississippi nor Wisconsin ; but as
the necessity which lead to its construction is daily becoming less
urgent, this position will doubtless soon be abandoned ; one of the
block-houses of the fort is situated upon a large mound, which ap
pears to be artificial. This mound is so large, that it supported the
whole of the work at this place, previous to the capture of the fort
by the British and Indians during the late war. It has been exca
vated, but we have not heard that any bones or other remains were
found in it. This spot, like many of those early settled, has been
graced with traditions, which, if they contribute but little to the
Mstory of our North-West Indians, adorn, at least, with a charm of
romance and fable, some of its most beautiful scenery."*
Captain Pike with his party reached St. Peter's on the 22d of
September. Here a council was held with the Sioux Indians, and
a tract of land purchased, of about one hundred thousand acres, for
a military post. This eventually provided for the military post of
St. Peter's. Peace was also negotiated between the Sioux and
Chippewas, who had been at war for many years. At the foot of
the Falls of St. Anthony, the boats were unloaded, and with great
difficulty and labor, raised above the falls and again launched and
reloaded. On the 16tb of October, they met a snow storm, and soon after.

*Long's Expedition to the source of St. Peter's rirer.

804

PIKE AND HIS PARTY RETURN TO ST, LOUIS, 1806.

found they could not get their boats up the rapids before them.
They were now two hundred and thirty-three miles above the falls
of St, Anthony, Several of the men were sick, and one broke a
blood-vessel, and was in a dangerous state. The snow continuing
to fall, they constructed log housea, excavated canoes, and provi
ded a supply of provisions by hunting. Here the sick and a few
other men of the party were left, while Pike and the rest of the
party attempted to proceed up the river in canoes. The attempt
having failed, and the river being frozen, sleds were constructed,
on which the baggage was transported, partly on the ice, and partly
on the land. After sustaining various privations, and experiencing
no small degree of difficulty in this inhospitable wintry region.
Pike and his little party, with one or two British traders, reached
Red Lake, then supposed to be the head of the Mississippi, about
the middle of February, 1806, At Lake Winipec, fifteen miles
below, was a British trading post, and the fiag of that nation fiying
from the fort. The North-Western company then had their posta
in all this wild region.
On the 28th of February, the party set out on their homeward
march, but were detained on the route by ice, and holding "talks "
with bands-of Indians, so that they did not reach the falls of St,
Anthony until the 10th of AprU. At the mouth of the St. Peter's,
another council was held with the Sioux and Sauteurs, a branch of
the Chippewas.
After holding conferences with several bands of Indians at
Prairie du Chein, and other places. Pike and his party reached St,
Louis on the 30th of April, after an absence of eight months and
twenty-two days. This was the first exploration ever made of the
Upper Mississippi, by authority of the United States, The objects
of the expedition were accomplished, in the selection of positions
for military posts, in making peace among hostile Indian nations,
and in tracing the Mississippi to its source.
The second expedition had for its primary object, the protection
and "safe delivery" of a deputation of Osages and some captives,
to the town of the Grand Osage nation. The next was, to promote
peace and a good understanding between the Kanzas* and Osage
nations, and the Yanctons, Tetons and Camanches. The explora
tion of the country on the head waters of the Arkansas and Red
rivers, would follow the effort to negotiate with the Camanches.

* This is pronounced Kanzeau, and, by abbreviation, Jiaw nation.

1806. pike's WESTERN EXPEDITION. 805
For this expedition, Capt. Pike's party consisted of two lieuten
ants, one surgeon, one sergeant, two corporals, sixteen privates, and
one interpreter. Under their charge, were several chiefs of the
Osages and Pawnees, who, with a number of women and children,
had been to Washington city. These Indians had been redeemed
from captivity from among the Pottawattamies. The whole num
ber of Indians amounted to fifty-one.
The party left Belle Fontaine, near the mouth of the, Missouri,
on the 15th of July, 1806, In the company was Dr, John H, Robin
son, a volunteer, and a gentleman of scientific attainments ; a Mr,
Henry, from New Jersey, also a volunteer, who spoke French and a
little Spanish, and Lieutenant James Wilkinson, son of General
WilMnson. The Indians generally walked on the land. OnAhe
28th of July, they arrived at the mouth of the Osage river, and pro
ceeded up that stream to the village of the Grand Osages, which
they reached on the 19th of August. Having provided horses, the
party set off by land on the 1st of September for the heads of the
Arkansas, holding councils with the various tribes of Indians
through which they passed. They learned that troopa from Mexico
had visited the Pawnee village.
At that period there waa an old trace, known as the " Spanish
trace," made in 1720, by a party who left Santa Fe, to exterminate
the Missouries.
Pike and his party, after much search, could not find this trace,
but reached the Arkansas on the 18th of October. They found the
water only twenty feet wide and six inches deep, though from bank
to bank was two hundred and fifty yards. Here Lieutenant Wil
kinaon conatructed canoea with pieces of wood and buffalo hidea,
and with three aoldiera and an Osage, deacended the river to the
Misaiasippi, and from thence to New Orleans.
Pike and his party proceeded onward up the Arkansas until they
got entangled in the range of mountains and in the depth of a
severe winter. Here they wandered, half frozen and half starved,
until the first week in February, when, getting into a grove of tim
ber in a sheltered spot, they proceeded to erect a stockade as a
protection from the Indiana.
Dr, Robinson having received claims against a certain person in
Mexico, parted from the expedition and attempted to find his way
alone to Santa Fe. This claim of the Doctor waa merely a ruse to
gaiu information of the countty and the intentions of the Mexican
Spaniards, The claim was this. In the year 1804, WUUam Mor
rison, Esq,, an enterprising merchant of Kaskaakia, sent Baptiste

806 CLARK AND LEWIS RETURN FROM OREGON, 1806,
La Lande, a Creole, up the Missouri and Platte rivers, and directed
Mm, if possible, to push into Santa Fe, He sent in some Indians,
and the Spaniards came out with horses and carried him and his
goods into the province. Finding he could aeU hia goods at a high
price, and having land and a wife offered Mm, he concluded to
expatriate himself and convert the property of Mr, Morrison to his
own benefit. Mr. M., supposing Pike might meet with some Span
ish factor on his route, entrusted him with his claim, with orders
to collect it. Pike made this claim a pretext for the visit of Dr.
Robinson to Santa Fe, while the real object was to gain knowledge
of the country and people.
On the 16th of February, Pike, while out on a hunting excur
sion with one man, waa diacovered by a Spaniah dragoon and a
Mexican Indian, who were aent out as spies. After a friendly
interview they left, and by the 26th instant returned with one hun
dred officers and soldiers, who took the party prisoners. Unfortu
nately, being ignorant of the geography of the country, and having
no guide. Pike was on the Rio del Norte instead of the Red river,
as he supposed. He was in Mexico instead of the United States.
After undergoing an examination before the governor of Santa
Fe, whose name was Allencaster, Pike with his comrades were
allowed to retain their arms, but were marched through Albu
querque, St, Fernandez, El Paso, to Chihuahua, where he under
went another examination before Governor Salcedo, After various
embarrassments, accompanied by Dr, Robinson, he had leave to
depart, by Monclova to San Antonio, in Texas,
The party commenced the march on the last of April, and
reached San Antonio, in Texas, where they arrived on the 7th of
June, Here they tarried one week, and proceeding through Texas,
reached Natchitochea on the let day of July, 1807,
Thia expedition, unfortunate aa it was to the commander, brought
to the knowledge of the United Statea, the plaina of the Arkanaaa,
and the Mexican region, a large part of which now belonga to the
United Statea,
In September, 1806, Meaara, Lewia and Clarke returned from
their exploration of the Miaaouri-and Oregon rivera, Thia expedi
tion had been auggeated by Mr, Jefferaon, in January, 1803, Hia
views being sanctioned by Congress, Captain Lewia, and Clarke,
equal in command, entered the Miasouri, May 14, 1804, The
ensuing winter they spent among the Mandans, and in April, 1805,
again set forward. With great difficulty, the mountaina were
paaaed in the September following, and the Pacific reached on the

1806. burr again active in the west. 807
17th of November. Here the winter of 1805-6 was passed. On
the 27th of March, 1806, the return journey was begun, and the
mountains were crossed late in June,
During this year, the conviction became more and more strong
1806,] that the North-Weatern tribes were meditating hostUities
against the United States, but nothing of consequence took place ;
although Tecumthe and the Prophet constantly extended and con
firmed their influence.
Renewed difficulties with Spain, began early in the year to
assume a serious appearance; in February, acts of a semi-hostile
character took place, and in August, Spanish troops crossed the
Sabine and took possession of the territory east of that river, Thia
led first to a correspondence between Governor Claiborne and the
Spaniard in command: and next to a movement by General Wil
kinson and his army to the contested border,* While his troops
were at Natchitoches, in immediate expectation of an engagement,
Samuel Swartwout reached Wilkinson's camp, with letters from
Burr and Dayton, of such a character as almost instantly to bring
matters in relation to the conquest of Mexico to a crisis.
Burr, from January to August, Mr, Davis declares, was most of
the time in Washington and Philadelphia, but not idle; for, in a
letter to Wilkinson, dated April 16th, the conspirator says : "Buit
will be throughout the United States this summer; " and refers to
"the association," as enlarged, and to the "project" as postponed
till December,
In July, Commodore Truxton learned from Burr, that he was
interested largely in lands upon the Washita, which he proposed to
settle if his Mexican project failed ; and in August it seems that he
left for the West, On the 21st of that month, he was in Pittsburgh,
and there suggested to Colonel George Morgan and his son, the
probable disunion of the States, growing out of the extreme weak
ness of the federal government, a suggestion similar to that aaid to
have been made, though in a much more distinct and strong form,
to General Eaton, in the March preceding,
Hia plana, indeed, whatever their extent, were before this time
fixed and perfected ; for it waa upon the 29th of July that he wrote
from Philadelphia to General Wilkinaon the letter confided to
Swartwout, which led to the development of the whole business ;

?American State Papers. See for documents, Wilkinson's Memoirs.

808 burr's letter to Wilkinson. 1806.
thia letter is extracted, together with Wilkinson's deposition of
December 26th, explanatory of Burr's plans:
"Yours, post-marked 13th of May, is received. I, Aaron Burr,
have obtained funds, and have actually commenced the enterprise.
Detachments from different points, and under different pretenses,
will rendezvous on Ohio, 1st November — everything internal and
external favors views ; protection of England is secured. T — 
is going to Jamaica, to arrange with the Admiral on that station ;
it will meet on the Mississippi. — England. — ^Navy of the United
States are ready to join, and final orders are given to my friends
and foUowers; it will be a host of choice spirits.
"Wilkinson shall be second to Burr only; Wilkinson shall dic
tate the rank and promotion of his officers. Burr will proceed
westward 1st of August, never to return ; with him go his daughter;
the husband will follow in October, with a corps of worthies.
"Send forth an intelligent and confidential friend with whom
Burr may confer ; he shall return immediately with further inter
esting details ; this is essential to concert and harmony of move
ment ; send a list of all persons known to Wilkinson, west of the
mountains, who may be useful, with a note delineating their char
acters. By your messenger, send me four or five commissions of
your officers, which you can borrow under any pretense you please ;
they shall be returned faithfully.
"Already are orders to the contractor given, to forward six
months provisions to points Wilkinson may name ; this shall not
be used until the last moment, and then under proper injunctions;
the project is brought to the point so long desired. Burr guaran
tees the result with his life and honor, with the lives, the honor and
fortune of hundreds, the best blood of our country.
" Burr's plan of operations is, to move down rapidly from the
faUs on the 15th November, with the first five hundred or one
thousand men, in light boats now constructing for that purpose, to
be at Natchez between the 5th and 15th of December, there to
meet Wilkinson ; there to determine whether it will be expedient
in the first instance to seize on or pass by Baton Rouge ; on receipt
of this send an answer ; draw on Burr for all expenses, &c. The
people of the country to which we are going, are prepared to
receive us ; their agenta now with Burr aay, that if we wUl protect
their religion and will not subject them to a foreign power, that in
tiiree weeks all wUl be aettled.
" The goda invite to glory and fortune ; it remaina to be seen
whether we deserve the boon ; the bearer of thia goea express to

1806. WILKINSON'S affidavit against burr. 809
you ; he will hand a formal letter of introduction to you from Burr ;
he is a man of inviolable honor and perfect discretion, formed to
execute rather than to project; capable of relating facta with
fidelity, and incapable of relating them otherwiae ; he ia thoroughly
informed of the plana and intentions of Burr, and will disclose to
you as far as you inquire, and no further ; he has imbibed a rever
ence for your character, and may be embarrassed in your presence ;
put him at ease and he will satisfy you.*
"I instantly resolved," says Wilkinson, in hia affidavit, "to avail
myaelf of the reference made to the bearer, and, in the course
of some days, drew from him (the said Swartwout,) the following
disclosure : ' That he had been dispatched by Colonel Burr, from
Philadelphia ; had pa=!sed through the States of Ohio and Kentucky,
and proceeded fr( m Louisville to St. Louis, where he expected to
find me ; but discovering at Kaskaskias that I had deacended the
river, he procured a skifl;, hired handa, and followed me down the
Miasissippi to Fort Adama ; and from thence aet out for Natchi
toches, in company with Captain Sparks and Hooke, under the
pretense of a disposition to take part in the campaign against the
Spaniards, then depending.
" ' That Colonel Burr, with the support of a powerful association,
extending from New York to New Orleans, was levying an armed
body of seven thousand men from the State of New York, and the
Western Statea and territoriea, with a view to carry an expedition
againat the Mexican provinces ; and that flve hundred men, under
Colonel Swartwout, and a Colonel or Major Tyler, were to descend
the Allegheny, for whose accommodation light boats had been built
and were ready.'
"I inquired what would be their courae; he said, 'this territory
would be revolutionized, where the people were ready to join them;
and that there would be aome aeizing, he supposed, at New Orleana ;
that they expected to be ready to embark about the let of Februa
ry, and intended to land at Yera Cruz, and to march from thence
to Mexico.'
"I observed that there were several miUiona of dollars in the bank
of thia place, to which he replied, * we know it full well ; ' and, on
my remarking that they certainly did not mean to violate private
property, he said, ' they meant to borrow, and would return it ; that
they muat equip themaelvea in New Orleana ; that they expected

* Wilkinson's Memoirs, ii. 3.
52

810 WILKINSON'S AFFIDAVIT AGAINST BURR. 1806.
naval protection from Great Britain ; that the captains and the offi
cers of our navy were so disgusted with the government, that they
were ready to join ; that similar disgusts prevailed throughout the
western country, where the people were zealous in favor of the en
terprise ; and that pilot-boat built schooners were contracted for
along our southern coast for their service ; that he had been accom
panied from the falls of Ohio to Kaskaskias, and from thence to
Fort Adams, by a Mr. Ogden, who had proceeded on to New Or
leans, with letters from Colonel Burr, to his friends there.'
" Swartwout asked me whether I had heard from Dr. Bollman ;
and, on my answering in the negative, he expressed great surprise,
and observed, ' that the doctor and a Mr. Alexander had left Phila
delphia before him, with dispatches for me ; and that they were to
proceed by sea to New Orleans, where he said they must have
arrived.' "Though determined to deceive him, if possible, I could not re
frain telling Mr. Swartwout, it was impossible that I could ever
dishonor my commission ; and I believe I duped him by my admi
ration of the plan, and by observing, that although I could notjoin
in the expedition, the engagements which the Spaniards had pre
pared for me in my front, might prevent my opposing it. Yet I
did, the moment I had deciphered the letter, put it into the hands
of Colonel Gushing, my adjutant and inspector, making the de
claration that I should opposethelawlessenterprise with my utmost
force. "Mr. Swartwout informed me that he was under engagements to
meet Colonel Burr at NashvUle, on the 20th of November, and re
quested of me to write to him, which I decUned ; and on his leaving
Natchitoches, about the 18th of October, I immediately employed
Lieutenant T. A. Smith to convey the information in substance to
the president, without the commitment of names; for from the
extraordinary nature of the project, and the more extraordinary ap
peal to me, I could but doubt its reality, notwithstanding the testi
mony before me ; and I did not attach solid beUef to Mr. Swartwout's
reports respecting their intentions on this territory and city, until I
•received confirmatory advice from St. Louis."*
After leaving Pittsburgh, Burr went probably direct to Blanner-
hassett's Island, where he had stopped the previous summer, whUe
passino- down the Ohio, and which he thenceforth made his head-

*Wilkinson's Memoirs.

1806. DAVIESS IMPLICATES BURR. 811
quarters. Thia he was probably led to do by the fact that Blan-
nerhasset, in December, 1805, had written him, that he should like
to take part in any western speculations, or in attacking Mexico,
ahould a Spaniah war actually occur.
Thia offer, together with the supposed wealth of Blannerhassett,
and the admirable position of his island for Burr's purposes,
made that place the very one most desirable for him to select as his
centre of operations. From this point the chief made excursions
into Ohio and Kentucky, obtaining money, men, boats and provi
sions. Among those from whom he received the most aid was Davis
Floyd, of Jeffersonville, a member of the Indiana Territorial Aa
aembly. Thia gentleman, Blannerhassett, Comfort Tyler, and Israel
Smith, were Burr's chiefs of division, and led the few followers
that at laat went down the river in his company.
Meantime, the rumor was prevalent "in every man's mouth,"
that the aettlement of the Washita lands,* for which the men were
nominally enlisted, was a mere pretense, and that an attack on
Mexico, if not something worse, was in contemplation. That
something was looked for beyond a conquest of the Spanish pro
vinces, seemed probable from the views expressed in a aeriea of
easays called the "Querist;" these were published in September,
in the Ohio Gazette, (Marietta,) were written by Blannerhassett,
immediately after Burr's visit to his island, and strongly intimated
that wisdom called on the western people to leave the Union.
At this time Colonel Joseph Daviess was attorney for the United
States in Kentucky, and he, together with others, felt that the
general government ought to be informed of what was doing, and
of what was rumored. Mr. Jefferson, accordingly, in the latter part
of September, received intimations of what waa going forward, but
aa nothing definite could be charged, there waa no point of attack,
and the Executive and hia frienda could do nothing further than
watch and wait. At length, late in October, notice of the building
of boata and collection of provisions having reached him, the presi
dent sent a confidential agent into the West, and also gave orders
to the governora and commandera to be upon their guard.
Davieas, meantime, had gathered a maaa of teatimony implicating
Burr, which led him to take the atep of bringing the aubject, in
November, before the United States Diatrict Court, making oath.

*See Colonel Lyon, in Wilkinson, ii. Appendix, Ixviii.— DaTis, ii. 392.

812 DAVIESS MAKES OATH AGAINST BURR. 1806.
"that he was informed, and did verily believe, that Aaron Burr for
several months past had been, and now ia engaged, in preparing
and Betting on foot, and in providing and preparing the means for
a military expedition and enterprise within this district, for the pur
poae of descending the Ohio andMississippi therewith, and making
war upon the eubjects of the king of Spain."
After having read this affidavit, the attorney added, " I have in
formation on which I can rely, that all the western territories are
the next object of the scheme, and finally, all the region of the
Ohio is calculated as falling into the vortex of the newly proposed
revolution." Upon this affidavit, Daviess asked for Burr's arrest, but the mo
tion waa overruled. The accuaed, however, who saw at once th®
moat politic course, came into court, and demanded an investiga
tion, which could not be had, however, in consequence of the im
possibility of obtaining Davis Floyd as a witness.
Thus far the public generally sympathized with Burr, whoae
manners secured all suffrages, and who, on the Iat of December,
was able to write to Henry Clay, his attorney, in theae terms : " I
have no design, nor have I taken any measure to promote a disso'-
lution of the Union, or a separation of any one or more States from
the residue. I have neither published a line on this subject, nor
has any one, through my agency, or with my knowledge.
"I have no design to intermeddle with the government, or to dis
turb the tranquiUity of the United States, nor of its territories, or of
any part of them. I have neither issued, nor signed, nor promised, a
commission to any peraon, for any purpoae. I do not own a musket
nor bayonet, nor any single article of military stores, nor does any
person for me, by my authority, or my knowledge.
" My views have been explained to, and approved by, aeveral
of the principal officers of government, and, I believe, are weU
understood by the administration, and aeen by it with complsh
cency; they are such as every man of honor and every good citizm
must approve.
"Considering the high atation you now fill in our national coun-
cila, I have thought these explanations proper, aa well to counteract
the chimerical talea, which malevolent persons have industriously
circulated, as to satisfy you that you have not eapoused the cause
of a man in any way unfriendly to the laws, the government, or the
intereata of the country."*

* Butler's Kentucky.

1806. WASHINGTON COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA, INCORPORATED. 813
The agent from government, who waa all along actively engao-ed
in procuring evidence relative to Burr'a plana, finding abundant
proof of hia Mexican project, and learmng alao that he thought the
Weat ought to separate from the Eaat, determined, in Decem
ber, to take meaaures to arrest hia boata and provisions. This he
effected by an application to the Legialature of Ohio, through Gov
ernor Tiffin.
The legialature authorized the governor to take the neceaaary
steps, and before the 14th of December, ten boats, with stores, were
arrested on the Muakingum, and soon after, four more were seized
by the troops at Marietta. Blannerhaaaett, Tyler, and thirty or
forty men, on the night of December 10th, left the island, and pro
ceeded down the river, barely escaping an arrest by General Tup
per, on behalf of the State of Ohio. On the 16th, thia party united
with that of Floyd, at the Falls, and on the 26th, the whole, to
gether, met Burr at the mouth of the Cumberland. On the 29th,
the company passed Fort Massac.
But while Daviess and Graham were laboring to put a stop to
Burr's progress, the general government had received information
which enabled the president to act with decision ; this was the mea-
eage of Wilkinaon, bearing an account of Burr'a letter, already
quoted. Thia meesage was aent from Natchitoches upon the 22d
of October, and reached the seat of government, November 25th ;
on the 27th, a proclamation waa iasued, and word sent westward to
arrest all concerned.
About the same time, (November 24th or 25th,) Wilkinson, who
had done, unauthorized, upon the 1st of November, the vety thing
he had been ordered on the 8th to do — namely, to make an accom
modation with the Spanish commander on the Sabine, and fall
back to the Mississippi — reached New Orleans, and prepared to re
sist any attack thereon. At this city he arrested Swartwout and Pe
ter V. Ogden, who were discharged, however, on habeas corpus, and
Dr. Erick Bollman, who had also borne messages from Burr and
Dayton. Washington College, Pennsylvania, was incorporated in the year
1806. It was engrafted upon the Washington Academy, which
had been incorporated as early aa 1787, and endowed with five
thousand acrea of land by the commonwealth. This appropriation,
like many othera of a similar nature, remained for years unproduc
tive. In 1797, the legislature granted three thousand dollara to
the academy, " to complete the buUdings for the inatitution," and

814 BURR SURRENDERS TO GOVERNOR MEAD. 1806.
also provided for the admission of not more than ten indigent stu
dents, gratis, none of them to remain longer than two years.
After the institution became a college, the legislature granted to
it five thousand dollars, payable in annual installments, commenc
ing with 1820. The number of students in 1822 was sixty-nine,
and the institution was then considered as in a flourishing state by
its friends ; but it afterward languished, and for a time its opera
tions were suspended. In the autumn of 1830 it was resuscitated
upon a permanent basis.
The first class graduated in 1808. Whole number of graduates,
upward of seven hundred. First President, Rev. Matthew
Brown, D. D.
The Washington Female Seminary was established about the
year 1836, commencing with forty pupils. In 1842, its catalogue
numbered one hundred and forty-seven. This institution is sup
posed to be one of the most fiourishing and permanent female
schools west of the Alleghenies. '
What Burr may have felt or intended after he met his fugitive
followers at the mouth of Cumberland river, late in December,
1806, it is impossible to say, but it is certain that he went on openly
and boldly, protesting against the acts of Ohio, and avowing his
innocence. If he had relied on Wilkinson, he was as yet unde
ceived with regard to him.
On the 4th of January, 1807, he was at Fort Pickering, Chicka
saw Bluffs, and soon after at Bayou Pierre. From this point, he
wrote to the authorities below, referring to the rumors respecting
him, alleging his innocence, and begging them to avoid the hor
rors of civil war. Word bad just been received from Jefferson,
however, of the supposed conspiracy; the militia were under arms,
and the acting governor of the Mississippi territory, Cowles Mead,
on the 16th of January, sent two aids to meet Colonel Burr ; one
of these was George Poindexter. At this meeting an interview
between the acting governor was arranged, which took place
on the 17th, at which time Burr yielded himself to the civil
authority. He was then taken to Washington, the capital of the territoty,
and legal proceedings commenced. Mr. Poindexter was himself
attorney-general, and as such, advised that Burr had been guilty of
no crime within Mississippi, and wished to have him sent to the
seat of government of the United States ; the presiding judge, how
ever, summoned a grand jury, which, upon the evidence before

1807. burr's trial and purposes. 815
them, presented — not Burr, for treason, — ^but the acting governor,
for calling out the militia ! That evening. Colonel Burr, fearing
an arrest by officers sent by Wilkinson, forfeited his bonds and
disappeared. A proclamation being issued by the governor for his apprehen
sion, he was seized on the Tomtigbee river on his way to Florida,
and was sent at once to Richmond, where he arrived March 26th,
On the 22d of May, Burr's examination began in the Circuit Court
of the United Statea, at Richmond, before Judge Marshall ; two
bills were found against him ; one for treason against the United
States, the other for a misdemeanor in organizing an enterprise
against Mexico, while at peace with the United States ; but on
both th^ese charges the jury found Mm " not guilty," " upon the
principle that the offense, if committed anywhere, was committed
out of the jurisdiction of the court,"
The Chief Juatice, however, upon the latter charge, aubsequently
ordered Ma commitment for trial within the proper jurisdiction.
This commitment, however, being impliedly upon the supposition
that the United States wished, under the circumstances, to prose
cute the accused, and the attorney for the government declining to
do so, no further steps were taken to bring the supposed culprit to
justice, and the details of his doings and plans have never yet been
made known.
Although a mystery still hangs about Burr's plans, in conse
quence of the discontinuance of the auit by the United States, it
has been clearly proved by the trial at Richmond, and other evi
dence, that Burr went into the West in 1805, with the feeling that
his day at the East was over ; in New York he feared even a prose
cution if he remained there.
That his plans, until late in that year, were undefined ; specula
tions of varioua kinda, a residence in Tennessee, an appointment in
the South-West, were under consideration, but nothing was deter
mined :
That he at length settled upon three objects, to one or the other
of which, as circumstances might dictate, he meant to devote his
energies. Theae were —
A aeparation of the West from the East, under himaelf and
Wilkinaon : _^
Should thia be, upon further examination, deemed impossible,
then an invasion of Mexico, by himself and Wilkinson, with or with
out the sanction of the federal government :
In case of disappointment in reference to Mexico, then the foun-

816 burr's purposes unfathomable. 1807.
dation of a new State upon the Washita, over which he might pre
side as founder and patriarch.
That the Washita scheme waa not a mere pretenae, ia evident
from the fact that Burr actually paid toward the purchaae, four or
five thousand doUars; that it was not the only object, and that the
conquest of Mexico, if it could be effected, was among his settied
determinations, his friends all acknowledged, but aaid this con
quest was to take place upon the supposition of a war with Spain,
and in no other case ; that Burr may have thought the government
would wink at his proceedings, is very possible ; and that Wilkin
son either meant to aid him, or pretended he would, in order to
learn his plans, is certain ; but the secrecy of his movements, the
language of his letter to Wilkinson in July, 1806, and Ms whole
character implies that he would, if he could, have invaded Mexico,
whether the United States were at war or peace with Spain,
But it cannot be doubted that, going- beyond a violation of the
laws of the Union, he was disposed to seek a separation of that
Union itself.
During his visit of 1805, he was undoubtedly made fully
acquainted with the old schemes for independence entertained in
Kentucky, and was led to question the real attachment of the west
ern people to the federal government. So long as he thought
there was a probability of disunion, it would naturally be his first
object to place himself at the head of the republic beyond the
mountains, and should he find himself deceived as to the extent
of disaffection in the Great Yalley, all his means could be brought
to bear upon Mexico, His conversations with the Morgans at
Pittsburgh, the views of the " Querist" prepared by Blannerhassett
under Burr's eye, and the declarations of Blannerhassett to Hen
derson and Graham, aeem to leave no room for doubting the fact
that a dissolution of the United Statea had been contemplated by
the ex-Yice-President, although we think there is as little reason
to doubt that it had been abandoned aa hopeleaa, long before his
arrest. With regard to Wilkinson, it is not easy to form a decided
opinion ; the strongest fact in hia favor ia that he informed the gov
ernment of Burr's projects, in the fall of 1805 ; the strongest fact
against him is, that if innocent, he was able to outwit and entrap
so subtile a man as the conspirator. It has been charged against
Wilkinaon, that he altered the letter sent him by Burr, and then
swore that the copy was a true copy : this, however, is fully ex
plained by the deposition of Mr. Duncan, Wilkinaon'a legal adviser

1807. GOVERNOR HULL BUYS EAST MICHIGAN. 817
at New Orleana, by whom indeed the omission was suffered design
edly to remain, in opposition to the general's repeated and atrong
expreaaion of hia wiah that it should be supplied.
Another charge haa been brought against Wilkinson since his
death, that he claimed of Mexico two hundred thousand dollars for
atopping Burr, Thia charge aeema improbable, and it seema
equally improbable that puring the peraecution of the general in
1810, no knowledge of ao atrange an act, and one of ao public a
nature, should have been reached by his enemies. As it was not
brought forward, till 1836, eleven years after his death, no opportu
nity has occurred for explaining or disproving it, but it ought not
to weigh against his memory until further evidence is offered in its
support. On the 27th of January, 1807, Governor HuU, of Michigan Ter
ritory, had been authorized by the federal government to enter into
a treaty with the North-Western Indians, for the lands upon the
eastern side of the Peninsula, and for those west of the Connecti
cut Reserve, as far as the Au Glaize, The directions then given
having been repeated in September, a council was held at Detroit,
and a treaty made November 17th, with the Ottawas, Chippewaa,
Wyandota, and Pottawattamies, by which the country from the
Maumee to Saginaw Bay, on the eastern side of Michigan, waa
tranaferred, with certain reaervations, to the United Statea,
Congress confirmed the old French claims to land in the West,
during this year,
A atockade waa built round the new town of Detroit,
The region of country comprised in the Territories of Indiana
and Upper Louiaiana, for a number of years after their organization,
waa too remote, too much expoaed to Indian depredations, and
too destitute of the comforts of civilized life, to attract many emi
granta, " Lands equally good, and much more secure from danger, were
more convenient. Hence the settlements on the Wabash, on the
Illinois, on the Upper Mississippi, and near the Detroit river, in
creased in numbers slowly. The Indiana atill lingered around
their houses and familiar hunting grounds, as if reluctant to aban
don the scenes of their youth, and the graves of their ancestors,
although they had received the stipulated payment, and had con
sented to retire from them,"*

* Valley of the Mississippi, ii. 523.

^1^ SLAVERY IN INDIANA PROHIBITED. 1807.
"Enterprise had not then pushed its energies so far into the wil
derness as in modern times, and capital fioated along the shores of
the Eastern States, In fact, a great portion of that uncultivated
tract of country, which constitutes the splendid scenery of western
New York, adorned, as it now is, with large cities and villages, and
intersected by rail roads and canals, was a dense forest. The prin
cipal business of the settlements in Michigan was the fur trade ;
and the wilderness around, instead of revealing its treasures to the
aubstantial labor of agriculture, was preserved a waste, for the prop
agation of wild game, and the fur-bearing animals,
"No permanent settlements of any considerable importance had
been made throughout this section of the countty, besides those at
Detroit, MichUimackinack, a small estabUshment at St, Mary's
river. Fox river of Green Bay, Prairie du Chein, and certain trading
posts of eastern companies, some of which are now in ruins,
' Grim-visaged war had smoothed her wrinkled front,' and the
country which had been for so long a period drenched in blood,
now shone out in the mild, but glorious light of peace,"*
During this year was brought to a close the movement in favor
of introducing slavery into Indiana Territory, It began with the
petition of four men in the Kaskaskia region, in 1796,
In 1803, it was again brought before Congress, and reported
against by Mr. Randolph. In 1804, it was a third time brought
up, and the following resolution offered in the House of Represen
tatives :
"Resolved, That the sixth articleof the ordinance of 1787, which
prohibited slavery within the said territory, be suspended, in a
qualified manner, for ten years, so as to permit the introduction of
slaves, born within the United States, from any of the individual
States : Provided, That such individual State does not permit the
importation of slaves from foreign countries. And provided, fur
ther. That the descendants of all such slaves shall, if males, be free
at the age of twenty-five years, and if females, atthe age of twenty-
one years,"
In 1806, the report of the committee offering this resolution was
referred, and the same resolve again offered.
In 1807, the subject once more came up, upon a representation
by the House of Representatives and Legislative Council of the
territory. The National Representatives were again asked by

* History of Michigan, 183.

1808. MOVEMENTS OF TECUMTHE, 819
their committee to approve the step ; but in the Senate a different
view was taken, and it was declared inexpedient to auspend the
ordinance. During the year 1808, Tecumthe and the Prophet continued qui
etly to extend their infiuence, profeasing no other end than a re
formation of the Indians, Before the month of June, they had
removed from Greenville to the banks of the Tippecanoe, a tribu
tary of the Upper Wabaah, where a tract of land had been granted
them by the Pottawattamies and Kickapoos, In July, the Prophet
sent to General Harrison a messenger, begging him not to believe
the tales told by his enemies, and promising a visit. In August,
accordingly, he spent two weeks at Yincennes, and by his words
and promises, led the governor to change very much his previous
opinion, and to think his influence might be beneficial rather than
mischievous. Tecumthe entered upon the great work he had long contempla
ted, in the year 1805 or 1806. He was then about thirty-eight yeara
of age. To unite the aeveral Indian tribes, many of which were
hostile to, and had often been at war with each other, in this great
and important undertaking, prejudices were to be overcome, their
original manners and customs to be re-established, the use of ar
dent spirits to be abandoned, and all intercourse with the whites to
be suspended.
) " The task was herculean in its character, and beset with diffi
culties on every side. Here was a field for the display of the high
est moral and intellectual powers. He had already gained the
reputation of a brave and sagacious warrior, and a cool-headed,
upright, wise, and efficient counselor. He was neither a war
nor a peace chief, and yet he wielded the power and influence of
both. " The time having now arrived for action, and knowing full well,
that to win savage attention, some bold and striking movement
was necessary, he imparted his plan to his brother, the Prophet,
who adroitly, and without a moment's delay, prepared himself for
the part he was appointed to play in this great drama of aavage life,
Tecumthe well knew that exceaaive superstition was everywhere a
prominent trait in the Indian character; and therefore, with the
skill of.another Cromwell, brought superstition to his aid,
" Suddenly, his brother began to dream dreams, and see visions ;
he became afterward an inspired prophet, favored with a divine
commission from the Great Spirit — the power of life and death waa
placed in hia hands. He was appointed agent for preserving the

820 MOVEMENTS OF TECUMTHE, 1808.
property and lands of the Indians, and for restoring them to their
original happy condition. He thereupon commenced hia aacred
work. The public mind was aroused, unbelief gradually gave way;
credulity and wild fanaticism began to spread its circles, widening
and deepening, until the fame of the prophet and the divine char
acter of hia mission had reached the frozen shores of the lakea, and
overran the broad plains which stretched far beyond ' the great
Father of Waters.'
" Pilgrims from remote tribes, sought with fear and trembling
the head-quarters of the prophet and the sage. Proselytes were
multiplied, and his followers increased beyond all former example.
Even Tecumthe became a believer, and seizing upon the golden
opportunity, he mingled with the pilgrims, won them by his ad
dress, and on their return sent a knowledge of his plan of concert
and union to the most distant tribes,
" The bodily and mental labors of Tecumthe next commenced.
His life became one of ceaseless activity. He traveled, be argued,
he commanded. His persuasive voice was one day listened to by
the Wyandots, on the plains of Sandusky ; on the next, his com
mands were issued on the banks of the Wabash.
"He was anon seen paddling his canoe across the Mississippi,
then boldly confronting the governor of Indiana, in the council-
house at Yincennes, Now carrying his banner of union among the
Creeks and Cherokees of the south, and from thence to the cold and
inhospitable regions of the north, neither intoxicated by success,
nor discouraged by failure."
The year 1808, made a change in the Presidency of the United
States, though not in poUtical measures. Mr. Jefferson, who had
administered the affairs of the country with pre-eminent success
through two terms, and who was generally popular throughout tho
West, retired to private life, and Mr. Madison became hia successor,
in March, 1809.
England and France, and indeed most of the European govern
ments, had been in a state of hostility for some yeara. Napoleon
had introduced and carried into effect what haa been caUed the
" Continoital System." Thia was designed to exclude England from
all intercourse with the continent of Europe, All importation of
English manufactures and produce was proMbited, This system
involved the rights of neutral powers, and both England and France
commenced depredations on the commerce of the United States,
In November, 1806, Napoleon issued the famous decree of Berlin,
by which the Britiah Islands were declared to be in a state of

1808. BRITISH ADVISE INDIAN HOSTILITIES. 821
blockade. Immediately, England directed reprisals against the
Berlin decree, and issued her " Orders in Council " in 1807. Every
neutral vessel with its cargo was confiscated which violated these
orders. England also claimed the right to search all neutral ves
sels, in order to execute the orders in council. With thia odious
practice waa connected the "right of aearch" on neutral veasels,
for British seamen, and all were claimed as such, who could not
ahow official papers of their birth, and regular shipment under a
neutral government, Hundreda of naturalized citizena, and even
native born Americans, were thus taken under our fiag and
impressed on board of British shipa of war. These " ordera " were
followed on the part of France, by the decree of Milan, December,
1807, and a more aggravated// one of the Tuilleries, in January,
1808, These decrees denationalized and confiscated every neutral ves
sel which had been searched by an English ship. These difficul
ties with England were greatly increaaed by the wanton attack on
the frigate Chesapeake, in the waters of the United States, This
produced a call upon the militia of the United States,
The Imperial decrees of France, and the aggressions, of Great
Britain, induced Congress, by recommendation of the President,
to lay an embargo prohibiting the exportation of all articles from
the United States, in December, 1807, This measure met with so
much opposition that it was repealed in 1809, and at the same time
all trade and intercourse with France and England waa prohibited
by an act of Congress,*
During the same period, British officers and traders were encour
aging the Indians to contend for their rights, by instilling inta
their minds the notion that they had sovereignty over all the coun
try not ceded by the treaty of Greenville, These lessons were
relished by Tecumthe and his brother, the Prophet, In reference
to the hostilities of 1811, but which had existed in feelings and
plans at an early period, Mr. Lanman says : —
" The basis of these hoatilities was the fact that Elshwatawa, thft
Prophet, who pretended to certain aupernatural powers, had formed
a league with Tecumthe, to stir up the jealouay of the Indians
against the United States. It seems that this waa an act of pre*
concert on the part of these brothers, in order to produce a general
confederacy of Indians against the United States.

* See Ettoyclop^dia AmeIi^IK^ artielo, "GontrneKtal SysteiH."

822 CONTROVERSY BETWEEN HARRISON AND TECUMTHE. 1808.
" Mutual complaints were urged on both sides. It was main
tained by Governor Harrison that the Indians had endeavored to
excite insurrection against the Americans, had depredated upon
their property, and murdered their citizens ; and that they were,
moreover, in league with the British. He ordered them, therefore,
to return to their respective tribes, and to yield up the property
which they had stolen, and also the murderers.
" Tecumthe, in answer, denied the league. He alleged that hia
only design, and that of his brother, was to strengthen the amity
between the different tribes of Indians, and to improve their moral
condition. In answer to Governor Harrison's demand for the mur
derers of the whites who had taken refuge among their tribes, he
denied that they were there ; and secondly, that if they were there,
it was not right to punish them, and that they ought to be forgiven,
as he had forgiven those who had murdered his people in Illinois.
" The Indians, comprised of seceders from the various tribes,
were incited by the conviction that their domain was encroached
upon by the Americans ; that they were themselves superior to the
white men ; and that the Great Spirit had directed them to make
one mighty struggle in throwing off the dominion of the United
States. British influence, which had before exerted its agency in
the previous Indian war, was active on the American side of the
Detroit river, and it must be admitted that it had strong ground of
action. " An ardent correspondence had for some time existed regarding
the conduct of the savages, and powerful efforts were made to dia-
Buade them from advancing in their projecta. In a speech which
waa aent to Tecumthe and hia brother, complaining of injuriea
which had been committed by the Indiana, and demanding redreaa,
Gov. Harriaon, who then reaided at Yincennea, remarks : ' Broth
ers, I am myself of the Long Knife fire ; as soon as they hear my
voice, you will see them pouring forth their swarms of 'hunting-
shirt men,' as numerous as the musquitoes on the shores of the
Wabash. Brothers, take care of their stings.' "
On the 25th of November, Governor Hull met at Brownstown,
the Chippewas, Ottawas, Pottawattamiea, Wyandots, and Shawa
neae, and obtained from them a grant of a atrip of land connecting
the Maumee with the Western Reserve, and another strip connect
ing Lower Sandusky with the countty aouth of the line agreed
upon in 1795. Theae atripa were to be uaed for roada.
The white settlementa in Upper Louiaiana, in the beginning of
1808, had not extended much beyond the boundariea claimed by

1809. HOSTILE MOVEMENTS OF THE SAVAGES. 823
the Spanish authorities in virtue of former treaties with native
tribes. On the 10th of November of that year, a grand council of the
nation of Oaages waa held at Fort Clark, on the right bank of the
Miaaouri river, where a treaty was made in which the Osages relin
quish their claims to all their lands between the Missouri and
Arkansas rivers, as far west as a line drawn from Fort Clark due
south to Arkansas. This treaty threw open the territory to settle
ments to this boundary.
Throughout the year 1809, Tecumthe and hia brother were
strengthening themselves, both openly and secretiy. Governor
Harrison, however, had been once more led to suspect their ulti
mate designs, and was preparing to meet an emergency, whenever
it .might arise. The probability of its being at hand was very
greatly increased by the news received from the Upper Mississippi,
of hostile movements there among the savages. In reference to
these movements, and the position of the Shawanese brothers. Gov
ernor Harrison wrote to the Secretary of War, on the 5th of July,
as follows :
" The Shawanese prophet and about forty followers arrived here
about a week ago. He denies most strenuously any participation
in the late combination to attack our settlements, which he saya
was entirely confined to the tribes of the Mississippi and Illinois
rivers ; and he claims the merits of having prevailed upon them to
relinquish their intentions.
" I must confess that my suspicions of his guilt have been rather
strengthened than diminished at every interview I have had with
him since his arrival. He acknowledged that he received an invi
tation to war against us, from the British, last fall, and that he was
apprised of the intention of the Sacs, Foxes, &c., early in the spring,
and warmly solicited to join in their league. But he could give no
satisfactory explanation of his neglecting to communicate to me,
circumstancea ao extremely intereating to ua, and toward which I
had a few montha before directed his attention, and received a
solemn assurance of his cheerful compliance with the injunctions I
had impressed upon him.
"The result of all my inquiries on the subject ia, that the late
combination waa produced by British intrigue and influence, in
anticipation of war between them and the United States. It waa,
however, premature and ill-judged, and the event aufficiently mani
fests a great decline in their influence, or in the talents and ad-

^24 ILLINOIS TERRITORY FORMED. 1809.
dress, with which they have been accustomed to manage their
Indian relatione,
" The wariike and weU armed tribes of the Pottawattamiea, Ot
tawaa, Chippewaa, Delawares, and Miamies, I believe neither had,
nor would have joined in the combination; and although the Kick
apooa, whoae warriora are better than thoae of any other tribe, the
remnant of the Wyandot excepted, are much' under the influence
of the prophet, I am persuaded that they were never made ac
quainted with their intentions, if these were really hostile to the
United States,"
In this same letter the governor, at the request of the secretaty,
Dr, Eustis, gives his viewa of the defense of the frontiera, in which
portion of his epiatle many valuable hinta are given in relation to
the courae proper to be pursued in case of a war with England,
In September, October, and December, the governor of Indiana
succeeded in extinguishing the claims of the Delawarea, Pottawat
tamies, Miamies, Eel river Indians, Weas, and Kickapooa, to cer
tain landa upon the Wabaah, which had not yet been purchased,
and which were believed to contain copper ore.
The treatiea with the Delawarea, Pottawattamies, Miamies,
and Eel river Indiana, were made at Fort Wayne ; the othera at
Yincennea ; they were protested against by Tecumthe in the fol
lowing year.
On the 17th of February the Legislature of Ohio passed the
charter of the Miami University, With regard to thia inatitution,
a queation at once aroae, whether it should be within Symmea' Pur
chaae, as it had been origin ally intended it should be, and as the char
ter required ; or placed upon the landa with which it waa endowed ;
which landa it had been found neceasary to aelect out of the Pur
chase, aa haa been already related. The legialature decided that
the Univeraity should be upon the landa which had been appropri
ated to ita aupport in the townahip of Oxford, and there, accord
ingly, it was placed.
One of the eventa of 1809, which claims special notice, waa the
organization of the territory of Blinoia,
The people of Illinois, as has happened to others more recently,
at several periods were left without a regularly constituted govern
ment. Originally it was a portion of ancient Louisiana, under the
French monarchy. By the treaty of France with Great Britain, in
1763, all Canada, including the IlUnois country, was ceded to the
latter power.

1809. ILLINOIS TERRITORY FORMED. 825
But British authority and laws did not reach Illinois until 1765,
when Captain Sterling, in the name and by the authority of the
British crown, established the provisional government at Fort
Chartres. In 1766, the " Quebec Bill," as it was called, passed the British
Parliament, which placed Illinois, and the North-Western Territory
under the local administration of Canada.
The conquest of the country by General Clark, in 1778, brought
it under the jurisdiction of Yirginia, and in the month of October,
the Legislature of that State organized the county of Illinois.
The cession of the country to the Continental Congress was
made in 1784, and the ordinance to organize the North-Western
Territory, which provided for a territorial government, was not
passed until 1787, and the governor and judges who exercised, in
one body, legislative and judicial authority, did not go into opera
tion until July, 1788. Still the Illinois country remained without
any organized government till March, 1790, when Governor St.
Clair organized the county that bears his name. Hence, for more
than six years at one period, and for a shorter time at other peri
ods, there was no executive, legislative, and judicial authority in
the country. The people were a "law unto themselves," and good
feelings, harmony, and fldelity to engagements predominated.
From 1800 they had been a part of the territory of Indiana, In
all the territories at that period, there were two grades of territorial
government. The first was that of governor and judges. These
constituted the law-making power. Such was the organization of
Illinois in 1809, The next grade was a territorial legislature ; the
people electing the house of representatives, and the president and
aenate appointing the council.
By an act of Congress, of February 3d, 1809, all that part of In
diana Territory which lies west of the Wabash river, and a direct
line drawn from that river and Post Yincennea, due north, to the
territorial line between the United States and Canada, was consti
tuted into a separate territoiy, by the name of Hlinois ; and the first
grade of territorial government was established.
For eight years Illinois had formed a part of Indiana, and the
principal statutea of that territory were re-enacted by the governor
aud judges, and became the basia of statute law in Illinois, much
of which, without change of phraseology, remains in the revised
code of that State, as the same laws, in substance, originated in the
legialation of the governor and judgea of the North-Western Terri
tory, and were enacted by the governor and judges of Indiana, in
53

826 OLDEN STATUTES OP INDIANA. 1808.
the territory of Louisiana, during the period of their temporary ju
risdiction west of the Mississippi,
The following specimen of their early jurisprudence may not be
without interest to the reader,
A competent number of peraona for each county were nominated
and commissioned by the governor with power to take all manner of
recognizances and obligations as any justices of the peace in the Uni
ted States — all to be Certified to the court of common pleas at the
next session — except those for a felony, which belonged to the
court of oyer and terminer. One or more justices of the peace,
may hear and determine, by due course of law, any petty crimes
and misdemeanors, where the punishment shall be fine only, not
exceeding three dollars. Justices were required to commit the
offender when a crime was perpetrated in their sight, without fur
ther teatimony, AU warranta to be under the hand and eeal of the
justice. Justices to have power to punish by fine, as provided in
the statute, all assaults and batteries' not of an aggravated nature;
and cause to be arrested all affrayers, rioters and disturbers of the
peace, and bind them over by recognizance, to appear at the next
general court, or court of common pleas, to be held within the
county, and to require such persona to give aecurity, Juatices of
the peace to examine into all homicidea, murdera, treaaona and
feloniea, done in their reapective countiea, and to commit to prison
all persona suapected to be guilty of manslaughter, murder,
treason, or other capital offense, and hold to bail all persons sua
pected to be guilty of lesser offenses ; and require auretiea for the
good behavior of idle, vagrant, disorderly characters ; swindlers
and gamblers, as well as every description of disorderly and
vagrant peraona.
Courts. — Courts of common pleas were organized in each county,
Of three judges, any two of whom were a quorum. They were
appointed and commissioned by the governor for and duriUg good
behavior. Said courts to hear and determine, according to the
common law, aU crimes and misdemeanors, the puniahment where
of did not extend to life, limb, imprisonment for one year, or forfeit
ure of goods and chattels, landa and tenements. Thia court held
pleaa of assize, sdre facias, replevins, and waa empowered to hear
and determine all manner of pleaa, suits, actions and crimes, real,
peraonal, and mixed, according to law. For the more speedy
adminiatration of justice, the court held six aeeaions annually.
If the court waa not opened on the day appointed, the aheriff
could adjourn from day to day for two days, and then untU the
next term.

1808. OLDEN STATUTES OF INDIANA. 827
Compensation of the judges of this court was two dollars and
fifty cents per day, paid from the county levy.
This court had power to take all recognizances and obligations, and
all casea not within their jurisdiction, to be certified to the next court
of oyer and terminer. All fines to be duly and truly assessed accor
ding to the quality of the offense, without affection or partiality.
Criminals who had absconded from the counties to be brought
back by warrant. Any person aggrieved may appeal to the gen
eral court. All writs issued to be in the name of the United
States, Judgea had power to grant under seal, replevins, writs of
partition, writs of view, and all other writs and process, under said
pleas and actions cognizable in said court, as occasion may require.
The court could issue subpoenas, under seal, and signed by any
clerk, into any county in the territory, summoning any witness.
The clerk of said court was appointed by the governor during good
behavior. The Supreme — styled General Court — was held twice a year, at Yin
cennes, on the first Tueadaya in April and September — had authority
to iaaue write of habeas corpu,s, certiorari, and writs of error. The
members of the court were constituted circuit judges, and required
to hold a circuit court once in each year in the counties of Dear
born, Clark, Randolph and St. Clair. This court was empowered
to hear and determine all cases, matters and things, cognizable in
said court ; to examine and correct errors of inferior courts, and
punish; to punish the "contempts, omissions, neglects, favors,
corruptions and defaults of all justices of the peace, sheriffs, coro
ners, clerks, and all other officera; award process to collect all
fines, forfeitures and amercements ; " to hold courts of oyer and
terminer, and general jail delivery. The governor was empowered
to call a special term for capital offenses.
By the requisition of the Secretary of War, under the act of
Congress of 1808, for arming and equipping one hundred thousand
militia in the United States, Governor Lewis of the territory of
Louisiana, made proclamation for raising and equipping three
hundred and seventy-seven militia of the territory, which were
duly apportioned in the counties of St, Charles, St, Louia, Ste,
Genevieve, Cape Girardeau, New Madrid, and Arkansas,
On the 28th of June, 1809, Nicholas Jarrot, of Cahokia, who
had just returned from Prairie du Chein, made affidavit, that the
British agenta and tradera at that place, and on the frontiera of
Canada, were stirring up the Indians, furnishing them with guns
and ammunition, and preparing them for hoatile demonetrations.

828 RESOLUTIONS OF OHIO LEGISLATURE. 1810.
In November, a communication came from Messrs. Portier and
Bleakly, of Prairie du Chein, denying the statements of M. Jarrot.
They were persons implicated. About the same period, hostile
demonstrations were made on the part of the Sac and Fox nations,
against Fort Madison, During the same month, hostilities com
menced between the Osages and lowas; the latter having killed
some of the former, not far from where Liberty is now situated,
north of the Missouri river.
About this time, for some three or four years, great excitement
1810.] was caused in Ohio, by what was known under the name of
the " Sweeping Resolutions." The legislature of Ohio had passed
an act, giving justices of the peace jurisdiction, without the aid of a
juty, in the first instance in the collection of debts, in all cases
where the demand did not exceed fifty dollara. Inasmuch as by
the constitution of the United States, all matters of claim, where
the amount exceeds twenty dollars, are referred to a jury; and,
inasmuch too, as anything in the laws or constitution of a State,
contrary to the provisions of the national constitution, is utterly
Void, and of no effect, the judges of all the courts declared this act
of the legislature void, and of no effect. This boldness of the
judges aroused the anger of the legislators, and in order to punish
the bold expounders of the law, the latter were impeached in the
Senate, and removed from office. Three judges were in this way
successively removed, in the years preceding 1809-10 for this
cause. In the faU of 1809, however, the people did not elect
"sweepers" (as the impeaching legislators were caUed,) enough to
the Senate, to enable the House to carry an impeachment through
the same, and a new plan was therefore devised for asserting the
supremacy of the legislature. The doctrine was started, that in a
short time it would be seven years since the constitution of Ohio
went into operation, and certainly all civil officers ought to go out
of office every seven years, and so have the field entirely cleared
off for new aspirants to office; and accordingly, on the 7th of Janu
aty, 1810, the great so caUed "Sweeping Resolution " was passed,
which, with its preamble, reads as follows :
"Whereas, it is provided by the eighth section of the third
article of the constitution of this State, that the judgea of the
supreme court, the presidents and associate judges of the court of
common pleas, shall be appointed by joint baUot of both houses of
the general assembly, and shall hold their offices for seven years,
if SO long they behave well; and whereas, the first general assem
bly of thia State did appoint judgea of the aupreme courts presi-

1810, RESOLUTIONS OF OHIO LEGISLATURE, 829
dents and associate judges of the court of common pleas, many
of whoae offices have become vacant at difterent times, and elec
tions have been had to fill vacancies; and whereas, the original
term of office is about to expire, and it becomes necessary for the
general assembly to provide for that event:
"Therefore, Besolved, by the general assembly of the State of
Ohio, that the constitution of the State having limited and defined
the term of office which the judges of the supreme court, the
presidents and judges of the court of common pleas, the secretaty
of State, the auditor and treasurer of the State shall hold, and
alao the mode of filling vacanciea by the legialature, it cannot, of
right, be construed to extend beyond the end of the original term
for which the first officers were appointed," *
Thia resolution, when passed, was sent to the Senate, and passed
there on the 18th of January, 1810, and thus every civil officer in
the State was at once swept out of office, and in the following
month the legislature proceeded to fill some of the vacancies so
made, and to order elections by the people of those officers who
were so elected. Many of the counties had not been organized
longer than three or four years, and many judges had not held
office for two years, although the constitution makes the term
seven years. By this means the whole State was thrown into con
fusion for a time ; many of the old officers refused to give way to
the new ones, and it was some time before the utter unconstitu-
tionaUty of the proceedings of the legislature was seen and ac
knowledged all around, and peace and order again restored.
The hostile intentions of Tecumthe and hia followers toward the
United Statea, were placed beyond a doubt in 1810, The exciting
cauaes were — the purchase at Fort Wayne in 1809, which the
Shawaneae denounced as illegal and unjust, and British influence.
And here, aa in 1790 to 1795, it is almoat impbsaible to learn what
really waa the amount of British influence, and whence it pro
ceeded ; whether from the agents merely, or from higher authority.
On the one hand there are many assertions like the following : —
Yincennes, 26th June, 1810,t
Winemac assured me that the Prophet, not long since, proposed
to the young men to murder the principal chiefs of all the tribes.

* Atwater's History of Ohio. f Harrison Dispatches.

°^^ INDIAN HOSTILITIES THREATENED, 1810.
observing, that their handa would never be untied until thia was
effected; that these were the men who had sold their lands, and
who would prevent them from opposing the encroachments of the
white people.
An Iowa Indian informa me, that two yeara ago thia summer, an
agent from the British arrived at the Prophet's town, and, in his
presence!, delivered the message with which he was charged, the
substance of which was, to urge the Prophet to unite aa many
tribea aa he could againat the United Statea, but not to commence
hoatlities until they gave the signal, Yincennes, July 18, 1810,
From the lowas, I learn that the Sacs and Foxea have actually
received the tomahawk, and are ready to atrike whenever the
Prophet givea the eignal, A conaiderable number of the Sacs went,
aome time since, to see the British superintendent; and on the firat
inatant, fifty more passed Chicago for the same destination, A
Miami chief, who haa juat returned from hie annual. visit to Mai
den, after having received the accustomed donation of goods, was
thus addresaed by the British agent: "My son, keep your eyes
fixed on me ; my tomahawk is now up ; be you ready, but do not
atrike until I give the eignal," Yincennes, July 25th, 1810,
There can be no doubt of the designs of the Prophet and the
Britieh agent of Indian affaira, to do us injuty. TMs agent ia a
refugee from the neighborhood of  , and his implacable hatred
to his native country, prompted him to take part with the Indians,
in the battle between them and General Wayne'a army. He has,
ever aince hia appointment to the principal agency, uaed hia utmost
endeavors to excite hostilities ; and the lavish manner in which he
is allowed to scatter presents among them, showa that hia govern
ment participatea in hia enmity and authorizea his measures.
Fort Wayne, August 7, 1810,
Since writing you on the 25th ultimo, about one hundred men
of the Saukies have returned from the British agent, who supplied
them liberally with everything they stood in want of. The party
received forty-seven rifles, and a number of fusils, with plenty of
powder and lead. This is sending fire-brands into the Mississippi
country, inasmuch as it will draw numbers of our Indians to the
Britieh side, in the hope of being treated with the same liberality,
John Johnston, Indian Agent.

