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%P 3Ftt0tin SMinfior.
HARRATIVE AND CRITICAL HISTORY OF AMER-
ICA. With Bibliographical and Dfscriptive Essays on
its Historical Sources and Authorities. Profusely illus-
trated with portraits, maps, facsimiles, etc. Edited by
Ju.STiN VViNsoR, Librarian of Harvard University, with
the cooperation of a Committee from the Massachusetts
Historical Society, and with the aid of other learned
Societies. In eight royal 8vo volumes. Each volume,
«''. JS'So; sheep, net, #6.50; half morocco, nit, I7.50.
(Sold only by subscription /or the entire set. )
READER'S HANDBOOK OF THE AMERICAN REV-
OLUTION. i6mo, $1.25.
WAS SHAKESPEARE SHAPLEIGH? i6mo, rubri-
Gated parchment paper, 75 cents.
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, and how he received and
imparted the Spirit of Discovery. With portraits and
maps. 8vo, gilt top, J4.00.
CARTIER TO FRONTENAC. A Study of Geographical
Discovery in the interior of North America, in lis his-
torical relations, 1534-1700. With full cartogr.Tphical
Illustrations from Contemporary Sources. 8vo, gilt
top, ;^4.oo.
THE MISSISSIPPI BASIN. The Struggle in America be-
tween England and France, 1^11)7-1763. With full car-
tographical Illustrations from Contemporary Sources.
8vo, gilt top, $4.00.
THE WESTWARD MOVEMENT; The Struggle for the
Trans-Allegheny Region, i7''3-i7')7- With full carto-
graphical Illustrations from Contemporary Sources.
8vo, $4.00.
HOUr.HTON, MIFFI.IN AND COMPANY,
Boston and New York.
%f)t tsaaefittoarti JHobement
THE COLONIES AND THE
REPUBLIC
WEST OF THE ALLEGHANIES
1 763- 1 798
W/r// FULL CARTOGRAPHICAL ILLUSTRATIONS
FROM CONTEMPORARY SOURCES
liV
JUSTIN WINSOR
BOSTON AND \E\V YORK
HOUGHTON. MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
(Sbc l1tUrt0it)c press, (TambriDge
IMIMMiHMMH
P 'dSz.Wyg
Copyright, 1S97,
Bt HOUGHTON, MIKKLIN & CO
All riyhts reserved.
The Riverside Press, Cambriil^e, Mass., U. S. A.
Electrotjped auj Priutua bv 11. O. Uoughtou & Company.
%
Sir IIENHY W. DYKE ACLAND, Bart.,
K. C. B., 1). ('. L.. LL. D., F. K. S.,
HoNOKAKY Physician to His Koval Hkjhness, thk Pkince of Wales.
My dear Sir Hkxry, —
When a few days ago at the Bodleian you addressed a party of sixty
An'erican librarians, you showed what I have long known, that you
have a kind appreciation of my countrymen, with some of whom yotir
frien<lship has lasted from the time when you accompanied the I'rince
of Wales to the States in 1860.
You have since then traversed oiir land on other visits, during, which
you have evinced to me your interest in our history, jjarticulai ly when
s(. me years ago we together looked over the ground hallowed by the
devotion of Lady Harriet Acland.
I therefore like to connect your name with this book, which is a story
of how much of our territorial integrity we owe to British forbearance,
wlien the false-hearted dii)Iomacy of France and Spain would have
desj)oiled us.
Ever your friend.
'4'^W/^
Great Malvern, Worcestekshikk.
August a. 1S!)7.
.5830
fsam
CONTENTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
chai>tp:r I.
PAOI
A>. Introductory Survkv 1
CIIAPTEK II.
Til'- Pkopkrty Link, 17G3-1704 4
Illustrations : Guy Joliiison's Map of the Fort Stiinwix Line,
1'} ; Ilutc'hiiis's Map of the Iiulinim Grant, 17 ; Guy Johnsou's
Map of the Country of the Six Nations, 18, 19.
CHAPTER III.
LonsiANA, Florida, and thk Illinois Country, 17G3-17G8 . . 22
Illustration^" : Ilutchinn's Map of the American Hottoni, 'J7 ;
Country of the Soutliern Indian' (1702), !U ; Evans and Pow-
nall's Map of the Northwest, 39. ^
CHAPTER IV.
The Kkntucky Region, 1707-1774 4(1
Illustrations : Portrait of Daniel Boone, 4."» ; View of Pitts-
burg, 51 ; Kitehin's Map of Pennsylvania, *j4, o.j.
CHAPTER V.
The Quehec Bill and the Dunmore War, 1774 03
Illustration : Cr^vecceur's Map of the Scioto Valley, 07.
CHAPTER VI.
South oe the Ohio, 17(59-1770 77
Illustrations : Booneshorongh Fort, 83 ; Map of Colonel An-
drew ^\'illia^lson's Campaign in the Cherokee Country, 94, 95.
▼i CONTEXTS AND ILU'STILITIONS.
CIIAlTKIl VII.
TllK. KOKTHNKH «>K TIIK Mir.rtlWSIIM'1, 17(M»-1777 101
Ii.l.frtTKATiONS : Portrait (if .loiiatliuii Carver, lO'J ; Carver's Map
of his lVo|io.se<l Colonies, 105 ; Map of tho Vieiiiity of New
OrleaiiH (1778). 100.
CHAPTKR VIII.
Geokok K(h;krs Clark, Ariiitkr and Suppliant, 1776-1779 . . 116
Illustration : Map of the Rapids of the Ohio, 110.
CHAPTER IX.
The Sinister FrRPOSES of France, 1774-1779 144
CHAPTER X.
A Year of Suspense, 1780 106
Illustration : Fortifications of St. Lonis, 17'J, 173.
CHAPTER XI.
East and West, 1781 188
Illustration : Map of the Dispnted Boundaries of Pennsylvania
and V^iryinia, 197.
CHAPTER XII.
Peace, 1782 203
Illustrations : Bonne's Map of the Tliirteen United States,
hounded by the AUephanies, 211 ; Dunn's Map of the Source
of the Mississippi (1770), 214 ; Carver's Map of the Source of
tiie Mississippi, 215.
CHAPTER XIII.
The Insecurity of the Northwest, 1783-1787 225
Illustrations: Imlay s ?.'n'> of Kentucky, 249; Wasliinprton's
Sketch of the Potomac Divide, 2r)3 ; Heckeweldcr's MS. Map
of the Muskingum and Cuyahoga Valleys, 255 ; Cr^vecneur's
Map of the Western Country, with the Divisions under Jeffer-
.son's Ordinance, 259 ; View of Fort Mcintosh, 209.
CONTENTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
Vll
CIIAITKR XIV.
Thf Noutiiwkst Occri'iKK, 17H<»-17{M) 'J80
Ii.l.i STKATioNS : Map of till' Ohio Conipaiiv's PiiirhaHe liy Collot,
'I'M ; View of Kort Iliiniiar, '1%\ ; Cri'vi-i'dMir's Map of tin'
Ohio Country, 2'.>4, tiU.") ; ("hart of the Ohio Hiver, 'J<)7 ; C'rev.--
cd'iir's Map of the Mouth of tlie Miiskiii^iiin, .'UN), 'M)\ ; Har-
ris's Map of Marietta, 'MY,\ ; Collot 's View of Marietta, ;M)."» ;
View of the Cainpiis Martins, .'$07 ; liiarlow's Map of the Ohio
Company's I'nrchase, 311i, 'Ai'i ; Sketch of Fitch's Map of the
Northwest, 322.
CHAPTER XV.
Thk SorxnwKST Inskcurk, 178:1-178(5 .'J'JO
• Illustuation : Filsou's Map of Kentucky, 3.'Vi, 'XX,\.
ClIAI'TKIl XVI.
Tfie Spanish Qckstiox, 1787-1789 .'dl
Ilmstuatioxs : Plan of New Madrid, .'Ui3 ; .ledediah Morse's
Map of the Northwest, 3(54, .'Mi.">,
CHAPTER XVir.
Uncertainties in the Southwest. 17(K) .'^7."j
Illustrations : Morse's Maj> of (Jeorgia, 'Ml ; Samuel T^ewis's
Map of the Alabama Region, .'Wl ; Country of tiie Creeks. 38;{ ;
Pond's Map of the CJrand Portage, 391 ; Morse's Map of the
Northwest Co ..it, 31)3.
CHAI'TER XVIII.
The Conditions of 1700
Illustrations: Portrait of Hrissot, 40.'5 ; Ohio Klatboat, 41'J.
;508
CHAl'TER XIX.
Harmar's and St. Clair's Campaigns, 1790-1791
Illustration : Map of Moravian Settlements, 423.
. 41.3
CHAPTER XX.
The NoRTHWEfeT Tribes at Last Defeated, 1792-1794 .... 434
Illustrations : Map of Pittsburg and Wayne's Camp, 44.3 ;
View of Niagara River, 449 ; Camp at Greenville, 452.
vin
CONTEXTS AS I) ILLl/STIiATIOXS.
niAlTKIl XXI.
Jay's Tkkaty and the Tkriut«)kial iNTKimirv ok the Nouth-
WKHT Skcurki), 17JM-17*.M» 462
Ilmstkations : (iutlirif's Map of Luke Siipcrim- and tin* (iratid
Portftfj*', 409 ; 'Pond's Map of the Source of the Misisis.sippi,
471 ; Lewis's Map of tlie Gciieseo Country, 47i">.
CHAPTKK XXII.
Wayne's Tkeaty and the New Noktiiwest, 1704-1707 .... 485
Ilm'stkationh : (irants and Heaervatioiis in the Ohio Country,
481) ; Morse's Map of tlie Northwestern Territory, 401', 40:i ;
Scott's Northwest Territory, 404, 49.") ; Knfns Putnam's Map
of Oiiio, 40(>, 407 ; The (Jem .see Country, 40!l; The Moiiawk
and Wood Creek Itonte, ;">()! ; Map of tlie Lak*- Kri»' l{onte,
G().'J ; Scott's Northwest Territory, 50") ; lleekt-wehler's Map of
tiie AUcfjImny and Hi^j Heaver Hivers, r)U7 ; Map <if Western
Routes, 500 ; CoMot's Map of Pittsburj,' and Wheeling, 510 ;
Morse's Map of Peun.sylvunia, 513.
CIIAPTKU XXIII.
The Cnuest of the SorTiiWEST, 1701-1794 515
IliX'STKATIons : Map (i the Tennessee fiovernnn-nt, 517 ; The
Chickasaw Country, 522 ; Ma|) of Kentucky, 524, 525 ; Bar-
ker's Map of KtMitucky, 527 ; Tonlniin's Map of Kentucky,
.52!) ; Spanish Map of the (Jraiul I'ortaji^e, 5.'J4, 5;$5 ; Uiver of
the West, 5;i7 ; Map of the Tennessee Region, 545.
CHAPTER XXIV.
Pinckney's Treaty and the Kentccky Intrigue, 1705-179G
. 548
CHAPTER XXV
The United States Completed, 17tM)-1708
i58
INDEX
THE WESTWARD MOVEMENT.
CHAPTER I.
1
AN INTKODLXTul- . HUUVKY.
The public uiul secret treaties oi 17G3 left Franco without
a foothold on the American v»,n. IJy the terms of the Peace
of Paris, the Bourbon fia<; fluttered in the islands of St. Pierre
and Mi<iuelon. ^Im susj)icion of wliat lay beyond these little
fishing stations at the entrance of the (iulf of St. Lawrence
had two centuries and a half before ]>roin])ted the ambition of
France to ])enetrate the continent by the jircaL liver of Canada.
A century later her i)ioneers, following tliat current to its upper
sources, had i)assed on to the Mississippi, which forms the
central artery of the continent. Here, a third of the way across
the land's broad ex})ansc, and not suspei-ting the greater dis-
tance beyond, France had nurtured the hope of ascending tl.a
western affluents of that ])arent stream, till she had eom-
l)assetl, with her survey and jurisdiction, a greater France,
stretching from the Alleghanies to the South Sea. This expec-
tation had been dashed. Where she had counted upon seeing
her royal standard shadowing soil and native alike, her flag
was now seen droo])ing at a few ])osts beyond the Mississipj)i,
and awaiting the demands of Si)ain to lower it.
During the period which followed the Treaty of Kyswiek
(1097), a scheme had often been broached among the English,
but had never prospered, which looked to thwarting the ])olicy
of France in the Grrat Valley. This was to unite Englaiul and
Spain in a movement to drive the Fieneh from the (jontiiu'ut,
and divide the northern partn f f the New World between their
resi)eetive crowns. This conjunction had now come to pass,
but not by any such international pact.
AN INTRODUCTORY SURVEY.
In the same treaty of 1763, Great Britain had aekno\vlecl<^ed
a limit to the western extension of her seaboard eolonies by
accepting the Mississippi Kiver as a boundary of lier Ameriean
possessions. The Athuitic colonies, with their impracticable
sea-to-sea charters, took no exception to such a reasonable cur-
tailment of their western limits ; but when the king's ju'oclama-
tion followed, and tlie colonics found themselves confined to the
seaward slope of the Api)alachians, their western extension
made crown territory to be given over to the uses of the
Indians, and all attempts to occupy it forbidden, — there were
signs of discontent which were easily linked with the resentment
that defeated the Stamp Act. So the demand for a western
existence was a part of the first pulsation of resistance to the
mother country, and harbingered the American Revolution.
To keep the opposition, which had thus been raised, within
bounds, and once moi-e to apply a territorial check, the Quebec
bill, in 1774, afforded one of the weighty charges, colored with
current political rancor, which made up the Declaration of In-
dependence. Britain had alwa) 5 denied that New France could
cut athwart her colonial charters by any natural, geographical
definition and extend to the Ohio and Mississippi ; but in the
Quebec bill it served her purpose to assume that Canada had
of right that convenient extension.
In the war which ensued, Virginia took the lead which she
had always taken in respect to this western region, and her
expedition under George Kogers Clark rendered it easier for the
American commissioners, who negotiated the treaty of 1782, to
include this am])le domain within the American union. In
doing this they loyally defeated the intrigues of all the other
parties to the general treaty, — France, whom in the earlier war,
with England's help, the colonies had overcome ; England,
from whom, with French, assistance, they had gained their inde-
pendence ; and Spain, whose insidious and vacillating jjolicy
they were yet further and successfully to condiat. Each of
these powers had hoped to curtail the ambition of the young
Republic. Vergennes had succeeded in cripi)ling England, but
he feared the stalwart figure of the young nation born of Eng-
land's misfortune. He was ready, if he could, to use England
in her new complacency to cripple the youthful America.
The treaty of Independence was not so effective but th.at
AX INriiODUCTORY SURVEY.
8
there soon followed other efforts to ])reveut for a while the
rounding out of tlie Republic to its legitimate bounds. Eng-
land, on the side of Canada, and Spain, on the side of Louisiana,
sought to regain something they Iiad lost. The retention ])y
Great Britain of the lake posts, ineluding as they hojjed the
lake front, though with some show of right, was disgraced by
iKise intrigues with Kentucky. All her schemes were brouglit
to an end by Jay in the treaty of 179-4. The occupation of
the eastern bank of the Mississippi from the Yazoo coiuitry,
southward, by Spain, and the jjlotting of IVIiro with Wilkinson
and his associates to establish a Sjjanish jirotectorate south of
the Ohio, were defeated at last by the treaty of San Lorenzo
in 1795.
Adding the time which was necessary to carry out these
treaties, it is now an even hundred years since the title of the
United States to this vast region lying between the Appala-
chians, the Great Lakes, and the Mississippi was unmistakably
confirmed. For more than thirty years after the peace of 17G3,
the colonies and the Kei)ublic struggled to maintain the Ameri-
can s])irit on this eastern-central area of the continent. Inde-
jx'iidence achieved, for twelve or fifteen years the United States
strove to round out its territorial promise. The history of this
western region during all these years was constantly moulded
by its geography, and it is the jjurpose of the present volume to
show the ever varying aspects of this struggle.
To establish what was called the Property Line was the first
signal step taken in behalf of the seaboard to assert a right to
enter upon this territory, and to that initiatory measure we
devote the opening of the sto:y.
CHAPTER 11.
THE PROPERTY LINE.
1763-1764.
Two years before the Treaty of Paris (17G3), James Otis had
argued in Boston against issuing Writs of Assistanee to tleteet
evasions of the revenue. A service of law, which in England
had been constantly accepted, aroused in an unwilling people a
rebellious spirit. IIow to restrain this threatening impulse was
already a serious question ; and there was regret with some that
Canada had not been left at the peace in French hands, to
remain a menace to the colonies, and hold them dependent on
England's protection.
The existence of this recalcitrant temper had been often cited
in the arguments of those who preferred Guadaloupe to Canada
in the settling the account with France. Lookers-on in the
colonies, like Kalm, had perceived the force of this view.
Choiseul saw it, and predicted the fatal outcome of England's
final choice. Vergennes, chagrined at the drop in political
influence which France had experienced, welcomed this hojie of
disaster to an ancient rival of France, which her sacrifice of
Canada might produce.
Colden and others in the colonies were conscious that the
loyal subjects of England must face new liazards when the
British flag was hoisted ac Quebec. This New Yorker repre-
sented to the Board of Trade in London that New England was
the nursery of this threatening passion, and that it was neces-
sary, if her republican ho])es were to be chilled, to curtail the
Yankees' bounds by extending New York to the Connecticut
River. In September, 17G4, won', reached Albany that the
king in council had stretched the jurisdiction of New York over
what is now known as Vermont. Francis Bernard went farther.
lie not only urged this extension to the Connecticut, but he
wished that the boundaries of the rest of New England should
THE FRENCH AND INDIAN.
lie
)uld
be redistributed, in a sort of geiTymanderiug way, so as to
insure a government majority in every part, and during 17GG
and 1767 he was in close correspondence witli tiie home govern-
ment on this point.
Murray, who had been apjwinted governor at Quebec in
October, 1763, did not reach his post till August of the next
year. It was not long before he was making reports to the
home government which were startling on two points. One was
that the British then in Canada '' were the meanest and most
inunoral people he ever saw, while the [French] Canadians
were frugal, industrious, and moral, and had become reconciled
to the English rule." The report also anticipated the action
which, ten years later, the daring of the seaboard colonies forced
the English ministry to take in the Quebec bill. Murray's
proposition was to annex the region lying beyond the Allegha-
nies to Canada, as a means of overawing the older colonies.
The gentleness of Murray with the Cauiulians was in rather
painful contrast with Gage's plan of using them against the
Indians. He advised Bradstreet (May 3, 1704) "to employ
them in every service that can render them the most obnoxious
to the Indians. Whatever is to be done most disagreeable to
the Indians, let the Canadians have a large share in it. This
will convince them, if anything will, how vain their hopes are
of success from that quarter." If this policy was ins])ired
by the home government, as well as another policy which was
aimed at the repression of the natural subjects of the crown,
one could well have predicted the later alliance of 1778.
A recent historian, in his ErpanHion of ErKjhindy s])eaks of
the prevalence in the mother country at this time of a ** not
unnatural bitterness," which accompanied the fear that Britain
had enabled her colonies to do without her. Seeley once again,
writing of the century of Englisli history from Louis XIV. to
Napoleon, advises the English reader to recognize the fact that
his country's real history during this interval was in the Now
World, where England successively fought Erance and her own
colonies, in the effort to sustain her power. With this in mind,
the student of British rule would not find, he adds, "that
century of English history so uninteresting."
The fall of New France h.id produced sharp effects upon the
6
THE PROPERTY LINE.
i-elatioiis of America and En<>lan(l. Tlie war liad increased the
British debt by £850,000,000. The riglits of the mother coun-
try, which affected the commerce and industry of her coh)nies,
were at this time both brutal and mercenary. Viscount iiury
says: ''It may fairly be stated that the advantage reaped by
a few shipowners from the oi)eration of the navigation laws
was ])urchased by an actual money ex])enditure of more than
,£200,000,000, in less than half a century." England was con-
tent to let the American pioneers break out the paths for a
newer and perhaps greater J?ritain ; but it was her policy first
of all to make these plodders of tiic wilderness pay tribute to
the stay-at-home merchant. That such injustice was according
to law and pr(?cedent did not meet the questions which the
Americans raised, — (piestions such as are constantly needing
adjustment to newer environments.
The pojiulation in the seaboard colonies was doubling, as
Franklin computed, in twenty-five years. The bonds of inter-
colonial .symi)athies were strengthening, and the designations of
New Englandei- and Virginian were beginning to give place to
American. With these conditions among the colonists, it was
not unnatural that a proposition of the ministry to tax them on
a system repellent to colonial views created distrust. A period
of doubt is always one of rumors. Bernard's plea for readjust-
ing the New England bounds made John Adams and others
susjM'ct that the British government intended to revoke the
cohmial charters and make the coh)nies royal ju'ovinces. The
terms of the royal proclamation of 17G3, which (iage received
in New York on November 30, indicated, as already said, that
under the new dispensation the westward extension of the
colonies' bounds would be curtailed by the mountains, and the
si)aees of the Great Valley wouhl be confirmed to savagery.
There were further symptoms of this in the movement now
going on in Pennsylvania to induce the king to recom})ense i<
proprietary and make it a royal domain. The king might
indeed be preferable to a stubborn master.
If the heady motions of tlu' ministry were without tact, there
was some warrant for its belief that the colonies, despite acts
of trade and navigation, were ])rosperous enough to share the
burdens of the mother country. Maryland and Virginia were
dispatching large shipments of wheat to England. Philadel-
ad iiicrea.st'd tlie
the motlier couii-
of her colon it's.
Viscount JJmy
ita<;e roa])e(l by
navigation laws
■e of more tljan
ngland was con-
tho j)aths for a
her i)oIicy first
IS pay tribute to
e was accoj'ding
:ions wliidi tlie
stantly needing
s doubling, as
bonds of inter-
designations of
o give place to
olonists, it was
to tax them on
ist. A })eriod
a for read Just-
us and others
to revoke the
ovinces. The
tiage received
uly said, that
nsion of the
lins, and the
to savagery.
Dvement now
'Comj)ense if
king might
lit tact, there
<lespite acts
to share the
ii'ginia were
Pliiladfl-
THE PROCLAMATION OF 1763. 7
l)liia alone, the readiest port for ship])ing such products as came
over the mountains, was now sending abroad four hundred ves-
sels annually carrying exjiorts to the value of £700,000. New
Kno-land built and sent across the sea for sale fifty ships a year.
If such things indicated to the government a source of reve-
nue, it was ])eginning to warn some observers that the colonies
had it quite within their power to sustain a jjractical autonomy.
Wlien, in 17G2, the ministry secured an uncompromising adher-
ent in making William Franklin the governor of New Jersey,
the act had no such effect u])on his father, and it was not long
l)efore Benjamin Franklin was warnirig the ministry that "griev-
ous tyranny and opi)ressi()n " might drive his compatriots to
revolt. The colonies had indeed struggled on, in facing the
French, without cohesion ; but injustice — and it mattered
little whether it was real or imagined — was yet to bind them
together, as the dangers of a common foe had never done.
The immediate struggle over the Stamp Act, which was
ch)sed by its rejjeal in ITGO, produced for a time at least th.at
political quiet which induces enterprise. The attention of the
pioneers was again drawn to the western movement, and the hu-
mane spirit once again dwelt on the })rohibition which the
luckless proclamation of 17G3 had put u])()n the ardent pioneer.
Bouciuet, falling in with the views of the ministry, was now urg-
ing that all grants west of the mountains should l)e annulled.
This w(mld include the abolishment of the Ohio Company, and
would very I'losely affect the Virginia gentlemen.
It was also Bou(]uet's o])inion that the policing of this west-
ern wilderness and the enforcement of the proclamation should
l)e intrusted to the military. There was need of it. Since
(iovernor Penn in June, 1705, had again opened the Indian
trade by jn'oclamation, the packmen had crossed the moun-
tains, and a following of vagabonds was occasionally provoking
tlie Indians to retaliate for the wrongs which were done them.
Thus occasional scenes of devastation on the frontiers of Penn-
sylvania and Virginia were calling for mutual ex])lanations
between the white and the red man : still the great body of the
Indians had, since the close of Pontiac's war, ceased their havoc.
The trouble was mainly with the whites. " I am r«'ally vexed,"
wrote Gage to Johnson (May 5. 1700), " at the behavior of the
lawless banditti \\\w\\ the borders ; and what aggravates the
8
77//i PROPERTY LINE.
more is the difficulty to bring them to punisliment." There
was a limit to the Indian forbearance, but there were ten years
yet to pass before the warwho<)i)s of the Dunmore turmoil
awoke the echoes of the Ohio woods.
During this interval the main dispute of the frontiers, be-
tween the home goveriunent and the natives, was how to protect
the hunting-grounds of the tribes and at the same time give
some scope to the ambition of the ])ioneer. Sir William John-
son, as Indian agent, had faced hard problems before ; but he
never had a more ilifficult (question than that which now con-
fronted him. The French had indeed publicly withdrawn from
the situation, but he could not divest himself of the belief that
they were still exerting a clandestine influence, which was more
difficult to deal with. A part of this influence lay in the ex-
periences of the Indians with the French. " When I was in
Canada," said Gage, " I could not find that the French had
ever purchased land of the Indians, — only settled amongst
them by permission and desire." Again he writes to Johnson,
"• We are plagued everywhere about lands. The French had
never any ilis]>ute with the Indians about them, though they
never purchased a single acre ; and I believe the Indians have
m?de difficulty with us because we have gone on a different
plan."'
Things had now come to such a ])ass on the frontier that
Johnson saw the necessity of establishing some definite line of
separation between the colonies and their Indian neighbors, and
of maintaining it. When a savage said to him that the Eng-
lish always stole the Indian lands by the rum bottle, Johnson
knew well all that it imiilied. With a purpose on each side, the
one to sell and the other to buy, and with liquor as the barter-
ing medium, nothing could shield the Indian from wrong. In
order to make a beginning in the interests of right and to pro-
mote peace, tlohnson dispatched George Crogiian to England
to sound the government on the project of such a line ; and
while Croghan was there Johnson instructed him to memorial-
ize the Board of Trade about the desirability of securing land
south of the Ohio to satisfy the demands of the Ohio Company,
and the claims of the soldiers enlisted by Dinwiddle in 1754,
under a promise of land. Preliminary to this, and for the pur-
pose of bringing the Indians to terms of mutual confidence
THE SOUTHERN BOUNDARY
9
among tlu'inselves, Johnson had exerted himself to make peace
between the leading tiiltes of the North and South. The Vir-
ginians, as Gage wn)te to Johnson some time before (March 8,
ITliO), were intent on such a plan, hoping thereby to prevent
the C'herokees taking revenge on the Iroquois, for some murders
eonunitted by the young men of the latter. In December,
1707, thi*ee Cherokee chiefs presented themselves at Jolmsim
Hall, on this errand. The Inxiuois were sunnnoned, and on
March 4, 1768, the friendly pact between them was made.
The movement for this boundary settlement had in the start
he South
a greater impulsi' at th
than at the North. It had for
some time devolved upon John Stuart, as the Indian agent for
the southern colonies, to deal with the Cherokees in matters
toudiing both the whites and the savages. He had brought
about a conference at Augusta, where the Creeks had ceded
some territory to (leorgia "in j)r()of of the sense they have of
His Majesty's goodness in forgetting past offenses."
As it happened, the irresj)onsible conduct of the Carolina
traders was rendering it necesspry to act promptly, j)articularly
if peace was to prevail among its tribes, since the whites always
suffei'ed in such times. The rivalry of the French had nuich
conduced in tiie j)ast to make the English liberal in their gra-
tuities. That open rivalry failing, tiie generous habit of the
English had slackened, and the Choctaws had not failed to
remark upon it. Tl:e French at New Orleans used this neglect
to point a moral for the occasion.
The inroads of the whites upon the tribal territories had
always been a source of alarm to the Indians, and Stuart had, in
August, 17G5, urged restraining them by a fixed line. We find,
in 1706, that a deputation of Indians was in England, pleading
with the government iigainst the injustice of the colonists ;
and this may have had something to do with the repeated warn-
ings which Stuart received in 17(i(i to avoid an Indian rupture.
The instances of encroachment were cunuxlative, but the Indians
took new alarm when these trespasses seemed to he made on a
system, as was imi)lied in the movement to extend the province
bounds to the west. This pur]>ose had been in part determined
ui)on to protect the few settlers who were well within the
I
10
THE PliOPKRTY LINE.
Iiulijiu tt'ri'itoi'y. The bounds of South Carolina had been
ah'eady pushed ujjou the country of the Catawlias, and in Ai)ril
and May, 170G, thei-e had been preliminary surveys towards
the Chorokees ; but in December, the running- of the line had
been j)ostponed till the spring, and when conii)leted it was not
carried to the Nortii Carolina limit.
Governor Tryon had succeeded Dobbs in the executive chair
of North Carolina in 1704, an<l it fell to him to handle this
question of bounds, as it did later some more serious (piestions.
In February, 1707, Shelburne had advised him to deal tenderly
with the Indians, for tidings had reached the ministry of what
he thought unaccountal)le risks which the people of the back
country were taking in their treatment of the Indians. On the
1st of .June, Tryon met the Cher()kees at Tyger Kiver, and he
had what was called '' a straight and gixxl talk " with them.
There were mutual })hrases of concession, and each confessed
that it woidd be much easier to live in harmony, but for the
" rogues " on either side. A line i)lanned in October, 17G5,
was considered, and on June 13 it was agreed npon. This
line, beginning at lleedy Kiver, ran north to Tryon Mountain,
which is described as being within three or four miles of the
springs of the streams flowing towards the Mississip])i. Thence
the line ran to Chiswell Mines, and along the Blue Ridge, east
of north, sixty or seventy miles. On July 16, the decision was
made public, and all who \v- \ -ettled beyond were warned to
withdraw by New Year's of 1708. It was furtRer deto-mined
that no grants should be made reaching within a mile of the line.
■■%!
%
'i
I
t
There was still the region back of Virginia and extending to
the Ohio, which it was even more necessary to bring nnder
control. Hillsborough had instructed Stuart to force the Cher-
okees, who were the main southern claimants of this region, to
an agreement. This agent met the tribe at Ilardlabor, S. C,
on October 14, 1708. These Indians })rofessed to hold the
territory east and north of the Cheiokee [Tennessee] River —
their usual route to the ^lississij)))! — as a hunting-ground, but
were content to yield all east of the Kanawha, from its mouth
upwards, and on this basis the treaty was made. This deci-
sion was a])proved by the Board of Trade and recommended to
the king. This was necessary, as it threw open to the pioneers
77/ /v VfJiGLMAyS.
11
ul been
in April
towards
ine had
was not
ive chair
idle this
uestions.
tenderly
of what
the back
On the
•, and he
th them,
•onfessed
t for the
er, 17G5,
n. Tills
fountain,
^'S of the
Thence
idge, east
ision was
irned to
termined
the line.
ndinj:^ to
n^■ under
the Clier-
oi^ion, to
)()r, S. C,
hold tlie
River —
ound, but
its mouth
his deci-
lended to
I pioneers
the valli'y of the Greenbrier and other eastern affluents of the
Kanawha on the west of the Atlantic divide, and was thus at
variance with tlie royal i)roclamation. It was at onec so far
established as a "ministerial line " that lIillsborou<;h included
it in the prohibition which he had attached in April to the line
fai'ther south, when he warned all who should trans<i;ress by
passing it. lie had already informed Stuart that the king
would never consent to new grants below the Kanawha, and
might recall some already made. This meant nmch, for the
king's " friends," undej" (irafton, had come into power, and it
seemed they were to be his thralls, not his advisers.
This definition of bounds by the Kanawha was oidy less offen-
sive to Virginia than the proclamation of 1703 had been, for
it was still a virtual curtailment of her territorial pretensions.
"Washington and others interested in the Ohio Company had
looked upon the jjroclamation as simply an ostensible show of
words for satisfying the Indians without really abridging the
rights of the colony. A pact of the government with the Indians,
as the Ilardlabor agreement had been, was somewhat more
serious, and it was not long, as we shall see, before this difficulty
was almost entirely removed.
There was among the colonists of the Old Dominion a
marked difference of character l)etween the tide-water })eo})le
and those who had crossed the mountains, or had entered the
Shenandoah Valley from the north. Burnaby, who had trav-
ersed the colony a few years before, had fouiul ''a sjiirit of
enterprise by no means the turn of Virginia : '" but he dei'ived
his opinion from his intercourse with the hirge landed })ropri-
etors near the Atlantic rivers. These f(mnd nothing more
exciting than their Christmas revelries, their hunts in the wil-
derness, their county politics, and their annual shipments of
tobacco at tlie river fronts of their ])lantations. They showed
little (lis])ositi()n to develoj) tlie country away from their own
neighborlioods. While, however, this was true of most of the
gentlemen of the lower country, there were a few among them
<|nit(! ready, as we shall see, to act in the faith which Bur-
nal)y shows he imbibed, when he speaks of the Potomac as a
water-way to the great divide, and "" of as great consequence
as any river in America."
But the development of the frontiers of Virginia was not
12
THE PlWl'EHTY LINE.
I
dependent on the tide-water gentry and their inferior servitors,
but rather upon the virile folk, i)arti(!ulurly the Seoteh-lrish,
who had brought the valley of Virginia into subjection, and
were now adding to their strength by an innnigration front
Maryland, Pennsylvania, and north Virginia. These, crossing
the divide by liraddock's road, were j)ushing down the Monon-
gahela, and so on to the Ohio country. They carried with them
all that excitable and determined character which goes with a
keen-minded adherence to original sin, total dej)ravity, predesti-
nation, and election, and saw no use in an Indian but to be a
tai'get for their bullets.
No region in North America at this time had the repute of
being so inviting and fertile as this valley of the great eastern
tributary of the Mississippi. In 17G5, the present tov/n of
Pittsburg had been laid out at the forks of the Ohio, two hun-
dred feet from the old fort which had sprung in aii* from a
mine, at the time of Forbes's approach in 1759, and of which
we have a relic of Bouquet's enlargement in a brick bastion,
still or of late preserved as a dwelling in the niodern town.
The place was now the centre of a frontier vigor, which kept
pace with the growing influence of the anti-Quaker element in
the i)rovince. It was to this latter conservative and sluggish
faction that the Germans mainly adhered. These were in large
part a boorish people, im})regnated with the slavish traits of
the redemptioners ; good farmers, who cared more for their
pigs than for their own comfort, uniting thrift with habits that
scorned education, clannish, and never forgetful of the Rhine.
They with the Quakers had made a i)arty in the government,
which, from princii>le and apathy, had in the late war sorely
tried the patience of Franklin and those jealous of the credit
of the ])rovince. There had already begun to appear a palpa-
ble decline of the Quaker power l^efore the combined energies
of the Philadeli)hia traders and the frontier woodsmen, with
not a little assistance from the enlightened activities of the
better class of Germans. It was the energy of this restless
faction which induced Burnaby to speak of the Pennsylvanians
as " by far the most enterprising people of the continent." lie
contrasted them with the Virginians, who, though having every
advantage of easier communication beyond the mountains, had
shown much less spirit.
n'vitors,
.'h-lrish,
un, and
an from
crossing
Monon-
ith them
!H with a
prc'desti-
to be a
ei)ute of
t eastei'n
town of
two liun-
• from a
of which
: bastion,
rn town,
lieh kept
ement in
shiggish
in hirge
traits of
or their
jits that
Rhine,
ernment,
sorely
le credit
a palpa-
energies
len, with
!S of the
restless
Ivanians
nt." He
Ing every
ains, had
ar
C HOG HAN AMJ Tllli INDIASS.
13
F'rom Pittsburg the current of the Oliio carried i depth of
thrtte feet for seventy-five miles, to a settlement of some sixty
native families, known as the Mingo town. This wa(> the only
cluster of habitations at this tinu; between the forks and the
rapitls at the modern Louisville. IJeyond this Indian town,
the water was deep enough. The variegated banks, with the
windings of the current, offered, as C'ol()nel (iorilon, a recent
vovaoer, had said, "the most heaUhy, ])leasant, commodious,
and fertile spot of earth known to Huroj)ean people," and a
little later it was represented to Hillsborough that "no part
of N(«'th America would recpiire less encouragement for the
production of naval stores and raw material for manufactures
in Huroj)e."' Such ])raise as this was later to reach a wider
pid)lic in Thomas Ilutchins's Ucscri/ifion of Vir(/iuia, etc.,
when published in London. Tl\is topograjdier had been a cap-
tain in lioucpu't's army, which juit an end to the Pontia(! war.
He first surveyed the country through which Houquel: marched
in 17(33-04. We have a nuip, which is the result of liis obser-
vations at that time and on later \ isits.
The movement by the Monongahela and by the valley of
Virginia had naturally opened the way into what is now Ken-
tucky and Tennessee. All this had ahirmed the Indians, and
in April and May, 1708, about 1,100 warriors of the Inupiois,
Delawares, and Sh.iwnees, beside women and childr'U, assem-
bled at the instigation of (Jeorge Croghan at Fort Pitl. '* With
this string of wamimm," said that inter])reter to Hiom, " I
clean the sweat oft' your bodies, and remov(! all evil thoughts
from your minds, ami clean the passage to your hearts. . . .
With this string I clean your ears that you nuiy hear." Then
followed apoh)gies for the nuirder of certain Indians by wicked
whites. Another ])r()pitiation was made. '"'• With this belt
I clean the blood oft' the leaves and earth, whereon it was
sprinkled, that the sweet herbs may have their usual verdure."
Beaver, a Delaware chief, replied : " Take hold of the end of
this belt, which we may stretch along the road between us, in
order to clean it of the briars and brush, that we may all travel
it in peace and safety."
There was next a little altercation between a Shawnee and
an Iroquois chief. The Shawnee wished the English to pull
14
THE rnol'EUTY LL\/:.
down their forts, jiinl thought thiit tho boats which the Kiiglish
were huihliii;;' siyiiitietl uu evil purpoHe of going in them (h)wn
the river. The lro(|iiois stood tor th<' Knglish, »nd advised tliem
to hold the forts they had taken from the French. When it
was projmsed to send niesscngei-s to the interlopers on the
Monongahela at Ked Stone and warn them off, the Indians
refused ti) lend a hand in the ejeetinent. Tin* Sliawnees again
made hold to dispute the Irocjuois pretensions to the Ohio
eountry. So the syn»ptonis were clear that trouble couhl easily
he fostered in the valley, jind during the previous sunnner some
Indians had stopped the liateaux of pioneers, and the river
route was in gi'Ueral made dangerous hy the mutual hostilities
of the Cherokees and the northern tribes.
In I)eeend)er, 1707, the Hoard of Trade had deemed the
Kanawha River an e<putal)le limit for the Knglish settlements.
Such a limit, I'estrieting what Hillsborough judged the danger-
ous extension of agriculture, also met the apj)roval of that
nunister.
Franklin, now in London as tlu; : nt of Pennsylvania,
pointed out to the government how dt ys were only making
the colonies drift into a savage war. Slu'lburne was soon
moved to action, and in Aj)ril, 1708, Gage, who had received
Shelburne's instructions to run the line, forwarded them to
Johnson with a sus])ici(m that it would be difficidt to satisfy
the demands of New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, in
whatever line was run. Ciau'e hiid already urj-fd, in February,
that the plan had been satisfactorily carried out at the south
by Georgia and the Carolinas.
The task of establishing such a line imposed difficulties upon
the negotiator. Johnson had only recently had difficulty in
getting the Indians to consent to the running of tlu^ lini; l)etwcen
Pennsylvania and ^Maryland beyond the mountains, and he felt
sure that both Frencdi and Spauish were endeavoring to entice
the Ohio tribes to a counter conference on the Mississi])pi.