1810. TECUMTHE AND HARRISON IN COUNCIL. 831
On the other hand, it is weU known that Sir James Craig, the
governor of Canada, wrote on the 25th of November, 1810, to Mr.
Morier, the British Minister at Washington, authorizing him to
inform the United States government that the northern savages
were meditating hoatilities ; it is likewise known that in the follow
ing March, Sir Jamea wrote to Lord Liverpool in relation to the
Indiana, and spoke of the information he had given the Americans,
and that his conduct waa approved, besides the repeated denial by
the English minister at Washington, of any influence having been
exerted over the frontier tribes adverse to the States, by the
authority or with the knowledge of the English ministry, or the
governor of Canada. These, disconnected with other circumatan
cea, should acquit the rulers of Great Britain ; but they do not
show who, nor how high in authority the functionariee were who
fried, ae Tecumthe told Harrison, to eet the red men, aa doge, upon
the whites.
But, however the evil influence originated, certain it is that the
determination was taken by "the successor of Pontiac," to unite
aU the western tribea in hoatility to the United States, in caae that
power would not give up the lands bought at Fort Wayne, and under
take to recognize the principle, that no purchases should be there
after made unless from a council representing ail the tribes united as one
nation. , By various acts, the feelings of Tecumthe became more
and more evident; but in Auguat, he having viaited Yincennea to
eee the governor, a council was held at which, and at a aubsequent
interview, the real poaition of affaira was clearly ascertained. Of
that council, the account contained in Drake's life of the great
chieftain ie given :
" Governor Harrison had made arrangements for holding the
council on the portico of his own house, which had been fitted up
with eeate for the occaeion. Here, on the morning of the fifteenth,
he awaited the arrival of the chief, being attended by the judges of
the Supreme Court, some officera of the army, a sergeant and
twelve men, from Fort Knox, and a large number of citizens.
" At the appointed hour, Tecumthe, aupported by forty of hia
principal warriors, made hia appearance, the remainder of his fol-
iowera being encamped in the village and its environs. When the
chief had approached within thirty or forty yards of the house, he
suddenly stopped, as if awaiting some advances from the governor.
" An interpreter was sent requesting him and his followers to
take seats on the portico. To this Tecumthe objected— he did not
think the place a suitable one for holding the conference, but pre-

^^2 TECUMTHE AND HARRISON IN COUNCIL. 1810.
ferred that it should take place in a grove of trees— to which he
pointed— -standing a short distance from the house. The governor
aaid he had no objection to the grove, except that there were no
eeate in it for accommodation.
" Tecumthe replied, that conatituted no objection to the grove,
the earth being the most suitable place for the Indians, who lovisd
to repose upon the bosom of their mother. The governor yielded
the point, and the benches and chairs having been removed to the
apot, the conference was begun, the Indians being seated' on the
grass. "Tecumthe opened the meeting by stating, at length, his objec-'
tions to the treaty of Fort Wayne, made by Governor Harrison in
the previous year; and in the course of his speech, boldly avowed
the principle of his party to be, that of resistance to evety cession
of land, unless made by all the tribes, who, he contended, fomied
but one nation. He admitted that he had threatened to kill the
chiefs who signed the treaty of "Fort Wayne, and that it was his
fixed determination not to permit the village chiefs, in future, to
manage their affairs, but to place the power with which they had
been heretofore invested, in the hands of the war chiefs.
" The Americans, he said, had driven the Indians from the sea
coast, and would soon push them into the lakes ; and, while he dis
claimed all intention of making war upon the United States, he
declared it to be his unalterable resolution to take a stand, and
resolutely oppose the further intrusion of the whites upon the
Indian lands. He concluded by making a brief but impassioned
recital of the various wrongs and aggreaaiona inflicted by the white
men upon the Indians, from the commencement of the Revolu
tionary war down to the*period of that council, all of which was
calculated to arouse and inflame the minds of such of hia followers
aa were present.
" To him the Governor replied, and having taken hia seat, the
interpreter commenced explaining the speech to Tecumthe, who,
after listening to a portion of it, sprung to his feet and began to
speak with great vehemence of manner,
" The governor was surprised at his violent gestures, but as he
did not understand him, thought he was making some explanation,
and suffered his attention to be drawn toward Winnemac, a
friendly Indian lying on the grass before him, who was renewing
the priming of his pistol, which he had kept concealed from the
other Indiana, but in full view of the governor,
" Hie attention, however, was again directed toward Tecumthe,

1810, TECUMTHE AND HARRISON IN COUNCIL. 833
by hearing General Gibson, who was intimately acquainted with
the Shawanee language, say to Lieutenant Jennings, ' those fellows
intend mischief; you had better bring up the guard,'
"At that moment, the followers of Tecumthe seized their toma
hawks and war clubs, and sprung upon their feet, their eyes turned
upon the governor. As soon as he could disengage himself from
the arm chair in which he sat, he rose, drew a small sword which
he had by his side, and stood on the defensive,
" Captain G, R, Floyd, of the army, who stood near him, drew
a dirk, and the chief Winnemac cocked hie pistol. The citizena
present were more numerous than the Indiana, but were unarmed ;
some of them procured cluba and brick-bats, and alao stood on the
defensive. The Rev, Mr, Winans, a minister of the Methodist
church, ran to the governor's house, got a gun, and posted himself
at the door to defend the family,
"During this singular scene, no one spoke, until the guard came
running up, and appearing to be" in the act of firing, the governor
ordered them not to do so. He then demanded of the interpreter
an explanation of what had happened, who replied that Tecumthe
had interrupted Mm, declaring that all the governor had said waa
fklse, and that he and the Seventeen Fires had cheated and
imposed on the Indians,
"The Governor then told Tecumthe that he was a bad man, and
that he would hold no further communication with him ; that as
he had come to Yincennes under the protection of a council-fire,
he might return in safety, but that he must immediately leave the
village, "Here it was supposed the council would terminate. But early
on the succeeding morning, the Shawanese chief appeared at the
governor's residence, and desired another interview; and after
making an apology for his conduct the day before, his request waa
complied with,
" Lest he should have a body of his followers accreted in the
neighborhood, ready to join those who were with Mm, two com
panies of militia were mustered from the village and neighborhood,
and ordered to parade morning and evening ready for action, '
" The governor and several of his friends also attended the coun-
d.1, well armed, Tecumthe's conduct was upon this occasion,
however, veiy different from what it had been at any previous
meeting, and though firm and intrepid, he said nothing that was
insolent, " After finishing his speech, a Wyandot, a Kickapoo, a Pottawat-

884 SHAWANESE CONFEDERACY STRENGTHENS, 1810.
tamie, an Ottawa, and a Winnebago, severally spoke ; each declar
ing his tribe had entered into the Shawanese confederacy, and
would support the principles laid down by Tecumthe, whom they
had appointed their leader.
" The now undoubted purposes of the Northern Indians being of a
character necessarily leading to war. Governor Harrison proceeded to
strengthen himself for the contest, by preparing the militia, and
posting the regular troops that were with him, under Captains Po
sey and Cross, at Yincennes.
" In a few days the Indians departed, and little more was heard
from Tecumthe, the warrior, until next year. Meanwhile, hia
brother remained at Prophet'a town, professing friendahip for the
frontier inhabitanta ; and, at one time previous to the warrior's last
viait at Yincennea, he sent a message to Governor Harrison, asking
that implements for building houses, as likewise farming utensils,
be remitted from government, for the benefit of himself and
others at their village."
With the close of the year 1810, western history is brought down
to the very eve of the war with Great Britain, which, though an
event that had " cast its shadow before," cannot be aaid to have its
commencement until 1811, and it waa therefore thought well to end
the present period at this time.
The next period commences with the year 1811, and, after em
bracing the incidents of the war, and the intermediate events, it is
extended to 1820, which may be said to bear the date of the com
mencement of State sovereignty west of the Mississippi, that being
the year in which Missouri, the first State of the "Far West," waa
admitted into the Union.

PERIOD VII.
- 1811—1820.
During the firat half of thia year, while the difficulties with Eng
land made a war with her evety day more probable, nothing took
place to render a contest with the Indians any the leaa certain. In
June, Harrison aent to the Shawaneae leadera a meeeage, bidding
them beware of hoetilitiea. To thia Tecumthe gave a brief reply,
promising the governor a viait.
It will be aeen by the following, that his brother, the Prophet,
made his first hostile demonstration soon afterward :
"June, 1811. The boat which waa sent up the Wabash some
time past, with the United Statea annuity of aalt, for the Delaware,
Miami, and Pottawattamie tribea of Indiana, and a few barrels as
a present to the Prophet, has returned without having accomplished
the main object of its mission. Having proceeded as high up aa the
Prophet'a town, they halted in order to leave that part deetined for
him. He at firet refueed to accept of it, but detained the boat un
til he would have a council of his chiefs ; and after-detaining them
two days, he seized the whole cargo. So the Indians will not
only suffer for want of salt, but may blame the "government for
Mthlessness, in failing to deliver the article at the ueual period.
" On being demanded the cause of his treachery and rash con
duct, the Prophet gave no answer, or any explanation, but said hia
brother Tecumthe would visit the governor at Yincennes soon, and
settle the affair with him."*
Again, July 27th —
" For some days past very considerable alarm has existed in this
place and vicinity, occasioned by the approach of the Shawaneae
chief, Tecumthe, the brother of the Prophet, accompanied by a
great number of warriore. On the 28th he entered the town. His
march here wae performed leiaurely, having been seven days occu
pied in traveling the laat aeventy miles,"
Although the ostensible object of this "visit waa Tecumthe's going
to the council, yet it waa believed by many, that hia real object

* Western Sun of June 11, 1811.

836

HARRISON PREPARES FOR INDIAN WAR. 1811,

was to intimidate the whites, by a show of his force, a belief that
seems to gain strength from the unusual tardiness of his march.
This last council was still less satisfactory to the governor and
citizens than the former one of August, 1810, because Tecumthe,
on this occaeion, acknowledged that he had already united the
northern Indians, and furthermore, avowed his intention of pro
ceeding south, on the errand of bringing the savages of that region
into a league of offensive warfare, to reclaim their country.
Henceforth, nothing short of a speedy Indian war was anticipa
ted, and on the 3l8t of July, during the session of the council, the
citizens of Yincennes and its vicinity met in convention, and me
morialized President Madison on the subject, though not so much
for protection from a military force, as for permission to fight the
Indians their own way.
The following letters furnish additional evidences of the state
of affairs at that time, as being indicative of the impending war:
Fort Wayne, February 8, 1811.
¦ has been at this place. The information derived from

him ia the same I have been in possession of for several years, to
wit : the intrigues of the British agents and partizans, in creating
an influence hostile to our people and government, within our ter
ritory. I do not know whether a garrison is to be erected on the
Wabash or not, but every consideration of sound policy urges
the early establishment of a post, somewhere contiguous to the
Prophet's residence,* Yincennes, 6th Auguat, 1811,
The Shawanee chief, Tecumthe, has made a visit to this place,
with about three hundred Indians, though he promised to bring
but a few attendants; his intentions are hostile, though he found ua
prepared for him,
Tecumthe did not set out till yesterday; he then descended the
Wabash, attended by twenty men, on his way to the southward.
After having visited the Creeks and Choctaws, he is to visit the
Osages, and return by the Missouri, The spies say, his object in
coming with so many, was to demand a retrocession of the last pur
chase. At the moment he was promising to bring but few men
with him, he was sending in every direction to collect his people.
That he meditated a blow at this time, was believed by almost all
the neutral Indians,t * Correspondence of Colonel Johnston, Indian agent.
f Governor Harrison's correspondence.

1811, CORRESPONDENCE OF HARRISON AND JOHNSTON, 837
Fort Wayne, August 18, 1811,
It appears that the fruit of the Shawanee Prophet, and his band,
is making its appearance in more genuine colors than heretofore.
I have lately had opportunities of seeing many of the Indians of
this agency, from different quarters, and by what I have been able
to learn from them, particularly the Pottawattamies, I am induced
to believe the news circulating in the papers, respecting the depre
dations committed in the Illinois territory, by the Indians, ie
mostly correct, and is thought by them to have proceeded from
Mar Poe, and the influence of the Shawanee Prophet. Several of
the tribes have sent to me for advice, Yincennes, September 17, 1811,
 states that almost every Indian from the country above

this had been, or were then gone to Maiden, on a visit to the
British agent. We shall probably gain our destined point at the
moment of their return. If then the British agents arc really en
deavoring to instigate the Indians to make war upon us, we shall
be in their neighborhood at the very moment when the impres
sions which have been made against us are most active in the
minds of the savages,
 succeeded in getting the chiefs together at Fort Wayne,
though he found them all preparing to go to Maiden, The result
of the council discovered that the whole tribes (including the
Weas and Eel rivers, for they are all Miamies,) were about equally
divided in favor of the Prophet, and the United States, Lapousier
the Wea chief, whom I before mentioned to you as being seduced
by the Prophet, was repeatedly asked by  what land it was
that he was determined to defend with his blood ; whether it was
that which was ceded by the late treaty or not ; but he would give
no answer,
 reports that all the Indians of the Wabash have been, or
now are, on a visit to the British agents at Maiden, He had never
known one-fourth as many goods given to the Indians as they are
now distributing. He examined the share of one man (not a
chief,) and found that he had received an elegant rifle, twenty-five
pounds of powder, fifty pounds of lead, three blanketa, three trouds
of cloth, ten shirta and aeveral other articlea. He says every
Indian is furnished with a gun (either rifle or fusil) and an abund
ance of ammunition, A trader of this country was lately in the
king's stores at Maiden, and waa told that the quantity of gooda

838 BUILDING OF PORT HARRISON* 1810,
for the Indian department, which had been sent out thia year, ex
ceeded that of common years by twenty thousand pounda eterling.
It is impoeeible to ascribe this profusion to any other motive than
that of instigating the Indians to take up the tomahawk. It cannot
be to eecure their trade ; for all the peltry collected on the watera of
the Wabash in one year, if sold in the London market, would not pay
the freight of the goods which have been given to the Indians,
Harrison, meanwhile, had taken steps to increase his regular
troops, and had received the promise of strong reinforcements,
with orders, however, to be very backward in employing them
unless in case of absolute need. Under these circumstances his
plan as given to the Secretary of War upon the 1st of August was
to again warn the Indians to obey the treaty at Greenville, but at
the same time to prepare to break up the Prophet's establishment,
if necessary.
Messages were sent out as proposed, and deputations from' the
natives followed, promising peace and compliance, but the gov
ernor, having received his reinforcements, commenced his propo
sed progress. On the 5th of October he was on the Wabash sixty
or sixty-flve miles above Yincennes, at which point he built " Fort
Harrison," Here one of his sentinels was fired upon, and news
was received from the friendly Delawares which made the hostile
purposes of the Prophet plain. The governor then determined to
move directly upon Tippecanoe, still offering peace, however.
Upon the 31st of October he was near the mouth of the YermiUion
river, where he built a block house for the protection of his boats,
and a place of deposit for hia heavy baggage.
The following account of the aucceeding eventa is given by
General Harriaon himaelf in an official letter to the Secretary of
War: "Yincennes, 18th November, 1811.
" Sir :— In my letter of the 8th inst,, I did myaelf the honor to
communicate the result of an action between the troops under my
command and the confederation of Indiana under the control of
the Shawanee Prophet, I had previoualy informed you in a letter
of the 2d inst,, of my proceedings previoue to my arrival at the
Yermillion river, where I had erected a block houee for the pro
tection of the boats which I was obliged to leave, and as a deposi
tory for our heavy baggage, and such part of our provieione as we
were unable to transport in wagons.
"On the morning of the 3d inst., I commenced my march from

1811, HARRISON MARCHES AGAINST THE INDIANS, ^839
the block house. The Wabash, above this, turning considerably
to the eaetward, I wae obliged to avoid the broken and woody
countty, which borders upon it, to change my course to the west
ward of north, to gain the prairies which lie to the back of those
woods. At the end of one day's march, I was enabled to take the
proper direction, (N, E,) which brought me, on the evening of the
5th, to a small creek, at about eleven miles from the Prophet's
town, I had, on the preceding day, avoided the dangerous pass
of Pine creek, by inclining a few miles to the left, where the
troops and wagons were crossed with expedition and safety. Our
route on the 6th, for about six miles, lay through prairies, separa
ted by small points of woods,
" My order of march hitherto had been similar to that used by
General Wayne ; that is, the infantty were in two columna of files
on either aide of the road, and the mounted rifle men and cavalty
in front, in the rear and on the flanka. Where the ground was
unfavorable for the action of cavalty, they were placed in the rear;
but where it waa otherwiae, they were made to exchange poeitions
with one of the mounted rifle corpa,
"Underatanding that the laat four miles were open wooda, and the
probabiUty being greater that .we ahould be attacked in front, than
on either flank, 1 halted at that diatance from the town, and formed
the army in order of battle. The United States infantry placed in
the centre, two companies of militia infantty, and one of mounted
riflemen, on each flank, formed the front line. In the rear of this
Une was placed the baggage, drawn up as compactly as possible
and immediately behind it, a reserve of three companies of militia
infantry. The cavalry formed a second line, at the distance of
tiiree hundred yards in the rear of the front line, and a company of
mounted riflemen, the advanced guard at that diatance in front.
To faciUtate the march, the whole were then broken off into short
columns of companies— a situation the most favorable for forming
in order of battie with facility and precision.
" Our march was alow and cautioua, and" much delayed by the ex
amination of every place which aeemed calculated for an ambus
cade. Indeed the ground was for some time so unfavorable, that
I waa obliged to change the poaition of the several corps three
times in the distance of a mUe, At half past two o'clock, we
passed a small creek at the diatance of one mile and a half from
town, and entered an open wood, when the army was halted, and
again drawn up in order of battle,
" During the whole of the laat day's march, partiea of Indians

840

BATTLE OP TIPPECANOE, 1811.

were constantly about us, and evety effort wae made by the inter
preters to speak to them, but in vain. New attempts of the kind
were now made, but proving equally ineffectual, a Captain Dubois,
of the spies and guides, offering to go with a flag to the town, I
dispatched him with an interpreter, to request a conference with
the Prophet, In a few moments a messenger was sent by Captain
Dubois, to inform me that in his attempts to advance, the Indians
appeared on both his flanks, and although he had spoken to them
in the most friendly manner, they refused to answer, but be.ckoned
to him to go forward, and constantly endeavored to cut him off
from the army. Upon this information I recalled the captain, and
determined to encamp for the night, and take some other measures
for opening a conference with the Prophet,
"Whilst I was engaged in tracing the lines for the encampment,
Major Daviess, who commanded the dragoons, came to inform me
that he had penetrated the Indian fields ; that the ground was en
tirely open and favorable ; that the Indians in front had manifested
nothing but hostility, and had answered every attempt to bring them
to a parley with contempt and insolence? I was immediately advised
by all the officers around me to move forward ; a similar wish, in
deed, pervaded all the army. It was drawn up in excellent order,
and every man appeared eager to decide the contest immediately.
"Being informed that a good encampment might be had upon
the Wabash, I yielded to what appeared the general wish, and di
rected the troops to advance, taking care, however, to place the
interpreters in front, with directions to invite a conference with any
Indians they might meet with. We had not advanced above four
hundred yards, when I was informed that three Indians had ap
proached the advanced guard, and had expressed a wish to speak
to me. I found, upon their arrival, that one of them was a man in
great estimation with the Prophet. He informed me that the chiefs
were much surprised at my advancing upon them so rapidly; that
they were given to understand, by the Delawares and Miamies,
whom I had sent to them a few days before, that I would not ad
vance to their town, untU I had received an answer to my demands
made through them ; that this anewer had been diepatched by the
Pottawattamie chief, Winnemac, who had accompanied the Dela
wares and Miami ee, on their return ; that they had left the Prophet'a
town two daya before, with a design to meet me, but had unfortu
nately taken the road on the south side of the Wabash.
" I anawered that I had no intention of attacking them, untU I
diacovered that they would not comply with the demanda that I

1811. BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE. 841
had made ; that I would go on, and encamp at the Wabaah ; and in
the morning would have an interview with the Prophet and hia
cHefs, and explain to them the determination of the Preaident ;,
that in the meantime, no hoatilities should be committed. He
seemed much pleaeed with this, and promised that it ehould be
obaerved on their part. I then resumed my march. We struck
the cultivated ground about five hundred yards below the town,
but as these extended to the bank of the Wabash, there wae no
possibility of getting, an encampment which was provided with both
wood and water.
"My guides andinterpreters being still with the advanced guard,
and taking the direction of the town, the army followed, and had
advanced within about one hundred and fifty yards, when fifty or
sixty Indians sallied out, and with loud acclamations called to the
cavaity and to the militia infantry, which were on our right flank,
to halt. I immediately advanced to the front, caused the army to
halt, and directed an interpreter to request some of the chiefs to
come to me.
" In a few moments, the man who had been with me before,
made his appearance. I informed Mm that my object for the pres
ent was to procure a good piece of ground to encamp on, where we
could get wood and water; he informed me that there was a
creek to the north-west, which he thought would suit our purpose.
I immediately dispatched two officers to examine it, and they re
ported the situation was excellent. I the'U took leave of the chief,;
and a mutual promise was again made for a suspension of hostilities
until we could have an interview on the following day.
"I found the ground destined for the encampment not altogether
such as I could wish it — it was indeed admirably calculated for the
encampment of regular troops, that were opposed to regulars, but
it afforded great facility to the approach of savages. It was a piece
of dry oak land, rising about ten feet above the level of a marshy
prairie in front, (toward the Indian town,) and nearly twice that
height above a similar prairie in the rear, through which, and near
to this bank, ran a small stream, clothed with willows and brush
wood. Toward the left flank, this bench of high land widened con
siderably, but became gradually narrow in the opposite direction,
and at the distance of one hundred. and fifty yards from the right
flank, terminated in an abrupt point.
" The two columna of infantry occupied the front and rear of
thia ground, at the distance of about one hundred and fifty yards from
each other on the left, and aomething more than half that diatance
54

°^^ BATTLE OP TIPPECANOE, 1811,
on 1;he right flank— these flanks were filled up, the first by two com
panies of mounted riflemen, amounting to about one hundred and
twenty men, under the command of Major-General Wells, of the
Kentucky mUitia, who served as a major ; the other by Spencer's
company of mounted riflemen, which amounted to eighty men,
"The front line was composed of one battalion of United States
infantry, under the command of Major Floyd, flanked on the right
by two companies of miUtia, and on the left by one company. The
rear line was composed of a battalion of United States troops, un
der the command of Captain Bean, acting ae major, and four com
panies of miUtia infantry, under Lieutenant-Colonel Decker,
"The regular troops of this Une joined the mounted riflemen,
under General Wells, on the left flank, and Col, Decker's battaUon
formed an angle with Spencer's company on the left,
" Two troops of dragoons, amounting to, in the aggregate, about
sixty men, were encamped in the rear of the left flank, and Captain
Parke's troop, which was larger than the other two, in the rear of
the front line. Our order of encampment varied little from that
above described, excepting when some peculiarity of the ground
made it necessaty,
" For a night attack, the order of encampment was the order of
battle, and each man elept immediately opposite to his post in the
line. In the formation of my troops, I used a single rank, or what
ia called Indian file — ^because in Indian warfare, where there is no
shock to resist, one rank is nearly aa good aa two, and in that kind
of warfare, the extension of line ie of the firet importance. Raw
troope also maneuver with much more facility in eingle than in
double ranke,
" It was my constant custom to assemble all the field officers at
my tent every evening by eignal, to give them the watchword, and
their instructions for the night — those given for the night of
the 6th were, that each troop which formed a part of the exterior
line of the encampment, should hold ite own ground until relieved.
"The dragoons were ordered to parade in caee of a night attack,
with their pistols in their belts, and to act as a corps de reaerve. The
camp was defended by two captains' guards, consisting each of
four non-commissioned officers and forty-two privates ; and two
subalterns' guards, of twenty non-commissioned officers and pri
vates. The whole under the command of a field officer of the day.
The troope were regularly called up an hour before day, and made
to continue under arme until it wae quite light.
" On the morning of the 7th, I had rieen at a quarter after four

1811. BATTLE OP TIPPECANOE. 843
o'clock, and the signal for calling out the men would have been
given in two minutes, when the attack commenced. It began on
our left flank- — but a signal gun was fired by the sentinels,
or by the guard in that direction, which made not the least
resistance, but abandoned their officer, and fled into camp, and
the first notice which the troops of that fiank had of the dan
ger, was from the yells of the savages within a short distance of the
line — ^but even under those circumstances the men were not want
ing to themselves or the occasion,
"Such of them as were awake, or were easily awakened, seized
their arms, and took their stations ; ethers which were more tardy,
had to contend vsdth the enemy in the doors of their tents. The
storm first fell upon Captain Barton's company of the 4th United
Statee regiment, and Captain Geiger'e company of mounted rifle
men, which formed the left angle of the rear line. The fire Upon
theee wae exceedingly aevere, and they auffered conaiderably before
relief could be brought to them,
" Some few Indiana paaaed into the encampment near the angle,
and one or two penetrated to some diatance before they were killed,
I believe all the other companiea were under arms, and tolerably
formed before they were fired on,
" The morning waa dark and cloudy ; our firea afforded a partial
light, which, if it gave us some opportunity of taking our positions,
was still more advantageous to the enemy, affording them the
means of taking a surer aim ; they were therefore extinguished.
Under all these discouraging circumstances, the troope (nineteen-
twentieths of whom had never been in action before,) behaved in a
manner that can never be too much applauded. They took their
places without noise, and less confusion than could have been ex
pected from veterans placed in the same situation.
"Ae Boon ae I could mount my horse, I rode to the angle that
was attacked — ^I found that Barton's company had suffered se
verely and the left of Geiger's entirely broken. I immediately
ordered Cook's company and the late Captain Wentworth's, under
Lieutenant Peters, to be brought up from the center of the rear
line, where the ground waa much more defensible, and formed
acroaa the angle in aupport of Barton'a and Geiger's.
" My attention was then engaged by a heavy firing upon the left
of the front line,- where were stationed the email company of
United States' riflemen, (then, however, armed with muekets) and
the companies of Bean, SneUing, and Preacott, of the 4th regi
ment. I found Major Daviess forming the dragoona in the rear

844 BATTLE OP TIPPECANOE. 1811.
of those oon^panies, aiud understanding that the heavieet part o;^
the enemy'e fire proceeded from some trees about fifteen or
twenty paces in front of those companies, I d,irectedthe major to
dislodge them with a part of the dragoons,
"Unfortunately the major's gallantry determined him to exe
cute the order with a smaller force than was sufficient, which
enabled the enemy to avoid him in front and attack hia flanka.
The major was mortally wounded, and his party driven back. The
Indians were, however, immediately and gallantly dislodged fi-om
their advantageous position, by Captain S.nelling, at the head of
Ms company.
"In the course of a few minutes after the commencement of the
attack, the fire extended along the left flank, the whole of the
front, the right flank, and part of the rear line. Upon Spencer'e
mounted riflemen, and the right of Warwick's comP^'ny, which
¦\yas posted on the rear of the right line, it was excessively severe.
Captain Spencer and his first and second, lieutenants, were killed,
and Captain Warwick was mortally wounded — those companies,
however, still bravely maintained their posts, but Spencer had suf
fered so severely, and having originally too much ground to occupy,
i reinforced them with Robb's company of riflemen, which bad-
been driven back, or by mistake ordered from their position on
the left flank, toward the center of the camp, and filled the
vacancy that had been occupied by Robb with Prescott's company
of the 4th United States regiment.
" My great object was to keep the lines, entire, to prevent the
enemy from breaking into the camp until daylight, which should
enable me to make a general and effectual charge. With this
view, I had reinforced every part of the Une that had suffered
much ; and as soon as the approach of morning discovered itself, I
withdrew from the front line, Snelling's, Posey's (under Lieuten
ant Albright,) and Scott's, and from the rear line, Wilson's com
panies, and drew them up upon the left, flank, and at the same
time, I ordered Cook's and' Bean's companies, the former from the
rear, and the latter from the front Une, to reinforce the right
flank ; forseeing that at these points the enemy would make their
last efforte.
"Major Wells, who commanded on the left flank, not knowing
my intentions precisely, had taken conimand of theae companies^
and charged the enemy before I had formed the body of dragoona
with which I meant, to aupport the infantry; a ainall detachment
of theee w;ere, however, ready, and proved amply sui^pient fqr^the
purpose.

1811. BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE. 845
" The Indiana were driven by the infantry, at the point of the
bayonet, and the dragoona pureued and forced them into a mareh,
where they could not be followed. Captain Cook and Lieutenant
Larabee had, agreeable to my Order, marched their companies to
the right flank, had formed them under the fire of the enemy, aUd
being then joined by the riflemen of that flank, had charged the
Indians, killed a number, ^nd put the rest to precipitate flight. A
favorable opportunity was here offered to pursue the enemy with
dragoons, but being engaged at that time on the other flank, I did
not observe it till it was too late.
" I have thus, sir, given you the pArticulars of an action, wMch
was certainly maintained with the greatest obstinacy and perseve
rance, by both parties. The Indians manifested a ferocity uncom
mon even with them — ^to their savage ftiry our troops oppoaed thiit
cool, and deliberate valor, which ia characteristic of the Christian
soldier."* The Americans in thia battle had not more than aeven hundred
efficient men, — non-commiaaioned officera and privatea ; the In
dians are believed to have had seven hundred or one thousand
warriors. The loss of the American army was thirty-seven killed
on the field, twenty-five mortally wounded, and one hundred and
twenty-six wounded ; that of the Indians about forty killed on the
apot, the number of wounded being unknown.
Governor Harriaon, although very generally popula,r, had ene
miea, and after the battle of Tippecanoe they denounced him, for
suffering the Indians to point out hi^ camping ground ; for allow
ing himself to be surprised by his enemy ; and, because he sac
rificed either Davieae or Owen, (accounta differed,) by placing one
or the other on a favorite white horee of hia own, which cauaed the
aavagea to make the rider an especial mark. To theae charges
elaborate replies have been made: juatice cannot do more than aay,
to the firet, that although, aa Harrison relates, the Indians pointed
out the creek upon which was the site of his encampment, his own
officera found, examined, and approved that particular site, and
other military men have since approved their selection; to the
next, the only reply needed ie, that the facte were just as stated in
the diapatch which hae been quoted; and to the third, that Davieee
wae killed on foot, and Owen on a horee not General Harrison's:
the last story probkbly arose from the fact that Major Taylor^ a

»Ainiri6&n State Pipers, v. 777, 778.

846 INDIAN HOSTILITIES CEASE, 1811."
fellow aid of Owen, was mounted on a horse of the Governor's ;
but 'Taylor was not injured, though the horee he rode was killed
under him.
The battle of Tippecanoe was fought upon the 7th of November.
In a few weeks afterward, Harrison addressed the Secretary of War
as followB : " Yincennes, 4th December, 1811,
" I have the honor to inform you that two principal chiefs of the
Kickapoos of the Prairies arrived here, bearing a flag, on the even
ing before last. They informed me that they came in consequence
of a message from a chief of that part of the Kickapoos which had
joined the Prophet, requiring them to do so, and that the said chief
is to be here himself in a day or two. The account which they give
of the late confederacy, under the Prophet, is as follows : ' The
Prophet, with his Shawaneae, is at a small Huron -village, about
twelve milea from his former residence, on this aide of the Wabaah,
where, alao, were twelve or fifteen Hurona. The Kickapooa are
encamped near to the Tippecanoe. The Pottawattamiea have
scattered and gone to different villagea of that tribe. The Winne
bagoes had all set out on their return to their own country, except
ing one chief and nine men, who remained at their former village.
The latter had attended Tecumthe in hia tour to the northward,
and had only returned to the Prophet'a town the day before the
action. The Prophet had sent a meaaenger to the Kickapooa
of the Prairie, to request that he might be permitted to retire to
their town. This waa positively refused, and a warning sent to him
not to come there. He then sent to request that four of his men
might attend the Kickapoo chief here— this was also refused. These
chiefs say, on the whole, that aU the tribes who lost warriors in the
late action, attribute their misfortune to the Prophet alone ; that
they constantly reproach him with their misfortunes, and threaten
Mm with death ; that they are aU desirous of making their peace
with the United States, and wiU send deputations to me for that
purpoae, as soon as they are informed that they wiU be weU received.
The two chiefs further say, that they were sent by Governor Howard
and General Clarke, sometime before the action, to endeavor to
bring off the Kickapoos from the Prophet's town ; that they used
their best endeavors to effect it, but unsuccessfully. That the
Prophet's foUowers were fully impressed with the belief that they
could defeat us with ease ; that it was their intention to have at
tacked ua at Fort Harrison, if we had gone no higher; that Racoon
creek was then fixed on, and finally Pine creek; and that the latter

1811. EARTHQUAKE OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 847
would probably had been the place, if the usual route had not been
abandoned, and a crossing made higher up ; that the attack made on
our sentinels at Fort Harrison, was intended to shut the door against
accommodation ; that the Winnebagoes had forty warriors killed
in the action, and the Kickapoos eleven, and ten wounded. They
have never heard how many of the Pottawattamiea and other tribea
were killed; that the Pottawattamie chief left by me on the battle
ground, ie since dead of hia wounda, but that he faithfully deliv
ered my apeech to the difterent tribes, and warmly urged them to
abandon the Prophet, and aubmit to my terma.'
" I cannot aay, air, how much of the above may be depended on.
I believe, however, that the etatement made by the chiefe ie gener-
erally correct, particularly with regard to the preeent disposition of
the Indians. It is certain that our frontiers have never enjoyed
more profound tranquillity than at this time. No injury of any
kind, that I can hear of, has been done, either to the persons or
property of our citizens. Before the expedition, not a fortnight
passed over, without some vexatious depredations being committed.
" The Kickapoo chiefs certainly tell an untruth, when they say
that there were but eleven of their tribe killed, and ten wounded ;
it is impossible to believe that fewer were wounded than killed.
They acknowledge, however, that the Indians have never sustained
BO severe a defeat since their acquaintance with the white people."
During this year two events took place, , beside the battle of
Tippecanoe, which make it especially noticeable in the history
of the West; the one was, the building of the steamer New
Orleans, the first boat built beyond the Alleghenies ; the other waa
the series of earthquakes which destroyed New Madrid, and affec
ted the whole valley. Of the latter event, the following descrip
tion is from the pen of Dr. Hildreth :*
" The first shock was felt in the night of the 16th of December,
1811, and was repeated at intervals, with decreasing violence, into
February following. New Madrid, having suffered more than any
other town on the Mississippi from its effects, was considered
as eituated near the focus from whence the undulations proceeded.
The center of its violence was thought to be near the Little Prai
rie, twenty-five or thirty miles below New Madrid; the vibrations
from which were felt all over the valley of the Ohio, as high up ae
Pittsburgh.

* Dawson, 204 to 208.— McAfee's History of the War, 18 to 38.

84,8 EARTHQUAKE OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 1811.
'^From an eye-witness, who was then about forty miles below
that town, in a flat boat, on his way to New Orleans with a load of
produce, and who narrated the scene to me, the agitation which
convulsed the earth and the watera of the mighty Mississippi filled
every living creature with horror. The first shock took place in
the night, while the boat was lying at the shore in company with
several others. At this period there waa danger apprehended from
the southern Indians, it being soon after the battle of Tippecanoe,
and for safety several boats kept in company, for mutual defense
in case of an attack.
"In the middle of the night there waa a terrible ahoek and
jarring of the boats, so that the crews were all awakened and
hurried on deck with their weapons of defense in their handa,
thinking the Indians were rushing on board. The ducks, geese,
awans, and varioua other aquatic birda, whose numberless flocks
were quietly resting in the eddies of the river, were thrown into
the greatest tumult, and with loud screams expressed their alarm
in accents of terror.
"The noise and commotion soon became hushed, and nothing
could be discovered to excite apprehension, so that the boatmen
concluded that the shock was occasioned by the falling in of a
large mass of the bank of the river near them, Aa soon as it was
light enough to distinguish objects, the crews were all up making
ready to depart.
"Directly a loud roaring and hisaing was heard, like the escape
of steam from a boiler, accompanied by the moat violent agitation
of the ahorea and tremendous boUing up of the waters of the Mis
sissippi in huge swells, rolHng the waters below back on the
descending stream, and tossing the boats about so violently that
the men with difficulty could keep on their feet. The sandbare
and points of the islands gave way, swallowed up in the tumultu-
ous bosom of the river; carrying down with them the eottonwood
trees, cracking and crashing, tossing their arms to and fro, as if
sensible of their danger, while they disappeared beneath the flood.
"The water of the river, which the day before waa tolerabfy
clear, being rather low, changed to a reddish hue, and became
thick with mud thrown up from ita bottom; whUe the aurfaee^
kshed violently by the agitation of the earth beneath, waa covered
with foam, which, gathering into masaee the size of a baarrel,^
floated along on the trembUng eurface. The earth on the shores
opened in wide fissures, and closing again, threw the water, sand
and mud, in huge jete, higher than the tops of the trees-

1811, EARTHQUAKE OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY, 849
"The atmosphere waa filled with a thick vapor or gae, to which
the light imparted a purple tinge, altogether different in appear
ance from the autumnal haze of Indian aummer, or that of smoke.
From the temporary check to the current, by the heaving up of
the bottom, the sinking of the banka and sandbars into the bed of
the stream, the river rose in a few minutes five or six feet; and,
impatient of the restraint, again ruahed forward with redoubled
impetuosity, hurrying along the boats, now set loose by the liorror-
atruck boatmen, as in lees danger on the water than at the shore,
where the banks threatened every moment to destroy them by the
falling earth, or carry them down in the vortices of the sinking
masses, "Many boats were overwhelmed in this manner, and theit
crews perished with them. It required the utmost exertions of
the men to keep the boat, of which my informant was the owner,
in the middle of the river, as far from the shores, sandbars and
islands as they could. Numerous boats wrecked on the snags and
old trees thrown up from the bottom of the Mississippi, where
they had quietiy rested for ages, while others were sunk or stranded
on the sandbars and islands. At New Madrid several boats were
carried by the refiux of the current into a sinall stream that puts
into the river just above the town, and left on the ground by the
returning water a considerable distance from the Mississippi,
" A man who belonged to one of the company boats, was left fo*
several hours on the upright trunk of an old snag in the middle of
the river, againat which hia boat was wrecked and sunk. It stood
with the roots a few feet above the water, and to these he contrived
to attach himself, while evety fresh shock threw the agitated waves
against him, and kept gradually settling the tree deeper into the
mud at the bottom, bringing him nearer and nearer to the deep
muddy waters, which, to his terrified imagination, seemed deairoua
of awallowing him up. While hanging here, calling with piteouS
shouts for aid, several boats passed by without being able to relieve
him, until finally a skiff was well manned, rowed a short distance
above him, and dropped down stream close to the anag, from wMeh
he tumbled into the boat aa ske fioated by.
" The acenes which occurred for aeveral daya, during the repeated
shocks, were horrible. The most destructive ones took place in the
beginning, although they were repeated for many weeks, becoming
lighter and lighter, until they died away in slight vibrations, like
the jarring of steam in an immense boiler. The sulphurated
gases that were discharged during the shocks, tainted the air with

850 EARTHQUAKE OP THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY, 1811.
their noxious effluvia, and so strongly impregnated the water of the
river, to the distance of one hundred and fifty milea below, that
it could hardly be used for any purpose for a number of days.
"New Madrid, which stood on a bluft" bank, fifteen or twenty
feet above the summer fiooda, sunk eo low that the next riee
covered it to the depth of five feet. The bottoms of several fine
lakes in the vicinity were elevated so as to become dry land, and
have since been planted with corn ! " *
To this interesting sketch by Dr. HUdreth, we append a few
particulars. In the town of Cape Girardeau, were several edifices of stone and
brick. The walle of these buildings were cracked, in some
instances from the ground to the top, and wide fissures were left,
" The great shake," as the people call it, was so severe in the
county of St, Louis, that domestic fowls fell from the trees as
if dead; crockery fell from the shelves and was broken, and many
families left their cabins, from fear of being crushed beneath their
ruins, Mr, Bradbury, an EngUsh scientific explorer, who was on a keel
boat passing down the river at the time, says :
"On the night of the 15th of December, the keel boat was
moored to a small island, not far from Little Prairie, where the
crew, all Frenchmen, were frightened, almost to helplessness, by
the terrible convulsions,
"Immediately after the shock, we noticed the time, and found it
near two o'clock in the morning of the 16th, In half an hour
another shock came on, terrible, indeed, but not equal to the first,"
This shock made a chasm in the island, four feet wide and eighty
yards in length. After noticing successive shocks, the writer states ;
" I had already noticed that the sound which was heard at the time
of every shock, always preceded it at least a second, and that it
always proceeded from the same point, and went off in an opposite
direction, I now found that the shock came from a little north
ward of east, and proceeded to the westward. At daylight we had
counted twenty-seven shocks, during our stay on the island," f
B, further records a series of shocks that continued daily, as he
passed down the river, until the 2l3t of December,
The late L, F, Linn, in a letter to the Chairman of the Committee

* American Pioneer, i. 129.
f Travels in the Interior of America, by John Bradbury, pp. 199-207.

1811, EARTHQUAKE OP THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 851
on Commerce, dated February let, 1836, "relative to the obetruc-
tions to the navigation of the White, Big Black, and St, Francis
rivere," hae given a lucid geographical and deecriptive sketch of
this part of Missouri, from which is given a brief extract,
" The memorable earthquake of December, 1811," after shaking
the valley of the Mississippi to its center, vibrated along the
courses of the rivere and valleye, and paesing the primitive moun
tain barriers, died away along the shores of the Atlantic Occam
In the region now under consideration, during the continuance of
80 appalling a phenomenon, which commenced by diatant rumbling
sounds, succeeded by diechargee ae if a thoueand piecee of artiUery
were euddenly exploded, the earth rocked to and fro, vaet chaems
opened, from whence iaaued columna of water, sand, and coal,
accompanied by hisaing sounds, caused, perhaps, by the eacape of
pent-up ateam, while ever and anon flaahes of electricity gleamed
tMough the troubled clouda of mght, rendering the darkness
doubly horrible,
" The current of the Mieeiaaippi, pending thia elemental strife,
was driven back upon its source with the greatest velocity for sev
eral hours, in consequence of an elevation of its bed. But this
noble river was not thus to be stayed in its course. Its accumula
ted waters came booming on, and, o'ertopping the barrier thus
suddenly raised, 'carried evety thing before them vrith resistless
power. Boats, then floating on the surface, shot down the decliv
ity Uke an arrow from a bow, amid roaring bUlows, and the wildest
commotion. " A few days' action of its powerful current sufficed to wear away
evety veatige of the barrier thua strangely interposed, and its wa
ters moved on in their wonted channel to the ocean. The day that
succeeded this night of terror, brought no solace in its dawn.
Shock followed shock ; a dense black cloud of vapor overshadowed
the land, through which no etruggUng aumbeam found ita way to
cheer the deaponding heart of man, who, in sUent communion with
himself, was compeUed to acknowledge his weakness and depend
ence on the everlasting God.
" The appearances that presented themeelvee after the eubsidence
of the principal commotion, were such as strongly support an
opinion heretofore advanced. HiUs had disappeared, and lakes
were found in their stead ; and numerous lakes became elevated
ground, over the surface of which vast heaps of sand were scattered
in every direction, while in many places the earth for miles was
sunk below the general level of the surrounding countty, without

852 fitch's application of steam. 1811.
being covered with ^svater, leaving an ifnpression in miniature of a
taitastropM much more important in tis effects, which had, perhaps, pre
ceded it ages before.
" One of the lakes formed on this occasion is sixty or seventy
miles in length, and from three to twenty in breadth. It is ia soine
places very shallow ; in others, from fifty to one hundred feet deep,
which is much more than the depth of the Mississippi river in that
quarter. In sailing over ite surface ifa a light canoe, the voyager ik
atruck with astonishment at beholding the giant trees of the forest
standing partially exposed amid a waste of watera, branchless and
leafless. " But the wonder is still further increased, on ciasting the eye oii
the dark-blue profound, to observe cane-brakes covering its bot
tom, over which a mammoth epeciee of teatudo ia seen dragging its
slow length along, while Countless myriads of fish are sporting
through the aquatic thickets."*
In the midst of this terrible convulsion, the first of western
ateamerfe was pureuing her way toward the south. But before men
tioning her progress, the reader should be informed of the discovety
of steam power, as likewise its application to utilitarian purposes.
In 1781j the invention of Watts' double-acting engine was made
public, and in 1784 it was perfected.f Previous to this time many
attempts had been made to apply steam to navigation, but, from
v?ant of a proper engine, all had been failures ; and the first efforts
to apply the new machine to boats were made in America, by John
Fitch and James Rumsey.
The conception by Fitch, if the std,tement thade by Robert Wick-
liffe is reliable, was formed as early as June, 1780, anterior to the
announcement of Watts' discovery of the double-acting engine;
though eleven years after his single engine had been patented.
This conception Fitch said he communicated to Rumaey. The
latter gentleman, however, propoaed a plan so entirely different
fr-om that of his fellow countrymen, (a plan which he is said to have
originated in 1782 or '83,) that he cannot be considered a plagia
rist. The idea of steam navigation was not new ; it Was the ques
tion — How shall We use the ateam ? -rt^hich was to be so answered
as to immortalize the successful reapondents : — and to this question
Fitch replied. By using Watte' engine So ae to propel a eyetem of

^* Wiitiiiora*^ GitzattdiSr, pp. 139, 1^0.
faenWicli (A Stdanl ih'gine, 200.

1811. first WESTERN STEAMBOAT. 853
paddles at the sides of the boat ; whUe Rumsey aaid, By applying
the old atmospheric engine, to pump, up water at the bo,w, and force
it out at the stern, of your vessel, and so drive her by water acting
upon water. Referring, therefore, to the authorities quoted below,
relative to Fitch and others, it must be given up that a}l failed un
tU Fulton, in 1807, launched hia, vessel upon the Hudson. Fitch's
failure, however, waa not from any fault in hia principle ; and had
his knowledge of mechanjca, equaled Fulton's, or had, hia means
been more ample, or had he tried hie boat on the Hudison, where
coachea could not compete with him, as they did on, the level-
banks of the Delaware, there can be: no doubt that he would have
entirely succeeded, twenty years before his plans were realized by
another. In the Columbian Magazine, published in Philadelphia, about
the year 1786, is a, plate showing the steamboa,t made by Fitch,
with ita paddlea, and a deacription of its action, oui the Delaware.,
If John Fitch had received the patronage necessary, it is, probable;
hia boat would haye been eucceasful.
When Fulton had at length attained, by slow degrees, auccess
upon the Hudson, he began to look] elsewhere for other fields ofi
aption, and; the west, which had attracted the attention of both of
hia American predeceaaora, could not fail to cafch his eye. Mr.
Latrobe, who spoke, as will be aeen, by authority, says: —
"The complete aucceaa attending the experiments in ateam navi
gation made on the Hudson and the adjoining waters previous to
tiie year 1.809, turned, the attention of the principal projectors to
the idea of its application on the western rivers; and in the month
of April of that year, Mr. Roosevelt, of New York, pursuant to
an agreement with Chancellor Livingston and Mr. Fulton, visited
those rivere, with the puipose of forming an opinion whether they.
admitted, of steam navigation or not.
"At this time two boats, the Nortli River and the Clermont,
were running on the Hudson. Mr, R. surveyed the rivere from
Pittsburgh to New Orleans, and as hie report waa favorable, it
was decided to build a boat at the former town.
"Thia waa done under hiadirection, and.in the course of 1811:the
first boat W3,s launched on^ the waters, of the Ohio. H was calledj
the "New Orleana," and intended to ply between Natchez, in the
^tate of Miaajaaippi, and the city whose name.it bore^
"In. October it left Pittaburgh for its experimental voyagei-i On,
thia occasion no freight or passengers were taken » the lObject being
merely to bring the bp^ttQ l^^r, station. Mr, R,, Ms , young vyiife

854 FIRST WESTERN STEAMBOAT. 1811.
and family, Mr. Baker, the engineer, Andrew Jack, the pilot, and
six handa, with a few domeatiee, formed her whole burden. There
were no wood-yards at that time, and constant delays were una
voidable. "When, as related, Mr. R. had gone down the river to reconnoi
tre, he had discovered two beds of coal, about one hundred and
twenty miles below the rapide of Ohio, at Louieville, and now took
tools to work them, intending to load the vessel with the coal, and
to employ it as fuel, instead of constantly detaining the boat while
wood waa procured from the banka.
"Late at night on the fourth day after quitting Pittaburgh, they
arrived in safety at Louieville, having been but seventy houre de
scending upwarda of aix hundred milea.
" The novel appearance of the veasel, and the fearful rapidity
with which it made its passage over the broad reaches of the river,
excited a mixture of terror and sujjirise among many of the
settlere on the banks, whom the rumor of auch an invention had
never reached ; and it ie related that on the unexpected arrival of
the boat before Louieville, in the course of a fine stUl moonlight
night, the extraordinary sound which filled the air ae the pent-up
steam was suffered to escape from the valves, on rounding to, pro
duced a general alarm, and multitudes in the town rose from their
beds to ascertain the cause.
"I have heard that the general impression among the good
Kentuckians was, that the comet had fallen into the Ohio ; but
tMs does not rest upon the same foundation as the other facta
which I lay before you, and which I may at once say, I had di
rectly from the lipa of the partiea themaelvea.
" 'The amall depth of water in the rapida prevented the boat
from pureuing her voyage immediately ; and during the conaequent
detention of three weeka in the upper part of the Ohio, aeveral
tripe were succesefuUy made between Louisville and Cincinnati.
In fine the waters rose, and in the course of the last week in No
vember, the voyage was resumed, the depth of water barely ad
mitting their paesage."
This steamer, after being nearly overwhelmed with the earth
quakes, reached Natchez at the close of the first week of January,
1812. The year 1811 was marked by the occurrence of varioua events
of an uncommon nature, which exerted a combined influence, to
throw a ahade over the spirits of the people.
Early in September, a comet made ite appearance in the northern

1811. GLOOMY CLOSE OF THIS YEAR. 855
part of the heavens, and paseing across our hemisphere, disap
peared at the south, toward the end of the year. This created a
feeling of alarm in the minds of very many, of the less enlightened
at least, who looked upon it ae an ominous forerunner of dire mis
fortunes to come.
This alarm, where it exiated, was increased on the 17th of Sep
tember, on which day there wae an annular eclipee of the aun,
which laated from about twelve until half paat three o'clock, and
afforded a aolemnly grand and impressive sight. The day was re
markably serene, and the eky cloudleee, eo that the contrast
between the brightnesa before and the almost twilight darkness,
during the height of the eclipse, was peculiarly striking.
Next came a circumstance, which, though it affected none but
the most ignorant and superstitious, had yet its force, in fostering
the gloomy apprehensions that were already existing. About the
1st of October, an impostor named Hughes, who had been impris
oned in aouth-weet Virginia, on a charge of larceny, pretended,
while in confinement, to have been entranced, and in that super
natural atate to have had a revelation, foretelling the deatruction
of one-third of mankind, which waa to take place on the 4th of June,
1812. The idea having been taken up by a certain ingenioue and
visionary young lawyer, was dressed up by him in the shape of a
seemingly plausible story, and published in pamphlet form, adorned
with Bundty yankee pictures of horrible eighta, portraying the dire
calamity. It found an immenae circulation, eapecially in the
aouth-weat. Soon after, (on the 7th of November,) waa fought the battle of
Tippecanoe, which had brought grief and diatreas into almoat every
family of the West, as there were but few who had not some rela
tive or intimate friend among the gallant slain or wounded ; and on
the 15th and 16th of December followed the extraordinaty earth
quake, already deacribed.
Added to aU theae, waa, on the 24th or 26th of December, the burn
ing of the theatre at Richmond, Virginia, which took place while
the houee wae filled with an audience of meet reepectable citizens.
The flames spread with euch terrific rapidity, that the people had
not time to escape, and some seventy persons loet their lives — some
being burnt, and others crushed to death in the eecaping crowd.
The accident wae so heart-rending, and excited such a lively inter
est, that it served to throw a shade of grief, for a time, over the
whole country.
In addition to these circumstances, the unmietakable evidence

856 TECUMTHE JOINS THE BRITISH STANDARD. 1812.
of an approaching Indian war, were peculiarly calculated to alarm
tlie people of the West,, among whom, at the close of the year,
there existed a universal feeling, of gloom and consternation.,
Although Harrison had written about the close of the last year that
1812.] "the frontiers never enjoyed more perfect repose," it is evi
dent that a, disposition to do mischief was by no means extinguished
^,mGng the savages.
At the time of the battle of Tippecanoe,, Tecumthe,, the master
^irit in Indian diplomacy, was amongst the southern Indians, to;
bring them into the grand confederacy he had projected. On his
return, where he supposed he had made a strong and permanent
impression, a few dajys after the disagtrous battle, when he saw the
dispersion of Ms followers, the disgrace of his brother, and the de
struction of his long cherished hopes, he was. exceedingly angry.
The rash preeumptuousness of the Prophet, in attacking: the Amer
ican army, at Tippecanoe, destroyed , his own power, and crushed
tlie grand confederacy before it was completed.
When Tecumthe first, met the Prophet, he reproached him in the
bittereat termsj and when the latter attempted to palliate his con
duct,, he seized him by the hair, shook him violently, and threat
ened to. take his life.
Tecumthe immediately sent word, to Governor Harrison, that he
had returned from the aouth,, and that he was ready to visit the
president, as had been previously proposed. The governor gave,
him permission to proceed to Washington, but not as the leader of
a, party of Indians, as he desired. The proud chief, who had ap
peared at Vincennes in 1811, with a large party of braves, had no
desire to appear before hia "- Great Father," the president, without
liis retinue. The proposed visit waa declined, and the intercourse
between Tecumthe and the governor terminated.
In June, he sought an interview with the Indian agent at Fort
Wayne ; disavowed any intention of making war on the United
States, and reproached General Harrison for having marched against
Ma people during his ¦ absence. The agent repUed to this ; Tecum
the listened with frigid indifference, and after making ;a few gen
eral remarks, with a haughty air, left the council house, and
departed, for Fort Maiden,, in tipper Canada, where he joined the
Britiah standard,.
The, causes of complaint on the part of the IJnited States against
England, which at length led to the war of 1812, were, the intefc
ference with Am wean, .trade enforced by the blockade system;the

1812. GOVERNOR HULL MADE MILITARY COMMANDER. 857
impressment of American seamen; the encouragement of the Indi
ans in their barbarities ; and the attempt to dismember the Union
by the mission of Henry. Through the winter of 1811-12, these
causes of provocation were discussed in Congress aud the public
prints, and a war with Great Britain openly threatened : even in
December, 1811, the proposal to invade Canada in tho following
spring, before the ice broke up, was debated in the House of Rep
resentatives, and in particular was urged the necessity of such ope
rations at the outset of the anticipated contest, as should wrest from
the enemy the command of the upper lakes, and secure the neutral
ity or favor of the Indian tribes by the conquest of Upper Canada,
WMle, therefore, measures were taken to seize the lower pro
vince, other steps were arranged for the defense of the north-west
fi'ontier against Indian hostility, and which, in the event of a rup
ture with Great Britain, would enable the United States to obtain the
command of Lake Erie. These steps, however, were by no means
suitable to the attainment of the object last named ; in place of a
naval force upon Lake Erie, the necessity of which had been pressed
upon the Executive, by Governor Hull of Michigan Territory, in
three memorials, one of them as early as the year 1809, a second
dated March 6th, and a third on or about April llth, 1812 ; and
although the same policy was pointedly urged upon the Secretaty
of War, by General Armstrong, in a private letter of January 2d,
yet the government proposed to use no other than military means,
and hoped by the presence of two thousand soldiers, to effect the
capture or destruction of the British fieet. Nay, so blind was the
War Department, that it refused to increase the number of troops
to three thousand, although informed by General Hull, that that
was the least number from which success could be hoped.
When, therefore. Governor, now General Hull (to whom, in con
sideration of his revolutionary services, and his supposed knowl
edge of the country and the natives, the command of the army
destined for the conquest of the Canadas had been confided) com
menced his march from Dayton, on the 1st of June, it was with
means which he himself regarded as utterly inadequate to the
object aimed at, a fact which sufficiently explains his vascillating,
nerveless conduct. Through that whole month, he and his troops
toiled on toward the Maumee, busy with their roads, bridges and
block houses.
On the 24th, advices from the Secretary of War, dated on the
18th, came to hand, but not a word contained in them made it
probable that the long expected war would be immediately de-
55

^^^ BLUNDERS OP THE GOVERNMENT, 1812.
clared although Colonel McArthur at the same time received
word from CMUicothe, warning him, on the authority of Thomas
Worthington, then Senator from Ohio, that before the letter
reached him, the declaration would have been made pubUc This
information McArthur laid before General HuU; and when, upon
reaching the Maumee, that commander proposed to place his bag
gage, stores, and sick on board a vessel, and send them by water
to Detroit, the backwoodsman warned him of the danger, and re
fused to trust his own property on board.
Hull, however, treated the report of war as the old stoty which
had been current through all the spring, and refused to believe it
possible that the government would not give Mm information at the
earliest moment that the measure was resolved on.
The following message from a gentieman at Detroit to his friend
at Pittsburgh, gives a disinterested narrative of the then passing
events :
" On Thursday morning, the 2d inst, our enemies gave us the
first notice of war being declared against them. The evening pre
ceding, an officer was seen to go with great dispatch down the op
posite side of the river to Fort Maiden, and the next morning the
ferry boats that went from thia aide were detained on the other
ahore, which made ua auapect that affaira were not long to remain
tranquil between ua. Shortly after, a gentleman in this place
received a message from his friend on the British side, informing
him of the declaration of war.
" I will now inform you of the remissness of government in not
immediately sending an express to Governor Hull, and to this im
portant place, on an event of so much magnitude; and the conse
quences which have resulted from that neglect.
"It now appears to us, that war was declared on the 18th of
June, and dispatches sent off the next day by the common course
of mail to Cleveland, which place they reached on Monday the
29th, about the middle of the day; making ten days and a half to
that place; when the news ought to have been received here
(Detroit) before that time,
" The postmaster at Cleveland received a letter from Washing
ton, directing him to hire a person to go on with the dispatches to
Governor Hull, who was at that time about eighty milea from this
place, and he received them on the morning of the 2d inst;
making thirteen daya from Waahington. Thia information I had
from the peraon who was hired by the postmaster at Cleveland,
and who is now in this place; its correctness cannot be doubted.

1812. BLUNDERS OP THE GOVERNMENT. 859
" The British received their information by way of Fort Erie, and
an express instantly started from thence, who came the north side of
Lake Erie to Maiden, and delivered the intelligence to that place
on the Ist inst., by a circuitous route of one hundred miles greater
distance than Governor Hull then was. The evil consequences of
this gross negligence might have been immense ; I will mention
one which has resulted from it.
"When the army came to the foot of the rapids of Maumee
river. Governor Hull, not then having received intelligence of the
declaration of war, hired a amall aloop in which he put his baggage
and that of many of the officers of the army, all the hospital stores,
his instructions from the war department, his commission and
those of most of the officers of the 4th regiment, the ladies of two
officers of said regiment. Lieutenant Goodwin and about thirty
men, and was on the point of sending the pay-master with all the
public money; thie vessel, on passing Maiden, was captured with
all its contents; the ladies, Mrs. Fuller and Mrs. Goodwin, were
put on shore at this place the next day, but all the others of course
detained." Another item of intelligence connected with this chapter of blun
ders, mishaps, and woes, waa communicated to the publiaher by
Mr. R  , a venerable and highly reapected gentleman of Am-
heratburg, Canada Weat :
" The commander at Fort Maiden was ao certain of the Ameri
cana heing first informed of the declaration of war, that he deaiated
from attacking Detroit, at the eight of an unusual number of
Mackinaw boats at the head of Lake Erie, which were supposed to
contain an invading army."
On the 2d of July, a letter of the same date with that received on
the 24th of June, reached General Hull, and apjprised him that the
declaration of war was indeed made,* and before his astonishment
was over, word was brought of the capture of his packet off Maiden.
The conduct of the executive at this time was certainly most re
markable ; having sent an insufficient force to effect a moat impor
tant object, it next did all in ita power to enaure the destruction of
that force.
On the Iat of June, Mr. Madison recommended war to the Sen
ate; on the 3d of June, Mr. Calhoun reported in favor it, and in an
able manifeato eet forth the reasons ; and, on the 19th, proclamation
of the contest was made. Upon the day preceding. Congress hav-
* HuU's Defense, 11, 12.

^^^ DULL AT SANDWICH, CANADA. 1812.
ing passed the needful act, the Secretaty of War wrote to General
HuU, one letter saying nothing of the matter, and sent it by a special
messenger— and a second, containing the vital news, which he con
fided to a half organized post as far as Cleveland, and thence Uter-
ally to accident. Nor is this aU: wMle the general of the north
western army was thus, not uninformed merely, but actually misled,
letters franked by the Secretary of the Treasury of the United
States, bore the notice of what had been done to the British post of
St. Joseph, near the north-western shore of Lake Huron ; and also
to Maiden, which place it reached upon the 28th of June. And as
if to complete the circle of folly, the misled general, through neg
lect, suffered his official papers, which he owned ought never to
have been out of his possession, to pass into that of the foe, and
thus informed them of his purposes and strength.*
That strength, however, was such, compared with their own, that
no eftbrt was made to prevent the march of the Americans to De
troit, nor to interfere with their passage across the river to Sand
wich, where they established themselves on the 12th of July,
preparatory to attacking Maiden itself, and commencing the con
quest and conversion of Upper Canada. And here, at once, the
incapacity of PIuU showed itself; by his own confession he took
every step under the influence of two sets of fears ; he dared not,
on the one hand, act boldly, for fear that his incompetent force
would be all destroyed; while, on the other hand, he dared not
refuse to act, for fear his militia, already uneasy, would utterly de
sert him.
Thus embarrassed, he proclaimed freedom and the need of sub
mission to the Canadians, held out inducements to the British
miUtia to desert, and to the Indians to keep quiet, and sat still at
Sandwich, striving to pacify his blood thirsty backwoodsmen, who
itched to be at Maiden. To amuse his own army, and keep them
from trying dangerous experiments, he found cannon needful to
the assault of the British posts, and spent three weeks making car
riages for five guns.
While these were under way. Colonel Cass and Colonel Miller,
by an attack upon the advanced parties of the enemy, demonstrated
the willingness and power of their men to push their conquests, if
the chance were given, but Hull refused the opportunity ; and
when at length the cannon were prepared, the ammunition placed
in wagons, and the moment for assault agreed on, the general, up-
*For the foregoing facts see Manifesto of the Senate, June 3d, 1812.

1812. PROCTOR ARRIVES AT MALDEN. 861
on hearing that a proposed attack on the Niagara frontier had not
been made, and that troopa from that quarter were moving weat
ward, suddenly abandoned the enterprise, and with most of his
army, on the night of the 7th of August, returned to Detroit, hav
ing effected nothing except the destruction of all confidence in
himself, on the part of the whole force under his control, officers
and privatea.
Meanwhile, upon the 29th of July, Colonel Proctor had reached
Maiden, and perceiving inatantly the power which the position of
that post gave him over the supplies of the army of the United
States, he commenced a series of operations, the object of which
was to cut off" the communications of Hull with Ohio, and thus not
merely neutralize all active operations on his part, but starve Mm
into surrender, or force him to detail his whole army, in order to
keep open his way to the only point from which supplies could
reach him. A proper force on Lake Erie, or the capture of Maiden,
would have prevented this annoying and fatal mode of warfare, but
the imbecility of the government, and that of the general, com
bined to favor the plans of Proctor.*
Having by his measures stopped the stores on their way to De
troit, at the river Raisin, he next defeated the insufficient band of
two hundred men under Van Horn, sent by Hull to escort them ;
and so far withstood that of five hundred under Miller, as to cause
Hull to recall the remnant of that victorious and gallant band,
though it had completely routed the British and Indians. By these
means. Proctor amused the Americans until General Brock reached
Maiden, which he did upon the 13th of August, and prepared to
attempt the conquest of Detroit itself.
And here again occurred a most singular want of skill on the
part of the Americans. In order to prevent the forces in Upper
Canada from being combined against Hull, General Dearborn had
been ordered to make a diversion in his favor at Niagara and
Kingston, but in place of doing this, he made an armistice with the
British commanders, which enabled them to turn their attention
entirely to the more distant West, and left Hull to shift for
himself On the 14th of August, therefore, while a third party, under
M' Arthur, was dispatched by Hull to open his communications
with the river Raisin, though by a new and impracticable road.

*fiee Hull's Defense, 42 to 71. Hull's Proclamation in Bro-wn's History of Illinois.

^^ hull's surrender of MICHIGAN, 1812.
General Brock appeared at Sandwich, and began to erect batteries
to protect his further operations. These batteries Hull would not
suffer any to molest, saying, that if the enemy did not fire on
Mm, he would not on them, and though, when summoned to aur
render upon the 15th, he absolutely refaaed, yet upon the 16th,
without a blow struck, the governor and general crowned hia course
of indecision and unmanly fear, by surrendering the town of De
troit and territory of Michigan, together with fourteen hundred
brave men longing for battie, to three hundred EngUsh soldiers,
four hundred Canadian miUtia, diaguised in red coata, and a band
of Indian alliea,*
For thia conduct he was accused of treason and cowardice, and
found guilty of the latter. However brave he may have been
personally, he was, as a commander, a coward; and moreover, he
was influenced, confessedly, by his fears as a father, lest his
daughter and her children should fall into the hands of the
Indians. In truth, Ms faculties seemed to have been paralyzed by fear;
fear that he should faU ; fear that his troops would be unfair to him,
fear that the savages would spare no one, if opposed with vigor ;
fear of some undefined and horrid evil impending, M'Afee ac
cuses him of intemperance, but no effort was made on his trial to
prove this, and we have no reason to think it a true charge;
but hia conduct waa like that of a drunken man, without sense or
spirit. But the fall of Detroit, though the leading misfortune of thia
unfortunate summer, was not the only one. Word, as we have
stated, had been sent through the kindness of some friend, under
a frank from the American Secretary of the Treasury, informing
the British commander at St, Joseph, of the declaration of war ;
while Lieut, Hanks, commanding the American fortress at Macki
nac, received no notice from any source.
The consequence was an attack upon the key of the northern
lakes, on the 17th of July, by a force of British, Canadians, and
savages, numbering in all, one thousand and twenty-one : the gar
rison amounting to but fifty-seven effective men, felt unable to
withstand so formidable a body, and to avoid the constantly threat
ened Indian massacre, surrendered as prisoners of war, and were
dismissed on parolcf

*M'Afoe, from 85 to 02. Armstrong's Notices, i. 26 to 33 ; ibid. i. Appendix, No. 10.
f For tho British account of Hull's surrender, see Niles' Register, iii. 14, 33, 266 to 268.

1812. INDIANS THREATEN FORT DEARBORN. 863
Leaa fortunate in its fate waa the garrison of Fort Dearborn at
Chicago. The Indiana in northern Hlinoia, and the country bordering on
Lake Michigan, had manifeated hostile feelings toward the Ameri
cans even before the battle of Tippecanoe. Governor Edwards,
who was indefatigable in his efforta to protect the settlements, em
ployed trusty Frenchmen, who had traded with these Indians, and
who could still pass under that guise, as spies in the Indian country.
Their communications, in a plain unlettered style, have been ex
amined on the files of the State Department of Illinois, They are
often particular and minute in giving the position of Indian vil
lages, number of the braves, sources from whence they received
their supplies, the names of head men, and other details.
These facts, at short intervals, were communicated by the Gover
nor to the War Department, as proofs that the Indians were hostile,
and were urged in his repeated applications to the War Depa,rtment
for protection to the inhabitants of that frontier territory.
A small trading post had been established at Chicago in the
period of the French explorations, but no village fottned. It waa
one of the thoroughfares in the excursions of botn traders and
Indiana, By the treaty of Greenville, in 1795, negotiated with
the Pottawattamies, Miamies, and other northern tribes, they
agreed to relinquiah their right to "one piece of land six miles
square, at the mouth of Chicago river, emptying into the south
west end of Lake Michigan, where a fort formerly stood."*
In 1804, a amall fort waa erected here by the United Statee gov
ernment. It atood on the apot where the fort etood in 1833, but
it was differently conatructed, having two " block houses on the
aouthern aide, and on the northern side, a aally-port, or subterra
nean passage from the parade ground to the river," f It was
called Fort Dearborn.
The officers in 1812, were Captain  Heald, the command
ing officer. Lieutenant Helm, and Ensign Ronan, (the two last
very young men,) and the surgeon, Dr, Voorhees, with seventy-
five men, very few of whom were effective.
Friendly intercourse had existed between these troops and indi
viduals and bands of neighboring Indians, The principal chiefs
and braves of the Pottawattamie nation visited Fort Maiden on
the Canada side annually, received presents to a large amount.

*Indian Treatiea, Washington, 1826, p. 51.
f Kinzie's Narrative.

864 GARRISON ORDERED TO LEAVE FORT DEARBORN. 1812.
and were in alliance with Great Britain. Many Pottawattamies,
Winnebagoes, Ottawas, and Shawanese were in the battie of Tip
pecanoe, yet the principal chiefs in the immediate vicinity were on
amicable terms with the Americans, and gave proof of it, by their
rescue of those who were saved.
Besides those persons attached to the garrison, there was the
family of Mr. Kinzie, who had been engaged in the fur trade at
that spot from 1804, and a few Canadians, or engages, with their
wives and children, who were attached to the same estabUsh
ment. On the afternoon of the 7th of August, Winnemeg, or Catfish, a
trust-worthy Pottawattamie chief, arrived at the post, bringing dis
patches from Governor Hull, the commander-in-chief These dis
patches announced the declaration of war between the United
States and Great Britain ; furthermore, and that the British troops
had already taken Mackinac.
His orders to Captain Heald were, "to evacuate the post if prac
ticable, and, in that event, to distribute the property belonging to
the United States, in the fort, and in the factory or agency, to the
Indians in the neighborhood."
"After having delivered his dispatches, Winnemeg requested a
private interview with Mr. Kinzie, who had taken up Ms residence
in the fort. He stated to Mr. Kinzie that he was acquainted with
the purport of the communications he had brought, and begged
him to ascertion if it were the intention of Captain Heald to evacu
ate the post. He advised strongly that such a step should not be
taken, since the garrison was well supplied with ammunition, aud
with provision, for six months; it would, therefore, he thought, be
far better to remain until a reinforcement could be sent to their
assistance. If, however. Captain Heald should decide on leaving
the post, it should, by aU means, be done immediately. The Pot
tawattamies, through whose country they must pass, being igno
rant of Winnemeg's mission, a forced march might be made before
the hostile Indians were prepared to interrupt them.
" Of this advice, eo earnestly given. Captain Heald was immedi
ately informed. He replied that it was Ms intention to evacuate
the post, but that inasmuch as he had received ordera to distribute
the United Statea property, he ahould not feel juatified in leaving
until he had collected the Indiana in the neighborhood, and made
an equitable division among them.
"Winnemeg then suggested the expediency of marching-out and
leaving all things standing— poaaibly, while the aavagea were

1812. GARRISON ORDERED TO LEAVE FORT DEARBORN. 865
engaged in a partition of the spoils, the troops might effect their
retreat unmolested. Thia advice was atrongly seconded by Mr.
Kinzie, but did not meet the approbation of the commanding
officer. "The order for evacuating the post was read next morning upon
parade. It is difficult to understand why Capt. Heald, in such an
emergency, omitted the usual form of calling a council of war, with
his officers. Perhaps it arose from a want of harmonious feeling
between himself and one of his subalterns — ^Ensign Ronan — a high-
spirited and somewhat overbearing, but brave and generous young
man. In the course of the day, finding no council was called, the
officers waited upon Capt. Heald, to be informed what course he
intended to pursue. When they learned his intention to leave the
post, they remonstrated with him upon the following grounds :
"First. It was highly improbable that the command would be
permitted to pass through the countty in safety, to Fort Wayne.
For, although it had been said that some of the chiefs had opposed
an attack upon the fort, planned the preceding autumn, yet, it was
well known that they had been actuated in that matter by motives
of private regard to one family, and not to any general friendly
feeling toward the Americans ; and that, at any rate, it was hardly.
to be expected that these few individuals would be able to control
the whole tribe, who were thirsting for blood.
"In the next place, their march must necessarily be slow, aa
their movements must be accommodated to the helplessness of the
women and children, of whom there were a number with the
detachment. That of their small force, some of the soldiers were
superannuated and others invalid ; therefore, since the course to be
pursued was left discretional, Iheir advice was to remain where
they were, and fortify themselves as strongly as possible. Succors
from the other side of the peninsula might arrive before they could
be attacked by the British frorn Mackinac, and even should there
not, it were far better to fall into the handa of the latter, than to
become the victims of the savages.
" Capt. Heald argued in reply, ' that a special order had been
iaaued by the War Department, that no poat ahould be surrendered
without battle having been given ; and that his force was totally
inadequate to an engagement with the Indians. That he should,
unquestionably, be censured for remaining, when there appeared a
prospect of a safe march through, and that upon the whole, he
deemed it expedient to assemble the Indians, distribute the property
among them, and then ask of them an escort to Fort Wayne, with

866 OFFICERS OF FORT DEARBORN DISAGREE, 1812,
the promise of a considerable reward upon their safe arrival-
adding, that he had full confidence in the friendly professions of
the Indians, from whom, as well as from the soldiers, the capture
of Mackinac had been kept a profound secret,'
"From this time the officers held themselves aloof, and spoke
but littie upon the subject, though they considered the project of
Capt, Heald Uttie short of madness. The dissatisfaction among
the soldiers hourly increased, until it reached a high degree of
insubordination. Upon one occasion, as Capt, Heald was conver
sing with Mr, Kinzie, upon the parade, he said, 'I could not
reniain,^even if I thought it beat, for I have but a amall store of pro
visions, ' ' Why Captain, ' said a soldier, who stood near, forgetting
aU etiquette, in the excitement of the moment, 'you have cattie
enough to last the troops six months,' ' But,' replied Capt Heald,
' I have no salt to preserve the beef with,' ' Then jerk it,' said the
man, 'as the Indians do their venison,'
" The Indians now became daily more unruly. Entering the fort
in defiance of the sentinels, they made their way without ceremony
into the quarters of the officers. On one occasion, an Indian took
up a rifie and fired it in the parlor of the commanding officer, as an
expression of defiance. Some were of opinion, that this was
intended, among the young men, as a signal for an attack. The
old chiefs passed backward and forward, among the assembled
groups, with the appearance of the most lively agitation, while the
, squaws rushed to and fro in great excitement, and evidently pre
pared for some fearful scene.
"Any further manifestation of ill-feeling was, however, sup
pressed for the present, and Capt. Heald, strange as it may seem,
continued to entertain a conviction of his having created so ami
cable a disposition among the Indians, as would ensure the safety
of the command, on their ma,rch to Fort Wayne."
During thia excitement amongat the Indiana, a runner arrived
with a meaaage from Tecumthe, with the news of the capture of
Mackinac, the defeat of Van Home, and the retreat of Gen, Hull
from Canada, He desired them to arm immediately, and intimated
that he had no doubt but Hull would soon be compelled to
surrender. In this precarious condition, matters remained until the 12th of
August, when a council was held with the Indians who coUected
from the vicinity. None of the military officers attended but Capt,
Heald, though requested by him. They had been informed that it
waa the intention of the young chiefe to maasacre them in council,

1812, CAPTAIN WELLS ARRIVES AT THE FORT, 867
and eoon ae the commander left the fort, they took command of
the block houees, opened the port holes and pointed the loaded
cannon so as to command the whole council, Tlys, probably,
caused a postponement of their horrid designs.
The captain informed the councU of his intentions to distribute
the next day, among them, all the goods in the atorehouae, with the
ammunition and proviaiona. He requeated the Pottawattamies to
furnish him an escort to Fort Wayne, promiaing them a liberal re
ward upon their arrival there, in addition to the liberal preaents
they were now to receive. The Indians were profuse in their pro
fessions of good will and friendship, assented to all he proposed,
and promised all he desired. The result showa the true character
of the Indiana, No act of kindness, nor offer of reward, could as
suage their thirst for blood,
Mr, Kinzie, who understood well the Indian character, and their
designs, waited on the commander, in the hope of opening his eyea
to the appalUng danger. He told him the Indians had been se
cretly hostile to the Americans for a long time ; that since the bat
tle of Tippecanoe he had dispatched orders to all his traders, to
furnish no ammunition to them, and pointed out the wretched
policy of Captain Heald, of furnishing the enemy with arms and
ammunition to destroy the Americans, This argument opened
the eyes of the commander, who was struck with the impolicy, and
resolved to destroy the ammunition and liquor.
The next day, (13th,) the goods, consisting of blankets, cloths,
painta, &c., were diatributed, but at night the ammunition waa
thrown into an old well, and the caaks of alcohol, including a large
quantity belonging to' Mr, Kinzie, was taken through the sally-port,
their heads knocked in, and the contents poured into the river.
The Indians, ever watchful and suspicious, stealthily crept around,
and soon found out the loss of their loved "fire-water."
On the 14th, Captain Wells departed vrith fifteen friendly Mi
amies. He was a brave man, had resided among the Indians from
boyhood, and knew well their character and habits. He hadlieard
at Fort W'ayne, of the order of General HuU to evacuate Fort Dear
born, and knowing the hostile intentions of the Pottawattamies, he
had made a rapid march through the wUderness, to prevent, if pos
sible, the exposure of his sister, Mrs. Heald, the officers and
garriaon, to certain deatruction. But he came too late ! The am
munition had been destroyed, and on the provisions the enemy was
rioting. His only alternative was to hasten their departure,
and every preparation was made for the march of the troops next
morning.

868 A SECOND COUNCIL WITH THE INDIANS, 1812.
A second council was held with the Indians in the afternoon.
They expressed great indignation at the destruction of the ammu
nition and liquor. Murmurs and threats were heard from evety
quarter. Among the chiefs and braves were several, who, although they
partook of the feeUngs of hostility of their tribe to the Americans,
retained a personal regard for the troops, and the white famiUes in
the place. They exerted their utmost influence to allay the angty
feelings of the savage warriors ; but their efforts were in vain.
Among these was Black Partridge, a chief of some distinction.
The evening after the second councU, he entered the quarters of
the commanding officer, "Father," said the venerable chief, "I
come to deliver up to you the medal I wear. It was given 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," The reaerved ammunition, twenty-five rounds to a man, was now
distributed. The baggage wagons for the sick, the women and
children, were ready, and, amidst the surrounding gloom, and the
expectation of a fatiguing march through the wilderness, or a dis
astrous issue on the morrow, the whole party, except the watchful
aentinels, retired for a little rest.
The fatal morning of the 15th of August arrived. The sun shone
out in brightness as it arose from the glassy surface of the lake.
The atmosphere was balmy, and could the feelings of the party
have been relieved from the most distressing apprehensions, they
could have departed with exhilarating feelings.
Early in the morning a message was received by Mr. Kinzie,
from To-pe-nee-be, a friendly chief of the St Joseph's band, inform
ing him that the Pottawattamiea, who had promiaed to be an escort
to the detachment, designed mischief Mr, Kinzie had placed his
family under the protection of some friendly Indians, This party,
in a boat, consisted of Mrs, Kinzie, four young chUdren, a clerk of
Mr, Kinzie's, two servants, and the boatmen, or voyageurs, with two
Indians as protectors. The boat was intended to pass along the
Bouthern end of the lake to St, Joseph's, Mr, Kinzie and his eldest
aon a youth, had agreed to accompany Captain Heald and the
troops, as he thought his influence over the Indians would enable
him to restrain the fury of the savages, ae they were much attached
to him and Me family.

1812, SOLDIERS AND FAMILIES LEAVE FORT DEARBORN, 869
To-pe-nee-be urged him and his son to accompany his family in
the boat, assuring him the hostile "Indians would allow his boat to
pass in safety to St, Joseph's,
The boat had scarcely reached the lake, when another messenger
from this friendly chief arrived to detain them where they were.
The reader is left to imagine the feelings of the mother. " She waa
a woman of uncommon energy and strength of character, yet her
heart died within her as she folded her arms around her helpless
infants." And when she heard the discharge of the guns, and the
shrill, terrific warwhoop of the infuriated savages, and knew the
party, and most probably her beloved husband and first born son
were doomed to destruction, language haa not power to deecribe
her agony !
At nine o'clock, the troops, with the baggage wagons, left the
fort with martial music, and in military array. Captain Welle, at
the head of hie band of Miamies, led the advance, with his face
blackened after the manner of Indians, The troops, with the
wagons, containing the women and children, the eick and lame,
followed, while at a little distance behind, were the Pottawatta
mies, about five hundred in number, who had pledged their honor
to escort them in safety to Fort Wayne, The party took the road
along the lake shore.
On reaching the point where a range of sand hills commenced,
(within the present limits of Chicago city,) the Pottawattamies
defiled to the right into the prairie, to bring the sand hills between
them and the Americans, They had marched about a mile and a
half from the fort, when Captain Wells, who, with his Miamies,
was in advance, rode furiously back, and exclaimed,
"They are about to attack us: form instantly and charge upon
them," The words were scarcely uttered when a volley of balls, from
Indian muskets, behind the sand MUs, poured upon them. The
troops were hastily formed into lines and charged up the bank.
One man, a veteran soldier of seventy, fell as they mounted the
bank. The battle became general. The Miamies fled at the
outset, though Captain Wells did his utmost to induce them to
stand their ground. Their chief rode up to the Pottawattamies,
charged them with treachery, and, brandishing his tomahawk, de
clared, "he would be the first to head a party of Americans and
puniah them," He then turned his horse and galloped after his
companions over the prairie.
The American troops behaved most gallantly, and sold their

^•^ MASSACRE NEAR CHICAGO, 1812.
lites dearly. Mrs, Helm, the wife of Lieutenant Helm, who waa in
the action, behaved' with astonishing presence of min(J, (as did all
the other females) and furnished Mr, Kinzie with many thrilling
facts, from which are made the following extracts :
"Our horses pranced and bounded and could hardly be restrain
ed, as the balls whistied around them, I drew off a little and
gazed upon my husband and father, who were yet unharmed, I
felt that my hour was come, and endeavored to forget those I
loved, and prepare myself for my approaching fate,
"While I was thus engaged, the surgeon, Dr, V,, came up ; he
was badly wounded. His horse had been shot under him, and he
had received a ball in his leg. Every muscle of his countenance
was quivering with the agony of terror. He said to me, 'Do you
think they will take our lives ? I am badly wounded, but I think
not mortally. Perhaps we might purchase our lives by promising
them a large reward. Do you think there is any chance ?'
" 'Dr. V.' said I, 'do not let us waste the few moments that yet
remain to us, in such vain hopes. Our fate is inevitable. In a
few moments we must appear before the bar of God. Let us en
deavor to make what preparation is yet in our power.' 'Oh! I
cannot die!' exclaimed he, 'I am not fit to die— if I had but a
short time to prepare — death is awful!' I pointed to Ensign
Ronan, who, though mortally wounded, and nearly down, was still
fighting with desperation, upon one knee.
" 'Look at that man,' said I, ' at least he dies like a soldier !'
"'Tea,' replied the unfortunate man, with a convulsive gasp,
'but he has no terrors of the future — ^he is an unbeliever!'
"At this moment, a young Indian raised his tomahawk at me.
By springing aside, I avoided the blow which was aimed at my
skull, but which alighted on my shoUlder, I seized him around
the neck, and while exerting my utmost efforts to get possession
of his scalping knife, which hung in a scabbard over his breast^
was dragged from his grasp by another and an older Indian,
" The latter bore me, struggling and reeiating, toward the lake,
Notwithatanding the rapidity with which I waa hurried along, I
recognized, as I passed them, the lifelese remaine of the unfortu
nate surgeon. Some murderoua tomahawk had atretched him upon
the vety epot where I had laet eeen him,
"I was immediately plunged into the water, and held there with
a forcible hand, notwithstanding my resistance. I eoon perceived^
however, that the object of my captor wae not to drown me, as he
held me firmly in auch a poaition ae to place my head above the

1812. MASSACRE NEAR CHICAGO, 871
water, Thia reassured me, and regarding him attentively, I soon
recognized, in spite of the paint with which he was dieguieed. The
Black Partridge,
"When the firing had aomewhat subsided, my preserver bore
me from the water, and conducted me up the sand banks. It was
a burning August morning, and walking through the sand in my
drenched condition, waa inexpreasibly painful and fatiguing. ^ I
stopped and took off my shoes, to free them from the aand, with
which they were nearly fiUed, when a aquaw seized and carried
them off, and I waa obliged to proceed without them. When we
had gained the prairie, I was met by my father, who told me that
my huaband waa eafe, and but eUghtly wounded. They led me
gentiy back toward the Chicago river, along the southern bank of
which waa the Pottawattamie encampment At one time I was
placed upon a horse without a saddle, but eoon finding the motion
insupportable, I aprang off. Supported partiy by my kind conduc
tor, and partly by another Indian, Pee-so-tum, who held dangling
in hia hand the acalp of Captain WeUs, I dragged my fainting
atepa to one of the wigwame,
" The wife of Wau-bee-nee-mah, a chief from the IlUnoie river, was
standing near, and aeeing my exhausted condition, she aeized a
kettle, dipped up some water from a little stream that flowed near,
threw into it some maple sugar, and etirring it up with her hand,
gave it to me to drink, Thia act of kindneaa, in the midst of so
many atrocities, touched me most sensibly, but my attention was
aoon diverted to another object. The fort had become a scene of
plunder, to such aa remained after the troopa had marched out.
The cattle had been ahot down aa they ran at large, and lay dead
or dying around,
" Aa the noiae of the firing grew gradually lesa, and the strag-
glere from the victorious party dropped in, I received confirmation
of what my father had hurriedly communicated in our rencontre on
the lake ahore ; namely, that the whitea had aurrendered, after the
losa of about two-thirda of their number. They had stipulated for
the preaervation of their Uvea, and those of the remaining women
and children, and for their delivety at some of the British posts,
unlese raneomed by tradera in the Indian country. It appears that
the wounded priaonera were not conaidered as included in the
stipulation, and a horrible scene occurred upon their being brought
into camp.
" An old aquaw, infuriated by the loss of friends, or excited by
the eanguinary scenee around her, aeemed posseased by a demoniac

°'2 MASSACRE NEAR CHICAGO, 1812,
ferocity. She seized a stable fork, and assaulted one miserable vic
tim, who lay groaning and writhing in the agony of his wounds,
aggravated by the scorching beams of the sun. With a delicacy of
feeling scarcely to have been expected under such circumstances,
Wau-bee-nee-mah stretched a mat across two poles, between me and
this dreadful scene, I was thus spared, in some degree, a view of
its horrors, although I could not entirely close my ears to the cries
of the sufferer. The foUowing night, five more of the wounded
prisoners were tomahawked,"
But why dweU upon this painful subject? Why describe the
butchety of the children, twelve of whom, placed together in one
baggage wagon, feU beneath the merciless tomahawk of one young
savage? This atrocious act was committed after the whitea,
twenty-seven in number, had aurrendered. When Capt. Wells
beheld it, he exclaimed, "Is that their game? Then I wiU kiU
too ! " So saying, he turned his horse's head, and started for the
Indian camp near the fort, where had been left their squaws and
children. Several Indians pursued him, firing at him as he galloped along.
He laid himself fiat on the neck of his horse, loading and firing in
that position. At length the balls of his pursuers took effect, kill
ing his horse, and severely wounding himself. At this moment he
was met by Winnemeg and WaUrban-see, who endeavored to save
him from the savages who had now overtaken him ; but as they
supported him along, after having disengaged him from his horse,
he received his death-blow from one of the party, [Pee-so-tum,)
who stabbed him in the back.
The heroic resolution of one of the soldier's wives deserves to be
recorded. She had, from the first, expressed a determination never
to fall into the hands of the aavagea, believing that their priaonera
were alwaya aubjected to torturea worae than death. When, there
fore, a party came up to her, to make her priaoner, ahe fought with
deaperation, refusing to surrender, although assured of safe treat
ment, and literally suffered herself to be cut to pieces, rather than
become their captive.
The heart of Capt, Wells was taken out, and cut into pieces, and
distributed among the tribes. His mutilated remains remained
unburied until next day, when Billy Caldwell gathered up his head
in one place, and mangled body in another, and buried them in the
sand. The family of Mr, Kinzie had been taken from the boat to their
home, by friendly Indians, and there strictly guarded. Very aoon

1812, MASSACRE NEAR CHICAGO, 873
a very hostile party of the Pottawattamie nation arrived from the
Wabash, and it required all the skill and bravery of Black Part
ridge, Wau-ban-see and Billy Caldwell, (who arrived at a critical
moment,) and other friendly Indians, to protect them. Runners
had been aent by the hostUe chiefs to aU the Indian villages, to
appriae them of the intended evacuation of the fort, and of their
plan of attacking the troops. In eager thirst to participate in such
a scene of blood, but arrived too late to participate in the massacre,
they were infuriated at their disappointment, and sought to glut
their vengeance on the wounded and prisoners.
On the third day after the massacre, the family of Mr, Kinzie,
with the attaches of the establishment, under the care of Francois,
a half-breed interpreter; were taken to St. Joseph's in a boat, where
they remained until the following November, under the protection
of To-pe-ne-be, and hie band. They were then carried to Detroit,
under the escort of Chandonnai, and a friendly chief by the name of
Kee-po-tah, and, with their seiwants, delivered up, as prisoners of
war, to the British commanding officer.
Of the other prisoners. Captain Heald and Mrs, Heald were sent
across the lake to St, Joseph's, the day after the battle. Captain
Heald had received two wounds, and Mrs, Heald seven, the ball of
one of which was cut from her arm by Mr, Kinzie, with a pen
knife, after the engagement,
Mrs, H, was ransomed on the battle field, by Chandonnai, a half
breed from St, Joseph's, for a mule he had just taken, and the
promise of ten bottles of whisky.
Captain Heald was taken prisoner by an Indian from the Kanka
kee, who, seeing the wounded and enfeebled state of Mrs, Heald,
generously released his prisoner, that he might accompany his wife.
But when this Indian returned to his village on the Kankakee,
he found that his generosity had excited so much dissatisfaction in
hia band, that he resolved to visit St. Joseph's and reclaim his
prisoner. News of hie intention having reached To-pe-ne-bee, Kee-
po-tah, Chandonnai, and other friendly bravee, they sent them in a
bark canoe, under the charge of Bobinson, a half breed, along the
eastern side of Lake Michigan, three hundred miles, to Mackinac,
where they were delivered over to the commanding officer.
Lieutenant Helm was wounded in the action and taken prisoner,
and afterward taken by some friendly Indians to the Au Sable, and
from thence to St, Louis, and liberated from captivity through the
agency of the late Thomaa Forayth, Eaq,
Mra. Helm received a alight wound in the ankle ; had her horse
56

^'^^ OFFICIAL REPORT OF CAPTAIN HEALD, 1812,
ahot from under her; and after paesing the agonizing scenes des
cribed, went with the family of Mr, Kinzie to Detroit
The soldiers, with their wives and children, were dispersed
among the different vUlages of the Pottawattamies, upon the IlU
nois, Wabash, Rock River, and Milwaukie, The largest propor
tion were taken to Detroit and ransomed the following spring.
Some, however, remained in captivity another year, and experienced
more kindness than was expected from an enemy so merciless.
This event is given more in detail than many others, partly be
cause the locality is Chicago, where some individuals are still
living who passed through these terrible scenes; and partly to cor
rect a common notion prevailing amongst many humane and phi
lanthropic persons, that Indian hostilities always " commence by the
first aggressions of the whites," and that if the Indians are treated
kindly, they will " ever " be just and kind in return.
As a general rule this is true, but the narrative above related
affords one instance of a glaring exception.
The aborigines of this country were always rude savages ; sub
sisting chiefiy by fishing and hunting, and from the earliest
traditionary notice, were engaged in petty exterminating wars with
each other.
Delight in war and thirst for human blood is their " ruling pas
sion," The liberal distribution of goods and provisions, and the
promise of more ample rewards at Fort Wayne, by Captain Heald,
could not allay this passion. They gave their solemn pledge for
the protection of the party on their route to Fort Wayne, and sent
out runners to rally their friends to the massacre the same day.
Captain Heald, after escaping many dangers, wrote the following
dispatch from Pittsburgh, Pa,, on the 23d of October :
" On the 9th of August, I received orders from General Hull to
evacuate the post, and proceed with my command to Detroit, leav
ing it at my discretion to dispose of the public property as I thought
proper. The neighboring Indians got the information as early as
I did, and came from all quarters to receive the goods in the factoty
store, which they understood were to be given to them,
"On the 13th, Captain Welle, of Fort Wayne, arrived with about
thirty Miamiee, for the purpoee of eacorting ua in, by the request
of General Hull, On the 14th, I delivered to the Indians all the
goods in the factory store, and a considerable quantityof provi
sions, which we could not take away with us,
" The surplus arme and ammunition I thought proper to destroy,
fearing they would make bad use of them, if put in their possession.

1812, OFFICIAL REPORT OF CAPTAIN HEALD, 875
"I destroyed all the liquor on hand eoon after they began to collect.
The collection wae unusually large for that place, but they conducted
themselves with the strictest propriety, till after I left the fort
" On the 15th, at 9 o'clock, A. M,, we commenced our march — a
part of the Miamies were detached in front, the remainder in our
rear, as guards, under the direction of Captain Wells, The situa
tion of the countty rendered it necessaty for us to take the beach,
with the lake on our left, and a high bank on our right, at about
one hundred yards distance. We proceeded about a mile and a
half, when it was discovered the Indians were prepared to attack
us from behind the bank,
" I immediately marched the company up to the top of the bank,
when the action commenced ; after firing one round, we re-charged,
and the Indians gave way in front, and joined those on our fianks.
In about fifteen minutes, they got possession of all our horses, pro
vision and baggage of evety description, and, finding the Miamies
^did not aesist us, I drew off the few men I had left, and took pos
session of a small elevation in the open prairie, out of shot of the
bank or any other cover,
" The Indians did not follow me, but assembled in a body on the
top of the bank, and, after some consultation among themselves,
made signs to me to approach them, I advanced toward them
alone, and was met by one of the Pottawattamie chiefs, caUed the
Blackbird, with an interpreter,
"After shaking hands, he requested me to'surrender, promiaing
to spare the lives of all the priaonere. On a few moments' consid
eration, I concluded it would be the moat prudent to comply with
hie requeat, although I did not put entire confidence in hia prom-
iee. After delivering up our arms, we were taken back to their
encampment, near the fort, and distributed among the different
tribes. "The next morning they set fire to the fort, and left the place
taking the prisoners with them. Their number of warriore was
between four and five hundred, moetly of the Pottawattamie na
tion, and their loes, from the best information I could get was
about fifteen. Our strength was fifty-four regulars and twelve mU
itia, out of which twenty-six regulars, and aU the militia, were kiUed
in the action, with two women and twelve chUdren.
"Ensign George Ronan, and Doctor Isaac V. Van Voorheea of
my company, with Captain Welle, of Fort Wayne, are, to my great
sorrow, numbered among the dead.

876 SIEGE OF FORT HARRISON, 1812.
"Lieutenant Lina T, Helm, with twenty -five non-commiseioned
officers and privates, and eleven women and children, were prison
ers, when we separated,
" Mrs, Heald and myself were taken to the mouth of the river
St Joseph, and being both badly wounded, were permitted to re
side with Mr. Burnet, an Indian trader. In a few daya after our
arrival there, the Indians all went off to take Fort Wayne, and in
their absence I engaged a Frenchman to take us to Michilimacki
nack, by water, where I gave myself up as a prisoner of war, with
one of my sergeants.
" The commanding officer. Captain Robert, offered me every
assistance in his power to render our situation comfortable while
we remained there, and to enable us to proceed on our journey.
To him I gave my parole of honor, and reported myself to Colonel
Proctor, who gave us a passage to Buffalo ; from that place I came
by the way of Presqu' Isle, and arrived here yesterday."
"Thus, by the middle of August, the whole north-west with the
exception of Fort Wayne and Fort Harrison, was again in the
hands of the British and their red allies. Early in September, these
two posts were also attacked, and the latter, had it not been
defended with the greatest vigor, would have been taken,
" The fort was invested by a large body of Indians, some of whom
had aftected to be friendly, and had, the day before, intimated to
Captain Taylor, that an attack might soon be expected fr-om the
Prophet's party. On the evening of the 3d of September, two
young men were killed near the fort ; and the next day, a party of
thirty or forty Indians, from the Prophet's town, appeared with a
white flag, under pretense of obtaining provisions. Captain Tay
lor, suspecting an attack that night, examined the arms of his men,
and furnished them with cartridges. The garrison was composed
of no more than eighteen effective men, the commander and the
greater part of his company having suffered very much from sick
ness. For some time past, the fort had actually been considered
incapable of resisting an attack.
"About eleven o'clock, the night being very dark, the Indians had
set fire to one of the block houses unperceived. Every effort was
made to extinguish the flames, but without effect ; a quantity of
whisky amongst other stores belonging to the contractor, deposited
there blazed up, and immediately enveloped the whole in a flame.
"The situation of the fort became desperate; the yells of the
Indians the shrieks of a number of women and children within,

1812. HARRISON MADE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEP. 877
added to the horrors of the night, altogether produced a terrific
scene. Two soldiers, giving themselves up for lost, leaped over
the pickets, and one of them was instantly cut to piecea.
" The commander, with great preaence of mind, ordered the roofs
to be taken off the adjoining barracka ; thia attempt, with the assist
ance of Dr. Clarke, fortunately proved successful, although made
under a shower of bullets. A breastwork was then formed before
morning, six or eight feet high, so as to cover the space which
would be left by the burnt block house,
" The firing continued until daylight, when the Indians retired,
after suffering a severe loss ; that of the fort was only three killed
and a few wounded. The Indians, discouraged by the failure of
this attack, thought proper to retire, and made no further attempts,
until the place was happily relieved by the arrival of General Hop
kins. In consequence of his conduct. Captain Taylor was after
ward promoted to a majority." *
Before the surrender of Hull took place, extensive preparations
had been made in Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, to
bring into service a large and efficient army. Three points needed
defense. Fort Wayne and the Maumee, the Wabash, and the Illi
nois river; the troops destined for the first point were to be under
the command of- General Winchester, a Revolutionary officer resi
dent in Tennessee, and but little known to the frontier men ; those
for the Wabash were to be under Harrison, whose name, since the
battle of Tippecanoe, was familiar everywhere; while Governor
Edwards, of the Illinois territory, was to command the expedition
upon the river of the same name.
Such were the intentions of the government ; but the wishes of
the people frustrated them, and led, first, to the appointment of
Harrison to the command of the Kentucky volunteera, deatined to
assist Hull's army, and next to his elevation to the post of com
mander-in-chief over all the forces of the West and North-West;
this last appointment was made September 17th, and was notified
to the general on the 24th of that month.
Meantime, Fort Wayne had been relieved, and the line of the
Maumee secured, so that when Harrison found himself placed at
the head of military affaire in the Weat, hia main objects were, first, to
drive the Indians from the western eide of the Detroit river ; second,
to take Maiden ; and third, having thus secured his communica
tions, to rc'capture the Michigan territory and its dependencies,
* Brackenridge's History of the Late War,

878 VOLUNTEERS RENDEZVOUS AT VINCENNES, 1812.
The defeat of General Hull, and the victories of the British and
Indians in the North-West, produced an intense excitement among
the people in the Western States, and especially in Kentucky and
Ohio, where but one sentiment prevailed.
Every citizen in the States referred to, and of the territories of
Indiana and IlUnoie, and of Weetern Pennsylvania and Western
Virginia, seemed animated with but one desire — to wipe off the
disgrace with which our arms had been stained, and to avert the
desolation that threatened the frontiers of Ohio and the territories
beyond. In August, several regiments which had been raised in Ken
tucky, were directed to the aid of Indiana and lUinois. Vin
cennes was made the principal rendezvous, and General HopMns
was appointed the commander to march in that direction.
In the meantime, the Governor of Illinois, was active in raising
men and making preparations for an expedition against the hostile
Indians on the Illinois river. »
Colonel Russell, of the 17th United States regiment, was engaged
in raising companies of troops, denominated "Rangers," to co-oper
ate with Governor Edwards. Their place of rendezvous was near
the present town of EdwardsvUle, and named "Camp Russell,"
The concerted arrangement was, for General Hopkins, with
between four and five thousand mounted riflemen, to move up the
Wabash to Fort Harrison, cross over to the Illinois country,
destroy all the Indian villagea near the Wabash, march acrosa the
• prairiee to the head watere of the Sangamon and Vermillion rivere,
form a junction with the Illinois rangers under Governor Edwards
and Colonel Ruesell, and sweep over all the villages along the
Illinois river.
On the 29th of September, Hopkins wrote from Vincennes to the
Governor of Kentucky, thus: "My present intention is to attack
every Indian settlement on the Wabash, and destroy their pro
perty, then fall upon the Hlinois; and I trust, in all next month
to perform much service. Serious opposition, I hardly apprehend,
although I intend to be prepared for it."
No better account of this expedition can be given than the
general's diapatch to Governor Shelby, in October, as follows:
"Fort Harrison,  ,

"The expedition of the mounted riflemen has terminated. The
Wabash was re-crossed yesterday, and the whole corps are on their
way to Busseron, where the Adjutant-General will attend, in order

1812. GENERAL HOPKINS' DISPATCH. 879
to have them properly mustered and discharged, and where their
horsee may get forage during the delay necessary for this object
"Yes, sir, this army has returned, without hardly obtaining the
sight of the enemy. A simple narrative of facts, as they occurred,
will best explain the reasons that have led to this state of things,
.The army having finished crossing the Wabash on the 14th inst,,
marched about three miles and encamped. I here requested the
attendance of the general field-officers and captains, to whom I
imparted the objects of the expedition, and the advantages that
might result from a fulfillment of them. That the nearest Kicka
poo villages were from eighty to one hundred miles distant, and
Peoria not more than one hundred and sixty. By breaking up
these, or as many as onr resources would permit, we would be ren
dering a service to all the territories. That from their numbers,
this tribe was more formidable than any other near us; and from
their situation and hostility, had it more in their power to do us
mischief; of course to chastise and destroy these would be render
ing a real benefit to our country. It was observed by some
officers that they would meet the next morning, consult together,
and report to me their opinions — desiring at the same time, to be
furnished with the person on whom I had relied for intelligence of
the country,
"This council was held, and all the intelligence furnished that
had been requested, and I had a report highly favorable to the
enterprise. This to me was more gratifying, as I had found as
early as our encampment at Vincennes, discontents and murmur
ing, that portended no wish to proceed further. At Busseron I
found an evident increase of discontent, although no army was
ever better or more amply supplied with rations and forage than
ours at this place. At Fort Harrison, where we encamped on the
10th, and where we were well supplied with forage, &c., I found
on the 12th and 13th, many breaking and returning without apply
ing to me for a discharge ; and as far as I know, without any notifi
cation to their officers. Indeed I have evety reason to suppose the
officers of evety grade, gave no countenance to such a procedure.
" Thinking myeelf now eecure in the confidence of my brother
officers and the army, we proceeded on our march early on the
15th, and continued it four days ; our course being near north in
the prairie until we came to an Indian house where some corn, &c,
had been cultivated. The last day of the march to this place, I had
been made acquainted with a return of that spirit that had, as I had
hoped, subsided, and when I had ordered a halt near sunset (for

880 GENERAL HOPKINS' DISPATCH, 1812.
the first time that day) in a fine piece of grass in the prairie, to aid
our horses, I was addressed by one of the officers in the most rude
and dictatorial manner, requiring me immediately to resume
my march, or his battallion would break off from the army and
return. This was Major Singleton — I mention him in justice to
the other officers of that grade. But from every information, I
began to fear the army waited but for a pretext to return.
" This was afforded" the next day by our guides, who had thought
they had discerned an Indian village, on the side of a grove about
ten miles from where we encamped on the fourth night of our
march, and turned us about six or eight miles out of our way. An
almost universal discontent seemed to prevail, and we took our
course in such a direction as we hoped would best atone for the
error, in the morning. About, or after sunset, we came to a thin
grove affording water; here we took up our camp, and about this
time arose one of the most violent gusts of wind, I ever remember
to have seen, not proceeding from clouds. The Indians had set
fire to the prairie, which drove on us eo furiously, that we were
compelled to fire around our camp, to protect ourselves,
"This seems to have decided the army to return, I was in
formed of it in so many ways, that early in the next morning,
(October 20th,) I requested the attendance of the general and field
officers, and stated to them my apprehensions, the expectations of
our country, the disgrace attending the measure, and the approba
tion of our own consciences,
"Against this I stated the weary situation of our horses, and the
want of provision, (which to me seemed only partial, six daya
having only paased since every part of the army, as waa believed,
was furnished with ten days in bacon, beef, or bread stuff") I ro-
quested the commandants of each regiment to convene the whole
of the officers belonging to it, and to take fully the sense of the army
on this measure, and report to commandants of brigades, who were
requested to report to me in writing ; adding that if five hundred
volunteers would turn out I would put myself at their head and
proceed in quest Of the towns, and the balance of the army might
retreat under the conduct of their officers, in safety to Fort Harri
son, In less time than one hour, the report was made almoat
nnanimoualy to return,
" I then requested that I might dictate the course to be pursued
that day only, which I pledged myself should not put them more
than six miles out of the way, my object being to cover the recon
noitering parties I wished to send out for the discovety of the

1812, GENERAL HOPKINS' DISPATCH, 881
Indian towna. About thia time, the troopa being paraded, I put
myself in front, took my course and directed them to follow me.
The columns moving off quite a contrary way, I sent Captain Tay
lor and Major Lee to apply to the officers leading the columna to
turn them ; they said it waa not in their power ; the army had
taken their course and would pursue it. Discovering great confu
sion and disorder in their march, I threw myself into their rear,
fearing an attack on those who were there from necessity, and con
tinued in that position the whole day,
" Neither the exhausted state of the horses, nor the hunger of the
men, retarded this day's march ; so swiftly was it prosecuted that
it was long before the rear arrived at the encampment. The
Generals Ray, Allen, and Ramsay, lent all their aid and authority,
in restoring our march to order, and so far succeeded as to bring on
the whole with much less loss than I had feared ; indeed, I had no
reason to think we were either followed or menaced by an enemy.
" I think we marched at least eighty or ninety miles in the heart of
the enemy's country; had he possessed a design to fight, opportunities
in abundance preeented. _ So formidable wae our appearance in the
prairie, and in the country (as I am told) never trod before by hoe-
tile feet, that it must impress the bordering tribes with a sense of
their danger. If it operates beneficially in this way, our labor will
not be altogether in vain. I hope the expense of this expedition
will be found less than usual on euch occaeione. I have con
sulted economy in evety instance ; subject only to real necessity has
been the expenditure. The forage has been the heaviest article.
To the officers commanding brigades, many of the field officers,
captains, &c,, my thanks' are due,
"Many of the old Kentucky veterans, whose heads are frosted by
time, are entitled to evety confidence and praiee their country can
bestow. To the adjutant quarter-master-general, and the members
of my own family, I feel indebted for ready, able, and manly sup
port, in every instance. Let me here include Major Du Bois, who
commanded the corpa of apiee. La Plant, aa likewise W. B. 
and L., interpreters and guidea, deaerve well of me, I am certain
we were not twenty milea from the Indian villages, when we were
forced to retire, and I have many reasons to prove we were in the
right way, I have myself (superadded to the mortification I felt at
thus returning) been in a bad state of health from first to last, and
am now so weak as not to be able to keep myself on my horse.
There are yet many things of which I wish to write ; they relate sub
stantially to prospective operations."

882 EXPEDITION OF BANGERS IN ILLINOIS. 1812,
" Toward the last of September, 1812, all the forces of United
Statee rangers, and mounted volunteera, to the number of three
hundred and fifty, were aaaembled at Camp Russell, and duly
organized, preparatory to marching against the Indians, and join
the army under Gen, Hopkins, Camp Russell was one mile and a
half north of EdwardsvUle, and then on the frontier,
" This little army being organized, and with their provisions for
twenty or thirty days packed on the horses they rode, (except in a
few instances, where pack horses were fitted out,) took up the line
of march in a northwardly direction,
"Captain Craig, with a small company, was ordered to take
charge of a boat, fortified for the occasion, with provision and sup
plies, and proceed up the Hlinois river to Peoria,
" This little army, at that time, was all the efficient force to pro
tect Illinois, We commenced the march from Camp Russell, on
the last day of September, At that period the Indians on the
Sangamon, Mackinac, and Illinois rivers, were both numerous and
hostile, "The route lay on the west side of Cahokia creek, to the lake
fork of the Macoupin, and across Sangamon river, below the forks,
a few miles east of Springfield, We left the Elkheart grove to the
left, and passed the Old Kickapoo village on Kickapoo creek, and
directed our course toward the head of Peoria lake. The old Kick
apoo village, which the Indians had abandoned, was destroyed. As
the army approached near Peoria, Governor Edwards dispatched
Lieutenant Peyton, James Reynolds, and some others, to visit the
viUage of the Peorias, but they made no discoveries,
"There was a village of the Kickapoos and Pottawattamies on
the eastern bluff of the Illinois river, nearly opposite the head of
Peoria lake,
" The troops moved with rapidity and caution toward the viUage,
and encamped for the night within a few miles of it. Three men
were sent by the governor to reconnoiter the position of the enemy, ^
and report to the commanding officer. This duty was performed
at considerable peril, but with much adroitness. Their position
was found to be about five miles from our troop, on a bluff, and
surrounded by swamps impassable by mounted men, and scarcely
by footmen. The swamps were not only miry, but at that time
covered with high grass and brushwood, so that an Indian could
not be discovered until within a few feet of Mm,
" The army marched under the bluff, that they might reach the
village undiscovered, but as they approached, the Indians with their

1812, EXPEDITION OP RANGERS IN ILLINOIS. 883
aquawa were on the retreat to their awamps. Instant pursuit was
given, and in a short distance from the village, horses, riders, arms
and baggage, were overwhelmed in the morass. It was a demo
cratic overthrow, for the governor and his horse shared the same
fate as the subaltern, or the private soldier. We were all literally
^swamped.' " A pursuit on foot was ordered, and executed with readiness,
but extreme difficulty. In thia chase many of the enemy were
killed, and at every step, kettles, mats, and other Indian property
were diatributed in the moraas,
" Captain Samuel Whiteside, with a party, pursued the scattered
enemy to the river, and several were shot in attempting to cross to
the opposite shore. So excited were the volunteers, that three of
them crossed the river on logs, to follow the retreating foe. The
Indians fied into the interior wilderness. Some of our men were
wounded, but none killed in the charge,
" On our return to the village, some children were found hid in
the ashes, and were taken to the settlement. After destroying
their corn and other property, and securing all their horses, we
commenced the homeward march. After traveling till dark to find
a good camping ground, the rain set in, and the night was dark.
Not knowing but that there were other Indian towns above, and
learning that the expedition of Gen, Hopkins had failed to meet
us, we apprehended danger from a night attack. Many of the sol
diers had lost their blankets and other clothing in the swamp, and
there was much suffering in camp that night,
"Captain Craig, who arrived at Peoria, with his boat, where he re
mained several days, waa repeatedly attacked by Indiana, but being
fortified and on hie own ground, sustained no damage. He returned
with the storea in aafety. The troopa marched back to Camp Rus-
eell, where they were diacharged,"*
General Hopkine did not immediately return with his disorderly
troops to Kentucky, Being determined to wipe off the disgrace of
hi?, prairie expedition, he remained at Fort Harrison until another and
better disciplined army was raiaed, which he led againat the Indi
ana on the upper Wabaah,
On the llth of November, Hopkine set out from Fort Harrison
with about twelve hundred men, while at the same time seven
boats, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Butler ascended
the river with supplies and provisions,
*Hon. John Reynolds, Belleville, 111.

884 HARRISON RECONNOITERS THE MAUMEE. 1812,
On the 19th, the army arrived at the Prophet's town, and imme
diately General Hopkins ordered Colonel Butier, with three
hundred men, to surprise the Indian towns on Ponce Passu creek.
When arrived at that stream, about dayUght, he found all the
villages evacuated.
One large Kickapoo town, containing one hundred and twenty
cabins, was burned, and all the winter provisions of corn in the
vicinity destroyed. No Indians were discovered until the 21st,
when they fired upon a small party, and killed one man.
The next day about sixty horsemen went to bury the dead, when
they were suddenly attacked, and eighteen men killed and wounded.
The Indians then evacuated their camp, and retreated.
The inclement season advancing rapidly, it was deemed prudent
to prepare for returning, especially as the ice in the river began to
obstruct the passage.
The good conduct of tMs detachment forms a favorable contrast
with Hopkins' first army, and proves that militia may in time be
trained to the discipline of the camp, so as to become efficient troops.*
This corps suffered exceedingly, many of them were sick, and, aa
the general said, " shoeless and shirtless " during the cold weather
of this season,
, The first step taken by Harrison after the relief of Fort Wayne,
was to reconnoiter, with two thousand men, the whole length of
Maumee river, to the head of Lake Erie,
He reached Forts Defiance and Deposit before the middle of
September, From these posts, which were partially invested by
the Indians, the latter immediately disappeared. Having given
aid to the feeble garrisons, Harrison, not thinking it advisable to
proceed to the rapids, until sufficiently strengthened by the arrival
of the other troops, returned with a portion of his command to
Fort Wayne before the 20th, where he found General Winchester,
with considerable reinforcements from OMo and Kentucky.
" This officer had been unexpectedly placed in command by the
president; on which General Harrison resolved to retire, and set
out on his return to Indiana, but was overtaken by a messenger,
with information of the subsequent arrangements by order of the
president. On the 23d he accordingly resumed the command,
" The day before his return. General Winchester had marched
for Fort Defiance, on his way to the rapids, the place of ultimate
*Brackenridge.

1812, WINCHESTER AT FORT DEFIANCE. 885
destination. His force consisted of a brigade of Kentucky militia,
four hundred regulars, and a troop of horse, in all about two
thousand men. The country which he was compelled to traverse,
opposed great difficulties, particularly in the transportation of
stores. Along the heads of the rivers which discharge themselves
into the Ohio in the south, and those which discharge themselves
into the lakes on the north, there is a great extent of flat land, fuU
of marshes and ponds, in which the streams take their rise. In
rainy seasons, particularly, it is exceedingly difficult to pass, the
horsee at every step sinking to the knees in mud. The ground
besides, is covered with deep forests and close thickets. To faciU
tate the paesage through this wilderness, each man was obliged to
carry provisions for six days,"*
Under these difficulties the march was very slow. From the
closeness of the thickets, the troops were under the necessity of
cutting open a road each day, and were not able to make more
than six to eight milea. They usually encamped at tMee o'clock
and threw up a breast work, to guard against a night attack. The
main body was preceded by a party of spies, and an advanced
guard of about three hundred men. The proximity of the Indians
was apparent on the march at various times, and several soldiers
were killed by them, although, with the stealthiness pecuUar to
savages, they never showed themselves.
Colonel Jennings having preceded the army with provisions, on
the 29th a messenger arrived from that officer, with the informa
tion, that having discovered Fort Defiance to be in possession of
the British and Indians, he had thought it prudent to land about
forty miles above that place, where he had erected a block house,
and was avraiting further orders. This was a sad disappointment
to the troops, who were by this time short of provisions, and had
hoped to fall in with Colonel Jennings at this point. A small de
tachment was sent to him, with orders to forward the provisions,
while the troops took possession of the fort, which was precipi
tately deserted by the British and Indians, who descended the
river. Soon after a brigade of Jennings' pack-horses arrived with
provisions, which gave new life and vigor to the half starved
army. General Winchester now remained at Fort Defiance for the
winter. Hia force, however, waa vety much reduced, by the expi-

* Brackenridge.

FAI-LURE OF HARRISON'S PLANS. 1812,
ration of the term of service of many of the volunteers, who re
turned, so that no more than about eight hundred men were left
to Mm,
Meanwhile, late in September, General Harrison proceeded in
person to Fort St, Mary's, and thence, on the 4th of October, to
Franklinton, on the Scioto river, which place he made Ms head
quarters, for the purpose of organizing his ulterior operations.
In pursuance of his plan for retaking Michigan, he made three
divisions of his troops, viz :
The right to march from Wooster, through Upper Sandusky, the
centre from Urbana, by Fort M' Arthur, on the heads of the Scioto,
and the left from St, Mary's, by the Au Glaize and Maumee — all
meeting, of course, at the Rapids.*
This plan, however, failed : the division of the left column, under
Winchester, deprived of its efficiency by a reduction of numbers,
and half worn out and starved, as has been seen, were lodged for
the winter at Port Defiance ; and the mounted men of the centre,
under General Tupper, unable to do any thing, partly from their
own want of subordination, but still more from the shiftlessness of
their commander, were resting idly at Fort M'Arthur, This con
dition of the troops, and the prevalence of disease among them,
together with the increasing difficulty of transportation after the
autumnal rains set in, forced upon the commander the conviction
that he must wait until the winter had bridged the streams and
morasses with ice ; and, even when that had taken place, he was
doubtful as to the wisdom of an attempt to conquer without vessels
on Lake Erie.
Thus, at the cloee of the year 1812, nothing effectual had been
done toward the re-conquest of Michigan.
Late in the month of November, General Harrison ordered a
detachment of six hundred men to march from hie head-quartera
at Franklinton, to deatroy the Indian towna on the Mississinewa
river, one of the tributaries of the Wabash. The detachment con
aisted of Colonel Simeral's regiment of Kentucky , volunteers ;
Major James Ball's squadron of United States dragoons ; Captain
John B. Alexander's company of riflemen, from Greensburg,
Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania; Captain Joseph Markle's
troop of horse from Westmoreland, Pennsylvania ; Captain James
Butler's light infantry company of Pittaburgh Bluee; Captain

* McAfee, 142, &c., 192, &c., at the latter reference Harrison's letter is given.

1812. EXPEDITION TO MISSISSINEWA. 887
Elliott's company of infantry ; Captain Garrard's troop of horse,
from Lexington, Kentucky ; Captain Pierce's troop of horse, from
ZanesviUe, Ohio; Lieutenant Lee'e detachment of Michigan
volunteers. These troops were commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel John B.
Campbell, of the nineteenth United States regiment. After great
hardships, in this inclement season of the year, in passing through
the wilderness, they reached the Mississinewa ajbout the middle of
December. This stream they followed downward, until arriving
within twenty miles of the first Indian town, when Col. Campbell
called a council of war, to ask the advice of his officers. Their
advice was to march all night, and take the enemy by surprise.
Just as they were entering the town, one of the Kentuckians gave
an Indian yell, which gave the alarm and prevented the surprise.
Notwithstanding this, eight warriors ,were killed, and forty-two
men, women and children taken prisoners. Pressing onward, they
destroyed three other towns lower down, and returned to the site
of the first. At this place, on the 18th of December, at five o'clock
in the morning, they were attacked by several hundred Indian
warriors, who were concealed in the edge of the forest, behind
some old fallen timbers, and opened a heavy fire on the troops.
The Americans at once sprang to their arms. The battle raged
until daylight ; the dragoons however, being instantly aided by the
Pittsburgh Blues, finally dislodged the enemy, who were then re
pulsed with great slaughter, and driven into the wooda. A number
of dead Indians were left on the battle ground; but the greateat
number of dead were probably carried off, according to the usual
practice of the Savages. The Americans had twelve killed and
about thirty wounded. They had also lost a great many horses,
for it being quite dark when the attack was firet made, so that they
could not distinctly see the enemy, they stood behind their horaes
until daylight, so that these were unavoidably sacrificed, as the
means of saving the lives of many soldiers.
The inclemency of the weather was now so great, and the troops
were laboring under eo many dieadvantages, being cumbered with
the wounded, and their priaonera, and short of horsee and provi
aiona, besides being apprehenaive of an attack in the rear from the
infuriated aavagea, who had been driven but not conquered by
General Hopkins, that they were obliged to return, without having
been able to reach or break up the principal Indian town. Carty-
ing their wounded on litters, they proceeded as quickly aa possible
to Greenville, which they reached on the 24th of December, and

888 EXPEDITION TO MISSISSINEWA. 1812.
thence by easy marches, by way of Dayton, Ohio, to winter
quarters. Their suffering had been very great; the roads were much
impaired by frost and snow.; the weather was very cold and pro
visions short. No less than one hundred and eighty men were
more or less frost-bitten.
Among the killed in the battle, were Captain Pierce, of Zanes
viUe, and Lieutenant Waltz, of Captain Markle's troop of horse,
from Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania.
The object of this expedition was to prevent the Indians from
having a place of safety from whence they could issue, and inter
rupt the intercouse between our settlements and Fort Wayne, then
occupied by our troops. It was to drive them further off to the
St. . Joseph's of Michigan, so that they could not waylay our
parties, as they were passing and re-passing between our settle
ments and troops, then concentrating on the Maumee river. This
object was in a great measure accomplished by it, and the bravery
and enduring fortitude of all composing it, officers and soldiers, is
worthy of the highest commendation. It has indeed been justly
called one of the beet conducted campaigns of 1812.*
In the summer of 1812, an expedition was in contemplation, for
the defense of the northern frontier, and although neither the order
for the same, nor its place of destination, are strictly within the
province of this work, yet as the movements were chiefiy Western,
and the men engaged in them were mostly from the west of the
Alleghenies, it is thought not to be inappropriate.
The following order was first issued by the Governor of Penn
sylvania : " Harbisburg, August 25th, 1812.
" The President of the United States having, through the Secre
taty of War and General Dearborn, under date respectively of the,
13th instant, required a detachment of two thousand militia, to be,
marched, with the least possible delay, from the north-western parts
of Pennsylvania to Buffalo, in the State of New York : duty and
feeling direct a prompt compliance with a requisition, giving scope
for action to the patriotism evinced by that portion of our citizen
soldiery who have volunteered their services, under general ordera
of the 12th of May laat, ' in substitution of the draft required of the
State.' *Atwater's History of Ohio.