When Johnson had first broached the subject of a line at a
conference of Iroijuois in the s]iring of 17G5, he had found
some difficulty in bringing them to his conception of what such
a line should be. AVlien the Indians had made some conces-
sions, he was obliged to confess he had no authority to settle
the question. Accordingly, after three years of delay, during
I'Uli T S TA y 1 1 7 A Tli !■:. 171'
15
II down
(l them
Vlicu it
on tilt'
Indians
H Jijfain
e Ohio
il easily
er somo
;e river
)stilities
lied the
lenients.
dan<;er-
of that
iylvania,
n»akin<5
as soon
received
them to
satisfy
inia, in
)ruary,
le south
>s njxm
ulty ill
x'tween
he felt
) entice
sissii)pi.
ne at a
found
lat such
conces-
to settle
during
which the ministry had been instriu'ting him to ke«'j» a poace
with the Indians, and with som»' untoward liai)i)eninj;s in the
interval, it was not without misj-ivings that Sir William,
act ompanicd hy two hundred boats of merchandise for presents,
reached Fort Stanwix on September 20, 1708. Prominent
NoTB. -- This map is a »ectioii of Oiiy ilolingon's map of the Fort Stanwix line, sent by Sir
Willimn JmIiiihoii to Lord HilUburoiigli, ami repro«luced in Dues. rel. tu the Colon. Hist, uf .V. I'.,
vol. viii. p. l^U.
among his advisers in attendance were Governor Franklin,
Guy Johnson, and Cieorge Croghan. The Indians assembled
so slowly that it was October 24 before it was deemed })ru(lent
to open the conference. By this time it was certain that nearly
thirty-two hundred cavernous mouths were to be fed, and that
other entertainments must be provided with e([iu\l prodigality.
Johnson, indeed, soon found that there was difficulty in get-
ting a sufficient allowance from the treasury at heathpiartcrs,
owing to the great cost of quartei'ing tro()j)s in Boston, now
going on to meet the rebellious manifestations of that commu-
nity. So the seven weeks of feasts and talks went on. Thomas
Walker had come with authority from Virginia to undo the
Stuart treaty and the Kanawha line, if he could. There were
other di'lcgates from New York, New Jerse}', and Pennsyl-
vania, together with a number of agents rei)resenting the
traders who had suffered losses in the Pontiac; war.
wmm
)
I
16
THE PROPERTY LINE.
Tills large assembly of savages was, in faict, a considerable
])art of the whole number of tribes interested in the outcome
of the conference. Johnson at this time estimated that the
Iroc^uois numbered perhaps ten thousand souls, and of these
two thousand could be considered warriors. Their allies coukl
furnish probably anothei" two thousand, made up among others
of three hundred Shawnees from the Ohio country, six hundret.
Delawares from the Susquehanna, and two hundred Wyandots
from Sandusky. These four thousand Iroquois and depend-
ents, so great had l)een their losses, were probably not more
than half as many as the Ottawa confederacy. This larger
amalgamation of the savage i)ower, including the Twightwees
and Miamis, hemmed in the others on the west, and blocked
the way to the Mississippi. Johnson now reckoned them at
eight thousand warriors, of whom about three thousand were
on the Detroit River. lie makes no mention of any tribes in
what is now Kentucky, and Croghan seems to confirm the
belief that the territory between the Ohio and the Tennessee
was destitute of savage dwellers, and this was the region now
the particular object of negotiation.
It was not till November 5 that a conclusion was reached
at Fort Stanwix, when, in consideration of a considerable sum
of money, the Indians consented to a line, beyond which the
English agreed to i)r()hil>it settling. The Iroquois chief s signed
with the colonial delegates ; but the Delawares and Shawn(,'es,
thuiigh assenting, were not allowed to sign, since they were
dei)endent upon the Iroquois.
The territory which was thus alienated was vestoii. under the
terms of the treaty, in the crown, and coidd only be occupied
by royal grant. It was soon claimed that, so far as these lands
were concerned, the royal proclamation was annuHed.
Johnson, in directing the negotiations, had exceeded his
authority, and, as the Virginians claimed, he had thwarted the
purposes which Dr. Walker had been sent to advance. John-
son had been directed to confirm Stuart's line by the Kanawha,
and to yield to tlie Cherokee jiretensions as respects the terri-
tory west of that river. The Irocjuois, however, asserted their
rights in this region against the Cherokees, and Johnson thought
it imprudent to ai'ouse their resentment by declining their
cession of it. Jolnison satisfied his own conscience in the
I
. ;'
rOllT STANWIX TREATY.
17
sidenible
outcome
that the
of these
ies could
iig- othevs
huiHlvet.
\'^yaudots
. depend-
not move
lis hirger
vi<rht\vees
I l)h)cked
. theui at
antl were
■ tribes in
iifirni the
lennossee
3tiion now
s reached
rable sum
which the
efs signed
^hawnees,
they were
un lor the
occupied
lose hinds
ceded his
artcd the
■e. John-
Kanawha,
the terri-
rted their
)n thought
ling their
ce in the
m
m
rFvciiu t!ip Freiu'h translation of Hutchins, Di'xcrijilion lnjtdqrnpliiipie df In f'^nthii'i, Paris,
ITSI,]
matter by recalling that the Chcrokces some years before had
recognized fhv Iroquois rights to it. lie felt also that, by con-
lirming it to the crown, the governmeiit would not be end)ar-
rassed in controlling its settlement as they liked. In this way
what bccauie later known as " The Property Line '" practically
gave Kentucky over to present occupation.
V'< >
\V
■\i\
\\'<:
i;
m
18
THE PROPERTY LINE.
T
tttiiU^U
:>^
fV^
o
•^,
^^O /J v^ lite firun^U»ry l.%t^ itatin.f ) i S frfi^rr »t*r •••-•/v **£ ' "
'^\MV\ '^** tkfU^hrty Errh'r«,i { | \ «- • - . - A ILIA
/j
l^a^ie.i .ry^A*, -«' I
^,r iara-ljhiyadirha *
l,ihi< Kmah I ^
l.n.l .l.nn III nj
//7 ^\ -'' ^"-^4-.
\ f '
.I-"'
a* t/u^f<itMfr\ rf'tfi. r,j \,(ti, US I'rrptr <• :..„trfr tiutf part witAtu mk^fX tfi^t frutr*4>i ^t tff'f^t > Jit ,itu n t in t)
tIJ Uirv r/Jn// miiJi-n fk^ /"-t' t.' ■ ' .\ Y'tk itt f-l it JfuJlt^ii iCiuyokar*- p*rt ^ftkf '.'»t 'Jii I '• i. ^r, '*
lif.i itUewuAii* lAttt fyrttityv fA/- Jiisrtir.>rii.f wtii' ^crm 1^1 str/A \uA^it^rt t'miU'i^ />i ' w</ 14 ^^"^^^^f
N'liTK. — The line is sliowii on a laici-r MNile in a iiiiip constiiii'tiHl bv .IhIiukoii upon Kvans's
Kittanning (oUoweJ tliat river to its niuntli.
Tlu> rctiion east of the Kanawha and west of the Mononya-
lu'hi had ah'oady two days liefoic; (Novi'nd)er 3) been deeded Ity
the Indians to Trent, as the igent of tlie traders, wliose ])ro})-
erty in the recent war had been (h'sj)oik'd to an extent, as was
eonttnided, of <£80,000. Out of this transaction difHeidties soon
arose. The Ohio Company heUl the land thns conveyed to be
m
m
THE "IXDIAXA" GRANT.
19
W>i FM>nt.inr
i^'
.^
o
i
JVr
I ul,ijj ^
Cayuga -^/.^n
M miou Kvaiis's
^J^'rtoti
i'Ji
•— A' n 'try ,r ,\;„ i.tii
,1,1 t:/flf,, l/,,r,/ 11,1. ,.„ll
, ' till (■ uitfi-v ihll /•-/. /.7»
/.> Iltf M-AivAi
^y%
A
^ «>
<^'?*%«-;^««^^J) • t^ /^/p.o„:«,
i*:^'-' '^v-^ "^(^v?- y.
. VV<:>^^'" }< ^^^^ ^'■"":"' '--.i^ . ■>/ / '■art' ;
'll'l
Part
ol
lassaclius
Sits r..iv
;k
iil^lj^ /^>jif WILLIAM TrTOX Esgr S
■"^ ~""^~""^ <| C iiptain General & Govei-non in Qiifi tt <C_
•LAN ATIOX e ^^. ,|„,.p,.„,,„,^^ „f NEW-YO«KAi.&j|
' ■ / ,•//■ "'^>;\ This Map ■/-;
'/) ,-, , V I ol ti»e Countrv ot the VI. Nations ( >
, ,, ,, Vvo\^QVr^\lh.Parloflhc(ldiar.ent(c(cn^\'
litlrif ItlllrU X:ll, lllf I ' / - • •*
,, , '. , i J ,• ' •'-' I'unil'L irucriled hy Vw iXCf/lrnrtr'^ ' ■ '
/.,.,
^-1 "i.tf , \
- ttt f' .. fcTi>
V*^ Ji^firi.X' n ^77y'~Z
map, iinin-oved, in tliu Doc'itnnilnrii llixl. af X. )'., vol. i. p, "kST. The line reacliiiiK tlie Oliio at
Moiionoa-
(loetled by
lose prop-
Mit. as was
ultit's soon
t Vfd to lie
liR'luileil in their own prior grants, wliicli wore known as
'' Indiana," and stood in tlie names of Samuel Wharton, Wil-
liam Trent, (ieorge Morgan, and others. Virginia recognized
no rights in it lint her own, as eoming within her eharter, and
she claimed that some of her own iicople had already settled
within the disputed territory. All dispntes were finally sunk
in the troubles of the Revolution.
20
THE PROPEHTY LINE.
The line, as established av. Fort Stanwix, followed up the
Ohio from the Cherokee Kiver, ])assed the forks, and went up
the Alleghany to Kittanniug. It then ran west to the most
westerly branch of the west fork of the Susquehanna : thence
over Burnet's Hills to Awandoe Creek, and so to the Delaware.
It then ascended this river towards Owegy and Wood Creek,
and stopped at a point half way between Fort Stanwix and
Lake Oneida.
The line, by reason of Johnson's independent action, was not
approved by the king, but the government did not venture to
invalidate it. When it thus practically became the law, new
conditions arose. It opened a larger area to settlement than
the royal proclamation had decreed, and vesting new riglits in
the crown, it was held by most, except the Virginians, to place
a bar, to the extent of the territory ceded by the Indians, to
the westward claims of Virginia.
This line of demarcation between the Indians and the settle-
ments was now unbroken from where it started at the earlier
grant near Lake Ontario to the southern end of the A])pala-
chians, exee])t for an interval where the bounds back of South
and North Carolina had not been made to join. This debatable
ground remained for some time the scene of insecurity : tlie
doubtful jurisdiction invited vagabonds and lawless traders,
who traversed the country between the Catawbas and the
Cherokees. It was of such hazardous conditions that Stuart,
the Indian agent, spoke, when he commented upon the " rage for
settling far back," which crowded settlers upon the boundary,
and left the country scant of inhabitants on the way thither.
" The Indians detest such back inhabitants," he adds, "■ which
accounts for their reluctancy to give up any of their lands,
being anxious to keep such neighbors at a distance."
The dispute between the Iro{pu)is and the Cherokees would,
it was feared, seriously involve the interests of such as received
grants in what are now the States of Kentucky and Tennessee.
It was not long before Gage was warning Johnson of " an agi-
tation among the Indians." That the Iro(piois should have been
paid for territory which the Cherokees claimed was galling to
the pride of the latter.
The Cherokee [Tennessee] River bends near Cumberland
MOVEMENTS FOR OCCUPATION,
21
veil up the
ml went iij)
;o the most
ma : thence
3 Delaware,
ootl Creek,
tanwix antl
on, was not
; venture to
he law, new
ienient than
ew rights in
ins, to place
Indians, to
1(1 the settle-
; the earlier
the A})pala-
,ck of South
lis debatable
ecurity ; the
ess traders,
as and the
lat Stuart,
le " rage for
boundary,
way thither.
(Is, "■ which
their lands,
tees would,
as received
Tennessee.
of " an agi-
d have been
galling to
(iap, separated by a divide from the springs of the Kanawha.
Tiie area in controversy, including tlie valley of the Cumber-
land, lay between these rivers and the Ohio. The purposes of
the home government and those of the pioneers regarding tliis
territory were e(p.ially at variance, the one sustaining, in opinion
at least, the treaty of Stuart, and the other that of Johnson.
Ciage was fully aware of the risks of occupying tlie region soutli
of the Ohio. To do so, in his judgment, could liardly fail to
bi'ing on a war with the southern Indians. The ministry, in
view of the oi)2i()sition whicli had been developed to the royal
j)roclamation, was not unwise in winking at what it dared not
undo.
This opening of a fertile country to occupation induced the
steady movements westward to and beyond Cumberland Gap
which took place in the next few years. Dr. Thomas Walker,
whose name is so often associated with these early movements,
and who had been more or less familiar with Powell's Valley
and the neighboring region for twenty years, soon secured a
grant hereabouts. Throwing it open to the jjioneers, a rush of
settlers to occu])y it followed. In the si)ring of 17G9, there
was a race of rival parties seeking to reach the spot first and
secure the land. Victoiy came to .Joseph ]Martin and his com-
])ani()ns, and they were earliest squatted in the rich valley,
shadowed with black walnuts and wild cherries, which lies
between Cund)erland and Powell mountains. The modern
Martin's Station, where they pitched their tents, was on the
hunter's trail to Kentucky, and twenty miles from Cumberland
CJap. The situation, however, was precarious, for there were
I'oving bands of southern Indians, who were incensed that the
])Iedge given in the Stuart treaty had not been (»bserved.
While Martin and some of his ])eople were exploring farther
west, hostile savages swooped down on those in camp, and the
settlement was broken up. There is no lack of suspicion that
in this and other marauding, the vicious trader was sui)i>lying
the barbarian with his gun and powder.
So it was that the proclamation of 1703 was practically de-
tied, and the ministry had not dared to interpose its authority.
Cumberland
h
f
ii
I;
CHAPTER III.
LOUISIANA, FLOHIOA, AND THE ILLINOIS COUNTRY.
176:3-1708.
It is curious to find the French tnivek'r, Piiges, in 1767,
speaking' of the Mississi})pi as bounding- on New England!
The reservation of the trans-AHeghany country to the Indians'
use, by the prochmiation of 1703, hud not eradicated from the
conceptions of the Frendi the okl sea-to-sea claims of the
English charters. They had too long confronted this English
pretension to do more than recognize the curtailment of their
claims by making that river the .vestern boundary of those
colonies, as rc(piired by tlie recent treaty.
In the coh)nies themselves, the claim was certainly dormant.
Massachusetts, for her rights, was abiding her time. Connecti-
cut was even now, on the strength of such a title, claiming a
portion of Pennsylvania, and for the next few years, in the
struggle between the two j)rovinces, the New England colony
was to be in the main successful in sustaining her Susquehanna
Com])any, thougli it was at the cost of life and ])ropei-ty. Both
colonies, in the effort to defend what they thought their own,
had devastated liomes and wasted crops, and each was alter-
nately the aggressor.
Virginia was still vigilantly looking aftov lier western inter-
ests, and she did it to some i)ur])ose ten years later, when her
George Rogers Clark did much to save the Nortliwest to the
young Republic. Franklin, in 1754, would have swe])t all such
pretensions away by his barrier colonies. During the years
that had intervened, he had not forgotten his purpose, as we
shall see.
The peace of 17^)3 had had its effect upon the Indian trade
of the far West. The English seaboard merchants had become
conscious how much this traffic had slipped away from their
•I I
ST. LOUIS AND THE FHEACH.
23
[JNTRY.
;os, in 1767,
;\v England!
. the Indians'
ted from the
lainis of the
this English
nent of their
lavy of those
inly dormant.
Lc. Conneeti-
e, claiming a
years, in the
gland colony
Sus(|nehanna
operty. Both
it their own,
ch was alter-
'I'stern inter-
ter. when her
tliwest to tlu>
iwept all snch
ing the years
mrpose, as we
Indian trade
ts had become
av from their
western agents. Such diminution -had been the subject of
repeated representations. Cieorge Croghan was exi)laining it
to (ieneral Gage in New York anil to Dr. Eranklin in London.
C'arleton complained that French and Spanish traders were
•viithering furs within twenty leagues of Detroit. Gage com-
mented upon it to Conway, and hinteil at the clandestine ways
wliieh were used by the Indians and French. Sir AVilliam
Jolmson also found artitice in the French methods, but it would
seem to have been notiiing more than that the traders got ten-
pence a pound more for skins in New Orleans than in any
Biiti.h market.
The unwelciome outcome of the business was the ])i'ecminence
whicli the new settlement at St. Louis, under French enter-
])iise, was likely to acquire, llutciiins speaks of the site of tlie
new town as " the most healthy and ])loasurable situation of
any known in this part of the country," and hither (he adds),
•^ by conciliating tlie affections of the natives," the French
traders have drawn the traffic of tlie Missouri, Mississipj)i,
AViscousiu, and Illinois rivers jiway ivoin the English posts.
vSt. Louis had becouu' in a few years a town of about one hun-
dred and twenty stone-built houses. Tlie occupants of these
dwellings, including a hundred and fifty negroes, numbered
about eight hundred. Not far oft" was Ste. Genevieve, a jdace
of more than four hundred inhabitants. These two settlements
constituted the only French villages on the westi'i'ii bank of the
Mississip])]. Neighboring, but on the eastern bank, and so
within the English jurisdiction, were some three hundred more
French, with a serving 1)()dy of nearly as many blacks. These
were the communities which wei'e seeking to turn the Indian
])roduets into channels which would carry them down the Mis-
sissippi on their way to the sea. The French (\inadians. who
were now looking to the English to jn-otect their western
trade, com])lained that unless the English were more enter-
l)rising and built new posts, the Indian trade toward the Mis-
sissip])i would all slip away. Neither did the English, who were
now coming into Canada in order to reap a harvest in the fur
trade, view the conditions with more com])lacency. Carleton,
who had ruled in Quebec since Se])teniber, 1700, opened a
<'orres])ondence with Johnson in order to seek a remedy, but
Gage saw it was simply a game of sharp practice at which both
f} i
24 LOUISIAXA, FLORIDA, AM) THE ILLINOIS COLWTIiV.
sides were in'ivilcged to pluy. ^^'lu'n it was reported to him
that the Kreiieh ami Siianish wvre endeavoring to hue the
savages to their interest, lie replied that "we have no reason to
reproaeh them, as we aim at the same thing," and he si)olie the
truth. He was (juite as coniplaeent when one warned him of
the Inilians" et^'oits to end»roil the Kngiish with the Ficneh.
'"They might wi-ll like to do it,"' he saiil, '"for our (|uarrels are
the Indian harvests."
The trade of that part of this distant eountry lying west of
the Lake of the Woods had been drawn in large j)art to the
English factors at Iludson's Jiay. Fros 'iake Sui)eiioi' tlie
traders were already jjushing to Kainy Lake, and by 1770 they
had estahlislu'd posts on Lake Winnipeg and beyond, as well as
farther south on the upper branches of the Mississippi,
Trading wei;t of l)etroit had beer, prohibited exee])t by
license, and under such a i)rivilege Alexaiuler Henry had en-
joyed the freedom of Lake Superior. Hut ])ohce control in
such conditions was impossible, and it was not unlikely that
the trader without a license turned his tracks down the Great
Valley, rather than risk detection on the St. Lawrence. The
English commander at Fort C'hartres was always comidaining
tliat the traders on the ojjjjosite sides of the ]Mississi})pi acted
in collusion. There weie ninety carrying places between the
Lake <»f the Woods and Montreal. It was not strange that the
trading canoes were oftener seen gliding on the almost uninter-
rupted current of the Mississi])pi, where they were easily thrown
into companionship with the French packmen, as far north as
the Falls of St. Anthony and higher up. Such intercourse
boded no good to the English.
Unfortunately, Major Kogers, their commandant at Mack-
inac, was hardly a man to be trusted. He had become badly in
debt to the traders, and had schemes of detaching that jjost
from Canadian control and using it to secure welcome and
advancement from the French. This movenu^nt demoralized the
Lulians, and Gage soon found it necessary to instruct Johnson
to use his interi)reters to ensnare the traitor, and in I)ecend)er,
17G7, he was arrested for treason.
The effect of Kogers's disaffection upon the Indians was to
be dreaded, as convincing them of tlu' weakness of the English
rule and the ultimate return of the French domination. There
i
ouyTiiY
THE AMERICAN BOTTO.U.
25
etl to him
J lure the
i reason to
; spoke the
led him of
le Freiieh.
uavrels are
ins; west of
[)ait to the
iipeiior the
! 17T0 they
1, as well as
ipi.
except hy
iiry had en-
! control in
nlikely that
u the (ireat
vence. The
comi)lainin<^-
ssippi acted
between the
HOC that the
lost uninter-
asily thrown
far north as
intercourse
it at ]Maelv-
)U»e badly in
i<y that l^ost
eleome and
iioralized the
net Johnson
n I)ecend)er,
dians was to
the En.«:;lish
tion. There
were too a))i)arent <;Tounds for believing in the hold winch tlie
Fii'nch still liad upon tlie Indians. Johnson assured (Jage that
the savages were as fond as ever of the French. " Whatever
they ardently wish for, it is natural for them to expect even
after several disapimintments," said that observer. It seemed
to the French themselves that the savages greatly desired a
rcinstatenuMit of the Freni-h power.
To unsfttlf this savag*' regard for their rivids and to i-ehabili-
tate this Indian trade, so that the seaboard could ju'otit by it,
was now a vital cpiestion with the Knglish. The obvious niove-
nii'nt was to make the Illinois country subservient to such a pur-
pose, just as the French in the earlier days had always nu:de
it. Tlu! author of a tract on T/ic Jixpcdicnci/ of f<c('iirin(/ our
A/iicricdii Colonics hi/s('ff/l/i(/ tin- Cou/ifr// (i<(joiitiii(/ t/ic Ji'/rcr
.]fi.'<sisf<ijij>i had, as early as 1703, ])ointed out how the forks of
thi' Mississippi, as its junction with the Ohio was termed, cover-
iii"- a rt'gion strettdiing to the Illinois, was " the most necessary
l)lace of any in America, — the key of all the inland parts."
(Jage, on April 3, 17(57, wrote to Shelburne that it was desir-
able to have an English fort at this point in order to control
the dependi'nt country ; and just before (\iptain Harry (lordon,
Chief Engineer of North America, had pointed out tlie situation
of Fort Massac as adndi'able for that ])ur]H)se. Heck, in his
(idzrttaer (1823), points out that the first settlements at Cahokia
and Kaskaskia .vere juade in the most fertile land in Illinois.
They were ui^on a piece of alluvial land, latei- known as the
American Bottom, whose existing aboriginal mounds showed
that it had long before supported an affluent ])opulation. This
region, lying between a range of bluffs and the river, extended
north from Kaskaskia for a hundred nules, and contained an
area of about five hiuidred and twenty square miles. It was
mostly a treeless ])rairie, but there' was a fringe of heavy tind)er
along the river. Its vei-y fertility rendered it nnasmatic, but
steady cultivation had improved its salubriousness. As an
agricultural region, Ilutchins called it ''of a sujx'rior soil to
any other ])art of North America " that he had seen. Carver
tells us that this was the general re])utation which the country
l)()re.
During the years innnediately following the ])eace, and ])ar-
ticularly before the cession of the trans-Mississippi country to
li li
i:
' I
.1'
I
:ft;
ii'
.pi'
il
.1
I
I t
2G LOUISIANA, FLORIDA, AND rilE ILLINOIS COUNTllY.
Sjiain was known, there luul been some confusion anion^ the
])oj)iihiti<)n, owing to a general exochis of the French across the
Miwsissipj)i. The vilhige neighboring to Fort Chartres had
become ahnost clej)oi)uhite(l in this way, and the flight of its
inhabitants was not altogether untimely, in view of the sjjeedy
encroachments which the current of the river was making on
the soil. The Knglisb a little later (1772) found it necessary
to abandon Fort Chartres, " the most conunodions and b(!st
built fort in North America," as Pittman called it, because the
river had undermined its walls in places. To imderstand how
the very qualities which rendered this bottomdand so rich
made it also unstable, we find this fort, when it was rel)uilt in
1750, two miles inland ; at the time we are now considering,
sixteen years later, it was partly washed away, while to-day the
ruined magazine and th.; ragged walls are again more than a
mile from the river. In 1772, a new defense, called Fort (iage,
was l)uilt on the bluff .tpposite Kaskaskia, and thither the Kng-
lish garrison was transferred. There was need of it, if England
was to give the region the protection it needed.
The Cherokees and Chickasaws, not long before, had invaded
the country and connnitted depredaticms in the neighborhood
of Kaskaskia. The native defenders, the tribes of the Illinois,
had at this ])eri()d lost their vigoi-. Early in 17G8, or at least
in time for Gage to have heard of it in New York in the sum-
mer of that year, — and this evidence seems better than what
induced Parkman to })ut it a year later, — Pontiac had been
treacherously killed in Cahokia. " The Fi'ench at Illinois and
Post Vincent," says Gage (duly 15, 17G8), " com])laiu of our
setting the Cherokees and Chickasaws to m<dest them, and that
the death of Pontiac, connnitted by a Peorie of the Illinois,
and believed to have been excited by the English to that action,
had drawn many of the Ottawas and other northern Indians
towards their country to revenge his death." Johnson, from
reports which reached him, feared, as a consequence, another
outbreak like the Pontiac war. But the Illinois were the only
suiferers, and their misfortunes lay them ojX'U to the revenge
of the Pottawattamies, the Winnebagoes, and the Kickapoos,
and there was a direful scene of suffering at Starved Kock. To
such " a poor, debauched, and dastardly " condition had these
people come, who in La Salle's time had crossed from the west-
'%
WNTRY.
mong the
1
1
icross the
vtics had
ght of its
he speedy
lakiiij;' on
necessary
and lH!st
ecause the
stand how
d so rich
■4
rebuilt in
)nsidering,
to-(hiy the
ore than a
U)rt (lajic,
r the Kiii;-
if Knj^huid
1(1 invaih'd
i^hhorhood
he Illinois,
or at least
11 the smn-
than what
had been
llinois and
ain of our
u, !ind that
le Illinois,
hat action.
rn Indians
nson, from
ee, another
i-e the only
he revenge
Kickapoos,
Rock. To
had these
in the west-
THE II.I.ISOIS TlilllES
27
KASKAPKIA AND f'AHOKIA ANP TJfK AMF.UUAN liOTTOM.
('Ill bank of the Mississippi and confronted the Tr()(|Uois. that
Ilutchiiis describes them as too indolent to obtain skins enough
to barter for clothiii"-.
IMttinan's account of them is much to the same effect. He
e<nints their male adults at three hundred and fifty, whom it
i^ i
ki
.!i:
If
.'ft
i;
'' li
l< '!
28 LOUISIANA, I'LOllIDA, AX I) THE II.LISOlH COl'STHY.
is a mockery to i*all wjirriors. If they hIuiiU Ix-forc tlit; l»niv»'r
tribes towiinls tliu Wisconsin, tliuy liad, in the Miami conl'eder-
acy^ other warlike neij'hhors to repress them on tiie side of the
Wahash. The white popnlation of all this country, ineludin;;'
that at V'ineennes, was jierhaps not far from two thousand,
consistinjif ahnost wholly of French, who fiom ties with the
liulians, or fi'om hal)it8 of content, had not sought to escape the
Knj;Hsli rule, though they objected to serve as British militia.
Peiliaps Knglish observers exaggerated their social degradation,
but Lieutenant Fi-aser, who had just been among tliem, (iallcd
them debauched and every way disgraced l)y drunken habits.
Such was the country, in climate, soil, and denizen, wiiite and
red, which was now attracting attention. Sir William Johnson
• was writing of its capabilities to the Board of Trade, and di-
recting thither the notice of Conway. The reasons wiiich he
urged for making it the seat of a Hritish colony were that an
English })opulation would prevent the practice promoted by
the four hundred Fi'cnch families already there, of sending furs
down to New Orleans. The eonmiander at Fort Chartres had
been unsuccessful in prohibiting this, and the Spanish traders
went with imi)unity up the Illinois and Wabash rivers. (Jcn-
eral (r ge asked Don Ulloa at New Orlean to ])revent this, and
a little X 'cr ordered armed boats to jiatrol the river to inter-
ce])t the oi.- ■<. dohnson's j)lan included the maintaining of
English posts o». he east bank of the iMississi])pi, the ac(piii'-
ing lands of the luiiians and settling soldiers \\\m\\ them, and
the creation of a land company, which would agree to settle an
occupant on every huiulred acres.
MeanwhiU, (ieiu'ral Phinoas Lyman, in behalf of some offi-
cers of the Lite war, was writing to Shelburne, and developing
schemes 1 v .vhich he would establish colonies all ahtng the
Mississii>[;i from western Florida to the F'alls of St. Anthony.
The active mind of llaldiniand worked over, as we shall see,
the problem in his cpiartcrs at IVnsacola, and he sent a plan to
frage, now in New York, who forwarded it to the home govern-
ment. This ])lan outlined a military colony at the Natchez,
and advocated the making of small grants of land to the Louisi-
ana French along the river, in order to induce them to settle
upon them and so escajje a servitude to the Spanish, which had
now become their palpable fate.
)i:MUy.
A7vir OHLKAXS.
29
tilt! lii'iivrr
1 conlcdiT-
i»l(! of tlic
iucludin^'
thousand,
i with the
escape the
ish inilitiu.
';4r;i(hiti(»n,
jt'in, i!:ilk'(l
1 hal)its.
, wliite and
111 rlohiisoii
(le, and di-
s which he
eru that an
oniotcd l»y
'iidinj;' furs
liartres had
iiisli traders
vers, (icn-
'iit this, and
cr to intcr-
intaining of
the accpiir-
n them, and
to settle an
yi some ot'ii-
[ (U'V('loi)in<^
il along- the
Anthony.
AC shall see,
•nt a i)lan to
loine govern-
lie Natchez,
o the Louisi-
icni to settle
h, which had
To understand the attitude of llaldiinand's mind and the con-
ditions which prevailed in the lower parts of the Mississippi, it
is lu'cessary to revert to the intliieiiccs which the secret treaty
of I7(j;{ were exerting in that region.
New Orleans at this time contained, within a stockadt! huv'iig
a circuit of ahout two and a half miles, ii(»t far from four thuu-
sijid douls. This population for the most part was living in
some seven or eight hundred dwellings, standing as a rule in
i>ardcns of their own. These houses, huilt of timher, with brick
filling, were of a single floor, elevated ahout eight feet from the
soil so as to furnish storage below. The wet giound, in fact,
did not admit of digging ""liars. The occupants of the out-
skirts were! mostly (iermans and Acadians, scattered along the
river on liotli sides, nearly to the Iberville. Including these,
the entire population of the town and its (h'pendencies may
have reached near ten thousand souls. In seasons of high water
t'ey were all living in some danger of inundation, for the rush-
ing river at such times was only kept to its channel by an
unsubstantial levee, which extended for about fifty miles nj) and
down its banks.
Several travelers have left us their observations of New
Orleans at a period just subseipient to the Pcsice of I'aris.
Captain de Pages, of the French navy, whom w*> have already
mentioned, s])eaks of seeing Tonicas and ('hoctaws in the town,
bringing fish, fruit, and game to barter for brandy and trinkets.
The more activt> merchants, however, were rai'cly in the town
excei)t to re])lenish their supplies, and were usually uj) the river
in search of peltry. They oftcner than otherwise wintered on
the St. Francis River, which entered the Mississi))pi on the
western side, ninety miles below the ()liio. From this place
they sent their furs and salted meats to Ni'W Orleans for a
market. In the season of travel, they moved uj) the river in
little flotillas of l)ateaux, which were geiu'ially of about forty
tons burden, and were maniu d by eighteen or twenty hands. It
took about three months to row. ])ok;. and warp such crafts
from New (Orleans to the Illinois country, and the bargemen
were often obliged at night to guard their cam})s from the
attacks of tlie Chiekasaws and otiier niaraudei's. Arrived at
the ui)])er waters of the Mississippi, the pueKinen scattered
along the various trails. They were found on the higher reaches
I .,
30 LOUISIANA, FLORIDA, AND THE ILLINOIS COUNTRY.
of the Missouri, and were known to be in the habit of ascend-
ing that river three and four hundred leagues, gathering that
trade of whieli the English were now so eovetous. Tliey went
among the Sioux in the region west of Lake Superior. They
even turnoil east towards Canada, and are thought to have
instigated the savages of the Great Lakes to hostile demonstra-
tions against the English. A\'e find more or less contemporary
testimony on these points in such ol)servers as Lieutenant .[ohn
Thomas, of the Royal Artillery, and Philij) Pittman, who had
])assed from the Illinois region down the valley to IVnsacola.
But in March, 17G4, a Colonel Kobertson, who had just arrived
at New York from New Orleans, assured (iage that the French
in Louisiana were certainly not instigating the upper tribes
against Detroit.
if
Pensacola was now become the centre of English interests on
the Gulf shore, and had attained a prominence that it never had
possessed under the vSpanish rule. It liad been promptly occu-
jned by the English in 1763. The post then consisted of a hig^^
stockade, inclosing some miserable houses, and there were a few
equally dismal habitations without the defenses. Such was the
place where Bouquet, now a brigadier, liad been })ut in com-
mand in August, 17Go, as a fit field for his recognized abilities,
and where the southern fever was in a few days to cut short a
brilliant career. Whoever the connnander, Pensacola was des-
tined to be the centre from which the P^nglisl; were to control,
as best they could, the conflicting interests of the neighbor-
ing tribes, and gain what advantage wi\s possible from their
treaty rights of navigation along the jVIississippi. The \)v'n\-
cipal savage peo])les within tlie radius of this influence were the
Choctaws, the Creeks, and the Chickasaws, :ind they presented
Boine perplexing problems. The Choctaws were for a time dis-
tracted by the rival solicitations of the French and English,
and warring with the Chickasaws : but this conflict the English
alter a while checked, only to turn the Choctaws againsl. tl e
Creeks, now angry with the Englisli traders, and discontented
with the absence of gifts, which tlie French had taught niem
to expect of Europeans. In their restless condition they were
marauding along the English borders, but they promptly dis-
owned their young warriors if they were apprehended, — per-
OUNTRY.
of asci'iid-
it'i'ing that
I'lu'y wont
ior. They
it to have
ileiuonstra-
iteiupovavy
enant .John
u, who had
Pensacohi.
list arrived
the French
pper tribes
interests on
it never had
mptly oecu-
2d of a hi<>'i
I were a few
iieh was the
imt in coin-
ed al)ilities,
cut sliort a
ola was des-
to control,
le neighbor-
from their
The i)ri li-
ce were tlie
!y presented
a time dis-
iid Kuji'lish
the English
against tie
liscontcnted
aught iiiem
they were
i'()nn)tly dis-
ided, — per-
I
' li
If !i
11/ i
1^ L
32 LOUISIANA, FLORIDA, AND THE ILLINOIS COUNTRY.
haps more promptly than the En<;;lish disowned tlie " crackers,"
as the hiwless whites of the borders were called. The English
would have been glad to })lay off some of the lesser tril)es
against bothChoetaws and Creeks, but the Alibamons were
flying north to escape the toils. The Knglish even thought of
luring the Natchez, because of their hatred of the French, to
cross the Mississi])pi and stand as a barrier against their savage
neighbors ; but the scheme was hardly practicable. The Cieeks
growing troublesome, Governor Johnston, who had succeeded
Bourpiet, had determined, in October, 1700, to attack them,
while (iage was advising that Johnston should draw in for
safety his distant garrisons. AVhen Johnston's purpose was
known to the home government, it dreaded a gi'ueral u])rising
of tiie tribes, and recalled him for his rashness. Ilahlimand
was now ordered to take his place, and enforce a moi' ' )t Mceful
policy. So one of the first nuitters to which the n \ t ,. "nor,
on his arrival early in 1707, directed his attenti'.:^ .« h.> how
to divert from the lower Mississii)pi the trade of tlie Illinois
country.
The obvious solution of this problem was to establish a post
on the Mississippi, just north of the Iberville River, and then
deepen the channel of that stream, so as to render its naviga-
tion easy and at all times certain.
This would carry the stream of traffic through Luke Pont-
chartrain to Mississi])])i Sound, and on to ^lobile and Pensa-
cola. which might thus be made to flourish at the experse of
New Orleans. Alrt-ady in ]\Iareh. 1707, Gage at New Yorl.:
had received reports of measures looking to this end, and lia '
a])i)roved them.
The engineering feat was not an easy one. and its difficu; iv
were jjalpable. W];en the Mississip])i was at a low stag;v, th"
bed of the Ilx'rville was twelve feet above it: in the season of
freshets it was as much or more below, but the current was
then all the more obstructed l)y driftwood. Three years l»efore
(1704), the English had made one futile attempt to divert the
scanty flow of the great river so as to decjx-n the lessei' clianncl.
It now ha])])ened that befoie anv serious clf'nrt could be made
to attack the difficulty afresh, a new ])olicy of strengtlu- ;i!g
the English garrisons at St. Augustine, ^Mobile, and Pens.. '1)
in view of needing the troops to quell disturbances now bi<' x-
]'
i
OUNTliV.
• crackers,"
he Englisli
isser tvil)es
jnons were
thought of
FreiH-li, to
clu'ir savage
The Creeks
1 succeeded
ttack the in,
Iraw iu for
,)urpose was
ral ui)risiug
Hald inland
lOi" v.ieefnl
V . ,. "nor,
,,,:, .-us how
tlie Illinois
Yiddish a post
ver, and then
er its naviga-
T.ake Pont-
' and Pensa-
ic experse of
\t New York
end, and ha '
its diifieui iv
low stag5\ th'.'
the season of
e current was
years hefore
t to divert the
sscr channel,
oidd be made
strengtV.t- hig
ind Peri!-... ' 1'
CCS now hi«'.v-
THE SPAMAliDS IX LOflSIAXA.
33
ing in New England and likely to si)read south, drew away the
tioops at the mouth of the Il)erville and at the Natchez. On
this policy JIaldiniand and the civil governor were at variance,
and the general reported to (iage not only the had effect on
the Indians of the evacuation of the ]\Iississi])pi j)osts, hut the
detriment it would prove to the trade which they had hoped to
create. Auhry, the French governor at New Orleans, had not
been unmindful of these events, and tlu-y gave him some relief
from his anxieties as res})eets his English neighbors.
The hope of the English to possess New Orleans by sonie
device had not been out of sight, even when the Iberville pro-
ject seemed promising, for the outlet of the ]Mississipj)i was
looked to as a means of lessening the financial obligations of
the colonies to the mother country, wliicli had accumulated
between 1750 and 1705 to near jEll.OOO.OOO. There was a
])ros|>ect. if the mouth of that river was left in the hands of
the French, that tlu'y would outi'ival the English in tobacco
as they had in sugar, and cotton was just beginning to be an
export from. New Orleans. J(dm Thomas, in his record of
events, is confident that fifteen hundred English and two hun-
(li'cd Indian auxiliaries could conijuer Louisiana. Ilaldimand
was (|ui'stioned by (iage as to the feasibility of such an effort.
Tiiat officer thought it not a difficult task, and counted u])on
the readiness of the French inhabitants to throw tliemselves on
the Englisli side in case of a rupture with the Si)aniards, which
jiiow seemed probable.
It is necessary to go back a little to see how this condition
lof a French antagonism to Sjniin had become supposable. At
^the beginning of 17(54, (lage in New York had learned of the
i^proposed change of masters in New Orleans, which had been
^assured Ity the secret treaty of 17<!3. '" I have a very exti-aor-
adinarv ])iece of good news to tell vou." (iage wrote to John-
§son. Jajiuary 2;', '* wliich is that the French ar(> to cede all
^Louisiana to the king of Si)ain. by which we shall "ct rid of
;la most troublesome neighbor and tlie contiiuMit be no longer
|em'»roiK'd with their intrigues. The Fi-ench minister has de-
*{'larcd this to ]Mr. N»>ville. with the com))liment that it was
|done purely to avoid future disputes and (piarrels v/ith tlie
fEnglisli nation. I don't Uno>v wliether thev are vet acquainted
fr.?f"
i<i .1'
\ii\
li" '
34 LOUISIANA, FLORIDA, AND THE ILLINOIS COUNTRY.
with these resolutions on the Mississippi," They were not.
Tlie secret provisions for a transfer were not known in New
Orleans till October, and a few months later, February 4, 17(55,
(rAbbadie, the French governor, died, and Aubry became the
acting governor. In the following sununer, he and tiie council
received word from Havana that a Spanish conunandant had
been appointed, and would soon present himself at New Orleans.
This official was Antonio de Ulloa, now a man of nearly fifty,
who had acquired some name by being associated with a scien-
tific expedition to the eipiator to measure the arc of the m<'-
ridlan. On March 5, 176G, he arrived at New Orleans and
became aware of a strong opposition among tlie Louisianians
I ' intended transfer.