1812. EXPEDITION OF PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS. 889
" For obvious reasons, the Adjutant-General has orders to deaig
nate for the aervice auch of the volunteers as can, with the least
possible delay, be marched to the scene of action; and is charged
with the organization of the detachment of two thousand men,
conformably to the following plan : The detachment to constitute
a brigade, to conaiat of four regimenta, and each regiment to con-
siat of two battaliona, to be arranged by the Adjutant-General at
the place of rendezvous.
" The general rendezvous will be at MeadviUe, to which place
the volunteers composing the detachment will march with the
requisite expedition, eo that they be there on the 25th day of Sep
tember next Apprized of the generally prevailing desire, that"
thoee appointed to command may be the choice of the commanded,
the governor authorizee and directe the officers and privates of the
detachment, on the day succeeding the 25th of September next, or
those who shall have previously arrive^, to elect, agreeably to the
rules prescribed by the militia law, one brigadier-general; each
regiment to elect a colonel-commandant ; each battalion one major.
" The brigadier-general to appoint his own brigade-major ; the
field-officers of each regiment shall appoint their respective regi
mental staffs. To accelerate the expedition in discharge of this
duty, the Adjutant-General will attend in person, and deliver to
the officers elect their respective commissions."
Pursuant to the foregoing ordera, moat of the volunteera imme
diately left their reepective bomea, and moved with great celerity,
many having arrived at MeadviUe, Pennsylvania, previoua to the
20th of September, where they had their rendezvous, and elected
their field officers — Adamson Tannehill being chosen brigadier-
general, On the 25th of October, three regimenta departed from Mead
viUe for Niagara ; but they were detained at Le Boeuf (Waterford)
until they were joined by the aecond regiment, from south-weatern
Pennsylvania, under Colonel Purviance, which was still in the rear,
^nd which did not overtake them for ten days. In the meantime,
they were also joined by aome acceaaione from Virginia, and two
compames from Baltimore.
About the latter pa.rt of November, they arrived at Buffalo,
where they were met by several hundred New York volunteers,
and a number of United Statea troopa. The whole force now
amounted to fbiir thousand fiye liundred men. Here they remained
some time, during which the qfficera were actively engaged in
drilling, equipping and organizing them for the intended enter-
67

890 CAMPAIGN CLOSES UNSUCCESSFULLY. 1812.
•
prise. The following account of the close of the campaign is
taken from Brackenridge's " History of the Late War."
" Seventy boats, and a number of scows, were prepared for the
reception of the ai-my, that they might be at once transported to
the Canadian shore. But, preparatory to the principal attack, two
detachments, one under Colonel Boerstler, and another under Cap
tain King, received orders to pass over before day ; the first, to
destroy a bridge about five miles below Fort Erie, and capture the
guard stationed there ; the other, to storm the British batteries.
Before they reached the opposite shore, the enemy opened a heavy
fire. The first detachment landed, and took some prisoners, but
failed in destroying the bridge. The other, under Captain King,
landed higher up, at the Red House, drove the enemy, and then
advanced to their batteries, which they stormed, and then spiked
the cannon.
"Lieutenant Angus, with a number of marines, accidentally sepa
rated from Captain King, and no reinforcements arriving from the
opposite side, they concluded that King and his party had been
taken prisoners, and therefore returned. The party of King, now
consisting of seventeen, besides Captains Morgan and Sprowl, and
five other officers, was in full possession of the works, while the
enemy was completely dispersed. Finding, at length, that they
could not expect to be supported, they resolved to return.
"But one boat could be found to transport them all. Captains
Sprowl and Morgan paaaed over with the prisoners ; leaving
Captain King, who was soon after, with his small party, surround
ed and taken prisoners. On the return of Captain Sprowl, Colonel
Winder was ordered to pass over with about three hundred men.
He instantly embarked and led the van, Hia own boat waa the
only one which touched the opposite shore, the others having been
swept down by the swiftness of the current,
"From various causes, the embarkation of the main body was re
tarded much beyond the appointed time, so that it was twelve
o'clock in the day, when about two thousand men were ready to
move. General TannehiU's volunteers, and Colonel M'Clure's
regiment, were drawn up ready for a second embarkation. The
enemy by this time had collected on the opposite shore, and ap
peared ready to receive them. The departure of our troops was,
in the most unaccountable manner, delayed until late in the after
noon, when orders were given to debark. Much murmuring and
discontent ensued ; which were in some measure silenced, by assu
rances that another attempt would be made.

1813. WINCHESTER DESCENDS THE MAUMEE, 891
"It wae now resolved to land about five miles below the navy
yard; and accordingly, on- Monday evening, the 29th, all the boats
were collected for the purpose. The whole body, with the excep
tion of about two hundred men, were embarked at four o'clock ;
the men conducting themselves with great order and obedience,
and affording every hope of success. Nothing was wanting but
the word to move ; when, after some delay, orders were suddenly
given for the whole to land, accompanied with a declaration, that
the invasion of Canada was given over for that season, while ar
rangements were made to go into winter quarters.
" One universal expression of indignation burst forth ; the greater
part of the mUitia threw down their arms, and returned to their
homes, and those who remained, continually threatened the life of
the general. Severe recriminations passed between him and General
Porter, who accused him of cowardice and unofficer-like deport
ment. General Smyth, in vindication of his conduct, alleged that
he had positive instructions not to risk an invasion with less than
three thousand men, and that the number embarked did not ex
ceed fifteen hundred. Be this as it may, great dissatisfaction was
produced through the countty, and his military reputation, from
that time, declined in public estimation.
"Throughout the whole of this year, we were continuaUy suf
fering the effects of our total want of experience in war. Every
thing seemed to baffie our calculations, and to disappoint our
hopes, particularly in our movements against Canada, although
many acts of gallantry were performed both by regulars and mili
tia." On the 10th of January, 1813, Winchester, with his troops, reached
1813.] the Rapids, General Harrison, with the right wing of the
army, being still at Upper Sandusky, and Tupper, with the centre,
at Fort M'Arthur, From the 13th to the 16th, messengers arrived
at Winchester's camp from the inhabitants of Frenchtown, on the
river Raisin, repreeenting the danger to which that place was ex
posed from the hostility of the British and Indiana, and begging for
protection. These representations and petitions excited the feelinga
of the Americana, and led them, forgetful of the- main objecta of
the campaign, and of military caution, to determine upon the atep
of aending a atrong party to the aid of the sufferers.
On the 17th, accordingly. Colonel Lewia was dispatched
with five hundred and fifty men to the river Raisin, and eoon
after. Colonel Allen followed with one hundred and ten more.

892 WINCHESTER'S DEFEAT AT FRENCHTOWN, 1813,
Marching along the frozen borders of the hay and lake, on the
afternoon of the 18th, the Americana reached and attacked the
enemy, who were posted in the village, and after a severe contest
defeated them. Having gained possession of the town. Colonel
Lewis wrote for reinforcements, and prepared himaelf to defend the
poaition he had gained. And it was evident that all his means of
defense would be needed, as the place was but eighteen miles
from Maiden, where the whole British force was collected under
Proctor, Winchester, on the 19th, having heard of the action of the pre
vious day, marched with two hundred and fifty men, which was
the most he dared detach from the Rapida, to the aid of the captor
of Frenchtown, which place he reached on the next evening. But
instead of placing his men in a secure position, and taking mea
sures to prevent the secret approach of the enemy, Winchester suf
fered the troops he had brought with him to remain in the open
ground, and took no efficient measures to protect himself from
surprise, although informed that an attack might be expected at
any moment. The consequence was, that during the night of the
21st, the whole British force approached undiscovered, and erected
a battery within three hundred yards of the American camp. From
this, before the troops were fairly under arms in the morning, a
discharge of bombs, balla, and grape-shot, informed the devoted
soldiers of Winchester, of the folly of their commander, and in a
moment more the dreaded Indian yell sounded on every side.
The troops under Lewis were protected by the garden pickets,
behind which their commander, who alone seems to have been
upon his guard, had stationed them ; those last arrived were, as has
been said, in the open field, and against them the main efbrt
of the enemy was directed. Nor was it long ao exerted without
terrible reaults ; the troopa yielded, broke and fled, bat under
a fire which mowed them down like grass, Winchester and
Lewis, (who had left his pickets to aid his superior officer,) were
taken prisonera. Upon the party who fought from behind their
alight defenaes, however, no impression could be made, and it was
not till Winchester waa induced to send them what waa deemed an
order to surrender,* that they dreamed of doing so.
Thia Proctor perauaded him to do by the old stoty of an Indian
maaaacre in case of continued reaiatance, to which he added a

*He says ho did Hot mean it for an order, but merely for advice.

1813, MASSACRE OK THE WOUNDED AT FRENCHTOWN. 893
promiae of help and protection to the wounded, and of a removal
at the earlieat moment ; without which laat promise the troopa of
Lewia refused to yield, even when required by their general. But
the promiae, even if given in good faith, was not redeemed, and the
horrors of the succeeding night and day will long be remembered
by the inhabitanta of the frontier. Of a portion of thoae horrors, a
description is here 'given, in the worda of an eye witneaa, who
served in the capacity of aurgeon in one of the Kentucky
regimenta: *
" On the morning of the 23d, ahortly after light, aix or eight In
diana came to the house of Jean Baptiste Jereaume, where I waa,
in company with Major Graves, Captains Hart and Hickman, Doc
tor Todd, and fifteen or twenty volunteers, belonging to different
corps. They did not molest any person or thing on their first ap
proach, but kept sauntering about until there was a large number
collected, (say one or two hundred,) at which time they commenced
to plunder the houses of the inhabitants, and massacre the
wounded prisoners. I waa one amongat the first that were taken
prisoners, and waa taken to a horse about twenty paces from the
houee, after being diveated of a part of my clothing, and commanded
by eigne there to remain for further orders. Shortly after being
there, I saw them knock down Captain Hickman at the door, to
gether with several others with whom I was not acquainted. Sup
posing a general massacre had commenced, I made an effort to get
to a house about one hundred yards distant, which contained a
number of wounded ; but on my reaching the house, to my great
mortification, found it surrounded by Indiana, which precluded the
possibility of my giving notice to the unfortunate victima of aavage
barbarity. "An Indian chief of the Tawa tribe, of the name of M'Carty,
gave me poaaession of hia horee and blanket, telling me by aigns to
lead the horse to the house which I had just before left. The Indian
that first took me, by this time came up, and manifested a hostile dis
position toward me, by raising hie tomahawk as if to give me the
fatal blow, which was prevented by my very good friend M'Carty.
On my reaching the house which I had first started from, I saw
the Indians take off several prisoners, which I afterward saw in the
road, in a most mangled condition, and entirely stripped of their
clothing.

*Dr. Gustavus M. Bower.

894 MASSACRE OF THE WOUNDED AT FRENCHTOWN. 1813.
"Messrs. Bradford, Searls, Turner, and Blythe, were coUected
round a carryall, which contained articles taken by the Indians
from the citizens. We had all been placed there by our respective
captors, except Blythe, who came where we were, entreating an In
dian to convey him to Maiden, promising to give him forty or fifty
dollars, and whilst in the act of pleading for mercy, an Indian more
savage than the other, stepped up behind, tomahawked, stripped,
and acalped him. The next that attracted my attention, waa the
houses on fire that contained several wounded, whom I knew were
not able to get out.
" After the houses were nearly consumed, we received marching
orders, and having arrived at Sandy creek, the Indians called a halt
and commenced cooking ; after preparing and eating a little
sweetened gruel, they gave some to Messrs. Bradford, Searls, Tur
ner, and myself, and we were eating, when an Indian came up and
proposed exchanging his moccasins for Mr. Searls' shoes, which he
readily complied with. They then exchanged hats, after M'hich
the Indian inquired how many men Harrison had with him, and at
the same time, calling Searls a Washington or Madison, then raised
Ms tomahawk and struck him on the shoulder, which cut into the
cavity of the body, Searls then caught hold of the towahaw k, and
appeared to resist, and upon my telling him his fate was inevitable,
he closed his eyes, and received the savage blow which terminated
his existence,
"I was near enough to him to receive the brains and blood, after
the fatal blow, on my blanket. A short time after the death of
Searls, I saw three others share a similar fate. We then set out
for Brownstown, which place we reached about twelve or one
o'clock at night. After being exposed to several hours incessant
rain in reaching that place, we were put into the councU house,
the floor of which was partly covered with water,, at which place we
remained until next morning, when we again received marching
ordera for their village on the river Rouge, which place we
made that day, where I waa kept six daya, then taken to Detroit
and sold."
Of the American army, which was about eight hundred strong,
one-third were killed in the battle and massacre which followed.
Less than forty escaped. The number taken prisoners on this oc
casion must have been unusual.
It has been justly charged against the British, that their leaving
the American prisoners in the hands, and at the mercy of the re
morseless savages, was an act of barbarous inhumanity. In exten-

1813. HARRISON RETREATS FROM THE MAUMEE, 895
nation it is alleged by them, that some of the American soldiers,
thinking no doubt to intimidate their foes, and thus to avert the
destruction that was awaiting them, had declared that General
Harrison, with a large force, was then at Otter creek, only a few
mUes distant, and advancing. This report was believed by the
British, who fled precipitately across the Detroit river to Fort
Maiden, for safety from this American succor, which they supposed
to be approaching; while the Indians, who probably had their spies
and emisaariea more generally about the country, and well knew
the falaity of the report, remained and continued the maasacre.
General Harrison, as has been stated, was at Upper Sandusky
• when Winchester reached the Rapids, On the night of the 16th,
word came to him of the arrival of the left wing at that point, and
of some meditated movement. He at once proceeded with all
speed to Lower Sandusky, and on the morning of the 18th, sent
forward a battalion of troops to the support of Winchester, On
the 19th he learned what the movement was that had been medi
tated and made, and with additional troops he started instantly
for the falls, where he arrived early on the morning of the 20th ;
here he waited the arrival of the regiment with which he had
started, but which he had outstripped. This came on the evening
of the 21st, and on the following morning was dispatched to French-
town, while all the troops belonging to the army of Winchester,
yet at the falls, three hundred in number, were also hurried on to the
aid of their commander. But it was, of course, in vain ; on that
morning the battle was fought, and General Harrison with his re
inforcements met the few survivors long before they reached the
ground. A council being called, it was deemed unwise to advance
any further, and the troops retired to the Rapids again : here,
during the night, another consultation took place, the result of
which was a determination to retreat yet further, in order to pre
vent the possibility of being cut off from the convoys of stores and
artillery upon their way from Sandusky. On the next morning,
therefore, the block-house which had been built was destroved,
together with the provisions it contained, and the troops retired to
Portage river, twenty miles in the rear of Winchester's position,
there to wait the guns and reinforcements which were daily ex
pected, but which, as it turned out, were detained by rains until
the 30th of January,
By this time. Governor Meigs having dispatched two regiments
to the assistance of Harrison, the latter again, on the 1st of Febru
ary, advanced to the Rapids, and immediately set about construct-

896 BRITISH AND INDIANS THREATEN A SIEGE, 1813,
ing a fort, which, in honor of the governor of Ohio, he named Fort
Meigs, To this point he ordered all the troops to concentrate aa
rapidly as possible.
Fortifications were at the same time conatructed at Upper San
dusky, by General Crooks, who commanded the Pennsylvania
militia. So far the military operations of the North-West had certainly
been sufficiently discouraging. The capture of MacMnac, the sur
render of Hull, the massacre of Chicago, and the overwhelmiiig
defeat of Frenchtown, are the leading events. The movements
of Winchester had entirely deranged the plans of Harrison, and
made it necessary to organize a new system.
He therefore returned to Ohio, for the purpose of obtaining addi
tional force from that State and Kentucky ; but about the 25th of
March he received information which haatened hia return to Fort
Meigs, " The enemy for some time past had been collecting in consid
erable numbers, for the purpoee of laying eiege to thia place, and
aa the new leviea had not yet arrived, the Pennaylvania brigade,
although its term of service had expired, generally volunteered for
the defense of the fort,"*
This is corroborated in the following account, given by General
Orr, of Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, which will at the same
time serve to illustrate the character of General Harriaon, and hia
power to win the good will of those under Ma command :
" Our brigade rendezvouaed at Pittsburgh on the 2d of October,
1812, under the command of General Crooks, destined to join the
North-Western army,
" At Upper Sandusky we were joined by a brigade of militia
from Virginia, commanded by General Leftwitch, and while there,
our commanding general received orders from Harrison, to send on
immediately, in advance, under the command of a major, all the
artillery, munitions, stores, &c,, and for our main army to follow in
a few days,
" I was ordered to take the charge and command of these, and
marched immediately, with about three hundred men,
"On the third or fourth day of our march, we were met by an
express from General Harrison, informing us of the disastrous de
feat of Winchester, at the river Raisin, and that he, Harrison, after

?Brackenridge.

1813. NOBLE CONDUCT OP PENNSYLVANIA MILITIA. 897
burning the public storea, had retreated to Portage or Cartying
river, where he required me to join him, wnth all poaeible diepatch,
and for the more rapid movemente of the troopa, I was required to
leave the artillery and all other heavy articlea in charge of an offi
cer. I aet out next morning, at three o'clock, and arrived at Por
tage river that aame day, in the evening. There for the first time
I saw and was placed under the command of General Harriaon.
" Here we remained until joined by the army from Upper San
duaky, and then moved on to the Rapids of Maumee, at which
place we continued until the expiration of our term of aervice.
" General Harrison now applied to thoae of the militia who were
about to return home, for volunteers, to serve for the period of fif
teen days, as within that time he expected reinforcementa of Ken
tucky volunteera and othera, and the fort would elaewiae be left
without sufficient men for its defense in case of an attack. Under
theae considerations, about two hundred of us Pennsylvanians volun
teered as desired^ all aa private soldiers, and when the time had
expired, which waa on the 19th of April, 1813, the expected rein
forcementa having arrived, we were discharged, and left the fort.
"At this time, several of the officers who had thus volunteered
the fifteen days, addressed a complimentary letter to the gen
eral, expressing our good wishes and confidence entertained for
him as our commander, to which he replied in the following
manner : " ' Camp Meigs, 17th AprU, 1813.
" ' The detachment of Pennsylvania militia, under command of
Major Nelson, which volunteered their services for fifteen days,
after the 2d inst., having performed their engagements, are
hereby honorably diacharged. The general, on behalf of the gov
ernment, givea hia thanks to Majors Nelson, Ringland, and Orr,
and every other officer, non-commissioned officer, and soldier of
this detachment, for their aervices and magnanimous conduct upon
thia occasion. The general ia too well convinced of the sacrifices
which many of them have made, by a procraatination of their re
turn home, at thia critical aeason Of the year, not to believe that
their conduct on this occasion was the result of the purest patriot
ism. The general wishes them all a speedy meeting with their
families, and a long continuance of that peace and happiness to
which they have so just a claim.' "
About the time that Harrison's unsuccessful autumnal and win
ter campaign drew to a close, a change took place in the War De
partment, and General Armstrong succeeded his incapable friend,

898 PLAN FOR A NEW CAMPAIGN. 1813.
Dr. Euetis. Armetrong's viewa were those of an able soldier; in
October, 1812, he had again addressed the government through
Mr. Gallatin, on the necessity of obtaining command of the lakes,*
and when raised to power, determined to make naval operations the
basis of the military movements of the North-West.
His views in relation to the coming campaign in the West, were
based upon two points, viz : the use of regular troops alone, and
the command of the lakes, which he was led to think could be ob
tained by the 20th of June.
Although the views of the secretary, in relation to the non-em
ployment of militia, were not, and could not be, adhered to, the
general plan of merely standing upon the defensive until the com
mand of the lake was secured, was persisted in, although it was the
4th of August, instead of the first of June, before the vessels at Erie
could leave the harbor in which they had been built.
Among these defensive operations of the spring and summer of
1813, that at Fort or Camp Meigs, the new post taken by Harrison
at the Rapids, and that at Lower Sandusky, deserve to be especiaUy
noticed. It had been anticipated that, with the opening of spring,
the British would attempt the conquest of the position on the
Maumee, and measures had been taken by the general to forward
reinforcements, which were detained, however, as usual, by the
spring freshets and the bottomless roads.
As had been expected, on the 28th of April, the English forces
began the investment of Harrison's camp, and by the 1st of May
had completed their batteries ; meantime, the Americans behind
their tents had thrown up a bank of earth twelve feet high, and
upon a basis of twenty feet, behind which the whole garrison with
drew the moment that the gunners of the enemy were prepared to
commence operations. Upon this bank, the ammunition of his
Majesty was wasted in vain, and down to the 5th, nothing was
effected by either party.
On that day. General Clay, with twelve hundred additional
troops, came down the Maumee in flatboats, and, in accordance
with orders received from Harrison, detached eight hundred men
under Colonel Dudley, to attack the batteries upon the left bank of
the river, while, with the remainder of his forces, he landed upon
the southern shore, and after some loss and delay, fought his way
into camp. Dudley, on his part, succeeded perfectly in capturing

¦"•Armstrong's Notices, i. 177, Note.

1813. FORT MEIGS BESIEGED. 899
the batteries, but instead of spiking the cannon, and then inetantiy
returning to hie boats, he suffered his men to waste their time, and
skirmish with the Indians, until Proctor was able to cut them off
from their only chance of retreat ; taken by surprise, and in disor
der, the greater part of the detachment became an easy prey, only
one hundred and fifty of the eight hundred escaping captivity or
death. This sad result was partially, though but littie, aUeviated by the
success of a sortie made from the fort by Col. Miller, in which he cap
tured and made useless the batteries that had been erected south of
the Maumee. The result of the day's doings had been sad enough for
the Americans, but stiU the British general saw in it nothing to
encourage him ; his cannon had done nothing, and were in fact no
longer of value ; his Indian aUies found it " hard to fight people
who Uved like ground hogs." News of the American successes
below had been received, and additional troops were approaching
from Ohio and Kentucky.
Proctor, weighing all things, determined to retreat, and upon the
9th of May, returned to Maiden.
Meanwhile, the work of ship building was vigorously going on
at Erie. " The northern frontier of Pennsylvania and Ohio was at
that time little better than a wilderness ; supplies and artisans had
to be brought from the Atlantic coast, and the timber for the
larger vessels was to be cut fresh from the forest." The rigging
for all the fieet was brought from Pittsburgh, where Commodore
Perry contracted for it in person, with John Irwin and Boyle Ir
win, who carried on the rope making separately at that place.
The Allegheny river this year continued in good keel boat order
until August, a circumstance so unusual, that it seems providential,
and thus means were afforded for the conveyance of the manufac
tured rigging to Erie, while, if the river had receded as low as
usual, the fieet could not have been rigged in time for the glorious
victory that was to follow.
About the same time, the followers of Proctor again approached
Fort Meigs, around which they remained for a week, effecting noth
ing, though very numerous. The purpose of this second investment
seems, indeed, rather to have been the diversion of Harrison's atten
tion from Erie, and the employment of the immense bands of Indi
ans which the English had gathered at Maiden, than any serious
blow ; and finding no progress made. Proctor next moved toward
Sandusky, into the neighborhood of the commander-in-chief. The
principal storea of Harriaon were at Sanduaky, while he was him-

900 croghan's defense op port STEPHENSON. 1813.
self at Seneca, and Major Croghan at Fort Stephenson, or Lower
Sandusky. Thie latter poet being deemed indefensible against
heavy cannon, and it being supposed that Proctor would of courae
bring heavy cannon, if he attacked it, the general, and a council of
war called by him, thought it wiseat to abandon it ; but before this
could be done, after the final determination of the matter, on the
31st of July, it waa rendered impoaaible by the appearance of the
enemy, who had aecretly aacended the Sandusky river, in open row
boats, temporarily conatructed for the purpose, and were ready for
immediate action.
The garriaon of the little fort was composed of one hundred and
fifty men, under a commander juat past his twenty-first year, and
with a single piece of cannon, while the investing force, including
Tecumthe'e Indiane, wae, it is said, three thousand three hundred
strong, and with six pieces of artillery, all of them, fortunately, light
ones. Proctor demanded a surrender, and told the unvarying story
of the danger of provoking a general massacre by the aavagea, unlesa
the fort was yielded; to all which the representative of young Croghan
replied by saying that the Indians would have none left to massacre,
if the British conquered, for every man of the garriaon would have
died at hia post Proctor, upon this, opened his fire, which being
concentrated upon the north-west angle of the fort, led the com
mander to think that it was meant to make a breach there, and
carry the works by assault : -he, therefore, proceeded to strengthen
that point by bags of sand and flour, while, under cover of night,
he placed hie single six pounder to rake the angle threatened, and
then, having charged his infant battery with slugs, and hidden it
from the enemy, he waited the event During the night of the Iat
of August, and tUl late in the evening of the 2d, the firing contin
ued upon the devoted north-west corner ; then, under cover of the
smoke and gathering darkness, a column of three hundred and fifty
men approached unseen, to within twenty paces of the walls. The
musketry opened upon them, but with little effect— the ditch waa
gained, and in a moment filled with men : at that instant, the
masked cannon, only thirty feet distant, and so directed as to sweep
the ditch, was unmasked and fired, killing at once twenty-seven of
the assailants. The effect was decisive ; the column recoUed, and
the Uttle fort was saved with the loss of one man. On the next
morning, the British and their allies, having the fear of Harrison
before their eyes, were gone, leaving behind them in their haste,
guns, stores, and clothing.
According to a British account of thie affair, the number engaged

1813. NAVAL ARMAMENT PREPARING AT ERIE. 901
on their aide is said to be far below that above atated. There were,
they aay, only four hundred regulara of the forty-firat regiment, and
three hundred Indians, with two six-pound cannon. There were
ninety to ninety-three killed at the fort, and in all about one hun
dred men loat.
The ahip building going forward at Erie during thie time had
not been unknown to, or diaregarded by the Engliah, who proposed
all in good time to deatroy the veasels upon which ao much de
pended, and to appropriate the atorea of the repubUcana: "The
ordnance and naval atorea you require," aaid Sir George Prevostto
General Proctor, " muat be taken from the enemy, whose resources
on Lake Erie muat become yours. I am much mistaken if you do
not find Captain Barclay diaposed to play that game." Captain
Barclay was an experienced, brave, and able seaman, and was wait
ing anxiouely for a eufficient body of troops to be spared him, in
order to attack Erie with success. A eufficient force wae promieed
him against July, at which time the Britiah fleet went down the
lake to reconnoiter, and if it were wiae, to make the propoaed at
tempt upon the Americans at Erie.
Perry, and hia gallant officers and men Were prepared to make
some resistance, even before the vesaels were built ; but hie main
protection wae from the north-weetern Pennsylvania militia, which
waa conatantly held in readineaa to repel any attack that might be
made : the county of Fine militia particularly, who were called nearly
every week during June and July.
Notwithstanding all this watchfulness, by a very extraordinaty
and happy coincidence, the Britiah had disappeared from the vicin
ity of the harbor at the very time when Perty was ready to take
hie new fleet over the bar. What wae the cause of their absence
haa never been aatisfeictorily ascertained. This, and the unusual
navigation of the Allegheny river, may be considered aa among the
fii'at circumetanees in the war, after a series of reverses, that were
favorable to the Americana.
On the 2d Of August, the fleet waa equipped, but tiiere being
difficulty in getting aome of the veasels over the bar, it required
two daya, (until the 4th,) to get them all dear. For .thia purpoae
it wae neceaaaty to dismount most of the guns, and to protect the
fleet at thia time, when it was in a most helpless condition, and
might otherwise have become a prey to the enemy, bad he been
on the epot, as anticipated, a vety large force of militia was col.-
lected in the vicinity, whose services, however, were fortunately
not needed.

902 PERRY MEETS AND ATTACKS THE ENEMY, 1813,'
Having eaUed on the 4th in quest of the enemy, and not flnding
him. Perry returned on the 8th, took in some reinforceniente, and
sailed again on the 12th ; on the 15th he anchored in the bay of San
dusky, After receiving some further reinforcements here, he again
set sail in quest of the enemy, and after cruising off Maiden, he
retired to Put-in-Bay, His fleet consisted of the brig Lawrence,
his flag vessel, of twenty gUns ; the Niagara, of twenty ; the Cale
donia, of three; the schooner Ariel, of four; the Scorpion, of two;
the Somers, of two guns and two swivels ; the sloop Trippe, and
schooners Tigress and Porcupine, of one gun each; amounting in
all to nine vessels, flfty-four guns, and two swivels. The British
had three vessels less than the Americana, but their superior size,
and the number of their guns, counterbalanced this advantage.*
On the morning of the 10th of September, our commander dis
covered the enemy bearing down upon him, and immediately
prepared to fight.
Of the contest. Perry's own account ie eubmitted :
"United Statea achooner Ariel, Put-in-Bay, \
13th September, 1813, j
"At sunrise on the morning of the 10th, the enemy's vessels were
discovered from Put-in-Bay, where I lay at anchor with the squadron
under my command,
"We got under weigh, the wind light at S. W. and stood for
them. At 10, A. M. the wind hauled to S. E. and brought us to
windward ; formed the line and brought, up. At fifteen minutes
before twelve, the enemy commenced firing; at five minutes before
twelve, the action commenced on our part. Finding their fire
very destructive, owing to their long guns, and it being mostly
directed to the Lawrence, I made sail, and directed the other
vessels to foUow, for the purpose of closing with the enemy. Every
brace and bow line being shot away, she became unmanageable,
notwithstanding the great exertions of the sailing master,
"In this situation she sustained the action upward of two hours,
within canister shot distance, until every gun was rendered useless,
and a greater part of the crew either killed or wounded. Finding
she could no longer annoy the enemy, I left her in charge of Lieu
tenant Yarnall, who, I was convinced, from the bravery already
displayed by Mm, would do what would comport with the honor
of the flag.

* Brackenridge.

1813. PERRY CONQUERS THE ENEMY. 903
"At half past two, the wind springing up, Captain Elliott was
enabled to bring his vessel, the Niagara, gallantly into close action ;
I immediately went on board of her, when he anticipated my wish
by volunteering to bring the schooners which had been kept astern
• by the lightness of the wind, into close action.
"It was with unspeakable pain that I saw, soon after I got on
board the Niagara, the flag of the Lawrence come down, although
I was perfectly sensible that she had been defended to the last, and
that to have continued to make a show of resistance would have
been a wanton sacrifice of the remains of hei'brave crew. But the
enemy was not able to take posseesion of her, and circumstances
soon permitted her fiag to be hoisted.
"At forty-five minutes past two, the signal was made for 'close
action.' The Niagara being very little injured, I determined to
pass through the enemy's line, bore up and passed ahead of their
two ships and a brig, giving a raking fire to them from the star
board guns, and to a large schooner and sloop, from the larboard
side, at half pistol shot distance.
" The smaller veeeels at this time having got within grape and
canister distance, under the direction of Captain Elliott, and keepr
ing up a well directed fire, the two ships, a brig, and a schooner,
surrendered, a schooner and sloop making a vain attempt to
escape. " Those officers and men who were immediately under my ob
servation evinced the greatest gallantry, and I have no doubt that
all others conducted themselves as became American officers and
seamen."* Meanwhile the American army had received ita reinforcements,
and was only waiting the expected victory of the fleet to embark.
On the 27th of September, it set sail for the shore of Canada,
and in a few hours stood around the ruins of the deserted and
wasted Maiden, from which Proctor had retreated to Sandwich,
intending to make his way to the heart of Canada, by the valley
of the Thames.f On the 29th, Harrison was at Sandwich, and
McArthur took possession of Detroit and the territory of Michigan.
At this point Colonel Johnson's mounted rifle regiment, which
had gone up the west side of the river, rejoined the main army.
On the 2d of October, the Americana began their march in

?American State Papers, xiv. 295. For Perry's Letters see Niles' Register, v. 60 to 62.
f See ofEcial accounts in Niles' Register, v. 117.

904

BATTLE OF THE THAMES. 1833.

pursuit of Proctor, whom they overtook upon the 5th. He had
posted his army with ita left reating upon the river, while the right
flank waa defended by a marah ; the ground between the river and
the marah waa divided lengthwiae by a smaller swamp, so as to
make two distinct flelds in which the troops were to operate. The
British were in two lines, occupying the fleld between the river
and small swamp ; the Indians extended from the email to the large
morass, the ground being suitable to their mode of warfare, and
unfavorable for cavalry.
Harrison at first ordered the mounted Kentuckians to the left of
the American army, that is, to the field furthest from the river, in
order to act against the Indians, wMle with his infantry formed in
three lines and atrongly protected on the left flank to secure it
against the aavagea, he proposed to meet the British troopa them
eelvee. Before the battle commenced, however, he learned two
facts, which induced him to change hia plana; one was the bad
nature of the ground on his left for the operations of horse ; the
other was the open order of the Engliah regulara, which made
them liable to a fatal attack by cavalry. Learning theae thinga,
Harriaon, but whether upon hia own suggestion or not, ia un
known, ordered Colonel Johnston with his mounted men to charge,
and try to break the regular troops, by passing through their
ranks and forming in their rear. In arranging tp do thia, Johnaon
found the apace between the river and small awamp too narrow for
all hia men to act in with effect ; eo, dividing them, he gave the
right hand body opposite the regulars in charge to his brother
James, while crossing the swamp with the remainder, he himself
led the way againet Tecumthe and hie eavage followere. The
charge of James Johnaon was perfectly successful ; the Kentucki
ans received the fire of the Britiah, broke through their ranks, and
forming beyond them, produced euch a panic by the novelty of the
attack, that the whole body of troope yielded at once.
On the left the Indiane fought more obetinately, and the horse
men were forced to diemount, but in ten minutee Tecumthe was
dead,* and hie followers, who had learned the fate of their alliee,
soon gave up the contest. In half an hour all wae over, except
the purauit of Proctor, who had fled at the onaet. The whole num
ber in both armies wae about five thouaand, the whole number
killed, less than forty, ao entirely was the affair decided by panic.

*As to who killed Tecumthe, see Drake's life of that chief, p. 199 to 219.

1813. BATTLE OP THE THAMES. 905
To this outline of the battle of the Thames, is added a part of Har
rison's official statement :
" The troops at my disposal consisted of about one hundred and
twenty regulars of the twenty-seventh regiment, five brigades of
Kentucky volunteer militia infantry, under his Excellency, Gover
nor Shelby, averaging less than five hundred men, and Colonel
Johnson's regiment of mounted infantry, making in the whole an
aggregate something above three thousand.
" No disposition of an army, opposed to an Indian force, can be
safe unless it is secured on the flanks, and in the rear. I had,
therefore, no difficulty in arranging the infantry conformably to my
general order of battle.
" General Trotter's brigade of flve hundred men, formed the
front line, his right upon the road, and hie left upon the swamp.
General King's brigade as a second line, one hundred and fifty
yards in the rear of Trotter's, and Chiles' brigade as a corps of re
serve, in tiie rear of it. These three brigades formed the command
of Major-General Henry ; the whole of General Desha's division,
consisting of two brigades, were formed en potence upon the left of
Trotter. " Whilst I was engaged in forming the infantry, I had directed
Colonel Johnson's regiment, which was still in front, to be formed
in two lines opposite to the enemy, and upon the advance of the
infantry, to take ground to the left, and forming upon that flank,
to endeavor to turn the right of the Indians.
"A moment's reflection, however, convinced me that from the
thickness of the woods, and swampiness of the ground, they would
be unable to do anything on horseback, and there was no time to
dismount them, and place their horses in security; I therefore dcr
termined to refuse my left to the Indians, and to break the British
lines at once, by a charge of the mounted infantry: the measure
was not sanctioned by any thing that I had seen or heard of, but I
was fully convinced that it would succeed,
" The American backwoodsmen ride better in the woods than any
other people, A musket or rifle is no impediment to them, being
accustomed to carry them on horseback from their earliest youth,
I was persuaded, too, that the enemy would be quite unprepared
for the shock, and that they could not resist it. Conformably to
this idea, I directed the regiment to be drawn up in close column,
with its right at the distance of fifty yards from the road, (that it
might be in aome measure protected by the treea from the artil-
68

®^^ BATTLE OP THE THAMES, 1813,
lety,) its left upon the awamp, and to charge at full speed as soon
as the enemy delivered their fire,
"The few regular troops of the twenty-seventh regiment, under
their Colonel (PauU,) occupied, in column of sections of four, the
small space between the road and the river, for the purpose of seiz
ing the enemy's artillery, and some ten or twelve friendly Indians
were directed to move under the bank. The crochet formed by
the front line, and General Deaha'a division, was an important
point. At that place, the venerable governor of Kentucky was
posted, who, at the age of sixty-six, preserves all the vigor of youth,
the ardent zeal which distinguished him in the Revolutionaty
war, and the undaunted bravery which he manifested at King's
Mountain, "With my aids-de-camp, the acting assistant Adjutant-General,
Captain Butler, my gallant friend Commodore Perry, who did me
the honor to serve as my volunteer aid-de-camp, and Brigadier-
General Cass, who having no command, tendered me his assis
tance, I placed myself at the head of the front Une of infantry, to
direct the movements of the cavalry, and give them the necessary
support, " The army had moved on in this order but a short diatance,
when the mounted men received the fire of the British line, and
were ordered to charge; the horses in front of the column recoiled
from the fire ; another was given by the enemy, and our column at
length getting in motion, broke through the enemy with irresis
tible force. In one minute the contest in front was over ; the Bri
tish officers seeing no hopes of reducing their disordered ranks to
order, and our mounted men wheeling upon them, and pouring in
a destructive fire, immediately surrendered. It is certain that three
only of our troops were wounded in this charge. Upon the left,
however, the contest was more severe with the Indians,
"Colonel Johnson, who commanded on that fiank of his regiment,
received a most galling fire from them, which was returned with
great effect. The Indians still further to the right advanced, and
fell in with our front line of infantry, near its junction with Desha's
diviaion, and for a moment made an impression upon it,
" His Excellency, Governor Shelby, however, brought up a regi
ment to its support, and the enemy receiving a severe fire in front,
and a part of Johnson's regiment having gained their rear, retreated
with precipitation. Their loss was very considerable in the action,
and many were killed in their retreat,"

1813. BLOCK-HOUSES BUILT ON MISSISSIPPI. 907
Thoae who wiah to eee a fuller account, are referred to the
authorities below, many of which are easily accessible.*
The rule of the British over the lovier peninsula of Michigan,
which had lasted from August, 1812, to October, 1813, waa now at
an end, and the American eagle again floated over the territory and
the lakea in the majeetic coneciouenees of his power. This for the
present closes the events of the war in the North-West, which,
during the year under consideration, were fraught with interest,
and embraced some of the most important incidents in the history
of the Union.
Yet there was another section of countty that now deserves
attention. This is the region of the Upper Mississippi, above ite
juncture with the Ohio river, which was then called the "Far
West," and which, if ite wild prairies, noble watere and majeetic
foreete were indeed as yet, little more than a wilderness almost
unreclaimed — the haunts of wild animals and wilder savages — was
yet even then resounding with the woodsman's axe, that, like a
prophet's voice, proclaimed its future destiny, of speedily rising
into signiflcance and importance, till now it ia the "Far West" no
longer, but ia becoming more and more nearly the center of civili
zation in our Union.
The year 1813 opened with gloomy proapects for these far-off
and expoaed territoriea. There were ateps taken to protect the
feeble aettlements about the juncture of the three great rivers, (the
Mississippi, the Missouri and Illinois,) from the depredationa of
the aavagea. The following itema, taken from the Miaaouri Gazette,
of St. Louia, which was the flrst newspaper ever published weat of
the Misaiesippi, will ahow what theee were :
"We have now nearly finiehed twenty-two family forte, (eta-
tions,) extending from the Mississippi, nearly opposite Bellefon-
taine, (mouth of the Missouri,) to the Kaskaskia river, a distance
of about seventy-five miles. Between each fort, spies are to pass
and repass daUy, and communicate throughout the whole line,
which will be extended to the United States Saline, and from
thence to the mouth of the Ohio.
"Rangers and mounted miUtia, to the amount of five hundred
men, constantly scour the country from twenty to fifty miles in
advance of our settlements, so that we feel perfectly easy as to an

* Niles' Register, Dawson's Life of Harrison, Drake's Tecumthe, &c.

908 PREDATORY WARFARE ON MISSISSIPPI, 1813.
attack from our 'red brethren,' as Mr. Jefferson very lovingly caUs
them." Notwithstanding these measures, predatory warfare from excur
sion of Indians was carried on throughout all of this and the next
year, over this whole region of country.
"About this time, Benjamin Howard, Governor of Missouri Ter
ritory, resigned the office, and accepted the commission of Briga
dier-General, to command the rangers of both territories."
"Fort Madison, above the lower rapids of Mississippi, was subject
to repeated attacks from the Sacs, Foxes and Winnebagoea,
" On the 16th of July, the enemy carried a block house, lately
erected, to command a ravine in which the Indians had taken ad
vantage in all their attacks upon this place ; they kept up a fire on
the garrison for about two hours. This is the ninth or tenth ren
contre that has taken place on our frontier, between the 4th and
17th of this month."
Amongst the British traders that had great infiuence over the
northern Indians, was an individual named Dickson, who, previoua
to this period, had stationed Mmself at Prairie du Chien, and fur
nished the savages with large supplies of goods aud munitions of
war. Dickson had the manners and appearance of a gentleman,
but doubtless, as did many other British subjects, who anticipated
a war between Great Britain and the United States, felt Mmself
authorized to enlist Indians as partisans.
An editorial in the same paper gives some important facts con
cerning Prairie du Chien, and the resources at the trading posts
in Wisconsin, for supplying both British and Indians in their hos
tilities, "Last winter we endeavored to turn the attention of govern
ment toward Prairie du Chien, a position which we ought to
occupy, by estabUshing a mUitaty post at the viUage, or on the
Ouisconsin, four miles below,
"For several months we have not been able to procure any other
than Indian information from the Prairie, the enemy having cut
off" all communication with us; but we are persuaded that perma
nent subsistence can be obtained for one thousand regular troops
in the upper lake country,
" At Prairie du Chien there are about fifty families, most of whom
are engaged in agriculture ; their common field is four miles long,
by half a mile in breadth. Besides this field they have three sepa
rate farma of considerable extent, and twelve horee mille to manu
facture their produce.

1813. GENERAL HOWARD'S EXPEDITION. 909
"At the village of L'abre Croche, an immense quantity of corn
is raised; from thence to Milwaukie, on Lake Michigan, there are
aeveral villagea where corn is grown extensively. These auppliea,
added to the fine fish which abound in the lakes and rivers, will
furnish the enemy's garrison with provisions in abundance,
"Our little garrison on the Mississippi, half way up to the
Prairie, (now Bellevue, Iowa,) has taught the Indians a few lessons
on prudence. With about thirty effective men, those brave and
meritorious soldiers. Lieutenant Hamilton and Vasquez, in a
wretched pen, improperly called a fort, beat off five hundred sav
ages of the North-West,"
The following items are quoted from the Hon, John Reynolda :
" During the campaign in the summer and autumn of 1813, all
the companies of rangers from Illinois and Missouri were under
the command of General Howard, Large parties of hostile Indi
ans were known to have collected about Peoria, and scouting par
ties travereed the dietrict between the Hlinoia and Mississippi rivers,
then an entire wilderness.
"It was from these marauding parties that the frontier settle
ments of Hlinois and Missouri were harassed. It became an
object of no small importance, to penetrate the country over which
they ranged, and establish a fort at Peoria, and then drive them to
the northern wilderness.
"The rendezvous for the Illinois regiment was 'Camp Russel,'
two miles north of EdwardsvUle. Thence they removed a short
march, and encamped on the Mississippi, near the mouth of Piasa,
opposite Portage des Sioux. Here they remained three weeks,
waiting the arrival of the Missouri troopa, who crossed the river
from Fort Mason. The baggage and men of this party were trans
ported iu canoes, and the horses made to swim. The whole force
from the two territories, when collected, made up of the rangers,
volunteers, and militia, amounted to about fourteen hundred men.
"After the middle of September, they commenced the march,
and swam their horses over the Illinois river, about two miles above
the mouth. On the high ground in Calhoun county, they had a
sMrmish with a party of Indians,
" The army marched for a number of days along the Mississippi
bottom. On or near the site of Quincy, was a large Sac viUage,
and an encampment that must have contained several hundred
warriors. It appeared to have been deserted but a short period,
" The army continued its march near the Mississippi, some dis
tance above the Lower Rapide, and then etruck across the prairies

^^^ GENERAL HOWARD'S EXPEDITION. 1813.
for the IlUnois river, which they reached below the mouth
of Spoon river, and marched to Peoria vUIage, , Here was asmaU
stockade, commanded by Colonel Nicholas, of the United States
army, " Two days previous, the Indians had made an attack on the fort,
and were repulsed. The army, on its march from the Mississippi
to the IlUnois river, found numerous fresh traUs, aU passing
northward, which indicated that the savages were fleeing in that
direction, "Next morning the general marched his troops to the Senatehwine,
a short distance above the head of Peoria lake, where was an old
Indian town, called Gomo's vUlage, Here they found the enemy
had taken water, and ascended the IlUnois, This, and two other
villages, were burnt,
"Finding no enemy to fight, the army was marched back to Pe
oria, to assist the regular troops in building Fort Clark, so denom
inated in memory of the old hero of 1778; and Major Christy, with
a party, was ordered to ascend the river with two keel boats, duly
armed and protected, to the foot of the rapids, and break up any
Indian establishments that might be in that quarter. Major Boone,
with a detachment, was dispatched to scour the country on Spoon
river, in the direction of Rock river,
"The rangers and miUtia passed to the east side of the Illinois,
cut timber, which they hauled on truck-wheels, by drag ropes, to
the lake, and rafted it across. The fort was erected by the regular
troops, under Captain Phillips, In preparing the timber, the ran
gers and militia were engaged about two weeks,
" Major Christy and the boats returned from the rapids without
any discovery, except additional proofs of the alarm and fright of
the enemy, and Major Boone returned with his force with the same
observations, "It was the plan of General Howard to return by a tour through
the Rock river valley, but the cold weather set in unusually early.
By the middle of October it was intensely cold, the troops had no
clothing for a winter campaign,, and their horses would, in all prob
ability, fail. The Indians had evidently fied a long distance in the
interior, so that, all things considered, he resolved to return the
direct route to Camp Russell, where the militia and volunteers
were disbanded, on the 22d of October, Supplies of provisions,
and munitions of war had been sent to Peoria in boats, which had
reached there a few days previous to the army,
" It may seem to thoae who delight in tales of fighting and blood- ,

1814, PORTS BUILT ON UPPER MISSISSIPPI, 911
shed, that thia expedition wae a vetyineignificant affair. Very few
Indiane were killed, very little fighting done, but one or two of the
army were loet, and yet aa a meana of protecting the frontier settle
ments of these territories, it waa moat efficient, and gave at leaat six
months quiet to the people. After this, the Indians shook their
heads and said, ' White men like the leaves in the forest — Uke the
graas in the prairies — they grow everywhere.'
The following additional itema are taken from the Miaaouri
1814,] Gazette:
"During thia eeason strenuous efforts were made by the small
force at command, to plant forts along the Upper Mississippi, The
general rendezvous was at Cape au Gris, an old French hamlet on
the left bank of the Miesissippi, a few miles above the mouth of
the Hlinois river. Armed boats were used for the purpose of
transporting the neceasary materials, men and storea,
"About the 1st of May, Governor Clark fitted out five bargee,
with fifty regular troopa and one hundred and forty volunteers, and
left St, Louia on an expedition to Prairie du Chien, On the 13th
of June, the Governor, with several gentlemen who accompanied
him, returned with one of the bargee, having left the officers and
troope to erect Fort Shelby and maintain the position,
" No Indiane molested the party till they reached Rock river,
where they had a skirmish with some hostile Sauks, The Foxes
resided at Dubuque, and professed to be peaceable, and promised
to fight on the American side,
"Twenty days before the expedition reached Prairie du Chien,
the British trader, Dickson, left that place for Mackinac, with
eighty Winnebagoes, one hundred and twenty Follsavoine, and one
hundred Sioux, probably as recruits for the British army along the
lake country. He had gained information of the expedition of
Governor Clark from his Indian spies, and had left Captain Deace
with a body of Mackinac fencibles, with orders to protect the
place, "The Sioux and Renards, (Foxes,) haying refueed to fight the
Americans, Deace and his soldiers fled. The inhabitants also fled
into the country, but returned as soon as they learned they were
not to be injured, A temporary defense was immediately erect
ed. Lieutenant Perkins, with sixty rank and file from Major Z,
Taylor's company of the 7th regiment, took posseesion of the house
occupied by the Mackinac Fur Company, in which they found nine
or ten trunks of Dickson's property, with his papers and corres
pondence.

912 Campbell's disaster at rock island, 1814.
"The farms of Prairie du Chien are in high cultivation ; between
two and three hundred barrels of flour may be manufactured there
this season, besides a vast quantity of corn,
"Two of the largest boats were left in command of Aid-de-Camp
Kennerly, and Captains Sullivan and Yeizer, whose united forces
amount to one hundred and thirty-five men. The regulars, under
command of Lieutenant Perkins, are stationed on shore, and are
aasisted by the volunteers in building the new fort,
"About the last of June, Captain John SuUivan, with a com
pany of militia, and some volunteers whose term of service had
expired, returned from Prairie du Chien, and reported that the fort
was finished, the boats well manned and barricaded; that the
Indians were hovering around, and had taken prisoner a French
man while hunting his horses. The boats employed, carried six
pounder on their main decks, and several howitzers on the quartera
and gangwaya. The men were protected by a musket proof barri
cade, "Soon after the return of Governor Clark from Prairie du Chien,
it was thought expedient by General Howard to send up a force
to relieve the volunteer troops, and strengthen that remote post.
He therefore sent Lieutenant Campbell, (who was acting as Brigade
Major,) and three keel boats, with forty -two regulars, and sixty-six
rangers; and including the sutler's establishment, boatmen and
women, making one hundred and thirtyrthree persons. They
reached Rock river without difficulty, but at the foot of the rapids,
they were visited by large numbers of Sauks and Foxes, pretend
ing to be friendly, and some of them bearing letters from the gar
rison above to St, Louia, In a short time the contractors and
antler's boats had reached the head of the rapids ; the two barges
with the rangers followed, and were about two miles ahead of the
commander's barge. Here a gale of wind arose and the barge
drifted against the shore; therefore he thought proper to lie by
until the wind abated ; sentries were stationed at proper distances,
and the men were on the shore cooking, when the report of several
guns announced the attack,
"The savages were seen on ahore in quick motion; canoes filled
with Indians paseed from an opposite island; and in a few momenta
they found themselves nearly surrounded with five or six hundred
Indians, who gave the war-whoop and poured upon them a galling
fire. The barges ahead, commanded by Captains Rector and
Riggs, attempted to return, but one got stranded on the rapids;
the other, to prevent a similar disaster, let go an anchor. The

1814, BRITISH TAKE FORT SHELBY. 913
rangers from both theae barges opened a brisk fire on the Indiana.
The unequal conteat was kept up for more than an hour; the
Indians firing from the island and the shore under cover, when the
commander's barge took fire. Captain Rector cut his cable, fell
to windward, and took out the survivors. Captain Riggs soon
after followed with his barge, and all returned to St, Louis,
" There were three regulars, four rangere, one woman and one
child, killed ; and Sixteen wounded, among whom were Major
Campbell and Dr, Stewart, severely,"
On the 6th of August, the Gazette, (the authority for theae
details,) statea :
" Just as we had put our paper to press. Lieutenant Perkins,
with the troops which composed the garrison at Prairie du Chien,
arrived here. Lieutenant Perkins fought the combined force of
British and Indians three days and nights, until they approached the
pickets by mining ; provisions, ammunition and water were expen
ded, when he capitulated. The officers to keep their private pro
perty, and the whole not to serve until duly exchanged. Five of
our troops were wounded during the siege,"
In a letter from Captain Yeizer, to Governor Clark, dated, St,
Louis, July 28th, 1814, is found the following statement :
"Captain Y, commanded one of the gun-boats, a keel-boat fitted up
in the manner heretofore described. On the 17th July, at half past
one o'clock, from twelve to fifteen hundred British and Indians,
marched up in full view of the fort and the town, and demanded a
surrender, 'which demand was positively refused,'
" They attacked Mr, Yeizer's boat at three o'clock, at long-shot
distance. He returned the compliment by firing round-shot from
hia eix pounder, which made them change their position to a email
mound nearer the boat. At the aame time the Indians were firing
from behind the houses and pickets. The boat then moved up the
river to the head of the viUage ; keeping up a constant discharge of
fire-arms and artillery, which was answered by the enemy from the
shore. "The enemy's boats then crossed the river below, to attack the
Americans from the opposite side of the river. A galling fire
from opposite pointe was now kept up by the enemy, on this boat,
until the only alternative was left for Captain Yeizer to run the
boat through the enemy'e linee to a point five miles below ; keep
ing up a brisk fire.
"In the meantime, another gun-boat that lay on shore, was fired
on until it took fire and was burnt. In Captain Yeizer's boat, two
officers and four privatee were wounded, and one private killed.

914 TAYLOR DEFEATED AT UPPER RAPIDS. 1814.
"The British and Indians were commanded by Colonel McCay,
(or Mackay,) who came in boats from Mackinac, by Green Bay
and the Wisconsin, with artillery. Their report gives from one
hundred and sixty to two hundred regulars, and ' Michigan fenci
bles,' and about eight hundred Indians. They landed their artil
lery below the town and fort, and formed a battery; attacking the
forts and the boats at the same time.
"After Captain Yeizer's boat had been driven from its anchor
age, sappers and miners began operations in the bank, one hundred
and fifty yarde from the fort Lieutenant PerMne held out while
hope lasted. In the fort were George and James Kennerly — the
former an aid to Governor Clark ; the latter a Lieutenant in the
militia." "A detachment, under command of Major Taylor, left Cape au
Gris, on the 23d of August, in boats, for the Indian town at Rock
river. The detachment consisted of three hundred and thirty-four
effective men, officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates. A
report from the commanding officer to General Howard, dated from
Fort Madison, September 6th, and published in the ' Missouri Ga
zette' of the 17th, gives the details of the expedition.
" They met with no opposition until they reached Rock Island,
where Indian villages were situated on both sides of the river, above
and below the rapids. The object was to destroy these villages
and the fields of corn. They continued up the rapids to Campbell's
Island, so named from the commander of one of the boats — from
some hard fighting his detachment had with the Indians. The
policy of the commanding officer was to commence with the upper
villages, and sweep both sides of the river.
" But the policy was interrupted by a party of British, and more
than a thousand Indians, with a six and a three pounder, as was
believed, brought from Prairie du Chien. Captains Whiteside and
Rector, and the men under their charge, with Lieutenant Edward
Hempstead, who commanded a boat, fought the enemy bravely for
several hours as they descended the rapida. The danger consisted
in the enemy's shot sinking the boats, and they were compelled to
fall down below the rapids to repair.
" I then called the officers together, and put to them the follow
ing question : 'Are we able, three hundred and thirty-four effective
men, to fight the enemy, with any prospect of success and effect,
which is to destroy their villages and corn ? ' They were of opinion
the enemy wae at least three men to one, and that it was not prac
ticable to effect either object.