.13 time before, there had been a large meeting in New
Orleans, which resulted in a leading merchant — Milliet Ity
name — being sent to France in the li()[)(! of inducing the
government to revoke the treaty of cession. Tliis messengm"
found Bienville in Paris, tlien a man of eighty-five, and witli
liim he sought an audience of the king, which Choisenl mnn-
aged to avert. It was a cherished ho])e of tliat minister, that
the ^ ime was coming when France couhl be avenged u2)on Eng-
land for all she had lost. In 1704-G(j, he had kept a spy,
Monsieur Beaulieu, in the English colonies watcliing for events
that h(^ couhl take advantage of. Some time afterwards we know
that De Kalh, on January 12, 1708, arrived in Piiiladelphia, to
see liovv n( arly rij)e tlie colonial discontent was f<n" that bi'cak
with the motlier country which Turgot believed inuninent.
The minister was again actuated by this same liope a little
later, when Sj)ain had secured herself at New Orleans, and he
])ointed out that \u\ true policy was not to try to colonize
Louisiana, for which she had no a])tness, but to rule her new
province so liberally, even to fostering it as a re])ublic, that the
Americans would be lured by sympathy to declare their own
independence, — a movement that Choisenl had no hesitation
in desiring at whatever cost.
It seemed at first as if Ulloa was going to im])ede such a
tendency by acts of conciliation towards the unwilling Fr'-ncli.
but the atmos])here so(m changed. He had brought with him
two companies of infantry, but they were not .sufficient to
enforce authority, and it was evident that the French — neither
m
■%■
iS
COUNTRY'.
y were not.
awn in Ni'W
Kivy 4, 17*)5,
' l)ec:imc the
;l the council
muulant had
S'ew Orleans,
nearly fifty,
with a scien-
c of the nie-
Orleans and
Louisianians
eting in New
_:Milhet by
inducing the
his messenger
-five, and with
Choiseul man-
minister, tliat
»ed upon Eng-
.1 kept a spy,
ling for events
^vards we know
hihulelphia, to
tor that hreak
vca\ inuninent.
: hope a little
iileans, and he
try to colonize
, rule her new
)uhlic, that tiie
lare their own
1 no hesitation
iini)edc such a
willing Fn'uch.
ought with him
^t sufficient to
rench — neither
ULLOA AXD AUBRY.
35
troops nor ])oi)ulace — would tamely suhniit to a change of
fi;i<'-. Indeed, Aid)ry was apparently the only friend whom the
t-lpanish governor had founil. UUoa had tried in various ways
to appease the opj)osition, and in May, 17()0, he had issued a
conciliatory order, ])erniitting contnuied intercourse with the
French ^^'est Indies; hut within four months all such eomnui-
uication was interdicted.
Tims the situation became i ritical. The French were doubt-
.' k'ss unfortunate; and Ulloa, put to the test, was shown to be
: destitute of tact, and in some acts seemed inhuman. Aubry
was soon convinced of the yi)aniard"s inability to govern. With
u hostile p(>i)ulation of six thousand, not inchuling blacks, —
for Ulloa had ordered a census and obtained some definite^ fig-
lu-es. — it was clearly imj)i'u<lent for him to set up his authority
without further comnuuiication with his government. Aubry
•f had liiid detinite instructions (Ajiril '20, 170(3) to cede the
; j)rovincc, and in his intercourse with Ulloa was com])laccnt, if
I ii(»t tiiiie-serving ; but he was without the hardihood of char-
^^jictj'r needed in such an emergency, either to make Ulloa l)anish
his indecision, or to control the French. Accordingly, when
UUoa felt it i)rudent to retire to the Balize, Aubry soon followed
him. Here the two made a documentary record of the transfer
."of government, but there was not the courage to })ublish it.
Ulloa now estal)lished his headcpiartei's on the opposite side
of the stream from the French fort, which, in the growing of
I the delta seaward, was now two miles from the Gulf. when, in
il7-v4, it had been built directly ujion the o])en water. At that
Jtinie, the island which Ulloa now occu])ied did not exist.
4 In December, 17()7. Jean Milhet returned from France, and
I declared that there was to be no effect from the colony's pro-
Itest. The innuediate result was that Aubry and Ulloa agreed
^npon a ])lan of joint rule till their European masters could
|inter])ose more effectively. Detachments were now sent u]) the
I river to establish three ])osts, the better to patrol the river and
fto be pre])are(l for decisive action, and when tlie Si)aniards
^deserted from Ulloa's regiments, French wer<' enlisted to take
■^ their ])laees. One of these detacluntMits was at the mouth of
the Iberville, opposite the ])osition which the English later
tried to occupy. Another was opposite Natchez, and a third
, was at the mouth of the Missouri. All these posts were distinct
30 LOUISIANA, FLORIDA, AXD THE ILLINOIS COUNTRY.
r A I
! I
I I
■l
i
'1ii
■*' I
1. m
obstacles to the English project of seeuriiij;' the trans-Mississipiii
trade ; but the forts were too far apart for mutual sujjport in
any contest with the En<j;lish. (Jaye had already determined on
a stricter observation* of the river, and had ordered the arresi
of all French tradeis found on its eastern banks : and before
Au<;ust, 1708, he had sent a message to Ulloa of his purpose.
Events which were taking ])laee in Boston — royal regiments
landing under cover of shotted guns — ])refigured the coming
revolution of the English colonies, and the tidings were to cany
joy to Choiseul's heart. A fear of this outbreak had necessi-
tated, as we have seen, the evacuation of the liritish ])osts on
the Mississi])pi, and it had ]n'oved the best ])rotection o the
Si)aniards. The attitude which the Louisianians were now-
assuming showed doubtless some of that revolutionary fervor
which characterized the New England patriots. Iiuleed, Aubry
suspected that it was not so nnicli devoMon to France as a
desire for independence which was now impelling the growinj,'
discontent. He even informed his government that some of
the im])rudences of Ulloa might drive a part, at least, of tlie
French over the river to the protection of the English flag.
The stubbornness of Ulloa brought a natural result when, in
October, 1708, a conspiracy organized in secrecy, in which sonic
of the leading colonists were concerned, broke forth. The ciisis
WPS reached. Ulloa fled to a frigate In the river, and befoif
the month was closed the Supreme Council decreed, notwith-
standing Aubry's protest, that the Spaniards nnist leave. ( )ii
October 31, Ulloa sailed out of the river, and on December 4,
1708, he announced the result to Grimaldi, the Spanish minister.
Such a daring act (m the ])art of the council needed exjdana-
tion, and this body disjxitched a messenger to Paris to nudcc a
vepresentaticm. Ulloa was in advance, and when his report was
made known in France, it was not an unwelconie thought to
the enemies of England that revolutions were contagious, ami
that the English colonies were growing ri])e for the infection.
Though such encouraging sentiments were lacking, the P'rencli
government itself ])roved steadfast in their obligations witli
Si)ain.
As soon as the Louisianians became aware by a return nns-
sage that there was no hope in Paris, they turned to the Englisli
in Florida for sympathy and aid, but got none.
S- COUNTRY.
Lns-Mississi|)]»i
ml sui)])oit in
(Ictcvnniic'd on
red the iirresi
:s : .iiul before
his ])urpose.
oval rt'giuu'uts
•I'd the coming
s were to carry
k had necessi-
ritish posts on
oteetion o the
iiins were now
iitionary fervor
liuleed, Aiihry
;o France as ii
iig the growing
it that some of
at least, of tlie
luglish flag.
. result when, in
\r^ in which sonic
)rth. The crisis
iver, and hefoif
ecreed, notwitli-
lust leave. < )"
on December 4.
)anish minister,
needed explana-
Paris to make a
11 his re])oit was
•onie thought to
contagious, and
)r the infection,
cing. the Frencli
ohligatioiis witli
)y a return nns-
>d to the Englisli
le.
O'REILLY IX A'/iJr ORLEANS. 37
< The anxious days slipi)ed on, and in July, 1709, it was known
in New Orleans that O'Keilly, an Irish Catholic in the Spanish
service, with a fleet at his hack, had arrived at the lialize.
The next (hiv, this S})anish eonimander sent to tht; town instriic-
: tions committed to him for Auhry. He infornu'd tlie French
o-overnor at the same time of his purpo.se to assume command,
wliatever obstacles were interposed. He had three, tliousand
troops to add weight to his determination.
Tlic town grew excited over the news. White cockades
■ apitean^d on tlie streets, Tliere was in-os])ect of trouble. La
Frcnicn', and other leaders of the conspiracy whicli liad sent
riloa otf, recognized the gravity of the situation, and success-
fidly excited themselves to allay the excitement. To help
restore contick'nce, these conspirators, now more prudent, went
down the river to welcome the new governor.
The way seemed open for a pea'jeful oceuiiation. It was
hoped the ])ast would be forgotten. Hut appearances were
ensnaring. O'Keilly reached the town on August 17, and on
the next (hiy Aubi-y made a formal surrender.
Tlie puri)ose of O'Reilly was for a brief period cloaked; but
in the end La Freiiiere and the other consj)irators were seized
and executed, while still others were imprisoned. By the latter
part of November, 17(39, the new government was in possession
everywhere. OKeilly's conduct was doubtless shaped by his
instructions, and Jay, who later knew him in Spain, thought
liim "a man of excellent abilities, and possessed of great know-
ledge of men as well as of things."
O'Reilly had found the English merchants in complete con-
trol of the commerce of New Orleans, and he took immediate
measures to dispossess them, and to cut off English communi-
eations across tlu; Mississippi. As soon as Ciage had heard of
O'Reilly's success, he congratulattMl himself that if he could
only spread the tidings among tlu> AVestern Indians, he could
ett'ectually dispel their hopes of further French aid.
While the Spaniards were thus endeavoring to form a barrier
against the English, they were dispatching messages to the
Indians of Florida, — a region to wliosc loss, under the treaty
|of 1708, they had not become reconciled. These added new
difficulties to those which beset the loval officers of the British
38 LOUISIANA, FLORIDA, AND THE ILLINOIS COUNTRY
I'. '
! \
I:
ill'
crown all along the Gulf and Atlantic coast. Tlicy had little
time to think further of the forcible acquisition of New Orleans,
for the prowling savages were hanging about their interior
])()sts, so as to compel their abandonuient, one by one. Tht;
T()nd)igl)ee fort was evacuated in the spring of 1708, and not
an armed station now pi-otected the English trailers in tlio
upjH'r country. A waveiing and sinister policy, as Adair coiii-
l)lains, had well-nigh alienated all the neighboring tribes from
the English, and made it a conunon reproach among them to
be an ally of that treacherous race which sold firearms to friend
and foe alike.
Meanwhile the new i)olitical commotions in the older English
colonies were checiking the unfolding of English power on the
Ohio and by the Illinois. To such projects we must now turn.
Governor Franklin of New Jersey and Sir William flohnson,
feeling with their Tory instincts full contidence in the niaintt-
nance of the royal power on the seaboard, were together j)laii-
ning the establishment of a cidony in the Tllinois region. To
advance their schemes, Sir William addressed the ministers and
(lovernor Franklin wrote to his father, then in London, wlm.
from his im})ortant services in the recent wai*, was recognized
even there as a man of influeni^e. The eldt>r Franklin ])roved
an earnest advocate of the new nieasuri's, which were not uii-
likt! in their ])uri)ose the ])roject of barrier colonies, to whicli
he had connnitted himself at the time of the Albany congress
in 1754. The expectation at first was to buy needed territory
from the French settlers, and Franklin marked out for Loid
Shelburne the limits that were proposed on the small-scale mwy
which makes a ])art of Evans and PownalTs larger sheet. Thi>
plan of com})ensation was soon al)and(med, and the government
was petitioned for a grant. Genei-al Gage and a body of l^liila-
delphia merchants joined the others in this new memorial.
Their aim was to acipiire a tract of 68.000.000 acres stretching
from Lake Erie to the Mississip])i, and bounded in one direction
by the Fox and Wisconsin rivers and on the other by the Ohio.
Wabash, and Miami (Maumee). Against the eastern bound>
of the i)roposed colony, and along the Wabash and Miami, lay
a French popixlation of some five or six hundred, which were
grouped at Vincennes, and at Forts Ouiatanon and Miami.
i COUNTRY.
hey had littli"
New Orleauf*,
their iuteiior
by OIK!. The
17tJ8, ami not
;r;ulois in tho
as Adair coin-
no- tribes from
uiong them to
jiuiiis to friend
i oilier Knylish
1 power on the
must now turn.
illiam .Johnson,
in the maintr-
i together phin-
ois region. Ti»
\ii ministers and
n London, whu.
was recogni/t'd
Fvanldin ])rov(Ml
eh were not un-
donies, to whicli
Albany congress
needed territory
h1 out for Ijonl
sm-dl-scale nnip
^er sheet. This
the government
a body of V\n\-A-
i new memorial.
) acres stretchin;.i
1 in one direction
ther by the (Mii".
e eastern boun(l>
1 and iMianu, lay
Ircd, which were
non and Miami.
A COKNER MA1> IN KVANS AND I'OWNALLS LARGE MAP.
40 LUi;iSIAXA, FLORIDA, AX J) THE ILLINOIS COUNTRY.
TliL'sc settlers were in the luiiiii iij^ricultiiral, and j;ave much
of tluur hiUov to the vine : wliile they varied life with an oeca-
sioiiitl hunting' season. They had pined under the change of Hag
much less than the French nearer the Mississippi, and had in
fact estahlislied family ties with the neighboring Indians, whieli
served to hind them to the soil, and there was indeed much in
their country to attract. Wharton had said of it in 1770 :
'* The Wabash is a beautiful river, with high and upright
baidis, less subject to overflow than any other river (the Ohio
excei)ted) in this })art of America. It is navigable to Ouiata-
non, 412 miles, in the spring, suiiimer, and autumn, with bat-
toes drawing about 3 feet of water. Hoats go 11)7 miles furthei-
to the Miami carrying place (nine miles).''
The severest wrench to the feelings of the French, whether
here or along- the Mississip[)i, eame with tiie establishment.
under orders from (lage, of a court and juiy according to Eng-
lish usage, whither all causes were to be taken. The change
from the civil hiw of the French, api)li('(l by jiulges in their
own villages, was a dismal reminder of their new allegiance to
a distant master.
^fll . ''
V 1
11^ >
r II
The project of a new colony, which should seek to harmonize
conflicting interests, give a stable government to the uncertain
'French, and i)rotect the trading body, apijcaled variously to
those who were lookers-on or had r(!sponsibilities. Some like
Lord Clare looked to it, as he ti)ld Fraidilin, solely with a view
to securing the country against a possible revolt of its French
inhabitants. Such also was, in effect, the opinion held by Ilaldi-
mand, studying the problem at Pensacola, and dreaming of tlir
reci})roeal interests of his own province and the u])per ^lissi-
si})pi. He had urged his view upon CJage, and had expi-esscd
the belief that such a ])ost on the Illinois could be made to sus-
tain itself by agriculture. Shelburne fell in with the broader
views which were pressed by Franklin, and so became in a way
the sponsor of the projcH't when he laid the scheme before tlic
Board of Trade in Oetobei-, 170(3, who, if constant to the views
which they had expressed more than (mce during the last twenty
years, might be reasonably exi)ected to favor the project.
It was held by the s]ionsor and advocates that such a colony
would raise up a population to demand Biitish manufactures;
in
sn
ne
111
'."=*:
COUNTRY.
[ o;ive mucli
A'ith an orrii-
hiin>j;i! »>f Hug-
, and had in
iidiiins, whieli
U-ed niui'U in
it in mO:
. and ni)vii;l»t
,.er (tiie Ohio
bio to Ouiata-
mn, Nvith hat-
i mik'S fnvtliev
i-enc'h, wlietluT
estaldishnuMit.
ording to Imi--
The idianm'
udgt's in thoir
w allegiance to
■k to havnimiizc
() the uncertain
Ul vaviously to
ios. Some Id^*'
llely ^vith a view
dt of its French
In hehl by Hahli-
dreaming of the
|u' ixpper ^li^^i--
d had exvves..a
\)o made to si\s-
ith the l)roadcv
>eeame in a Nvay
u'me before th.'
ant to the views
y the last tw'enty
le projeet.
at suck a colony
[k manufactures;
KNdUSH COLOXIAL AIMS.
41
that l»v it the fnr-tiiuU- ccudd be wrested from tlie I'lench and
Sitanish : that its settlements wonld serve as a harrier against
the Indians: that the country could provision the forts; and tliat
i it would he the means of giving ;i civil government to the Ficnch
pfoi)le now scattered there, and repining tunlcr the martial law.
Such vi«'\vs, however, availed nothing. The Loids of Trade
"^in March, 17»IT, reported adverstdy on the project. They held
that such a colony I'onld but poorly answer the end for which
colonies should he created. A pamphleteer of th(! time clearly
defines the views, current not only with the Lords of Trade, but
with the generally conservative, better-class Knglish subjects.
•• .\ colony is jtrotitahle," says this writer, " according as its
land is so good, that by a i>art of the labor of the inhabitants
bestowed on its cnltivation, it yields the necessaries of lifo
sutiKeient for their sustenance ; and by the I'cst of their labor
produces staph' eonmiodities in such ([unntity, and of such
value, as brings for the nu)ther country, in the way of coin-
jiierce and traffic, all manufactures necessary for the j)roi)er
accommodation of the colonists, and for the gradual improve-
ment of the colony, as the number of people increase." lie-
lieving in such conditions, Hillsborough, the first colonial sec-
retary, contended that Murray's scheme of extending (Quebec
to the AIississi])pi was the only prudent measure. Indeed, in
his conservative view the object of eohtiii/.ation being "to im-
prove the commerce, navigation, and manufactures of England,
ll])on which her strength and security deixMid." the ci'cating of
Colonial power distant from tlu^ sea, and causing chday in com-
Dninication. was expressly detrimental to public ])<dicy and an
Unwarranted charg(> u))on the ])ublie treasury. Fui'ther there
seemed, in his judgment, no occasion to annul the proclanui-
tioii of 1T()8, in oi'dci' to ])romote settlements wliicli were cer-
tain in the end to make their own wares insteii 'I buying them
from the mother country. Such sweets of commercial imle-
pendence. once tasted, were sure, he eontended. to create a desire
^^r pcditical autonomy. Further, lu; argued, there were no
if)e(i])le to s])are for building u]) an efl'eetive i-olony. and Irelainl,
Ul ])articul!ir. ought not to be depo])idated in the intei-ests of
ijuch a settlement, while the seaboard eonununities of America
weeded, as he thought, rather to be strengthened than depleted,
his counter arguments Franklin had depended, not so much
■'
i|
1
(1
1
l\ i'
I"
42 LOUISIANA, FLOIilDA, AND Till': ILLINOIS COUNTRY.
upon drawiii}^ Iuh colonists from the honhM- scttlt iiicnts, as
8i'«-uring them in tlu' mon; distant plantations like (",»nn»'('ti(Mit ;
and he; and many others felt sure that the eit'orts o, the minis-
ti-y to keep settlements on the Atlantic slojje and to inereas*!
the growth of Florida and the maritime provinces would cer-
tainly be thwarted by the climatic conditions of those rej^ions.
To IIillsl)orou<;h's plea for a restriction of manufactures.
Sl."ll)urne rei)lied that an active peoj)le cooj)ed up by tlic
mountains was much more likely to enjjfage in handicrafts thsiii
if allowed to subdue a virgin soil like that beyond the AUc-
ghanies. Wynne; argued the point in his Jirlt'ii^h Empirv in
A/iicrica (1770). " Cireat Britain," he says, "a country of
manufactures v/ithout materials ; a ti-adiny nation without
connnodities to trade upon ; and a maritime power without
either naval stores or sufficient material for shipbuilding,, could
not long subsist as an indej^endent state without her colonies.''
He then ai'gues that to secure intervals for the soil to lie
fallow required, for a country aiming tc subsist by agriculture
alone, that such laborers should havi an average forty or
fifty acres of land. In fact, .some of t ..board colonies had
no more than ten or twenty acres to the man. I'rohibit such
colonies from sending their suri)lus population beyond tlie
moimtain, and you force them, he said, to live in part hy
mantifactures, and prepare the way for indept^ndence. That
it is not possible to restrain a i)eo])le hungry for land is indi-
cated, he further said, in the continual disregard which had
been shown to the proclamation of 17G3.
No such arguments, however, ])revailed, and the niinistrv
were su])])orted in their conservative views generally by most
of the royal governors, and by prerogative nu'n in the colonics.
The op])onents contended that a ])urcly military control of sucli
distant regions was best adajjted to retain the French settJt'is
in subjection. Amherst was urging such establishments, not
only on the IVIississippi. but on the Ohio and :it Detroit.
Early in 1708, the movement lost force, Franklin bowinj: to
the will of the ministry ; but Lyman, who had been a strenuous
advocate and impatient at the obstaclt^s, had already intiniiited
a willingness to ])roceed without the pnnction of the govciii
ment. More prudent council, however, followed, and the ])yo-
ject before long took another shape.
,• coLryrny.
•ttlMuents, :iH
! C.uiiHH'tk'ut ;
o; tlu' minis-
j(l to iiu'voase
ices would cev-
Jiose vcpons.
iniinufacturt's.
H'd up by till'
luulicnil'ts thini
youd the Allf-
f/.sA Knifiire in
" a country ft
nation without
power without
phuikling., couM
it her colonies.'
the soil to lif
,t by agriculture
average forty or
ard I'olonies liad
Prohibit such
ion beyond tin'
live ill pitit Ity
)i^ndenee. Thiit
for land is indi-
...ard which lia<l
ind the ministry
generally by most
n in the colonics,
•y control of sm'li
.0 French settler^
tablishments, not
,t Detroit,
anklin bowin.i; to
been a strenumi'^
.already intinuitcil
.n of the govern-
wed, and the pro-
CHAPTER IV.
TIIK KKNTUC'KY UEGION.
1707-1774.
^m
TllK prohibition (»f settlement under the royal proclamation
^of 17t);5, after iive years of mingled distrust and inditfcrencc,
had been practically annulled over the greater part of Ken-
tucky by the treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1708. Wasiiingtou had
always under his breath called that edict " a temporary expedi-
ent to ipiict tiie Indians. It must fall, of course," he said,
''when the Iiuliaus consent to our occupying the lauds." In
aiuitiipation of sui-h consent lie had, in 1707, taken into his
CMiilidence an ohl acquaintance, C'oh)nel Crawford, who was now
living on the Youghiogheuy. It had been agreeil between
tlicm that Crawford slioukl proceed (piietly beyond the Moutm-
galiela as if bound on a hunting expedition, and stdect and de-
fine the most desirable lands. The object of secrecy was to
^prevent rivalry, ami while Crawford ius))e('ted and surveyed the
'lauds, Washington was to bear the cost as w<'ll as the fees for
Bul)se(pjent patenting, lie avowed his ])urj>ose to secure pre-
emption of large areas, of compac't acreage and as near Pitts-
burg as possible. Such a frontie:' service meant not a little
risk, for the Indians wer(^ everywhere jealous of the enci'oach-
nicnts of the whites. Charles Beatty, who at this time was
.traversing the country west of Fort Pitt, encoiuitered the signs
of devastations at all ])oiuts, and even tlu; Cliip])eways were
known to be plundering tlie bateaux on the Ohio. It was one
of the strongest grounds of remonstrance against the royal proc;-
iamation, that it prevented settled ways and ])olice contrt)! over
A region where the govei'nmeiit was powei'less to bar out ad-
venturous and vagrant occupants. The House of Purgesses in
Virginia were repiesenting to the king that, if setth'ments were
Jiot permitted, this over-hill country woidd become "the resort
pi fugitives and vagabonds, defiers of law and order, who in
IC
44
THE KENTUCKY REG ION.
h t
'I
'i; 11:,
:1IP'
I
time might form a body dangerous to tlie peace and civil gov-
ernment of this colony."
The royal proclamulion had been a part of the policy of the
government to strengthen, by turning the mirrcnt of j)oj)uhitii)n
thitlu'i', the newly ac(piired provinces of Nova Scotia and tiie
Floridas. Still tlie Board of Trade had not yet taken the ad-
verse sttuul vvliich it hitcr assumed towards tlie trans- Alleghany
nioveniLuts, and though prepared to check settlements in so
remote regions as the Illinois counti'y, were not (juite ready to
deny the possibility of a westward extension lo the seaboard
colonies, if made by easy advances beyond the n'ountains.
The pioneers were, m fact, well on their m uch. We have
seen how, in HOT, their movements had alarmed the Indians,
and Croghan had tried tt) (piiet the tri)>es in a conference at
Fort Pitt in May, 1768. (lage had little coniidence in the re-
sults. "■ When the proposed limits shall be fixed," he said, " I
despair not of living long enough to heai' that the frontier
peoi)le have transgi-essed them : " and there were, he felt, diffi-
culties ahead in the determination of the Indians not to allow
settlers on the ])rescribe(l lands till they were ])aid for them.
Johnson, while he was ari'anging for the gathering of the tribes
at Fort Stanwix in the autumn of that year, liad been fearful
lest Colonel Cr8r3ap"s ]mrchasing Indian hinds ni'ar the Greeu-
b'.ier Hi .'er, during the ])revious season, would disturb ^ho tribes.
But the daring hunters had gom^ mucli farther west. James
Smith, now a man of thirty, who had ])assed hi^ early n'.anliood
i!i ca])tlvity among tlie savap;os, was at this date s])ending eleven
mouths in coursing the valleys of the (^herokee and Cumber-
land rivers, — tlio earliest. y,crha])s, exce))t one Henry St'vag-
gins, a hunter, to traverse this region. William I'eau and liis
family ha<l built a hut on a branch of the Watauga. — tlie fii-^t
])erinanent habitation in the northeast corner of the uiodeni
Tennessee. Further south. James ITarrod and Miehatd Stover
had ventured to tlie neighborliood of the m<idern Xasliville.
liiit fate was phiying with a more famous name. The juonii-
neiice which Dani(d I'oone maintains in this western story is
due to his own recitals as ])reserved by bis contem])ovaries.
Tlie honest habit of his talk is not coni|detely lii<lden in tlio
ambitions tone which Filsoii has given to Boone's language in
his early account of Kentucky. Pxxuie's rugged, but tender
DANIEL BOOXE.
45
ami civil gov-
polioy of tli»'
of population
cotia ami tlie
taki'U the ad-
aus-AUe-liauy
Iciiu'iits ill so
(piite ready to
» the seaboard
>uutaius.
■eh. We hav(»
d the ludiuns,
, eonfereiuje at
euce in the )'e-
d,"' he said, *' I
it the frontier
le, he felt, difti-
ps not to allow
]iaid for them,
inn- of the trihos
ad heen fearfid
lear the Greeii-
stur"!> +ho trihes.
t>v west. »1:imes
, early n'.auhood
spendii'.t;' eleven
e ami C'mnbev-
e Ui'nry Sevno-
m Uear. ami his
lu-i-a. — the first
of the modern
Michael Stover
1 Xasliville.
ne. The prouii-
wst.'rn story i-^
eoiitempornriis.
y hidden in tlio
lie's lan.u'uage i»
,o'ed, but tetulov
personality was iiard to slu-ond. We see his tall and shsnder
lii;ure, too niuseular r(» he gaunt. His eyes idealized his head
ife was old enough at five-and-thirty for a ripem d manhood
t.) make him thoughtful. His experieiiee iiad both toughened
liis sinews and made his senses alert. Any ■mergeiiey l)r()ught
DAMKI, liO(iNr.
liiin well-nigh to tli»> normal ])erfeetion if a mar.. His kind-
ness diuws us to him. His nudacity MiMkes us as eoiilident a-<
himself. Naturally, what we knov of liini are glimpses at his
best, but we imagine f(U' a background the drer.rv monotony of
ill!' wilderness. Such a eharaeter becomes subdmd to the land-
scape about his figure. I lis fringed huntii'g-shirt, belted so that
40
THE KENTUCKY REGION.
.V. li ,
its ample folds carried his food, may be ragged ; his leggings
may be tattered by the brush ; his moccasins cut by the ledge ;
his knife clotted with tho blood of a wolf ; but the rich copse
and the bounding elk share our scrutiny with his person, and we
look to the canopy of magnolia, laurel, and ash, to the spread
of the buckeye and graceful catalpa, to the foaming stream and
the limestone vagaries, — and all that the man stands for in
bravery and constancy is mated with the enchantments ot
nature.
John Finlay, a trader from North Carolina, had before this
tliridded tlie Cuniberland Gap, and trudged on to the stiikiiij;-
scenes on tiie Kentucky Kiver. Impressed with the country,
lie had returned to the banks of the Yadkin, and had there
imbued Boone with a desire to go thither too. The two, with
some companions, started to nrike a new trial of the region.
It was in the later spring of 17(39 that Boone with James Rol)-
ertson, a young Scoti-h-Irishman, stood on a mountain path and
looked down upon the rapid flow of the Watauga, winding in
its rich valley, two thousand feet above the sea. We shall
see that this first sight of the vale of the Watauga was not
forgotten by Robertson and Boone. Two years' further wander-
ing beyond, amid newer delights in the landscape, carried thmi
back to the Yadkin valley in the spring of 1771, with instant
puri)oses and resolves.
While tlu'se tentative efforts were making by wandering-
hunter and trader, ]irojects of larger scope were developing.
In 1769, Dr. Lee of Virginia, with thirty-two other Americans,
— Washington cooperating, — and two Londoners, were organ-
ized as the Mississi]ipi C\)m])any, and \vere petitioning the
crown for a grant of some back lands to tlie extent of two and
a half million acres, (inge. who was watching the movement,
advisetl (November 9. 17<)9) that the new province be jnit on
a Piilitary basis, as a barrier between the ]n'esent provinces and
the Indians. Lee's a])i)Hcation was in effect }>ige')n-holed In
the Hoard of Trade, whih', under other intluences, a better nc-
ognition was made of a rival movement. This was a project of
speculators, mostly Americans from north of the Potomac. —
a combination not unlikely to incite the jealousy of the Viruin-
ians. The petitioners included among them a Lonilon banker.
M
THE WALPOLE COMPANY.
47
I ; his leggings
,t by the ledge ;
the rich copsu
I person, and we
1, to the spread
ling stream and
u stands for in
iichantments of
had before this
to the striking
ith the conntry,
I, and had there
The two, with
1 of the region.
with James Uol)-
juntain path and
auga, winding in
sea. We shall
Vatauga was not
s' further wandi'r-
ipe, carried them
771, with instant
(.■ by wanderinii
were deveh)ping-.
other Americans,
>ners, were organ-
o petitioning tlu'
extent of two and
ig the movement,
■ovince be put on
^ent provinces anJ
t pigeon-holed 1'}
nces, a better I't-
is was a project of
f the Potomac. -
usy of the Viruin-
a London banker.
Thomas AValpole by name, who was so put in the front of the
iie'"otiations that his name became attached to the .scheme.
Franklin and Governor Pownall were the two most conspicuous
advocates from the colonies. The stock of the compiiny was
divided into .seventy two shares. Pownall intended that the
government of the new colony should be modeled upon the
charter of iMas.sachusetts, whose workings he had known. The
company craved permission to buy of the Indians two million
four hundred thousand acres of land, situated between latitude
38' and 42 . h\ general terms, the tract they desired lay west
of the AUeglianies and south of the Ohio, and above the bound-
ary of North Carolina. It was bounded on the we.st by a line
drawn from the Ohio (»i)posite the mouth of the Scioto to Cum-
berland (lap. These limits covered the tract called " Indiana,"
which the traders had bargained for at Fort Stanwix in recom-
pense for their losses in the Pontiac war. These suft'erers now
petitioned the king to be otherwise recom])onsed. The bounds
also end)raced the ])atent of the old Ohio Company, and it was a
point of grievance with the members of this older company that
the new organization should be " indebted to discoveries made
.^t the expense of the Ohio Com])any."' Colontd George Mercer,
Vho was in London watching the interests of the Ohio Com-
paay, failing to receive instruction fov wliich he had ap])lied,
finally agreed, on his own respon.^il '.♦^v. to merge that coui-
|)any's interest in the new project, ,so that the old Virginia
Iclaiinants received a thirty-sixth part of the shares in the "NVal-
pole C:)nipany. V>y the end of that year (1770), Col«)ii. 1
:]^Iel(•;•r wrote to Washington that he had prevailed upon the
ilew coni])any to allow out of their intended grant two hun<lred
thousand acres, which, under a i)roclanuition by (Jom inor
Pinwiddie, had been grant'd to Washington and the soldiers
tvlio served with him in the opening campaign of the recent war.
I iiy these measures there was gained a certain solidarity of
Interest, needful in negotiating with tli(> government. An
Ojtposition to the project, not unexpected, as in the contest for
the Illinois cohmy, was headed by tlit; colonial ministei-.
Lord Hillsborough — rei)resenting under Lord North a Tory
government destined to last for nearly a half century — made
an adverse re])ort to the king in council on behalf of the
Commissioners of Trade and I'lantations. This rejjort t'uforced
■•isiitm
tmmmmtmim
48
THE KENTUCKY REGION.
i' ;»i
i,l'
II \
'<i'i\ '!
■ i
' 1
1 ^
V lit
j '
'^ li
1
i .'
what was called the " two capital objects " of the royal prociii-
niation. These were, lirst, to keep the colonists within reach of
the trade of the mother country, and, second, to hold them in
due subjection. Any permission to settle the reserved Indian
tei'ritory woidd be detrimental to these aims. The report was.
of (;ourse, as we see it now, a failure to discern the inevitable
expansion of the British 2)eo])le. As the contest moved on, no
one in the discussion warmed with cue throes of ])rescience nioiv
effectively than Edmund Burke. ^ Many of the pco})le in tlie
back si'ttlcments," he said, '' are already little attached to i)ar-
ticular situations. Already they have topi)ed the A])])ala('hiaiis.
From thence," he went on to say, with scant knowledge of tlie
country, " they behold an inunense })lain. one vast, rich, level
meadow." He intimated that such a population, if alienated,
might turn upon the o})i)ressor. They could elude any police
in Hying from section to section, if grants were denied them.
Such indei)endence, he said, " would be the hapless residt of an
endeavor to keep, as a lair of wild boasts, that earth which God
by an exju'css charter had given to the children of nuMi." There
happened, when he was speaking u])on the point in l*arliament.
to be a season of want among the English communities, lie
vised it with effect. '' The scarcity which you have felt would
have been a devastating famine, if this ( hild of your old age.
with a Koman charity, h id not put the full breast of its youth-
ful exuberance to the mouth of its exhausted parent." At
another moment, making it the occasion for r graceful com]di-
mciit to Lord Bathurst, as having a memory to cover the intir-
vai, ])urke reminded the House that in 1772 the trade of
]'>ngland with the Auu'rican colonies alone was nearly what it
had been in 1704 with the entire world.
Hillsborough said that the timely supplies to which Burkt
referred were practically interdicted hy the distance and by the
tardy service of transportation over the mountains. It \s;i-
asserted, in veidy, that produce coidd be carri; d liuni the Ohii'
country by the river, and over the passes to tide-water at Alex-
andria, chea])er than it c<Mdd be hauled fi'om Xortham])tou tn
London. Flour, beef, and naval stores could be floated down
the Ohio to Florida ami tlic AVest Indies easier than they couhl
be taken to such markets from New Yoi'k or Philadtdphia : and
if forwarded by river and sea to those ports from the Ohio, it
'%
ADVANCE OF SETTLERS.
49
:he royal proeia-
within reach of
;o hold them in
reserved Indian
The report was.
n the inevitalilc
'st moved on, no
])reseienee nioi;'
the peojjle in the
attached to par-
he Aj)palacliians,
aiowledge of the
vast, ric'h, level
ion, if alienated,
elude any i)olit'0
ire denied them,
pless result of an
earth which G»ttl
1 of men." Theie
nt in ]*arliameiit.
onnnunities. He
have felt would
of your old a^e,
east of its youth-
;ed parent." At
griiceful com]>li-
,) cover the intcr-
772 the trade of
as nearly what it
■i to which Burkt
stance and by tlu'
)untains. It wa^
. d iiuin the Olii"
de-water at Ahx-
Northani])ton to
be floated down
?r than they cohW
Philadelphia: aiitl
from the Ohio, it
would cost but half the expense of land carriage. It was said
that to <''o by sea from riiiladelphia to Peiisacola took a montii,
and it took no longer by the river from Pittsburg. The Ohio,
said Franklin, is navigalde for large boats at all times, and from
January to ^Vi)ril it can carry vessels of large tonnage. Since
the war. he added, the distance by a new road from Fort Cum-
berland to navigable water over the mountains has been reduced
from seventy to forty miles. Thus easy is it, he reasoneil, to
put this temperate and much-producing region into close com-
munication with the sea, — a region that has its silkworm and
tilt" mulberry, flax and cotton, for the manufacturer, hem]) and
iron for naval stores, and grapes and tobacco for the solaces
of life.
Xo such statements availed, however, to swerve Hillsborough
from his position. Lord Dunmore did much to strengthen the
o])])ositi()n when he wrote from Virginia that any such grant
Would be sure to bring on an Indian war.
These were two years of uncertainty in London. It seemed
at times as if the applicants would get their grant, but every
period of hope was succeeded by another of disheartenment.
Meanwhile on the Ohio and its tributaries events were <>()in<:'
on wliieh made the decision less dependent on the government.
Already in 1770, settlers were moving steadily on, and there
was a proposal in the air to fouiul a colony on the lands ceded
at Fort Stanwix and call it Pittsylvania. The ])aekhorse and
the shirt of jeans, buckskin leggings scraping together with
lithe steps, wei'e seen and heard everywhere along tlu; route,
whether by Fort Bedford and Loyalhannon. or by Fort Cum-
l) -n .;.d and Redstone ohl fort. Plunging into the shelter of
tiie large tindu-r of the Kanawha and its branches, startling the
elk, the bear, and the wild turkey, often fidlowiug the beaten
♦Mr.ifes" of the buffalo, the ])ioneers o])(med of themselves the
paths which Captain Legge had thought to have done by an
»rganiz(>d eomi)any of axemen. P>la/ing a tree near a spring,
they marked it with a date and the acreage, and established the
tacitly recognized " Tomahawk Claim ; " on clearing and ])lant-
4iig, they established what ])assed under the designation of a
J" corn title." Sometimes adventurous parties of hunt(>rs pushed
|>n even so far as the Green Kiver and the mouth of the Cum-
berland, and wandered alxmt the site of the nuxlern Nashville.
nam
60
THK KENTUCKY REGION.
M
•-• I'., ■
1 "
V! «
1,"
! " I
The Walpole inoveiiiL'nt found littlo fuvor in Virfj;ini:i.
This conibiuiition of noithevn intovests ignored tho chiini of
Virginia to a western extension nnder her charter. If this
ex})ansion was not maintained, hi'r right to give patents of
this over-mountain domain was h)st. Hillsborough, in July,
1770, had notified the Virginia authorities of the movenu'ut,
hut in their re])ly in October they made no protest, and ac-
knowledged that " when that part of the country shall become
sufficiently popuhited, it may be a wise and prudent measure."'
Before it became known that provision had been made to pre-
serve Dinwiddie's grant to the soldiers of the Lite war, there
was a strong feeling of injury in which ^Vashington shared.
Moreovi'r, the claims of the Cherokees — who were to be aj)-
peased by the recognition, for they had been of late, as Cameron
the Indian agent discovered, in a hostile mood — had been es-
poused by Virginia against the pretensions of the Iro(piois ;is
recognized at Fort Stanwix.
While the AValpole petition was ])en(Hng in London, and
before Mercer's message about the engulfing of the old Ohio
Comi)any in the new ])roject had been received, Washington
started west to take for himself a new look at the country.
He left Mount Vernon on October 5, 1770, and in a little more
than a week was with Crawford on the Youghiogheny. lie
had various motives, — one was to see land which Crawfod
had already selected for him, another was to understand better
the difficulties of the ])ortage connecting the Potomac and Ohio,
so as to further the trade of what he called "'a rising empire."
Xear Kedstone old fort, at the head of navigation on the
]\ronongahela. where for sonu^ years the authorities had beta
ti'ving nnsuccessfully to oust the settlers, he found that ^licdind
Oresaj) had built hiuiscdf a house. Here he talked with that
frontiersman al)out what he then sup])osed was the injury to
his comrades of 17")4. in tlieir rights Ix'ing covered — at lea 4
to the extent of four fifths — by the pro])osed Walpole grant.
He hudvcd upon himstdf as in some degree — so he had written
in A])ril to Lord Hotetouit — "the representative of the officeis
and soldiers wlio (daim the right to two hundred thousand
aeres of ^;his very land." Settlemeu:s at this time had fairly
Note. — The opposite view of Pittsburg is from the Alius of CoUot's Jniirnfij hi ^'orf/i Aiiicri (U
•:a
m Virgini:i.
the claim of
ter. If this
11
ive patents of
>h, in Julv,
)u:
the inovemeiit,
test, ami ae-
ro
\' s
hall become
dent measure."
n made to pre-
late war, there
mi!
w
;ton shared,
ere to he aj)-
ate, as Cainernii
— had been es-
the Trocpiois as
n
Lend
on, aiK
1
of the old Ohio
ed, Washington
at the country,
in a little more
'hiosiheny. Hf
vhich Crawfo (I
derstaiul better
omac and Ohio,
.■ising eni])ire.
ligation on the
>ri
In
ties had been
1 that Michael
Iki'd with that
IS the iiijnry to
v(M'ed — at lea 4
Walpole grant.
he liad written
ve of the ofHceis
ndred thousaml
time had fairly
infji HI (If
til Aiiitr
aa
i|p!
52
THE KENTUCKY REGION.
\l
I ]
!(, '
'l i
-M !
h I
'*(
begun along tlie Monongaliela, ami two years later oecnpaiicy
was in full progress, and was stretching on t(^ Laurel Kid^v.
Most of the settlers were coming by the Braddock route, which
Washintiton had followed, but a lesser number i)()ured in liy
the Pennsylvania route from Bedford and Ligonier.
On October 27, 1770, Washington was at Fort Pitt, now-
garrisoned by two comi)anies of Koyai Irish. He found r«j\v.s
of traders' houses along the Monongaliela side, but the most
active of the packmen were evidently the Pennsylvanians, di-
verting the trade over the gaps toward JMiiladclphia, while tin y
met the Indians in Virginia territory south of the Ohio. This,
with the neglect which the petition of the Lees and himself
had received, could but convince AVashington that the interests
which supported Forbes and lioU(piet in preferring a new route
over the hills, ten years and more ago, were not short-livcil.
These rival agencies were fiu'ther kept alive by the controversy
over counter claims to this over-hill country about the forks
of the Ohio. Everything was favoring the prominence Peiiii-
sylvania was now acquiring among the older colonies. From
1771 to 1773, something like twenty-five tliousund Presbyteri;iii
Seotch-Irisli arrived at either Phihidel[)hia or Newcastle, anil
they :idded greatly to the sturdier stock of the colony. Frank-
lin, now in Fngland, was considering how the jn-osperity of tlie
colony could be increased by a system of canalizing her rivers.
This western contest of Pennsvlvania with Viruinia was an
evil destined to be surmounted, but during these years wlieii
Westmoreland County was formed, it proved irritating and eviii
dangerous. Both colonies had, after the ti'eaty at Fort Staii-
wix, been issuing warrants for the same territory, wliil' they
bid against each other by alternately lowering the selling pricf.
Washington, leaving Pittsburg in October, 1770, went with
a party down the Ohio to the Kanawha, and early in Xovemlu'i'
he was examining the land about that stream. Keturning tn
Pittsburg, he gave an entertainment at an inn in that plati'.
and here met for the first time a nephew of George Croghaii.
Connolly by name, who, as a creature of Lord Dunmore, ho-
came a few years later notorious in furthering his lordships
schemes in this region in opposition to the claims of Pennsyl-
vania. This land disjMite turned upon the meaning to be given
to the rather impracticable definition of Penn's charter for his
M
WASHIXG TON'S LA XDS.
53
later oecupaniv
Laurel Kulj;''.
ick route, which
■r poured in liy
iiier.
Fort Pitt, now
lie found rows
e, but the most
lusylvainans, (H-
phia, while tliry
he Ohio. Tliis,
ees and himself
hat the interests
i-in<i- a new route
not short-livt'il.
' the controversy
about the forks
i-ominence Peiiii-
cohmies. From
ind rresbyteriiui
■ Newcastle, and
colony. Frank-
prosperity of the
izing her rivers.
Yirsiinia was an
hese years when
ritating and even
,ty at P'ort Staii-
itory, whil', they
the selling price.
1770, went with
irly in Noven\ltev
Koturning te
m in that pliice.
(ieoro-e Croghaii.
rd Dun more, he-
ng his lordshi]»s
lims of Pennsyl-
aning to be given
s charter for his
Western l)ounds, — five degrees west of the Delaware, a stri'am
of in-and-out reaches. It was of importance for Pennsylvania
to hold tlie forks witiiin lier jurisdiction, which it couhl do if
Pittshur"- couhl he made to lie within a westwanl curve to
match a similar hcnd of the Delaware. To accomplish this, it
was claimed by C'roghan that certain interested i)artics, work-
in"' with Sculls map of tiu' ])rovince, undertook to misplace the
forks ti» accommodate that locality to some favoring curve.
Suili an act, if fraudulent, wronged in its consotpiences the
new W'alpole colony by depriving it of so eligible a site as
tlie furks.
No one since Weiser's death had been so important a medi-
ator with the Ohio tribes as Croghan. (Jage was writing of
llim : •• C'roghan is generous : gives all he has, and whilst he
hits aiivtliing to give tiie Indians will flock about him."' The
new })atentees had made it for C'roghan's advant;ig(; to watch
thiir interests at the forks. He had thought that their lands
Woulil liiid })urchasers at £10 the hundred acres, and half-[)enny
gteriing ([uitrent. AVhen he had offered some of his own lands,
Xy'uvj; between the Monongahela and Kaccoou Creek, to Wash-
ington, that vigilant specidator refused the chance because of
the unsettled conditions, both as regards the controverted
boMuds of \'iiginia and Pennsylvania, and <-ho piMiding Walpolo
gi-ant. all of which might affect Croghan's title as derived from
the Indians. Still Washington did not hesitate to add to his
own rights under the Dinwiihlie jiroclamation by buying simi-
lar claims of others, and when he died, nearly thirty years
later, his will shows that he still owned various h)ts on the
Kanawha, aggregating nearly fourteen thousand acres in four
parcels, beside a tine area above the modern Charleston, which
he and Andrew Lewis had secured after being attracted by a
bituminous spring upon it.
^^ hen it was known that the Dinwiddle grant was preserved,
Washington, who had re*-,urned to Mount Vern.)a by the first
of December. 1770, sent Ca])tain AVilliam Crawford in the
following M ly to mark out its bounds. Washington's joni'ney
had convinced him that the w%agon road then in use, extending
^oat two lunulred miles from where it left the Moncnigahela to
4|lexandria, could be shortened to sixty and perhaps to twenty
IJiiles. if the Potomac could be made navigable by some system
J^
i^Ha
/(
54
THE KENTUCKY It Ed I ON.
¥ '■
fli
Jh
{■!
V! i
Note. — Tliis map uliowa an attoiiipt to (Ipfiiii- tlio western IiduikIs of IViiii.'-ylvaiu^i 1;
of pnnarizatioii, suoh as Franklin was contenijilatini;' for tli
Susqnehanna and its branches. Some sncli enterprise wa^
neeessarv if Viruinia was ffoinjr to hold a successful I'ivnli
with Pennsylvania. No other Yirf^inian added so much ]km
sonal interest to his urgency for the province's behoof, iii:i'
much as he eventually ludd over thirty thousand acr(>s throui;!;
out the Ohio valley. AVashington's interest in the soldici'
claims was su])eradded to his own, and he wi'ote to Dunmoro ii
June, 1771, that " the officers and soldiers confide in nic ti
transact this business for them."
imilH >if r.Milii-ylv:i'i''' 1}
oinplatint;' f<'i' ^i'
li ciitf'vpvise wa-
successful rivalvi
,1,.(1 so much I'Cf
nce's belioof, inii-
and acres thnnv^.-
st in the solilit'i-
ote to Dunmore n
confide in ni«' tv
I'l
FllAXKLiy AND HILLSBOROUGII. 55
At the same time
Washiiij^ton i«'j>re-
st'iited that a report
of the ultimate sue-
(!ess of tlie Walpole
)>etiti(mers was oain-
ing ground iiotwith-
standiiii;' tiie opposi-
tion of tlie lioai'd of
Trade. riif advo-
cates had carried the
cpu'stioM to the Uiiii;'
in council, and on
.ruly 1, 1772, Franklin
r«'ad before that body
his masterly answer
ti> 1 lillsl)orou<;li*s ob-
jections. Franklin's
statement was an em-
])hatic denial of the
Viii^inian claim to a
western extension, for
he held that the Alle-
uhanies bounded tiu;
pi'ovinee, while th{>
riyhts of all the colo-
nies were derived from
the lro(piois cession of
lands, which tliey had
obtained hy conipiest
from the Shawnees.
lie was in due time answered hy George Alason, in hehalf of
tlie Virginians. The Ti'()(pu)is arj;umeut had been often ust'd
aji'ainst the French, and it indicated how the policy of the min-
istry had chano;ed since the war, that it was now necessary^ to
Use this reasoning against the government's ])osition.
Trt!aties with the southern Indians, held at Hardlabor in
l7t!8, and again at Lochaber, in South Carolina, October 18,
nad acknowledged that the Cherokees" right to tliis region to-
Wiirds the Kanawha was supei-ior to that of the Iroquois, but
«uivi>s <()in',s|ioii(liiig to those of tlie Delaware Uiver.
r ,--
'^ l:i
' Hi
1/
I:
!iri
I <\
lif!
« ill
I':
!;
i,:l
iffl'
■, ;r
Hi
J!
Il(
^r
V' ■'
r
{< '
'I'' !
I
■M,
i,!: ',„,
i III I
:! i
60 VV//-; KE.\TUCKY UEalOS.
tliiit tribe <;(»t in» recount ion from Franklin, and u large ciiii'
••ration had already ht'giiu to How west, looUinj^ to the seciiiitv
which the treaty of Fort Stanwix gav(^ tlu'in. Franklin said
that he relied, to keep np this western exodus, '• on the voluntary
supertlux of the iidiahitants of the middle provinees."
'I'he hrotiicrs Zane had huilt their eahin at the mouth of
Wheeling Creek, iW' iirst white mans habitation, peiliaps.
in that seetion of the wilderness. Franklin reekoned th; t nit
less than five thousand fanulies, averaging six heads eiieli, uii-
Jlble to meet the demands of the large landowners east of tlic
numntains, had before this sought lands on the Ohio. This
computation did not iiudude several thousand families which
had passed the ga[)s, but had tarried within the "oposed limits
of Pennsylvania.
Among these last, in 171)0, had been Zeisberger and his Md-
ravians, but in 1772, to escape the troubles of Pennsylvania
with the Suscpiehanna Company, they had pushed up the west
branch of the Suscpiehanna in search of a nt!W home. We have
Bishop Kttwein's journal of their flight. Having worshijud
for the last time in theii- old church, on June 1 1, 1772, they hf-
gan their wearisome march. On July 18, th'>y were climl)iiii;
a preci])itous numntain "to a s])ring, the heaii waters of thr
Ohio." " Here," says the bislio]), " I lifted up my heart in
prayer as I looked westward." The band was probably now
on the north branch of the Mahoning, an afHuent of the Alle-
ghany. Th(;y floated down the stream to Beaver Creek, and in
August they had laid the foundations of a white settleniciit
in Ohio, on the " second bottom " of the Tuscarawas vailev
(Muskingum), iunid its walnuts and sycamores, its cedars,
locusts, and laurels.
Sucii was the varied complexion of the emigration wliidi
Burke had ])erceive(l that it was impossible to withdraw, and
against which Gage's proclamation was to be so fruitlessly
directed. Instead of threats, these people needed })rotecti(iii
and the service of a stable government. This pojndation. a-
Fraidilin argued, was now become, in i)art at least, " so migov-
erneil and lawless " that ilothing but some sort of subjection t*
the forms of government could ])i'event an Indian war. Then
was a tendency, in all considerations of the government al)ont
America, to delay, but Franklin's uigency and arguments at last
HM ,„
VAXDALrA.
T)?
,1 a l:ir«'v fini.
t(. till' security
Kriinklin saitl
u the vohuitiuy
ees.
• t\w mouth lit'
atiou, ])eihiii».
■Uoncd thi t net
hi'iuls each, mi-
ners east of tlu-
he Ohio. This
families which
proposed liuiit>
.;er anil his ^^|•
of l'em'sylvaui:i
shed up the west
liome. We have
lavinj? worsliiiHil
[1, ITT 2. they h.-
i^V vvtM-e elimhiui;
eaii waters of tl"'
n|) my heart in
vas prohahly now
luent of the Allt-
ver Creek, and in
white settlement
'uscarawas valley
uores, its cedars,
I'miji-ration whitli
to withdraw, ami
\,e so fnutlesslv
needed proteetiou
his ])()imlation. :i«
least, " so unp'V-
rt of sultjeetion t.>
ndian war. Therr
o-overnment ahoii;
d'aro-uments at last
itrevaih-d, ami on August 14, ITTl.ihe kin;;, in i-ouncil, a\\-
jii'oved tlit^ Walpole grant. The innn 'diate result was that
Ilillsliorou^Ii, who in the heginnin;;- was desirous of pushing'
the advoeates to hr^er demands than they thought jtrudent, and
ap|)arently with a purp(»se in this way to compass their ultimate
discomfiture, now i-csigned in disgust. After this, Fraidiliii'.s
reply, having accomjiiished its puriJO^e. ilisappearcd from the
hook-stalls. The etft ct in America was only tlie hegiiniing of
new tlelays. A message was at one«! sent to Sir William John-
son, who instructed Croghan to cause "the different nations
antl trihes to he made accpiainted that it was His Majesty's
])leastM(' to form a new colony or settlement in Ohio."
This movement had heen sedulously watched in \'irginia, not
oidy hy those who sought the cover of a Virginia patent to
these same lands, hnt there is some reason to hcliijvi! it had
Keen ohserved hy Dunmore in no friendly spirit to the claims
of the soldiers. In the spring of 1T7J^, Diunnore and Wash-
ington had ])lanned a journey heyond the mountains, hut
the governor went linally ah)ne. In an interview which he
had with Crawford, the governor jiromised to issue to Wash-
iiigton a ])atent for lands at the mouth of tlie Kanawha, '* in
case the new goi'ernment did not take i»lace hefore he got
home." Wasliingt(»n. meanwhile, had found much discourage-
ment in all his Ohio plans. Ci'awford was ohliged to infoi-m
liim that he had towt)rk hard t(» keep sipiattcrs off the ])roj)erty
which had heen surveyed for him, and that nothing hut hiring
men constantly to occupy a claim was sufficient to ])revent
intruders Imilding houses u])on it.
We find Wasliington accordingly ])rom])tcd to turn to other
claims, whicfi the proclamation of ITfj^i had I'cserved for the
))articipants in the war, and he thought for a while of the ])os-
siltilities of patenting lands in Florida, amid tiiose "scorching
and unwholesonu} heats " of which Franklin had of late been
' writing.
Meanwhile, the new Com]iany of the Ohio was nurtuiing
larger views, and on May 0. 1TT^5, the king in council extended
the hounds of the projected government, now spoken of as
A'andalia, to the line of the Kentucky Kiver. Already the
brothers ^IcAfee were prei)aring to take squatters' rights along
this stream, near where Frankfort now stands, whither the
M
f i [|i ' ' Wf ' f
58
THE KENTUCKY REGION.
') I
'' I • \m
I
( I
!■;,
traces of the biift'alo had led them, through the uninhahitcd
limestone region. Not far from the same time, Captain Wil-
liam Thompson, an agent for tlie war claimants in Pennsylvania,
had sent a party along the Kentucky, and these had I'eportcil
that the lands wei'e the finest tliey had ever seen, and likely
soon " to sell at twenty-five shillings an acre."
The attractive aspect of this country was now well inider-
stood, adorned as it was with hroad-leaved trees without undci'-
brush, with ripening grass beneath the shade showing blue to
the distant eye, with the eaith teeming from a fertility tli;it
was constantly nurtuied by the decay of the underlying rock.
and with occasional broad strctcht's, where the trees had been
burncnl and vast herds of l)uffalo roamed.
This extension of the grant had rend >red the mouth of the
Kanawha more central than before, and strengthened the
o})inion whii'h Washington had held, that it was the natural
seat for the new jiovernment. Towards the middle of Mav. it
became common talk in Pittsburg that Duniiiore had granted
patents for the two hinidred thousand acres «lue to Washington
and his comrades in the neighborhood of the Kanawha, and
Croghan wrote to Wharton about it and said, " It is creatiiii;
great c(mfusion on the frontier, both among the whites and tiie
Indians." The tribes had been taught to look upon the jirn-
jected colony as an alternative which could be turned to their
advantage in the recompense they expected for their lands,
The Shawnees, in ])articular, were aroused, and (H)nsidi'red the
Virginia claims inimical. Fr(mtiersmeu so ex])erienced as Dr.
Walker were advocating an escape from conflict with tlie
Cherokees by turning tlieir thouglits to western Florida. Tliis
large grant of the soldiers, already recognized, as we have seen.
by the Walpole Company, produced new difticulties by its very
extent. With an eye to im]>rovements, Wasliington sought tit
have it surveyed so as to incdude as much tillable ground as pos-
sible, lie soon discovered from the re])orts which he receivrd
that he must secure it in at least twenty different localities,
unless he was content to in(dude contiguously large uu])rodn('-
tive mountain areas. It is not easy from Washington's lettiis
always to distinguish which of these western lands he Inid
patenced as a private venture from his claims either under tlif
Dinwidd'a or the later royal pvoclamation. By July, 177-5.
BULLITT AND LOUIS VILLK.
V^
e uninhabited
Captain Wil-
Vennsylvania.
had reporti'il
L'n, and likely
w well undei-
without under-
liowing blue to
a fertility thiit
idei'lying rock,
:rees had been
e n\outh of tlu'
■enu'thened the
as the natural
Idle of May, it
i-e had granted
to Washington
Kanawha, and
"•It is ereatiii;j,
whites and the
upon the i)ro-
turned to their
or tlieir lands,
eonsidereil the
(eri(Mieed as Or.
ntliet with tlu>
Florida. This
s we have seen,
ties by its very
o-ton sought to
ground as po^-
u(di he received
>rent loealitii'S,
irge unprodiii'-
lington's lettris
lands he had
dther under the
By July, l7To,
hv had certainly got sutdi hold of more than twenty thousand
acres of these Oiiio valh y lands as to warrant an advertisement
of them in the Jft/i//<i)i<^ Jounxil. Tliese lands were among
tlie iirsfc surveyed, and he <k'seribes thenv as '"by the beautifid
hand of nature almost fit for the seytlie." To render them
more attractive to settlers, he reju-esents that in due time the
la'id cai'ria<'e to tliem by the Monongahela route would be
reduced to a few miles.
dust what these lands were is not (dear, hut it is apparent
that W'ashingtoJi had secured the favor of the royal governor,
and was willing to ))roHt by it to the exclusion of his war-time
coiinades, if his cautiou to Crawford to l»e discreet in s})eaking
of the patents will l)ear that inference. Dunmoi'e lu'd said
( Sei)tend)er 24) that he di<l not intend to make any grants on
the Ohio under the proclamation of 17(53, but at the saine time
AVashington believed the contrary, and that these grants were
to be made below the Scioto, on the su])])osition entertained at
tliat time that the meridian of the Scioto was to be the western
hmit of Vandalia.
A ceit.iin Ca]itain Thomas Bullitt, in company witli one Ilan-
c()(dv Tavlor. was at this time moving down tlie Kanawha and
tlie Oiiio. locating prospective towns on a grant of over a thou-
sand acres, awai'ded under the T^inwiddie pro(damati(m, one
(it \vlii(di in(duded tlie ])res(>nt Cliarleston on tlie Kanawha.
I'mllitt was invested by tlie College of Williara and ^larv, one
of its ]irerogatives. with tlie autliority to ai>])i'ove surveys, and
had tl'.iis become eons])icuous iu these western movements,
tliougli tliere were comjdaints that wlien wanted, to give su<di
a]t]troval. he was not always to be fouml. ITo was, as it seems,
moving ou about his own business, and as the summer wore
on. Tayh)r and lie had separated at lh(> mouth of the Kentucky,
and while Taylor went u]) that stream, making survey about
the modern Frankfort, Bullitt went on to the rapids of the
Ohio, and laid out the ])lot for a settlement where r>ouisville
now stands, the hist regular town map])ing in Kentuidcy. The
sjiot was not occupied till two years later, though, on a lot above
the falls. d(din Cowan had built a log hous»> in 1774.
Washington had instructed this same Bui iit in September,
|| 1778, to survey for him a tract of ten thousand acres, as far
bi lew the Scioto as it may be neco.ssarv to ^-o to i^et <rf)od
(
!:■ f :•
■ii .
f
'■ I
GO
THE KENTUCKY REGION.
bottoiu-laiuls in one, two, or thiee lots. He had already bonglit
out the rights of Captain Stobo and Lieutenant Van liraam.
otlier soldiers of the reeent war, whieh, added to his own claim
for five tliousand acres, made up the ten thousand lield by him
under the Dinwiddie jjroelaniation. \\\\i the destiny of this
Ohio country turned, it was thought, u})on the future of the
Wali)ole movement, and the delays in organizing the govern-
ment of the colony on the spot — Dai'tnionth seems on iVIay 17,
1773, to have offered Major Legge the governorship of some
new colony on the Oiiio, with a salary of £1.000 — were greatly
embarrassing to Croghan, who at Pittsburg was acting, as we
have seen, as its agent.
Ilahlimand had arrived in New York in July, 1773, to suc-
ceed Gage in the chief conmnnd in North America. He was
early made aware of the stream of settlers ])assing down the
Ohio to the lower parts of that river, and Croghan had rejjorted
how Bullitt and others were '•'' "o'wvx down the river witli num-
bers of people to settle the country, which, they were informed
by the king's message, was not to be settled." General lirad-
street had not long before bargained with the Indians for a
tract of three hundred thousand acres, but the Board of Trade
had refused confirmation of an act " which cannot be reconciled
witli the sjiirit and intent of the king's instructions." Haldi-
mand urged Sir William Johnscni to take steps to stop such
infringements of the royal prochunation, but that Indian agent
felt himself })owerless, with no government on the river to en-
force the prohii)ition. This lawless influx had begun here and
there, as in Bradstreet's case, in ])rivate purchases fi'om tht
Indians. Such clouded titles led Chief Justice Marshall, at »
later day, when the United States succeeded to tlie royal rights,
to invalidate claims well earned by the hardships of pioneers.
By Decend)er, 1773, Croghan is representing " the emigra-
tion as surprising. I am told [he says] that there can't be less
than sixty thousand souls settled between l*ittsburg and tlie
mouth of the Ohio, — so that the i)olicy of the people in Eng-
land in delaying the grant of the new ccdony, in order to i)rc
vent emigration, answers not their purpose, as it does not
prevent tlie settling of the country."
The delays further produced much discontent among tlic
I
WA SHING TON'S PL A NS.
01
ilivady bouglit
; Van Braaiii,
liis own claim
I lu'lil by liini
estiny of tliis
future of the
ig the govern-
ns on ^lay IT,
ivship of some
— were greatly
s acting, as wa
, 1773, to suc-
iriea. lie was
sin": down the
n had reported
iver with niuii-
were informed
Genei'al lirad-
Indians for a
Board of Trade
)t be reconciled
tions." Ilaldi-
)s to stop sueli
it Indian agent
;he river to en-
jcgun here and
lases from tlie
Marshall, at ;■.
he royal rights,
i of pioneers.
g " the eniigra-
■re can't be less
tsburg and the
people in Va\%-
in order to })re
as it does mil
ent annmg the
Indians, eager to profit by the settlement. Croghan says that
these anxious savages Hocked by hundreds to Pittsburg, expect-
ing food and gratuities. The leaders of the colony had promised
their agent what v/as needed for this hospitable purpose, but
they forgot their pledge, and Croghan complains that the Indians
were " eating up what he had gathered for the winter's use
of his faniilv." To give the presents which were necessary,
he says, he was forced " to i)awn what little plate he had and
ne other valuable things.'
801
A\'hile the company held back and left its agent in this
unseemly plight, ])rivate enterprise revived witii the s})ring
(1774). During the winter AVashington had been consider-
ing a plan of bringing over two or three hundred Palatines to
Alexandria, and passing them over the mountains to settle his
lands. He sought information as to the best measures to that
end, hoping to '• give up indentures and make them freemen
and tenants "' as soon as they could raise a crop of corn. He
proi)()sed to remit their rent for four years if tlu'y took un-
cleared land, and for two years if there was a house on it and
five acres cleared. His in([uiries did not encourage him. The
palatines preferred l*ennsylvania with greater ndigious liberty,
and did not look kindly u})on the Episcopal tithes to be encoun-
tered under Virginia rule. The restrictive navigation laws
were also in the way, for these peo])le were to be shii)])ed from
Holland, and outward cargoes for paynu'nt must incur charges
in England by transshipment there. This led Robert Adam to
suiigest that Washington might find it less burdensome to u'l't
Scotch or Irish, or even convicts and indenied servants might
be more liandily found in Baltimore. By spring the obsta(des
seemed no less, and on May 1 we find the scheme laid aside.
AVasliington had reckoned that he had land enough for three
hundred families ; but the outcome of all his ]dans was that
two small parties of servants and hired men went over the
mountains, and were sooii scattered.
In April, dohn Floyd led a surveying ])arty down the Kana-
wha, and did some surveying for Washington and Patrick
Henry. Simon Kenton and a party were strolling near the
lower Blue Licks. Both parties, however, soon discovered
indieiitions of the rising Indian war. During the early sununer
1
11; iJt'iim
I'm
V '•'.i'\l:,
iPh
il" il
i''
!i'„I ,1.1 '
til
■I:
ii
5'
,■;'•
u
iij'i
i'f ■ 1
62
rilK KENTUCKY REGION.
(1774), James Harrod and a i)arty of forty laid out in cential
KcntiK^ky the town of llarrodsburg', not the earliest settlement
of tlie future State, but the first to liave in it, perhaps, the ele-
ments of perpetuity, with all the initial flourish of a tomahawk
claim and a patch of corn.
The year wore out, and nothing was done to relieve the anx-
iety either of Croghan or the soldiers. The king turned a deaf
ear to the urgency for dispatching a governor to the new col-
ony; and Dunniore dallied, as Washington alleges, for "other
causes"' than procrastination in considering the soldiers' grants,
Political events strained the i-elations of the mother country ami
the colonies, and in ^^^. '-il, 1775, the first gun at Lexington in
Massachusetts pushed all into the limbo of forgotten tilings,
Wliile the news of the conflict near l^oston was still fresh in
Lcmdon, Wal])ole did not des])air (May 30) of those '"better
times on which the country now ilepends for its preservation.''
^
I out in central
•liest settlement
)ei'haps, the clc-
of II tomahawk
relieve the aiix-
"■ turned a ch'af
to the new col-
ejres, for "other
soldiers' grants,
ther country ami
it Lexinj>t<)n in
orgotten things.
as still fresh in
af those "better
1 preservation."'
CHAPTER V.
THK QUEHEC BILL AND THE DUXMORE WAR.
1774.
In 1774. tlicic- came for the first time a shar]) conflict he-
t\\('(ii Virginia and the home government as to jurisdiction over
the territory north of the Ohio. The interi)retation which Vir-
ginia had always given to the very obscui-e definition of her
bouiiils in tlie charter of 1009 had been long denied by France,
and wlien tliat contested region was wrested from P^ ranee, the
peace nf 17t);} had limited its western extension by the ^lissis-
sii)))!. Tile royal ])roclamation, which soon followed, had pre-
vented the pushing of tlie settlements thither, but had not given
it over absolutely to other jurisdiction. Ten years or more
later, while Virginia was waging war against the savages there-
abniits. to enforce her claim and ])rotect her .settled frontieis.
the Ihitish I'airament strove to ])nt a limit to her territorial
pretensions in this dii't'ction by giving tlie (Quebec government
an absolute juri,sdiction over the region. There were other
purposes, botli ostensible and latent, in this legislative move-
ment, wliich were entered u])on to curb not only A'irginia, but
the other seaboard colonies, in an inevitable wcstwaid maich.
I'lver since Carlcton had been in command in Quebec, he had
felt the necessity of yielding something more to the French
Canadians than had been allowed by the capitnlation at ]Mon-
treal in 17t!0. and by the acts of 170-'?. He contended that a
fill ther concession coidd alone make them good British sub-
jee's, and that a guarded revival of French law. customs, and
religion, while ])laeating one hiuidred and fifty thousand Cath-
olics of the ])i'ovince. — as Carleton counted them, though his
estimate is ])i'obably much too large. — woidd not seriously
impair the fortiuies of four hiuidred Protestants, their fellow-
aubjects. In 1770, Carleton had gone to England, leaving in
his place Cramahe, a Swiss Protestant in the English service.
'.ii
I I
■•ii
if|iii;,
THE QUEBEC BILL AND THE DUXMORE WAU.
During the four years of his absence, Carleton was iu occasional
consultation with tlie ministry about what seemed to him sonic
needed transformation of the government of the [u-ovince. This
consideration was at times affected, and i)erhaps sliaped, liy
petitions of tlie (\inadians, not hirgely signeib and forwarded
by Cramahe. Tln'y touched the restoration of the French
laws and a rehabilitation of the Catholic religion.
While such (jucstions were in abeyance, the rev(dutionii'v
commotions in Boston did not fail to render of doubtful cun.
tinuauce the loyalty of the seaboard coh)nies, now nundjcriiig
l)robal)ly, according to the most careful estimates, C(msideralily
under three millions of ])eoplc. If such disaffection could not
be stamped out, it became a (piestion of restraining it by terri-
torial bounds, and covertly if not o})enly. This danger had
already delayed the entire fulfillment of the Vandalia i)r()jet't
south of the Oliio. It was known that there was a tide of
immigration rolling along the Oliio, and. in spite of the agno-
ment at Fort Stanwix, threatening its northei-n banks. It wa>
necessary, then, to find some barrier to check the current, lest
it should buoy u[) and -arry along the seething conunotions of
the seaboard. No such barrier was so obvious as that which \\\v
French had attempted to maintain in the recent war, — the lim
of the St. Lawrence and the Alleghanics. To make this barrier
effective, it was necessary to consolidate, as far as jiossible, tin
region behind it in a single government. Murray and his siu-
cessor, Carleton, had already urged an extension of their exteii-
tive authority from Quebec westward, and the o])poitune tiiiu
had come for doing it, under an ostensible ])lea of regulating tlic
fur trade of the region. If the traders were gratified by siicli
]>rofessions, the debates and remonstninces show that the ])in-
posed reinstatement of the Konuui Church and the su])pressi()ii nt
English law drew out fervent op})osition ; and there is, nxin-
over, no evidence that the Canadians themselves, as a pojnila-
tion, felt any elation over the prosi)ect. This may have been
due in some ])art to a latent s3-m])!ithy among them with tin
revolutionary classes of the older cidonies. — a sympathy witli
which Congress, as it turned out, blundered in an attem])t t"
deal.
A new petition from Canada, dated February, 1774. ami
signed by only sixty-five persons, asked for a restoration of tlif
h
e
tl
a
C(
«
w
sa
E
pr
ro
8C]
ini
th(
wa;
liki
ha\
hac
of
riv(
Ha
tioi
sav
eng
had
ofl
thei
1
craf
besi
Ind
agai
bet\
Pen
at I
ti<
RE WAH-
IS in occiisioiml
Bil to him soKK'
province. This
[ips sluiped, li\
and forwarded
of the Freneh
11.
le revohitionu'-y
if doubtful fiiu-
now nundx'riiig
^es, consideralily
jction I'ould not
ning- it by tcni-
Hiis (Umger li:ul
Vandulia i)r()jeet
e was a tide of
[)ite of the agiee-
I banks. It wih
the current, lest
I or connnotions of
as that whicli Uw
it war, — the Ym
make this baniti
„r as possibk', l!i'
rray and his siu-
ju of their exccii-
^> opportune tinu
of reguhiting tlif
gratified by siicli
low that the ])r.>-
le sui)i)ressi()iiiii
d there is, nioiv.
ves, as a popiihi-
s may have bwn
ig- them with tin
a sympathy witl
in an attemiit t"
.ruary, 1774. ana
restoration of tli'
tl
VIRGIMA AXD PENXSYLVAXIA.
Go
"okl bounds of Cana(hi," over which the English and French
had so long disputed, and the ministry in granting it were
ensnared into the soinewliat ridiculous aeknowledginent of what
they had fornu-rly denied. To restore such limits, however,
would pk'use the Canadians and some fur traders, and became
a good cloak for ulterior purposes respecting' the seaboartl
colonics.
The jealousy of \ew York was aroused, aiul for a while it
was uncertain if the western part of that i)rovince would not be
sacrificed to tlie ministerial purpose. New York owed it to
Edmund Burke tliat this territory was saved to its jurisdiction.
Iniuu'diatc ojjposition naturally came fi'oni the Penns, whose
proi)rictary rights would be curtailed, and fi'om Virginia, whose
royal governor, interested with many of her })eoj)le in land
scheuies ill the Illinois country, was already j)reparing- for an
invasion of the territory. The movenu-nt for a colony north of
the Ohio, over which Franklin and Hillsborough had contended,
had come to naught, nuicli to the relief of Virginia ; but here
was a project seeking' the active sanction of Parliament, and
likely to thwart any ])urpose which her royal governor might
have of issuing patents to this very land.
Dunuiore, the governor, was a man not easily balked. He
had already taken ])ossession of Fort Pitt despite the ])rotests
of Pciui. and was determined to hold it as a gate to the over-
river country of Virginia. This ])recii)itate conduct had alarmed
HaLlimand, the military head of the contincmt. lest the distrac-
tions of this intercolonial land-dispute should eml)olden the
savages to take an advantage. Both sides arrested settlei's
engaged in vindicating their i'es])ective colonies, and the trouble
had Ix'conie so alarming in the sjiring of 1774 that surveyors
of both sides were rushing to the contested region, and plotting
their claims.
This dispute, serious enough in itself, was embittered by the
craft of Connolly, the creature of Dunmore, and complicated
be8i<le by the diversity of individual claims, whether based on
Indian deeds or tomahawk titles, or on the assertion of might
against right. The spring of 1774 led to renewed negotiations
between the colonies in W\i\ midst of nnitual criminations.
Penn offered the calculations of Provost Smith of the college
at Philadeli)hia and of Dr. Rittenhouse, that Pittsburg was
» ■.'
' \
i
i
i
t
\
\
i
i
66 THE QUEBEC BILL AND THE DUNMORE WAR.
Ji ^ *
;' < It
M\:
(li;,
\fi
«!i ^!l
Y'-
at least six miles within the bounds which he elainunl, and i;
May, James Tilginuan and Andrew Allen, commissioners sw
by Penn to Williamsburg, offered as a compromise a ciirvti
line for the western boundary, ])arallel to the tortuous conr-.
of th(! Delaware. Dunmore insisted that the five deuriMs n
longitude should be measured on the 42° parallel, and tli;r
a meridian boundary line should be run at the western vw
of this measurement. Neither side would yield, and Duniiidi
continued to issue patents covering the controverted area.
The Indians, observing this antagonism, and disa])j)()iiiti
that the delay in the organization of the Vandalia colony li;i
deprived them of purchase money for their lands, and fcaiii:.
to lose them thnmgh occupation by rival claimants, yii
troublesome along the frontier. One Walttn- Kelly had liutt<
his family on a creek up the Kanawha, eighty miles fnnn
stockade of the Greenbrier Compan}', which W'as the ncaic
sui)port. Warnings, which were bringing nearly all tho iv
moter settlers under cover, were neglected, and Kelly's liti!
home was devastated by ruthless Shawnees. But such wiis tl
fearlessness of the frontier that two brothers, ]Morris by nam
soon occupied the same spot, and planted a family stock, wlic
it flourishes to-day.
This balefid condition of the border was not altogetli
xmwelccmie to Dunmore. It gave the color of necessity t"
proclamation (April 25, 1774) ordering the militia to Itt:
readiness. By this force he might intimidate Pcnnsylvaii: .
})unis]i the Indians, and maintain the sovereignty of Viri;ii:
beyond the Ohio.
A few score men. land-grabbers and adventurers, had alniu
assembled at the mouth of the Kanawha, and a hunting yM'
sent out by them had been attacked by wandering Sliawinv
As the s])ring wore on, these bold fellows at the Kanawi
animated by a desire for rcivenge, resolved on a sudden (ni-
upon the Indian towns on the Scioto, in the dis])uted ten itm
They sought a famous frontiersman, jMi(!hael Cresap, and iii;i
him their leader. lie had only recently moved to the ny\
Ohio from the fronti(>r of jNIaryland. There was also in tin
number a young and daring spirit, (ieorge Kogers Clark, w;
Note. — TliP map (in tlic oiipositp imcp. liaspd on information affordpil l)y General Kii'liiiflf
ler, is taken from Crevefiieur's Lellres d'uii Ciil/iralt'iii; vol. iii., Paris, 1783.
n.<
MOKE WAH.
le claimed, ami i,
oinniissioners scir
ipvomise a curvti
le tovtiious ('(mi'>-
he five degrocs n
parallel, and tli;r
b the western en
ield, and Duniudi
overted area.
, and disa])])()iiitt
andalia eolony li;i
lands, and feiiiiii.
il claimants, ^n
r Kelly had liutti
ghty miles from .
:!h was tlu; ncuiv.
nearly all tin; i
, and Kelly's liti
l?nt such w!is t!
s, Morris hy nam
family stock, win:
was not alto.ii'otli
•r of necessity t^
he militia to tie
date Pennsylvaii .
ireignty of Viiiiii:
nturers. had alriai;
md a hunting- ikii
andering ShawiH'
•s at the Kanawl
on a sudden on-
e disputed ten itii
el Cresap, and iii;i
moved to the ui'l
ere was also in tin
3 Rogers Clarl<. "
orded by General Rii'linra !
Paris, 1783.
,v'
/<r /fty i/e //rr/c/uH-Ai/i
r
" 1
'■i!'^:
f\
^
A^
S'
1 '-a.
\v
I?
\
^\n(-irti
,vaii>-«'
"^^^
h\\
£,nl<>u.^«'''-^'''"'^'-";^
P
rr
68 77/ A" dCEKICC BILL A XI) THE DUNMORK WAR
iil
!!f(i
i ', >
! I Jil \
:|J
. /
I
*'«
I.
^.
I m
liiul been brouf^^lit tliitlicr to look after a grant wliich lie li
()l)t!iiii«'(l at Fisli Crt't'k. This hody of hordcriTs, with :
iiuproinptu or<;iiiii/ati<)ii, was furtlicr ri'oniitcd at tlio site
tilt' luodt'i'ii Wlit'cliiig by additional liothcads, with wIkmu
mattered little whether the stories of murders, which were i:
ert'asing, were of whites hy savages, or of the Indian hy tl
frontiersman, — and there was no dearth of either kind of t;il
Khenezer Zaiie, the j)rinei])al settler of this sj)ot, had iiiu'
here a tomahawk elaini in 1T()*.*, where he was joined the \\y\
year l»y his hi'others, , Jonathan Jind Silas. Then^ was at tl
date (1774) a nund)er of log houses clustering about those
th(! Zanes.
The hotheads were counseled to be ])rudent by the leader
this settlement, and Cresa]) seemed inclined to be cautious, h.
the trepidation was too widespread for j)erfect restraint.
observer tells us that in a single day a thousand bewilder
settlers crossed over the Monongahela towards the east, and ti
whole country was Knally stripped of inhabitants, except tli'
were '' forted."
The war, if it came, was sure to have one advantage for t!
whites, and that was the single and unliami)ered pur])os('
Virginia to maintain her own, and this she was prepared te
without the aid of her neighbors.
Sir William flohnson, in New York, was doing his best
hold back the Iro(piois. but that ])art of these confederal
which had advanced into the modern State of Ohio could i
be restrained from nudving connncm cause with the Delawai
and Shawnees.