1814. FORT MADISON BURNT. 915
" I then determined to drop down the river to the Des Moines,
witiiout delay, as some of the officers of the rangers informed me
their men were short of provisions, and execute the principal object
of the expedition, in erecting a fort to command the river.
"In the affair at Rock river, I had eleven men badly wounded,
three mortally, of whom one has since died.
"I am much indebted to the officera for their prompt obedience
to ordera, nor do I believe a braver set of men could have been
collected, than those who compose this detachment. But, sir, I
conceive it would have been madness in me, as well aa in direct
violation of my ordera, to have riaked the detachment without a
prospect of success,
" I believe I would have been fully able to have accomplished
your views, if the enemy had not been supplied with artillery, and
so advantageously posted, as to render it impossible for us to have
dislodged him, without imminent danger of the loss of the whole
detachment,' "Had Major Taylor known the real strength of the enemy, he
would not have retreated, as it was soon afterward discovered that
there were only three individual Britons preeent, with one small
field piece,
"Fort Madison, after sustaining repeated attacks from the Indi
ans, was evacuated and burnt. And in the month of October, the
people of St, Louis were astounded with the intelligence that the
troops stationed in Fort Johnston, had burnt the block-houses, de
stroyed the works, and retreated down the river to Cape au Gres.
The officer in command, (Major Taylor having previously left that
post,) reported they were out of provisions, and could not sustain
the position. It should be here noticed, that the defeat of the In
dians in the battle of the Thames, drove back a large force of hos
tile savages to the Mississippi,
"Fort Johnston, a rough stockade with block-houses of round
logs, was then erected on the present site of the town of Wareaw,
oppoeite the mouth of the Dee Moines.
" On the 18th of September, General Benjamin Howard, whose
military dietrict extended from the interior of Indiana to the fron
tier of Mexico, died in St Louis.
"The Boone's Lick settlement, near and about the Missouri
river, at the commencement of the war with Great Britain, num
bered about one hundred and fifty families. The governor of the
territory considered them beyond the organized jurisdiction of any
county, and for about four years the only authority over them was

^^^ RANGERS ON MISSOURI RIVER. 1814.
patriarchal. The state of society was orderly, and the habits of the
people back-woods fashion, "neighbor-like," The force of public
sentiment regulated society.
"The people erected five stockade temporary forts, at as many
different locations, calculated to repel the prowling savages, and
secure their own safety. When immediate danger was appre
hended, the famiUes repaired to these stockades, but the citizen
soldiers, besides ranging in advance of the forts after the enemy,
had to hunt game for provisions, and cultivate the land for corn.
As much of their stock was killed or driven off by the early incur
sions of- the enemy, the terms 'bear bacon,' and 'hog-meat,' were
inserted in contracts for provisions in those days,
"Large enclosures near the forts were occupied for corn-fields, in
common; and frequently sentinels stood on the borders of the field,
while their neighbors turned the furrow. Skirmishes with partiea
of Indians were frequent,
" If they threatened the fort while the detachments were in the
corn-field, or on the hunting range, the sound of the horn was the
rallying signal,
"At the viUage of Cote Sans Dessein, the Creole French and
Americans together erected a block-house and pallisade enclosure,
to protect the families. The principal person in command was a
resolute Frenchman, by the name of Baptiste Louis Roy. The fort
was assailed by a large party of Indians, when only two men be-
eides Captain Roy, with many women and children, were in it.
"The women cast bullets, cut patches, loaded rifles, and furnished
refreshments, while Roy and his two soldiers defended the post,
until fourteen braves were numbered as slain. The Indians at
tempted to set the house on flre, by shooting arrows armed with
combustible materials, but the resolute women put out the fire.
The defense proved successful, and M. Roy, at a period subsequent
to the war, received a costly rifle from the young men at St, Louis
for his gallant behavior,
"After about two years of hard fighting, 'on their own hook,' to
use a western figure, application was made to the governor, and a
detachment of rangers under General Henry Dodge, was sent to
their relief The mounted men, (rangers,) included the companies
of Captain John Thompson, of St, Louis, Captain Daugherty, of
Cape Girardeau, and Captain Cooper, of the Boone's Lick settle
ment, with fifty Shawanese and Delaware Indians; the whole
amounting to three hundred men,
" They marched to the village of the Miamies, took about four

1814. ATTEMPT TO TAKE MACKINAC, 917
hundred men, women and children prisonera, and sent them to
their nation, on the Wabaah."
As before told, the battie of the Thames practically cloeed the
1814.J war in the North-Weet The nominal operations of this
year were aa followa :
Firat, waa undertaken an expedition into Canada, in February,
by Captain Holmes, a gallant young officer, whose career closed
soon after. In the previoue month the enemy had taken post again
upon the Thames, not far above the field of Proctor's defeat.
Holmes directed his movements against this point.
Before he reached it, however, he learned that a much stronger
force than Ms own was advancing to meet him, and taking up an
eligible poaition upon a hill, he proceeded to fortify his camp, and
waited their approach. They surrounded and attacked his en-
trenchmente with great apirit, but being met with an obatinacy and
courage equal to their own, and losing very largely from the well
directed fire of the unexposed Americane, the Britieh were forced to
retreat again, without any result of consequence to either party.*
Second, a fruitless attempt was made by the Americans to retake
Mackinac. It had been proposed to do thie in the autumn of
1813, after the battle of the Thamee, but one of the etorme, which
at that season are so often met with upon the lakes — ^by obliging
the vessels that were bringing stores from below to throw over the
baggage and provisions, defeated the undertaking. Early iu the
foUowing April, the expedition up Lake Huron was once more
talked of; the purpose being twofold, to capture Mackinac, and to
destroy certain vessels which it was said the English were building
in Gloucester bay, at the south-east extremity of the lake. This
plan, however, was also abandoned; in part, from the want of
men ; in part, from a belief that Great Britain did not, as had been
auppoaed, intend to make an effort to regain the command of the
upper lakes ; and also, in part, from a misunderstanding between
General Harrison and Colonel Croghan, who commanded at
Detroit, on the one hand, and the Secretary of War on the other.
General Armstrong had seen fit to pass by both the officera
named, and to direct his communications to Major Holmea, their
junior, a breach of military etiquette that offended them both, and
in eonnection with other mattere of a aimilar kind, led General

* M'Afee, 441 to 444. — Holmes' o-wn account is in NiJes' Register, vi. 115.

918

MAJOR HOLMES KILLED AT MACKINAC, 1814.

Harrison to resign hie poet,* No eooner, however, had the plan
of April been abandoned, than it was revived again, in consequence
of new information as to the establishment at Gloucester bay, or
properly, at Mackadash,
In consequence of the orders issued upon the 2d of June, seven
hundred and fifty men, under Colonel Croghan, embarked in the
American squadron, commanded by Sinclair, and upon the 12th of
July, entered Lake Huron, After spending a week in a vain effort
to get into Mackadash, in order to destroy the imaginary vessels
there building, the fieet sailed to St, Joseph's, which was found de
serted ; thence a small party wae eent to St, Maty'e falls, while the
remainder of the forces eteered for Mackinac,
At the former point the trading house wae destroyed, and the
goods seized ; at Mackinac, the result was far difterent. The troops
landed upon the weet of the island, upon the 4th of August, but
after a severe action, in which Major Holmes and eleven others
were killed, still found themselves so situated as to lead Croghan
to abandon the attempt to prosecute the attack; and Mackinac was
left in possession of the enemy.
Having failed in this effort it was determined by the American
leaders to make an attempt to capture the schooner Nancy, which
was conveying suppUes to the island fortress. In this, or rather
in effecting the destruction of the vessel, they succeeded, and hav
ing left Lieutenant Turner, to prevent any other provisions from
Canada reaching Mackinac, the body of the fleet sailed for Detroit,
which it reached, shattered and thinned by tempests.
Meanwhile the crew of the Nancy, who had escaped, passed over
to Mackinac in a boat which they found, and an expedition was at
once arranged by Lieutenant Worsley, who had commanded them,
for frustrating all the plans of Croghan and Sinclair, Taking with
him seventy or eighty men in boats, he flrst attacked and captured
the Tigress, an American vessel lying off St, Joseph's ; the next,
sailing down the lake in the craft thus taken, easily made the three
vessels under Turner, his own. In this enterprise, therefore, the
Americans failed signally, at every point,t
In the third place, an attempt was made to control the tiibes of the
Upper Mississippi by founding a fort at Prairie du Chien, Early
in May, Governor Clark, of Miasouri, waa sent thither, and there
commenced Fort Shelby, without oppoaition. By the middle of

* M'Afee, 414, 422.— Harrison's resignation is on 419.
¦I- M'Afee, 422 to 437. The official accounts are in Niles' Register, vii. 4, &c., 18, 156.

1814. M'ARTHUR'S EXPEDITION, 919
July, however, British and Indian forces eent from Mackinac, sur
rounded the post, and Lieutenant Perkins, having but sixty men
to oppose to twelve hundred, and being also scant of ammunition,
after a defense of some days, waa forced to capitulate : ao that
there again the United Statea were diaappointed and defeated,
A fourth expedition was led by General McArthur, first against
some handa of Indiana which he could not find ; and then across
the peninsula of Upper Canada to the relief of General Brown at
Fort Erie, The object of the laat movement waa either to join
General Brown, or to deatroy certain mille on Grand river, from
which it waa known that the Engliah forces obtained their aupplies
of flour.
On the 26th of October, McArthur, with seven hundred and
twenty mounted men, left Detroit, and on the 4th of November
was at Oxford: from this point he proceeded to Burford, and
learning that the road to Burlington was atrongly defended, he
gave up the idea of joining Brown, and turned toward the lake by
the Long Point road, defeated a body of militia who oppoaed him,
deatroyed the mills, five or six in number, and managing to secure
a retreat along the lake ahore, although pureued by a regiment of
regular troops nearly double his own men in number — on the 17th
reached Sandwich again with the loss of but one man.
This march, though productive of no very marked results, was of
consequence, from the vigor and skill displayed both by the com
mander and his troops. Had the summer campaign of 1812 been
conducted with equal spirit, Michigan would not have needed to
be retaken, and the labors of Perry and Harrieon would have been
uncalled for in the North-Weet
With McArthur'e march through Upper Canada the annale of
war in the North-West closed.
Meanwhile, upon the 22d of July, a treaty had been formed at
Greenville, under the direction of General Harrieon and Governor
Cass, by which the United States and the faithful Wyandots, Dela
wares, Shawanese, and Senecas, gave peace to the Miamies, Weas,
and Eel river Indiana, and to certain of the Pottawattamiea, Otta
waa and Kickapooa; and all the Indiana engaged to aid the Ameri
cana should the war with Great Britain continue,* But such,
happily, was not to be the case, and on the 24th of December the
treaty of Ghent was signed by the representatives of England and

* American State Papers, v. 826-836. Cist's Miscellany.

920 INDIAN COUNCIL AT PORTAGE DES SIOUX. 1815.
the United States. This treaty during the next year was followed
by treaties with the various Indian tribes of the west and north
west, giving quiet and security to the frontiers once more.
About the middle of July, 1815, a large number of Indians, ae
1815.] deputies from the nations and tribes of the North-West,
assembled at Portage des Sioux, on the right bank of the Missis
sippi, a few miles above the mouth of the Missouri, to negotiate
treaties of peace with the United States. 'The commissioners were
the Governor of Missouri, and Superintendent of Indian Affairs
west of the Mississippi, the Governor and Superintendent of Indian
Affairs in Hlinoia, and Auguste Chouteau, of St. Louis. Robert
Wash, was secretary to the commission. Colonel Dodge, with a
strong military force was present, to prevent any collision or sur
prise. The first in order was with the Pottawattamies. Every injuty or
aet of hostility by either party against the other, was to be mutually
forgiven ; all prisoners to be delivered up ; and " in sincerity and
mutual friendship," every treaty, contract, and agreement, hereto
fore made between the United States and the Pottawattamie nation
to be recognized, re-established, and confirmed. The same day a
similar treaty was made with the Piankeshaws,,
On the 19th of July, a series of treaties were made separately
with several tribes of the Sioux or Dakotah nation. Similar
terms were granted as to the Pottawattamies, and these branches
of the Sioux nation acknowledged themaelvea under the protection
of the United States,
On the 20th, a aimilar treaty was made with the Mahas, from the
Upper Missouri,
The next in order was with the Kickapoos, on the 2d of
September, and the conditions exactly simUar to those of the Pot
tawattamiea, On the 13th of September, a treaty waa made with that portion
of the Sac nation of Indiana, then reaiding on the Miaaouri river,
represented by twelve chiefs.
They affirmed that they had endeavored to fulfiU the treaty made
at St. Louis, on the 3d day of November, 1804, in perfect good
faith ; and for that purpose had been compeUed to separate them
selves from the rest of their nation, and remove to the Missouri
river, where they had continued to give proofs of their friendship
and fidelity; they propose to confirm and re-establish the treaty of
1804; that they will continue to live separate and distinct from the

1815. INDIAN COUNCIL AT PORTAGE DES SIOUX. 921
Saca of Rock river, and give them no aid, until peace shall be con
cluded between them and the United Statee.
The United Statee on their part promiee to allow the Sacs of the
Missouri river, all the rights and privUegea secured to them by the
treaty at St. Louis.
The next day, September 14th, a treaty waa made with the Fox
tribe of Indiane. The conditione place theee Indiane on the aame
footing they were before the war, and they also re-eatablish and
confirm the treaty of St. Louis, of 1804. On the 12th of Septem
ber, treaties were made with the Great and Little Osage nations, in
which every act of hostility by either of the contracting parties
against the other, was to be mutually forgiven and forgot. The
treaty of 1808, made at "Fort Clark," on the Missouri, was re-con
firmed. On the 16th of September, a treaty was made with the loway In
dians, on the same conditione as with the other hostile tribes.
On the 28th day of October, a treaty wae made with the Kansas
nation, on the same terms.
The Sacs of Rock river, led by the noted brave. Black Hawk,
even now and subsequently refused to attend the treaty, proclaimed
themselves to be British subjects, and went to Canada to receive
presents. A careful examination of theae, and all other Indian treaties,
since the great council of Greenville, in 1795, with full and correct
knowledge of the historical events, will enable every unprejudiced
person to perceive that the course of procedure on the part of the
government of the United States, with the aborigines of the
northern portion of our country, has been highly paternal, beneficent
and liberal. The conduct of Great Britain cannot be brought in
comparison. In juetice and equity, the United Statee might have
made and enforced remuneration in lande as a penalty for the hos
tilities committed, but the language in each treaty is, " that every
injuty or act of hostility, shall be forgiven and forgot."
The war being over, and the Indian tribes of the North-Weet be
ing deprived of their dietinguiehed British ally, and having con
sented to be at peace, confidence was restored to the frontier
aettlementa, and emigration again began to pUsh into the forests
and prairies.
The campaigna of the rangers and mounted volunteers, who had
traversed the groves and prairies of Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and
Michigan, served as explorations of new and fertile countries, and
59

922

ALLEGHENY COLLEGE FOUNDED AT MEADVILLE. 1815.

opened the way for thousands of hardy pioneers, and the formation
of settlements.
The rich and delightful lands along the waters of the Wabash,
the Kaskaskia, the Sangamon, and the IlUnois rivers, had filled
their hearts with enthusiasm, and the very men, who in hostUe
array had traversed the country, began to advance with their fam
ilies in the peaceful character of husbandmen, and to plant new
settlements in all this region.
The first steamboat that made a trip from New Orleans to Louis
viUe, Ky., was the Enterprise. This boat left New Orleans on the
Urn of May, 1815, and arrived at LouisvUle on the 31st of the same
month, making the passage in twenty five days. This was then re
garded as quite an achievement in the navigation of the Mississippi
and Ohio with steam.
On the 20th of June, in thia year, the citizens of MeadviUe,
Crawford county, Pennsylvania, held a public meeting, at which
they resolved upon the establishment of an educational institution
in their vicinity, to which was given the name of Allegheny CoUege.
The work was at once pushed on with a vigor and an enterprise
that does honor to the public spirit of the citizens, and on the 4th
of July, 1816, the new college was opened, with the Rev. Timothy
Alden, an able and distinguished divine, as its president, and the
Rev. Robert Johnson, as vice president. On the 24th of March,
1817, it was duly incorporated, and has since then continued in its
course of usefulness, having in the meanwhile received some very
rich and valuable endowments. Among these was the contribu
tion by the Rev. Dr. Bentley, of Salem, Mass., of a very rare col
lection of theological works, said to be the best in the country.
One of the buildings of the college hae, in gratitude to the donor,
been named Bentley Hall.
For some years after ite eetablishment, it was not in a very flour
ishing condition. Not only was the surrounding country as yet
too thinly settled for an institution of this kind to thrive, but the
eetablishment of several rival colleges, that entered into competi
tion with it, served to its injury.
These difficulties have been long since overcome, and Allegheny
College ia now one of the flrat and most flourishing institutions in
the West. The growth of its prosperity may best be judged, when
it is known, that in 1842 there were one hundred and fifty pupils
in the institution, aud in 1855, there were three hundred and twen
ty-eight, including males and females.

1816. INDIANA BECOMES A STATE. 923
On the 18th of March, in this year, Pittsburgh was incorporated as
1816.] a city; it had been incorporated as a borough, on the
22dof April, 1794.
In the Territory of Michigan, a much larger portion of the soil
remained in possession of the aborigines than further south. Pre
vious to the war, but few settlements were made beyond the
vicinity of Detroit, and along the river Raisin. These, to a great
extent, had been broken up by the savages and their English alliee
during the war. It was not until a later period that the emigrants
penetrated the interior of that territory. But Indiana, IlUnois and
Missouri, from 1816, to 1820, received a continuous succession of
immigrants ; particularly Kentucky, Carolina and Tennessee, sent
out vaet numbers to these new regions, where land was abundant,
cheap, and productive.
In the early part of 1816, Congress having previously granted
authority, a convention was elected in Indiana, and assembled to
form a State Government. A constitution was adopted and re
ported to Congress. It was approved by that body, and the new
State received admission into the Union.
The constitution having been made at a time when there was,
as it were, a lull of party violence, produced by the late war, and
when a general spirit of poUtical conciliation and good feeling pre
vailed throughout, was framed with a great deal of care and
wisdom. It was more conservative than perhaps that of any other
State made out of a North-Western Territory.
The new Stat-e Government went into operation by the election
of the Hon. Jonathan Jennings, Governor, who had represented
the territory as Delegate in Congress, since 1809. The General
Assembly discharged its duties in the formation of the various
departments, agreeably to the provisions of the constitution, and
changing the territorial laws in accordance with its position as a
State. So much apprehension was excited at thia time in the minds of
the people, iu relation to the spurious currency that had been im
posed upon them, that a clause in the constitution, restricted the
banking system in the new State, to the charter of a single State
bank with branches.
For not only had the States of Ohio and Kentucky been sub
merged with depreciated bank notes, but the new territories had
in like manner been flooded with worthless paper.
Yet, notwithstanding the salutary example given by Indiana aa

^^* FIRST BANKING LAW IN OHIO. 1816.
shown above, a general banking law was passed in OMo immedi
ately afterward.
^ A. full history of banking in Ohio would as much exceed the
limits of this work as it would tire the patience of the reader. But
as about this time the disposition to an excess in the creation of
such institutions was plainly manifested, it may not be improper
to mention the leading acts of the legislature in reference to the
subject. The earliest bank chartered was the Miami Exporting Company
of Cincinnati, the bill for which paseed in AprU, 1803.
Banking was with this company a secondary object, its main
purpose being to facilitate trade, then much depressed ; nor was
it till 1808, that the firat bank, strictiy speaking, that of Marietta,
was chartered. During the same session the proposition of found
ing a State Bank was considered, and reported upon ; it resulted
in the establishment of the bank of ChiUicothe.
From that time charters were granted to similar institutions up
to the year 1816, when the great banking law was passed, incorpo
rating twelve new banks, extending the charters of old ones, and
making the State a party in the profits and capital of the institu
tions thus created and renewed, without any advance of means on
her part.
This waa done in the following manner : each new bank was at
the outset to set apart one share in twenty-five for the State, with
out payment, and each bank, whose charter was renewed, was to
create, for the State, stock in the same proportion ; each bank, new
and old, waa yearly to set apart out of its profits a sum which
would make, at the time the charter expired, a sum equal to one
twenty -fifth of the whole stock, which was to belong to the State ;
and the dividends coming to the State were to be invested and re
invested until one-sixth of the stock was State property: — the last
provision was subject to change by future legislatures.
This interest of the State in her banks continued until 1825,
when the law was eo amended ae to change her stock into a tax of
two per cent, upon all dividends made up to that time, and four
per cent, upon all made thereafter. But before the law of 1816,
in February, 1815, Ohio had begun to raise a revenue from her
banking institutions, levying upon their dividends a tax of four
per cent.
This law, however, wae made null with regard to euch banke as
accepted the terms of the law of 1816. After 1825, no change was

1817. NORTH-WEST OHIO PURCHASED FROM INDIANS. 925
made until March, 1831, when the tax wae increaeed to five per
eent. Two important acta have been more lately paaaed by the legiala
ture, to which we can here only refer. In 1839, a law waa enacted,
appointing bank commiaaioners, who were to examine the various
inatitutiona and report upon their condition. This inquisition waa
resisted by some of the banks, and much controversy followed,
both in and out of the General Assembly. In 1845, a new system
of banking was adopted, embracing both the State Bank with
branches, and independent banka.
Columbua waa this year (1816,) made permanently the capitol of
Ohio. On the 28th of December, 1816, the Bank of Shawaneetown,
Hlinoia, waa incorporated for twenty yeara, with a capital of three
hundred thouaand dollars.
Congreae having previously granted to Michigan Territoty a town-
1817.] ahip of land, for the aupport of a college, in thia year the
University of Michigan was eatabliehed by the governor and
judgee. During 1817, an effort wae made to extinguieh the Indian title
within the State of Ohio, and had the Miamiee attended the coun
cil held at the Rapida of the Maumee, in Septemb^, it probably
would have been done. Aa it waa, Caea and M'Arthur purchaaed
of the other tribea nearly the whole north-weat of the State of Ohio.
The number of acrea, excluaive of reaervationa, being eatimated at
three million aix hundred and ninety-four thouaand five hundred
and forty, for which were paid one hundred and forty thouaand
eight hundred and ninety-three dollara, being three cente and eight
milla an acre.
In thia year was commenced the building of bridges acroaa the
Monongahela and Allegheny rivera at Pittaburgh, Pennaylvania, to
which the State had liberally contributed.
According to a cenaua taken, thia city then contained five glaas
houeee, four air furnacee, one hundred and nine etoree, eight ateam
enginea in milla, one thoueand three hundred and three houaea,
eight thousand people, and there were four hundred tone of nails
manufactured by eteam.
Among the glaaa houeee, was one established about the year
1809, by William Eichbaum, Sr., a German, who had been formerly
glaea-cutter to Louis XVI, king of France, and who, having left
that countty after the downfall of that unhappy monarch, had

^26 ILLINOIS BECOMES A STATE. 1818.
finally come to America, and established himself at Pittsbui^h. He
furnished some very fine work, and among the first articles made
by him, wae a splendid six-light chandeUer, with prisms, very beau
tifully cut and finished, for the first Presbyterian church of Pitta
burgh. Thie ia aaid to have been the firat article of the kind ever
made in the United States.
The aame enterprising gentleman, a year or ao later, erected a
mill for the manufactory of wire in the aame city.
The first steamboat that ascended the Miaaiaaippi, above the
mouth of the Ohio, waa the General Pike, which reached St. Louia
the 2d of August, 1817. It was commanded by Captain Jacob
Reed, who subsequently became a citizen of that place, and died
there. The second steamboat was the Constitution, which arrived"
on the 2d of October, in the same year. During 1818, there were
several arrivals.
On the 18th of April, Congress authorized the people of Illinois to
1818.] form a State constitution. The northern boundary of the
State, as fixed by Congress, was latitude 42° 30'.
Representatives to the convention to form a State constitution
were chosen.
This body assembled at Kaskaskia, in July, and closed their la
bors by signing the constitution they had framed, on the 26th day
of Auguat.
The election for the first legislature was appointed to be held on
the third Thursday, and the two following days in September, and all
white male inhabitants above the age of twenty-one years, who were
actual residents of the State at the time of signing of the constitution,
had the right of suffrage. The first session of the General Assem
bly was to condmeoce at Kaskaskia, on the first Monday in October
following, but all subsequent sessions on the first Monday in De
cember thereafter. The conatitution was not referred to the people
for adoption. In general, the latter were satisfied with the labora of
their servants.
Members to the General Assembly were elected, met at the time
appointed, and set in operation the new machinery of government.
Shadrach Bond, of Kaskaskia, had been duly elected governor, and
Pierre Menard, of the same place, lieutenant-governor. Their
terms of service were from 1818 to 1822. Governor Bond, in his
brief inaugural address, called the early attention of the General
Assembly to a survey, preparatory to opening a canal between the
Illinois river and Lake Michigan.

1819. FIRST STEAMBOAT ON THE LAKES. 927
The aecond aession commenced about the let of February, 1819,
and continued until the 20th. During this period they revised and
re-enacted the territorial laws, so far as applicable to the State,
with such additional lawe aa the public exigencies eeemed to
require. As haa been said before, a very redundant currency had obtained
since the war with Great Britain, and the Western country more
especially was fiooded with this worthless paper, issued mostly by
banks, ostensibly solvent at first, and often by individuals, most of
whom, especially the former, failed to redeem their issues.
In 1818, a reaction commenced ; the notes of such banks as the
TreasuryDepartment had selected as depositories of the government
funds, were current in the land offices. The rapid influx of immi
gration, and the demands for land, absorbed a large proportion of
this class of notes, while the other floating paper depreciated, until
it was no longer current.
All the territory north of the new State of Illinois, was attached
to Michigan.
Great emigration took place to Michigan, in consequence of the
aale of large quantities of public lands.
By various treaties, the Indian title in Indiana, Hlinoia, and the
North-Weet, wae etill further extinguiehed.
The Walk-in-the- Water, the firet steamboat in the upper lakee,
1819.] (Erie, Huron, and Michigan,) began her tripe, going once
aa far aa Mackinac.
The Independence, from Louieville, Kentucky, wae the pioneer
boat in the navigation of the more difficult channel of the Mia
aouri river. Thia was in the month of May, 1819. She left St.
Louis on the 13th, was at St. Charles on the 15th, and reached the
town of Franklin, opposite Booneville, on the 26th of that month.
The banka of the river were viaited by crowda of people, ae the
boat came in eight of the towns.
It wae the firet boat that ever attempted to overcome the strong
current of the Misaouri, and find ita way amidat the abifting eand-
bare. Besidee a large number of paeeengere, thia boat carried up
a cargo of flour, whisky, sugar, coffee, iron, caatinga, and other
gooda. The queation, long agitated and much doubted, " can the
Misaouri be navigated by steamboats?" was fully solved.
A new era in Missouri annals had opened. Boats now ascend
this river daily, and to the remotest settlementa ; and repeatedly
have boata gone up to the mouth of the Yellow Stone, about

928 FIRST STEAMBOAT ON MISSOURI RIVER. 1819.
eighteen hundred miles above St. Louis. Even before 1844, the
Assineboine went several hundred miles above the mouth of the
Yellow Stone, into a gorge of the Rocky mountaine.
The Independence returned to St. Louie, on the 5th of June, and
took frifeight for Louisville, Kentucky.
On the 8th of June, 1819, the United Statee eteamboat Western
Engineer, under command of Major S. H. Long, went on an explo
ring expedition up the Mieeouri, having on board eeveral gentle
men attached to the department of Topographical Engineers.
This corps were on a tour of observation to the Yellow Stone,
or at least the Mandan villages. They left St Louis on the 21st of
June. The boat was a small one with a stern wheel, and an escape
pipe so contrived as to emit a torrent of smoke and steam through
the head of a serpent, with a red, forked tongue, projecting from
the bow.
It was understood that this contrivance waa intended to make
an impression on the Indiana, aa the boat had the appearance of
being carried by a monetroue serpent, vomiting flre and smoke,
and lashing the water into foam with hie tail.
Tradition saye the aboriginee were panic struck, and fled ; im
agining that the "pale faces" had sent a " maniteau " into their
country to destroy them.
A military expedition left Bellefontaine and St. Louis, early in
June, under the command of Colonel Atkinson, to establish a
military post at Council Bluffs, then far in advance of the Ameri
can settlements.
The expedition consisted of three steamboats, of heavy con
struction, the Expedition, the Jefferson, and the Johnson, and nine
keel-boate. Several of this last description of boats were prepared
to be propelled with sails and wheels.
Colonel James Johnson, who, it was understood, had the con
tract from the War Department, to transport suppUee and muni
tions for the new post, was one of the expedition. Another boat
called the "Calhoun," was connected with the enterprise.
It was understood at the time that liberal encouragement had
been given by the War Department to aid theee boata, that, inci
dentally the great queation might be aolved, whether the Missouri
river could be navigated by ateam.
The scientiflc corpa under Major Long, returned from their tour
of exploration up the Missouri to the Yellow Stone, to St. Louie,
in the latter part of October.
According to a report made to the Houae of Representativea

1819. LARGE LAND PURCHASE FROM INDIANS. 929
by the committee on Militaty Affairs, the following winter, it was
contemplated by the administration to establish a post at the
Mandan villages ; ^that the expense of the Yellow Stone expedi
tion, " over and above what the troope would have coet had they
remained in their former poeitione," wae estimated at sixty-four
thousand two hundred and twenty-six dollars. Thia, it ia supposed,
included the steamboat effort to the CouncU Bluffs, which proved
a failure. One boat reached the vicinity of Cote Sans Dessein ; another lay
by at Old Franklin, and a third ascended to the mouth of Grand
river. In the end, the militaty stores were transported on keel-
boats, which returned to St. Louis in the spring of 1820.
The expenses were heavy. A member of the committee on
MUitary Affairs, at the sessions of 1819-20, stated that the claims
for detention of the boats, and the losses, exceeded a million of
dollars. The Secretary of the War Department had projected the
establishment of a militaty post at or below the mouth of the
Yellow Stone, and a series of military roads to connect that post
by St. Peters and the northern lakes, which Congreee refused to
eanction, by withholding the neceeeary appropriatione.
On the 24th of September, Lewis Cass concluded at Saginaw, a
treaty with the Chippewas, by which another large part of Michi
gan wae ceded to the United States.
On the 20th of August, Benjamin Parke, for the United Statea,
bought at Fort Harrieon, of the Kickapoos of Vermillion river, all
their lande upon the Wabaeh ; while on the 30th of July, at Ed-
wardeville, Illinois, Auguste Chouteau and Benjamin Stephenson,
bought of the main body of the aame tribe, the claima upon the
aame watere, together vrith other landa reaching weat, to the mouth
of Hlinoia river.
In thia year the United Statee appropriated ten thoueand dollars
annually, toward the civilization of the Indiane, but no part was at
first expended, ae the best modea of effecting the object were not
apparent. During 1819, alao, a report was made to Congrese upon the Mis
souri fur trade, exhibiting ite condition at that time, and tracing
ite history. It may be found in the 6th volume of the American
State Papere, p. 201.
The second United States bank was chartered in 1816. On the
28th of January, 1817, this bank opened a branch at Cincinnati ;
and on the 13th of October following, another branch at Chilli
cothe, which did not commence banking, however, until the next
spring.

930 OHIO SEIZES BANK PROPERTY. 1819.
These branchee Ohio claimed the right to tax, and paesed a law
by which, ehould they continue to transact bueinese after the 15th
of September, 1819, they were to be taxed fifty thousand dollars
each, and the State Auditor wae authorized to issue his warrant for
the collection of such tax.
Thie law was passed with great deliberation, apparently, and by
a full vote. The branches not ceasing their business, the aiuthori-
ties of the State prepared to collect their dues ; this, however, the
bank intended to prevent, and for the purpose of prevention, filed
a bill in Chancery, in the United States Circuit Court, asking an
injunction upon Ralph Osborn, Auditor of State, to prevent hie
proceeding in the act of collection. Osborn, by legal advice, re
fused to appear upon the 4th of September, the day named in the
writ, and in his absence, the court allowed the injunction, though
it required bonds of the bank, at the same time, to the extent of
one hundred thousand dollars — which bonds were given.
On Tuesday, the 14th of September, as the day for collection
drew nigh, the bank sent an agent to Columbus, who served upon
the Auditor a copy of the petition for injunction, and a subpoena
to appear before the court upon the first Monday in the following
January, but who had no copy of the writ of injunction which had
been allowed. The petition and subpoena Osborn enclosed to the
Secretaty of State, who was then at Chillicothe, together with his
warrant for levying the tax, requesting the Secretary to take legal
advice, and if the papers did not amount to an injunction, to have
the warrant executed ; but if they did, to retain it.
The lawyers advised that the papere were not equivalent to an
injunction, and thereupon the State writ for collection was given to
John L. Harper, with directions to enter the banMng house, and
demand payment of the tax ; and upon refusal, to enter the vault
and levy the amount required. He was told to offer no violence,
and if opposed by force, to go at once before a proper magistrate,
and depose to that fact.
Harper, taking with him T. Orr and J. M'ColUster, on Friday,
September 17th, went to the bank, and first eecuring access to the
vault, demanded the tax. The payment wae refueed, and notice
given of the injunction which had been granted ; but the officer,
disi egarding this notice, entered the vault, and seized in gold, sil
ver, and notes, ninety-eight thousand dollars, which, on the 20th,
he paid over to the State Treasurer, H. M. Curry.
The officers concerned in this collection were arreeted and im
prisoned by the United States Circuit Court, for a contempt of the

1819. NULLIFICATION IN OHIO. 931
injunction granted, 'and the money taken was returned to the bank.
The decision of the Circuit Court was in February, 1824, tried be
fore the Supreme Court, and its decree affirmed, whereupon the
State submitted. Meantime, however, in December, 1820, and
January, 1821, the Legislature of Ohio had passed the following
resolutions :
" That, in respect to the powers of the governments of the sev
eral States that compose the American Union, and the powers of
the Federal Government, this General Aasembly do recognize and
approve the doctrines asserted by the Legislatures of Kentucky and
Virginia, in their resolutions of November and December, 1798,
and January, 1800, and do consider that their principles have been
recognized and adopted by a majority of ihe American people.
" That this General Assembly do assert, and will maintain, by
all legal and constitutional means, the right of the State to
tax the business and property of any private corporation of trade,
incorporated by the Congreae of the United States, and located to
transact its corporate business within any State.
" That the Bank of the United States is a private corporation of
trade, the capital and business of which may be legally taxed in any
State where they may be found.
"That this General Assembly do protest against the doctrine that
the political rights of the separate States that compose the Ameri
can Union, and their powers as sovereign Statea, may be aettled
and determined in the Supreme Court of the United Statea, ao as
to conclude and bind them in caaea contrived between individuala,
and where they are, no one of them, partiee direct."
In accordance with these resolves, the bank was, for a time, de
prived of the aid of the State laws in the collection of its debts, and
the protection of its righta ; and an attempt was made, though in
vain, to effect a change in the Federal Constitution, which would
take the caae out of the United Statee tribunale.
It will be remembered that the vaat country known aa Louiaiana,
and transferred by France to the United States in 1803, was divided
into the Territory of Orleans, and District of Louisiana. In March,
1805, the District of Louisiana became the Territory of Louisiana,
under its own territorial government. In June, 1812, this became
the Territoty of Missouri, having then, for the first time, a General
Assembly. Thus it continued until 1819, when application was
made for admission into the Union.
A bill waa accordingly prepared in Congreae during the aeaaion

932 MISSOURIANS PETITION FOR A STATE GOVERNMENT. 1819.
of 1818-19, in the accustomed form, authorizing the people to
elect delegatee in the eeveral countiee, to constitute a convention
for the purpoae of forming a constitution. WMle under progress,
an amendment in the form of a proviso, was introduced by Mr.
Talmadge, of New York, in the foUowing words :
" That the further introduction of elavery, or involuntsty servi
tude, be prohibited, except for the punishment of crimes, whereof
the party shall have been fully convicted ; and that aU chUdren
born within the said State, after the admission thereof into the
Union, shall be free at the age of twenty years."
This proviso, after a brief discueeion, paesed the House of Rep
resentatives, on the 15th of Februaty, 1819. Thie unexpected
movement brought up what hae since been called the " Missouri
Question;" caused a protracted discussion, and raised one of thoee
political storme, which threatened to endanger, if not dissolve the
National Union. It not only agitated Congress, but the Union
from one extreme to the other, for eighteen montha. Amongat
the people in this territory, the excitement wae intense ; the ab
sorbing idea that prevailed was, that the Congreee of the United
States, a body limited in constitutional power, was about to deprive
the people of Missouri of their just rights, in forming a constitu
tion in accordance with the treaty Of cession, and as they might
judge the best calculated to promote their interests.
At that period not one-fourth of the citizens owned or held
slaves ; many were opposed to slavety as a measure of State policy,
but with few exceptions, all were led io believe thast Congress was
assuming an unconstitutional power to oppress them. With the
people of Missouri, it became an absorbing question of political
righte. The diseueeione in Congress continued during the session, and
the bill was loet with other unfinished bueiness.
On the opening of the next Congress, Mr. Scott, delegate from
Missouri, and chairman of the committee on the " Memorial from
Missouri," reported a bill " to authorize the people of that territory
to form a Constitution and State Government, on an equal footing
with the original States." The bill was twice read and referred to
the committee of the whole House. This was on the 9th of
December, 1819. On the 14th, Mr. Taylor, of New York, offered
a resolution for the appointment of a committee " to inquire into
the expediency of prohibiting by law, the introduction of elaves
into the territoriee of the United Statee, weet of the Mississippi."

PERIOD VIII.
1820—1856.
The great question of "slavery or no slavery in Mieeouri,"
having been made the order of the day for the second Monday in
Januaty, 1820, it wae then accordingly taken up, and discueeed
with a warmth that had rarely been equaled in Congrese. The
abeorbing interests attached to this question, not only as regards
Missouri and the Weetern States, but with respect to the whole
Union, has rendered it of so much importance, that it hae become
more or less interwoven with the whole subsequent political his
tory of our country, and a full knowledge of it is therefore essen
tial to a clear understanding of much that is to follow.
The discussion, having opened as stated, continued during the
seseion. Varioue amendments to the resolutions as offered, were
proposed in both Houses, but lost.
Application had been made by the people of Maine, with the
consent of Maseachueetts, to form a State Government and be ad
mitted into the Union. This proposition, for a period, became
coupled with the Mieeouri Question.
In the Senate, on the 3d of Februaty, a senator from Hlinoia,
oflered an amendment to the Missouri branch of the bill, in the
following words :
" That in all that territoty ceded by France to the United States,
under the name of Louisiana, which lies north of thirty-six degrees
and thirty minutes north latitude, excepting only such part thereof
as ia included within the limita of the State contemplated by this
act, slavery and involuntary servitude, otherwise than in the pun
ishment of Crimea, whereof the party ahall have been duly convic
ted, shall be, and ia hereby forever prohibited : Provided, always.
That any peraon eecaping into the eame, from whom labor or eer-
vice ie lawfully claimed in any State or Territory of the United
Statee, auch fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed, and conveyed to
the peraon claiming his or her labor or service, aa aforeaaid."
Thia amendment wae adopted in the Senate on the 17th of Feb
ruary, and subsequently became the baeis of the " Missouri Com
promise." On ordering the bill to a third reading in the Senate,
the vote was in the affirmative.

934 COMPROMISE TO RECEIVE MISSOURI AS A STATE. 1820.
On the 3d of March, the bill as amended and passed by the
Senate, was sent to the House. Though the Journal of the House
is silent on that subject, it is understood as a historical fact, that at
this crisis, when despair sat on the countenances of the friends of
Missouri, Mr. Clay, who was Speaker of the House, exercised the
office of peace-maker, and by Ms popularity and influence with
both parties, not in an official capacity, but as an individual, healed
the waters of strife, and induced a majority of the members to ac
cept the compromise of the Senate.
The clause restricting slavery within the State of Missouri, was
stricken out by a small majority. On the final vote, for inserting
the substitute from the Senate, it was decided under the previoue
question, in favor. So the House concurred in the amendments of
the Senate to the bill, on the evening of the 3d of March.
The Act provided for the representation of each county in the
Convention ; in the aggregate, forty-one members.
The boundaries prescribed for Missouri State are here given :
" Beginning in the middle of the Mississippi river, on the paral
lel of thirty-six degrees of north latitude ; thence west along that
parallel of latitude, to the St. Francois river ; thence up, and fol
lowing the course of that river, in the middle of the main channel
thereof, to the parallel of latitude of thirty-six degrees and thirty
minutes ; thence west along the same, to a point where said paral
lel is intersected by a meridian line passing through the middle of
the mouth of the Kansas river, where the same empties into the
Missouri river; thence, from the point aforesaid, north, along the
said meridian line to the intersection to the parallel of latitude
which passes through the rapids of ihe river Des Moines, making the
said line to correspond with ihe Indian boundary line; thence east, from
the point of intersection last aforesaid, along the said parallel of
latitude, to the middle of the channel of the main fork of the said
river Des Moines, to the mouth of the same, where it empties into
the Mississippi river ; thence, due east, to the middle of the main
channel of the Mississippi river ; thence down and following the
course of the Mississipi)i river, in the middle of the main channel
thereof, to the place of beginning."
In this work the boundary has been given in full, to explain the
ground of a dispute, which at one period threatened serious colli
aion between, the territory, and subsequently the State of Iowa, and
the State of Missouri, relative to boundaries and jurisdiction. The
words in italics gave rise to the difference, and involved the ques-

1820. MISSOURI FORMS A STATE CONSTITUTION. 935
tions: First, what was meant by the "rapids of the river Des
Moines;" Secondly, what Indian boundary line was intended?
Missouri contended for certain rapide, or ripplee in the river Des
Moinee, some distance up, which threw the line some ten or fifteen
miles further north. Iowa contended that the rapids in the Missis
sippi, called by the French explorers. La rapides la riviere Des
Moines, was the point meant.
After several years of contested jurisdiction, during which a
sheriff of Missouri wae imprieoned in Iowa, and military force was
appealed to, both States consented to refer the question of bound
ary and jurisdiction to the Supreme Court of the United Statee.
After a labored inveetigation, the court decided in favor of the old
boundary line, as it was called, and the rapids of the Des Moines in
the French sense of the term.
The election for members of the convention was held on the
first Monday, and two succeeding days of May, 1820. The only
discussion on slavery was, whether the emancipation of slaves
should be left open for legislative action at any future time, or re
stricted in the constitution. The objection urged against this pol
icy was, that slaves were, in a legal sense, property ; that property
could not be taken from its owner by statute law, except for public
purposes, and then only for compensation paid ; that were the Leg
islature at any time to pass a law to emancipate slavee, the courts
could nullify the act; and that when the -people deeired to change
the policy of the State, they could reorganize the government by a
new conetitution.
The convention met at St. Louie, on the 12th day of June.
Their labors were finished by signing the constitution on the 19th
day of July, 1820. The first General Assembly were required to
meet on the third Monday in September, at St. Louis. An election
for a governor, lieutenant-governor, a representative in Congress
for the residue of the sixteenth Congress, a representative for the
eeventeenth Congreee, senators and representatives to the General
Assembly, sheriffs, and coroners, was held on the fourth Monday in
August. The apportionment in the constitution for the firat Gen
eral Assembly, provided fourteen senators, and forty-tMee repre
sentatives. Alexander M'Nair was elected governor, and William H.
Ashley, lieutenant-governor, and John Scott, representative to Con
greaa. No proviaion waa made to refer the adoption of the consti
tution to the people, and it took eftect from the authority of the
convention.

936 CONGRESS REFUSES MISSOURI CONSTITUTION. 1820.
There were eeveral features in the constitution quite objectiona
ble to the people. Theee were the officer of chancellor, with a
salary of two thouaand dollara per annum ; and the aalariea of the
governor and the judgee of the eupreme and circuit courte being
fixed at not less than two thousand dollara per annum for each
officer. The mode provided for amending the constitution was by a vote
of two-thirds of each House of the General Assembly proposing
amendments ; these to be published in all the newapapers in the
State three timea, at leaat twelve montha before the next general
election ; and if, at the firat aeeeion of the next General Aaaembly
after such general election, two-thirds of each House, by yeas and
nays, ratify auch propoaed amendmenta, after three eeparate read-
inge, on three eeveral daya, the amendmenta become parts of the
conetitution. At a epecial session of the General Aeeembly, in 1821, amend-
mente were propoeed to remove the objectionable featuree, and
paesed by the constitutional majority. The next General Assembly
at its firat aeaaion ratified them.
At the firat aeeeion of the General Aeeembly in 1820, Thomae H.
Benton and David Barton were elected eenators, to represent the
new State in the Congress of the United States. The sfinatora and
representative were at Waahington city at the opening of the sea-
sion, when, on preaenting the constitution, and claiming admit
tance as a State into the Union, they met a repulse. In article
third, defining the legislative power of the General Assembly, waa
the following injunction :
"It ahall be their duty, aa soon aa may be, to pass such lawa aa
may be neceaaaty, to prevent free negroea and mulattoea from
coming to, and settling in this State, under any pretext whatso
ever." To thia clauae objections were made in Congreaa, the State was
refuaed admittance into the Union, and another diacuasion fol
lowed. The objection waa, that " free negroea and mulattoee "
were citizene of some of the Statea, and the clauae infringed on the
rights of auch aa were guaranteed in the conatitution of the United
Statee. The words of the conetitution are: "The citizena of each State
shall be entitled to all privileges and immunitiea of citizens in the
several Statea." The difficulty waa increaeed by remonatrancea
from the legialatures of Vermont and New York, againat the "Mia-

1821. A SECOND COMPROMISE NECESSARY. 937
souri Compromiee" of the preceding session, and the reception of
the new State without the restriction of slavery.
In the House of Representatives, the resolution previously intro
duced to admit that State, was rejected.
On the 10th of February, 1821, the select committee to whom
the constitution was referred, made an elaborate report, and recom
mended the reception of the State, This was also disagreed to.
On a subsequent occasion the question came up somewhat modi
fied, and was lost in the House, This vote was afterward recon
sidered. During the session the whole subject was discussed ; the rights
of the South; the balance of power; the rights of the people of
Missouri, and the mooted question, whether " free negroes " were
constitutionally, citizens in all the States, were agitated questions
at various periods of the session, A resolution with various re
strictions, to admit Missouri, finally passed the House, but in such
a form as it would not be likely to receive the support of the
Senate, At this crisis, (February 22d,) Clay proposed a joint committee
of the House and Senate, which was carried. He then reported
from the joint committee on the subject, the formula that became
incorporated in the public act, to be found in the Laws of Congress
for that session, and in the "Territorial Laws of Missouri,"
, The substance is as follows : On condition that the Legislature of
Missouri, by a solemn act, shall declare that the twenty-sixth section
of the third article of the constitution, shall never be construed to
authorize the passage of any law by which any citizen of either of
the States of the Union, shall be excluded from the enjoyment of
any of the privileges to which such citizen ie entitled under the
Conetitution of the United Statea ; and shall tranemit to the Presi
dent of the United States, on or before the fourth Monday in
November, 1821, an authentic copy of said act ; — upon the receipt
thereof, the president, by proclamation, shall announce the fact,
whereupon, without any further proceeding on the part of Con-
.gress, the admission of that State into the Union shall be consid
ered as complete.
To carty this proviso out, it became necessary for the governor
to convene the legislature in a special aeeeion, which was held in
the town of St. Charles, in the month of June, and the Solemn
Public Act was passed ; guarded by explanations, so as not to
appear to affect constitutional rights. The mooted question
whether "free negroes and mulattoes" are "citizens," in the
60

938 MISSOURI finally ADMITTED INTO THE UNION, 1821.
sense of the Constitution of the United States, remains as it waa
before the action of Congreaa and the Legislature of Missouri,
In the month of August, the president having received an au
thentic copy of the "Solemn Public Act," made proclamation that
the reception of Misaouri waa complete. During the preceding
session of Congress, the Senators and Representatives of thia
State had no seat in Congress, and the votes for president were not
counted. As the admission of Missouri to become a sovereign State, was a
subject which excited more than ordinary interest, the account
here given is somewhat elaborated; especially that the reader may
learn that there were two questions and two compromises, and here
after not confound the events nor their dates, as many have done
heretofore. In November, of the previous year. Governor Case had written
to the War Department, proposing a tour along the Southern shore
of Lake Superior, and toward the heads of the Mississippi ; the
purposes being to ascertain the state of the fur trade, to examine
the copper region, and especially to form acquaintance and con
nections with the various Indian tribes. In the following Januaty,
the Secretary of War wrote, approving the plan ; and in May, the
expedition started, A full account of it by Mr, Schoolcraft,* is
easily accessible, and we need only say that it was attended with
as much success as could have been hoped for.
During this year, and from this time forward, treaties were made
with the Western and North-Western tribes extinguishing by
degrees their title throughout a great part of the original north
western territory : — of these treaties we shall not, hereafter, speak
particularly, excepting as far as they stand connected with the
Black Hawk war of 1832,
"In the ordinance of Congress authorizing the formation of a
State Constitution for Indiana, four sections, containing two thou
sand five hundred and sixty acres of land were donated for the
permanent seat of government. Commissioners on the part of the
State were appointed in 1820, to make the selection, and in 1821
the town of Indianapolis waa laid out,"t

* Schoolcraft, Tol. i. published at Albany, in 1821. f Indiana Gazetteer.

1822. EARLY HISTORY OF CANALS. 939
Upon the 31et of January, the Ohio Assembly passed a law
1822.] " authorizing an examination into the practicability of con
necting Lake Erie with the Ohio river, by a canal."
This act grew out of events, a sketch of which it may be worth
while to present to the reader of these pages.
One of the earUest of modern navigable canals was made in Lom-
bardy, in 1271 ; it connected MUan with the Tesino. About the
eame time, or perhape earlier, similar works were commenced in
HoUand. It was not, however, till 1755, that any enterprise of
the kind was Undertaken in England; this Avas followed, three
years later, by the Duke of Bridgewater's first canal, constructed
by Brindley.
In 1765, an act of Parliament authorized the great work by which
Brindley and his patron proposed to unite Hull and Liverpool — the
Trent and the Mersey, This great undertaking was completed in
1777, The idea thus carried into effect in Great Britain was soon
borne across the Atlantic, .^
The great New York canal was suggested by Governeur Morris,
in 1777 ; but, as early as 1774, Washington said he had thought of
a system of improvements by which to connect the Atlantic with
the Ohio; which system, ten years later, he tried most perseveringly
to induce Virginia to act upon with energy.
In a letter to Governor Harrison, written October 10th, 1784, he
also suggests that an examination be made as to the facilities for
opening a communication, through the Cuyahoga, and Muskin
gum or Scioto, between Lake Erie and the Ohio, Such a commu
nication had been previously mentioned by Jefferson, in March,
1784; he even proposed a canal to connect the Cuyahoga and Big
Beaver, Three years later, Washington attempted to interest the federal
government in his views, and exerted himself, by all the means iu his
power, to learn the exact state of the country about the eources of
the Muskingum and Cuyahoga, After he was called to the presi
dency, hie mind was employed on other subjects; but the whites,
who had meantime began to people the West, used the course
which he had suggested, (as the Indiane had done before them,) to
carry goods from the lakes to the settlemente on the Ohio ; so that
it was soon known definitely, that upon the summit level were
ponds, through which^in a wet season, a complete water connec
tion was formed between the Cuyahoga and Muskingum,
From thia time the public mind underwent various changes;
more and more pereone becoming convinced that a canal between

940 HISTORY OP CANALS IN NEW YORK, 1822,
the heads of two rivers, was far less desirable, in every point of
view, than a complete canal communication from place to place, fol
lowing the vaUeys of the rivers, and drawing water from them.
In 1815, Dr. Drake, of Cincinnati, proposed a canal from some
point on the Great Miami, to the city in which he resided ; and in
January, 1818, Mr., afterward Governor Brown, writes thus: "Ex
perience, the best guide, has tested the infinite superiority of this
mode of commercial intercourse over the best roads, or any navi
gation of the beds of small rivers. In comparing it with the latter,
I believe you will find the concurrent testimony of the most
skillful and experienced engineers of France and England, againet
the river, and in favor of the canal, for very numeroua reaaona."
Meanwhile, along the Atlantic, varioua experimenta had been
tried, both in regard to improving rivera and digging canals. In
October, 1784, Virginia, acting under the instigation of Washing
ton, paeeed a law " for clearing and improving the navigation of
James river," In March, 1792, New York eatablished two compa
nies for " Inland Lock Navigation ; " the one to connect the Hud
son with Lake Champlain, the other to unite it ¦ with Lake
Ontario, whence another canal was to rise round the Great Falls
to Erie,
These enterprises, and various others, were presented to Congress
by Mr, Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury, in an elaborate report,
made April 4th, 1808. Subsequent to this report, in AprU, 1811,
the General Assembly of New York passed a law for the great Erie
canal, and at the head of the commissioners was Governeur Morria,
who had proposed the plan thirty-four years previous.
To her aid in this vast work. New York asked the power of the
federal government, and Ohio passed resolutions in favor of the
aid being given. No great help, however, was given; and New
York, with the strength imparted by the energy of CUnton, carried
through her vast work; and when Ohio began to speak of simUa*
efibrts, through the same voice that had encouraged her during
her labors, the Empire State spoke encouragement to her younger
sitter. When, therefore. Governor Brown, in his inaugural addreaa of De
cember 14th, 1818, referred to the neceaaity of providing cheaperwaya
to market for the farmers of Ohio, he spoke to a people not unpre
pared to respond favorably. In accordance with the go'vernor's
suggestion, Mr. Sill, oU the 7th of January, 1819, moved that a
committee be appointed to report on the expediency of a canal
from the lake to the Ohio. This was followed, on the next day, by

1822. OHIO LEGISLATURE REPORTS FOR CANALS,

941

a further communication from Governor Brown, and the subject
was discussed through the winter.
In the foUowing December, the executive again pressed the
matter, and in January, 1820, made a full statement of facts rela
ting to routes, so far as they could be ascertained. Further infor
mation was communicated in February, and on the 20th of that
month, an act passed, appointing commissioners to determine the
course of the proposed canal, provided Congress would aid in its
construction, and seeking aid from Congress.
That aid not having been given, nothing was done during 1820
or 1821, except to excite and extend an interest in the subject, but
upon the 3d of January, 1822, Micajah T. WilUams, chairman of a
committee to consider that part of the governor's message relating
to internal improvements, offered an elaborate report upon the
subject; and brought in the bill already referred to as having been
passed upon the 31st of the last mentioned month.
The examination authorized by that law was at once commen
ced, Mr. James Geddes being the engineer.
Upon the same day, (December 6th, 1821,) on which Mr. Wil
liams moved for a committee on canals, Caleb Atwater moved for
one upon schools ; and on the same day that the law above referred
to was passed, one was also passed authorizing the appointment of
commissioners to report to the next legislature a plan for estab
lishing a complete system of common schools. To the history of
that subject the reader's attention is next invited.
The ordinance of 1787 provided, that "religion, morality, and
knowledge being necessaty to good government and the happiness
of mankind, schools and the means of education shall be forever
encouraged." In the previous ordinance of 1785, regulating the
sale of lands in the west, section No. 16 of every township was
reserved " for the maintenance of public schools within the said
township." And the Constitution of Ohio, using the words of the ordinance
of 1787, says, that " schools and the means of instruction shall for
ever be encouraged by legislative provision." In accordance with
the feelings ehown in theee eeveral clauses the Governors of Ohio
always mentioned the subject of education with great respect in
their messages ; but nothing was done to make it general.
It was supposed, that people would not willingly be taxed to
educate the children of their poor neighbors ; not eo much because
they failed to perceive the necessity that exists for all to be educa
ted, in order that the commonwealth may be safe and prosperous ;

942 OHIO LEGISLATURE REPORTS CANAL ROUTES, 1823,
but becaluse a vast number, that lived in Ohio, still doubted
whether Ohio would be their ultimate abiding place.
They came to the West to make money rather than to find a
home, and did not care to help educate those whose want of edu
cation they might never feel.
Such was the state of things until about the year 1816, at which
time several persons in Cincinnati, who knew the benefits of a free-
school system, united, and commenced a correspondence with dif
ferent portions of the State,
Their ideas being warmly responded to, by the dwellers in the
Ohio Company's purchase, and the Western Reserve more particu
larly, committfies of correspondence were appointed in the differ
ent sections, and various means were resorted to, to call the atten
tion of the public to the subject ; among the most efficient of which
was the publication of an Education Almanac at Cincinnati,
This work was edited by Nathan Guilford, a lawyer of that
place, who had from the first taken a deep interest in the matter.
For several years this gentleman and his associates labored silently
and ceaselessly to diffuse their sentiments, one attempt only being
made to bring the subject into the legislature : this was in Decem
ber, 1819, when Ephraim Cutler, of Washington county, brought
in a bill for establishing common schools, which was lost in the
Senate, At length, in 1821, it having been clearly ascertained that a
strong feeling existed in favor of a common school system through
the eastern and north-eastern parts of the State, and it being also
known that the western men, who were then about to bring
forward their canal schemes, wished to secure the assistance of
their less immediately benefited fellow-citizens, it was thought to
be a favorable time to bring the free-echool proposition forward ;
which, as before mentioned, wae done by Mr, Atwater,
On the 3d of January, 1823, Mr, Worthington, on behalf of the
1823,] canal commissioners, presented a report upon the best
route for a canal through the State, and a further examination was
ao-reed upon ; which was made during the year.
The friends of the common school system continued their efforts,
and although they did not succeed in procuring an assembly fa
vorable to their views, they diftused information and brought out
inquiry, Michigan during this year was invested with a new form of ter
ritorial government; Congress having authorized the appointment

1823, FIRST AMERICAN MINING ON UPPER MISSISSIPPI, 943
of a Legislative Council of nine members, to be chosen by the
president from eighteen candidates elected by the people.
The richest mines of lead, were discovered on the Upper Miaaia
aippi, at Galena, on the eaateru aide, and at Dubuque, on the weet
They have yielded from eighty to ninety per cent of pure lead.
In 1786, Julien Dubuque, an enterprising Canadian, vieited thie
region, explored ita mineral wealth, returned two yeara after, and,
at a council held with the Indiana in 1788, obtained from them a
grant of a large tract of land, amounting to one hundred and forty
thousand acrea, beginning on the weat aide of the Mississippi.
Here he resided and obtained great wealth in mining and
trading with the Indians, and died in 1810. His grave is about
one mile below the city of Dubuque, in the State of Iowa,
The mines of the Upper Mississippi, are between Rock and
Wisconsin rivers on the east, and about the eame parallel on the
west side of that river.
For many yeara the Indiana and some of the French couriers
du bois, had been accustomed to dig lead in the mineral region
about Galena, But they never penetrated much below the surface,
though they obtained considerable quantities of mineral.
In 1823, the late Colonel James Johnson, of Kentucky, obtained
a lease from the United States government, to prosecute the busi
ness of mining and smelting, which he did with a strong force and
much enterprise. This movement attracted the attention of enter
prising men in Illinois, Missouri, and other States,
Some went on in 1826, more following in 1827, and in 1828, the
country was almost literally filled with miners, smelters, merchants,
apeculatora, gamblers, and every description of character. Intelli
gence, enterprise, and virtue, were thrown in the midst of dissipa
tion, gambling, and every species of vice.
Such was the crowd of adventurers in 1829, to thia hitherto
almoat unknown and desolate region, that the lead business waa
greatly overdone, and the market for a while nearly destroyed.
Fortunes were made almost upon a turn of a spade, and lost with
equal facility.
The business ie etill prosecuted to a great extent, Exhaustless
quantities of mineral exist here, over a tract of country two hundred
miles in extent.
From 1821, to September, 1823, the amount of lead made in the
vicinity of Galena, Illinois, was three hundred and thirty-five thou-

944 SELKIRK SETTLEMENT OP PEMBINA, 1823.
sand one hundred and thirty pounds. During the next succeeding
ten years, the aggregate wae about seventy miUions of pounds.
The average number of miners during the year 1825, was one
hundred; in 1826, four hundred; and in 1827, one thousand sis
hundred. Many citizena of Illinois, from the counties of St. Clair,
Madison, &c., went up the river with supplies of provision in the
spring, to prosecute mining, and returned downward and home-
Ward at the approach of winter. Prom this trifiing incident, a
mischievous wag from " Yankeedom," yeleped the people of Illi
nois, " Suckers," from these migratory miners.
In 1811, the Hudson's Bay Company, made a grant to Lord
Selkirk, a Scotch nobleman, and influential member of the com
pany, of a large tract of land, including Red river up to Red Fork.
This nobleman, having extinguished the Indian title, at once set
to work vigorously to establish a colony, in the interests of the
Hudson's Bay Company, and in 1812, settlere were procured from
the highlande of Scotland, from Switzerland, England, and other
parts of Europe, and two settlements were formed; one at Pem
bina, about two miles below the Pembina river; the other at Fort
Douglass, about sixty miles below Pembina, near the confluence of
the Aesiniboin and Red rivers. ^
At this period the rivalry between the North-West (Fur) Com
pany, which was started by John Jacob Astor, of New York, in
1809, and . the Hudson's Bay Company, was very great, and the
new settlera had among other diffieultiea, many strifes with the
agents of the rival company. In 1815, they were even diaperaed.
But in 1816, tbey returned, and Lord Selkirk, acted ao vigorously
in maintaining the commercial and territorial righta of the Hudson's
Bay Company, that he succeeded in reducing the trading posts of
the other, and in 1821, the two were conjoined, and thua an end
put to all further strife.
The settlements which he had founded continued in existence,
and Pembina proving afterward to be below the 49th degree of
latitude, it fell within the boundary of the United States. In
1823, Major Long was sent upon an expedition to the source of
St. Peter's river. Lake Winnepeck, Lake of the Woods, &c., for
the purpose of topographically exploring those regions ; and the
following account of the settlement of Pembina, is taken from Mr.
Keating's account of that expedition :
" Pembina constituted the upper settlement made on the tract
of land granted to the late Lord Selkirk, by the Hudaon'a Bay

1823. LONG AND keating's ACCOUNT OF PEMBINA. 945
Company. It may be well to observe, that by virtue of a charter
from Chariea the Second, granted in 1670, to Prince Rupert and
othera, constituting the 'honorable Hudson's Bay Company,' the
whole of the British dominions lying contiguous to Hudson's Bay
or its tributaries, has been claimed by that company, not only as
regards the monopoly of the fur trade, but also aa reapecte the right
to the soil, and to the jurisdiction of the country. About the year
1813, Lord Selkirk, who was one of the principal partners, obtained
from the company a grant of a considerable tract of land, including
both -banks of Red river, up to the Red or Grand Fork. To this he
extinguiahed the Indian title, by the payment of a certain amount,
and the promise of an annuity to the Indians. He then opened the
lands for aettlement, inviting a number of Britiah eubjecta to go
and reside upon them, and with a view to strengthen his infant
colony, he engaged recruits from Switzerland and other countries,
and eapecially increased it by a number of soldiers belonging to the
de Meuron and de WatteviUe regiments, two foreign corps that
were in the pay of England during the late war, and that were dis
banded in Canada, in the year 1815. Two principal settlements
were formed, one at Fort Douglas, which ie at the confluence of the
Aesiniboin and Red rivere, and the other one hundred and twenty
miles by water above that, and near the mouth of a small stream,
named by the Chippewas, Anepeminan sipi, so called from a small
red berty, termed by them anepeminan, which name haa been
shortened and corrupted into Pembina, (Viburnum oxycoccos.)
" The Hudson's Bay Company had a fort here, until the spring
of 1823, when obeervatione, made by their own aatronomere, led
them to auapect that it waa south of the boundaty line, and they
therefore abandoned it, removing all that could be sent down the
river with advantage. The Catholic clergyman, who had been sup
ported at thie place, was at the eame time removed to Fort Doug-
laa ; and a large and neat chapel built by the settlers for their
accommodation, ie now faat going to decay. The settlement con
sists of about three hundred and fifty soulsj residing in sixty log
houses or cabins; they do not appear to possess the qualifications
for good settlera ; few of them are farmers ; most of them are half-
breede, who, having been educated by their Indian mothers, have
imbibed the roving, unsettled, and indolent habits of the Indians.
Accustomed from their early infancy to the arts of the fur trade,
which may be considered as one of the worst schools for morals,
they have acquired no small share of cunning and artifice. These
form at least two-thirds of the male inhabitanta. The rest consist

EMPLOYMENT OF THE INHABITANTS. 1823.
of Swiee and Scotch eettlers ; most of the former are old soldiers, as
unfit for agricultural pursuits as the half-breeds themselves. The
only good colonists are the Scotch, who have brought over with
them, as ueual, their steady habits, and their indefatigable perseve
rance. Although the soil about Pembina is very good, and will,
when well cultivated, yield a plentiful return, yet, from the
character of the population, ae well ae from the infant etate of
the colony, it does not at preeent yield sufficient produce to aupport
the settlers, who, therefore, devote much of their time to hunting ;
this, which perhaps in the origin was - the effect of an imperfect
state of agriculture, eoon acted ae a cauee ; for experience shows,
that men addicted to hunting never can make good farmers. At
the time when we arrived at the colony, most of the settlers had
gone from home, taking with them their families, horses, &c. They
were then chasing the buffalo in the prairies, and had been absent
forty-five days without being heard from. The settlement was in
the greatest need of provisions ; fortunately for us, who were like
wise destitute, they arrived next day. Their return afforded us a
view of what was really a novel and interesting spectacle; their march
was a triumphant one, and presented a much greater concourse of
men, women, and children, than we had expected to meet on those
distant prairies. The procession consisted of one hundred and fif
teen carts, each loaded with about eight hundred pounds of the
finest buffalo meat ; there were three hundred persons, including
the women. The number of their horsea, some of which were
very good, was not under two hundred. Twenty hunters, mounted
on their best steeds, rode in abreast ; having heard of our arrival,
they fired a salute as they passed our camp. These men receive
here the name of Gens libres, or Freemen, to distinguish them from
the servants of the Hudson's Bay Company, who are called En
gagees. Those that are partly of Indian extraction, are nick-named
Bois brule, (Burnt wood,) from their dark complexion.
"A swift horse is held by them to be the most valuable property;
they are good judges of horses, particularly of racers, with which
they may chase the buffalo. Their horses are procured from our
southern prairiee, or from the internal provinces of New Spain,
whence they are stolen by the Indians, and traded or re-stolen
throughout the whole distance, until they get into the possession of
these men. Their dress is singular, but not deficient in beauty; it
is a mixture of the European and Indian habits. AU of them have
a blue capote with a hood, which they use only in bad weather ;
the capote is secured round their waiet by a military saeh ; they

1823. PECULIAR CHARACTER OF THE INHABITANTS. 947
wear a shirt of caUco or painted muslin, moccasins, and leather
leggings fastened round the legs by garters, ornamented with beads,
&c. The Bois brules often dispense with a hat ; when they have
one, it is generally variegated in the Indian manner, with feathers,
gilt lace, and other tawdry ornaments.
"The character of the Bois brule countenance ie pecuUar. Their
eyes are small, black, and piercing ; their hair generally long, not
unfrequently curied, and of the deepest black ; their nose is short
and turned up ; their mouth wide ; their teeth good ; their com
plexion of a deep olive, which variea according to the quantity of
Indian blood which they have in them. They are smart, active,
excellent runners. One of them, we were told, often chased the
buffalo on foot ; we did not, however, aee him do it. Thia man had
a handaome, well-proportioned figure, of which Mr. Seymour took
a sketch. He waa very strong, and waa known to have three timee
discharged, from hie bow, an arrow which, after perforating one
buffalo, had killed a second ; an achievement which is sometimes
performed by Indians, though it is rare, as it requires great muscu
lar strength. Their countenance is full of expression, which par
takes of cunning and malice. When angry, it assumes all the force
of the Indian features, and denotes perhaps more of the demoniac
spirit than is generally met with, even in the countenance of the
aborigines. "The great mixture of natione, which consist of English, Scotch,
French, Italians, Germans, Swiss, united with Indians of different
tribes, viz: Chippewas, Creee, Dacotahs, &c., has been unfavorable
to the state of their morals ; for, as is generally the case, they have
been more prone to imitate the vices than the virtues of each stock;
we can therefore ascribe to this combination of heterogeneous in
gredients, but a very low rank in the scale of civilization. They
are but little superior to the Indians themselves. Their cabins are
built, however, with a little more art ; they cultivate small fields of
wheat, maize, barley, potatoes, turnips, tobacco, &c. A few of the
more respectable inhabitants keep cows, and attend to agriculture,
but we saw neither a plough nor a yoke of oxen in use, in the
whole of the upper settlement. Considering the high latitude of
Pembina, the above-mentioned plants thrive well. Maize yields
tolerable crops; so does tobacco, which even yields seed. The
wheat, which is in the greatest repute here, is the bearded wheat.
The price of agricultural produce ie apparently very high."
The eame writer gives a spirited account of the manner of deter
mining the forty-ninth degree of latitude, which had been the main
object of the party in visiting the place. It wae at once found that

948 FORTY-NINTH DEGREE OF LATITUDE ESTABLISHED. 1823.
the settlement stood close upon that line, and on the 8th of August,
the precise boundary line was found, and a flag was raised upon the
etaft" at the point ; when, after the flring of a salute. Major Long made
proclamation that, "by virtue of the authority vested in him by
the president of the United States, the country situated upon Red
river, above that point, was declared to be within the territory of
the United States."
The inhabitants, who had been all collected together for the pur
pose, heard the declaration with satisfaction. " While flxing the
posts," says Mr. Keating, "the colonists requested that they might
be shown how the line would run ; when this was done, the first
observation they made was, that all the buffalo would be on our
side of the line ; this remark shows the great interest they take- in
this animal, to which all their thoughts recur."
The people of Pembina have, howevef, improved greatly in en
terprise and refinement ; they have made improvements in the arts
of agriculture, and have become traders to a very considerable
extent. Their chief article of trade is still buffalo robes and buffalo
tongues. These they formerly brought to the States by a tedious
route overland, but since 1849 and 1850, the cities of St Paul's and
St. Anthony having sprung into magnitude and importance, the
Pembinaens chiefly carry their trade up the Red river, then by a
short overland route to the St. Peter's river, and down that river to
St. Paul's and St. Anthony, and so often do they make their ap
pearance in these cities, that they may be reckoned among their
regular traders.
By the census of 1849, there were in the settlement two hundred
and ninety-five males, and three hundred and forty-two females,
making a total of six hundred and thirty-seven persons. The
population at this time (1856) is probably two thousand.
A writer in an old number of the "Dubuque Herald," gives the
following account of the climate of Pembina :
" The cold is sometimes excessive in the settlement Mercury
freezes once or twice every year, and sometimes the spirit ther
mometer indicates a temperature as low as fifty-two degrees below
zero. When such a low temperature occurs, there is a pervading
haze or smoky appearance in the atmosphere, resembling a general
diffused yellow smoke, and the sun looks red as in a sultry even
ing. As the sun rises, so does the thermometer, and when the
mercury thawe out and stands at ten or fifteen below, a breeze sets
in, and pleasant weather follows — that is, as pleasant as can be,
while the mercury keeps below zero.