Logan was one of these migrated Ii'o<]nois. and it was 1
fate to become the ]>ivot of events. He had Ix'en bred
Shamokin, and had long been known as a fi-iend of the Eiigli-
A small camp of his family and followers, on the north si
of the Ohio, crossing the river to get rum, was set u])()n a:
killed by some lawless whites. Indian runners s])read the m
of the massacre, and Logan was soon, with su(di a band :is
could gather, sjireading devastation along the Monon^alit
and llolston, — and Dunmore's war was begun.
The country north of the Ohio, where Dunniore expectdl
operate, was designated in the Parliamentary bill, now near
passage, as " heretofore a part of the territory of Caniuli
..;i!l**
utiii-: ir.i/c".
!\nt which he Im
•V(U'rt'rs, with r
rd :it the site
Is, with whom
rs, which were i;
ho Indian l)_v t!
■itlicr kiiul of tal
s spot, had iii;i'
IS joined tlir ii'
There was at tl
inir about those
it hy the h-adcr
to he cautious, l
set restraint. O;
ousand hewihlti-
Is the east, and t!
litants, except tli
advantaiic f<>i' '
n])ered purixisc
was prepared to >
doinp; his hcst
tliese confedt'ia;
(»f Ohio could I
with the Delawiii
ois. and it was 1
liad heen hied
iend of the En^li-
on tlie north s;
was set u]ioii :r
ci'S spread the ni
such a hand ;is
the MonouL;:ili'
iun.
unuiore expecteil
•y hill, now iic;u'
■ritorv of Caimds
77/ /i FUEXCH ON THE W A /SASH.
69
This j)hrase struck sharply at the pride of Duuniu;;' and othcis,
jealous of Knulish hon<»r, and Lord North at one time pro[)oscd
to have the words out. It was ui-yed hy the opposition that
undfi' >\n-\\ in acknowlcdj4iuent, if the time shouhl ever conic
fc l''i:ince i<» regain Canada in a diplouiati<' halauce, she could
fail Iv contend for this conceded limit. While this apprehen-
sion strcnutheneti the opponents of the hill in Kn^land, the
news of its proj^ress through Parliament brought other fears to
land sj»eculators in Vii\i;inia. Some travelers and advcnturei's
in till' suiiiiiier of 1773 had, under the lead of one \\'illiani
Muiiav, foinied a comiiany at Kaskaskia which hecaine known
as the Illinois Land ("ompany, and with tlicsi; the j^'overnor
aod various gentlemen of tide-v ater Virginia were associated.
Tlicy had bargained with the Lidians for hirge tracts of land,
bounded by the Wabash, the ^Iississi])])i, and the Illinois, and
the dci'd had been ])assed. Was their })ur(diase now inijieriled
by this hill ' What was to bi; the effect «)f the measure u])on
the French traders and denizens of that country, and ujion their
relations to the Indians?
The French on the Wabash and beyord, occupying lands
which the royal proclamation of 17();} had pledged to the
Indians, had been for ten years a source of perplexity to the
CGiuinanding general in New York. In September, 177 i. (Jage
had rcjiorted that the tribes thereabouts were constantly im-
periling the Knglish traders, and ''it is natural to suspect," he
says, "that the French instigate the Indians against us to keep
the trade to themselves." He then intimates that it may be-
come necessary to dislodge the French at Vineeiines. Early in
March, (Jage received royal orders to warn the French at that
place to remove immediately, and it is for us, he adds, ''to let
the iieigliboring Indians know that we shall have traders amoiiir
them to take the })hice of the Fren(di." In Ai>ril, 1772, Gage
issued a pro(damation of his intent to remove all settlers from
that country, English as well as French. They were given
time to withdraw voluntaiily. The waining was a cruel one
to the French, who had enjoyed unipiestioned homestead titles
for seventy years. When their ])rotests wt-n; sent to New
York, Gage dallied in his decision. This gave time for the
resignation of Ilillsborcmgh, forced by Franklin, to throw the
control of the question into the tenderer hands of Lor<l Dart-
\
7PP
'.\i !i
1 ;
> )!
4^ W
i,<i
70 77//<; nf'EllEC HILL A.\l> THE Pf/yMUllE II M/,'.
iiioutli, ami tlu! poor Froiicli were rcspitt'd. They wont di
])ursuiii<^' their iivocations, liuntiiig' and tradinj;, and I'atii
Kennedy, who was at this time exj»h)iint;' the Illinois, re|M)i:
nieetinn' them on its hanks. It seems clear that tlie lontes tidi
Detroit, the home of the eon<;eners of these Illinois I-'rciiii
were constantly traversed hy these people, either hy the M;i
nieo or the Illinois liiver, — a jonrney in either ease of n.
nine hnndied miles to the MisHissi))|ii. often the <lepot for tin
fni's. llalilimand, in sneijeedini;' ( iaj;-e, opened eomniiiiii<
tion with tlieir western aliens. He had advised (Jaini* that
woiilil lie dit^ienlt to controvert tlu'ir land titles. Now iiii(l<
Dartmonth's oiders he had cautioned the Kn^lish connn:iiiii.
at Fort (laj^e to he conciliittory towards them. A little; lati;
Ilaldimand was endi-avorin}*; to get more direct inforniiitin
of their condition. Ih; was iusti-uetinj;' Lieutenant Ilutclii;
to leave Pensacola and take the route; north hy the Mississi|i|
so as to hrin;^' him reports. Later still, he sent Lieutfim:
Hall to jdacate the Indians and ])repare the French settk
for the stabler rule of the new hill. (ia<;'e, in London, w
not less anxiously eonsidtini;' with North anil Dartmouth. ;i:
conferring' with Carleton ahout its })rovisi<)iis. llaldiiii;i:
was meanwhile constantly reporting new disorders ou the Olii
with a suspicion of French intrigue behind the savage iirir
tious, and there was lU'ed of haste in a])i)lving the assuanii.
effects of the bill. But its opponents were ipiestionin^' tl
scheme because they thought it hopeless and un])atrioti(' '
check an inevitable westward progress. PLaldiniaiul iiiiil
stood the veal purpose of its ])romoters. when lu; said that i
bill was aimed at preventing the Americans getting poss(s>i
of the continent. Lord Lyttelton ivcognized the fact that
confine the Americans by such Ji barrier was to tlnvart tin:
contest for em])ire. AVedderbnrn said distinctly that it v
one object of the bill to prevent the Fnglish settling in tl:
country, and that the new barrier would allow " little tciui':
tion" to send settlers north fi-om the N'andalia grant.
It was not only this territorial exi)ansion of Quebec, but !
concessions which the bill made to P>eneh Catholics, giviii
than any English Komanist could dare ex])ect, and the gram
French law in British territory, which increased the st«^
aversion to it of English merchants, and which aroused the I
1'
ii!;i t'!-
Tlu'V woiit MI
no-, aiul I'atii.
Illinois, vt'iitn;
[ lilt' routcH I'i'oi.
Illinois Kri'iiil
luT l>y tin' Mai
Mi'v case <»l" 111
R' depot for tin
;ni'tl coinniuiiii
s('(l (iaL-i! tliat
tU'S. Now llllil'
lulisli coniniaiiil
ii. A little l;it.
[ivet't infonnatiii:
utenant llntflii;.
,y the Mississiin
e sent Lientciiir.
Hi French settL:
', in London, w
il Davtniontli. ;i:
i(ms. llal(liin;i;
vdevs on the < )lr
the sava.u;e irnr
ng the assna^ii.
•e (juestionin;^ '•
md nn])atnotic •
hddiniaiul inul'
Ml he said th:it ti
getting posscsM
d the fact that
as to thwart tb
fmetly that it v
ish settling in ti:
o\v '• little tcmi'
ia grant,
of Qnel)ec, Imt '
Catholics, .Ci'-'ii'
•t, and the grant
creased the stea
ich aroused the 1
m THE HILL PASSED. 71
Biiiyor and niagistrutes of London, hecause they supposed it
ittpfrilcd Ih'itish honor. For the seahoard colonists to enter
Hint territory and liml French law instead of Fnglish law, ami
to eiicounttsr an estahlished Catholic religion, was not likely to
Stl'eniitlien the loyalty whose decadence the ministry was de-
ploring in the older colonii'S. " Does not your hlood run cold,"
said Hamilton, ''to think that an Fnglish J'arlianient could
pftKs an act for the estahlishment of arhitrary power and poi>ery
in such an extensive eountry V " However politic the modern
historian nuiy tliiid« this rehahilitating of French customs to
h*ve I'cen for the vastly ])rep()nderating French element north
of tiic St. Lawrence, to inclnde the Ohio country in such provi-
sions is not ai)provi'd even by such defenders of the n»inisterial
policy as Kingsford, the latest historian of Canada. There is
indeed little to sn])port the charges that the hill was hut the
l^t step in reducing ''' the ancient, free, Protestant colonies to
tile same state of slavery,"" by setting uj) '* an example and Ht
iustriunent for introducing the same absolute rnle in these
colenies."' These were ])hrascs used hy Congress in an atldress
to tlie peoi)le of (ireat Ih'itain a few months later (Octoher 21,
lt74), and still more solenudy in the Declaration of Indeiiend-
eitce. They were simply loose sentences used for ])olitical ends.
The Parliamentary o])])()sition, which was dignified hy flu; su])-
porl of Chatham and Burke, never ventured to think of any
sucli effect on the Atl itic side of the Alleghanies from these
untoward ])rovisions, wliatever the hx-avado utterances of Thur-
low may have indicated. "T do not choose,"* said Burke at one
tittle, " to break the American s])irit, because it is the spirit
that has made the country."
The liill was introdnccd on !May 2. 1774. into the House of
Lords, weary with the long sessions which the discussion of the
Massachusetts coercive acts had caused. It went to the Com-
mons, and ])assed that body on June 13, while Ijogaii was ren-
dering an Indian war in the designated region inevitable,
and was sent back with aniendnients to tlu; Lords. Li this
body, by a vote of fifty to twenty in a house that seated five
hundred and fifty -eight members, and after the season was so
far advanced that many ]ieers had gone to their estates, it was
passed oil June 18, and four days later was a]iproved by the
king. In this w\ay the government stultified itself.
U
Vk
' '
;■> *
ii'
iV
•f I ;
I •. ) I
V:
;!
!tS'
I' I
i|i I ,
II 1 ■•
72 r///;; quebec bill and the duxmore war.
Before the news eoiik' reach Virt;iiii;i, hut while the prospect
seemed certain that sucli a bill would become law, Dunmniv,
on .Tilly 12, instructed Andrew Lewis to descend the Kanawlm
with a force and cross the Ohio into the Shawnee country.
Meanwhile, Major Angus McDonald passed the mountains witli
a body of militia, and, moving down tl;e Ohio to the niodcin
Wheeling, he found himself in conunand of ahout seven huii
di'tid sturdy fighters. Here, with the aid of the Zanes and
following ])lans suggested by George Rogers Clark, he built
Fort Fincastle, later known as Foit Ileiiiy. Towards the ciiil
of July, he (lro})})ed down the river to Fish Creek, whence In
made a dasii upon the Shawnee villages on the Muskingum,—
creating the first success of the Avar,
Dpumore himself had left Williamsburg on July 10, and liv
the last of September he was at the head of about thirteen hun-
dred men at Fort Fi;ieastle. lie kept out some expericnii.!
scouts, Clark, Cresap, Simon Kenton, and Simon Ciirty ani(ni<;
the number. He sent Crawford forward to build Fort Gowtr
at the mouth of the Hockhocking.
The Indian agents, .lohnson and his deputy, Croghan, — wlm
was now living on the Alleghany just above the forks. —
watched this war of Virginia and the Shawnees with .solicitudr.
Sir William got his tidings of it through the Irotpiois, and tiny
associated all the barbarity of the whites with the name oi
Cresap. Logan certainly agreed, as his famous speech sho\v>,
Rev. William Gordon had some time before transmitted tn
Dartmouth what purported to be a letter addressed by tlu
French king to the Six Nations. In this tliev were told to
keep u]) their courage, and they would, as they found ojijidi-
tunity. enter Canada with eighty ships, while " an ecpial nunilni
entered the Mississippi to the aid of his southern children.
The English were well aware of the uncertainties of a geneiiil
savage uprising, with France <m the watch. " There is \w
great a s])irit in the fi'ontier people f(n' killing Indians," saiil
Croghan. ^ and if the assenddy gives in to that sjjirit, instead
of securing the friendship of the Six Nations and the i>ela
wares by negotiation, no <loubt they will soon have a general
rupture." He adds that the Six Nations havi' tried to prevent
the war with the Shawnees. With such an Iroquois as Lo^aii
aroused, there was little chance of peace.
ten
tii'ij
wa.s|
fi,L!ll|
all
ul:
oil
wllKl
eni(i|
lip.
oi'del
tiini
tn I'l
liew
Ills
The
liioti*
§ fi'ont
it Sli
WAR.
FKillT AT POIXr PLEASANT.
73
lie prospect
, Duniiioiv.
e Kanuwlia
[>e countrv.
intaiiis witli
;1k' inodciii
seven ]>iiii
Zanes ;iii(l
■k, he l)uilt
I'ds the ('11(1
, whence In
skiiigum, —
10, and liy
iiirteeu huii-
ex})ei'it iii'c!
lirty aimnii;
Fort Gowir
;han, — wlm
le forks. —
h solieitii(U'.
is. aiul they
e name cf
eeeh sho\v>,
isniittecl t^
|s('(l by tilt
■re told til
uud o\)\nn-
ual nmiiltiM
eliiklri'ii.
If a <;'eiit'i';il
Ihere is tun
lians," saiil
|rit, iiistciul
the D.'lii-
a g'enci'iil
I to prevent
Is as Loii'iiii
Tlic real stroke of tlie war eaine on the very site of the eon-
Ten,|)lated caintal of Vandalia. in the anj;le formed hy tht; june-
tioii of the Kanawha witli the Oliio, — I'oint Pleasant, as it
was called. The conflict here was the most hotly contested
tii;])* •AJiich the Indians ever made against the English, and it is
all the more remarkable :is it was the first considerable battle
• wl:; ]\ they had fought without the aid of the French. Lewis,
(III aniviug at the spot, learned from Diinmore's messages,
which the governor's scouts had hidden near by, that the gov-
ernor witli his forces woukl be on t'«. Ohio at a point higher
nil. wlicre Lewis was instructed to join him. The next day new
orders came, by which it appeared that Dunmore intended to
turn lip the llockhocking River. :ind that Lewis was expt'cted
to cross the Ohio and join liim in the Indian country. When
Lewis was thus advised., his rear column had not come uj), and
jiis trains and cattle were still struggling in the wilderness.
Tlie force which he had with him at Point Pleasant was a
iiiotlcv one, but for fore.st service a notable body, and not a
frontier settlement but had contributed to it. There were in
it Slielby. Christian, Robertson, and Morgan, — heroic names
ill these wi'stern wilds.
Wiiile Lewis was making ready to obey orders, a scpiad of
men, out hunting, discovered that a horde of Indians was u'loii
lliem. C(U'nstalk, a Shawnee chief, had (Civined Dunniore's
liiiiii, and, witli a strategic skill unusual witli Indians, had
crossed the Ohio f r the puipo.se of beating his adversary in
detail. The op[)osii\^' armies were much alike in lumbers, say
eleven luiiKhed each, — })erhaps more. — and in forest wiles the
difl'eienec was hardly greater. Cornstalk soon devtdoped his
jilaii of crowding the whites towai'd the point of the ]Hnii!sula.
Lewis jmshed forward cmmgli men to retard this onset, while
;;]ie threw up a line of defense, behind which he could retire if
t iieeessarv. He sent, bv a concealed niovenuMit. another fovce
iiiloiigthe banks of the Ohio, which gained the Indiiins' tiank,
jiiiil iiy an cnHladiiig fire forced the savage liiu' back. In the
J|iiigl>t, Cornstalk, thus worsted, recrossed the Ohio.
M
eaiiwhile. Dunmore. ascending the Ilockhockina, marched
ill
towards tlu^ Scioto, making some ravages as he went. Corn-
stalk, after his defeat, had hurriedly joined the tribes opposing
l^iiiiinore, but he foand them so disheartened bv his own ili.s-
WllTT"
^» 1,1
!.)
I '
74 THE QUEBEC BILL AND THE DUNMOHE WAR.
coinfiture that he soon led a deputation to Dunnioves caiii])
and proposed a peace. The governor, hearing of Lewis's a)!-
proaeh, and not feeling the need of his aid in the neg()tiatii>ti>,
and fearing that the elation of the victorious borderers niii;lit
disquiet the now eomjdacent tribes, sent messages to Lewi-
that he should withdraw, which Lewis reluctantly did. .\
treaty foUowed. All prisoners were to l)e given up ; all stolen
horses retiu'ued. No white man was to be molested on tin
Ohio, and no Indians were to pass to its southern bank. It
was also agreed ^ — in mockery, as tlie tribes n.'asi; have felr —
that no white man should cross to the nortii. Four cliieftiiiii-
were given to the whites as hostages.
Logan kept aloof, and was sullen. lie was a fighter and nn;
a councilor, he said ; but he sent in the speech to whic^li rcff i
ence has been made, an elocpu-nt burst of ])roud disthiin. if w.
can trust the report of it. His string of scalps had satisfied \\v
revenge.
There were a^'ts on Dunniore's part, such as liis fail i
succor Lewis, and his refusal to let him share in the t •
which, when his conduct and that of his minion, (.'onnoUy, W'H
later known in his eagerness to quell the patriotic uprising in
tide-water Virginia, led many to suspect liini of treachery in tin
negotiation with the Indians, and of a ])urpose to secure then
to the royal side in the iin])ending revolutionary sti'ugL;li'
There is no evidence that, at the time, this distrust ])"i'v:ulril
As late as March, 1775, the Virginia Assembly thanked him fm
his success. Yet it is true that h" had, before he entered iiiioi;
his campaign, dissolved the Virginia Assembly in May, ITTI.
in disa])]>roval of tht^r votes of sympathy for op])ressed Boston
Duumore had, indeed, obtained all he ho])ed for by briii,-
iug ])eaee, in vfcstablisliing a new hold for Virginia upon tin
territory, whicli, as he later learned, was on tlie first of tli>
following May to ])ass, by action of Parliament, under a niw
jurisdiction. The grasp which Virginia liad now laken Ikh!
cost her £150,000, but it svas to be of great importance in tin
coming struggle with the king, for she had administered n ilt-
feat to the Indians, which was foi- some time to ))aralyze tliiii
power in that region. It was a grasp that Virginia was not ti*
relax till she ceded her rights in this territory to tlu' nas m
union when the revolt of the colonies was ended, — a li(dd tliiit
til
!•
ii
tl
•: WAR.
more s c:uii]i
\ Lewis's :i]i.
iu>i;«>tiatii»n\
■clevers mi^li;
2,'es to L( 'wi-
ll tly (lid. A
lip ; all stdliii
lestcd on tin
M'li bank, it
I have felt —
jur chieftaiii-
iohter and im;
io vvhicli vet',!-
disdain, if w.
id satisfied iii<
his fail '
in the i
['onnolly, wit
tie npvisinu' ii;
•eaehery in tin
() secure tlicm
lary strn,<:j:li'
•nst p'-evnilcd
anked him fm
entered u|)iii:
n May, 1"'^
ressed ]^)()sti>ii,
for hy hiin.-
iiiia upon tin
\v lirst of til.
under a iii"
)\v taken li;\i!
ortanee in tin'
inisten'd ;i ilf-
paralyze their
\ia was not t"
o the lias rii'
-a hold ili;i;
THE COMMISSION To CANADA.
(.')
liffdi'e lonu she was to strengthen thron^Ii the wisdom and
liardiliood shown in her capture of N'iiiceiiues.
litt'ore tlie battle of Point Pleasant liad decided the fate of
till' Indians, the passage of the bill, which in early summer had
cnatiil so little attention in Parliamejit, was met in London l)y
•a iirodigious cry"" in September, — a clamor that William
l.rc. tlieii in Engiaiul, did his best to increase by '• kee])in<;- a
continual tire in the jjapers." Tiie bill was not to go into effe 't
till the s]>ring of 1775, and Carleton liaving returned to Caiiadi',
1 )artn,outli, in fFanuary, sent him instriuitions about ])utting it
in foi'ce. The minister"s letti'rs must have crossi'd others from
tl. 'governor, informing him of the opposition to the bill even
am >ng the Fri-nch i)eople of the j)rovince, and of the measures
uliicli the revolting colonies were taking to gain the Canadians
tn their cause. Jn Montreal the bust of the king had been
<|. faced.
Ali'cady in tlie ])revioiis Se])tomber, Cimgress had reechoed
the " |ir(.digious cry "" of London, and liad declared the re-
establislimcnt of the Catholic religion in (^Vu'bec to be " danger-
ous ill an extreme degree ; "' but this mistake in language was
discovered, and ffoliii Dickinson drafted for that body a concil-
iatory address to the Canadians, which, in March, 1775, Carle-
ton informed Dartmouth the disaffected on the St. Lawrence
were printing and distributing in a translation. AVithin a
year the lesson of j)riid('nce had been forgotten, and singularly
eiinngh wliih' Congress ( Fel)ruary, 177t) ) was a])pointing a
coniniission, with one Catholic memher (Charles Carroll) and a
( atholic attendant, to proceed to Montreal, the ardent llugue-
iiot blood of John Jay had colored an address of Congress to
Kiii'lish symi)athizers by characterizing the Catholic faith '" as
' a icligioii fraught with sanguinary ami im))ious tenets." It
was only necessary for the loyal Canadians to transhste and cir-
culate Jay's impru(hMit rhetoric to make the efforts of the com-
iui>sioners futile. Congress again grew wiser when it framed
the i)eclara(ion of IndepeiideiU'c, and Dr. Shea has jiointed out
that the allusion to the (Quebec JWll in that document is '• so
tilix'urc that few now understand it, and on the ])oint of religion
it is sile!<t."'
< oMgress thus failed to undo the (Quebec .\ct by gainhig the
t n
I '
' !!§!
r<! (J
^ I
r< i
nn
70 77/ii QUEBEC HILL AND THE DUNMOliE WAR.
people it \vii8 inteiuled to shield ; and it was left for Virj^iiiiii,
under :i j)ressure insti<j;'ated by Miii'vliuid, to do what she eoiiM
to make the territory, of whieli Parliament would have depriviM
her, the nucleus of a new em})ire l>eyond the mountains.
England stubbornly adhered, to her efforts to maintain rli.
act rnn'th of the Ohio, as long' as the war lasted. Ik-fore tl.
netiial outbreak, Fi'anklin, in his informal ney'otiations in Ldh
don, had told the niifiistry that there eouhl be no relief frnni
the dangers of "■ an arbitraiy govermnent on the baek of !li.
settlements *' but in a rei)eal of the (2uebee Act. lie claiuKMl
it to be the right of the Amciicans to hold the lands wliich tin-
eoh»nists had acipiired from the Fi-eneli, while at tlie same x'xnw
it was their <luty to defend them and set u)) new settlement-
upon them. Diunnore was ntiturally of another mind, and wc
know that aftei- his treaty was made he schemed with the Dela-
wares and the ministry to get a royal confiiination to tliat tiilir
of the country north of the Oliio and east of the Hoekhockiiii;,
as a ready niejuis to bar out the Virginians.
^v'¥i
h\h'
;'i|fir>~l
;|nii.l
'y(l<l'>\vi,
for Virgin ill.
lat she could
live (It'inivtil
aiiin.
luaiiiTuiu ilh
Before tin-
tions in Li'ii
I) iV'lief fi'in;
l);u'k of till
lie clainici!
[Is which t lu-
be same time
\- settlcuinit-
nind, an<l we
ith the Ddu-
to that till"'
lockhockiiii;.
; CHAPTKH VI.
SOI TH OK J'HK OHIO.
NiMi.uor^i rivulets, .s])iiij,t;i!ij.'^^ along the lihic Ridge in North
-<';ti«>liaa. and lt)'<Kidening as tiiey leap d<>\vu the slopes, ulti-
iiinlelv gatljcr and flow towards the sea. in two principal streams,
~ the Yadkin and the Catauha. TJiere was a Scotch-Irish
iiSitnck ia this niuuiitainous region, wiiieh was pi'oving diftieult
j)for (iDvenior Tryou, t!ie royalist executive of that province, to
IliiMiiMm'. This I'ecalcitrant s},urit of indei)endence found an
anra'tive seclusion in the free wilderness life which I'cturned
liuiitci' and adventurer pictured beyond the mountains. One
f these i-estless spirits dwelling on the Yadkin has already
ecu presented to us in Daniel Boone.
In (he vall.;y interposing i>et\veen tlie Blue Hidge and Iron
/^Mountain, — the present western boundary of North Caro-
lina. — a network of suiall streams unite and flow north to
the Kaeawha and Oliio. Other sp'-aying threads of glistening
lite, drawing into a single channel, break through the Iron
Mnuiititin, wht>n, increased h\ various tributaries, it becoujes
Laowu us the Watauga, an aliHtU'nt of the I lolston, otye of the
4'liiil' hraiiclies of the Tennessee, To the valley of this stream,
l\iiig ia what is now the northeast eoi-ner of the State of Teu-
ii«i-i<e. Daniel Hoone Itad come, ai« we Imve seen, in 1T<!9.
M- svas soon aftf'r planted across tW Indian war-path which
IIS viilley :irt'oi'de»l — up and down whieh the noi-thern and
?<'nithern Indi-ns \tm\ for years followed oue another — the
lii-t permarent settlement beyond the mountain> -iouth of tiie
iiginia grants, William IVan had buih himself a ejibin hf^re,
and his son was the first white child Imxii in Tennensee. The
;<!<>nuniinic!»tions t»f the region wi're ea!*i«)*t tr«)m Vlrriiinia and
<1''wu the tributaries of the Kanawha.
On Ootoixi !H. 1770, a tresut; of Virginia with the ('hero-
Hi;
'liijil
ii
rr
TT
i^ i i-i
;i n
n i
r
nj
I:
1. I
i;f
,( 11
i 1 ,5"
it ,
78
SOUTH OF THE OHIO.
kees, made at Locliabev, in South Carolina, had extended tli.
bounds of the Oh. Dominion s(» far westerly as to eorrespoml ii.
tlie main with the present eastern line of Kentueky. \'iryiiii;i
thus seeured frt)m the Chenjkees, in the veiy year in wliicL
their famous Se(juoyah, the suhsecpient inventor of their alpha.
Itet, was hoiii. their rights to mueh the same territory wliicii
had been eeded l)y the Iroipiois at I'ort Stanwix in 1708. J:
the soutlieni i)ounds of N'ir^inia (80° 31' nortli latitude) wciv
wliere these W'atauna people sup])ose(l, this Cherokee eession
covered their valley, and they were under the protection (it
Vii'ginia laws, so far as those ordinances eould prevail in sn
distant a region. The new Loehaber line began at a ]toint .m
the llolston — into which tlu' \Vatauga flowed — and exteiidcil
northward, and there was little knowledge of what it encoun-
tered, till it struck the mouth of the Kanawha, whose sprin;:>
were adjacent to those of the Watauga. The line really threw
the npj)er parts of the valhy of the Big Sandy Kiver and tin
southwest angle of West Virginia — excepting the extreme
})oint of that angh'- — into the conceded territory. The main
object of the treaty was to placate the Indians for the encroadi-
ments along tlie alluvial bottoms of the Kanawha, which th
surveyors had been making in that region under the Koit
Stanwix grant. That concession of the Iroquois had provnl
extremely iri-itating to the Cherokees, becr.use it assumed t^
deal with their territory.
Before the truth about the latitude of the Watauga settle-
nuMit was known, there was a significant inniiigration thitlici,
bringing u]>on the stage of western settlement some notahlv
personages. In 1770, a supple and robust young man, wIiom'
blue eye had the alert habit of a luniter. and whose native air
of command attracted notice wherever he went, and perlia]>s tin
weightiest man of all these trans-Allegliany pioneers, parsed
that way, bound on furtlier explorations. In hint. James lioli-
ertson was tirst introduced to the little stockaded hamlet, wln'i'
a few hai'dy adventurers were breasting the wildei-ness. Tiic
next year (1771 ) he came among them again, this time resolvni
to stay, for he had brought with him a train making sixtciii
families, v.uom he had induced to enter ujion this ni'W wnill
It was after the battle of the Alamance (May 10, 1771), wluiv
Tryon's force had dispersed the Regulators, — a body of ;i-mi-
ca I
tl
f if: ^!
'"'''^
\VA TA UGA ASSOCIA TIOX.
|9
extt'iulc'il th.
corre.s])()ii(| in
ly. Virj;iiii;i
ear in wliicL
if tlii'ir iil|ili;i-
M'ritoiy wliicli
ill 1708. It
latitu(lt') Weil
■rokoe eessiim
prott'ctioii (It
l)rev:iil in m.
!it a jxiiiit oil
and t'xtt'iidid
lat it t'licouii.
kvliose s])riiii;v
(' really threw
KivLT and tlic
the I'xtiriiif
\. The main
the encroacli-
ha, Nvliich til
der the I'ort
s had i)r()V('il
t rissuiiit'd I"
atauga scttk'-
atioii thither,
some iiotahl''
;• man, wlio-i
)S(' native air
})erliai)s tin
leers, ])asseil
flames Kuli
milet. wheii
crness. 1 liv
time resolved
dcing' sixteiT.
i lU'W Wollil
ITin. ^vh.elv
bodv of :i-M'-
<'iates a^ainst horse thieves and tax-gatherers, — and some of
tJKit (lisalfeeted body, eager to find other eontrol than a royal
«'.,\(inor, were in this emigration. Robertson bnilt himscdf a
CI 1 ill on an island in the river, and events soon phieed liiin in
the I'orefront of a little eolony. oi'gaiiized on manhood sutt'ragt!
and ii'lii;ions liberty. In it ho actjuired leadershiji, tli(JUgh he
was nioie deHcieiit iii edneation than was nsiial with pi* iieers,
fni' lie was onlv lieginning to aenuire the ])enniairs art.
In the same year ( 1771), -laeob Brown had formed a settle -
nieiit on the Xollieliiieky, a braiieh of the llolston next i^onth
(it liie Watauga, and it was he who. on the diseoveiy being
made, liv the surveyors extending the southern line of Virginia,
that l)<>th of these settlements wei'e without the government
of \'iiginia, eiitertd into an agreement with the Cherokees. by
\vlii(.'li the joint cotmimnities, now numbering eighty souls,
seemed a lease of these valleys, in eoiisideration of six thousand
ddllars' worth of goods, for a term of eight years. Hy this they
avoided sueh an infiingemeiit as a purchase would be of the
IHoelaination of 17ti^.
Tli''so litth' eommnnities, thus thrown out of the eontrol of
\'ii-inia,and having no connection with North Carolina, though
uitliin her charter limits. W(>re placed in much the same eondi-
tiiii! in these western wilds that the Mayflower pilgriniK wei-e in
a liiui(b'ed and fifty years before, when, tranded beyond the
jKiteiit of Virginia, they were forced into forming a eompact of
gi.vernnient.
It was thus, in the spring of 1772, that Kobertson undei'took
a leading part in making what was called the Watauga Assoeia-
11 111. riiis was a coiiil>iuation of the people of the Watauga,
(liter's, and the Xolliehucky valleys, under written articles, for
('\il goveiaimeiit and the ])roteetion of law. It was also a
union, based on necessity and tlu' Indian consent. With thest;
I iivuonnients they were ready to face the demand for their
I'liioNai nia<h' by Cameron, the British Indian agent, on the
uroiii.,! (if their defying the royal proclamation. The govei-n-
1111 lit, wliich the articles instituted, ])roved rugged enough to
-iii\i\(' all strains that were ])ut u|»on it for six years. In
A 11,0, -t. I77ti, the association jictitioncd the North Candina
.\-~senil)ly to be allowed to come under its protection. This
l>a])er is still existing in Sevier's handwriting. They professed
If
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80
SOUTH OF THE OHIO.
u desire "to share in the glorious cause of liberty" with tlieii
brothers ou the seaboard. In 1T7H, the region was oiganizid
as Washington County in North Carolina. Tiiis change broui^lit
but slight disturbance to the existing forms of goveriunent.
That this little republic of the wilderness lasted so succcsv
fully was indeed owing to the character of the men who fornicil
it. While in the throes of birth, the little community wtl.
comed to its shelter two other I'emarkablc ])ersons. Captaiii
Evan Slieiby was a frontier cattleman of no uncertain i'Iudiu-
ter, whose ^Vclsli blood liad been invigorated by liis moiuMii'ii
career. .John Sevier brought to the wilderness a handsoim
mien, which befitted his gentle Huguenot blood. His life as uii
Indian trader had given him an eager air, but a ceitain self-
conscious dignity beamtul from his blue eyes, and waves nt
brown liair haloed a well-])oised head, carried (M'ect, and slrnw.
ing a eomitenance lightened at times with <vleams of meiriniciit.
He was now not more than six and twenty years old, with a litV
of striking incident and humane interests still l)efore him. lii
was, says Phelan, the "•most brilliant military and civil figure"
in the histoi-y of Tennessee. In these three men, Roberts^!!.
Slielby, and Sevier, the Watauga settlement was fortunate in
these formative days, for being without the ])ale of establislnil
civil control, the colony became easily the asylum of vagab()iiil>
and culprits escaping justice by flying over the mountaiib.
With such intestine disturbances, and with the savages abmit
them, the character of its chief rulers could be the only security
whicli such an isolated conununity could possess. No copy nt
their self-im})osed constitution of restraint has been jn-eseivcd:
but we know enough of the woi-kings of their simple govern
nient to see how the laws of Virginia, so far as ap])licable, witli
an executive committee to enforce them, and a suffi(!ient metliml
of record for lands, sufficed to answer all reijuirements. It wib
the earliest instance of a government of the people by the i)t'o-
])le, and under a written comjjact, beyond the mountains, ami
was establisluid by men of American birtli.
In the year 1773, following this organization, Boone headed
a ])arty and started west. He had with him the first womcii
and children who iiad ])assed the Cumberland Mountains. TIhv
])assed beycnid all civilization after they had tarried for a brirt
interval among a few families settled west of the Holston ami
«
COL UN EL IIENDERSOX.
81
" witli tliuii
as organ iztil
mge brounlit
^Tiuuent.
ll so SUClThv
1 who foriiit'il
niuunity wcl-
US. Captain
rtaiii I'huiai-
liis movuitiiiii
a haiulsoiiu
Mis life as an
I ct'itaiii self-
lud waves (it
ct, and sliow-
i)f inei'vinit'iit.
Id, witli a lili
ov(; liini. Ill'
[ civil fignre
n, Kol)evts(ii!.
i fortnnatc in
Df establislitil
of vaj;'al)()iiil>
nionntaiib.
ivages alidut
Dnly security
No copy lit
■n ]n'esei'vt'(l:
inple govern-
»li('al)le. with
'ient nietliiiii
■nts. It wa-^
e by the jx'ii-
>mitains. ami
ioone heail'il
first women
ntains. Tin'}
d for a liriit
Holston ami
almig the Clinch Kiver, the other principal fork of the Ten-
in-.^ee. It was in Se|)teniber, 1773, when Hoone and his
ailv(iitun»iis families were joined by a l)and of hnnters, and the
oomiiaiiy niuubered eighty when a few weeks hiter (October 10)
tliev were attacked in PoweU's valley by tin; Indians, In the
ii-lit tliev lost enough to discourage them, and so turned back
til the scttlcuuMits on the Clinch. It was now ajjparent that an
Iiiiliau war was coming, and in the following spring (1774) the
6iuii> ol it were everywhere, as has been de}ticted in the ])re-
(iiliiig cliaj)ter. There were at the tinu; various stray wanderers,
liuiitcrs. and surveyors, jmrsuing devious ways, or squatted heie
ami there throughout this remoter country. Now that Lewis,
as we have seen, had been ordered with the Virginia foires
diiwii tiir Kanawha, and since the gage of war had been a(^
C( pti'd. I)()(>ne was si'ut to thrid this country and give warning.
Ill' and his comj)anions found Ilarrod, McAfee, and their coni-
]iaiiv just beginning a settlement at the modern Ilan'odsburg.
i\iter Boone's caution, they abandoned their ])urpose. Other
])arties ol" whites, which they encountered, were informed of
till ir danger, liooue's farthest point was the ra])ids of the
Ohio. After an absence of sixty days and move, during which
lie iiail covered over eight hundred miles, he returned to his
friends on the Clinch.
Liwis's victory at Point Pleasant in October. 1774, rendered
the navigation of the Ohio com])aratively safe, and opened the
way for easy transportation to the regions of the h>wer Cum-
bi riaiid and Tennessee. The Idow which the savages had
Tici'ivcd pi'ovcd enough to paralyze them foi- a while, and Ken-
tiii'ky, at this ])artioular juncture, owed nuich to this respite.
'^I he new o])portunity encouraged a movement which for a time
:jir()mised to regulate the western emigration on a more extended
.scale than had been before attempted. The reports which
iJiioiic had made of this western region had aroused many,
-juiiong others C'olonel Richard Henderson, a \'irginian, now
aliout forty years old. It was under his direction that a i-om-
jtaiiy had been formed in North Carolina to buy land of the
Indians and estaldish a colony beyond the mountains. In the
•early days of 1775. Martin, with a party of eighteen or twenty,
Jiad hiiilt some cabins and a stockade at what was later known
It !
jt!
***
■("
, » ufm f ^^
82
SOUTH OF THE OHIO.
i ' n» 1 I
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h !;ll
! I
m
I '■; !
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n.H Martin's Station, about fifty miles bcvoinl the Clinch Kivd
Iiainlct. Tho M(!Afees, about the same time, be<;an a s(ttl(
ment on Salt Kiver. Benjauiin L(»i;au had in another le^inii
l»eL;un a fort, to whieii the next year he l)roni;lit his family. Oi;
March 18, .lauies llarrod and a l)!irty of lifty reoeeupied th.
^rcuuid whieh he had abandoned on Jioon(("s warning in 1774,
riiis reoceupation of the rei;ion was in i)roi;n'ss when lltii
derson and ei;;ht other North C'aroliuians, on March 17, 177',
at Sycamore Shoals ou tho Watauga, concluded a treaty \vi;i
the C'herolvccs, by whieli they aeciuired the Indian title to iilMiir
one half of the modern State of Kentucky and the adjiiccn;
part of Tennessee lying within the southei'ly bend of tli.
Ciunberland. The ceded tenitory was bounded by the Ken.
tui'ky, liolston, C^unbeiland, and Ohio rivers, and recteivdl
tlio name of Transylvania, — the particular grounds for bestow-
ing which name, beyond its apparent meaning, are not known.
The negotiation was not a sudden dash of business, for tw( Iv.
hundred savages looker! on and increased the usual 1m(Ii,ii
delil)«'ration. They Imard the speeches on both sides. On.
haiangue, at least, from the Indians was a mournful protot
against the white man's encroachments. The [)urchaser's blan-
dishments at last prevailed, and for £10.000 worth of gddil-
the instrument conveying not far from eighteen million acn-
of teri'itory received the assent of Oconostota, an aged eliirt
Tiie Raven and The ('ari)enter, other head men of the tribi', al>'
joined in the; conveyance. Two days later, the Watauga asso-
ciates, with less regard for the royal ])roclamation than befoiv,
by the payment of Ji2,000 worth of merchandise, converteii
their existing lease into a purchase, and threw their intcnusti
into the neneral scheme.
When a successful termination of the negotiation sec
luei'
certain, and a week Ix'fore the deed was signed, I>oone staitiii
under Henderson's direction to open a tiail to the Kentiukv,
blazing and clearing a way which eventually was known as Tli.
Wilderness Koad. It formi>d a connection between ("umiImi
land (lap and the remoter borders of the new colony. lie wi-
attacked on the way (March 2;V), losing some men, but ])iisl:
ing on to a level bit of ground, with sidi)hur spiings near bv
he halted. Here, on April 18, he began a fort which took tli'
name of Boonesborough. It served for the i)r()tectiou of tit
n,. ,(
iwosEsiiunoi'dii.
83
tlie Clincli Kivii
', bt'<;:in ii scttli
ill unother rci^iim
it his fiimily. Oi,
ty vcHX'cupic'd tin
^iiiiini;' in IT i 1.
Ool'CSS wlu'll I It'll
1 March IT, ITT'i.
[led a tivuty witii
lian title to alimii
ami the ailjacin;
>rlv hen<l <>t tli^
ided hy the Kell-
ers, and re(!eivt(l
•oiinds for bestow-
^•, are not kni>wii,
isiness, for twtlw
i\w usual liiiliai.
l)()th sides. Oii-
niournfiil i)ii>tf>!
3 purchaser's lihiii-
lO wortli of .ytxul-
teen niillion acu-
ta, an a<;('d eliiit
n of the tribe, al-'
le Wataunii assu
ition than befoiv.
landise, eonverteil
ew their interot-
lei^otintion seciiiei'
led. I'oone startcil
to the KentiH'kv.
was known as li'
between CihiiImi
X colony. Ih' ^^'''
lie men, but ])ii>l;
ir s])!'in<j,'s near 1''
"ort which took tli'
protection of tl.>
liOONKSlitlKorcill I'OKT.
ficitrc of coiiipanioiiH which he had with him. llendetsoii later
jniiicd tlie litth; post, addin;;' about thirty new men for the
r,ii lison.and, to <;ive lift; to the movement, opened a land otHice.
Oil May 23, there was a nn'etin<; of
(It leL;ates in the fort. This assem-
Mv ailopted some laws, includiiii;'
()iH> lor iiiipro\ inj;' the bri-ed of
Jkhscs. and stands for the first legis-
l;iti\(' body which was ever held be-
yoiid tile mountains. Henderson,
lis tlic moving spirit in this action,
v;i> cri'dited with having *' i^pito-
liii/fd and simplitied the laws of
Jjiglaiid." Tlu' po])ulation at that
time tliidiighout this district was
v;iiioii>]y estimated at from one
liiiiidicil and llfty to three hundred,
iiii'linliiiu' land jobbers, s([natters,
ami domiciled settlers, with as yet
,l)iit few women anion- them. These ^^,,.,„„ ,,^,„„, „,,„,^ ,,^„,,,„ „,. „.^_
ecittt'i'cd knots of peojde had such '"''."• ■'''/'' "'"' -V.'/o^ia- in ihe iiv.-/,
. , , , , 1 J. ■ I'lilladt-lpliiii. IMlifi. Tlicic wiTc lilmk-
<'()llta('t Wltll the old ])lautatlOnS |,„„s.sat tl,« iu.i;lrs{l i«C(,l,m.l Ilm-
as could be made throu'-h the more <•'■>■■'""'•''• "i'l' '■i'* '*'"i"'" "* -'')■ -^t
^ tlic rnriiei-H iiml at the jratcs (!l) were
C'l-^tiTly hamlets on the ^^'ataug•a, stockades vi j, etc-.), xiic intiwais
X' 11" I 1 1 ^'1' 1 ■ were tillcrl «itli caliiiis, iiri'siMitiuL'
'^ol]|ellncky, and Clinch rivers. ...ank waiist,.ti,.. .-■,..„,>■.]
Tlicy bu'ined a wedge of civiliza-
tiiiii. thrust between the Cherokees on the one hand and the
v^hawiiccs on the other. Adventurous s])irits among them
Wi re pushing reconnoissanc(>s along many a tiibutarv stream
of the ])rincipal rivers. It seems pi-etty clear that if there
Was ail excess of Scotch and Teutonic blood in this l)odv of
1|)iiini'crs. there was a i)re])onderating influence of Kiiglish
Sliirit. This dominaiit mood kejit the varied racial imjiiilses
to a single ])urpose, and at a convention held at Pittsburg.
!May It). 1TT5, it gave an unmistakable su])port to the revolt
vliicli was now gaining head on the sealioai'd. Just before
tliis, one Charles Smith found rebellious stMitimeiits ])revalciit
ill tliis region, and advised Dartmouth that the coming of eight
or ten thousand Irish in one year, ^ uncultivated banditti," was
in large part the source of such disloyalty. That English
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IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-S)
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Photographic
Sciences
Corporation
23 WEST MAIN STREET
WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580
(716) 872-4503
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84
SOUTH OF THE OHIO.
minister obtained nuich the same advice from the Bishop of
Derr} , who toid him that nearly thirty-three thousand " fanati-
cal and hungry re})ul)licans " had gone thither within a few
years. The over-mountain country was doubtless attracting a
fair share of this rampant overplus of Ireland.
)'\l
I ■ .i
In the autumn of 1775, tliere were marks of a deternunatc
future hi this i)ionecr life. Boone, much to tlie colc^ny's loss,
had gone back to North Carolina during the sunnner, and now
in Septend)er returned to his stockade with his wife and cliil-
dren. There were in his train the families of various others,
who like himself were seeking new homes. The influence <»f
all this was most fortunate.
There was, meanwliile, a purpose in the older communities
to hold the course of the Ohio against any force which tlio
troublous times might array. In Septeniber, the Virginia
militia had taken ]»ossession of Fort Pitt, and outposts were
established at Fort Henry (Wheeling) and at Point Pleasant.
Henderson's scheme, with its feudal tendencies, was jjrovinj,'
inopportune. He was, as one observer said, "a man of vast
and enterprising genius," but an exacting domination made
him enemies. Some ho had been his .idherents petitioned the
Virginia Assembly to be relieved of the oath of fealty which
he had exacted. The proprietors under his grant met in Sep-
tember, 1775, and memorialized Congress for admission to the
united colonies. They claimed a title to their lands ^ccpured
in open treaty " from immemorial possessois." They ai)i)eale(l
for countenance to Jefferson and Patrick I lenry, but got no
encouragement.
Dunmore, who had now become active on the royal side, was
as impatient of Henderson's i)rojects as the jiatriots were, and
fulminated a in-oelamation against him for his contempt of tlu'
royal prohibitions, and for affording " an asylum for debtois
and other persons of desperate circumstances." Governor
Tryon, of North Carolina, who had himself been ambitious of
territorial dignities and a baronetcy, was as jn-ompt as Dunmore
in launching his disapprobation. The obstacles on all aides
were more than Henderson could overcome, and his project was
abandoned, though there was later, as we shall see, an ^'ffort
made in Congress to effect some equitable provision for his out-
INDIAN DEPARTMENTS.
86
l;iv. •' His scheme," says John Mason Brown, " was the last
iiiiiKHrant'e on American soil of the old idea of government by
loitls proprietor. It was too late for success."
In April, 1775, Dunmore had threatened to incite a servile
iiismivction in the east; and in May he informed the home gov-
('iiiiiHut that he was planning to arouse the western Indians.
Df. Connolly, then at Pittsburg, had already been instructed
liv Dmunore "to endeavor to incline the Indians to the royal
cause,"" and Connolly succeeded so far as to induce the tribes
to transmit a large belt to the governor. While Connolly
was (liiiiig this he was in correspondence with Washington, and
Icanu'd from him "■ that matters "' on the seaboard " were draw-
iiii; ti> a point."' As the sunnner wore on, Connolly found that
tin- same sort of danger as on tlie coast — which in June had
(bivi'ii Dunmore on board a British frigate at York — grew
apace along the frontiers.
On.Iune 30, the Continental Congress had set up three In-
dian departments: tlie northern, including the Six Nations and
tiilti's at the north: the southern, embracing the Cherokees
antl other tribes farther towards the Gulf ; while the middle
dcpartuieut had its central point at Pittsburg. Here three
coMunissioners, later appointed, were expected to deal with the
tribes and counteract the sinister efforts of the royalists. Dun-
more, who had expected at this time to meet Indian delegates
at Fort Pitt, so as to ratify the treaty which he had made in
1774 at Camp Charlotte, found it i)rudent not to trust himself
on such a mission. The Virginia Assembly sent instead James
Wood, with Simon (iirty as guide, to seek the Indians and kee;^
them quiet. Their efforts were effective enough to induce the
tribes (October) to decide for neutrality.
The outbreak near Boston in April had precipitated the inev-
itable. A band of hunters, encamping on a branch of the Klk-
horn in the Kentucky wilds, hearing of the act of war on Lexing-
ton greeii, gave that name to tlie sjiot on which they were, and
the name survives in Kentucky, as in Massachusetts, to attest
the brotherhood of the hour. It was another manifestation of
tliis fraternal sympathy which made Franklin bring forward his
plan of confederation. The same synii)athy prompted Thomas
I'aine to say that "nothing but a Continental form of gov-
'.-.
I
I'^ I
!■ !
S ,, I
1
86
SOUTH OF THE OHIO.
eminent can keep the peace of the Continent." It gave the
Tories of the frontiers occasion to feel the coercive power of tiie
men who were shaping the political views of the West in a con-
vention at Pittsburg. It made Michael Cresap enlist his ojil
conii)anions of the frontiers, and m? "ch them to liostcn.
A narrative of Connolly has been preserved, which shows his
movements during the sunnncr and autumn. He had been in
Boston, and had there planned with General Gage — who liiul ar-
rived in that town in May, 1774 — a movement which Dunniore
had ho))ed to assist in carrying out. In Novendjcr, he was in
Williamsburg in conference with Dun more, now sheltered on his
man-of-war. It was then arranged that Connolly, accompanifd
by Cameron and Smyth, — who has left an account in his Trar.
els, — should laake a " secret expedition to the back country."
going in a Hatbtnit up the Potomac, and thence i)assing by the
Ohio, Scioto, and Sandusky to Detroit. They started on No-
vember 13. It was expected that a considerable force would
gather at Detroit, some coming from the Illinois. In the spring
this little army was to advance by Presqu'Isle to Pittsburg
and crush the rebellion thereabouts. Leaving a g.arrison here,
it was intended to take and fortify Fort C^mibcrland and seize
Alexandria, to which point Dunmore was to come with a flcft.
A successful result would have cut off the southern colonics
from the n<n'thern. They had provided that if Pittsburg suc-
ceeded in resisting, the force should fall down the Mississippi,
collect the gjirrison at Fort Gage (Illinois), and on reaching
New Orleans take transports to Norfolk, wheiH! Dunmore would
await them.
The i)lan soon miscarried through Connolly's sending a letter
of effusive Toryism to Pittsburg, and the later recognition <if
him at Ilagcrstown on November 19. 1775, by an officer just
from the American canip before Boston, who had seen him <in
his recent visit to that vicinity. While being conducted east.
he managed at Fredericktown, in Maryland, to write to McHiie.
who was in Pittsburg, telling him of his ca])ture, and tluit
their " scheme " must fail, and directing jNIcRae to go down tlio
river, warning by messenger the commander at Detroit and in
the Illinois, and then to descend the Mississippi and return by
water to Virginia.
("4
reeafl
mdl\l
'ri
activ
\ve>tt|
fniui|
that
aii\
turutj
liroui
tlu'ir
Ir(itii|_
\X
IWIAXS IX WAIi.
87
gave the
wer of the
; ill a coil.
st liis old
n.
.shows his
I been in
lio luul ar-
Dunniore
he was ill
red on liis
onipanicd
his Trar.
L'ouiitrv."
iig l)y the
id on Xo-
ee wouhl
he spring
Pittshuiij
son Ikmc,
and si'ize
li a flt'i't.
colonics
>m'g siic-
ssissi])|ii.
reachiiij;'
e would
a letter
ition (if
cer just
hiin nil
'd east.
McHae.
nd that
own the
and ill
;urn by
Connolly's companion, Smyth, managed to escape, but was
rc('a|)tuivd, and found to be bearing other letters from Cou-
nt dly, further attesting his intrigues.
'riif arrest of Connolly ])r()bably deferred for two years the
active participancy of the Kentucky settlers in the war on the
western borders. There were lying along the western frontiers
from New York to the Mississippi, at this time, a body of Indians
that might junhaps have furnished ten thousand braves to
auv h(»stile movement which enlisted their syini)athies. As it
turiUMl out, there was little Tory influence for these two years
brought to bear upon them, and Zeisberger and Kirk'antl, by
theii- missionary efforts, held in restraint at least the western
Iro<piois and the Delawares.
NVhile Connolly was arranging in Virginia for this north-
western movement. Colonel Henry Hamilton, formerly a cap-
tain in the fourteenth regiment, had been put by Carleton in
command of Detroit. This town and its dependencies stretched
up and down the river, with a population mainly French and
l)erhaps two thousand in numbers. Only four days before Con-
nolly loft Williamsburg, Hainilt<m had reached (November 9,
ITT.V) his post. He soon made up his mind that it was simply
a (|nestion whether he or the Virginians should first secure
the alliance of the savages. There is little doubt that either
sitle, British or Americans, stood ready to enlist the Indians.
Already before Boston the Americans had had the help of the
St(K'kl)ri(l!i(' tribe. Washinjrton fcmnd the service committed
to tlie practice when he arrived at Cambridge early in fluly.
Dinimore had taken the initiative in securing such allies, at
least in pur])ose, but the insurgent Virginians had had of late
more direct contact with the tribes, and were now striving to
secure them, but with little success. It was evident, with Ham-
ilton in command at Detroit, and with the lurking eiunity sub-
sisting between the savages and tlu' frontier pioneers, that in the
011(1 a conliict must come.
Had Duninore's ])lan been successful at the north, a counter
plan, which we shall see was developed later, might earlier
have found a body of British troops with Indian allies march-
ing from the Gulf, up through the country of the Creeks and
88
SOUTH OF THE OHIO.
I t!l
w
Chiekasaws, and {gaining their a-sslstanee in an attack upon the
back country of Virginia and Carolina.
To make any such project effective, it was necessary for tin-
English agents among the Indians to accustom the tribes to a
jK)!icy quite different from that which had fostered dissensions
among them, in oi'dcr to turn their savage wrath from the
colonial borders. The })olitical revulsions on the seaboard had
convinced the liritish conunanders in America that instead of
repelling the Indians from the Appalachian l>order, as of old.
it was become politic to mass them and hurl them against it.
This change of front in the Indian agents created some susj)!.
cion in the savage breast. The Creeks j)ar^icularly were wan,
and some of them had already lent assistance to the rebellious
colonists.
Of the thirty thousand to thirty-five thousand warriors which
it is estimated there were at this time living east of the Mis-
sissipj)i, there were nearly ten thousand among the southern
tribes which Stuart was intriguing to combine. Among them
the Cherokees, a mountain folk, had lost something of their old
prominence through their long wars. They had been forced hy
the Creeks to make connnon cause with them in land treaties
with the English, having in this way joined them in June, 1773.
at Augusta (Georgia) in ceding something like two million
acres on the Savannah, stretching towards the Oconee. In this
way the two tribes had striven to liipiidate, by what they re-
ceived for the lands, the claims against them of the English
traders.
The Chickasaws were less numerous, but they maintained
their old rei)utation as hard fighters. The Catawbas, who in
times past had so defiantly stood their gi'ound against the Iro-
quois, were now reduced so much as to be of little moment in
any enumeration. The Choctaws were nearest the Spaniards,
and a ruder peojjle than the other tribes ; but the Creeks were
certainly the most powerful of all. Early in 1772, they had
resisted all importunities of the northern tribes to make com-
mon cause with thejn ; yet for some years they had given the
borderers of Georgia and Carolina much ground to dread their
treacherous savagery. They had, however, been quiet since
Octobei*, 1774, when they had been forced to a peace. Under
Stuart's instructions, the personal assiduity of his lieutenant
HOSTILE CHEROKEES.
( aiiit'ion was doing much to hand all these southern tribes in
tlif British interest, though Cameron himself felt some eoni-
inuR'tions in urging them to aetual eontiiet. The Amerieans,
hv an intercepted letter, learned t!'at the British agents had
heen iiistiueted to nuiintain "an immediate communication with
UUP r<(l brothers," through Florida.
The British ministry had planned an attack on Charleston
(S. C. ) for the early summer of 1770, and (iennain had di-
rected Stuart, in conjunction with the loyal borderers of Caro-
lina, to time an Indian rising so as to produce a distrairticm
umou"" the rebellious Carolinians at the same time. Stuart
foruu'd. as the ministry intended, a double base at Mobile and
IVnsacola ; he carried thither a supply of ammunition, to be
convcvcd thence into the Indian country, and so make up to the
tribes the resources from which they had been cut off by the
attitiule of the revolting Georgians and Carolinians. It was a
game at which both sides could i>lay, and Wilkinson, the Ameri-
can (•i>nHnissary, was doing what he could to secure the neu-
trality, if not the active aid of the savages, by a rival distribu-
tion of rum and trinkets, — a measure that before long Germain
was asking Stuart to copy. That «agent, coursing through the
up-country, says that he encountered on the Tennessee River
several boats, conveying settlers from the Ilolston to river sites
as far down the Mississippi as Natchez, whither, it was no un-
usual complaint at this time, persons flying from jtistice bo-
took themselves, mingled with others who fled from the turmoil
which the war was creating on the seaboard. Stuart thought
that the present exodus was helped by the ])romised neutrality
of the Creeks and Cherokees.
Stuart wrote to the colonial secretary that this a]>athy of
tlit'se tribes did not disturb him, for he had no doubt that, when
the pinch came, the savages could be induced to aid the British.
Karly in 1776, Stuai-t had confidently reported that every-
wlicre the Cherokees were ]>ainted black and red for war, and
that the rebels had succeeded in enticing only a few of their
head men to meet commissioners at Fort Charlotte.
Notliing was stirring the southern tribes so effectually as
northern emissaries, who brought tidings of a widespread ])ur-
pose among the Indians beyond the Ohio to make common
cause with the ^^ritish against the colonial rebels. These mes-
.. /'
iil
iji'.,
i ;^t
r.i^
J.\
n
I r
/■;
I ,;
90
SOUTH OF THE OHIO.
sengers filso .'illeged that the French in Canada, appeased l»v
the (Quebec Hill, were assisting them. These northern dcK..
gates, particularly the Delawares, assured their southern kins-
folk that their fathers, the French, who had been long dead.
were alive again, and were (piite a match for the four or five
thousand armed provincials which they had seen or heard of at
Pittsburg and in other posts on the way.
There was indeed a long-cherished jjurpose, on the part both
of the home government and of Carleton at Quebec, that the
movement upon the southern frontiers should be supported l)v
an ecpially hostile demonstration along the borders of Penn-
sylvania and Virginia. The task of arousing these nortln'in
tribes, as it happened, was not so ejisy as to tire the southern
Indians, for the lesson which Lewis had given them at Point
Pleasant was not forgotten.
Hamilton, the new conunander at Deti'oit, i)ossessed of verbal
instructions fr<mi Carleton, had reached that post in November.
1775, and it was soon a struggle between him, instructed to
mass the Indians for a raid of the borders, and Morgan, tin
American agent for the Indians, whose task was to detach tin
Indians from the British interests. Morgan had succeedtd
Kichard Butler in charge of the Indians of the middle dejKiit-
ment in the jM-evious Ajjril, and foinid for his supjjort at Pitts-
burg a Virginia com])any under Captain John Neville. In
June, he had sent messengers to the Shawnees and ^Vyan(l^t^
to meet him in council, and in October, he got together sonu
six or seven hundred Mingoes, Shawnees, and Delawares, anil
exacted from them a promise of neutrality. Hamilton's intlii-
ence was too great with the Ottawas, Wyandots, Pottawatta-
mies, and Chippewas for Morgan to })revail i\\nn\ them to join
in the ])act.
The retreat of the Anu'ricans from Canada had made it )io>-
sible for Carlet(m in June to send word to the western stations
that he no longer needed their help. This gave Hamilton tlif
freedom he desired, and he notified Dartmouth that he and liis
Indians were ready for the contest. He says that an embassy
from the eastern tribes to the great western confederacy liail
just been at Detroit with a belt, and that he had torn it before
their faces. These messengers were an Englishman, a Delaware
i
f.
9
peasetl l»v
lieni (It'K'.
Iierii kills,
ong dead,
uiir or five
leartl of at
part Ixitli
;, that the
ported liy
of Pciiii-
nortlit'iii
3 soxitlierii
I at Point
I of verltal
November,
truett'd to
()rj;an, the
letuoli the
suoceeilt'd
lie dei)ai't-
t at Pitts-
villo. Ill
Wyandots
tlier soiiit'
vares, and
Dii's intlii-
ottawatta-
m to jdiii
ide it ])<•>-
n statioib
Hilton the
le and his
embassy
eraey had
it before
Delaware
WA TA VGA A TTA CKED. 91
, lii, t". ami Montour, the half-breed. Tliey had brought a co)>y
,1 tilt' /*iiiii.'*i/li'(initt (rdzeitc, and from this llamilt<»n had
i. -uiumI of tin; aetion of C'on<;ress on .Inly 4, and l>o\v the
I )(cI:iration of independenec had declared his <lependent braves
■ MKirih'ss Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an
iiidi-'tini^uished destruetion ()f all ages, sexes, and eonditi»)ns,''
;i description whieh he knew how to reveal to his Indian allies.
Mraiiwhile, the savage conflict had Ix-en ])i-ccipitatcd at the
„.iith. The (.'her(»kees had decide<l upon war, and they had
i,;i.,oii tt» count upon aid from the very tribes which Morgan
was striving to coerce. As early ; s May, 1770, Stuart had sent
warning messages to the Watauga settlements, declaring what
thcv iiiiuht expect if they encouraged rebellion. These colonists
,it once drew in their out])osts, and sent to Virginia f.i>r n-in-
inrceiiunits. In .June, the blow fed. The Powell valley com-
iiiiiiiity was raided and broken up, and there was alarm through-
out the various Tennessee settlements, now niunbering perhaps
-i\ liinidred souls. The main assaults were from two bands
iiiDviiig at the same moment, and eounting. perha])s, three or
tour liundred each. The ])orderers fortunately had received
warning of the point of attack from a friendly half-breed
witiiiaii. The threatened neighborhoods had therefore ample
time to draw their dependents within their stt.ckades. Suj-h
;i tdiTc. '• forted "' at Eaton's Station, aroused by the devasta-
liuiis nt" an ai)))roaehing band, sallied on .Inly 20. one hundred
and seventy in number, and marched to confront it. The
wliitcs had enc«mntered only a small i)ai'ty of savages, and,
while returning, were near the Long Island Flats of the Ilolston,
whoii the Indians, supposing them on the retreat, fell imjjetu-
"iisly <iii their rear, but not before the borderers had time to
diploy. A sharp contest f(dlowed and the enemy tied, only
tour of the whites beiu"' hurt.
riie saiiK! day, another body of savages attacked the !»tockade
at \\ ataiiga. wheri; .lames Kolu'rtson commanded and Sevier
was second. The fort held oni^ hundred and forty souls, of
whom forty were fit to fight. The enemy hung about the spot
for three weeks, and then retreated, just as there apjM'ared a
force of three hundred men to succor the besieged. These two
movements were the principal ones, intended as a diversion to
t\
m
m
! J
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: (
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;B.
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I
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II .'
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92
SOUTH OF THE oll/o.
assist the British attack on Charleston, but they were ill-tiimd.
Parker, tlie English adniinil, had been repulsed at Fort Mdiil-
trie nearly a month earlier, so these savage demonstrations
failed in every way to advance the British plans, and in the end
left the southern colonies free to retaliate upon the Chcroktos.
the head and front of the harrowing work alon;^- the borders.
The united tribes of this nation, so long the allies of the Kiiij.
lish against the French, had been stirr»'d by Stuart and Hamil-
ton's friends among the Ohio Indians to these acts of hostility,
and were destined to have their i)ower completely broken. The
Cherokee people were grouped in three settlements. Tiit'ir
lower towns lay against the South Carolina frontiers, and could
send between three and four hundred men upon the warpath.
The middle towns farther north, joined with their villages in
the mountain valleys, were more than twice as powerful ; wliik'
the over-hill settlements, the most northern of their jmsitioiis,
were nearly as strong for defense as the nnddle towns. Accord-
ingly, the several sections couhl furnish, perhai)s, two thousand
braves for a campaign, and the more remote districts of the
same stock might add enough to make their available fighting
force not far from two thousand five hundred.
Res]>ecting the retaliatory campaign of the whites which we
are now to touch ii])on, then' is mu(!h confusion of statement
among those who have in large ])art told the story from ln'iu-
say, and there are few contem])orarv records to help us to a
certainty as to dates, movements, and nund)ers. In the Icad-
ir;<^ features of the campaign, however, there is little obscurity.
The j)atriots in Georgia ai)pear to have been the earli<»st to
move. In March (177(3), Colonel Bull, with a force of militia.
had marched toward Savannah to overawe the Tories, and lit'
is said to have had some Creeks in his ranks, for that tii'ii'
had of late been i>roi)itiated by a show of justice on the j)ait
of the Georgia authorities in the punishment of offenses com-
mitted against nuMubers of their body. In July, Govcrndi
Bullock was pre])aring a force to invade the lower Cherokif
lands, and under Colonel Jack about two hinidred savagi's
devastated some of their handets on the Tugaloo River.
While this was going on. General Charles Lee, now in com-
mand at Charleston, begged (July 7) the Virginia authorities to
league the southern colonies in a joint expedition, and on the
;5(lth.
Carol
thtir
lieait
tiK'lll
tiiiiis.
"oiiii:
ami |>
Willi;
i
rilK (IIEIWKEES ATTACKED.
93
;50tli. Con'Tf'SH n'j'oimiiciKk'd such a project to Virj;;'mia, the
(';iioliiia>, und (ii;(ii'^L;ia. The Virj^iuians were quite nsidy for
tlitir task. .Icffcrsou, in Aupist, was urj4[iii<;; a foray iuto the
luart tif the Indiaus' country, with a detern)iuation to drive
tliciii l)cyond the Mississijuji. President I'age began prepara-
tions, and notified the governors of the Carolinas that he was
xiiiii"- to send a force against tiie upper towns of the Cherokees,
:iiiil pressed them to attai^k the nnihlle and lower towns. C\donel
Williiiiii Christian was selected for the eoinnumd of the Vir-
"iiiia fi»n'es. lie was joined, as he went on, hy a company from
I'einisvlvania under Martin, and hy some recruits from the
parts of North Carolina contiguous to the Virginia bounds.
His force grew to be some two th«»usand strong. A trader,
Isau' Thomas, served him as guide. His jdan was to rendez-
vous on the llolston, and on October 1, he started with such
other contingents from Watauga and the Tennessee settlements
as could be recruited. His expectation was to reach Broad
Uiver on Octol)er 15, where he looked for resistance. His
orders were to make a junctitm with (lenei'al Rutherford, who
cmiinianded a North Candina force, moving at the sanu* time ;
l)Mt ills communication with him faih'd. and on ()ct(d)er 0, he
wrote to (lovernor Henry that Rutherford might j)ossibly be
fortunatt! enough to reach the over-hill town?, before him, and
lit'niii the work of devastation. Christian reached the Broad
Uiver a little ahead of his expectations, and crossed it by an
uii'aiiiiliar ford in the night. He now found that the Indians
had tied and lay in force before their towns, at a distance of
four or five days' march. Early in November, he reached the
towns, without a battle, and began destroying cabin and cro])s.
For two weeks he was thus employed, and then, forcing the
Indians to a truce and exacting an agreement from them to
inert commissioners and arrange f(U' a permanent ])eace in the
spring, lie began his return march. He had not lost a man.
His force was generally imi)ressed with the attractions of this
ovei'-hiil country.
During this niargli he had not seen or heard of Rutherford,
who, with an army of two thousand men and a train of supplies,
my
had started from the head-streams of the Catawba on Sep-
tiMuber 1. He is thought to have had with him a small body
of the vanishing Catawbas. He kept about a thousand of his
i<
-5 ! I'
I, I
1'
ll
1 Mi
■
? B
1
M
SOUril OF THE OHIO.
^ .»*^**'
^i*'- /.,{{*» r'4«/#./M
"it
most effuctive troops and :i small body of
horao well ahead, and makinj; a for(!«'d marcU,
he found the Clu'vokit; towns abandoned.
11(1 Inul cxpt'Cted to meet here Colonel An-
drew Williamson with a force from South
Carolina, but that tailini;', he ravaj'ed the
valley towns alone, and then pushed over
the mountains and niade havoe ainonj;' the
middle towns. He eseaped on the way an
ambush which had been prej)ared for him,
by reason of takin<^ an unaccustomed path.
Keturning on Septend)er 18 to the middle
towns, he nu't the South Carolinians there.
Williamson had, since the early days of Au-
gust, been leading; a force of some eleven or
twelve hundred rangers among the lower
towns, burning and destroying all he could.
He now pushed ahead by the route which
Kutherford had avoided and fell into the
ambush. He was staggered fiu- a wiiiJe, but
rallying his men, he drove tlie savages b u-k
and crossed the mountains successfully.
Kutherford coming on, the two devastated
the settlements, and late in Sei)tember turned
back. Here, again, a fearful penalty had
been imi)()sed upon the enemy, and the lar-
gest force of all the Cherokee bands had
been brought to obedience, though they had ~ "
inflicted UKU'e loss upon Williamson than any other contingent
had suffered. His casualties counted u]) on October 7, when lie
reached Fort Itutledge on his i-eturn, ninety-four in killed and
wounded.
The whites coidd reckon as the outcome of the cam])aign the
almost complete prostration of the Cherokee nation. It proved
an effectual warning to the neighboring tribes, and a res])itc for
the frontiers. The government at Philadelphia were as miudi
relieved as the frontiers, and the Conunittee of Secret Corre-
spondence wrote to their agents in Europe that " they had now
little to a])]>rehend on account of the Indians." The whites
had established new and enlarged bounds to the territory open
yi,
// n/-4
'7
U/l //Tl^ f/f/f/t)!
f
l.iii'f^titr^^'^
WUJ.I.lMSoys (WMl'MdS.
95
_ ' ^ - — ^
for their oconpancy. They had brought the Tennessee settle-
ments well within the jiirisdietion of the older governments,
and Watauga, as we have seen, was now ready to be annexed
ti) North Carolina. During the next year (May 20 and July
-0, 1777) definitive treaties were made by which lands on the
Savannah were ceded to (leorgia and Soutli Carolina, and on
the Ilolston to North Carolina and Virginia. The Chieka-
niauga tribe of the Cherokees refused to join in the cessions,
and moving down the Tennessee, a hundred miles },elow the
ni(»uth of tiie Ilolston, they settled on what is known as the
Cliickaniauga Creek. Other sections of the nation withdrew
from immediate contact with the English. Though humbled
•Hlif
iU
WW:
90
soi'Tii OF rut: oitio.
I r
■ P^^
II
:|||f!
>A\
!
]¥'■
^^:
i ^ :
they were not quelled, and the intermittent outrages which
were reported in the settlen)- nts told how revenge still swavt-d
them. Sevier and his rangers had enough to do in lioverin;,'
about tliem to repress their audacity.
Of the two movements in the regions heyond the mountains
likely to bring the claims of Virginia for a western extension
to a sharp issue, — of which beginnings have been already
sketehe<l, — one was the resurrection of what was known as the
Indiana grant. This had been made at the time of the Fort
Stanwix treaty to an association of traders, seeking in this way
to recoup themselves for losses incuued in the Pontiae war.
Nothing liad happened to make the grant of use, from the time
it was secured in 17G8 till the i)roprietors held a meeting in
Sei)tember, 1775. Four months later (January 19, 1770) tliey
transferred their intei'ests under this Indian title to three Phila-
delphia UK cliants, who not long after (March, 1770) deter-
mined to open a land office for the sale of the lands. With the
ursettled (juarrel which then existed between Pennsylvania
and Virginia about their hounds, it was far from propitious for
these merchants that their project must encounter the landed
interests of a rival province. The new grantees were quite
willing to make allowances to such settlers as were already in
l)ossession, but with the jjretensions of Virginia to back them,
these squatters did not ])ropose to be mulcted at all.
Meanwhile, the people of the upper Ohio regions determined
to bring an end, if possible, to the harassing complications im-
posed ujjon them by the rival States and as])iring cotnpanie.s.
They sought (August, 1770) an autonomy of their own, by
asking Congress to set them up as the State of West Sylvania.
They claimed, rather extravagantly, that there were twenty-tive
thousand families between the mountains and the Scioto, and
they would include them in a territory to be carved from \"\x-
ginia and Pennsylvania beyond the mountains, and to extend
well into Kentucky. The ])rojeet failed, and three years later
(1779) Virginia forced an issue by declaring the native title
of the Indiana grant invalid. The Vandalia and Indiana com-
])anies memorialized Congress (Sei)teml)er 14, 1779) against
the Virginia pretensions. In the end Congress (1782) sus-
tained the grant, and a new company took the question (17!'- )
TRANSYLVAXIA.
97
tonnined
to rlie Stipronie Court of the United States. Here the cause
li II 'L- It'll till Virginia secured a change in the Constitution.
Tliis, the eleventh amendment (1794), prohibited individuals
of iiiK State bringing suit against another, and the question
ilroppinl,
Thf other movement to effect Virginia's western claims was
more rapidly closed, notwithstanding an attempt to bring it
lief ore Congress. This was the Transylvania project already
traced in its initial stages. By the close of 1775, Henderson
had established an agent at Philadelphia. In December, this
jierson was reporting to his principal that .lohn and Sanuiel
Adams were agreed to induce Congi'ess to give countenance to
tlic new colony. Even Jetferson was (piite willing to forget the
charter limits of Virginia, if a firm government could be estab-
lished at the back of 'that province, and its jurisdiction main-
tained as far as the Mississippi, in opposition to the provisions
(if the recent Quebec Bill. In such views he had a natural
abettor in John Adams, wh was anxious lest the British, reach-
ing this western country by the St. Lawrence, should stir the
tril)es to embrace Dunmore's plan of harrying the country be-
yond the Alleghanies. It was in part this fear that had induced
Congress, in March (1776), to send a commission to Canada,
: whose work, as we have seen, was so hampered by Jay's out-
spoken denunciation of the Catholic Church.
Jefferson, notwithstanding his sympathy with Henderson's
movement, was not quite i)re})ared to favor congressional recog-
nition of the new colony until Virginia liad first agreed to it.
Hut he reckoned too surely upon Virginia recognizing that the
biirdi'rs needed any such sacrifice on her i)art.
riie war with the mother country had gone too far to be
eontrolh'd by any moderate faction. France had already made
ready to afford the revolting colonies the ])ecuniarv assistance
whieh they needed. Events were fast <lrifting to the verge of
mdependence, and there were warnings of it everywhere. A
Seoteli-Irish settlement at Ilanna's Town In western Pennsyl-
vania had but just (May, 1770) given encouragement to such
a movement, and not far from the same time the loyalists of
tlie ^Vatauga settlement had been drummed out of the valley.
^^ ith the inevitable in view, Congress in May, 1776, had
i *
Ml ii*i 'I'
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,
p?
; t
[
1
n
ta
iC
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B
(
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il
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1
. I'Mi.,
98
SOL Til OF THE OHIO.
culled upon each State to set up a form of government suffi-
cient for the crisis. In June, Fort Moultrie had heen attacked.'
vhile Stuart sought, as we have seen, by an Indian uprising
in the South, to make a diversion to assist the attack. Three
days later, resolutions of independence were laid before Con-
gress (fJune 7), and the die was cast. AVithin a week Virginia
passed her declaration of rights, and two weeks and a lialf
later (June 29) she adojjted her constitution. This last (Idoii-
ment gave her the opportunity to make a solenui declaration
of her territorial rights. It was the beginning of a long con.
troversy, which settled the destiny of the American West. She
recognized the diminution of her charter limits of 1G09, so fiii
as the sul)se(iuent grants to Maryland and Pennsylvania im-
paired them, but she insisted on her own definitions of those
grants, and abated otherwise notiiing of her trans-Alleghanv
claims. Jeft'erson shortly after tried to improvise a tempoi'iiiv
line to divide the region on which Virginia disputed with Penn-
sylvania, but no line could prevent existing settlers of one
jtrovince becoming occupants of the other. Maryland, mean-
while, had raised a fpiestion which was far-reaching. Congress
on September 10, 1770, in decreeing grants of land for services
in the army, put Maryland (being a pi'ovince of definite west-
ern bounds ) to a disadvantage as compared with Virginia as
well as with other States, whose original charters gave them a
western extension. So Maryland began that movement, in
whicli in the sequel her persistency acquired that trans-Allo-
ghany domain jointly for all the States.
Virginia herself removed all complications that the existence
of such an independent government as Transylvania could in-
terpose by declaring private purchase from the Indians withont
validity, and by ])ronq)tly throwing the protection of her laws
over the whole region. So Transylvania vanished, when all
Kentucky was set up, December 7, 1770, as a county of the
Old Dominion.
Two years later, in accordance with the reconnnendatijns of
a committee headed by Geoi'ge Mason, Virginia made the Tran-
sylvania proprietors some recompense for legislating tlieni out of
existence, by making to them a grant of two hundred thousand
acres, between the Ohio and the Greenbrier Kiver. In acecjit-
ing this the ])roprietors disavowed their Cherokee title. '! hi»
KENTUCKY.
99
(Iniiiil of autonomy to Transylvjuiia was the beginning of a new
liff ill the great forest-shaded eountry of Kentucky, where the
liiiR'stoiie lay beelded beh)W and tiie bhie grass flourished above.
.Idfeison said that nothing could stay the tide of emigration.
It was indeed not a little swelled by the timid and half-hearted
ill tlif jiatriot cause whom the war was turning away from old
associations. Some northern Indians passing athwart the west-
ward paths of these wayfarers were struck with the nudtitude
of fiosh tracks of man and beast. This emigrant march fol-
lowed what was known as the Wilderness Koad, — already re-
tVrii'dto, — which, passing Cumberland Gap, proceeded, by tlie
route which Boone had marked out, in a northwestei'ly direction
to the great gateway of the enticing level lands of Kentucky.
Tlu'S(! began in the neighborhood of Crab Orchard, just short by
a score of miles of the site of Danville, first laid out in 1784.
Its course is at present intertwined with the modern railway.
Not far away was Crow's Station, just coming into ])rominence
as a sort of political centre of these distant communities. This
vicinity was in th" southeastern angle of a ti'act of country,
rouglily square, of about a hundred miles on each side, of which
tlie tiiree remaining angles were at the falls of the Ohio (Louis-
ville), at the most northern turn which that river makes some
twenty miles below Cincinnati, and at Limestone, the present
Maysville, three hundred miles bcdow Pittsburg and one hundred
from Wheeling. So this fertile tract, with three of its angles
touching the encircling Ohio, and a fourth at its mountain-gate,
iiii'luded the territory watered by the Licking and Kentucky
rivers in their more level courses. These streams thridded a
vast forest of broad-leaved trees, whose lofty trunks, luiendjar-
rassed by undergrowth, sui)])orted a canopy of verdure beneath
wliicli the country was easily traversed. The entrance for the
overland pioneers near C^-ab Orchard was also the exit for
nearly all who were returning to the Virginia settlements. In
this way the traveler avoided the laborious ]>ull against the cur-
rent of the Ohio, whether bound for Pittsbui'g, or taking the
alternative route up the Kanawha and Greenbrier. Fi'om near
Crab Orchard, the pioneers seeking settlement turned much
ill the same direction in which the railways cross the country
tn-day. The borderer descending by the Ohio, and landing at
Limestone, followed along the outline of this s(pu\rish tract to
I
i.
If""'
III
VVs
il
I I
100
SOUTH OF THE OHIO.
Crab Orchard, aiul so could i)ass south to the Tennessee conn
try, by what Evans and (iibson's map marked as " the onlv
way passable with horses from the Ohio three or four hiuuliviij
miles southward."' The overland wanderer less often took tliM
same route in reverse. Commoidy he passed by another tniij
through liarrodsburg, and so crossed the Kentucky near Frank-
fort, and went on to the mouth of tlie Licking", oj)posito tli^
later Cincinnati. A lesser number, ])robably, passed by a soiitli
westerly curve, within sight of the moimtainous barrier in tliii;
direction, and came upon the Ohio at the site of the modern i
Louisville. It was com})lained, as respects this latter spot, that
a few gentlemen "had engrossed all the lands at and near tliJ
falls of the Ohio," which with the sanguine was likely to be|
" the most eonsiilerable mart in this part of the world."
' ■. 1
m
CHAPTER VII.
THE FORTUNES OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
1706-17 7 7.
TiiK war, which in the end had wrested the vaUey of the St.
Lawrt'iu'e from the French, and, a.s it turned out, had nuide the
Kiiiilish share the valley of the Mississippi with the Spaniards,
Iiail ill its beginning put an end to all schemes for penetrating
tliecoiiutry lying west of the Mississippi and beyond the sources
of till' St. Lawrence. There was still the same uncertainty
that tliere had always been regarding the sources of both these
gri'ut rivers. It had been a question, even, if they did not
unite somewhere, just as the waters of Lake Michigan and
till' Illinois commingled in the spring freshets. At all events,
tlitir sources might not be far apart. Wynne, in his General
Ilistoi'i/ < if the Ih'lthh Empire in America (1770), rather slur-
ringly mentions a pretense that the St. Lawrence " was derived
from remote northwestern lakes, as yet unknown to Euro])eans."