1824. IMPROVEMENT PARTY SUCCEEDS IN OHIO. 949
"For weeks, sometimes, the wind will blow from the north — tem
perature say from five to ten below — suddenly it shifts into the
south, and for six hours the thermometer will continue to fall,
a phenomena which meteorologists, perhaps, can account for.
Another : when, in summer, the wind blows a length of time from
the north, it drives the water back, and Red river will have its
banks full in the dryest seasons. The same thing occurs when the
wind blows from the same direction in winter, although the sea and
river are frozen unbrokenly ten feet thick to the north pole."
In 1824, the friends of canala, and those of free common schools,
1824.J in Ohio, finding a strong opposition still existing to the
great plans of improvement offered to the people, during this year
strained every nerve to secure an Assembly in which, by union,
both measures might be carried. Information was diffused, and in
terest excited by every means that could be auggeated, and the
autumn electiona were in conaequence auch as to insure the success
of the two bills which were to lay the foundation of so much phys
ical and intellectual good to Ohio.
The subject of civilizing the Indians was taken up as early as
July, 1789, and was kept constantly in view by the United Statea
government from that time forward; in 1819, ten thoueand dollars
annually were appropriated by Congress to that purpose, and great
pains were taken to see that they were wisely expended. In March
of thie year, (1824,) a report was made by Mr. M'Lean, of Ohio,
upon the proposition to stop the appropriation above named ; against
this proposition he reported decidedly, and gave a favorable view
of what had been done, and what might be hoped for.
African' slavery, as may be seen on page 88 in this work, was in
troduced into Illinois as early as 1720.
As slavety obtained throughout all the colonies, the conqusst of
New France by England did not affect the institution.
The surrender of the country to Clark, in 1778, brought the sub
ject under the jurisdiction of Virginia, and in its transfer to the
Continental 'Congress, in 1784, the same relationship of property
was secured.
The ordinance of 1787 was prospective, and has been eo decided
by the courts. The question whether the descendants of those
who were slaves in 1787, could be held in servitude, on the ground
of a "vested right," remained opened until 1845, when, by a de
cision of the Supreme Court of Illinois, it was declared they were
free.

950 SLAVERY DISCUSSION IN INDIANA. 1824.
The operation of the ordinance of 1787, prohibiting slavery in
the North-Weetern Territory, was a subject of complaint by a vety
few interested persons, who, by memorials to Congress, made
efforts to obtain a removal of the restriction for a limited period.
The first petition was from four persons in Kaskaskia, in 1796, ask
ing that slavery might be tolerated there.
In 1804, a convention was held on the subject at Vincennes, to
deliberate on "territorial interests," of which Governor Harrison was
president. One object was to obtain a modification of the organic
law. A memorial was sent to Congress, which was referred to a
committee of the House of Representatives, who recommended that
the sixth article of the ordinance of 1787 be suspended, in a quali
fied manner, for ten years, eo ae to permit the introduction of elavea,
(born in the United Statea,) into the territory of Indiana, which
then included Illinois. This resolution was lost.
At the session of the Territorial legislature of 1806-7, a series of
reeolutione were adopted, and reported to Congress. One strong
resolution was reported by the committee to which they were re
ferred, in favor of a suspension of the sixth article of the ordi
nance for ten years, and was lost in the House.
This movement produced a political reaction in the territory.
The opponents of the measure brought out as a candidate for Con
gress, Jonathan Jennings, and elected him over the opposite candi
date, and continued him by successive re-electiona, until the State
government was formed.
To avoid the reetriction in the organic law, the Territory of Indi
ana paaaed an act, (September 17, 1807,) entitled "An act concerning
the introduction of negroes and mulattoes into this Territory." It legal
ized the introduction of that class of persons, (who were slaves in
the States or territories,) into that territory, by requiring the owner
or possessor to enter into indentures with his slave, to eerve
for a stipulated period as an indentured servant, and then become
free. A record of thie muet be made in the court of common pleas,
within thirty days after the introduction of the elave or slavee.
Children under fifteen years of age, were required to eerve their
former owner or possessor — males, until thirty-five years of age,
and females, until thirty-two years of age. This class was termed
"indentured servants."
Many slaveholders from Virginia, Kentucky, and other Statea,
who deaired to relieve themaelvea from the ownerahip of slavee,
migrated and availed themeelves of this law. This form of eervi-

1824. SLAVERY DISCUSSION IN ILLINOIS. 951
tude haa been removed by judicial deciaiona in Indiana, and by the
new conetitution in Illinois.
For eeveral yeare after the war, peraons migrated to Hlinoia, with
the view of emancipating their alavea. Among theee wae Edward
Colea, a native of Virginia, who had been educated at William and
Mary College, under the tuition of Biehop Madison, where he re
ceived the conviction of the wrong and impolicy of negro slavery;
and he then formed the resolution, that should he come in posses
sion of this species of property, he would immediately emancipate
them, Mr, Colea became Private Secretary for President Madison,
and remained six years an inmate of his family. He was then sent
on a special mission to Russia, as the bearer of dispatches to the
American minister, the late J. Q. Adams, during which time he
made the tour of Europe, On his return, he effected a sale of his
plantation, and removed his slaves to Illinois ; in 1819, purchased
one hundred and sixty acres of land for each family, and superin
tended their settlement. Soon after, he was appointed by Presi
dent Monroe, register of the land office at Edwardsville, He was
elected governor of the State in 1822, and, as it turned out, at a
most important crisis,
" The election took place not long after the settlement of the
great Missouri question. The Illinois Senatore in Congreee had
voted for the admission of Missouri into the Union as a elave
State, without restriction, whilst Mr, Cook, the only representative
in the lower House, voted against it. Thie helped to keep alive
eome questions for, or against, the introduction of slavery,
" About this time also, a tide of immigration was pouring into
Missouri, through Illinois, from Kentucky and Virginia, In the
ftill of the year, evety great road was crowded, and full of them,
all bound for Missouri, with money, and long trains of teams and
Mack and mulatto slaves. Some of these were the most wealthy
and best educated people from the Slave States, Many of the
Illinois people who had land and farme to eell, looked upon the
good fortune of Mieeouri with envy ; whilet the lordly immigrant,
as he passed along with his money and droves of servants, took a
malicious pleasure in increasing it, ^by pretending to regret the
short-sighted policy of Illinois, which excluded him from purchas
ing land and making settlement there. In thia mode, a deaire to
make lUinoia a Slave State became quite prevalent. Notwithstand
ing the defeat of the slavety party at this election, they were not
annihilated ; they had only been beaten for governor by a division
in their own ranks, whilat they had elected a large majority iri

952 SLAVERY DISCUSSION IN ILLINOIS. 1824.
each House of the Assembly, and were now determined to make a
vigorous effort to carry their measures at the session of the legisla
ture to be held in 1822-23,
"Governor Coles, in hia firat message, recommended the emanci
pation of the French slaves. This served as the spark to kindle
into activity all the elements in favor of slavety,"*
Henceforth the question assumed an alarming attitude in poli
tics. The old constitution provided for alterations only in one mode,
A vote of two-thirds of the General Assembly could authorize the
people to vote for or against a convention, at the next election.
If a majority of votes waa in favor, the aubeequent legialature was
required to order an election for members to the convention, and
appoint the time of meeting, the apportionment to be in ratio to
the membera in both Houses of the General Aasembly.
At that period, the progreae of the population northward, had
rendered thia apportionment peculiarly unequal, and the atrong
hold of the advocatea of alavery waa in the countiea near the Ohio
river; and in the old French settlements.
It was demonstrated, that on a contingency, one-fourth of the
votes of the people could elect a majority in a convention, and that
majority might probably be in favor of opening the State for sla
very. Hence it became a paramount object of the opponents of
the measure, to defeat the convention.
After eeveral efforts, it was found that the constitutional majority
in the legielature wae lacking by one vote. A contested election, of
a perplexing and complicated character, had eome from Pike
county, then including all the territory north and west of the Illi
nois river, and, ;at the early part of the session, wae decided in
favor of Mr. Haneon ; but eome members who were oppoeed to a
convention, conscientiously gave their votes for the contestant, Mr.
©haw. After a stormy session of about ten weeks, the convention party
adopted the deaperate alternative of a re-conaideration, and turned
out Hanaon, and put in Shaw, Thie turned the ecale, and the vote
recommending the people to vote for or againet a convention, waa
carried, A number of the membera of both Houses entered their
solemn protest against both the object and the measures to ob
tain it.

* Ford's History of Illinois.

1824, SLAVERY DISCUSSION IN ILLINOIS, 953
The resolution passed both flouses but a short time before the
adjournment, Februaty, 1823, Only one of the four papers in the
State — ^the "Edwardsville Spectator," by Hooper Warren — at that
time took a decided stand against slavery and a convention.
Elections were biennial, and the question could not be decided
until the first Monday in August, 1824; the contest was spirited.
The people who were opposed to the introduction of slavery, be
came aroused; public meetings were held; and societies organized
for "the prevention of slavery in IlUnois," The first move was
made in the county of St Clair, where the convention party were
atrong, and led by aome of the atrongest political men in the
State, A county eociety was organized, officera appointed, an addreaa
to the people of Illinois was published, and an invitation made to
form societies in other counties. Fourteen similar societies were
organized in as many counties, and a correspondence established
in them through persons who could be trusted, in every county
and election precinct. This system was in full operation before
August, and a year remained to gather strength.
The opposite party relied on quiet and concealed operationa.
Many denied, and doubtleas honestly, that the introduction of sla
very was the object; and believed that there were objectionable
features in the constitution, that should be removed. In the coun
ties north of the road from St. Louis to Vincennes, very little was
said by this party in favor of slavety, except to ward off" the charges
made by their opponents.
The members of the preceding legislature, who had protested
against the convention question, contributed each fifty dollars from
their wages, to meet expenses in printing and circulating papers.
The governor was in the opposition, and at once resolved to expend
his four years' salaty in the contest, and nobly did he redeem the
pledge. The summer and autumn wore away, and the convention party
had no regular organization. The time appointed for rallying the
leaders and acting in concert, was in December, at the session of
the Supreme Court in Vandalia, The paper at that place, that
performed the public printing, was their strong garrison, so far as
newspaper armor was concerned. On the morning of their meet
ing, this citidal surrendered to their opponents, hoisted the anti-con
vention fiag, and prepared to pour grape-shot into their ranks, in
the form of newspaper bullets.
Governor Coles had purchased an interest in the prese ; David
61 '

954

SLAVERY CEASES IN ILLINOIS, 1824.

Blackwell, of BelleviUe, had been appointed Secretaty of State, to
fill a vacancy, and conducted the paper as editor. From that time
until August, the contest was carried on vigorously by both par
ties and finally decided against a convention, by about eighteen
hundred majority. The number of votes given iu the State, was
nearly twelve thousand.
During the contest it was anticipated that an indirect infiuence
out of the State, would be exerted to gain the question. All such
extraneous influence the opponents resisted. Of the members of
Congress, Governor Edwards and Daniel P, Cook, were strong in
the opposition, and each wielded a vigorous pen in the cause.
In six months after, the question was settled ; a politician who
was in favor of the introduction of slavery in the State, was a rara
AVIS, In this year, the Miami University of Oxford, Ohio, was first
organized ae a college. The following sketch of the institution and
ite history, from the pen of James M'Bride, Esq , President of the
Board of Trustees of the eame, (to which are added some remarks
respecting the female seminaries of Oxford,) will be found
interesting, " The Miami University is situated in the town of Oxford, Butler
county. State Of Ohio, thirty-three milea distant from Cincinnati,
The college derives its permanent endowment from a township of
land, six miles square, situated in the north-west corner of Butler
county, being located in lieu of a township of land, which had been
originally granted by the Congress of the United States, for the
endowment of an academy and other seminaries of learning, in
Symmes' purchase, between the Miami rivers,
"John Cleves Symmes, of the State of New Jersey, presented his
petition to Congress, dated the 29th day of August, 1787, proposing
to become the purchaser of one million of acres of land, lying
between the Great and Little Miami rivers, and that one township
should be assigned in the tract for the benefit of an academy. In
pursuance of which, an agreement was made with Symmes and hia
aBsociatea for the sale of one million of acres. The price of the
land was to be two-thirde of a dollar per acre, part payable in inst^ll-
mente. The latter, nbt having been punctually met. Congress
paaaed a law, dated the 5th day of May, 1792, authorizing the
conv'eyance to John Clevea Symmea and hia aeeociatea, of auch
number of acrea of land aa the paymenta then made would pay for.
" On settlement at the treasury, it appeared that Symmes

1824. HISTORY OF MIAMI UNIVERSITY. 955
and hie asaociates had paid in one hundred and aixty-five thouaand
six hundred and ninety-three dollara and forty-two cente, by which
they were entitled to two hundred and forty-eight thousand five
hundred and forty acres of land. On which settlement being com
pleted, George Washington, the then President of the United
States, issued a patent to John Cleves Symmes and his associates,
dated the thirteenth day of September, 1794, for three hundred and
eleven thousand eix hundred and eighty-two acres of land, reserving
out of this tract, however, one complete township of six miles
square,^for the endowment and support of an academy and other
public schools and seminaries of learning, and such other reeerva-
tions as were stipulated in the contract, so that only two hundred
and forty-eight thoueand five hundred and forty acres were the
property of the grantees — the residue consisted of the various reser
vations and grants for public purposee specified in the agreement
and law.
" So soon ae Symmee completed his contract with the govern
ment, he commenced aelling lande indiscriminately of his purchase,
so that soon after the patent issued there was not an entire town
ship within its bounds unsold, which he could tender or appropri
ate for a college. The people who had aettled in the purchase,
fearing that they would lose the benefit of the donation for an insti
tution of learning, petitioned the legislature of the territory, aud
the latter memorialized Congress on the subject. The convention
who formed the first constitution of the State of Ohio, also, repre
sented the matter to Congress, and insisted that a township of land
should be secured according to the original intention,
"In consequence of these applications. Congress, by law, in 1803,
granted a township of land, to be located west of the Great Miami
river, under the direction of the legislature of the State, in lieu of
the townahip originally intended to be reaerved in Symmea' pur
chaae; on which, the legialature of the State of Ohio, in 1803,
paseed a law, and appointed commieeionere to locate a college town
ship, in purauance of which, the preeent township of Oxford was
selected on the let of September, 1803,
" The Miami University wae eetablished by act of incorporation,
passed by the legislature of Ohio, in February, 1809, and by an
amendatory aet, passed in Februaty, 1810, the trusteea of the ineti-
tution were directed to lay out the town of Oxford, and the eite of
the University waa eatabliehed at that place, on the landa set apart
for ita endowment.
"These landa are leased for ninety-nine -^eara, renewable forever,

956 HISTORY OF MIAMI UNIVERSITY, 1824.
subject to the annual payment of a quit rent of six per cent on the
purchase money. It required a number of years before all the
lands were disposed of and suitable buildings erected, to accommo
date the college. So soon as this was accomplished, a faculty waa
organized, and the college was opened on the first Monday of
November, 1824, under the superintendence of the Rev, Robert H,
Bishop, a native of Scotland, and a clergyman of the Presbyterian
denomination, as president. He continued to preside over the
institution until the year 1841, The first commencement, when
degrees were conferred, was held in September, 1826, when the
degree of A. B, was conferred on twelve young gentlemen,
" Since that time, the whole number who have graduated in the
college, up to the year 1856, inclusive, is five hundred and seventy-
nine. "The town of Oxford is situated on an elevated and commanding
prominence, from which the ground descends gently in all direc
tions. It is laid out one mile square, in the eastern part of which
is reserved a plat of ground on which are erected the college
buildings, " The number of teachers in Miami University, are six professors,
a Principal of the Preparatory Department, and a Principal of the
Normal and Model school. According to the catalogue published
for the last year, the number of students in the institution was two
hundred and fifty- one.
"The permanent revenue for the support of the University,
arising from the rents of the college lands, is about five thousand
five hundred dollars per annum, in addition to which, is the receipts
arising from tuition fees ; this will, however, vary according to the
number of students in attendance.
" The college library contains about eight thousand volumes of
books, generally well selected and valuable. There is, in the col
lege, a well arranged and valuable cabinet of specimens, which
affords the means of a very complete exhibition of the subjects of
Geology and Mineralogy. And the apparatus belonging to the
college, affords the means for a satisfactory illustration of the most
important doctrines of the varioua departmenta of Mathematice,
Astronomy, Natural Philosophy and Chemistty, ' The Theologi
cal Seminary of the Associate Reformed Synod of the West,' is
likewise located at Oxford,
"Besides the University and Theological Seminary, there are
three other seminaries, for the education of femalee, at Oxford, In
1849, ' The Oxford Female Inetitute ' was established under the

1824. CANAL AND SCHOOL LAWS PASSED IN OHIO. 957
direction of the Rev. John W. Scott, D, D. The number of pupils
in attendance from the time of its opening up to the present time,
according to the published catalogues, has been from one hundred
and thirty-nine to one hundred and seventy-two,
"An institution called 'The Western Female Seminary,' (on the
plan of the Mount HoUyoke Seminary,) was dedicated in Septem
ber, 1855, It opened with one hundred and fifty pupils,
"'The Oxford Female College' is erected on a tract of twenty-
five acres of land, near the north-east corner of the town of Oxford ,
The building ie extensive and elegant, and said to be admirably
adapted for the purpose for which it is intended."
Upon the 4th of Februaty, 1825, a law was passed by Ohio, author-
1825.] izing the making of two canals, one from the Ohio to Lake
Erie, by the valleys of the Scioto and Muskingum ; the other from
Cincinnati to Dayton ; and a canal fund was created ; the vote in
the House in favor of the law was fifty-eight to thirteen ; in the
Senate, thirty-four to two.
Upon the day following, the law to provide for a system of com
mon schools was also passed by large majorities.
These two laws were carried by the union of the friends of each,
and by the unremitting efforts of a few public spirited men.
General Clark and Governor Cass, having. been appointed com
missioners, to mediate at Prairie du Chien, between the Sioux,
Sac, Fox, Chippewa, Menomonie and Winnebago tribes of Indiane,
and to establish boundaries between them, returns were received
from those gentlemen this year. They had been successful in their
undertaking and had concluded treaties with those tribes, by which
their long and bloody wars were terminated, and boundaries
assigned to them, as the surest guarantee against future hostilities.
In 1826, the first steamboat was seen on the waters of Lake Michi-
1826,] gan, a pleasure trip having been made that year to Green
Bay ; and, although during the following years similar trips were
made to that place, it was not until 1832 that a boat visited Chicago,
In 1833, the trade upon the upper lakes was carried on by eleven
steamboats, costing about three hundred and eixty thousand dollars,
and two trips were made to Chicago and one to Green Bay, In
1824, there were eighteen boats, coeting six hundred thousand dol
lars, and three trips were made to Chicago and one to Green Bay,
The commerce west of Detroit, at that time, and for many years

958

FIRST STEAMBOAT AT CHICAGO, 1832.

afterward, being almost entirely confined to the Indian trade and
to supplying the United States military posts, some small schooners
were also employed. The trade rapidly increased with the popu
lation, until, in 1840, there were upon the upper lakes, forty-eight
steamers of from one hundred and fifty to seven hundred and fifty
tons burden, and costing two miUiona of dollars, the business weet
of Detroit producing to the ownere about two hundred and one
thousand dollars. In 1841, the trade had so augmented as to
employ six of the largest boats in running from Buffalo to Chicago,
and one to Green Bay, and during that year, the sailing vessels had
increased to about two hundred and fifty, of from thirty to three
hundred and fifty tons, costing about one million two hundred and
fifty thoueand dollara. In 1845, there were upon the upper lakes,
sixty vessels, including propellers, moved by steam, measuring
twenty-three thousand tons, and three hundred and twenty sailing
vessels, costing four millions six hundred thousand dollars, some of
them measuring one thousand two hundred tons. The increase in
that year was forty-seven vessels, carrying nine thousand seven
hundred tone, and coeting eix hundred and fifty thousand dollars ;
and eince the laet fall, sixteen steamers and fourteen sailing vessels
of the largest class have been put under construction. In 1845,
there were upon Lake Ontario, fifteen steamboats and propellers,
and about one hundred sailing vessels, having a burden of eighteen
thousand tons, and costing one million five hundred thousand dol
lars, many of which, by using the Welland canal, carry on business
with Chicago and other places on the western lakes. Since the
close of the last season many additional vessels have been built on
this lake.
The commerce of the port of Buffalo alone, during the year 1845,
amounted to thirty-three millions of dollars in value ; and that of
all the other places on the lakes exceeding that amount, would
make an aggregate of full aeventy millions of dollars, while even
this would be greatly augmented if we could add the value of the
commerce of the upper lakes, which, by the way of the Welland
canal, goes direct to the Canadian porta. The steamboats alone
leaving Buffalo for the West, in the year 1845, carried from that
place ninety-seven thousand seven hundred and thirty-six passen
gers, of whom twenty thousand six hundred and thirty-six were
landed at Detroit, one thousand six hundred and seventy at Macki
nac, twelve thousand seven hundred and seventy-five at Milwaukie,
two thousand seven hundred and ninety at Southport, two thou
sand seven hundred and fifty at Racine, and twenty thoueand two

1832, HISTORY OP BLACK HAWK WAR, 959
hundred and forty-four at Chicago, If to this aggregate we were
to add the numbers arriving at Buffalo from the west, and the
numbers leaving there in sailing vessels, the multitudes going
between other places on those lakes, and some fifty thousand who
were passengers in the vessels on Lake Ontario, we would have a
grand total of at least two hundred and fifty thousand passengers
on the lakee during the last year, whose lives were subjected to all the
risks attending the navigation of those waters, exclusive of the offir
cers and crews of all the vessels engaged in that navigation. From
1840 to 1845, upwards of four hundred lives, and property worth
more than a million of dollars have been lost on the lakes.
Since that period, the trade upon the lakee hae increaeed so much,
and has become eo very exteneive, that it hae been difficult to keep
correct accounta ; but from the report of the losa of human life ae well
as property, it aeems that this has increaaed in an even greater ratio.
In 1804, General Harrieon purchased from the Sacs and Foxea, at
1832,] St, Louie, an immense extent of country, bounded as fol
lows, viz:
Beginning at a point on the Missouri river, opposite the mouth
of the Gasconade river ; thence in a direct course so as to strike the
river Jeffreon,* at the distance of thirty miles from its mouth, and
down the said Jeffreon to the Mississippi; thence up the Mis
sissippi, to the mouth of the Ouisconsin river, and up the eame
to a point, which shall be thirty-aix milea in a direct line from the
mouth of the aaid river ; thence by a direct line, to the point where
the Fox river, (a branch of the IlUnoie,) leavea the email lake called
Sakaegan; thence down the Fox river to the Hlinoia river, and
down the eame to the Mississippi,
And in consideration of the friendship and protection of the
United States, aa likewise goods, to the value of two thoueand two
hundred and thirty-four doUare, then delivered, and a further an
nuity of one thousand dollars, to be paid to them annually, in goods,
deliverable at St Louis, or some convenient point on the Missis-
eippi river, the said tribes ceded and relinquished forever to the
United States, all the lands included within the above described
boundary. Of the yearly annuity, which, if required by the Indians, might
be paid in compensation of useful artificers, to reside with or near

*Belie7ed to be the Des Moines,

960

HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK WAR, 1832,

them, and to work for them, six hundred dollars were to be for the
Sacs, and four hundred for the Foxes,
The United States, in the treaty made, further agreed to protect
the Indians, to prohibit the whites from intruding on their lands,
to regulate the trade of the whites with them, in order to put a stop
to the abuses and impositions to which they had been subject, and
to put an end to the bloody war which had till then raged between
these tribes, and those of the Great and Little Osages,
The Indians, for their part, agreed never to sell their lands, or
any part of them, to any sovereign power but the United Statee,
nor to citizens of any power whatever; and it was mutually stipula
ted that in case of robberies, thefts, or murders, the property taken,
if discovered, should be mutually restored, or indemnification paid,
aud the respective culprits delivered up to the United States, and
punished according to the laws of the latter,*
" This treaty was confirmed by a part of the tribe in the council
at Portage Des Sioux, in September, 1815, and by another part in
a treaty with the same commissioners, in May, 1816, The United
States had, previous to 1830, caused some of these lands, situate on
Rock river, to be surveyed and sold. These lands included the great
town of the nation, near the mouth of the river. The purchasers
from the government moved on their lands, built houses, made
fences and fields, and thus took possession of the ancient metropolis
of the Indian nation. The principal part of the Indians had long
since moved from their town to the west of the Mississippi,
"But there was one old chief of the Sacs, called Mucata Muhi-
catah, or Black Hawk,t who always denied the validity of these
treaties. Black Hawk was now an old man. He had been a war
rior from his youth. He had led many a war party on the trail of
an enemy, and had never been defeated. He had been in the service
of England in the war of 1812, and aid-de-camp to the great Tecum
the, He was distinguished for courage, and for clemency to the van
quished. He was an Indian patriot, a kind husband and father,
and was noted for his integrity in all his dealings with his tribe
and with the Indian traders. He was firmly attached to the Bri
tish, and cordially hated the Americans, At the close of the war
of 1812, he had never joined in making peace with the United
States, but he and his band etill kept up their connection with Can
ada, and were ever ready for a war with our people. In hie per-

* See page 920. f See page 921.

1832. HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK WAR. 961
sonal deportment he was grave and melancholy, with a disposition
to cherish and brood over the wrongs he supposed he had received
from the Americans. He waa thirsting for revenge upon his ene
mies, and at the same time his piety constrained him to devote a
day in the year to visit the grave of a favorite daughter buried on
the Mississippi river, not far from Oquaka. Here he came on his
yearly visits, and spent a day by the grave, lamenting and bewail
ing the death of one who had been the pride of his family, and of
his Indian home. With these feelings was mingled the certain and
melancholy prospect of the extinction of his tribe, and the transfer
of his country to the possession of a hated enemy; whilst he and
his people were to be driven, as he supposed, into a strange coun
try, far from the graves of his fathers and his children,
"Black Hawk's own account of the treaty of 1804, ia as follows:
He says that some Indians of the tribe were arrested and impris
oned in St. Louis for murder ; that some of the chiefs were sent
down to provide for their defense; that whilst there, and without
the consent of the nation, they were induced to sell the Indian
country; that when they came home, it appeared that they had
been drunk most of the time they were absent, and could give no
account of what they had done, except that they had sold some
land to the white people, and had come home loaded with presents
and Indian finery. This was all that the nation ever heard or
knew about the treaty of 1804.
"Under the belief that the treaty was void, he resisted the order
of the government for the removal of his band west of the Missis
sippi. He was industriously engaged in securing followers, and
gained many accessions to his party. Like Tecumthe, he, too, had
his Prophet, whose influence over the superstitious savages was
not without effect.
"In 1830, an arrangement was made by the Americans, who had
purchased the land above the mouth of Rock river, and the Indians
that remained — ^Black Hawk himself being at their head — to live
as neighbors; the latter cultivating their old fields. In the spring,
after planting, the Indians left according to their custom, for their
summer hunt, and returned in time to gather their corn. They
alleged, that during their absence, some depredations had been
committed on their property, and Black Hawk was highly incensed.
In the fall he left with his band for the winter hunt, and in the
spring of 1831, he recroeeed the river, with his women and chil
dren, and three hundred warriore of the British band, together with
some alUes from the Pottawattamie and Kickapoo nations, to

962 HISTORY OP BLACK HAWK WAR, 1832,
establish himself upon his ancient hunting grounds, and in the
principal viUage of his nation. He ordered the white settlers away,
threw down their fences, unroofed their houses, cut up their grain,
drove off and killed their cattle, and threatened the people with
death if they remained, "The settlers made their complaints to
Governor Reynolds, These acts of the Indiana were conaidered by
the governor to be an invaaion of the State, He immediately ad
dreased letters to General Gaines, of the United Statea army, and
to General Clark, the euperintendent of Indian affaira, calling upon
them to use the influence of the government to procure the peaceful
removal of the Indians, if possible ; at all events to defend and pro
tect the American citizene who had purchased thoee lands from
the United States, and were now about to be ejected by the Indi
ans, General Gaines repaired to Rock Island, with a few companies
of regular soldiers, and soon ascertained that the Indians were bent
upon war. He immediately called upon Governor Reynolds for
seven hundred mounted volunteers. The governor obeyed the
requisition, A call was made upon some of the northern and
central counties, in obedience to which flfteen hundred volunteers
rushed to his standard, at Beardstown, and about the 10th of June
were organized, and ready to be marched to the seat of war,
"The army proceeded in four days to the Mississippi, at a place
now called Rockport, about eight miles below the mouth of Rock
river, where it met General Gaines in a steamboat, with a supply
of provisions. Here it encamped for one night and here the two
generals concerted a plan of operations. General Gaines had been
in the vicinity of the Indian town for about a month, during which
time it might be supposed that he had made himself thoroughly
acquainted with the localities and topography of the country. The
next morning the volunteers marched forward, with an old regular
soldier for a guide. The steamboat with General Gaines ascended
the river, A battle was expected to be fought that day on Vand-
ruff"'s Island, opposite the Indian town. The plan was for the vol
unteers to cross the slough on to this ialand, give battle to the
enemy if found there, and then to ford the main river into the
town, where they were to be met by the regular force coming down
from the fort. General Gainea had ordered the artUlery of the
regular army to be stationed on a high bluff which looked down
upon the contemplated battle-fleld a half mile distant, from whence,
in case of battle with the Indians in the tangled thickets of the
island, their shot were likely to kill more of their friends than their
enemies. It would have been impossible for the artillerists to dis-

1832, HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK WAR. 963
tinguiah one from the other. And when the army arrived at the
main river, they found it a bold, deep atream, not fordable for a half
mile or more above by horaea, and no meana of transportation waa
then ready to ferry them over. Here they were in sight of the In
dian town, with a narrow but deep river running between, and here
the principal part of them remained until scows could be brought
to ferry them across.
" When the volunteers reached the town, they found no enemy
there. The Indians had quietly departed the same morning in their
canoes, for the western side of the Miesissippi. Whilst in camp
twelve miles below, the evening before, a canoe load of Indians
came down with a white flag, to tell the general that they were
peaceable Indiane, that they expected a great battle to come off next
day, that they deaired to remain neutral, and wanted to retire with
their familiea to eome place of eafety, and they asked to know
where that was to be. General Gainee anewered them very ab
ruptly, and told them to be off and go to the other eide of the Mie
sissippi. That night they returned to their town, and the next
morning early the whole band of hostile Indians recrossed the river,
and thus entitled themselves to protection.
"The enemy having escaped, the volunteers were determined to
be avenged upon something. The rain descended in torrents, and
the Indian wigwams would have furnished a comfortable shelter ;
but, notwithstanding the rain, the whole town was soon wrapped
in flames, and thus perished an ancient village, which had once
been the delightful home of six or seven thousand Indiane,
" The volunteere marched to Rock Island next morning, and here
they encamped for several days, precisely where the town of Rock
Island is now situated,
" General Gaines threatened to- pursue the Indians across the
river, which brought Black Hawk, and the chiefs and braves of the
hostile band, to the fort to sue for peace, A treaty wae here
formed with them, by which they agreed to remain forever after on
west eide of the river, and never to recross it without the permis^
eion of the preeident, or the governor of the State, And thus
theee Indians at last ratified the treaty of 1804, by which their landa
were aold to the white people, and they agreed to live in peace
with the government,
"But notwithatanding thie treaty, early in the spring of 1832,
Black Hawk and the disaffected Indians prepared to reassert their
right to the disputed territory.
" The uttited Sacs and Fox nations were divided into two partiea.

964 AMERICAN ARMY AT ROCK RIVER, 1832,
Black Hawk commanded the warlike band, and Keokuk, another
chief, headed the band which waa in favor of peace, Keokuk, a
eagacioue leader of his people, was gifted with a wild and stirring
eloquence, rare to be found even among Indians, by means of
which he retained the greater part of his nation in amity with the
white people. But nearly all the bold, turbulent spirits, who de
lighted in mischief, arranged themselves under the banners of his
rival. Black Hawk had with him the chivalry of his nation, with
which he recrossed the Mississippi in the spring of 1832. He di
rected his march to the Rock river country, and this time aimed,
by marching up the river into the countries of the Pottawattamies
and Winnebagoes, to make them hie allies. Governor Reynolds,
upon being informed of the facts, made another call for volunteers.
In a few days eighteen hundred men rallied under his banner at
Beardstown. " The army proceeded by way of Oquaka, on the Mississippi, to
the mouth of Rock river, and here it was agreed between General
Whiteside and General Atkinson, of the regulars, that the volun
teers should march up Rock river, about fifty miles, to the Proph
et's town, and there encamp to feed and rest their horses, and await
the arrival of the regular troops in keel boats with provisions. But
when he arrived at the Prophet's town, instead of remaining there,
his men set fire to the viUage, which was entirely consumed, and
the brigade marched on in the direction of Dixon, forty miles
higher up the river. When the volunteers had arrived within a
short distance of Dixon, orders were given to leave the baggage
wagons behind, so as to reach there by a forced march. And for
the relief of the horses, the men left large quantities of provisions
behind with the wagons.
"At Dixon, General Whiteside came to a halt, to await a junc
tion with General Atkinson, with provisions and the regular forces;
and from here parties were sent out to reconnoiter the enemy, and
ascertain his position. The army here found upon its arrival two
battalions of mounted volunteers, consisting of two hundred and
seventy-five men, from the counties of M'Lean, Tazewell, Peoria,
and Fulton. The officers of this force begged to be put forward upon
eome dangerous service, in which they could distinguish them
selves. To gratify them they were ordered up Rock river to spy
out the Indians.
The party, under Major Stillman, began their march on the 12th of
May, and pursuing their way on the south-east side, they came to
'Old Man's' creek, since called 'Stillman's Run,' a small stream which

1832. MAJOR STILLMAN DEFEATED, 965
rises in White Rock Grove, in Ogle county, and falls into the river
near Bloomingville, Here they encamped just before night ; and in
a short time a party of Indians on horseback were discovered on a
rising ground, about one mile distant from the encampment. A
party of StiUman's men mounted their horses without orders or
commander, and were soon followed by others, stringing along for
a quarter of a mile, to pursue the Indians and attack them. The
Indians retreated, after displaying a red flag, the emblem of defi
ance and war, but were overtaken, and three of them slain. Black
Hawk was near by with his main force, and being prompt to repel
an assault, soon rallied his men, amounting then to several hundred
warriors, and moved down upon Major Stillman's camp, driving
the disorderly rabble, the recent pursuers, before him. These val
orous gentlemen, lately so hot in pursuit, when the enemy were
few, were no less hasty in their retreat, when coming in contact
with superior numbers. They came with their horses in a full run,
and in this manner broke through the camp of Major Stillman,
spreading dismay and terror among the rest of his men, who imme
diately began to join in the flight, so that no effort to rally them
could possibly have succeeded. Major Stillman, now that it waa
too late to remedy the evila of insubordination and disorder in his
command, did all that was practicable, by ordering his men to fall
back in order, and form on higher ground ; but as the prairie rose
behind them for more than a mile, the ground for a rally was never
discovered; and besides this, when the men once got their backs to
the enemy, they commenced a retreat, without one thought of
making a further stand. A retreat of undisciplined militia from the
attack of a superior force, is apt to be a disorderly and inglorious
flight, and so it was here ; each man sought his own individual safety,
and in the twinkling of an eye, the whole detachment was in utter
confusion. They were pursued in their flight by thirty or forty
Indians, for ten or twelve miles, the fugitives in the rear keeping
up a flying flre- as they ran, until the Indians ceased pursuing.
"Major Stillman and hia men were, for along time afterward the
aubject of thoughtleae merriment and ridicule, which were as unde
served as their battle, if so it may be called, had been unfortunate.
The party was raw militia; it had been but a few days in the field j
the men were wholly without discipline, and, as yet, without confi
dence in each other, or in their officers,
" Thia confidence they had not been long enough together to
acquire. Any other body of men, under the eame circumetanees.

966 INDIAN MASSACRE NEAR OTTAWA. 1832,
would have acted no better. They were as good material
for an army, if properly drilled and disciplined, as could be found
elsewhere, "In the night, after the arrival at Dixon, the trumpet sounded a
signal for the officers to assemble at the tent of General White
side, A council of war was held, in which it was agreed to
march early the next morning to the fatal field of that evening's
diaaster. When the volunteers arrived there, the Indians were
gone. They had scattered out all over the country, some of them
further up Rock river, and othere toward the nearest settlemente of
white people,
"A party of about aeventy Indians made 'a descent upon the
small settlement of Indian creek,, a tributary of Fox river, and
there, within fifteen miles of Ottawa, they massacred fifteen per
sons, men, women, and children, and took two young, women
prisoners — the one about seventeen, and the others about fifteen
years old,
"This party of Indians immediately retreated into the Winne
bago countty, up Rock river, carrying the scalps of their slain, and
their prisoners with them,
" The young women prisoners were hurried by forced marches
beyond the reach of pureuit After a long and fatiguing journey,
with their Indian conductors, through a wilderness country, with
but little to eat, and being subjected to a variety of fortune, they
were at last purchaaed by the chiefe of the Winnebagoea, employed
by Mr, Gratiot for the purpoae, with two thousand doUars, in horses,
wampum, and trinkets, and were safely returned to their friends,
"The army now amounted to twenty-four hundred, and had the
men been willing to serve longer, the war could have been ended
in less than a month, by the capture or deetruction of all Black
Hawk'e forces. But the volunteers were anxious to be discharged.
Their term of service had nearly expired. Many of them had left
their business in euch a condition ae to require their presence at
home; and besides this, there was much diseatiafaction with the
commanding general. To require further aervice from unwilling
men was worse than useless, for a militia force will never do any
good unlesa their hearts prompt them to a cheerful alacrity in per
forming their duty. The militia can never be forced to fight against
their will. Their hearts as well as their bodies must be in tiie
service ; aud to do any good, they muat feel the utmoat confidence
in their officera. They were first marched back to the battle-field

1832. BLACK HAWK AND PARTY DEFEATED. 967
in pureuit of the Indiana, and then by Pawpaw Grove and Indian
creek, to Ottawa, where the whole, at their urgent requeat,
were discharged by Governor Reynolds, on the 27th and 28th of
May," *
Meanwhile, three thousand Illinois miUtia had been ordered
out, who rendezvoused upon the 20th of June, near Peru ; these
marched forward to the Rock river, where they were joined by the
United States troopa, the whole being under command of General
Atkinson, Six hundred mounted men were alao ordered out, while General
Scott, with nine companies of artiUery, haatened from the aeaboard
by the way of the lakes to Chicago, moving with such celerity, that
some of his troopa, it was said, actually went eighteen hundred
miles in eighteen days ; passing in that time from Fort Monroe,
on the Gheaapeake, to Chicago, Long before the artillerists could
reach the acene of action, however, the western troops had com
menced the conflict in earnest, and before they did reach the field,
had closed it.
On the 24th of June, Black Hawk and his two hundred warriors
were repulsed by Major Demint, with but one hundred and fifty
militia; this ekirmish took place between Rock river and Galena,
The army then continued to move up Rock river, near the heads
of which it was understood that the main party of the hostile Indi
ans was^collected ; and as provisions were scarce, and hard to
convey in such a country, a detachment was sent forward to Fort
Winnebago, at the portage between the Wisconsin and Fox rivers,
to procure aupplies.
This detachment hearing of Black Hawk's army, pureued and
overtook them on the 21st of July, near the Wisconsin river, and
in the neighborhood of the Blue Mounds, General Henry, who
commanded the party, formed with his troops three aidea of a
hollow square, and in that order received the attack of the Indians;
two attempta to break the ranke were made by the natives in vain;
^and then a general charge wae made by the whole body of Ameri
cana, and with such success that, it is said, fifty-two Of the red men
were left dead upon the field, while but one American was killed
and eight wounded.
Before this action, Henry had sent word of his motions to the
main army, by whom he waa immediately rejoined, and on the
28th of July, the whole crossed the Wisconsin in pureuit of Black
* Ford's History of Illinois,

968 scott's arMy decimated by cholera, 1832.
Hawk, who was retiring toward the Mississippi, Upon the bank
of that river, nearly opposite the Upper loway, the Indians were
overtaken and again defeated, on the 2d cf August, with a loss of
one hundred and fifty men, while of the whites but eighteen fell.
This battle entirely broke the power of Black Hawk ; he fled, but
was seized by the Winnebagoes, and upon the 27th, was delivered
to the officers of the United States, at Prairie du Chien,
General Scott, during the months of July and August, was con
tending with a worse than Indian foe. The Asiatic cholera had
just reached Canada; passing up the St. Lawrence to Detroit, it
overtook the western-bound armament, and thenceforth the camp
became an hospital. On the 8th of July, his thinned ranks landed
at Fort Dearborn or Chicago, but it was late in August before they
reached the Mississippi. The number of that band who died from
the cholera, must have been at least seven times as great as that
of all who fell in battle, There were several other skirmishes of
the troops with the Indians, and a number of individuals mur
dered ; making in all, about seventy-five persons killed in these
actions, or murdered on the frontiers.
In September, the Indian troubles were closed by a treaty, which
relinquished to the white men thirty milliona of acres of land, for
which stipulated annuities were to be paid ; constituting now the
eastern portion of the State of Iowa, to which the only real claim
of the Sauks ani Foxes, was their depredations on the unoffend
ing loways, about one hundred and thirty years since. To Keokuk
and his party, a reservation of forty miles square was given^ in
consideration of his fidelity; while Black Hawk and his family,
were sent as hostages to Fort Monroe in the Chesapeake, where
they remained till June, 1833. The chief afterward returned to
hie native wilds, where he died in 1840. •
Black Hawk cannot rank with Pontiac or Tecumthe ; he seem
ingly fought more for revenge, and showed less intellectual power ;
but he was a fearless man.
The same disease which decimated General Scott's troops,
during the autumn of this year, and the summers of 1833 and 1834,
spread terror through the whole West, though during the latter
year it was comparatively mild. Three facte in relation to it were
remarkable ; the firet is, that other diseases diminished while it
prevailed ; — the second, that many points which were spared in
1832, (as Lexington, Kentucky,) were devastated in 1833; — the
third, that its appearance and progress presented none of the evi
dences of contagion.

1837. MICHIGAN BECOMES A 'STATE. 969
A visitation lees fatal than the cholera, but for the time moat
disaatroua, had come upon the valley of the Ohio in the preceding
February, A winter of exceesive cold was suddenly closed, by
long continued and very heavy rains, which, unable to penetrate the
frozen ground, soon raised eve»y stream emptying into Ohio to an
unusual height. The main trunk, unable to discharge the water
which poured into it, overflowed its banks, and laid the whole
valley, in many places several miles in width, under water.
The towns and villages along the river banks, were flooded in
some inatances ao deeply, aa to force the inhabitanta to take refuge
on the neighboring hills; — and the value of the property injured
and destroyed must have been very great, though its amount could
not, of course, be ascertained. The water continued to rise from
the 7th to the 19th of Februaty, when it had attained the height
of sixty-three feet above low water mark at Cincinnati.
In April, 1834, a census had shown that Michigan poaaessed a
1837,] population sufficient to entitle her to admission into the
Union, In May, 1835, a convention, held at Detroit, prepared a
State constitution, and asked to it the assent of Congress. This
Congress refueed, but passed a conditional act, by which the appli
cant might become a State, should certain stipulations be assented
to ; this assent was to be signified through a convention, and one
met for the purpose in September, 1836 ; this body declined
acceding to the conditions.
Thereupon a second convention was chosen, which, in the follow
ing December, accepted the terms offered, and after some discus
sion in Congress in relation to the legality of this acceptance,
Michigan waa recognized as a sovereign State of the Union,
The queetion which caueed the difficulty above referred to, and
which at one time threatened civil war, wae thie : What is the true
southern boundary of Michigan ? The ordinance of 1787, provided
for the formation in the North-West territory of three Statee, and
aleo provided that Congress might form one or two others north of
an east and west line drawn through the head, or southern extremity
of Lake Michigan,
This, at the time Ohio had been admitted, was construed to
mean that the two northern Statee, the offspring of the will of
Congress, muat not come aouth of the eaet and weet line specified,
but might by Congress be limited to a line north of that. In
accordance with this view, OMo, as already related, was made to
extend northward so as to include the Maumee Bay,
62

970 WISCONSIN A TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT, 1836-7;
Thie construction of the ordinance Michigan disputed, and when
Ohio eent eurveyore to mark out the boundary as defined by Con
grese, the territorial authorities of Michigan drove them away by
an armedforce, and placed a militaty party in the disputed district
At this time commissioners were sent by the Preaident, who pre
vailed upon the parties so far to recede, as to allow the people of
the district to acknowledge either jurisdiction until the question
was settled by the proper authority ; and thus matters atood until,
when she asked for admiaeion among the Statea, Michigan was told
that she could be admitted only on condition she recognized the
boundaty aa claimed by Ohio ; this at length she did, as has been
aeen, and then became one of the federal siaterhood.
The aubjection of Black Hawk and his hostile party, and the
treaty that followed in 1832, opened the extensive tract of countty
along the Mississippi, to American settlements ; and the following
spring, companies from Illinois crossed the river, built their cabins,
and made improvements for farming early in 1833.
The first settlement was in the vicinity of Burlington. Coeval
with it, was the settlement near Fort Madison. From this period,
the progress and extension of settlements were rapid, and the popu
lation increased with far greater rapidity than in the history of
previous territories. For more than eighteen months the people
were "a law unto themselves," being without the jurisdiction of
any organized territory.
In 1834, Congress attached this territoty to that of Michigan, for
temporary jurisdiction, and two large counties, Dubuque and Des
Moines, were organized. Their aggregate population in 1836, was
ten thousand five hundred and thirty-one persons, and the same
year Wisconsin was organized as a separate territory, and exercised
jurisdiction over the "District of Iowa,"
In 1838, the territorial legislature of Wisconsin was removed
west of the Mississippi, to Burlington. During the session, official
intelligence of the organization of the territory of Iowa, was
received the laat of June, and the legislature finding itself beyond
its own jurisdiction, adjourned.
The territorial government took effect on the 4th of July, 1838.
Robert Lucas, a former Governor of Ohio, wae the governor and
superintendent of Indian affaire, and Jamee Clark, Secretary of the
new territory.
During that year, the territory, which had been eubdivided into
sixteen countiee, had a population of twenty-two thouaand eight
hundred and eixty pereone.

1838. IOWA TERRITORY FORMED. 971
In 1840, the General Aeeembly located the aeat of government
on the river that givea name to the State, and called it the " City
of Iowa." Immigration continued to increase ; and the census of
1840 presented a population of forty-three thousand and seventeen,
while that of the Wisconsin territory was thirty thousand nine
hundred and forty-five persona. In 1843, the territorial legialature
of Iowa petitioned Congreee for authority to adopt a State conati
tution, which waa granted at the next aession, and on the 7th of
October, 1844, the Convention assembled and adopted a constitu
tion, which was not approved by Congress.'
Another Convention wae held 1846, the limite reetricted, and the
amended conetitution adopted, which wae eubmitted to Congreee
in June, and the State received into the Union aimultaneouely with
Florida. Steamboat explosiona and other dieaetera have of late yeare become
1838,] ao numeroua, that the limits of this work will not admit of
a particular account of them. Yet the explosion of the steamer
Moselle, in 1838, to the horrible exhibition conaequent upon which
the publisher waa an eye- witneaa, and which, in " Lloyd's Steamboat
Disasters," ia justly called "an event that is still believed to be
almost without a parallel in the annals of steamboat calamities,"
wae eo remarkable, that an account of it will, no doubt, be accept
able, Tho following ia chiefly taken from the work referred to :
The Moaelle was regarded as the very paragon of weatern eteam-
boats ; she was perfect in form and construction, elegant and euperb
in all her equipments, and enjoyed a reputation for apeed which
admitted of no rivalahip. As an evidence that the latter was not
undeserved, it need only be mentioned that her last trip from St.
Louis to Cincinnati, seven hundred and fifty miles, was performed
in two days and sixteen hours, the quickest trip, by several hours,
that had ever been made between the two places.
On the afternoon of April 25th, 1838, between four and five
o'clock, the Moselle left the landing at Cincinnati, bound for St.
Louis, with an unusually large number of passengers, supposed to
be not less than two hundred and eighty, or according to some
accounta, three hundred. It wae a pleaaant afternoon, and all on
board probably anticipated a delightful voyage. The Moaelle
proceeded about a mile up the river to take on some German emi
grants. At this time, it waa observed by an experienced engineer
on board, that the steam had been raiaed to an unuaual height, and
when the boat stopped for the purpoae juat mentioned, it was

972 EXPLOSION OF THE STEAMBOAT MOSELLE. 1838,
reported that one man, who was apprehensive of danger, went
ashore, after protesting against the injudicious management of the
steam apparatue. Yet the passengers generally were regardless of
any danger that might exist, crowding the boat for the sake of her
beauty and speed, and making safety a secondaty consideration.
When the object for which the Moselle had landed was nearly
accompliahed, and the bow of the boat just turned in preparation to
move from the shore, at that instant the explosion took place.
The whole of the veaeel forward of the wheels waa blown to eplinters ;
every timber, (aa an eye-witnesa declarea) " appeared to be twiated,
as trees sometimes are, when atruck by lightning," As eoon as the
accident occurred, the boat fioated down the atream for about one
hundred and fifty to two hundred yarde, where ehe eunk, leaving
the upper part of tlje cabin out of the water, and the baggage,
together with many etruggUng human beinge, floating on the eur
face of the river.
It waa remarked that the force of the exploaion was unprece
dented in the history of steam ; its effect was like that of a mine of
gunpowder. All the boilers, four in number, burst simultaneously ;
the deck was blown into the air, and the human beings who crowded
it were doomed to instant destruction. It was asaerted that a man,
believed to be a pilot, was carried, together with the pilot houee, to
the Kentucky ahore, a dietance of a quarter of a mile,
A fragment of a boiler waa carried by the explosion high into
the air, and descending perpendicularly about fifty yards from the
boat, it crushed through a strong roof, and through the second floor
of a building, lodging finally on the ground floor.
Captain Perrin, master of the Moselle, at the time of the acci
dent, was standing on the deck, above the boiler, in conversation
with another person. He was thrown to a considerable height on
the steep embankment of the river and killed, while his companion
was merely prostrated on the deck, and escaped without injuty.
Another person was blown a great distance into the air, and on
descending he fell on a roof with such force, that he partially broke
through it, and his body was lodged there. Some of the passengers
who were in the after part of the boat, and who were uninjured by
the explosion, jumped overboard. An eye-witness says that he aaw
sixty or seventy in the water at one time, of whom comparatively
few reached the ahore. There were afterward the mutilated
remaina of nineteen persons buried in one grave.
It happened, unfortunately, that the larger number of the pas-
aengere were collected on the upper deck, to which the balmy air

1838. EXPLOSION OF THE STEAMBOAT MOSELLE, 973
and delicious weather seemed to invite them, in order to expose
them to more certain destruction. It was understood, too, that the
captain of the ill-fated steamer had expressed his determination to
outstrip an opposition boat which had just started; the people
on shore were cheering the Moeelle, in anticipation of her succese
in the race, and the paeeengere and crew on the upper deck re
sponded to these acclamations, which were soon changed to sounds
of mourning and distress.
Intelligence of the awful calamity spread rapidly through the
city; thousands rushed to the spot, and the most benevolent aid
was promptly extended to the sufferers, or rather to those who were
witMn the reach of human assistance, for the majority had perished.
The scene here was so sad and distressing, that no language can
depict it with fldelity. Here lay twenty or thirty mangled and
still bleeding corpses; while many persons were engaged in
dragging others of the dead or wounded, from the wreck or the
water. But, says an eye-witness, the survivors presented the most
touching objects of distress, as their mental anguish seemed more
insupportable than the most intense bodily suffering.
Death had torn asunder the most tender ties ; but the rt^ture
had been so sudden and violent, that none knew certainly who had
been taken, or who had been spared. Fathers were distractedly in
quiring for children, cMldren for parents, husbands and wives for
each other. One man had saved a son, but lost a wife and five
children, A father, partially demented by grief, lay with a wounded
child on one eide, hie dead daughter on the other, and hie expiring
wife at his feet. One gentleman sought his wife and children,
who were aS eagerly seeking him in the same crowd. They met,
and were reunited.
A female deck paeeenger who had been eaved, eeemed inconso
lable for the loss of her relatives. Her conatant exclamationa
were, "Oh! my father! my mother! my aieters ! " A little boy,
about five yeare old, whoee head wae much bruieed, appeared
to be regardless of his wounda, and cried continually for a lost
father ; wMle another lad, a little older, waa weeping for a whole
fiimily. One venerable man wept for the losa of a wife and five children.
Another was bereft of his whole family, consisting of nine persone.
A touching display of maternal affection was evinced by a wo
man, who on being brought to the shore, clasped her hands, and
exclaimed, "Thank God, I am safe! "but instantly recollecting
herself, she ejaculated in a voice of piercing agony, " Where is my

974 BANKING AND ITS EFFECT IN ILLINOIS. 1843.
child?" The infant, which had been eaved, wae brought to her,
and ehe fainted at the eight of it.
Many of the passengers who entered the boat at Cincinnati, had
not registered their names, but the loweet eetimated number of
persons on board was two hundred and eighty ; of these, eighty-one
were known to be killed, fifty-five were missing, and thirteen badly
wounded. On the day after the accident, a public meeting was called at
Cincinnati, at which the mayor presided, when the facts of thia
melancholy occurrence were discussed, and among other resolutions
passed' was one deprecating "the great and increasing carelessness
in the navigation of steam vesaels," and urging this subject upon
the consideration of Congreae.
The Moselle was built at Cincinnati, and she refieeted great
credit on the mechanical genius of that city, aa ahe waa truly a su
perior boat, and under more favorable auepicee, might have been
the pride of the waters for several years. She was new, having
been begun the previous December, and finished in March, only a
month before the time of her deetruction.
Among the events of this year, deserving notice, wae the liquida-
1843,] tion of the Illinois State Bank,
In 1816, as before mentioned, the bank of Shawanee town was
chartered for twenty years, with a capital of three hundred thou
sand dollara, one-third of which was to be eubecribed by the State.
In 1821, this institution closed its doors, "and remained dormant,"
till 1835, when its charter was extended to 1857, and it resumed
business. Two years later, in March, 1837, the capital was in
creased by adding one million four hundred thousand dollara, all
aubacribed by the State.
But the great crash which soon prostrated business throughout
the United Statee, involved thie, with other institutions of a like
kind, in difficulties too great to be surmounted; and though the
State, in 1841, offered to relieve the bank from a forfeiture of ita
charter, provided it would pay two hundred thousand doUars of the
State debt, in 1843 it was found necessary to close its concerns once
more. The State banks were not more fortunate. The constitution of
Hlinois, like that of Indiana, provided that no other than a State
bank and its branches should be allowed. In March, 1819, a State
bank was accordingly chartered, with a nominal capital of four mil
lions, but its stock was not sold.

1844. GREAT FLOOD OF THE MISSISSIPPI, 975
In 1821, another State bank, with a capital of half a million, was
chartered, to be managed by the legislature. This went into
operation with but little or no real capital, so that its notes were
soon at an enormoue diacount, and it failed. In February, 1835, a
third State bank was formed, with a capital of a million and a half,
which in 1837 wae increaaed to three and a half millions of dol
lars. This institution survived till January, 1843, when the legia
lature was forced to close its doors — ite bille being worth about
fifty cents on the dollar,*
In June of this year there occurred a rise of the Missouri and
1844.] the middle section of the Mississippi rivers, which far
exceeded all former fioods of these rivers, ever known or spoken
of either in history or even romantic tradition. Many plantationa
on the former river were rendered uaeleee for years, by the heavy
deposit of alluvion, and fences and property of great value were
carried away.
On the Miseiesippi, the greatest damage was done on the American
bottom, between the mouths of the Mieeouri and Kaekaekia rivers,
where a large area of land of an average width of over eix milee wae
submerged, so that steamboats were navigating over it for a number
of days. The ancient town of Kaskaakia was submerged several feet,
which calamity was a further drawback to the prosperity of the
place. The more ancient hamlet of Cahokia was almost depopu
lated, and eeveral aettlementa along the bank of the river were for
the time broken up. The auffering and damage caueed by the
flood, were enormoue.

*)

On the 27th of June, 1844, Joaeph Smith, the founder and
leader of that remarkable eyetem, called Mormonism, was killed
by an armed mob at Carthage, Illinois, Smith was born in Ver
mont, about 1807, and reared in New York ; his education was
imperfect, and hie family are eaid to have been auperatitioue.
When about fifteen or eixteen yeara old he began to aee vieions,
which continued through some seven yeare. At length, on the 22d
of September, 1827, the " records " upon which Mormonism rests,
were delivered to the prophet,
"Theee records," eaye Cowdrey, "were engraved on platee which
had the appearance of gold. Each plate was not far from seven

*See on Illinois Banks, Brown's History, 428 to 441.

976

ADVENT OF MORMONS TO THE WEST, 1832.

by eight inches in width and length, being not quite as thick as
common tin. They were filled on both eides with engravings, in
Egyptian characters, and bound together in a volume, as the leaves
of a book, and fastened at the edge with three rings running
through the whole.
"This volume was something near six inches in thickness, a part
of which was sealed. The characters or letters upon the unsealed
part, were small and beautifully engraved. The whole book ex
hibited many marks of antiquity in its construction, as well as
much skill in the art of engraving.
"With the records was found a curious instrument, called by the
ancients, Urim and Thummim, which consisted of two transparent
stones, clear as ctystal, set in two rims of a bow — ^this was in use
in ancient times by persons called Seers — it was an instrument, by
the use of which they received revelations of things distant, or of
things paat or future."
The story of his gold plates getting abroad, the holder was way
laid by robbers, and persecuted by fanatics, until he was forced to
flee into Pennsylvania to his father-in-law : — there he began the
work of translation. The issue of this work was, "The' Book of
Mormon," Thia book givea the histoty of Lehi and his pos
terity, from about 660 B. C. to 400 A. D. ; these lived for the most
part in America, Lehi and his sons having emigrated thither.
After the emigration, terrible wars took place between the
Nephites or faithful, and the Lamanites or heathen, in which aU
the former were destroyed except Mormon, hia eon Moroni, and a
few othera. Mormon and hia aon abridged the recorde of their
anceetora, and added their own, and thua the book waa comple
ted. An account referred to in the note, givea ua reaaon to think this
book was not written by Smith, but by one Spalding, as a sort of
romance, and that it was seen and stolen by Sidney Rigdon, after
ward Smith's right-hand man, and by him made known to the
prophet, Rigdon, however, had at first no open connection with Smith,
and wae converted by a special mission sent into his neighborhood
in October, 1830, From the time of Rigdon's conversion the pro
gress of Mormonism was wonderfully rapid, he being a man of
more than common capacity and cunning, Kirtland, Ohio, became
the chief city for the time being, while large numbers went to
Missouri in consequence of revelations to that effect.
In July, 1833, the number of Mormons in Jackson county, Mia-

1834, MORMONS IN MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 977
souri, was over twelve hundred. Their increase having produced
some anxiety among the neighboring settlere, a meeting was held
in the month just named, from whence emanated resolutions for
bidding all Mormons from thenceforth to eettle in that county, and
intimating that all who did not aoon remove of their own will
would be forced to do ao.
Among the resolutions was one requiring the Mormon paper to
be stopped, but as this was not at once complied with, the office of
the paper was destroyed. Another large meeting of the citizene
being held, the Mormons became alarmed, and contracted to re
move. Before thie contract, however, could be complied with,
violent proceedinge were again resorted to : houses were destroyed,
men whipped, and at length some of both parties were killed. The
result was a removal of the Mormons across the Missouri into Clay
county, Theee outrages being communicated to the Prophet, at Kirtland,
he took steps to bring about a great gathering of hie disciples, with
wMch, marshaled as an army, in May, 1834, he started for Mieeouri,
which in due time he reached, but with no other reeult than the
tranefer of a certain portion of his followers as permanent settlera
to a region already too full of them.
At firat the citizens of Clay county were friendly to the persecu
ted ; but ere long trouble grew up, and the wanderers were once
more forced to seek a new home, in order to prevent outrages.
This home they found in CaldweU county, where, by permission of
the neighbors and State legislature, they organized a county gov
ernment, the country having been previously unsettled. Soon
after thia removal, numbera of Mormona flocking in, aettlements
were alao formed in Davie and Carroll — the tMee towns of the new
sect being Far West, in Caldwell ; Adam-on-di-ah-mond, called
Diahmond or Diahman, in Davie ; and Dewit, in Carroll,
Thue far the Mormon writere and their enemiee pretty well agree
in their narrativee of the Mieeouri troublee ; but thenceforth all ia
contradiction and uncertainty,
. The Mormona, or Latter-day Saints, held two views which they
were fond of dwelling upon, and which were calculated to alarm
and excite the people of the frontier. One wae, that the West was
to be their inheritance, and that the unconverted dwellera upon the
lands about them were to be destroyed, and the saints to succeed
to their property.
The deatruction apoken of waa to be, as Smith taught, by the

978 MORMONS IN MISSISSIPPI VALLEY, 1838.
hand of God; but thoee who were threatened naturally enough
concluded, that the Mormone might think themeelvee inetrumenta
in His hand, to work the change they foretold and desired. They
believed also, with or without reason, that the saints, anticipating,
like many other heirs, the income of their inheritance, helped them
selves to what they needed of food and clothing ; or, as the world
called it, were arrant thieves.
The other offensive view was, the descent of the Indians from
the Hebrews, taught by the Book of Mormon, and their ultimate
restoration to their share in the inheritance of the faithful; from
this view, the neighbors were easily led to infer a union of the
saints and savages to desolate the frontier.
Looking with suspicion upon the new sect, and believing them
to be already rogues and thieves, the inhabitante of Carroll and
Davia countiea were of course opposed to their possession of the
chief political influence, such as they already possessed in Caldwell,
and from the fear that they would acquire more, arose the first open
quarrel. This took place in August, 1838, at an election in Davis
county, where their right of suffrage was disputed.
The affray which ensued being exaggerated, and some severe
cuts and bruises being converted into mortal wounds by the voice
of rumor, a number of the Mormone of Caldwell county went to
Diahmond, and after learning the facts, by force or persuasion
induced a magistrate of Davis, known to be a leading opponent of
theirs, to sign a promiee not to moleet them any more by word or
deed. For thie, Joe Smith and Lyman Wight were arreeted and
held to trial.
By thie time the prejudices and feara of both parties were fuUy
aroused ; each anticipated violence from the other, and to prevent
it each proceeded to violence. The Mormons of Caldwell, legally
organized, turned out to preserve the peace ; and the Anti-Mormons
of Davis, Carroll, and Livingston, acting upon the sacred principle
of self-defense, armed and embodied themselves for the same com
mendable purpose.
Unhappily, in this case, as in many similar ones, the preserva
tion of peace was ill-confided to men moved by mingled fear and
hatred ; and instead of it, the opposing forces produced plunder-
ings, burnings, and bloodshed, which did not terminate until Gov,
Boggs, on the 27th of October, authorized General Clark, with the
full military power of the State, to exterminate or drive from
Mieeouri, if he thought necessary, the unhappy followers of Joe

1839. MORMONS IN MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 979
Smith. Against the army, thirty-five hundred strong, thus brought
to annihilate them, and which was evidently not a mob, the four
teen hundred Mormons made no resistance ; three hundred fled,
and the remainder surrendered.
The leaders were examined and held to trial, bail being refuaed,
while the masa of the unhappy people were atripped of their
property to pay the expenaea of the war, and driven, men, women,
and children — in mid-winter, from the State — naked and starving.
Multitudea of them were forced to encamp without tente, and with
scarce any clothee or food, on the bank of the Mississippi, which
was too full of ice for them to cross. The people of Hlinoia, how
ever, received the fugitivea, when they reached the eaetern ehore,
with open arme, and the eainte entered upon a new, and yet more
surprising aeriea of adventures, than those they had already passed
through. The Mormons found their way from Missouri into the neighbor
ing State, through the course of the year 1839, and missionaries
were sent abroad to paint their sufferings, and ask relief for those
who were thus persecuted because of their religious views ; al
though their religious views appear to have had little or nothing to
do with the opposition experienced by them in Missouri. After
wandering for a time in uncertainty, the saints fixed upon the site
of Commerce, a village on the east bank of the Mississippi, as the
spot upon which to rest; and there, in the spring of 1840, began
the city of Nauvoo, to which place, by means of new arrivals, acces
sions by hundreds were added monthly.
As political strife was very violent about this time, with ita ordi
nary concomitant of corruption, -it ie not to be wondered at, that
the politiciane of each party were but too eager to curty favor with
theee people, whoee votee were valuable, and whose advent was
therefore at once seized upon, by the respective leadera, aa a meane
of party aggrandizement. The following extract, taken from
"Ford'e IlUnoie," will ehow how the Mormone managed to reap
the advantagee of thie epirit of political eervility :
" At the legielature of Hlinoie, eession 1840-41, it became a mat
ter of great intereat with both partiee, to conciliate theee people.
They were already numeroue, and were faet increaeing by emigra
tion from all parts. It was evident that they were to possese much
power in elections. They had already signified their intention of
joining neither party further than they could be assisted in matters
of immediate interest by that party ; and in readiness to vote en
masse for such persons as were willing to do them most service.

980 MORMONS IN MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 1840.
The leaders of both parties believed that the Mormons would eoon
hold the balance of power, and exerted themeelvee, on both eides,
by profeesione of kindness and devotion to their interest, to win
their support,
"In this state of the case, Dr, Bennet presented himself at the
seat of government, as the agent of the Mormons, He wae a man
of some talent, and then had the confidence of the Mormons, and
particularly of their leaders. He came as the agent of that people
to solicit a city charter, a charter for a military legion, and for va
rious other purposes,
" This person addressed himself to the senator from Hancock
county, (in which Nauvoo is located,) and to Douglass, the Secre
tary of State, who both entered heartily into his views and pro
jects, Bennet managed matters well for his constituents. He
flattered both sides with the hope of Mormon favor, and both sides
expected to receive their votes,
"A city charter, drawn up to suit the Mormons, was presented
to the senate, and referred to the judiciaty committee, of which one
Snyder was chairman, who reported it back, recommending its
passage. The vote was taken, the ayes and noes were not called
for, no one opposed it, but all were busy and active in hurrying it
through. In like manner it passed the house of representatives,
where it was never read, except by its title ; the ayes and noes
were not called for, and the same universal zeal in its favor was
manifested here, which had been eo conepicuously diaplayed in the
senate. " Thie city charter, and other charters passed in the same way
by this legislature, incorporated Nauvoo, provided for the election
of a mayor, four aldermen, and nine councilors ; gave them power
to pass all ordinancee necessary for the peace, benefit, good order,
regulation, and convenience of the city, and for the protection of
property from fire, which were not repugnant to the constitution of ihe
United States, or this State.
"This eeemed to give them power to pass ordinances in violation
of the lay)s of the State, and to erect a system of government for
themselves. This charter also established a Mayor's Court, with
exclueive juriediction of all caeee arising under the city ordinances,
subject to an appeal to the municipal court. It established a mu
nicipal court, to be composed of the mayor, as chief justice, and the
four aldermen as his associates; which court was to have jurisdic
tion of appeale from the mayor, or aldermen, eubject to an appeal
again to the circuit court of the county. The municipal court waa

1841. MORMONS IN MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 981
also clothed with power to issue write of habeaa corpue, in all caees
arieing under the ordinancee of the city.
"Thia charter alao incorporated the militia of Nauvoo into a mil
itary legion, to be called the "Nauvoo Legion." It was made
entirely independent of the military organization of the State, and not
subject to the command of any officer of the State militia, except the
governor himself, as commander-in-chief It was to be furnished
with its due proportion 'of the State arme ; and might enroll in its
ranke any of the citizene of Hancock county, who preferred to join
it, whether they lived in the city or elaewhere.
" The charter alao established a court martial for the legion, to
be composed of the commissioned officers, who were to make and
execute all ordinances necessary for the benefit, government, and
regulation of the legion ; but in so doing, they were not bound to
regard the laws of the State, though they could do nothing repug
nant to the constitution ; and finally, the legion was to be at the
disposal of the mayor, in executing the laws and ordinances of the
city. Another charter incorporated a great tavern, to be called the
Nauvoo House, in which the prophet, Joe Smith, and his heira,
were to have a euite of rooms forever,
" Thua it was proposed to establish for the Mormons a govern
ment within a government; a legislature with power to pass ordi
nances at war with the laws of the State ; courts to execute them,
with but little dependence upon the constitutional judiciary ; and
a military force at their own command, to be governed by its own
by-laws and ordinances, and subject to no State authority but that
of the governor,
" It must be acknowledged that theee chartere were unheard-of,
and anti-repubUcan in many particulare ; and capable of infinite
abuee by a people disposed to abuse them. The powers conferred
were expressed in language at once ambiguous and undefined ; aa
if on purpose to allow of misconstruction. The great law of the
separation of the powers of government was wholly disregarded.
The mayor was at once the executive power, the judiciary, and
part of the legislature. The common council, In passing ordi
nances, were restrained only by the constitution. One would have
thought that these charters stood a poor chance of passing the
legislature of a republican people, jealous of their liberties. Never
theless, they did pass unanimously through both houses,"
Under theae extraordinary acts, Joe Smith, who had escaped
from Mieeouri, proceeded ae mayor, commander of the legion,
tavern-keeper, prophet and priest, to play what pranks he pleased.

982 MORMONS TROUBLESOME IN ILLINOIS, 1843,
" On the 8th of December, 1843," eaye Judge Brown, "an extra
ordinance was passed by the city council of Nauvoo, for the extra
case of Joseph Smith; by the first section of which it is enacted,
' That it shall be lawful for any Officer of the city, with or without
process, to arrest any person who shall come to arrest Joseph Smith
with process growing out of the Missouri difficulties ; and the per
son so arrested shall be tried by the municipal court upon testi
mony, and, if found guilty, sentenced to the municipal prison for
life,' " On the 17th of February, 1842, an ordinance waa paeeed, enti
tled, ' An ordinance concerning marriagee,' by the eecond eection of
which a pereon ie authorized to marry, with or without licenee.
There was a statute in the State of Illinois requiring a license in
all cases, from the clerk of the commissioner's court.
" On the 21st of November, 1843, an ordinance was passed by
the city council, making it highly penal, even to one hundred dol
lars fine, and six months' imprisonment, for any officer to serve a
process in the city of Nauvoo, ' unless it be examined by, and re
ceive the approval and signature of the mayor of said city, on the
back of said process.' "
Under these proceedings, difficulties soon arose. Some of Smith's
followere becoming opposed to him, had established a new weekly
paper, " The Nauvoo Expositor." This the prophet, as president of
the council, pronounced " a nuisance," and proceeded to abate it, or
destroy it, by force. Those interested procured a writ from the
proper court for the arrest of the leader, but the writ was not en
dorsed by the mayor, and could not be executed.
Then arose the question — How long shall the lawe of the State
be thue set at defiance ?— and men through aU the country round
about vowed to aee the warranta executed at the point of the
bayonet. Two or three thousand men, some from Missouri and
Iowa, being gathered against the city of the saints. Governor Ford
came forward as a pacificator. Of what followed a description ia
given in the words of Judge Brown :
" On Monday, the 24th of June, 1844, Lieutenant-General Joseph
Smith (' the prophet') and General Hyrum Smith, his brother, hav
ing received assurances from Governor Ford of protection, in com
pany with aome of their frienda, left Nauvoo for Carthage, in order
to aurrender themeelvee up aa priaonera, upon a proceaa which had
previously been issued, and was then in the handa of a public officer
to be executed. About four milea from Carthage, they were met
by Captain Dunn and a company of cavalry, on their way to Nan-

1844. LEADERS OF THE MORMONS ARE KILLED. 983
voo, with an order from Governor Ford for the State arms in pos
seesion of the Nauvoo legion.
" Lieutenant-General Smith having endorsed upon the order his
admisaion of ite service, and given hie directione for their delivery,
returned with Captain Dunn to Nauvoo, for the arms thus ordered
by Governor Ford to be surrendered. The arms having been given
up in obedience to the aforesaid order, both parties again started
for Carthage, whither they arrived a little before twelve o'clock, at
night. On the morning of the 25th, an interview took place be
tween the Smiths and Governor Ford. Aaeurancee of protection
by the latter were repeated, and the two Smithe were surrendered
into the custody of an officer. Bail having afterward been given
for their appearance at court, to answer the charge for ' abating
the Nauvoo Expositor,' a mittimus wae iesued on the evening of
the 25th, and the two Smiths were committed to jail on a charge
of treason, ' until delivered by due course of law,'
" On the morning of the 26th, another interview was had be
tween the governor and the accused, and both parties seemed to be
satisfied. Instead of being confined in the cells, the two Smiths,
at the inetance of their friende, were put into the debtor'e room of
the priaon, and a guard aaaigned for ita, aa well aa their aecurity.
During thie time their friends, as usual, had access to them in jail,
by permission of the governor. On the same day, (June 26,) they
were taken before the magistrate who had committed them to pri
son, and further proceedings, on the complaint for treason, were
postponed until the 29th.
" On the morning of the 27th, Governor Ford discharged a part
of the troops under his command, and proceeded with a portion of
the residue, a single company only, to Nauvoo; leaving the jail,
the prisoners, and some two or three of their friends, guarded by
seven or eight men, and a company of about sixty militia, the Car
thage Grays, a few yarda diatant in reaerve.
" About eix o'clock in the afternoon of the 27th, during the ab
aence of Governor Ford, the guard atationed at the priaon were
overpowered by an armed mob, in diaguiae ; the jail broken and
entered, and the two Smiths, (Joaeph and Hyrum,) without any
pretense of right or authority whatever, were wantonly slain.
Having effected their object, all of which wae accompliahed in a
few nainutee, they immediately diaperaed."
" The death of Smith by violence, and by hia enemiea, was
opportune for the support of the system he sought to establish.
He had arrived at that point in the revolution which he led, when

984 MORMONS CONTEND ABOUT NEW LEADERS, 1844,
the least delay would have caueed ite waves to flow over and
engulph him. He lived long enough for his fame, and died when
he could just be called a martyr. He had become too violent and
impatient, to control, for any length of time, the multitude— he
could begin, but not successfully conduct, a revolution,
" The murder of their Prophet exasperated the people of Nauvoo,
They were ready, and a vast majority determined, on immediate
war to the knife, with all engaged in that horrid tragedy, or who
ever might come to abet them, A few more sagacious minds per
ceived the danger of such a course, and began sMUfuUy to prevent
the utter ruin of their hopes, likely to result from open hostUity to
the State, They harangued them on the stand, and talked with
the clubs collected at the corners of the streets. The great drum
was beating to arms. It was a fearful struggle, that was going on in
the breasts of the prudent. Revenge was deep in every heart,
and the bursting movement there was interpreted to be the voice
of the Holy Spirit ; and it was made audible in the terrible curses
poured forth on the Gentile murderers. The ' time to fight ' was,
by most, supposed to have come. But skillful delays were inter
posed by the infiuential ; their arms had been just surrendered, and
a new organization made, and leaders were to be chosen,
"The day passed off and no companies had started, and wrath
was bosomed for the morrow. In the morning after, the congre
gation was early collected at the temple square or gathering place.
The chief apostles promised them the vengeance of heaven upon
their enemies, but that they were not ripe enough, for the vials of
wrath to empty their torments upon them. Shortly the pestilence,
the fire and the sword, would do their work,
"The funeral pageant next absorbed all their attention. The
mourning was sore, ead and deep, over the beloved patriarch Hyrum,
and the adored prophet Joeeph,
" The etruggle for the leadership, the Seer succession, which
followed, however, soon dissipated the sorrow for the past, Rig
don, as eecond in rank, claimed promotion ; also by former revela
tions, declared himself assigned to be their prophet. He called
a meeting and proclaimed his position as head, James J, Strang
contended for the place of Seer, and showed letters, over the
deceased prophet's signature, assuring him that he ehould be the
aucceasor in the event of Joseph'a death. But the College of the
Twelve had other views, and a vote on the aubject. They declared
that definite reatrictione, and the last will and testament of Joseph
had been delivered to them in secret council. It revoked all former

1845-6, EXODUS OF MORMONS FROM NAUVOO. 985
designations, and devolved the choice upon them. Under the
management of their sagacious chief, they elected the Peter of the
Apostles, Brigham Young, to the responsible station,
"This enthronement drove Rigdon with a party to Pennsylvania,
where in a short time his influence vanished, and the band dis
persed, Strang founded a city on the prairies of Wisconsin, and
had a numerous colony. Ultimately he removed to Beaver island,
in Michigan lake, and aseumed the title of King of the Saints,
where the small kingdom still exists. These bodies and their
leaders were excommunicated by the great majority under the
proper Seer, as was also William Smith, another competitor for the
throne, and a party in Texas, headed by Lyman White.
" The mobocratic spirit did not expire, when it destroyed the
great leader. Threats and demonetrations clearly proved, that their
present abode, which had been made lovely by unheard-of exer
tions, must be abandoned. A venerable patriarch, uncle of the
prophet Joseph, in prophetic vision announced that the whole
people must retire to the wilderness, to grow into a multitude aloof
from the haunts of civilization.
" Thie matter was taken into consideration by Brigham and high
council. The result was, that they would move as fast as poaai
ble acroaa Iowa to the Misaouri, and into the Indian country in the
vicinity of Council Bluffs," *
The movement commenced with small partiea in the winter of
1844-45 ; more parties started early in the spring of 1845, The
main body, however, remained behind longer, ae they had been
commanded to dedicate the new temple which had been com
menced before the firet emigrante left the city of Beauty, Thie work
having been accomplished with great pomp and splendor, the gen
eral exodus took place in the spring of 1846.
About this time a battalion of five hundred and twenty men wae
recruited among them for the United Statee eervice, to take part
in the Mexican war.
In their new location, which appears to have been very un
healthy, they laid out and built the town of KanesviUe. But they
did not tarry here long, for they very eoon eent out parties to ex
amine the country etill further West, in search of another " ever
lasting abode." These reported favorably as to the " Great Salt
Lake Valley," in Utah Territory, and a further migration to that

* The Mormons or Latter-Day Saints, by Lieutenant J. H. Gunnison.
63

986 CONFLAGRATION AT PITTSBURGH. 1845.
region was determined on. In the spring of 1847, a pioneer party of
one hundred and forty-three men proceeded to open the way, while
the main body followed gradually, in divisions of tens, fifties and
hundreds, until finally aU have departed excepting a few scattered
famUies about Missouri river, on the borders of Iowa and Ne
braska. Their present location in the " Far West," is beyond the province
of this work. Their history is still unfinished, and appearances
render it probable, that the most important part is yet to come.
Among the conflagrations which, in 1845, destroyed the hopes of
1845.] thousands, none will be longer remembered in the West
than that which devastated the city of Pittsburgh on the 10th of
April, in that year, destroying in a few hours the labor of many
years — blasting suddenly the cherished hopes of thousands, who
but that morning were contented in the possession of comfortable
horiies, busy workshops, and magazines of manufactures and other
products of well directed industry — unnerving the most self-
possessed, who saw their own wealth suddenly pass from them
while yet endeavoring to save that of their neighbors from the
devouring flames. Our work is to perpetuate a slight record of the
disaster, as none will be found in the streets of that busy city— the
"Burnt District" having long ago been rebuilt with more substan
tial structures than those they replace.
In an account of the disaster, published by J. Heron Foster,
editor of the Daily Dispatch of that city, (from which is compiled
this brief notice,) he truly says :
"None witnessed the conflagration but know the difficulty of
adequately describing it, and we trust that some charity may be
extended to us should we fail in the effort to picture to the imagi
nation of our readers the most destructive conflagration it has ever
been our lot to describe."
Commencing about noon, on Ferry street, two squares from
the Monongahela front, it rapidly spread eastward, until it reached
five squares in breadth by eight or ten — when, being luckily
hemmed in by a high hill on the north, and the Monongahela river
on the south, ite ravages were confined to a narrow space, along
which buildings were destroyed for a mile from the point where
the carelessness of a washerwoman had kindled it, and until further
fuel wae denied it. Efforts to stay its ravages by the people were
utterly ineffectual — and the firemen only eucceeded (with the aid
of some men who engaged in blowing up the blazing houses,) in

1845. CONFLAGRATION AT PITTSBURGH. 987
preventing its spreading around the point of the hill, which would
have doomed another fourth of the city to destruction. From the
intense heat, water seemed of little use — the loftiest buildinsre
melting before the ocean of flame, which rolled and leaped onward
before the gale, throwing out its forked tongues as if in derision of
the puny efforts of the suffering multitude, whose household gods
were thus rudely torn away.
The handsome stone edifice of the Bank of Pittsburgh, with its
metal roof and iron shutters— in the fire-proof qualities of which
people reposed so much confidence, that many placed their valua
bles in its rooms for safety-^shared the fate of less pretending
buildings, and with its contents, (with the exception of what was
in its vaults,) fell before the flames. The Monongahela House,
loUg the most extensive hotel in the North-West — with the West-
em University, and a bridge over the Monongahela, (nearly one
third of a mile in length,) fell easy victims — and the many splen
did steamboats at the wharf were with difficulty saved by promptly
cutting their cables and dropping down the Ohio to windward of
the fire.
With the destruction of every building upon some fifty-six
acres, and throwing houseless on the world nearly two thousand
citizens with their families, the fire-king seemed satisfied — and the
homeless sought shelter with their more fortunate fellow-citizens,
comforted with the knowledge that but two human lives had been
lost during the confiagration — those of Samuel Kingston, Esq., a
member of the Bar, and a woman named Maglone.
As the fire occurred during a busy season, the most animated the
city had seen for many years, the losses of personal property, by the
destruction of the contents of the large business houses on Water,
Market, Wood and First streets, were enormous — while the losses in
buildings and machinery were still greater. It would be impossible
to arrive at any near estimate of the total, but the losses assessed'by
the committees appointed to distribute the funds contributed for
relief of the sufferers, as sustained by one thousand and eleven
who applied for assistance — and these those who lost the least —
amounted to eight hundred thousand dollars. Of these sufferers,
there were three hundred and fifty whose losses were reported at
less than a hundred doUars each, and the same number at less than
five hundred. Of the city insurance companies, whose losses were
eight hundred thousand dollars, two were unable to meet their
liabiUties— thus adding to the misfortunes of the sufferers, while
the payment of losses by others brought the disaster home to

988 CONFLAGRATION AT PITTSBURGH. 1845.
many a widow and orphan residing beyond the bounds of the
district laid in ashes, depriving them of dividends upon which
they relied for support. The amount ineured in other citiee it was
impoeeible to ascertain.
No sooner had the mails, (for this was before the days of tele
graphs,) disseminated the news of the disaster throughout the
country, than they returned laden with the contributions of the
people for the relief of the sufferers, while scarce a steamboat came
to the wharf but was partly freighted with provisions for their sus
tenance, accompanied with expreeeions of eympathy, and the hope
that the energy of her people would prove superior to the blow
which temporarily crushed them. While the mine etill smould
ered, and men gazed upon the ashes of their wealth, the spontane
ous aid of a nation was tendered and received. In giving a statement
of the Relief Fund and its distribution, Mr. Foster's pamphlet
eaye: " It would be manifestly improper to allude in more than general
terms to the action of different cities in relation to the matter, and
we shall content ourselves, therefore, by giving as full an account
of the donations received upon the occasion as it is possible to pro
cure — would that we could record more durably the name of every
contributor to that noble fund, which has relieved so large a num
ber whose houses were destroyed, and whose busy workshops were
swept away by that fiood of fire, which rendered desolate so large a
portion of our city. Into it were cast thousands of widows' mites,
and the hard earned wages of as many working men— all classes,
down even to the child at school, aided us, and a debt of gratitude
was incurred which we trust eome day to repay.
"But first we may, in juetice to our city, mention that the con-
tributione given us from our own citizene, do not include large
amounts privately collected and distributed at once, by individuala
and charitable aocietiea, and large quantitiea of produce, clothing,
and furniture, furniehed by individuale to aufferera, when in great
eat need."
These contributions, (including fifty thousand dollars from the
State treasury,) amounted to more than two hundred thousand dol
lars — which was distributed by the councils of the city, in a man
ner which alleviated much of the prevailing distress.
The limits of this work will not admit of eaying more of this calam
ity. Within three months after it occurred, eight hundred buildings
were contracted for in the Burnt District — and long ere thie that
portion of the Iron City of the Union hae recovered from the blow,

1831. PECULIAR POPULATION OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS. 989
and the district then in ashes, which comprised a great portion of
" the old city," is now the handaomeet and busieat part of that city
of workehope.
*' In early daye, the aouthern settlementa of Illinois presented but
1846.] few specimens of the more refined, enterprising, intellec
tual and moral people, and society generally there was of a very
low class.
" As early as 1816-17, several counties of this section of the ter
ritory were overrun with horse-thieves and counterfeiters, who
were so numerous and so well banded together as to set the laws
at defiance. Many of the sheriffs, justices of the peace, and con
stables were of their number, andeven some of the judges of the
county courts ; and they had numerous friends to aid and sympa
thize with them, even among those who were the least suspected.
When any of them were arrested, they either escaped from the
slight jails of those times, or procured some of their gang to be on
the jury; and they never lacked witnesses to prove themselves
innocent " The people, in many instances, in self-defense, formed them
selves into revolutionary tribunals, under the name of 'Regulators;'
and the governor and judges of the territory, seeing the impossi
bility of executing the laws iu the ordinary way, against an
organized body of banditti, who set all laws at defiance, winked at
and encouraged the proceedings of this citizen organization.
" The regulators in number generally constituted about a cap
tain's company, to which they gave a military organization, by the
election of officers. The company generally operated at night.
When assembled for duty, they marched, armed and equipped as
if for war, to the residence or lurking-place of a rogue, arrested,
tried, and punished him by severe whipping and banishment. In
this mode most of the rogues were expelled from the country ; and
it was the opinion of the best men at the time, that in the then
divided and distracted state of society, and the imperfect civiliza
tion, such proceedings were not only justifiable, but absolutely
necessary for the enforcement of justice.
" There yet remained, however, for many years afterward, a
noted gang of rogues in Pope and Massac, and other counties bor
dering on the Ohio river. This gang built a fort in Pope county,
and set the government at open defiance. In the year 1831, the
honest portion of the people in that region assembled under arms,
in great numbers, and attacked the fort with small arms and one

990 RIOTS AND MURDERS IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS. 1846.
piece of artillery. It was taken by storm, with the lose of one of
the regulatore, and three of the rogues, killed in the assault. The
reeidue of the latter were taken prisoners, tried for their crimes,
but probably never convicted."*
Nor does it appear that they left the countty, for some years
later they were still committing their depredations in the same
neighborhood. The writer above quoted says, that
" In the summer of 1846, a number of these desperadoes attacked
the house of an aged citizen of Pope county, and robbed him of a
large amount of money in gold. In the act of committing the
robbery, one of them left behind a knife, made by a blacksmith in
the neighborhood, by means of which he was identified. This one
being arrested and subjected to torture by the neighboring people,
confessed his crime, and gave the names of his associates. These
again being arrested, to the number of a dozen, and some of them
being tortured, disclosed the names of a long list of confederates
in crime, scattered through several counties. The better portion
of the people, as in times past, now associated themselves into a
band of regulatore, and proceeded to order all euspected persons
to leave the country."
But however honest and worthy might have been the intention
of those who first formed this body of " Regulators," their pro
ceedings, as is the case with all anarchical confederations, soon
became lawless, cruel, and defiant of all government. The system
of torture carried on by them, and infiicted on all suspected
persons, had the effect of causing the list of persons accused to
become greater every day. The modes of torture used were
various. Some of the victims were dipped into the Ohio river,
and held under water until they divulged the names of their sup
posed accomplices. Others had their thumbs pinched with bullet
moulds. " Others had ropes tied around their bodies, over their
arms, and a stick twisted into the ropes until their ribs and sides
were crushed in by force of the pressure."
Some persons having entered complaints against some of the
regulators for these acts of violence, warrants of arrest were issued,
and some of the offenders arrested by the sheriff. They were,
however, soon after rescued by their frienda, and the aheriff, the
county clerk, and the magistrate who had issued the warrants,
ordered to leave the country under penalty of aevere corporeal

* Ford's Illinois.

1846. RIOTS AND MURDERS IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS. 991
punishment They even, it seems, by torture and bribery, induced
some of the notorious rogues to accuse these men of being accom
plices, as a basis for the order.
In this condition of things, application was made in August,
1846, to the governor for a miUtia force to sustain the constituted
authority at Massac. There was, however, nothing effectively done
to quell the disturbance, and the regulators came down from Pope,
and over from Kentucky, and drove out the sheriff", the county
clerk, the representative elect to the legislature, and many others.
Not long after these events, indictments were found against
many of the party, which caused the tide of wrath to turn against
the grand jury who had been fearless enough to find these, and the
witnesses on whose oaths they were based. All these were now
ordered to leave the county.
Meanwhile, warrants having been issued upon the indictments,
the sheriff summoned a poase, in order to execute them. But such
was the terror now existing in the minds of the community, that
all the force he could raise, was some sixty or seventy men, who
had been ordered by the regulators to leave the country, many
of whom were notorious rogues.
The rioters marched down to Metropolis City, the county seat of
Massac, in much greater force, and a parley ensued, the result of
which was that the jail was delivered over to the regulators, who at
once liberated their friends. Several of the sheriff's posse were
murdered, and he himself, with his most active friends, driven from
the county.
An attempt to put down the regulators, which was subsequently
made under the order of the governor, proved equally ineffectual,
and they continued in power for the remainder of the year, with
out any force to check their career. During the winter of 1846-47,
the legislature passed a law "authorizing the governor, when he was
aatiafied that a crime had been committed by twenty persons or
more, to issue his proclamation ; and then the judge of the circuit
was authorized to hold a district court in a large district, embracing
several counties."
The object of this law evidently was, to enable the State to
change the venue in such cases as were in contemplation, and take
them out of the proper county, it being very certain that no con
viction of the regulators could take place ai home. The constitu
tionality of this law has been doubted, but the question appears
never to have been tested, for it does not seem that there were any
prosecutions under it. Perhaps it has, nevertheleee, had the effect

992 ILLINOIS MOVES IN RELATION TO CANALS. 1823.
of deterring the rioters, or else they became tired of their work, for
the excitement gradually died away and the confederation ceased.*
The first printed suggestion of the praeticabiUty of the IlUnois and
1848.] Michigan canal, appeared in Niles' Register, for August,
1814, where is found a paragraph from a series of editorial articles,
on the great importance, in a national point of view, of the States
and Territories of this now great central valley.
"By the Illinois river, it is probable that Buffalo, in New York,
may be united with New Orleans, by inland navigation, through
Lakes Erie, Huron and Michigan, and down that river to the Mis
sissippi. What a route ! How stupendous the idea ! How dwin
dles the importance of the artificial canals of Europe, compared with
this water communication ! If it should ever take place (and it ia
aaid the opening may be easily made,) the territory [of BUnois] will
become the seat of an immense commerce, and a market for the
commodities of all regions."
As has been noticed, the first Governor of Hlinois, after it had
become a sovereign State, at the session of the General Assembly,
in 1818, brought this subject before that body in hia inaugural
meaaage. He suggested an early application to Congress for a certain per
centage from the sales of the public lands, to be appropriated to
that object. In his valedictory message, in December, 1822, he
again refers to this subject and to his first address, and says :
"It is believed that the public sentiment has been ascertained in
relation to the subject, and that our fellow-citizens are prepared to
sustain their representatives in the adoption of measures subservi
ent to its commencement."
His successor, in Ms inaugural address, of December, 1822, de
votes four pages to this eubject, and refers to an act of the preceding
Congress, which "gave permission to the State to cut a canal
through the public lands, connecting the Illinois river with Lake
Michigan, and granting to it the breadth of the canal, and ninety
feet on each side."
With this was coupled the onerous condition "that the State
should permit all articles belonging to the United States, or to any
person in their employ, to pass toll free for ever." The Governor,
who was a zealous and liberal advocate for an economical and

*The above account is chiefly taken from "Ford's Illinois."

1824. MICHIGAN AND ILLINOIS CANAL ROUTE EXPLORED. 993
judicious system of Internal Improvements, proposed to create a
fund from the revenues received for taxes on the military bounty
lands; from fines and forfeitures; and from such other sources, as
the legislature, in its wisdom, might think proper to set apart for
that purpose.
He also urged the importance of an opening through Indiana
and Ohio, with Lake Erie, by improving the navigation of the
Wabash and Maumee rivers, and connecting them by a canal, to
which objects he proposed the Illinois Legislature, ehould invite
the epecial attention of those Statea, and co-operate eo far ae jurie
diction extended. He further proposed the examination and sur
veys of the rivers and the canal route in Illinois; and to memorial
ize Congress for a liberal donation of land, in opening the projected
lines of communication.
An act for the improvement of the internal navigation of the
State, and a memorial to Congress on the subject, were paeeed by
the legislature during the session.
This act, which was approved February 14th, 1823, provided for
a Board of four Commissioners, whose duties were to devise and
adopt measures to open a communication, by canal and locks,
between the navigable waters of the IlUnois river and Lake Michi
gan ; to cause the route to be explored, surveys and levels to be
taken, maps and field books to be constructed, and estimates of
the costs to be made ; and to invite the attention of the Governora
of the States of Indiana and Ohio, and through them the legisla
tures of those States, to the importance of a canal communication
between the Wabash and Maumee rivers.
At that time Sangamon river, and Fulton county, were the
boundaries of settlements. A military and trading post existed at
Chicago ; a dozen families, chiefly French, were at Peoria. The
northern half of IlUnoie was a continuous wilderness ; or, as the
universal impression was, an interminable prairie, and uninhabita
ble for an age. Morgan county, then including Scott and Casa
counties, had about seventy -five families; and Springfield was a
frontier village, of a dozen log cabins.
A portion of the commissioners, with a special engineer, made
an exploratory tour in the autumn of 1823. In the autumn of
1824, another engineer was employed, with the necessary men to
assist in executing the levels, and making the surveys complete.
The party was accompanied by one commissioner. Two compa
nies were organized, and five different routes examined, and the
expense estimated on each. The locks and excavations were cal
culated on the supposition that the construction was on the same

994 BOARD OF CANAL COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED. 1829.
scale of the grand canal of New York, then in process of making.
The probable cost of each route, was reported by the engineers ; the
highest being seven hundred and sixteen thousand one hundred
and ten dollars; the lowest, six hundred and thirty-nine thousand
nine hundred and forty-six doUars.
At the next session of the legislature, an act was passed (Jan
uary 17, 1825,) to "incorporate the Illinois and Michigan Canal
Company." The capital stock was one mUUon of doUars, in ten
thousand shar.es of one hundred dollars each.*
The stock not being taken, at a subsequent session the legisla
ture repealed the charter. During these movements within the
State, the late Daniel P. Cook, as the representative in Congress,
and the senators of Illinois, were unceasing in their efforte to obtain
lande from the national government, to construct this work, which
all regarded as of pro-eminent national advantage.
As the result of these efforts, on the 2d of March, 1827, Congrese
granted to the State of Illinois, in aid of this work, each alternate
section of land, five miles in width, on each side of the projected
canal. The embarrassments of the State in finance, growing out of the
ruinous policy of the State Bank, noticed in the preceding section,
prevented anything being done until January, 1829, when the
legislature passed an act to organize a Board of Commissioners,
with power to employ agents, engineers, surveyors, draftsmen, and
other persons, to explore, examine, and determine the route of the
canal. They were authorized to lay off town sites, and sell lots
and apply the funds.
They laid oft" Chicago, near the lake, and Ottawa, at the junction
of Fox river ; and the Illinois surveys and estimates were again
made, but the project of obtaining a full supply of water on the
surface level, was doubtful, and the rock approached so near the
surface on the summit level between the Chicago and Des Plaines,
as to increase the estimates of cost, and cast doubt on the project.
The subsequent legislature authorized a re-examination to ascer
tain the cost of a railway, and whether a supply of water could be
obtained from the Calumet for a feeder;
The estimated cost for a railway, with a single track, for ninety-
six miles, was about one million fifty thousand dollars.
At a special session of the legislature, in 1835-36, an act was
passed authorizing a loan of half a million of dollars for the con-

* Report of the Canal Commissioners, Vandalia, 1825.

1848, ILLINOIS AND MICHIGAN CANAL FINISHED. 995
atruction of the canal, and the Board of Commissioners was re
organized, and on the 4th of July, 1836, the first ground was
broken. At the regular session of 1836-37, the " Internal Improvement"
system became the absorbing topic, the canal was brought under
the same influence ; loans, to a vast extent, were created for both
objects; and the most extravagant expectations were raised, but
never realized.
The sole reliance of the State was on loans, without any flnancea
of its own, or any meana to pay annual intereat and liquidate the
principal, Ae a financial meaeure, the canal loane were distin
guished from the internal improvement and other loane, but all
failed with the credit of the State, before 1842,
Contracts were made, and the work on the acale projected made
progress, until over five millions of dollars had been expended, and
the work remained unfinished. The credit of the State having
sunk so, that no further loans, could be obtained, the contractors
were obliged to abandon their contracts, with heavy claims against
the State ; and in 1843, a law was passed to liquidate and settle the
damages, at a sum not exceeding two hundred and thirty thou
sand dollars. The Board of Commissioners was dissolved, and the
works remained in the same state for two years.
The session of 1843-44, adopted a plan to complete the canal,
by making the "shallow cut," or relying on the streams for water,
without excavating six feet below the lake level, as had been pro
jected and partially worked, and drawing supplies from that source.
About sixteen hundred thousand dollars would complete the work
on this plan.
The resources were about two hundred and thirty thousand
acres of land; several hundred city and village lots; the water
power along the whole line ; a balance due the canal fund for lands
and lots sold, and the canal tolls. All these resources were consid
ered ample to complete the work, pay interest on the loans, and
eventually redeem the stock, provided additional funds could he
obtained, A proposition was made and accepted by the stock
holders, a Board of Joint Trustees was appointed, and one million
six hundred thousand dollars advanced. The whole work was
completed in 1848; regular business was commenced, and has in
creased in a larger ratio than any of the estimates.
Of the monster "Internal Improvement" system, which brought
one of the heavieet calamities on the State, but from which its re
cuperative energies are slowly recovering, this work affords no

996 WISCONSIN BECOMES A STATE, 1848.
space for particulars. From 1835 to 1840, the popular mind
through the United States, passed through a species of mania.
Men, who were shrewd, clear-headed, and safe calculators, became
incapable of reasoning correctly in financial matters. The Legis
lature of Illinois, as did other legislative bodies, labored and acted
under a singular hallucination.
A minority resisted; a prominent leader of which, the late Gen
eral Hardin, was among the number that opposed the " splendid
project." The law passed ; ten millions of dollars were to be loaned
and applied to various lines of railroads, and river improvements,
and appropriations made for the same. The railroads extended
like checker-work over the State ; every one of which was planned,
and estimates made by the committee on the copy of ar sectional
map of the State, just published, and which had reached the seat
of government.
The whole length of the railroads to be made, was one thousand
three hundred and forty-one miles. Extravagant as was this
scheme, loans were negoti.ated to an amount exceeding five millions
of dollars, aud the money thrown away. The whole system went
down about 1841, increasing the demands against the State, (inclu
ding accumulations of interest due,) to an amount exceeding fifteen
millions of dollars. Great as this burden may appear to others,
IlUnois has resources, and has made provision to liquidate this
heavy debt.
The canal stock includes a moiety of this debt, and its resources
and income will absorb that portion. The State has other re
sources. But in making a new constitution in 1847, which was
adopted by a vote of the people, in March, 1848, a section provi
ding a special tax of two mills on the dollar of the civil list, was
adopted by a separate vote of the people, by more than ten thou
sand majority. TMs income is applied to the extinguishment of
the principal of this debt; and it is probably the first instance in
which the people, by a direct vote, have solemnly declared they
will tax themselves to pay an old debt,
A Convention was held at Madison, October 5th, 1846, for the
purpose of drafting a State Constitution, which was adopted in
Convention, December 16th, 1846, but rejected by the people at
the election held on the first Tuesday in April, 1847, A second
Convention was held December 16th, 1847, and a Constitution
agreed to February Ist, 1848, which was approved of by the elec
tors at the election held AprU, 1848, and Wisconsin was admitted

1849, CHOLERA AND GREAT FIRE AT ST, LOUIS, 997
into the Union, on an equal footing with the other States, on the
29th day of May, 1848,
Among the most important events that occurred in this year, were
1849.] two of a melancholy character, namely, the cholera, which
raged with terrible violence throughout the West, and most partic
ularly at St. Louis; and the great fire that in this year destroyed a
large portion of the latter city.
Cases of the cholera appeared on boats navigating the lower
Mississippi, during the last months of 1848 ; and an unusual pre
disposition to diarrhoeas, and affections of the bowels, was mani
fested in St, Louis at the same time. Two cases of cholera, and
one death, occurred the first week in January, 1849, That month
there were thirty-eight deaths altogether from cholera, thirty in
March, and eighteen in April,
In the first week in May, there was a fearful increase in the
progress of the disease, and of deaths. Deaths from all diseases,
per week, from one hundred and eighteen to one hundred and
ninety-three. Total deaths in May, seven hundred and eighty-six;
from cholera, five hundred and seventeen. For two weeks following
the great fire, there was a perceptible decrease in the mortality and
number of cases.
During the first week in June there were one hundred and forty-
four deaths, seventy-four from cholera; second week, two hundred
and eighty-three deaths, one hundred and thirty-nine from cholera;
third week, five hundred and twenty-two deaths, four hundred and
twenty-six from cholera; fourth week, seven hundred and ninety-
eight deaths, six hundred and thirty-six from cholera.
From June 26th to July 2d, nine hundred and fifty-one deaths,
seven hundred and thirty-nine from cholera; from July 3d to 9th,
eight hundred and fifty-one deaths, six hundred and fifty-four from
cholera; from July 10th to 16th, eight hundred and eighty-eight
deaths", six hundred and sixty-nine from cholera; from July 17th to
the 23d, four hundred and forty deaths, two hundred and sixty-
nine from cholera. Last week in July, two hundred and thirty-one
deaths, one hundred and thirty-one from cholera.
All these estimates, however, which are taken from the report of
the health officer, are known to be too low. During the entire
year of 1849, the mortality was about ten thousand, of which there
were probably six thousand deaths from cholera.
The scourge disappeared, except occaaional caees, after the 10th
of August, From the 1st of November, 1849, to the 1st of Apnl,
1850, unusual health prevailed for a city population.

998 CHOLERA AND GREAT FIRE AT ST. LOUIS, 1849,
The great fire broke out on the steamboat White Cloud, near the
foot of Cherry street, at the hour of ten o'clock at night, on the"
17th of May, 1849, The wind was from a north-eastern direction,
and blew with great force all the night. In a short time twenty-
three steamboats were on fire, and consumed; some with valuable
cargoes on board.
The fire first caught the stores at the foot of Locust street; then,
by another burning boat at the foot of Elm street, and simultane
ously two fires were sweeping over several squares, driven by the
wind with resistless fury. Massive buildings of brick or stone,
three and four stories in height, oft'ered no resistance. The fires
from the buUdings and the boats cut off all communication with
the river, and by two o'clock in the morning, on the 18th, the city
reservoir was exhausted.
Up to this time, the firemen did all that men and machinery
could do, to stop the devouring element. Buildings were blown
up, and several lives were lost; but about eight o'clock, A. M., after
ten hours of devastation, its fury was spent. About four hundred
buildings Were burnt; many of them large wholesale stores. The
steamboats, their cargoes, and produce on the landing, were valued
at five hundred and eighteen thousand five hundred dollars; buUd
ings, six hundred and two thousand seven hundred and forty-eight
dollars; merchandise, six hundred and fifty-four thousand nine
hundred and fifty dollars. Add to furniture, provisions, clothing,
etc., and the loss was estimated at two millions seven hundred and
fifty thousand dollars. About two-thirds the value were covered
by insurance.
The cholera during the summer, was more fatal than the fire to
the business of the city.
For the first few months after the conflagration, " the burnt dis
trict " presented a doleful picture; but two years had not elapsed
before the largest portion was covered with buildings of a superior
character. Streets were widened, and naked lots rated at higher
value than they had been previously, with their houses or stores
upon them; and at thie time it is generally believed that the con
flagration benefited the city.
Railroad enterprises have of late years become so numerous that
1851.] it were useless to attempt to give an account, or even
make mention of all that have been built— yet there is one, which
WiiS started in this year, which is of such uncommon magnitude,
that it would seem worthy of being distinctively mentioned. This
is the BUnois Central Railroad, which was incorporated by the

1851, ERIE INCORPORATED A CITY, 999
Legislature of that State, in the session of 1851, and was in its
charter gifted with very extensive franchises and powers.
The road is remarkable for its unusual length; commencing at
Cairo, at the 'juncture of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and ex
tending through the centre of the State, to the North-West corner
of the same, opposite Dubuque, it runs over a distance of seven
hundred miles, (including Chicago branch,) traversing in its course
a greater extent of fertile land, that is susceptible of the highest
degree of cultivation, than probably any other railroad in the world.
In 1851, Erie, Pennsylvania, was incorporated as a city, Ae this
place is, as it were, the gate of Western History, a short sketch of
ite origin will not be inappropriate in this place.
Early in the year 1753, while the entire North-West was still a
vast, almost untrodden wilderness, and when the waters of the
northern lakes had as yet been undisturbed, excepting only by the
elements, and the light ripple caused by the Indian's paddle, or
occasionally the boat oar of some lonely voyageur, or of some one
of the Jesuits, who even then were living on the Canadian side
below — at that time the French were the first among the whites,
to land upon those lake-washed shores, and on the site of the pres
ent city of Erie, they erected a fort, to which they gave the name
of "Fort Presque Isle." *
This was the first of a series of militaty posts which they eatab
liehed, for thepurpose of connecting their possessions on the St,
Lawrence with "the beautiful river," {La belle Riviere) the Ohio,
and thence with their posts on the Mississippi, In 1760, this fort
was surrendered to the British; but three years later its weak. gar
rison was overcome and massacred by the Indians, under the
guidance of Pontiac,t and thenceforth again at Presque Isle the
lake-wave sported along the shores of a wilderness, and the In
dian's whoop was once more-echoed back by solitaty forests.
In the year 1789, the Indian title to that portion of Erie county
called "the Triangle," was at last extinguished, and in 1792, the
tract was purchased from the United States, In 1796, the place
became interesting by the death and burial there of General
Wayne, J
The town was first permanently settled and laid out in 1795, and

* See ante, page 103, in Coifen's narrative. f ^^* ^^^' P^S" ^'^^•
J Erie Directory, published 1853.

1000 GLOOMY YEAR THROUGHOUT THE WEST. 1854,
five years later it became the seat of juetice for Erie county, though
it was the year 1803 before the first court was held there. In
1805, it was incorporated as a borough, and in 1813, it became
famous in the annals of the country, as the point where Perry built
his fleet,* and from which he went forth upon that victorious expe
dition, the results of which he himself commemorated in his cele
brated laconic message: "We have met the enemy, and they are
ours," The situation of Erie is exceedingly picturesque, and as beauti
ful as that of any city in the West, The population is between
eight and ten thousand.
This year, like the year 1811, was throughout one full of disasters
1854.] and gloomy incidents, of which the heaviest portion fell
upon the West,
The flrst and chief cause of distress wae the exceeding heat and
drought, and the coneequent scarcity of provisions. In the early
spring the season opened with sufficient promise, but as the summer
advanced, there was a total absence of all rain ; the ground became
parched; the creeks and small water courses dried up, and many
of the rivers became lower than they had been known within the
memory of the oldest inhabitants. At the same time the heat waa
exceaaive. Everything was auff"ering for want of water ; the grain
became shriveled up and dried, and failed to produce crops ; vege
tables would not come to perfection, or became unhealthy, for the
Want of proper qr ample nourishment to develop them ; and even
the cattle, in many sections of country, had to be sacrificed, on ac
count of the acarcity of pasture and water, and the consequent im-
poeeibility of keeping them. Many farmers were obliged to drive
the few cattle that they retained, eeveral milee from home, to the
rivere to get water. It was a season of unexampled drought
In consequence, the prices of flour, produce and other necessa
ries became very far higher than had ever been known in the
West, and the suffering among the poor was terrible.
Very much of the distress produced by the faUure of crops this
year, might no doubt have been saved, if the American people
were more disposed to guard their agricultural interests. But it
is greatly to be deplored that, both East and West, there is preva
lent in our country a disposition to neglect that noblest, happiest

* See ante, page 901.