To solve this question and the other antiquated notion that
there was, not far from these neighboring springs, yet another
fountain, whose waters flowed to the Pacific, was a dream that
had puzzled a Connecticut Yankee who had beer brooding
over tlie speculations of Hennepin, La Ilontan, and Charlevoix.
This man, Jonathan Carver, now four-and-thirty years old, was
hailioiing some rather lordlv notions of the futiu-e of the Mis-
sissi]»]ti, ''As the seat of empire."' he says, "from time inune-
I'.ioi'ial has been gradually progressive towards the West, there
is no doubt but that, at some future period, miditv kingdoms
•11 • • 1 ' n .' »
Will emerge from these wildernesses, and stately ])alaces and
snleiiiii temples supplant the Indian huts." In this frame of
nuntl, and three years after the Peace of Paris, he had deter-
nuiied to ju'obe the great western mysteries, and started from
Hoston in Jime, 170G, on a quest for he hardly knew what. Ar-
riving at Mackinac, the westernmost of the English posts, he
ti «
h
II if! m
rJ (■< 1 1.
.1' i %
102
77//i FORTI.'NES OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
.secured gome goods for presents to the Indijuis and, on Sep.
teniber 3, lie i)roci^cded by tlie Green Bay portage and, enteriu.;
tlie Mississippi, turned north and, passing the Falls of St.
Anthony, reaehed his northernmost jioint at the St. F'ranois
Kiver. When near the site of the modern city of St. Paul.
he comprehended what he conceived to be the vantage-ground
.lONATHAX CARVER.
[B'roin his Trairlx, London, ITSl.]
of that pivotal region of the northern valley of the INIississipj)!,
with its down-current access to the Gulf of Mexico, and by the
Ibei'ville Kivor to Mobile and Pensacola. Looking to the east.
he dreamed of a water-way, yet to be made ])racticable, throui:!i
the lakes to New Yorlv. Towards the setting sun, an up-current
struggle along the Minnesota Kiver might reveal some distant
l)ortage or centring watei', whence a descending stream wouM
carry the trader to the Pacific on his way to China. At a later
day, Carver's heirs claimi'd that, as evidence of his confidence in
the future of this spot, he had acquired from the Sioux a title
JO.XA THAN CAR VER.
103
t(» the site of St. Paul, but un(iuestit)niil)le evidence of any deed
was never })r<)dueed. The British liehl it to be .a transaction
in (oiitriivoution of the j)roehuniition of 17G3, and hiter, the
riiitrd States, succeeding to ail rights, through the Committee
(in i'ublic Lands reported adversely on the claim in 1823 to the
Senate of the United States. It was Carver's notion that the
eontini'ut was broadest (m the parallel which went athwart this
eiinnnaiiding region, abi ut the mouth of the Minnesota, which
was ahuost midway in the i)assage from sea to sea. Here was
destined to be a seat of British power. One of his maps marks
out a north and south belt, bounded by the Mississippi on the
west and by the meridian of Detroit on the east, and stretch-
iii<'- fiom the Chickasaw country on the south to the Chippewas
and Ottawas on the north. AVithin this area he pricks out the
lionnd of eleven prospective colonies of English. On the east,
the Ohio and other tributaries of the Great Kiver opened the
way for these prospective populations to the passes of the Alle-
"Iianies and the old colonies of the seaboard. Carver found the
conntry north of the Illinois and as far as the Wisconsin little
known to the traders, and charged the French with having
deceived the English about it in their maps. Farther north, up
to tlie Mille Lacs region and the springs of the Mississipj)!, he
still found the French nui})s at variance with the Indian rejjorts.
It was here at the north, within a radius of thirty miles or
less, tliat Carver pbiced the gi..nit continental divide, and in the
midst of the best of hunting countries, where tlie white man
had not yet penetrated. From this point, he said, one could go
east by streams that connect with Lake Su])erior ami the
watei-ways leading to the Atlantic. Oiu' went nortli from Ked
Lake through Winnipeg and the Bourbon River to Hudson's
l)ay. making the passage to Europe through Davis's Strait, as
has been advocated in our day.
Just south of these northern springs lay the White Bear
Lake, with a passage from it ojien to the (Julf of Mexii'o. In
either direction there was a route of not far from two thousand
miles, as he calculated, to the salt sea. Si)eaking of the conti-
guity of these sources, and referring to a belief, long consent,
of a common soui'ce for streams flowing to different seas, he
says : '' I perceived a visibly distinc^t separation in all of them,
notwithstanding in some ])laces they approached so near that
I't.
104
THE FOHTL'iWES OF '1111-: MISSISSIPPI.
i#
I i
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I could liave Htt'j)jH>(l from one to the other." In one of lii,
maps, close by this source of the Mississippi, Carver pla(( ,
a smaller lake, out of which flows the "Origan"' Kivcr, — ;,
name now Krst used, — which, becoming in its passage the gie;a
river of the west, — tiie ultimate Colundiia, — debouches at la>t
somewhat vaguely into the Pacific near the Straits of Aiiian,
a supposable northwest i)assage, long known in speculatioib.
This was to be tiie great western outlet of his manifold colnnii,
of the Mississippi basin. This seaside spot was already ])iv-
empted for the Knglish, as he avers, by the discoveries of Sir
Francis Drake, while to this distant west the trails of French
fur-traders for nearly a century running from l*rairie du Chien,
near tlu' mouth of the Wisconsin, had o])ened a land carriage in
the same direction.
Carver himself explored but a single one of the western
afHuents of ;he Mississippi, and that was the St. I'eter, as the
Minnesota was then called. It was on this water among the
Sioux of the plains that he passed the winter of 17(50, and he
says he found that the French had ])rejudiced that tril)e against
the English. Of the })hysi()graphy of the more distant west,
he gives us some hints as he got them from the savages, the
marked feature of wliich is unbounded ])lains "which jjrobalily
terminate on the coast of the Pacific." The spur of the Kocky
Mountains discovered by Verendrye is, to Carver's mind, nothing
but an isolated " mountain of bright stones " lying north of the
river of the west. It was in a lake near this ui .tU. tin that
he makes the Assiniboils Kiver rise, which, flowing to Lake
AVinnipeg, is next carried on with a divided curient, the one to
Iludyon's Ray am the other to Lake Su]ierior. He hears of
natives, living beyond this mountain, small of stature, using
vessels of gold, and suggesting an emigration north from Mex-
ico. With a mixed burden on his mind of speculation and
knowledge, and having failed to receive the goods from Mack-
inac which he exjieeted. Carver, in the summer of 17G7. began
to retrace his ste])s. After lingering some time at Lake Pejiin
he sought the Chi))})ewa Rivei", and ascending it, crossed a ])()it-
age which took him by a descending sti'cam to Lake Superior
near its western end. Carver's observations ])ut Lake Supe-
rior between 40° and 49° north latitude, not far from its trne
position, a correction of earlier English maps by something
I i juwiua ii.i:i) ' inu-i.
*!'
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5 a;./"'?i .
(AKVKKS COLONIES.
rFroiii a "New Map of North Amerira, 1778," in JDiiatliiin Carver's Tniielx Ihrmirih the
IhlfiKir Pniix rif .\iiit/i Americd, Loiidoti, 17X1. It «lio\vs also tlie connection of Lake Superior
witli llie Lake of the Woods and Hudson's Bay (James's Bay).]
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THE IVHTUNES OF THE M'SSIHSII'I'I.
like eij^lit tlegroe.s, while Kitcliin, who a few years later, in 1774
jinil Itcforo Carver's maps were imblished, was out by lu-ailv
ten (lejjrees, — both earryinjjf the water by so iiiueh too far to
the north. In eontoiir and detail there had been up to tlii>
time no nuij) of this lake so aeeurate as its first survey niiu'M
by the .Jesuits a century before. All the intervening mai)s had
shown many islands spotting- its surface. In Carver's time a
similar ignorance of the interior spaces of the lake prevailed,
It was due, i)erhaj)s, to the barkentines of the French keeping
near the shores, and to the Indians' dread of enehantmeiits
with which they stipposed such islands to be invested.
Passing tlunrngh the Saidt Ste. Marie in October, 17t!7,
Carver moved eastward by the lakes, and after an absence nf
two years and five months reached Boston in October, 17t!8,
having traversed, as he recktmed, a course of near seven thou-
sand miles. He tells us that an English gentlenuin, Kichurd
AVhitworth, became so interested in the traveler's views of the
way to find a passage from the Mississippi to the Pacific that.
in 1774, he nearly ])erfected arrangements for doing it, in
company with Carver himself and a j)arty of fifty or sixty
men, when the opening scenes of the Revolutionary War ])iit a
stop to the enterprise. A proposition made by Bernard Romans.
in 1778, met with a like discouragement. Carver's narrative
was not publislied till ten years later, in 1778, when his recital
found ncitiu'r England nor her colonies in any better position
to i)rofit by his experiences.
While Carver's book was still in manuscript, and he had l)0('n
seeking government employ as an Indian agent in the region
west of Lake Huron, the future of the jMis.sissi])])i had bwii
consigned to other hantls than his prospective colonists of the
eleven provinces.
Spain still controlled the French of Louisiana. In New
Orleans this alien power had proved vexations. In the ui)i)er
parts of the valley the French had no love for the English ; hut
it was a question whether the Spanish rule was not annoying
enough sometimes to give some ho})e to Gage that a part, at
least, of those who had fled across the river might return to the
English. A few years after the English commanding general
had expressed this anticipation, the progress of the Amerioau
KyGLAXl), FliAXCK, A XI) SPA IX.
101
ivvnlt li:nl int«'ijt'ct«'<l a vigilant power in the young confi'der-
iitii»n Itt'tweun tin* Kiiglish on the one side and the French
and Spanish on the other. Sui'h eondltions forehocU'd a new
>tiuL;L;lt' for the possession of the Mississippi and its eastern
atlliniits, hut with eoniplications greater than had attended the
idiiHict whieh was ended hy tiie I'l-aee of Paris in 170»}. It
was iiuce more a (piestion, who shouhl (;ontrol or share the vast
(•(iiiiitrv lying between the Appalachians and tlu' Great Hiv(>r ?
Kacli power entered upon the struggle with its own purpose.
Ill the north. Knglaiul early (1774) attempted a prei'mption of
tin- region above the Ohio through the (Quebec Hill. France at
(iiicc >aw that the terms of that legislation recognized her own
luiin-ilffcnded claim to include that territory within the bounds
(if Canada. It was plainly to be seen that such an acknowledg-
iiii'iit might make it easier for France to wrest that country in
its entirety from the grasp of Kngland, if the f(U'tunes of war
sliniild lay open to her the chances of a di])lomatie triun»j)li
over Kngland. In the south there were the rival interests of
Kngland and Spain. The ])ossession of West Florida and New
Orleans respectively brought these two ])owers into a dangerous
contiguity. Events seemed tending to bring on a conflict, either
at New Orleans or higher up the river. It was a (luestion for
tlie y()ung Ke])ublic, if in these opposing interests, north and
soutli, she c(ndd make good her territorial rights beyond the
Allcglianies, to an extent equal to wliat, as colonies, she had
contended f(«', and which the treaty of 170.'? had recognized.
All tiicse complications involv(>d the relations of the American
jH'opIt! not only to England, whic^h was trying to subjugate them,
Imt also to France, which was ex])ected to assist them. It was a
matter of more serious concern that the rulers of France had no
intention of resisting England for any other purpose than re-
venge and profit to France. The relations of the young Repub-
lic to Spain were more embarrassing, for any assistance from
that country depended upon the Rourb(m compact between
Fiance and Spain ])roving broad enough to force the latter
coiuitry into a war with England foi- the behoof of France in
Aineriea. In this event, a common hostility to England might
league tlie American re])ublic and the vS])anish monarchy.
In tliis impending struggle for the line of the Mississippi,
as liounding the nascent conunon wealth, America had military
1
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108
TU/C FUHTI'MCS OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
res()un;es almost ludicrously iuadtHniatr, ami success was only
to 1)0 accjuircd by using this Bourbon rivalry of England in sucl
a way as would protect American interests.
W M
Oliver Pollock, a native of Pennsylvania of Irish stock, had
gone as a young man to Havana to engage in business, iiiid
renu)vcd, wiicn he was about thirty years old, to New Orleaiin
in 1707. Two years later, when O'Ueilly took possession :iiii|
the nund)er of his troops produ(!ed a famine, this Amerii-aii
nu'rchant received a cargo of Hour from lialtimore.
Pric(!s of cereals were ruling high ; biit I'ollock saw liis
opportunity, and publicly sold his ])roduce at from half to two
thirds of the curirnt rates. The Spanish governnuMit marked
its gratitude by giving Pollock a license of free trade with the
colony for the rest of his life. The concession gave him u
standing in New Orleans, which was of importance for Pollock's
countrymen in the ai)i)roaching crisis.
The Si)anish authorities at this time were strengthening tlic
rani])arts of New Orleans, and were bringing succor ueai'er In
opening a now route to Mexico, for it had not escaped then
that England oidy needed a pretext to capture New Orleans ii
she could. The English n'ciproeated the anxiety, and found
the Spanish jwssession of Havana a constant nu'iiace to IVii-
sacola. Ilaldimand, when couunanding at this latter post, had
been made aware by Gage, writing from his New York liead-
(piarters, that it was wise never to h't slip the purjjosi! of seiz-
ing New Orleans, if o])|)ortunity offered. The canalization of
the Iberville had not indeed proved a prosi)erous schenu! for
diverting trade to Florida, and the navigation of the Missls-
sip])i was but a vexatious j)rivilege to the English. AVlieii
there had been, in 1770, a passing dii)loniatic flurry with Si)aiii.
over the Falkland Islands, (Jage had cautioned IlaldiniMiid
to be ])re])ared for a hostile movement, if there was any op]>ar-
tune turn of the lu'gotiations. It had long been Gage's plan fur
sto])])ing the clandestine traffic across the river by holding its
mouth, which he contended was i\w. only way in which the trade
of the river could properly be developed in the English interest.
Note. — TIir oppositp map in n sertion from a " Cnrte de la Floride, etc., pour le sprviii' ilc
vaisspaux <iii Roi, par ordre de M. de Sartine, coiiseiller d'Etat, 1778," and shows Haldimimd's
Iberville route.
L^-
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was only
il in siicli
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K'Hs, and
Ol-lciiih
sioii .-iiiil
linui-ii'an
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e him a
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ing its
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itert'st.
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THE FORTUNES OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
Much to the discontent of the British settlers at Natchez and
elsewhere, he had refused, with Xew Orleans in Spanish haiul>.
to maintain armed posts for their protection.
The English i)ossessions in West Florida, as the bounds of
that province had been defined, included the country about
Natchez. The population in this re<;ion had been increasiii;,'
since 1770. Some of the French in Louisiana, disaffected l)v
the Spanish rule, had passed over the river to the English side;
but the greater part of the increase had been emigrants fiom
east of the Appalachians. Some had come from Pennsylvania
and Jersey ; others from Virginia and Carolina ; but laiger
numbers had come from Connecticut, turning a current of e'lui-
gration which, under more favorable circumstances, might have
settled the Wyoming valley in Pennsylvania. General Phiiieas
Lyman, whom we have seen in London a few years before
unsuccessfully lu'ging the formation of a colony in the Illinois
country, had returned to New England in the faith that a grant
which he had urged for the soldiers of the late war would be
made on the lower Mississippi, under royal orders to the gov-
ernor of West Florida, lie had in Deee.nber, 1772, asked Dart-
mouth to encourage their plan. AVitli this expectation he liad
induced a body of " military adventurers *' at Hartford to order
a reconnoissance of their proposed home, and in 1773, Lyman
and party sailed from New York for Pensacola. Here they
found that no royal instructions had l)een received. Pending
the ex])ected arrival of such, Rufus Putnam, as topograjtlier,
headed a party to explore the Mississippi as far north as the
Yazoo. The wished-for orders still not coming, the proposing
settlers agreed to purchase a tract of land on easy terms. The
result was that several hundred families, in May, 1776, caine
out from New England, only to find that even this arran<,^e-
ment had been forbidden by orders from England. So the
struggling settlers found that they must shift for themselves.
There were some among them who scantily sympatbized with
the political revolt in New England, and Lyman himself had
congratulated the ministry that the "■ spirit of Boston " was
not spreading. The new homes, which they too rosily pic-
tured, were destined, they thought, to give them a release from
the turmoil they bad left. There was, however, enough of the
rcA-olutionary fervor of the Atlantic seaboard in others wlio had
HA MIL TON'S RA IDS.
Ill
stttlt tl tliere to make an important factor in sliai)ing the des-
tiny ft' tliis southern region.
AVe have seen that Hamilton at Detroit had liad some suo-
ccss in counteracting the influence of Morgan among the north-
,'111 tril)cs. Tho"<;h the Dehiwarcs had mainly rejected his
liatilut, the Shawnees and Wyandots had generally accepted
it. A c()iii;)arison of dates seems to show that Hamilton was
acting in anticipation of orders which he had askp<l of Ger-
main. These, when received (dated March 2G, 1777), conformed
to Ilainilton's suggestions, and directed him to organize Indian
raids against the American frontiers. We have his own state-
ment, in the following July, that he had uj) to that date sent out
iiftfcn distinct parties on such fiendish errands. The purpose
of the minister was that those loyal to the crown among ihe
frontier folk should be gathered in bands, and should be encour-
aged by a bounty of two hundred acres to each to aid in these
marauding exploits. Dunmore had made out a list of such
loyal adherents, as known to hini, which Germain transmitted
to Hamilton. The purpose of all this deviltry, exce})t so far
as they hoped to ])rofit by the savage sympathy, was to distrai t
the attention of Congress and diminish thfi numbers of Wash-
ington's main army.
Tlie Kentucky })osts, with a population, perliaps, of six hun-
dred, and only a half of them arms-bearing, had grown confident
in their seclusion. Morgan, who was now commanding at Fort
Pitt, had represented to head(piarters in January, 1777, that if
militia were drafted to take the place of the garrisons at Forts
Pitt and Randolph, the regidar companies doing duty there
vm \ be sent to reinforce the eastern army. Such .self-reliance
ii;ave Hamilton what he thought an opportunity. Some two
Inimhvd of his Indians crossed the Ohio. One horde unsuc-
eossfully attacked Ilarrodsburg ( March. 1777), the garrison re-
ceiving a few hours' warning. ^Vnother, c<msisting of about a
liundred warriors, was repulsed at lioonesborough (April 24).
lu'fore May was passed, they again fell upon the stockade which
Hooiie had erected, and began on May 80 a more protracted
sicijc (»f Logan's Fort, — the modern Standford, — which ended
only with the relief which Cohmel Bowman and a hundred
\ irginians brought to it in August, as he was scouring the
m
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112
THE FOnrCNES OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
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country in search of the foe. The Indians contrived to con-
vey Hamilton's prochiniation to repentant rebels, by leaving
it on the body of a man whom they had killed outside the
fiU't.
By the first of June, 1777, Hamilton at Detroit and General
Edward Hand at Pittsbury — now in connnand of the western
frontier — were each developing their counter movements for
the summer's cami)ai}j;ii.
The Americans had begun preparations in the spring by send-
ing Philadelphia boat-builders to the Monongahela, to make
ready some bateaux. Early in the summer, American agents at
the llolston Kiver had sought to protect the valley approaclips
on that side by a pact with the southern Indians. The main
<iutposts of Pittsburg, subject to Hand's control, were Fort
Randolph on Point Pleasant at the mouth of the Kanawha,
and Fort Henry at the modern Wheeling. Tmo hundred and
fifty men of Colonel Wood's regiment were j^arrisoning these
posts. Of the neighboring Indians only the Delawares con-
tinued friendly, and they were kept in restraint largely through
the infiuence of Zeisberger, the Moravian.
The English were fortunate in holding Niagara, a position
which, as Hutchins said of it, '•'secured a greater number of
communications through a large country than probably iin^
other pass in interior America,"' and it was here, just at this
turn of affairs, that the Indians were gathering to assist St.
Leger, in that attemi)t to aid Burgoyne which wiis foiled at
Oriskany. Detroit, however, was the chief stra' egic j)oint for
the English ; and Hamilton, now in command tiicre, was later
put, by orders from England, in chief control of the military
affairs in the Ohio valley. His main business was to harass
the frontiers, open connnunication with Stuart at the south.
and watch the Spaniards beyond the ]\Iississip])i. His outjiosts
were at Sandusky and about the headwatei's of the Scioto, and
he had succeeded, as we have said, in banding the Shawnees,
Wyandots, and Mingoes in the l^ritish interest.
It was Hamilton's purj)()se, if possible, to organize a ('i>r])s
of chasseurs from the French settlers within his control, and
to officer them from their own ])eo])le. An English officer.
Abbott by name, was early in the sea.son started towards Vin-
ROCHEBLA VE.
113
(tunes, with F"'.ne such purpose. When he crossed the portage
of the ]\hminee, he found fiye hundred Indians there reatly for
then' savage raids. In the absence of any troops to support
him, Ahbott, who had reached his post on May 19, found that
he hud to viekl to their exorbitant demands, and in July (1777 ),
wliilf he was stockading Vincennes, he found it necessary to
bind the French scttk'rs by an oath and forego the chasseurs.
The otlier ])urpose of intercepting the American supjdies by
the river seemed hardly more promising. The cannon which
lie mounted were sent to him by the commander at Fort Gage
in tlie Illinois country, to which the armament of Fort Chartres
had been removed in 1772. This officer was liocheblave, who
had been for some time busy watching the Spanish at St.
Louis, and trying to divine a purpose on their pi-'t which in
his imagination took many shapes. He tried at times to induce
the Kickapoos to unravel it, but it did not comfort him to find
that these Indians were receiving messages from the " Boston-
nais," as they called the Americans, and were comnumicating
them to the Spaniards. Upon the Foxes both he and the Span-
ish governor played their wiles in the effort to gain them, and
to tlie savages' advantag'e, no doubt. The Ottawas were urged
to receive Spanish favors, so that they could fathom, by the o])-
jiortunities which dej)endence could offer, the ])lots at St. Louis.
Kooheblave seems to have made the best imj)ression upon a
vagrant horde of the Delawares, who frequented his post, and
lie rejiorted that he felt he could depend upon them. But the
belts whicli he found passing between the rebels and Spaniards
'111 the one side, and the savages on the other, were a constant
riddle to him. He had heard, moreover, that the Spanish com-
mander had spoken knowingly of something that was to luip])en
when the maize grew to be eighteen inches high. (\'rtain
Liiiu'li officers, too, were known to have Sjianish conunissions,
and lie found that, despite his endeavors, French aid was ena-
bling he Americans to run suj)plies uj) the river.
Dining all this Hamilton had submitted to Caideton a ]dan
for attaeking New Orleans ; but C'arleton was cautious, and
waniL'd him not to be too provoking with his neighbors, but
rather to l)e prepared to resist any attack from them. Hamilton
vi'plied that tlu; Spanish hostility was confirmed, and they had
lit'giui to seize English vessels at New Orleans.
I
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114
THE FORTUNES OF THE MISSISSIFPL
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AV'hile the season closed at Kaskaskia with Rocliebhive dieam- !
ing- of a Spanish conquest and a governorship at New Oileaiis,
some bloody work was going on around the little fort near i
Wheeling Creek. This stockade had been known as Fort Fin. !
castle, till lately being improved (1770), it was renamed Fort
Henry, after Patrick Henry, now governor of Virginia, (ien. I
eral Hand had not succeeded in raising the two thousand
men which he had hoped for his campaign, and with no nioie
than eight hundred men on his rolls he had not felt stroiii; i
enough to take the aggressive during the sunnner, and had
accordingly kept himself rather on the defensive. He was, I
moreover, not quite sure of certain men who were about him,
One of tiiem, Alexander McKee, who had been deputy Inihaii
agent under Sir William Johnson, was put under oath to havt
" no conununication w:th the British." Simon Girty, who liad
also been arrested, had been wily enough to reestablish himself j
in Hand's opinion. Girty had for some time absented liimself.
but in August some friendly Moravian Indians had come in. |
bringing word that Girty was leading- a force thither, and tiiat
Fort Henry was to be the point of attack. This defense was
an oblong stockade in open ground, inclosing about half an
acre of grouiul, bastioned, and supj)lied with water. The occu-
pants of the surrounding village were still in their cabins out- j
side the walls ; but scouts were out, and they had passed a (juitt
summer. As the season closed, confidence had been so far
restored that some of tlie militia had gone home, and only two i
companies, of not over forty men in all, remained under Colonel
David Shepherd. Hand did what he could to cover the inliali- ]
itants before the stroke came. During- the night of August 31, 1
from two hundred to four hundred of Hamilton's Indians-
accounts differ — ambushed themselves near by, and threw tlie
community into confusion the next morning by a sudden ap
proach. There was time enough, however, to enable the out-
side settlers wO get within the defenses before the attack bi'gan.
The garrison nuide souk; hazardous sallies, much to its loss of
numbers ; but they served to keep the assailers at bay. The
leader of the enemy, finding his followers discouraged, tiinit'il
to destroying what he coidd in the surrounding village. Suc-
cor for the besieged arriving, he disappeared with his savagtj
in the forest. There is a good deal of confusion in the accounts j
^I'.r
EVENTS OF 1777.
115
wliitii have come down to us, and though Wither says that
Girty was the leader of the assault, it \u by no means certain
tliat lie was present at all.
Tlic whok' region was soon alarmed, and Hand, uncertain
for a wliilt' whether to make counter incursions, at last drew in
the iiu'n from his lesser outposts. Kittanning, for one, was
ahaiuloncd, and the se .son in tins part of the valley ended
witli little hope.
The iit'igliboring Delawares had proved steadfast, hut a band
of ,'^li!i\viioes adhering to Cornstalk had wavered. That leader
and some of his peojjle a little later ventured to Fort Kandoli)h,
when' some militia, arou.-ied by recent ati'ocities, ensnared and
imudt'red them. It was hopeless to keep any of the Shawnees
neutral after this.
The eami)aign of 1777, in Washington's loss of Philadelidiia,
had not been ])ropitious for those struggling beyond the moun-
tains, who were thus cut oft" from their main seaboard connec-
tions : hut the defeat of St. Leger and the surrender of Bur-
j;oyne at the north had ha])pily intervened to put a new aspect
upon the contest of the trans-Alleghany countr}% where so much
desultory warfare had of late confused the outcome.
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chaptp:r VIII.
GEORGE ROGERS CLARK, ARBITER AND SUPPLIANT.
1776-1779.
In the early part of 177G, George Rogers Clark had cast his
lot among the Kentiickians. IL; found them living amid dan-
gers and stirred hy ])olitical unrest. Virginia, as the parent
colony, was too remote to afford them protection. There were
ugly rumors of savage contests in store for them thi'ough the
concerted action of the British ccnnmanders at Detroit and
Pensacola. There were those on the frontiers — and it suited
Clark's nature to be in sympathy — who would not slu!. ":
from the responsibility of independent action ; but a soberer
judgment pre 'ailed, and it was decided not to take any decisive
step before the authorities at Williamsburg were informed of
the situation. On July 17, 1776, delegates from these forest
communities met at Ilarrodsburg and chose Clark and another
to undertake such an embassy. The peojde had already, on
June 20, drawn up a memorial, in which they affirmed tliat the
" l)rime riflemen " of Kentucky were not a body whose aid
should be declined in troublous times. They recognized that
the colonies were drifting towards that indejiendence of wliose
de(daration it was too early then for them to have heard. The
delegates found difficulty, without intimating an alteruiitive
of their own independence, to make the council listen to tlieir
demands for powder ; but Patrick Henry, then governor, as
well as Jefferson, George Mason, and George Wythe, threw a
strong influence in favor of the frontiers, and the grant was
made. On August 2, the Assembly was induced to declare tlie
sovereignty of Virginia over the Kentucky region, and her
purpose to protect it. Later, the legislature, on December 7.
created the county of Kentucky.
During the spring of 1777, the tidings from the Indian
country north of the Ohio had alarmed Colonel Crawford at
CLARK'S PLANS.
117
Fort Pitt. When the summer opened, Clark sent two young
liiintfrs to make their way to the Illinois settlements, and to
discover the situation there. They reported on their return
(Juiic 22) that the Freneh were in the main quiet in their
villai;i's. and that only a few of their young- men were partiei-
patiiii^ in the British and savage raids, which were directed
from Detroit. These centres of the French population were,
however, used as starting-i)laces of these marauding parties.
Clark was fired by these re))orts with a purpose to attempt the
I'diKiuest of this region, and on October 1 he again left Ilar-
nidsliiug for the Virginia ca[)ital. lie tells us that he met on
his wa\' many adventurers struggling through the wilderness to
iiiid new homes. When he reached ^^'illiamsl)urg, he found
tlic coinnmnity rejoicing over the surrender of Burgoyne, — a
good ouien that gave him increased enthusiasm.
On December 10, 17/7, Clark laid his scheme before the
goveinor. In case of failure in the jdan, he jjroposed to join
the Spaniards beyond the Mississippi. The Viiginia council
having a])proved Clark's plan, on January 2, 1778, the governor
gave Clark a colonel'b connnission, and conunitted to him two
sets of instructions, one ex])ressing a puri)ose to defend Ken-
tneky only, and the other, whi(di was to be kept secret, author-
izing him to attack Kaskaskia. In both he was given authtn--
ity to raise, west of the Alleghanies, seven companies of forty
men each. He was to apply to General Hand, who, as we have
seen, had been in command at F(U't Pitt since June 1, 1777, for
a portion of the stock of ])()wder which had been brought up
the Mississip])i from New Orleans, and such other supplies
as couhl be furnished. Twelve hundred dollars in pa])er were
given to him, and he was told to draw for further sums on
Oliver Pollock at New Orleans, wl-o would be instructed to
honor his drafts. The legislatiu-e of Virginia, as Jefferson,
Mason, and Wythe in their letters of congratulation assured him,
was ex])ccted to appropi'iate as bounty to each man three luin-
dred aci'es of the concpicred territory. So the wh(de movement
was a Virginia one, intended to secure her dominion over what
sill' Ix'licved to be her charter limits. The men were enlisted
nndcr the impression conveyed by his public instructions,
lluee companies were raised, one hundred and fifty men in all,
and these were rendezvoused at Redstone on the Monongahela,
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118
GEORGE ROGERS CLARK.
where the boats were asseinbled. In May, 1778, liaving besidt
his troops a train of adventurous settlers, Chirk moved on
to Pittsburg and Wheeling. At both these |)laees he pieked up
supplies. At the mouth of the Kanawha he found reinforce-
mcnts. On his wav down the Ohio, some of the aeeompanviiv
emigrants hd't him at points where the}^ eould easily enter tlie
wilderness. Others remained on the flotilla till May 27, when
he reaehed the falls, near the modern L(misville. Here tliev
were landed on Corn Island, where the rushing river broke up
the refleetions of eanebrakes, vines, and lofty trees. A stoekade
was built to proteet the eighty settlers, and to furnish a store-
house for his exeess of sup]dies. Ten of his soldiers were left
as a c;uard. lie had lost something bv desertion on the wav.
and was glad of a small eomi)any from the Ilolston, which
now joined him. They did not prove steadfast, however, for as
soon as he made known his real instructions, they left him.
His total available foree had now been reduced to about one
hundred and seventy-five men. If it had been larger, he might
at once have advanced on Vincennes ; but hoi)ing for other
accessions, he determined to go to Kaskaskia first.
While making his pre])arations to leave, intelligence of the
French alliance reaehed him from Fort Pitt. It was go(>()
tidings which he hoped to break to the French at Kaskaskia
with some effect. On June 24, he ])olcd his boats up the river
from the island in order to gain the main channel, and tlit'ii,
it being a high stage of the water, the flotilla shot down the
rapids "• at the very moment of the sun being in a great ccli])so."
It was a nearly total obscuration, and it was nine o'clock in
the morning. It took two days to reach a creek just ahove
Fort Massac, relays of rowers working day and night. He nut
on the way some hunters, wlio the week before had been in
Kaskaskia, and engaged one or two of them as guides.
The men were landed, and there was not a horse or cannon
among them to give a show of efficacy to the courageous litth'
army. It was on June 20 that they began their march over a
route of one hundred and twenty miles, the first fifty of wlilih
lay through a swam]\v country. The o])en jnairie. which cauu'
next, encouraged them in their weariness. On the aftcrnnon
of July 4, they were within three miles of Kaskaskia, and their
food was exhausted. That post was in conunand of Kocheblave,
Sfc
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CLA UK 1\ 1 KES KA SKA SKI A .
119
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[From Collot's Alhis.}
a Frciu'li officer who liad joined tlie Biitish after they had oc-
('iii)it'(l the region. To save ex])ense, and withont much appre-
htiision of the exposure of tlie ])()st, its garrison had been
iiTcatly diminished, and Kochehhive liad hccn kept there to
wiitdi tlie country and report upon events. Tlie men that were
loit To him were in the guard hall of the fort making- merry in
a (laiice when Clark, after dark, and aeeompanied by his men,
suddenly s])rung into their company. There could be no resist-
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UEOliaE ROtiERU CLARK.
ance, and "the self-styled Colonel, Mr. C'lerke," as Roehehlavi
r' i)orted him to Carleton, was thus easily i)iit in possession of
the post and of all within the town. The next morning tlio
oath of fidelity was administered. After this the townspeopK',
whose spirits were distinetly gladdened by the news of tlic
Freneh alliance, were suffered to go about their business.
The successful commander now turned for sympathy to tlic
Spanish over the AIississii)pi, with whom he opened connuiiiii-
cation. He found the comnuuulant at St. Louis more than
ready to countenance him. Wherever he turned, the French
about him were ready to serve him. They had much disturbed
liocheblave of late by keeping up a trade with the Si)aniar(ls.
which that officer was powerless to stoj). With Kaskaskia in
American hands, there was nothing to prevent such traffic across
the Mississippi being carried on oi)enly.
Clark went to Cahokia — to which he had sent Bowman and
thirty horsemen on the first day of his occupation of Kaskaskia
— and met the northern Indians, and though he ran some
hazards and encountered some treachery, the French stood Ity
him, and in outward seeming, at least, the tribes were gained
over. lie sent a commission to the chief of the distant Foxes,
but the British intercepted it.
Gibault, a priest at Kaskaskia, in company with Dr. Lafoiit
and a few others whom Clark could trust, was sent, on July
14, to Vincennes. Lieutenant Leonard Helm was also of tlie
party, and was detailed to take the military command of tlie
])lace. He administered the oath to those he found, and sent
belts to the neighboring Wabash Indians.
Gibault returned to Kaskaskia on August 1, and reported
his success. Clark now enlisted enough resident Creoles to
sup})ly the gaps in his com])anies, made by the expiration of
the term of his three months' men. The men thus released
were sent to Virginia luuler an officer, who also took charge
of liocheblave as a ])risoner of war.
There soon arrived from St. Louis a man in whom Clark
found a fast friend. This was Fran(;ols Vigo, a native of
Sardinia, now a man somewhat over thirty years of age, accord-
ing to the best accounts, though his gravestone nuUics him boin
in 1739. He had come to New Orleans in a Spanish regiment,
early in the days of the Spanish control. After leaving tlie
POLLOCK AND VIGO.
121
aiiiiv lu' tunu'tl trader, and had of late been living at St. Louis,
wlicre lie had beeome a person of iuHuenee and pioperty.
Ilcariu"'" of Clark's success, he had hastened to Kaskaskia to
sec liini. Without the financial aid of Vij;() at St. Louis and
(»f Pollock at New Orleans, it is doubtful if Clark could havt;
sustained himself in the conunj;- months, (iovernor Henry had
alifadv tlirected Pollock to draw on France for money to bo
sent to Clark, and at a later day Clark gave an affidavit that he
ivi'cived PoUock's remittaiu'es in specie. In Septemlu'r, 1778,
I'(»llock wrote to Congress that he had just sent a new remittance
of seven thousand three hundred dollars to Clark. During that
vt'iir he borrowed a large amount from the Spanish governor
for like uses. V^igo let Clark have twelve thousand dollars,
and took Clark's drafts on Pollock for that sum. When these
(hafts reached New Orleans, Pollock, who had been sending
powder and swivels up the river to (Uark, fouiul himself obliged
to raise money at 12.] per cent, discount to meet the obligation.
Later, Pollock drew on Delap of Bordeaux on account of a
car^o shipped to that port, in order to amass funds for Clark's
ooiitiuued drafts. Fearing that the vessel might not arrive and
Delap would dishonor his draft, he solicited Congress in A})ril,
1770, to direct Franklin, then in Paris, to assume if necessary
the burden. Transactions like these before the close of the war
reduced Pollock to ])enury. When Vigo died at Terre Haute
in 188(5, neglected and childless, something like twenty thou-
sand dollars which he had paid to (]lark remained unsettled.
Ton years later (184G), Vigo's heirs memorialized Congress for
rt'stitntiou, but with little effect. In 1848, a couuuittee of the
IIoMse of Representatives recognized the obligation. Here the
matter rested till 1872, when Congress referred the tpiestion to
the Court of Claims, which "ave a decisi(m in favor of Viiio's
heirs. The government carried the case to the Suprenu; Court
in lS7t), when long-delayed justice was rendered, but the a])pli-
cauts who received, including interest, fifty thou.sand dollars,
were niiiiuly claim agents and lobl)yists. The particular draft
which was the basis of the suit was one drawn on Pollock,
i)eeend)cr 4, 1778, for .18710.40, which Vigo had cashed.
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were in progress to organize the conquered territory under a
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GEORGE ItOGERS CLARK.
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civil ffovei'iiiucnt. Tlir j)rovisi()n» wen' (luitc at vaviaticc with
the purpose which the Kn<;lish ministry had liad in view in
])nshiiig thnm<;h the (^nehei! Hill, and threw hack the bounds
of Canada, where Itoth the eolonlsts and the parent governnnnt
had long, throuj;h ni.my wars, insisted that they l)eh)nj;v(|.
The Virginia Assembly, in the autumn of 177H, had here
created the county of Illinois, and had given to Governor
Henry tlie authority to raise five hundred men for its defensi-,
ami to keep open connnunication with and through it.
Henry sidected, as governor of the new county, an active
Virginian, wh(» had gone, in 1775, to Kentucky, where he iiad
jdayed a part in the Transylvania nu)venu;nt, and had later
been in Clark's conunand, — Ca])tain John Todd. Henry sent
him instructions which recpiired him " to cultivate and enudate
the affections of the French ami Indians," to command tlie
county militia, and to use them to assist Clark. Todd, on
receiving these ])apers, returned to Virginia to perfect plans,
and when he again reached Kaskaskia in May, 1770, he bore
a letter of friendship to the Spanish governor at Ste. Genevieve,
which he was exj)ected to deliver in person. He was also on-
joined to take under his s])ecial care the family of Kocheblave,
now a })risoner in Virginia. In ai)pointing the county ofKct-rs,
Todd was (juite ready to give th'^ French a large ]>art of tlicni,
and he endeavored to fill the con. '■"v with actual settlers, to the
exclusion of sj)eculat()rs in land.
It was a relief to Clark to find the J ''A administration of
the region in so good hands, for events Wde demanding his
anxious attention.
All along the valley north of the Ohio, the American cause
had not ])ros])ered, and in Kentucky there had been turiuoil
enough, though it was not always t'lvorable to the British and
their savage allies. During the sv.iiuner there were bands of
Tories, horse thieves, and other renegades, traversing the Ten-
nessee country. The Watauga community, bestirring itself,
had nuistered and sent out two companies of militia. These
efifectually scoured the country, and those of the marauders
who were not cajitured fled to the Cherokees, or escaped north-
ward to the British.
There was now only a hunter's hut on the site of the later
BOONESBOnOUGH.
123
NaslivilU', iiiid [u'lliiips u dozen fiuiiilies were clustereil about
Hloilsoe's Lii'k, stockiuU'd to^^ftlun- and siinoimdcd by Cliiek-
iisaws. These were relieved. Farther north, however, at
nniMic-'l'oi'oti.uli. Hamilton, thi'on<;h his rancors and sava<;'e.s,
trii'il iiiii'd to deliver a sei-ions blow.