1854. SECONDARY CAUSES OP DISTRESS, 1001
and most useful of all pursuits — agriculture, and to throng the cities
with a superabundant population, while millions of acres are lying
idle in the ",Great West," offering to man wealth, happiness and
abundance of all that he may need. For this reason it is that
each year's consumption nearly exhausts the granaries of the
country. One season of dearth and scarcity brings us to the verge
of famine, while in the West alone, there are millions of acres of
rich land uncultivated, which, if only partially tilled, would pro
duce a superabundance each year for the whole population, if men
would only chose to remain "tillers of the soil," instead of becom
ing "hangers on" in cities. Even of the foreign emigrants, many,
who at home were agriculturists, are encouraged to remain in
cities, and take up occupations that are far less profitable.
The distress caused directly by the scarcity of provisions, was in
mid-summer increased by sickness, which no doubt arose indirectly
from the same cause, through the unhealthiness of provisions.
Even the rivers, being drained to their dregs, failed to furnish their
usual healthy draughts. During the latter part of the summer, the
cholera, which seems of late years to have lost, much of its epidemic
character in the West, and seems to be becoming a regular visitant
among men, made its appearance in many cities, and raged with
unusual virulence. In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which had never
before been visited by that scourge, beyond the appearance of a
few isolated cases, about a thousand persons died in the course' of
five weeks. Bowel complaints and mild forme of cholera morbus
were so prevalent every where, that comparatively few escaped
them. In the southern portion of the West, the yellow fever raged.
Altogether, many families were broken up and many dear hopes
shattered by the hand of the "fell destroyer."
It is pleasing to reflect, that amid the distress caused by all these
adverse circumstances, gentle charity did not fail in her kind min
istrations to the wants of the needy. In some cities of the West,
in the fall and winter, there were "Howard Associations " or chari
table societies formed, for the relief of the distressed, and "soup-
houses " were established, at which, through contributions of the
wealthy, the poor were furnished with food and bread, and thus,
no doubt, much suff"ering was alleviated, and many probably saved
from starvation.
There were also other sad accidents, which did their share
toward increasing the general gloom. There were throughout the
country in this year, one hundred and ninety-three railroad acci
dents, killing one hundred and eighty-six persons, and wounding
64

1002

BOUNTIFUL SEASON OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS. 1855,

five hundred and eighty-nine; there were forty-eight steamboat
accidents, in which five hundred and eighty-seven persons were
killed and two hundred and twenty-five wounded ; being an in
crease of two hundred and sixty-eight killed, over the previous
year. There were also one hundred and seventy-one lives lost, by
means of eighty-three fires, and the total loss of property by fire
was twenty-five millions of dollars. Of aU these accidents and
losses, and particularly of the two first named, the West bore a very
large proportion. Crime, too, this year footed up a fearful cata
logue. There were six hundred and eighty-two murders commit
ted ; and eighty-four executions took place throughout the Union.
On the year of sadness and want just described, followed one of
1855.J an equal degree of joy and plenty. The weather during
the spring and summer was, mostly throughout the West, as
favorable as could be desired, and with the opening harvest, grief
at past misfortunes soon lost the keenness of its edge, and the
smiles of teeming fields were reflected back in the faces of their
cultivators. The lands that for one season had produced so Uttle
or nothing, had the more strength now for the new crops, and all
was teeming with plenty. There was an excellent yield of grain,
pasture was good, vegetables abundant, and the fruit-trees, in many
parts, literally broke down beneath the load of their treasures.
Such a season of plenty as the year 1855, had not been known
since 1810.
In addition to this, the Western rivers continued in good navi
gable condition during the whole summer, thus affording means
for bringing all this produce to market. Trade was active, and
the manufactories were in full and successful operation. The
season throughout was so full of happinese, as to dispel all the
gloom that had been caused by the misfortunes of the previous
year. The present year has thus far been remarkable only for the almost
1856.] unprecedented severity of ite winter. During the first
three months, the cold was intense and unremitting, and although
there was a great deal of snow on the ground, that no doubt
acted beneficially, yet, fruit of every description throughout
the West, has been so severely injured by the cold, that the
yield is unusually limited, and some species have been almost
entirely destroyed.
The general health hae up to the preeent time (early autumn)

1856, REMARKS ON THE FAR WEST, 1003
been uncommonly good. There has as yet been no epidemic in
any part of the West, and altogether leee sickness than is usual for
the season.
Very little mention has been made in these annals, of Minnesota.
which became a territory in 1849, with St. Paul for its capital, and
since that time its changes have been so rapid and numerous, that
none of its affairs have as yet become matured for history. The
same is true in regard to Iowa, Wisconsin, Kansas, and Nebraska.
As the face of the country in these new regions is subject to daily
changes, the wild forests and Indians' hunting grounde giving
way, and becoming the busy haunts of civilization, eo the affaire
of men, too, are still in a state of transition, and all unsettled. Every
thing is incomplete, and no reliable data can be obtained. The
history of these regions is still slumbering in the lap of the future.
It was equally impossible in a work professing impartially to
give reliable information, to say anything in regard to the great
questions, some of which are intimately connected with the inter
ests of Kansas territory, that are now agitating the Union, These
are as yet too much questions of ^art?/ politics, and from their new
ness, too little fraught with abiding results, to be properly introduced
in a work of general historical annals. Where the well known heat
of party strife and party interest affords eo much inducement for
exaggeration and even misrepresentation, it would be difficult to
distinguish the reliable information from the one-sided accounts
given by interested parties. For this reason it has been deemed
most prudent to abide the time, and leave the consideration of
these important matters for a future period, when they shall have
become more mature.

INDEX,

Adair, Major, attacked by Indians, 611
Adams, his correspondence with Lord Carmarthen, 415
Addison, Judge, his charge on the whisky riots, 703
Akamsca or Arkansas, 53
Albany, Indians met at, 241
Alliance, the "War of, 71
Alien law passed, 746
Alleghenies explored by Spottswood, 94
Allegheny College at MeadviUe founded, 922
Allouez, Claude, and associates, 50
Americans seek Indian alliances, 240
employ Indians in war, 244
Anastasius, Father, 67
Ancient Charters, 451, 452, 453, 454
Ancient records of "Vincennes, 83
Anderson, Colonel, surveyor, 418
Anthony, St., Falls of, named by Hennepin, 60
Arbuckle, Captain, at Point Pleasant, 251
Armistice negotiated at Versailles, 1783, 407
Armstrong,Jno., commands forts on Susquehanna, 139
commands expedition, 139
attacks Kittanning, 139
Armstrong, General, made Secretary of War, 898
Assumption, Fort, (Memphis,) army at, 79
Athens, University of, in Ohio, 759
Au Glaize, Grand Indian Council at, 606
Fort Defiance built at, 643
Aubry succeeds D'Abadie, 199
Audruin, Kev. E., Note, 82

Baggattaway, an Indian game.
Baker's, massacre at, by Daniel Greathouse,
Bank of United States in Ohio,
Banks in Illinois,
Banking in Ohio,
Barclay, Captain, meditates plundering at Erie,
Barlow, Joel, goes to Europe to sell land,
Battle of the Thames,
Beaujeu, M. do, commands La Salle's fleet,
Beaujeu, Captain, killed at Braddock's field,
Beletre yields Deti'oit,
Bellevue, Iowa,
Benham, Captain, his adventures,
Berlin, decree issued, and its consequences,
Bienville, sounds Mississippi,
marches against Chickasaws,
died, (it is said,) of grief,
Big-bottom settlements destroyed,
Big Door comes over to Americans,

168218
929 974
924
901

134163
909
306
820 73
78
199 553
273

Black Hawk, refuses to attend treaty of 1815, 921
his character, Ac, 960
his account of treaty of 1804, 961
sues for peace and makes treaty, 963
re-commences hostilities, 964
is defeated by Major Demint, 967
is taken prisoner, 968
Black Hawk war, commencement of, 961
Gen. Gaines' exped'n up Mississippi, 962
party under Major Stillman, 964
massacre at Ottawa, 966
Blannerhassett Island, Burr's plans respecting, 811
Block Houses, their manner of construction, 340
Carnahan's, "Westmoreland Co., Pa., 332
Hannastown, « " 399
Orr's, on Allegheny river, 716
Le Boeuf, (Waterford,) 717
Presqu' Isle, (Erie,) 717
Gower, at mouth of Hocking, Ohio, 227
Bloody run, battle of, 170
Blue Licks, battle of, 393
Boone, Daniel, his birth place, education, &c., 212
explores Kentucky and taken prisoner, 213
conducts home surveyors, 224
assists Transylvania Company, 229
his second captivity, 295
at the battle of Blue Licks, 393
Boonesborough founded, 231
attacked by Indians and British, 298
Border war on western frontier, 1763, 174
Bowman, Major, commandant at Cahokia, 272
Boundaries to determine Indian lands West, 207
of U. S. according to treaty of Paris, 407
Bowman, Captain, Joseph, journal of, 283
capture of Vincennes, 292
Boone's Lick settlement, 915
Border Warriors, character of, 332
Bowman, Col. Jno., arrives in Kentucky, 253
relieves Logan's station, 256
meets Clark at Corn Island, 2G6
his expedition against Shawanese, 305
Bouquet, Colonel, with Forbes, 147
biographical sketch of, 175
relieves Fort Pitt, 177
his expedition to Muskingum, 181
Braddock, General, his march and defeat, 128
Braddock's road, 147
Bradstreet, General, his capture of Ft. Frontenac, 147
hia western expedition, 179

1006

INDEX,

Brant, Joseph, Secretary of Superintendent, 239
heads confederacy and goea to England, 1790, 538
his connection with the British, 556
inyited to ]?hiladelphia, 697, 603
at Council of Navy Hall, 615
his addresses to CommlBsioners, 1793, 615, 618
his remarks on peace conference, 1793, 632
Brady, Hugh, Oeneral, Chronology, 1851.
Brackenridge, Jno., chairman of Democratic Eoc, 664
Brickell's account of his captivity, Ac, 665
British encourage "1 , ,„ _, 
T ,. 1 .•,-^. f «2, 640, 656, 662, 829
Indian hostilities, J
British make presents to Indians, 653
influence over Indians, 542, 555, 830
Brodhead, Colonel, Daniel, attacks Iroquois,
expedition of, to Muskingum,
Brown, John, member of Congress from Ky.,
Brownsville, (Redstone,) early history of,
excise meeting at,
Buffalo creek, settlements on, attacked,
Bullitt, Captain, gallant conduct of,
Thomas, descends the Ohio,
surveys lands in Kentucky,
Buntin, Captain, his letter to General St. Clair,
Bushy run, battle of.
Burr, his first visit West,
his movements In 1806,
his letter to Wilkinson,
is accused by Daviess,
demands an investigation,
suiTenders himself in Mississippi,
his escape and arrest,
Butler, William, Indian trader,
Butler, General Richard, 676, 578, 680,
Byrd's invasion of Kentucky,
Bryant's station attacked,
Cadillac with Crozat accepts Louisiana,
founds Detroit,
Cahokia founded. Pitman's account of,
taken by Bowman under Clark,
Camp Charkitte,
Camp Russell,
Campaign of 1812, in N. W., blunders in,
Harrison's plans for,
of 1813, Harrison's plans for,
Campbell, John, his land at falls of Ohio,
Campbell, Major, his correspon. with Wayne, 649, 650

303331490
423" «86
406
153 214
327 698
176 799807
808811812814815
218 690322

75 85 84
195 272 227 909 857

Campbell, Lieut. Col., expedition under,
Canada, settlement of by French,
given up by French, 1760,
expedition to, under Holmes,
attempted invasion of, 1812,
Canadian's version of battle of Blue Licks,
Canals in Ohio,
in Europe and America,
the Illinois and Michigan,
Canonsburg, College at, founded,
Captina, massacre at,
Carmarthen, Lord, correspondence with Adams,
Carolana, province of,
Carondelet, or " Vide Poche,"
Baron, govornor of Louisiana,
instructions of, to Wilkinson, 1797,

887 49
161 917 860396

939, 942, 949, 967939
992 757 218416 94
187
677
737

Carondelet, commohication of, to Innis and others,739
Cass's expedition in 1820,
Cavelier, M., brother of La SaUe,
Celeron places medals along Ohio,
Cession of the Illinois,
Cessation of hostilities, 1760,
Character of Western Pioneers,
Charlevoix's account of N. Orleans,
Chartiers, Fort, rebuilt,
Chegoimegon, *
Cherokees sell a portion of their claim,
Chillicothe, Indian town on Scioto,
city of,- founded, ^ *
Chickasaws visited by English, '
war of, with French,
offended by Americans,
Chouteau, Auguste aud Pierre,
-Choctaws and French,
Cholera in the army^ 1832,
in St. Louis, 1849,
in Pittsburgh, 1864,
Cincinnati, (LosantiviUe,) first occupation of,
city of, founded,
named by St. Clair,
Fort Washington established at,
its condition, &c., in 1792,
Clark, Geo. R., his version of Cresap's conduct,
steps of in Kentucky, 1776,
walks to Virginia Assembly,
procures the erection of Ky. county,
deUvers ammunition from Pittsburgh,
proposes to conquer Illinois,
receives his instructions, 1778,
descends to the falls of Ohio,
couquers Kaskaskia, &c,,
treats with the Indians,
orders force against Ouiatenon,
learns Hamilton's plans,
marches against Vincennes,
his efforts and sufferings,
summons Hamilton to yield,
takes Vincennes,
embarrassed by paper money,
builds Fort Jefferson on Mississippi,
his first expedition to Miamies,
proposes to take Detroit,
his second expedition to Miamies,
his commission is withdrawn,
grant of land to,
treaty at Fort Finney,
his expedition to the Upper Wabash,
his iUegal acts at Vincennes,
becomes leader under Genet's influence,
his conduct condemned by Va. council,
Clark, Gov. Wm., his exped. to Prarie du Chien,
Clay, General, Green,
Christie, Ensign, commandant at Presqu' Isle,
Christian, Colonel, commands, 1774,
Cleveland founded,
Coffen's deposition and narrative,
CoUege township, Symmes' history of.
Commissioners, Indian, their instructions, 1784,
proclamation of, 1785, 438
appointed to meet Indians, 1793, 612
note of, to Gov. Simcoe, 613

67
100
'188 159
335
"76 191 60
230227732 7778
323186

1001 324480
528621
734 220
246
249260
251
¦ 263 266 266 270 276 280 282 283
284, 286 290 293294823 324328 397412 412 443 446
460450451911 898 16S 225 713101 766410

INDEX,

1D07

Commissioners, reply of, to Brant's address, 616
letter of, to Secretary of War, 619
second council of, at Detroit river, 620
refuse to malce Ohio river bound'y,624
final answer to Indians, 631
Conflagration at Pittsburgh, 986
at St. Louis, 998
Ccftinecticut, land controversy of, with Penn'a., 454
makes cession of western lands, 455
sells her western lauds, ¦ 712
her Ohio lands accepted by U. S. 755
Connolly, Dr. John, account of, 216
r^rehensible conduct of, 225
lands at fiills of Ohio, 327
visits Kentucky again in 1788, 492
Contrecoeur, M. de, 133
summons of, 123
Convention of N. W. Ter. to form State (Ohio,), 761
alteration of boundaries by, 762
Cornplanter at council of Au Glaize, 606
Cornstalk betrayed and murdered, 262
Cornwallia, surrender of, 407
Council Bluffs, expedition to, 1819, 928
Council, Indian, at Au Glaize, 606
with Indiana at Navy Hall, 1793, 615
Cook, Daniel P., opposes slavery in Illinois, 964
Coles, Edward, Governor of Illinois, 951
Cote, Sana Dessein, defense o^ 916
Columbia, Ohio, settled, 482
Craig, Major, 703
Crawford, CoL, sent against the Mingoes, 227
elected to command expedition, 380
taken prisoner and burnt to death, 381
Cramer, Zadok, Chronology, 1811.
Cresap, Captain, his supposed murder of Logan's
famUy, 218
Crozat, Louisiana tiunsferred to, ^ 74
plans of, frustrated, 75
Croghan, George, visits West; his) journal, 182
Cumberland river explored, 211
Cutler, Dr., agent for Ohio company, 460
extract from journal of, 461
Currency, reduced rates of, 308
spurious in the Western States, 923, 927
D'Abadie, governor of Louisiana, 186
letter of king to, 196
Danville, Ky., founded and made capital,- 413
D'Arges, agent of Gardoqui, 486
D'Artaguette, commissary of Louisiana, 74
ia slain by Chickasaws, 78
D'Aubry at Venango, 156
hia large shipment of fiour, 157
Dauphin island, 72
Daviess, Col. Jos., his doings in relation to Buit, 811
Dayton, in Ohio, founded, 713
De Ayllon, Vasquez, gold hunter, 42
Dearborn, Fort, (Chicago,) in 1812, 863
garrison and inmates evacuate, '868
massacre at, 869
Debt, public, difSculties in relation to, 681
De la Chaise, hia addreas to democratic society, 676
Delaware objects to Virginia land claims, 325
De Leon, Ponce, discovers Florida, 41
Democratic society of Ky., address of, 664

Des Moines river, of Iowa, ¦ Note,, 52 ,
Denman takes part in Symmes' purchase, 479
De Soto's expedition, 44
Detroit, settlement of ly Cadillac, ' 85
firat grants at, 85
attacked by Fox Indians, 86
surrender of to the English, 160, 103
attacked by Pontiac, 166
reinforced by Dalzell, 170
besieged second time, 179
"proposed expedition to a failure, 1778, 300
plan of conquering renewed, 328
¦ steps taken relative to, 1784, 411
taken possession of by Americans, 734
description of in 1804, 790
great fii-e at in 1804, 795
trouble in regard to land titlea at, 797
M'Arthur takes possession of, 1813, 903
Diego Miruelo visits Florida, 42
D'Iberville, enterprise of, * 72
locates at Mobile, 73
plans Fort Rosalie, 77
Dinwiddle first commissions Washingfttn, 110
Disunion, Spanish plan of, 678
Disunion faction, plans o^ 485
Doyle, Major, sent to Fort Massac, 675
Dorchester, Lord, his speech to Indians, 633
Drake, Dr. Daniel, 940
Dress of Western people in early times, 339, 341
Dudley, Colonel, at Fort Meigs, 898
Dunmore, Lord, claims Pittsburgh for Va,, 216
movements of in 1774, 227
driven from Virginia, 228
Dubuque, Julien, and city o^ 943
Du Quesne, Foii, evacuated, 154
Du Quesne, Capt., goes against Boonesborough, 298

Early Catholic missionaries in N. W.,
Earthquake of 1811,
Edwards, governor of Illinois, 1812,
expedition under, 1S12,
Eichbaum, William, Sr.,
Eichbaum, William, Chronologj^, 1811.
Ellinipsico, son of Cornstalk, Idlled,
Elliott, Matthew,
English Indian traders, depraved character of,
Escheats, educational fund iu Ky. founded on,
Estell, Capt., defeat and death of,
Ethrington, Captain, commandant at Mackinaw,
Erie, (Presqu' Isle,) ahipbuilding at imder Peny,
equipment and launching of fieet,
early history of,
Erie, Lake, Perry's battle of,
Erie canal, history of.
Excise, abated form of taxation,
on spirits determined upon,
opposition meeting at Brownsville,
law amended by Congress,
Exploring parties in N. Carohna,
Exploring expedition under Major Long,

I, 50, 51
847

925252261148
321 388 108
899
901

684685686

Factions in the United Statea,
Falls of Ohio visited and surveyed.
Farmer, Major, commander in Hlinoia,
Federal and anti-federal views,

213
928, 944681214189 683

1008

INDEX.

Filson, John, names LosantiviUe, 480
Fincastle county, Va., includes all of Ky., 214
Finley, John, explores Kentucky, 211 213
Fii-e at Pittsburgh, 1845, 986
at St. Louis, 1849, 998
Fitch, John, his first application of steam, 852
Flood in the Ohio, 969
Florisant settled, 187
Floyd, John's letter, 245
Forbes. General, expedition of, 175S, 150
Ford, Thomas, Governor of Illinois, 982
Food of the Western Pioneers, 338
FORTS.
Appleby's Fort, at Kittanning, 716
Armstrong, Rock Island, Chronology 1831.
Assumption, at Chickasaw Blulfs, Memphis, 79
Bedford, on branch of Juniata, Pa.
Boonesborough, Ky.
Burd, at Red Stone,
Crevecoeur, Illinois river,
Chartres, on Mississippi river,
Clark, at Peoria,
Cumberland, Wills Creek, Md^
Dearborn, at Chicago,
Defiance, on Maumee,
Deposite, on Maumee,
Du Quesne, Pittsburgh,
Erie, Canada West,
Finney, mouth of Great Miami,
Franklin, at Franklin borough, Pa^
GreenviUe, Darke county, Ohio,
Green Bay, Wisconsin,
Gratiot, Michigan, Chronology, 1?32.
Hamilton, Butler county, Ohio, <>
Harrison, on Wabasli, Indiana,
Henry, at Wheeling. Virginia,
Jefferson, on Mississippi, Ky.,
Jefierson, Darke county, Ohio,
Johnston, Warsaw, Illinois,
Knox, near Vincennes, Indiana,
Laurens, on Tuscarawas river, Ohio,
Le Boeuf, Waterford, Pa.,
L'Huillier, in Minnesota Territory,
Ligonier, Western Pennsylvania,
Mackinaw, Michigan,
Madi«on, Iowa,
Maiden, Canada West,
Massac, Southern Illinois,
Mason, Missouri,
Mcintosh,, Beaver, Pa.,
McArthur, on Scioto river, Ohio,
Meigs, on Maumee, Oliin, 899
Miami, at mouth of St, Joseph's river, Michigan, 57
Miami, at portni^-e between Maumee and Wabash, 167
Miami, Maumee rapids, built by British, C48
Necessity, Western Pennsylvania, 126
Nelson, Louisville, Ky., Chronology 1782.
Ouiatenon, on Wabash, Indiana, 167
Pitt, at Fort Du Quesne, (Pittsburgh,) 158
Presqu' Isle, i^rie. Pa., 103, 168, 717
Recovery, St. Clair's Battle-field, Ohio, 639
Red Stone, Brownsville, Pa., 125
Rosalie, Natchez, Mississippi, 77
Sackville, V'licennos, Indiana, 293

152, 176
231429 58
88, 191, 195910
127863
643, 648, 885645
126
890
442 716
638
168

577877 257
323 578915 831301
108, 172 87
176
168, 862, 917908
859, 903
82, 155, 267909 300891

Shelby, Prairie du Chien, (eince Fort Crawford,)
Wisconsin, 913
Stanwix, Rome, New York, 207, 431
Stephenson, Sandusky river, Ohio, 900
Steuben, Jeffersonville, Indiana, 545
St. Clair, Eaton, Ohio, 611, 637
St. Josephs, (near Niles.) Michigan, '' 167
St. Josephs, British fort, Canada West, 918
St. LouiSj on Illinois river, 63
St. Louis, on Matagorda Bay, 66
St. Marys, Au Glaize county, Ohio, 886
Venango, Franklin, Pa., 113, 122, 357
Washington, LosantiviUe, (Cincinnati,) 521
Wayne, head of Maumee, Indiana, 651

frankland, (Tennessee,) see Tennessee,
Franklin, Gov., supports Johnson's plan,
his Ohio settlement,
Franklinton, Harrison's head-quarters,
French, American or Canadian, privileges of,
alleged encroachments of,
early settlement of, 7£
influence of, over the Indiana,
in Louisinna send address to king,
French settlers at GallipoUs,
French grant, account of,
Frenchtown, battle and massacre at,
Frontenac, Governor of C;vnada, (Fort,)
Fry, Joshua, commanier-in-chief, 1754,
Fulton's first successful steamboat.

Gage, General, commander of army, 1764,
his proclamation,
his second proclamation.
Galena, lead mining at,
GallipoUs, aettlement of,
sufferings of settlers at,
settlers at receive grant of land,
Gallisoniere sends Celeron to Ohio,
Galvez, Don Bernardo de, Gov. of Louiaiana,
Qameline, Antoine, sent to Wabash tribes,
account of his expedition,
his return to Fort Knox,
Gardoqui makes grant of land to Morgan,
Genet, his intrigues, 1795,
is rebuked by U. S. government,
his letter to Mr. Jefferson,
reproaches the American g-overnment,
is recaUcd,
Gibault, Rev., liia address to Gov. St. Clair,
assists in taking Vincennes,
Gibson, Col. John, at Fort Laurens,
Gibson, Col., advice of, to Moravians,
Girty, Simon, character of, Ac,
is adopted by Senecas,
leads attack on Fort Henry,
Girty, George, character of, &c.,
attacks Fort Henry,
Girty, James, cruel character of.
Gist, sent west across the forest,
arrives at Great Miami,
visits Piqua or Pickawillanies,
descends Miami, to Ohio,
crosses Ohio and returns through Va.,
I accompanies WoBhington,

410
108
80,81 163
198709710
892 55
122
853
179
188206 943 708 709 710
100 312630531 536
506 664 667
6C8 669671
529 272301375261
262257 261405 261105105 106 106
106 111

INDEX,

1009

Gladwin, Major, commandant at Detroit, 165
Gloomy reminiscencea of year 1811, 854
of year 1854, 1000
Gorell, Lieut., commandant at Green Bay, 168
Gordon, Lieut., commandant at Venango, 172
Gospel labors in the West, 347
Grant, Mdjor, defeated*, 1758, 152
Grant's Hill defended by Scotch troops, 426
Great Britain, difficulties with, after treaty 1784, 414
Green, Tliomas, his propositions in 1786, 450
Greathouse murders Indiana, 223
Great Meadows, 126
Green Briar Land Company, 99
Greenville, Wayne'a head-quartera, 638
Griffin bmit by La Salle, 66

Habits and manners of the West, 336
Half-King (Tanacharison) censures Washington, 127
Hamilton, Governor, takes Vincennes, 281
Hannastown, burning of, by Guyasutha, 398
inhabitants of made prisoners, 403
cruelty of Indians to, 404
Hardin, Col. John, 548, 550, 551
Harmar, Gen., his Scioto expedition, 537
his campaign against Maumee towns, 545
destruction of Indian town,
defeat of division under Col. Hardin,
discord among the troops,
Indian account of expedition.
Harmony, Society of, settle in Butler co.. Pa.,
migrate to Posey county, Indiana,
return to Pennsylvania, Beaver co.,
schism among them under de Leon,
Duke of Saxe Weimar's acc't. of them,
Rapp's doctrines and power,
present condition of the socjety,
Harrison, Wm. H., Secretary of N. W. Territory,
is made Governor of Indiana Territory, 756
makes agreement vrith Indians, 763, 765
makes further purchases from Ipd., 789, 798
purchases land from Saxes and Foxes, 959
meets Tecumthe in council,
his second interview with Tecumthe,
prepares for war with Indians,
builds Fort Harrison on the Wabash,
marches against Indians,
his battle of Tippecanoe,
appointed commander-in-chief in N. W., 877
his plans of action disconcerted, 886
retreats from the Maumee, 895
retm-ns and builds Fort Meigs,
defeats Proctor, in 1813,
resigns his command,
Harriaon, Fort, gallant defense of, by Z. Taylor,
Harrod, Jamea, builds flrst log hut in Kentucky.
Hart, Col., and others purcli. land from Cherokees, 229
Heald, Capt., com'dt. Fort Dearborn, (Chicago,) 863
his conduct and misfortunes, 864
his account of disaster at Chicago, 874
Heckewelder, John, sent with Putnam to Indians, 601
Helm, Capt., his conduct at Vincennes, 281
Henderson, Richard, account of, 228
Henderson, Col., and others purchase lands from
Cherokees, 229
his journey to Boonesborough, 231

831833834838
839841

Henderson's letter to his legislature,
Hamilton, Henry, surrenders to Clark,
Hand, General, at Fort Pitt,
Heath, Sir Robert, grant to,
Hendrick, Capt., sent with peace offers to Indians,
Hennepin descends Illinois river to Mississippi,
explores Upper Mississippi,
his works and their character,
Henry, Fort, besieged,
attacked by George Girty,
Henry, General, attacks Black Hawk, ,
Holmes, Ensign, commandant at Miami,
Holmes, Major, expedition of, in Canada,
is killed on Mackinac Island,
Holland land company,
decision of Supreme Court in suit of,
removal of suit to V. S. Court, and decision,
Holston river,
Hopkins, Gen., expedition under,
insubordination of his troops,
his second expedition.
Houses in the West in early times,
House-building in the West in early times.
House-warmings in the West in early times,
Howard, John, descends Ohio,
Howard, Lord, with Iroquois at Albany,
Howard, Gen., expedition under.
Hospitality in the West,
Hull, Wm., made governor of Michigan,
purchases land from Indians, 817,
commands army of the N. W.,
blunders of government toward,
his progress and conduct,
surrenders to British army,
Huguenot sfettloment in Carolana massacred.

234 293256 93
601 CO

257
405967
167 917918726
727 728
208

340344345 9596
909 347706822
857 858
860862

Illinois, settlements, products and commerce of, lOO
Illinois, the, first visited, 68
Pitman's account of, 190
' lamentable condition of Fr. settlers in 1790, 529
early history of, 824
is ceded to Continental Congress, 825
is constituted into separate territory, 825
specimen of old jurisprudence in, 826
is formed into a State, 923
discussion of slavery in, 949, 951
account of "Regulator" riots in, 989
Illinois county erected, 274
Illinois rangerp, expedition of, 1812, 882
Indians, war with, ^nce failure of Pontiac, 215
hostUity of, in 1774, 217
attacks by, on Wheeling, 1777, 256
commissioners appointed to treat with, 410
instructions to commissioners respecting, 411
are abandoned by British, 1783, 430
are dissatisfied with treaty of Harmar, 523
commence hostUities, 1790, 536
Truman sent to, with peace offers, 1792, 597
safe escort promised to chiefs of, 600
Hendrick and others sent with peace offers, 601
are offered protection. Ac, by U. S., 602
refuse all peace offers, 604
Putnam makes treaty with, 605
hold council at Au Glaize, 606
advice o^ to Preaident of XJ. S., 610

1010

INDEX,

Indians, Commissioners appointed to meet, 612
hold councU at Navy Hall, 615, 620
insist on Ohio for boundary, 621
final reply of, to Commissioners, 1793, 627
British and Spanish aid promised to, 632, 634
further evidence of their reliance on the
British, 639
their force in 1794, 641
are defeated by Wayne, 647
depredations of, after peace, in Tenn., 735
in part, refuse to ratify treaty of 1804, 921
certain tribes of, secede from Tecunithe, 846
hostile intentions of, in 1810, 831
treaties with, after war 1816, 920
Indian war of 1790 to 1795, causes of,' 622
defeat of St. Clair, 678, 582
another campaign projected, 1791, 554
Black Hawk War, 961
Indian boundary Une, necessity of fixing, 206
Indian departments, 240
Indiana, formed into a territory, 754
Vincennes made capital of, 755
slavery in, prohibited, 818
formed into a State, 923
discussion of slavery in, 950
Inhabitants of Transylvania oppose proprietors, 247
Innis and hia associates, 679
Insurrection, Whisky, (see Whisky Insurrection,) 687
Internal unprovement system in Illinois, 995
Iowa formed into a State, 971
Iroquois, the expedition against, 302
cede all their Western lands, 432
act as peace makers, 599
Irvine, General, at Presqu' Isle, 717
Ii'win, John, cordage manufacturer, Pittsburgh, 899
Jacobins, address by, to people of Louisiana, 671
Jay, John, Minister to Spain, 319
Jefferson College incorporated, 758
Jenkins, Ensign, commandant at Ouiatenon, 167
Jesuit missionaries in the North-West, 50
Johnson, Guy, influence of, over Indians, 238, 241
Johnson, Sir William, colony proposed by, 205
Jolly, Henry, his account of Greathouse'a murder, 223
Jesuits on Mississippi, in IlUnois, 84
Joliet, companion of Marquette, 51
Joutel, historian of La Salle, 65
Jumonville, death and alleged assassination of, 126
Kaskaskia founded by Gravier and others, 84
Kaskaskia, Pitman's account of, 194
Knives, Long or Big, 273, 274
Kennedy at Peoria, Chronology, 1773.
Kenton, Simon, with Boone, 298
Kentucky, (see Transylvania,) flrst families in, 242
is made a county of Virginia, 250
predatory warfare in, 253
divided into three counties, 335
political condition of, during the war, 417
militia convention and survey of miU-
tary lands, 418
growth of population after war, 419
second convention, 1785, 439
claims independent sovereignty, 440
fourth and fifth conventions, 1787, 455

Kentucky, dissatisfaction among the people of,
causes of dissatisfaction and factions,
applies again for separation from Va.,
act of independence passed by Va.,
ninth convention and admission to
Union,
constitution formed,
addreaa of democratic society,
remonstrance of citizena,
the " occupying claimant " law,
Kentuckians threaten to invade Louisiana,
King's mountain, Chronology, 1780.
Kirkland, Rev. among the Iroquois,
Kirkland, Rev.
Kirkpatrick, Major Abraham,
Kittanning, 143,
Knox, plana oi^ after St. Clair's defeat,
KushkuBhkee, 151, 155,

457

661 662 664
666
745
674

716 692

La Balme, unfortunate expedition of, 318
La Barre against La SaUe, 64
Laclede founds St. Louia, 186
Lakes, trade and commerce on, 958
Land Cessions by Virginia, 329, 409
by New York, Maasachusetts, &c., 452
by Indians to U. S., 1795, 667
by U. S. to Indians, and exceptions,669
Land commissioners, 309
Land companiea in 1795, 711, 714
Land laws of Pennsylvania, 1796, 717
of Vhrginia, 808
Land speculations in Michigan, 714
in Indiana, 764
La Salle, enterprises o^ 55
Law, John, speculations o^ 75
Lenox, David, Marshal, 694
Les Petites Cotes, > 187
Le Seur explores St. Peter's river, 86
Lewis, Gen. Andrew, at Point Pleasant, 226
Lewis, Col., expedition of, 138
Lewis, Col. Charles, kiUed, 226
Lewis, Gen. Andrew, at Pittsburgh, 1774, 225
Lewis and Clark, expedition of, 806
Leyba, Spanish governor of Louisiana, 312
his treachery and disgrace, 316
Le Caron explores Canada, 49
LegionviUe, Wayne's camp, 598
Little Meadow, 125
Little Turtle, Miami chief, 589
Lochry's unfortunate expedition, 332
Long Hunters, 214
Logstown, where situated, 96
Loramie's store, 106
Logan, Benjamin, crosses the mountains, 254
his gallant conduct, 255
attacks Shawanee towns, 447
Logan, Col., commander of expedition, 1782, 397
Logan's family, murder of, 220, 222
Logan revenges himself, 225
Logan's station attacked, 254
LosantiviUe, (Cincinnati,) see Cincinnati.
Louisburg, British fleet destroyed at, 147
Louisiana, taken possession of by La Salle, 63
secret cession of Western, 196
Spanish take possession of, 199, 311

INDEX.

1011

Louisiana, French population of 1769, 202
threatened invasion of by Kentuckians, 674
Washington's measures to prevent in va. 675
retroceded to France by secret treaty, 769
negotiations for purchase of by U. S., 774
treaty made for sale of to U. S. 771
transfer of strongly opposed, 776
formal transfer of to U. S., 776
formal transfer of Upper at St. Louis, 777
Stoddard's address to people of, 778
Brackenridge's account o^ 782
statistics of in 1804, 786
character of American population of, 788
LouisviUe, Ky., surveyed, 214
Ludlow, Israel, surveys LosantiviUe, 483
Lyman, General, at Natchez, 215
Mackinac, Fort, surrender of, 862
attempt to retake, 1814, 917
Magazine almanac pubUshed at Pittsburgh,
Chronology, 1811.
Madison, Fort, evacuated aud burnt, 916
Maiden, deserted by British, 903
Mansco, Casper, exploration of, ' 214
Marietta, founded by Ohio Company, 475
Marquette's discovery of Mississippi, 52
Marriages in the West in early times, 340
Maryland, views of on Virginia land claims, 325
Massachusetts cedes landa in the West, 453
Massacre of Lochry'a party, 334
of Fort Dearborn, (Chicago,) 869
of Frenchtown, (river Raisin,) 893
British account of cause o^ 894
Massie, his contract with settlers on Ohio, 711
new settlement made by on Scioto, 734
Maumee, campaign against towns on the, 546
Mascoutens Indians, 51
Matagorda Bay, , 71
MaxweU code for early colonies^ 714
Murin, Jesuit, father, 82
Meadow Indians, Clark'a treatment of, 279
MeadviUe, coUege at, founded, 922
Medals placed by French along Ohio, 100
Meigs, Fort, attacked by British and Indians, 898
JJeigs, camp, on the Maumee, 897
Miami, British tradingposts on destroyed, 397
Miami University, history of, 954
Michigan is made a territory, 795
uncertainty of land titles in, 797
surrender to British, 862
retaken by Americans, 1813, 903
new form of territorial government in, 942
is formed into a State, 969
Michigan, University of, established, 925
Milhet, Jean, visits prime minister, 199
MUitary claimants of Virtiinia lands, 410
Military duty in early times, 345
MiUtia becomes a mob, 706
Minnesota Territory formed, 1003
Mines, lead, on the Upper Mississippi, 943
Miro, views of respecting S. C. Land Company, 514
proposes to set Indians against them, 515
his treatment of Wilkinson, 616
Missionaries in N. W. 49, 50
Mississinewa, expedition to, 886

Mississippi, troubles relating to, 314, 448
negotiations with Spain respecting, 456
movements respecting navigation, 769, 1 70
settlements on Upper, in 1813, 907
predatory warfare on, 908
flood of in 1844, 975
Mississippi territory organized, 745
Mississippi company, formation of, 208
Missouri river, settlement upon, 915
Missouri applies for admission into Union, 931
discussion of slavery question respecting, 932
boundary of, aa aettled in Mo. comprom.,' 934
firat constitution of formed, 935
constitution rejected and amended, 936
amendment accepted and State formed, 937
Missouri Compromise, debate in Congress respect., 933
second compromise necessary, 937
Mobile Bay, early settlements on, 73
Moingona, supposed to be Des Moines, 62
Monongahela, Braddock's army upon, 131
Montour, Interpreter, 107
Moranget, with La SaUe, killed, 67
Morales, Intendant, treachery of, 768
Moravians, history of in the West, 349
are first in America, 350
are first at Bethlehem, 351
converts take protection at Nazareth, 355
Zeisberger forma mission on"AUegheny,355
are invited to Beaver, 357
history of mission at Beaver, 359
Zeisberger views the Muakingum, 370
removal to Muskingum, 371
British and Indian hostilities against, 372
compelled to go to Sandusky, 373
aettlements of attacked by WiUiamson,375
Indian converts murdered, 378
Crawford's expedition, 380
account of the burning of Crawford, 385
Morgan, Col. George, at New Madrid, 505
hia grant of land rescinded, 506
Mormons, history of the, 976
the "Records," 976
aettled at Jackson county. Mo., 976
migrate and commence to buUdNauvoo,979
their charter and privileges, 980
they remove to Council Bluffs, 985
they remove to Great Salt Lake, 986
Murray, Wm., opposes radicals in Kentucky, 748
Muskingum settlements, increase of, 520
Murder of Indians by Greathouse, 219
M'Afees in Kentucky, 214
M'Arthur, expedition of, in 1814, 919
M'Bride, James, History of Miami University, 954
M'ColUster, J., U. S. Bank, 930
M'CoUoch, Major, escape of, 259
M'Donald, Colonel, expedition under, 1774, 224
M'Farland, James, killed, 696
M'Gary, conduct of, at Blue Licks, 393
reason given by, for his conduct, 396
M'Intosh, General, character of, 301
M'Kee, Alexander, Indian agent, 541
M'Mahon, Major, defeats Indians, 642
Names and titles of Spanish Minister, 680

1012

INDEX.

Napoleon, views of, on transfer of Louisiana to U. S,
issues Berlin decree,
Narvaez, Pamphilo,
Nashville founded, I
Natchez, settlement of,
Nauvoo, advent of Mormons to,
extra privileges from charter of,
exodus of Mormons from,
Neville, General John, attack on house of,
New England Ohio Company, formation of,
proceedings of,
boundaries of land purchased by,
resolutions for government of settlers, &c.,
appoint Rev. D. Story public teacher,
settlers teach the Muskingum,
proclamation of Governor,
first court held at Marietta,
New Madrid, 186, 505,
New Orleans founded.
New York cedes Western lands,
proceedings of, in war of 1754,
New Jersey objects to Virginia land claims,
Neyon's message to Pontiac,
Neglect of Indians by the British,
Nicholas of Kentucky,
Nipissing, Lake of,
North American Land Company,
North Carolina, western troubles in,
North West invaded by Spaniards from St. Louis.
1781,
North Western Pennsylvania,
North Western Territory, Ordinance respecting,
appointment of executive officers in,
representatives, &c., to be elected,
BiUof Ri.hts,
provisions for forming States,
rapid settlement of,
population of, in 1796,
primary titles to lauds in,
lands reserved and donated in,
representatives elected,
first legislative cduncil appointed,
proceedings of flrst legislature,
proposal to divide,
Chillicothe made capital of.
State convention proposed for.
Report to Congress relating to.
Nova Scotia conquered,
Nullification in Kentucky,
in Ohio,
Nunez, Alvar, early adventurer,

Occupying claimant law of Kentucky, 745
O'Fallon, agent of ^. C. Land Company, 510
treasonable letter of, to Governor Miro, 510
Ogden arrested by Wilkinson, 813
Ohio, State of, measures for forming, 759
is admitted into tho Union, 763
meeting of first legislature, 765
the " Sweeping Resolutions" of 1810, 828
Banka and flrst banking law in, 924
Columbus made capital uf, 925
Ohio Laud Company, 99
Ohio river, first colony N. W. of, 451
proposed division of territory beyond, 465

Ohio river, flood of 1789, 483
flood of 1832, 969
Ohio settlements, threatened invasion of, 652
Old ChiUcothe, 227
Old excise law of Pennsylvania, 684
Oldham, Colonel, at St. Clair's defeat, 589
Old statutes of Indiana, 826
Old statistics of Western Pennsylvania, 430
Old Town, (Skipton,) 130
Onondagas, towns of, destroyed, 301
Orr, Captain, in Lochry's expedition, 332
Orr, Major, at Camp Meigs, 896, 897
Ordinance for government of N. W. Territory, 466
for surveying Western lands, 434
for disposing of Western lands, 435
O'Reilly, Spanish governor of La., 200
Orleans Territory formed, 777
Oswego, fort and garrison, 105, 2il
Ouiatenon, ancient records of, 84
EngUsh garrison at, surrenders, 167
Croghan's account of, 184
Gamelin's journal at, 631
Scott's description of, 661
Wilkinson's description of, 567
British traders captured at, 280
Ouabache, original name of Wabash, 81

Paper-mill, first in the West,
Parsons, General, letter from,
Paris, peace of, 169.
Patterson, Col. Robert,
Paully, Ensign, commandant at Sandusky,
Peace negotiations at Paris, 1782,
Peace measures proposed by Washington, 1791,
Piernas, Pedro, takes command at St. Louis,
Peckitanoni, Indian name of Missouri river,
Pembina, early history of settlement at,
character and customs of settlers at,
finding forty-ninth degree of Iat. at,
singular climate at,
Pennsylvania, frontiers troubled by Indians, 1782,
land controversy with Connecticut,
memorial to governor of,
titles to land in,
purchase from the Delawares,
primary title vested in Commonwealth,

further purchases from Indians, 718,
purchase of the Triangle,
depreciation of State bonds,
donation lands,
the "struck district," ,
lands offered for sale,
interference of the land companiea,
rapid growth of the State,
Pennsylvania population company,
Pennsylvania militia, noble conduct of,
Pennsylvania volunteers, expedition of,
Peoria, Lake Crevecoeur upon,
Perkins, Lieut.,
Perry, Com., ship-building at Erie, 899.
his victory ou the lakes,
Piasa, legend of,
Pickawillanies, on tho Great Miami,
Pike, Capt. Z. M.j expedition up the Mississippi,
crosses Falls of St. Anthony,

442407
407
167407 595201 53
944
946 947 9 -IS
398
454 686 717
717 719 719720 721722
724 724725
729725 89(-p

911901902 51
106 800
803

INDEX,

1013

Pike, reaches Red Lake and returns,
his western expedition,
proceeds up the Arkansas river,
is taken prisoner by Mexicans,
Pike's mountain, description of,
Pipe, Captain, treacherous,
Pitman visits Illinois,
Pitt, Prime Minister of England,
Pitt, Fort, description of,

804804805806 802
241190147158

Pittsburgh, first families at, Chronology 1766.
claimed by Pennaylvania aud Virginia, 216
first and second surveys o^ 419, 420
its early history, 420
Brackenridge's account of, 1786, 421
population of, 1786, 428
incorporated as a city, 923
fire at, 1845, 986
cholera at, 1854, 1001
Point Pleasant, battle of, 226
Political parties iu the U. S. 681
Ponce de Leon discovers Florida, 41
Pontiac, character and plans of, 164
unites Indians against EngUsh, 166
attacks Detroit, ' 166
feilure of his plana, 177
besieges Detroit second time, 179
Post builds a house on the Muskingum, 353
Portage des Sioux, 187, 920
Post's mission to western Indiana, 150, 161
Posts, north-western, retained by Britiah, 415
given up to the United States, 731
Power, Thomas, agent of Spanish party in La., 678
goes to Kentucky aa Spanish agent, 1795, 739
visits Wilkinson, and his appeal, 743
Prairie du Chien, village of, 800
Prairie du Chien, Clark's expedition to, 911
Prairie du Rocher, Pitman's account o^ 195
Presqu' Isle, (Erie,) fortified by French, 1753, 103
taken by Indians, 1763, 168
block houaea buUt at, 717
Predatory warfare, 330
Preasly, Colonel NevUle, 696
Price, Ensign, commandant at Le Boeu^ 172
Printing press, flrst western, 420
Proclamation respecting Indians, 1763, 177
Process verbal of La Salle, 61
Proctor, Col. Thos., sets out on peace misaion, 555
faUure of mission, and its causes, 555
Proctop, Col., reaches Maiden and cuts off HnU'a
auppliea, 861
retreats to Maiden, 1813, 899
retreats from Maiden, 903
ia defeated at battle of the Thames, 904
Prophet, the, brother of Tecumthe, (aee Tecumthe,)
makes hia first hostile demonstration, 835
Patnam, Rufua, aent with Heckewelder to Ind's., 601
proceeds to Vincennes and makea treaty, 604
terms of treaty, 605

Quebec, taking of,
Quebec bUl passed in British Parliament,
Quincy, lUinois, on Missisalppi river,
Baiain river, maasacre on,
Bangers, organization ot.

155825
009 892
878, 882, 009

Railroad, Illinois Central, account of^ 998
Rapids of Maumee, Winchester at, 891
Ray, James, supplies Harrodsburg, 254
Raystown, (Bedford,) march from, by Forbes, 152
Rhey's account of Br. agency among Indians, 642
Recovery, Fort, attacked, 642
Red Hawk, base murder of, 252
Redstone, (Brownsville,) see Brownsville,
Regulators in Southern Illinois, 989
Reed, Colonel, commander in Illinois, 189
Religion in the West in early timea, 348
Renault brings slaves to Hlinoia, 88
Reserve lands, Virginia, 711
Connecticut, 712
Reynolds, John, Governor of Illinois, 909
Reynolds, Col., Amherstbru-g, C. W. 859
Rice's Fort attacked, , 406
Rigdon, Sydney, a Mormon leader, 976
Rocheblavo, commandant at Kaskaskia, 267
Rock Island, akirmiahea at, 912, 914
Rogers, Major Robert, goes to Detroit, 162
Rogers and Benham attacked by Indians, 306
Routes from Canada to Mississippi, 1679, 80
Ruddel's Station taken, 322
Rumsey, James, his flrst application of steam, 852
Ryswick treaty of peace, 72, 85
Sandy creek voyage, 138
Sargent, Winthrop, secretary, 628
Sault Ste. Marie firat visited by missionaries, 49
Scioto Land Company purchase land, 709
Scioto river, attempt to settle on, 439
Schlosser, Ensign, commandant at St. Joseph'a, 167
Schools, common, in Ohio, 941, 949, 967
Scott, Gen. Charles, expedition under, 559
Scott, Gen. Winfield, 968
Scott's expedition, Imlay's account of, 568
Sebastian's intrigues with Spain, 679
Sebastian ia accused by legislature, 743
Sedition law passed, ' 747
Selkirk, Lord, founda Pembina settlement, 944
Senat, Jesuit, killed among the Chickasaws, 78
Seneca Indians, peace councU with, 1792, 696
Seven years' war begins, 138
Settlement on Indian lands forbidden, 438
Shawanese towns destroyed by Clarke, 397
Shelby, Gov., at battle of the Thames, 006
Shelby, Fort, taken by the British, 913
Shelby, Governor of Kentucky and Jacobins, 674
Shepherd, Col., commandant at Fort Henry, 257
Simcoe, Gov., reply of to Indian Commissioners, 614
gives advice to the Indians, 653
Slavery in lUinoiB, 89
discussion respecting in Misaouri, 932
IlUnois, 949, 061
Indiana, 050
Slough, Capt., St. Clair's defeat, 590
Smith, Col. James, explores Ky. and Tenn., 211
Smith, Joe, the Mormon prophet, 975
his powera aa mayor of Nauvoo, 980
la kUled by a mob at Carthage, 983
Smith, Hyrum, is killed by mob, 983
Smyth, Dr., remarka of, on character of Hender8on,228
Solemn act of Missiouri, (see Missouri comp.,) 937
South-Western Territory, (TenneBsee,) 68tabli8hed,736

1014

INDEX,

South-Western settlements, 736
Spaniards invade Louisiana on Missouri, 87
Spain, unreasonable demands of, 319
attempts to separate the W. from the TJnion,490
Spaniards from St. Louis take St. Joseph, 329
Spanish property seized at Yincennes, 449
Spottswood explores Alleghenies, 95
presents memorial to English govern., 95
Stanwix, Gen. John, commander at Ft. Pitt, 157
States from N."W. Ter., names proposed for, 465
Steam, first application of, 852
Steamboats first trip from N. Orleans, 922
on the Mississippi, 926
on the upper lakes, 927
on the Missouri, 937
explosion of the Moselle, 1838, 971
Steamboats on Lake Michigan, 957
Stedman's mission to Indians, 596
Stephenson, Fort, gallant defense of, 900
Stirling, Capt., takes possession of Illinois, 188
Stites, Benjamin, pioneer, 472
Stobo, Capt., hostage prisoner, 127
Stoddard, Major, address of to people of La., 778
Stone, Uriah, exploration of, 211
Story, Rev. D., first teacher in Ohio Co. purchase, 474
Sullivan, Gen., invades land of Iroquois, 302
Superior, Lake, visited by Jesuit missionaries, 50
Swartwout arrested by Wilkinson, 813
Sweeping resolutions of Ohio, 828
Symmes, J. C, applies for land, 472
issues his proposals, 479
his contract and his troubles, 481
his policy towards Indians, 482
want of prosperity in his settlements, 521
college reservation in grant to, 954
Symmes' settlement, trouble in regard to title, 713

t. Anthony, Falls of, discovered by Hennepin,
St. Ange, commandant at Fort Chartres,
St. Charles, constitution of Missouri formed at,
St. Clair, Arthur, arrests Connolly,
St. Clair, Gov. Arthur, history of,
his instructions from Congress,
proceeds to Vincennes, &c.,
his letter to commandant at Detroit,
his instructions from Secretary of War,
organizes army, 1791,
builds Ft. Hamilton; his description,
difaculties of campaign,
is attacked and defeated.
Van Cleve's account of the battle,
effect of the defeat on western frontier,
causes of his defeat,
asks court of inquiry,
field of his defeat visited,
unpopularity of,
St. Ferdinand, (Florisant,) settled,
Ste. Genevieve,
St. Helene with D'Tbenrille,
St. Ildefonso, secret treaty of,
St. Jerome or Wabash river,
St. Joseph's taken by^ Spaniarda,
St. Louis attacked by Indians,
St. Louis on Matagorda Bay,
Ste. Mario, Sault of, visited by French,
St. Mary's, branch of Maumee river.

60
186 937 216 626 528529 544 67167657T578 678682685688697

756, 759187
187, 786 71
768, 770 82
330 815

St. Pierre commands at Le Bceuf, 115
Talk of Indian commissioners, 240
Taylor, Zachary, Capt., defense of Fort Harrison, 876
Major, at Upper Rapids, 914
Tecumtheand brother unite tribes at Greenville, 798
movements in 1808, 819
movements in 1809, 823
hostile intentions in 1810, 829
meets Gen; Harrison in council 831
second interview with Harrison 833
third interview with Harrison, 835
movements in 1812, 856
is killed at the battle of the Thames, 904
Teedyuscung, Indian sachem, * ' 149
Tennessee (Frankland) is refused admission, 606
Sevier proposes alliance with Spain, 508
Miro refuses to favor the scheme, 509
ceded to the federal government, 736
first territorial legislature in, . 736
constitution formed and received into Union, 736
Territory, north-western, (see N. W. Territory,)
Thames, battle of the, 904
Theft, punishment of, in early times, 346
Thomson, Gen., makes survey on Licking, 215
Thoroughfares between Canada and Miss., 1679, 80
Tigress, the, taken, 918
Tippecanoe, battle of, 841
Todd, Col. John, commands Amers. at Blue Licks, 392
Tombigbee river. Burr seized at, 815
Tonti, La Salle's Lieutenant, 55
left at Crev0co3ur, 59
sent to Count Frontenac, 63
descends Mississippi to meet La Salle, 70
joins D'Iberville, 71
Transmontane order founded, 95
Trade of the lakes, 968
Transylvania organized, (see Kentucky,) 2-37
colony in dread of the Indians, 245
Transylvania University, at Lexington, founded, 321
TEBATIES WITH INDIANS.
Albany, N. Y. 1684, 96
Lancaster, Pa., 1744, 97
Logstown, on Ohio, 1752, 107
Winchester, Va., 1763, 109
Carlisle, Pa., 175.3, 109
Easton, Pa., 1766, 149
Fort Pitt, Pa., 1760, 159
Detroit, Michigan, 1764, 180
Muskingum, Ohio, 1764, 181
German Flats, N. T., 1766, 182
Fort Stanwix, N. Y., 1768, 207
Lochaber, Holston river, Tenn., 1770, 208
Camp Charlotte, Ohio, 1774, 227
Wataga, branch qf Holston river, Tenn., 1775, 229
Pittsburgh, with Western Indians, 1775, 241
Pittsburgh, with Delawares, 1778, 301
Fort Stanwix, N. Y., 1784, 431
Mcintosh, Pa., 1785, 433
FortFinney, mouth of Great Miami, Ohio, 1786, 442
Fort Harman, on Ohio, 1789, 617
Vincennes, Ind., with Wabash Indians, 1792, 005
Greenville, Ohio, 1796, 657
Vincennes, Indiana, 1802, 763
Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1803, 766-

INDEX,

1015

St. Louis, Missouri, 1804, 789
St. Peters, Minnesota, 1805, 803
Fort Industry, on Slaumee, 1806, 798
Detroit, Michigan, 1807, 817
Brownstown, Michigan, 1808, 822
Fort Clark,on Missouri, 1808, 823
Fort Wajne, Harrison aud Wabash tribes, 1809, 824
"Vincennes, Harrison and Wabash tribes, 1809, 824
Greenville, Ohio, 1814, 919
Portage des Sioux, with Western nations, 1815, 920
Maumee Rapids, 1817, 925
Fort Harrison, Indiana, 1819, 929
Fort Armstrong, Rock Island, 1831, 963
At  , with Sacs and Foxes, 1S32, 968
Treaty of Ryswick, 1697, 72, 85
of Paris, 1763, 161
with Great Britain and U. S., 1783, 407
with Spain, 1795, 679

of Ghent,

1814, 919, 920

Trent, Wm., a pioneer, 121
at Wins' Creek, 123
at Fort Stanwix, 207
Troops of U. S., number and condition of, in 1791, 576
Truman, Capt., mission to Indians, 597
Turner, Lieut., conc[uered, 918
Tupper, Benjamin, surveyor, 451
Twigtwees, or Miamies, killed defending English, 107
Ulloa, Antonio de, appointed Gov. of Louisiana, 199
French conspire againet him, 200
he resigns and leaves the country, 200
Unzaga, Don Louis de, Gov. of Louisiana, 201, 312
Van Braam, Jacob, Washington's interpreter, 111
Tan Cleve's story of St. Clair's defeat, 582
Tandalia, former capital of Illinois, 953
Vandalia, the name of Walpole's tract, 208
Taudrieuil fears English, 100
Venango viaited by Washington, 113
fort at, finished, 122
garrison at, massacred, 172
Verbal process at mouth of Miaaissippi, 63
VormilUon, Clark's march to, 447
Vickroy, Thomas, 324, 420
Vide Poche, (Carondelet,) settlement of, 187
Vigo, Col. Francis, aids Clark, 282
Vincennes, first settlement unknown, 81
ancient records oi, 83
beaieged by Clark, 287
violent measures at, 449
volunteers rendezvoua at, 878
Vincennes, killed among the Chickasawa, 78
Virginia recognizes Transylvania, 243
land laws oi^ 306
land claims o:^ 324
resolutions respecting land claima, 327
first land cession, 329
Western, suffers from the Indians, 405
laws respecting N. W. settlements, 408
second land cession, 409
memorial of people to governor of, 686
Vivier*8 letter relative to the West, 79

Vivier's early account, 79, 92
Voyageurs and Couriers de hois, 203
Wabash river, original name of, 81, 82
early used by travelers, 80, 81
Wabash Indians, troubles with, 442, 61S
war against proposed, 519
WeUa, Captain Wm., killed, 871
Walpole, Thomas, 206, 208
Walpole Company, 206, 20S
Walker, Dr. Thos., explores Cumberland river, 210
Wapatomica attacked by Col. M'Donald, 224
Washington, Geo., concerned in land company, 99
sent West,and journal of his tour,lll,120
during Fronch war, 125, 127, 131, 152209
214458 813138313

his land speculation,
visits his lands in the West,
his policy respecting the West,
Washington college. Pa., history of,
War declared between French and English,
Spain and Great Britain,
War of 1812, account of the causes, 821, 856
declaration of proclaimed in IT. S. 859
Wayne, Gen. Anthony, commander-in-chief, 598
prepares his army, 1793, 635
his letters to Secretary of War, 636, 637
tabes possession of St. Clair's battle fiold, 638
his account of M'Mahon's victory, 642
is joined by Scott, 643
his last oflFer of peace to Indiana, 644
advances from Grand Glaize, 645
battle with Indiana, 646
returns to Fort Defiance, 648
correspondence with Maj. Campbell, 649, 651
peace council at GreenvUle, 656
death of, near Presqu' Isle, (Erie,) 737
Weiser, Conrad, on Ohio river, 96
Weatern lands, ordinance for disposing of,
reservation of.
Western Pioneers, character of,
Westfall on Scioto,
"Westmoreland county, Pa., established,
Wetzel murders a peace Indian,
Wheeling founded.
Western Pioneers, habits and character of,
vague farm boundaries,
rude implements and furniture,
habits of dress,
manner of building houses,
gospel labors among,
Whiaky insurrection, (see Excise,)
individuals outraged by personal violence,689
meeting at Pittaburgh, 690
proposed measures for suppressing,
new outrages perpetrated,
suits instituted against rioters,
attacks on house of Gen. NevUle,
inspector and marshal take fiight,
insurgents march against Pittsburgh, 699
commissioners appointed to restore order,699
ineffectual appeal to vote of people, 700
army called to quell disturbance, 701
White-eyes, Captain, £41

434437335 227399331 215
335 336
338339344347687

691692

697

1016

INDEX.

WUliams, Captain, commandant at Kaskaskia, 273
Wilkins, Lieut. Col., commandant in Illinois, 189
Williamson, Col. David, expedition to Muskiugum,376
murder of Moravian Indiana, 376
Wilkinson, Col., influence of over Ky. convention, 439
treasonable achemes, 457
goes to N. Orleana, 485
his statementof connection with Spain,486
his success with Spanish party in Ky.,489
his treasonable letter to Gov. Miro, 493
Miro's course toward him, 516
hia affidavit agains t Burr, 809
an-ests Swartwout and Ogden, 813
charges against him, 816
Wilkinson, Col., expedition under, 562
destroys Kickapoo towna, 567
is appointed commander of army, 737
his instructions from Carondelet, 737

Wilkinson, his reply to Power's appeal, 744
Winter of 1779-80, severity of, 311
Winter of 1855-56, severity of, 1002
Winchester, Gen., starts for rapids of Maumee, 884
hardships of the march, 885
reaches the Rapids, 891
disaster at Frenchtown, 892
Wisconsin formedintoaterritory, 970
Xenia, Ohio. Chronology, 1803, 1804.
Young, Brigham, seer of the Mormona, 986
Zane famiUes settle at WheeUng, 215
Zane, CoL, ad!vice of to Cresap, 218
Zanes, familyof, haveland donated, 736
ZanesviUe settled. Chronology, 1799.
2^isberger, D., Moravian coissionary on AUegheny,355