Uoiiiie, who had been earlier captured at tlie Salt Licks,
liad 1m (11 taken to Detroit, where H'.iniilton treated him con-
siderately. Later he was carried into tlu; Shawne* country
a prisoner, and succeeded in innratiatin<4' himself with his nias-
tcis. Here he learned that Hamilton had j;ath<'red a banil of
ovt !• four hundred warriors, and was intendin;;' to let them loose
upon the Kentucky settlements. In dune, manajiinji;' to escape,
rKMtiie reached his home in time to improve its defenses. The
ciiciiiy not a])pearin<^\ and anxious for definite knowled<i;o,
I'xioiu' siaited out with a s(piad of men to reeoinioitre. He
(Tosxd the Ohio, and had a shai'i) contlict with the hidians
oil tlie Scioto. Learning- that Hamilton's expedition was now
(III tlic march, led by both Frciich and Hritish olH(;ers and Hy-
iiiii' tiie flags of both, it soon became a race for the goal. Boone
surpassed them in speed, and reached lioonesborough in time to
(hive in i\w cattle and dispose his forty effective men for the
onset. He had a score other men not e(pial to a steady fight.
Tlie enemy approached the fort on Sej)teml)er 8, 1778, — if
this is the date, for there is a conflict of testimony. The h-ader,
wlidiii Boone calls Du Quesne, but whom the P^nglish call De
(^iiiiidre, (h'lnanded a j)arley. This was accorded by Boone,
only to find it had been treacherously asked for, and he and his
men, wlio went to the meeting, had a struggle to escajjc the;
snare, (iaining the stockade, the siege began, and lasted sev-
eral (lays, till the enemy finally disa])peared in the woods. This
n']iiilse and the raid of the Watauga men relieved the region
sdutli of the Ohio to the end of the year.
\m \
Farther east, however, results had not been so cheering. In
May, 1778. Congress had voted to raise three thousand nu'U for
service on the western frontiers. It was hoped that it niiglit
prove ]iraeticable to push this force across the country south of
Lake Kiie and capture Detroit. General Hand was relieved,
and General Lachlan Mcintosh, a Scotchman, now somewhat
over fifty years old, who had been with Oglethori)e in (ieor<
I'gia,
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GEORGE ROGERS CLARK.
and had attracted Washington's attention, was assigned to tlic
command at P^ovt Pitt. Wasliington, at Valley Forge, liatl
ordered the P^ighth Pennsylvania regiment, under Colonel Brod-
"liead, to the frontiers, and the Thirteenth Virginia reginuut,
under Colonel Gibson, was directed to he in readiness. \'ir.
ginia was at the same time exj)ected to concentrate a large
force of militia. This army, wluni ready, was to advance in
two divisions of about fifteen hundred men each, — one by the
Kanawha and the other by the Ohio, and to unite at Yuvi
Kandolph (Point Pleasant). News had already been received
of an attack by two hundred savages, in May, at the mouth (if
the Kanawha, and later on the Greenbrier ; but the assailants
had been foiled at both places.
It was well into June, 1778, when Mcintosh began his march,
but the ravages which were taking place in the Wyoming
valley rendered it necessary to detach for a while Brodhcad's
command. It was August when the general, with this dimin-
ished force, reached his headquarters at the forks of the Ohio.
Before he was ready to move on, Brodhead rejoined him.
There were at this time three main posts west of the AUe-
ghanies, — Forts Pitt, Kandolph, and Hand; but there were
beside nearly two-score movable camps of rangers, who wt'ie
patrolling the border. Mcintosh called them in, and hoped
with his force thus strengthened to advance on Detroit. It
was necessary to his plan to leave friendly tribes behind him,
and at Pittsburg, on September 17, with a supjdy of ten tlioii-
sand dollars' worth of presents, he began conciliatory methods
with the Delawares, who were stretclied along his exjiected j)atli.
The Moravians had pretty well established themselves among
these Indians, though not so effectually but that a part of this
heterogeneous peo})le stood aloof in tlu' British interests. The
enemy had a firm foothold among the Shawnees who occnpioil
the h)wer valleys of the Great and Little Miami and of the
Scioto. The ui)per waters of these same streams were gi\t'ii
over to the inimical Mingoes. Beyond these were the Wvan-
dots on the Sandusky — not always steadfast in the English
interests — and the Ottawas on the Maumee, whom Hamilton
could better dei)end upon. Mcintosh tried to gather these hos-
tile tribes to a conference, but fewer cante than he had wished.
Nevertheless, he thought he had "ained over enousrh for his
\i
f
\i<.
McINTOSII'S MARCH.
125
piiiposo. and the Sliawnees had consented to his traversing their
foiintiv. liut in doing this he had lost time, and the season
was l)ti'0)ne inaas))icious for an active campaign. Accordingly
lie Ix'uan the erection of a fort on the right bank of the Ohio,
tliirtv miles below Fort Pitt, and near the mouth of Jieaver
(nek. Here, at Fort Mcintosh, as he called it, he established
liis ]i('ad(|uarters on October 8, 1778. It was a good position
to att'ord succor, when necessary, to the settle nents which had
already begun to extend to the Muskingum, and thirty miles
ui> that river. The new fort was the first built north of the
Oliio. and Mcintosh had, in and ai'ound it, a bod}' of twelve
liiuulrcd or more soldiers, mainly Virginians, — a larger number
of aimed men than had before operated in this country. His
(lolav here in building what Brodhead, his successor, called a
" romantic " fort was thought to have prevented the main ob-
ject of his campaign, — the cai)ture of Detroit.
Mcintosh, checked in his advance as he was, had got far
ahead of his trains. A herd of cattle, which was driven after
liiiii. did not come u]) till November 3, ',vhen there was still a
lack in his sujiplies of salt and other things. Two days later,
the general started again, but with cattle to drive and other
obstacles, he made only fifty miles in a fortnight, and was then
sufficiently ahead of his main sui)plies to cause alarm, for there
were rumors of an opposing force. He was following jjretty
much tlie route which Bouquet had taken fourteen 3'ears before.
He had not met the enemy : l)ut fearing concealed dangers, and
needing a nearer refuge than Fort Mcintosh, in case of disaster,
.iiid lielieving in the ])olicy of holding the coiuitry by a chain of
posts, lie built a stockade on the west branch of tiie Tuscara-
was, an affluent of the ^luskingum, and named \t Fort Laurens,
after the ]n'esident of Congress. Its sit(> was near the modern
i5olivia and (dose to a spot where Boncpiet had built a stockade,
some distance above the jNIoravian settlements.
Tiiis was Mcintosh's farthest point, and Detroit was safe, for,
witiiout sup])lies and tlie season far gone, there was no longi.-r
lio; 10 to reach his -oal. ^^'\ put a bold fighter, ColoTiel fb)hn
(iihsou, in conunand of ^i.e ])ost, with a force of one hundred
and fifty men, to be used, if jmssible, in another advance in the
«iu'ing. In December, the general returned to Fort Pitt, p'.it
his regulars iut.-^ ■'inter (juarters, and sent his militia to their
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126
GEORGE ROGERS CLARK.
homes. The year had ended with the American hopes ncailv
(hished in the u])por regions of the Ohio valley.
Farther west the enemy had made a bold stroke agaiiixt
Clark. It looked all the more serions, if the British attaclv on
Savannah should succeed and they should hold Augusta, — as
they later did, — since it gave them two bases, not so very iv-
mote from each other. From these, with their available fovocs
strengthened " by redeeming the army of the Convention," as
Burgoyne's captured troo|)s were called, they hojjcd to make a
counter movement south ol the Ohio.
The expedition which once more gave them Vincennes, while
Mcintosh was inauspicionsly withdrawing to Fort Pitt, was
conducted by Hamilton without the ai)})roval of Ilaldimaiul,
now connnanding at Quebec. That general held that sucli a
movement carried the invading force beyond the reach of aid,
while the government's policy had been to depend upon maraud-
ing parties. Hamilton himself had suggested this alternative
course of flying bands early in the con.flict, and Germain liail
ordered him, March 20, 1777, to pursue it. In June sucli
orders were received at Detroit, accompanied by iiijunctions to
restrain the barbarities of the savages. Such precautions were
necessarily inoperative, and it might have been known tliev
would be.
The res])onsibility for the use of Indians during the war is
pretty evenly divided between the combatants. The practice of |
it, however, ])y the ministerial party meant attacks on wonu'ii
and children and the sjjoliation of homes. The ju-actice of it
by the Americans gave no such possible misery to an invadiii;;
army, which was without domestic accompaniments. The use of j
the Stockbridge Indians during the investment of Boston doubt-
less antedated the employment of such allies by tlie royal com-
manders. On Gage's rejiorting to Dartmouth this fact, the
minister (August 2, 1775) told that general "there was iio|
room to hesitate u])on the j)ropriety of pursuing the same nu'as
ure." The British government at the same time began tin
shipment (August, 1775) of presents to reward the ccnstanoyi
of the Indians.
It was on Se])tember 2. 1770, that Hamilton, writing i'lonii
Detroit to Dartmouth, urged that "every means should Ih'I
in
HAMILTON AND THE INDIANS.
127
3es nearly
e against
attack on
asta, — as
,o very re-
,l)le forces
iition, " as
to make a
nes, while
Pitt, was I
aldiniaiul,
at sut'li ii
I'll of aid. '
lU maraud-
ilternative
[■main had
Turn.! sucli
niL'tions to
tions wore
liown they
the war is
praetico of
on women
x'tice of it I
111 invadiiid
The nse (if |
ton (loulit-
royal coni-
fact. tluM
re was ii"
iame nu'av
began tin'
ccnstaiicyl
•iting from
shonhl lit
icinidiivcd that Providence has put into liis Majesty's hands,"
., sciitiuu'iit which, later expressed by Lord Suffolk, brought
ui)i>n iiiiii (November, 1777) tht3 scathing rebuke of Chathaui.
k'oii'ncss did not formally sanction the use of Indians till
Mari'h, 1778, and then it was conditioned on Washington's
iiuluiiii;" it to be '" })rudent and proper."'
Few if any British officers brought themselves so much under
F severe criticism for inciting savage barbarities as Governor
Ihuniltoii. lie sang war songs with the braves, he made gifts to
parties that returned with scalps : but that he explicitly offered
rewards as an incentive to taking scalps would be hard to prove,
tlioiiiih the Council of Virginia, after Hamilton became their
prisoner, charged him with doing so. His glee at the successful
oiiteoiiie of savage raids was not unshared l)y many in the royal
(service, AV-' ^.;,ve abundant testimony of this in the observa-
tions ol -I ' • li and others while prisoners in the British
])osts. ri!.:> i/ruesouie hilarity was far, however, from being
jnniversal. Such a cynical Tory as Judge Jones shuddered at
lit. Lieatcuant-Governor Abbott, at Detroit, in June, 1778, pi'o-
tt'stt'd against .he use of Indians, and urged only the secui'ing
(»f their neutrality. De Peyster at Mackinac once addressed a
hand of braves as foUow^s : '• I am pleased wdien I see what you
Icall II rr meat., because I can speak to it and get information.
Scalps serve to show you have seen the enemy, but they are
(>f no use to me: I cannot speak with tlu-m." Even Hanulton
himself at times g-ew tender, and on hearing that Ilaldimand
Iliad assumed command ;,t (bi(d)ec. he hastened to inform him
that the Indians '' nc i' i:iii [at his hands] of a gratuity on
jeveiy proof of obc^ic " "i sparing the lives of such as are
|iii('ai)al)le of defendi; g li.' .i ;elves."
Ill .lane. 1777, Hawi; 'm i-otified Carleton of a coming
jlndiaii council, and t(dd him that he eonld assemble a thousand
jwarriors in three weeks, " sliouhl your Excellency have occasion
jfor their services."' Shortly after this, Carleton was relieved
jot all responsibility in the matter, as tiie conduct of the war
alioiit the upjier lak( s had. under arders from England, Iteen
jpiit entirely in the bands of HaUiilton. When this new gov-
jeiiior leached Detvir to take command, he at once began the
[enrollment of five hi.p.n' d militia.
At Hetroit, Hamilr m was advantageously situated for an
d
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128
GEORGE ROGERS CLARK.
offensive war. A British fleet consisting of the " Gage," car-
rying twenty-two guns and swivels, beside various smaller craft.
— it was less than ten years since the British had laiuiclieil
their first keel at Detroit, — had eonunand of tl\e lakes, ainl
could keep the j)ost at Detroit in connnunieation with De
Peyster at Mackinac and with the British commander iit Xi.
agara, the other strategic points on these inland waters. Uiifor-
tunately for Hamilton, there was more or less disaffection at
and around his post, and the health of Clark was a conunon
toast even in the press-gang, which he kei)t at work on tin; for-
tifications. The governor was never quite sure that somebody
was not betraying his plans, nor was he certain that for a (piait
of rum an Indian woidd not carry tidings to General Ilaiul.
who was striving to opeu :'• ^^ad from Pittsburg to Detroit.
Hamilton's force was perha}.. hundred in all, consistin<,f of
four eompaniesof the King's Kugiment under Lernoult, a single
company of the 47th, and two companies of Butler's liangei'.s.
While Clark had been preparing to descend the Ohio, Hand
witli five Inuidred men had made (February, 1778) an incursion
into the Ohio country, but his movement had only that kind of
success which gave his expedition the bitter designation of the
" squaw campaign." His jnirpr ie was to destroy some stores
which Hamilt(m had sent to Cayahoga (Cleveland) as a base
for a cam])aign against Fort Pitt, and in this he utterly failed.
Late in March, Hand was distressed at new developments.
Alexander McKee, Simon Girty, Matthew Elliot, and others,
had for some tune been exciting suspi'.'on at Fort Pitt, wlunv
they lingered, and at last they disappeared. There was littli'
doubt they had gone over to Hanulton. and would try on
their way to Detroit to turn the friendly Delawares against
the Americans. They did this, though Heckewelder, the Mo-
ravian, was sent on their tracks to ])revent it. This emissary
found that the renegades had passed to the Scioto, and were
doing furtlicr mischief amonu' the Shawnees. It was carlv
summer (June) when Girty and his companions reached De-
troit, and found Hamilton in the midst of councils held witli the
Indians. On July 3, on presenting a battle-axe to a chief, the
governor said, " I pray the Master of Life to give you success."'
and with such prayers he was sending out ])arties to interccjit
the boats ascending the Ohio with supplies for Fort Pitt.
II, I
HAMILTON ALERT.
129
Do-
ith the
. the
Thus occupied, Hamilton might well have thought he was on
Hit' wlinle tlie master of the situation, when, on August 1. 1778,
lie received the news of the capture by Clark of Kaskaskia.
Uf (lid iii>t at onee comprehend the character of the conquest.
[lo su}>i)osed that the captors were a party from the flotilla
Icoiniiiauded by Willing, whom he describes as coming "'of one
t)i the best families in Philadelphia, but of infamous character
uid (Ichaiu'lied morals." He further suspected that the Span-
lianls had as much to do with the incursicm as Willing had.
Illo looked ajjon the Wabash tribes now as his main tlepend-
jencc in resisting further raids, and sent Celoron among them
Kvitli a belt. In a letter which he wrote to Gersnain he jjite-
louslv coinplaiu-; that there was not now a liritish fort or garri-
Jsiiii l)et\veen the lakes and the Gulf. Haldimand, before he
Icould Iiave got intelligence from Hamilton, was already coun-
Igeliui; him to use the tribes of the Wabash, and fill the Ohio
Ivailey with rangers, so as to keep communication with Stuart
laii'l the C'herokees. This plan was the gist of the British
Ipoliey, and Haldimand, as soon ks he learned how matters had
jooiie with Kocheblave, was urging Hamilton to active endeav-
'ois: but he never quite approved permanent posts so far remote
iroiii tlie lakes.
As soon as more detailed news reached Hamilton about the
real actors in the capture of Kaskaskia and Vincennes, he lost
no time in jdanning a reca2)ture. He was still somewhat dis-
[ trustful of till' French about his post, and felt that all tradei-s
were rehcls at heart, and so he watched them warily. It was
liu'eessary that Stuart in the south should know his purpose, and
he sent a verbal statement to him by a messenger, who was to
seek that Indian agent by way of the C^hickasaw country.
Hamilton at this time was dreaming of some large measures.
He informed Haldimand that the forks of the Ohio should be
seized ami fortified, as well as those of the Mississippi at the
mouth of the Ohio. The occujiation of Vincennes he looked
upon US hut a first step to these jdans. On September 28,
\ 1778. he wrote to Haldimand that '* the Spaniards are feeble
[and hated by the T'rench ; the French are fickle and have no
man of capacity to lead them ; the rebels are enterprising and
I'lave. l)ut want resources: and the Indians can obtain their
lesourees but from the English, if we act without h)ss of time."
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130
GEORGE ROGERS CLARK.
It was important to llainiltoir.s plans that De Pej'ster. at
]\Taekinac, should colipcrate with him, and that the rebels slioulij
not be allowed to obtain a foothold on the lakes in that direc-
tion. The eommander at Detroit had sent oft' messa<,'es to
Mackinac on Septend)er 16, asking;- De Peyster to send lii«
Indians d(.\vn the Illinois Kiver by the Chicago portage.
Arent Schuyler de Peyster, of a New York family, a some-
what rattle-brained person, given to writing illiterate letters, Imt
in some ways an enterprising and prudent commander, had liet-ii
in charge at Mackinac since 1774. There had grown up aboii:
that i)ost a considerable trade, and a portion of it in the (liiM,.
tion of the ^lississippi employed a fleet of sixty canoes. Lati'lv,
and in i<>norance of Clark's success at Kaskaskia, De Pcvskr
had allowed one Charles Gratiot to go down to the llliii(ii<
c<mntry for trade, where he found the rebels ready purchasers
of his wares. De Peyster learned of the true state of affairs ai
Kaskaskia only a few days before Hamilton had dispatched lii«
message to him, and on September 21, 1778, he wrote to Hal-
dimand : " The rebels are so firndy fixed in Illinois that I fear
if they are not routed by some means, the whole Mississippi
trade is knocked up."
De Peyster, though he had feared an attack at ^lackinac,
met Hamilton's demand by dispatching Langlade and (iaiitier.
with a band of Indians, towards St. Joseph, to create a diwi
sion in Hamilton's favor. Their in.:;tructions were dated Octo-
ber 20. At that time Hamilton, well posted on the doings ot
Clark through an Ottawa chief, had already left Detroit. IV
fore he started, he drew up his force on the common, read tlie
articles of war, exacted a renewed oath from the French, ami
got P(ie Potior, "a man of respectable character and venerable
figure," to give the Catholics a blessing.
On October 7, the invading force, consisting of about one
hundred and seventy-five whites, regulai's and volunteers, ami
three hundred and fifty Indians, left Detroit by the river. Tlie
flotilla, on its passage to the mouth of the Maumee, experienced
such stormy weather that Hamilton in his anxiety suifciwl
" more than can be expressed." That river was then ascciuleil
to the rapids, and above these obstructioi.c ihey ])ushe(l on in
boats, lightening them when it was necessary to pass the rift>
On October 24, 1778, they readied tlie nine-mile portage, and
llilljljilL.,:
vrxcEXXEs HE ta kex.
131
Icarrviii"' over this, they shct rapidly (hjwii the Wjibash on u
freshet which Hamilton had created by cutting the beaver
aiiis.
The force was within three miles of Vincennes when Lieu-
[teiiaiit Helm, still in con.mand at that post, first obtained defi-
liiite tidings of the approach, though he had been disturbed by
|ruiii<»rs some days earlier.
Helm's men, who hail been about seventy in nund)er, began
[to desert under ai)i)rehension. We have a letter, which at this
Itiiiie lie wrote to Clark, and which Hamilton later forwarded.
[ill this he says he has only twenty-one men left. He continued
[inditing the letter '11 tlie enemy were within three hundred
[yards, and closes it with expressing a doubt if he liad four men
[upon whom he could depend. !Major Hay. representing Hamil-
Itoii, had appeared in the place the day before (December 16),
[giving warning of the danger of resistance to the townsjieoide.
[Ou le lltli. Helm was summoned to surrender, and did so, —
[the usual story of his marching out with one man may i)erhai)s
[he questioned. Two days later, the British oath was udmin-
[istered to the residents, nund)ering not far from six hundred
[souls, of whom a third were capable of bearing arms. The eom-
iiuuiity doubtless included at other seasons some hunters and
[tiaders, who were absent at this time.
Almost the first act of Hamilton was to disjjatch iuessengers
[to Stuart to propose a meeting of their respective forces in the
[spring on the Cherokee (Tennessee) Kiver, whence, assisted by
jthe southern Indians, the united detachments could harry the
Ivehol frontiers. Hamilton also notified the S])anish commander
jou the Mississippi that while he and Stuart struck the Alle-
Ijjhaiiy frontier, a force from ^Mackinac woidd sw^'ej) the rebels
[out of the Illinois country, and warned him that if he expected
jiinniunity from attack, he must not harbor the Americans.
In this defiant spirit Hamilton began to fortify himself, keep-
ing' only eighty or ninety nu>n with him. beside some French
jvolnnteers. He sent his militia back to Deti'oit and scattered
jliis Indians. In the spring, he counted on their rejoining him
[with other reinforcements.
The next year, 1779, oj)ened with both parties anxious over
the situation in the Ohio basin. The British, flanking it at
Detroit, had by Hamilton's success pushed in a wedge at Vin-
In
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132
CiEORGE ROGERS CLARK.
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connes. The comiimiiicatioiis of this latter ]u)st were thr()n<>]i
a friendly couiitry, l)ut its situation was exi)osed, with sneh a
vigihmt foe as Clark observing it. Kaskaskia in American
hands had tolerably secure connnunieations with New Orleans,
and it was nei<2;hb()ring to Si)anisii sympathizers. But the
liritish enjoyed far greater facilities of relief by the lakes than
could be given to Clark by the Mississij)pi.
Jietween the \Val)ash and the Alleghany thers was a wide
extent of country, inhabited in the main by those friendly to the
Jiritish, though a portion of the Delawares still stood by the
Americans, and there were symi)toms of hesitancy on the part
of the A\'yandots. The advancied posts of the revolutionists in
this direction were at Fort Laurens and at Point Pleasant,
both in almost chronic alarm from the prowling savages.
The general susj)ense was to be broken by a fortunate move-
ment from Kaskaskia. Clark had for some time been busy in
gaining over the neighboring tribes, and in sealing his friend-
ship with the Si)aniards and French. His success in these
endeavors had not led him to anticipat the daring incursion
of Hamilton, which released the American hold on Vincennes.
Clark's confidence in his immunity from danger appears in liis
letters to Governor Henry and to the Virginia delegates in Con-
gress, whom he had addressed in November, 1778. Henry and
Jefferson no doubt saw the great importance of sustaining Clark,
for his sneer ■; could but tell upon the ultimate negotiations for
peace, and iiis continued hold on the Illinois country would
woik a practical annulment of the pretensions of the Quebec
Bill. The Virginia Assembly proved itself ready to give Clark's
men such encouragement as would come from a promise of
bounty lands, and later (November 23) its records bore an entry
of the formal thanks which they voted to the leader himself.
To cause him to be unhami)ered by civic duties, the new county
of Illinois had been set up. But a belief in the wisdom of this
western campaign was not universal, and there were those who
questioned the propriety of Henry's divergence from the single
purpose of protecting the Kentucky and Tennessee settlements.
Clark, however, was to silence opposition by a brilliant
stroke. "While Han)ilton at Vincennes was preparing his jilans
for the spring, Clark was devising a sudden move upon the en-
emy on the Wabash. A corporal and six men, deserting from
CLARK'S ADVANCE.
133
lliiiiiilton in January, 1779, had brought Chirk the confirina-
tidii ot" ruuiors, if not inik't'd the first news of Ilehn's surrender.
Ahviuiv Hamilton's Indian scouting- parties were hovei-iny ahout
Kaskaslvia, and one of them, under an Ottawa ehief, barely
missed Clark one day, when he was returning to Kask.iskia
fnini Cahokia. J^ut more comprehensive toils were threaten-
iiii;- him and the American cause without his knowing it.
Hamilton's couriers had already come to a i)lan with the
southern Indians for four separate movements. Kaskaskia was
ti> he attacked for one. The Shawnees were to be assisted in an
onslaught on Fort Lauiens for another. A third was to com-
Ijiiie the Wabash Indians in a promiscuous swoop. A f(mrth
was to station other savages at the mouth of the Cherokee River
to intercept any flotilla of supplies and men passing either w.ay.
To these several bands Hamilton was to supply British officers
and a horde of Ottawas, Ilurons, and Chippewas.
While Clark was brooding on his own projects and Hamilton
was developing his plans, each in ignoi'ance of the other's con-
dition, Vigo had left Kaskaskia on December 18, 1778, before
news of Hamilton's success had reached that place, in order to
curry supplies to Helm. One of Hamilton's scouting parties
captured him on the 24th, and he was carried into Viacennes
as a prisoner.
Hamilton suspected that Vigo's professions of trade were a
cover for other purposes, and kept him under arrest. Father
(iiljault interceded, and Vigo was set free on a promise that
he would do nothing at Kaskaskia on his waj^ back detri-
mental to the king's interest. Vigo avoided Kaskaskia, and
went to St. Louis instead. It was not long before Clark knew
from a source not difficult to divine that Hamilton had but
ein'hty men with him. It was necessary for Clark to move
([ui(^'kly, and Vigo's readiness to back the American credit
iielped Clark to get his supplies for the mari'h. Vigo hims(df
came to Kaskaskia on January 29, 1779. A galley, carrying
small guns and munitions, was dispatched on February 4, under
the (onunand of John Rogers, down the Mississii)pi and u}) the
Ohio and Wabash to a point ten leagues below Vincennes,
where it was to await the arrival of Clark with a force which
was to march overland. The leader, with a band of one hundred
and seventy — some accounts say two hundred — advejiturous
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134
GEORGE ItUGEllS CLARK.
spiritH, American and Frent'li, be^an a day or two later lli^
])ainful iiiairli of al)()ut one hundred and seventy-five niilis.
lie had on(! hundred and twenty miles to i;'o, in an ineleniciit
.season, linding his way in i)arts through drowned lands, brokcii
with ice. There were swollen rivers to eross, now by wadiiii;
and now by ferrying. Su|>[)lies grew seant, and it was alnnot
impossible to kcej) powder dry. If there is no exaggeration in
Clark's narrative, there were times when he des})aired of litV:
but " the finest stallion there is in the country,"' come of a New
Mexican stock, bore the conuuander through, and his men f(»l
lowed him with dauntless pluck.
Ilis course was at first northwest, and he probably stiuck
the St. Louis trail near the modern town of Salem, followiiij;
a trail which fifty years ago was still visible ; and after this
his ti-ack lay nearly east. On February 23, the weary and
famished men, kejjt up by the inspiration of their leader, ap-
proached the town. The Wabash was flowing by it, through a
broad three lergues of submerged country, making a i)icture
of desolation. Clark sent in a scout to the French inhabitants,
and his message was kept from the garrison. Lying concealed
till after dark, and taking as guides five men, whom he had
captured, he rapidly entered the town. A scouting partj', whicli
Hamilton had sent out three hours before, fortunately missed
them. Clark told off a part of his force to occupy the town.
while a band of riHemen approached the fort, — Sackville, as it
was called, — and, throwing u]) some earthworks, establislied
themselves within range. During the night, after the moon
went down, the party which Hamilton had sent out got safely
in. By daylight the assailants' trenches were near enough to
annoy the garrison with the dropping fire of their rifles, for
which the townspeople had made good Clark's damaged powder.
They had also given the hungry troops the only good meal they
had had for a week.
There was pretty soon a passing and repassing of fja^s.
Helm, now on parole, bringing Hamilton's messages. Clark
replied in a note which Haldimand, in sending it later to Clin-
ton, called '"curious for its impertinence of style." In !i
])ersonal interview, the two commanders indulged in mutual
crimination, and Hamilton was charged with a barbaious
spirit. Clark was stubborn for an unconditional surremlei'.
later his
ve iiiilcs,
nck'iiK'iit
s, brolvt'ii
f vvadiiij;
IS almost
iratioii in
I of life:
:)f a New
men ful-
ily struck
followiiii;
ifter tliis
eary and
iader, a))-
tliroiiyli ii
a picture
luibitants,
concealed
n ho liiid
'ty, wliicli
ly missed
he town,
ille, as it
Itahlislicd
he moon
lot safely
lougli to
ifles, tor
powdev.
eal they
)f tla-s.
Clark
Ito ("lin-
In a
mutual
Lrhai'ous
Irreuiler.
\L\ LEWES GAlUiLSUXED. 135
and Hamilton man(L>nv> 4 for sonic modification, bnt all to no
piiriMtse. Hefon^ the ilay was j^one, the fort was suirendered,
witli nearly ei<;hty ofKecrs and men. There had l>cen little
bloodshed, and Clark had only one man slightly wounded.
Three clays later, on the 'iTth, the " Willing," as Rogers's
"•alley was called, arrived. She had butt'eted longer than was
ex])eeted with the strong currents of the "Wabash. She addeil
forty-eight men to Clark's little army, with some small guns
and swivels. Very soon Clark sent Helm and a detachment
u}) the river, which succeeded in capturing a tiain, under an
escort of forty men, which was bi-inging sui)plies and dispatches
for Hamilton. The l)arty returned to Vinccnnes on February
27. On March 8, Hamilton and siudi })risoncrs as were not
])aroled, accompanied by a guard, were started on their way to
Virginia. It was a long journey, and at lea«t two thirds of the
route they made on foot. They I'cached Richmond in May,
and brought the first news of Clai-k's success, his earlier dis-
])atches having been intercej)tj(i. Hamiltcm remained in c(m-
tinement at Williamsburg t'.il October, 1780, when he was sent
on parole to New York. Later, on July (J, 1781, he made a
report to Haldimand, which is our main source for the study of
these campaigns for the liritish side.
Two days after Hamilton had startled, Clark wrote (March
10) to Harrison, the s})eaker of the Virginia Assembly, thank-
ing him for the vote of thanks which that body had passed,
and exi)ressing his great satisfaction at the prospect of rein-
forcements. '* This stroke will nearly put an end to the Indian
war." lie said, and he ex])ressed the expectation of finishing it
in two months, if amply supi)ortod by a new detachment. '• 1
hope to do something clever if they anive."" lu^ addi'd, referi-ing
to his project of a march on Detroit. He did not attemjit to
(liNguise his pur])Ose in a note which he addi'cssed a few days
later (March IG) to the commander at that ])ost, to which he
had sent others of his ])risouers, who had taken an oath of
neutrality. '* My comi)liments to the gentlemen of the garri-
son." he says ; " if they are building works, it will save us the
trouble."
Clark, in this buoyant mood, leaving in Vincennes a garrison
of some forty men, under Helm, took seventy or eighty others,
and on March 20 embarked in the " Willing," accompanied by
' ' ' f ■' I
:.t.
H
ii-
lif
p-f^
136
GEOUdE IKXlEliS VIA UK.
% w
iflllt
five other iuiikhI boiits. His purposo was to make ready in Kas.
kaskia for furtlitr movcineiits in the s[>ring. Arrived there. In;
|)r('pare(l, on Ainil 21>, diiplieate diHpatehes to Henry and .let'-
feison, (U'serihin;: his eanipaij^n, and tlieso have eonie tlown to
us. His earlier letters had been taken, as has been said, t'roni
his messenger near the Ohio falls, where a party of Huroiis
had waylaid their bearer.
Hut movements were already in progress south of the Ohio
destined to cause disappointment to Clark. Cameron, now
working- in the British interests among the southern Indians,
snpj)osed that Hanultim was .si'cure in Vineennes. lie had
already planned an inroad of Cliiekamaugas and other Chero-
kees on the Carolina bolder, to distract attention from Ilauiil-
ton's eonteinplated raid over the Ohio. When dames Robert-
son, the pioneer of the Cnnd)erland region, heard of it, he sent
warnings to the Watauga ])eople. That hardy eolony innncdi-
ately sprang to the task whieh was imi)lied. A eonsiderablo
body of riflemen, under Evan Shelby, were, by April 10, on
their way down the Clineh. A part of this force was a rei;i-
nient whieh made up the Hve hundred men intended for Clarlv
and his Detroit campaign. Their diversion to a new field was
never atoned for.
Shelby's onset was rapid, lie destroyed a large dei)osit of
corn among the Cliiekamaugas, which had been gathered tor
Hamilton's intended invasion. He burned the towns of that
ferocious tribe, and lost not a life amid all his acts of devasta-
tion All immediate danger to the Kentucky settlements was
now it an end.
During the res])ite a new immigraticm set in by the Ohio
and the Wilderness Road, and to the number of eight or ten
thousand souls a year, if statements of this kind are not in
excess of truth. The Virginia surveyors, to help the influx,
laid out a new road over the Cumberland Mountains towards
" the open country of Kentucky," so as "■ to give passage to
packhorses,"
While this success of Shelby checked tlie southern Indians
and dashed the hopes which the British had based on their ad-
vantage in Georgia, there was among the royalists in the noith
ft '
m
^\u •
IIALDIMAM) AyXJOl 'S.
187
•-Ti'iit anxiety lost Clark's pn'stij^c and the nse of Foit Laurens
lis a liaso for a new advanru from Fort Pitt should toyotlior
nut in ;^ii'at hazard their siynal position at Detroit. If h)st,
liowo'cr. the l)h)\v wouhl not be irreparable, for the Ottawa
Wive- route would still afford an easy eoniniunieation with Lake
llurcn and the western tril)es.
De IVvster at Maekinac did not hear of Hamilton's capture
till about the time of Shelby's raid. Lanylude and (Jautier
had just reaehed Milwaukee, or as some say St. Josej)h, when
the unweleome tidings scattered their Indians. l)e I'eyster's
position was an end)arrassing one, for his intentions to succor
Vineennes luul been utterly foiled. He felt constrained to j)ro-
tert Ills own post J>s well as he could, and to animate the Sioux
ai;ainst the French, in retaliation for their encouragement of
the Auiericans.
Ilaldiniand, at Ins remote heachpiarters, remained for some
time in dread lest Clark would send a force against Mackinac.
The British commandin;;' general, in New York, was sending
word west in February, 1779, before it was known t'iat Vin-
eennes was in danger, that one hundred and thirty carpenters
and two lunulred wood-cutters had been sent by the rebels over
tlie mountains to open a way, and that every saddler in IMiila-
(leijdiia was hard at work making pack-saddles. We know that
ill May one hundred and fifty boat-buildi'rs were at work near
Foit ritt.
Lernonlt, at Detroit, received word of Hamilton's capture on
^lareh 'it!, 1770. An inter])ret(!r, having esca})e(l from Vin-
iriuies in the confusion, had carried the tidings. Lernoult felt
apprehensive, at once, of the safety of the train which Clark had
i-aptured, and saw how the route by the Maumee was thrown
o\m\ to the Americans. He pronii)tly sent to Ilaldinnmd for
aid. While troops were on the way thithej" from Niagara, and
heforc! they arrived, Clark, just about bi'iug relieved by Todd
<»f the civil government, had made up his mind (April 20) that
his available force was insufficient to advance, and so exj)ressed
himself to the governor of Virginia.
To add to Haldimand's anxiety, he was also uncertain about
the fate of the Vineennes convoy, and knew how its supplies
Would aid Chirk,, if he had captured it. He was also painfully
conscious how difficult it had become to satisfy the Indians
^
r i
'.(>
138
GEORGE liOGEUS CLARK.
l£'- ,»'■ .*■
m
(I ,
if^i'
with the supplies and j^ratuities which llaiiiilton, in his eonfx-
dence, had i)rounsed tlieni. Farther than this, he was at liis
witis' end to iinow who among the Frencli, and almost under his
hand, was corresponding with the rt^.eis, for a Jetter of I^atav-
ette and D'Estaing's i)roclamation to his countvymen, which liad
been issued at Boston, 0<;tober 28, 1778, were insidiously cir-
culating amonp- them, creating not a little responsive excitement,
not only among the old Canadians, but among the Indians, if
this sympathy should invite raids fron) over the border, Ilaldi-
mand had scarce a thonsand meii to guard a nudtitude of
points, and of these he had learned to place small confidence
upon the German regiments.
Sending his aid. Captain Erehm (May 25), to Detroit to
insure better information in that direction, tidings after a
while reached Ilaldimand from the Scioto and Muskingum
valleys, which showed that the v^ar was again starting with the
spring.
Cohmel John Bowman, in May, had crossed the Ohio near
the mouth of the Licking, with nearly three hundred Kentucky
volunteers. He made a sudden dash upon a Shawnee town
near the modern ChilHcothe. Having burned the houses ;iiul
secured some plunder, he returned. Ho had dealt a blow wliidi
disinclined the savages of the north to follow English leaders
in a projected movement into Kentucky. So another concerted
movenuuit of the British was checked, for Cornwidlis, aftir
Lin(",;lu's surrender at Charleston (May 12), had counted on
sending a band of T<iries to ieid the aroused C^reeks and Clicro-
kees upon tliO frontiers of Tennessee, while the northern In-
dians came down on the other side.
Aleanwhile, the American plans on the upper Ohio were not
more successful. All through the spring of 1770, scalping
parties of Wyandots and Mingoes had been ]n'o\\ling about tlii'
exposed fort on the Tuscarawas, and ambushing convoys from
Fort ]*itt. Twice in the winter the savages attacked the fnrt.
and Gibson being warned by Zei.^berger, the enemy were forced
to retire through the strd)bornness of the abnost starved garri-
son, for Mcintosh had failed to get in sup])lies by way of the
Aluskingum. The most strenuous etfort of the enemy had btrn
made in February, 1779, after Girty had interce})ted some of
SULLI VA N'S CA MP A IGN.
139
Gilist'ir.s letters. Captain Bird, of the King's Regiment, aecom-
])nnie(l by Simon Girty and a few soldius, now led a horde
of savages. Starting np from a concealment near by, they
suritiised a party which Gibson had sent out, and gave the
first notice of an investment of the fort. For nearly a month
the blockade continued, and a few days after the enemy disap-
peared. Mcintosh arrived with relief, and found the garrison
liviiin' on rawhides and roots. On the general's return to Fort
I'itt, he was soon relieved of the conmiand of the department by
his second in command. Colonel Brodhead, whom Washington
had selected on March 5, 1779. The new commander assumed
charge of the department with small (confidence in the condi-
tions which Mcintosh's course had imposed, and with still less
contont with the huckstering element about Fort Pitt. " The
cursed spirit of monoj)oly is too prevalent," he^vrote (May 2G),
'•and greatly injures the soldiers." At the end of May, he
heard that Fort Laurens was- again threatened, and was to be
attacked " when the strawberries are ripe." He succeeded at
once in throwing supplies into that fort, now garrisoned by a
boily of seventy-five men, though the country which the convoy
traversed was swarming with Indians. But in August it was
thought })rudent to abandon the post.
The i)osition of all the other forts in the department had
been for some time precarious. In June, Fort Randolj)!! at the
inoutli of ihe Kanawha was abandoned, leaving Fort Henry at
AMieeling the most advanced post, while an inner line of stock-
ades f;om Fort Ligonier to the new Fort Armstrong at Kittan-
ning (built in June) wer(i the chief i)rotections of the frontier.
<>» I
While the region north of the Ohio was thus abandoned,
Shelhy's rai>id movements had quieted, for the most part, that
south of the Ohio, and encouraged some adventurous fnmtiers-
iiu'u to cross the river and seek lands among the Delawares,
rt'lyiug upon their friendship. Brodhead had little confidence
in that incongruous people, and did wliat he could to prevent
the risks.
In August, 1770. General Sullivan was well started on his
exasperating inroad among the Iroquois lakes of New York,,
j.artly to punish the Indians f(n' their treachery, and partly to
render more open ihe connuunication with the West. His
140
GEORGE ROGERS CLARK.
iHI'l
|!|,
devastation was ample, but its effect was not lasting. Some
portions of the Six Nations were beyond his reach. Such were
some of the Senecas and Munseys, whose lands stretched into
the northwestern parts of the present State of Ohio. To make
a diversion in Sullivan's favor, and similarly to chastise this
portion of that peojde, Brodhead, by calling in his outposts
and summoning volunteers from the county lieutenants, sia--
ceeded in gathering about six hundred men near Fort Pitt.
The response for volunteers had not been as general as he
had wished, and he gave as a reason that the people are " intent
upon ^oing to Kentuck ; " but he succeeded in getting some,
who, in the guise of Indians, were coiitent to scour the country
for scalps.
Brodhead had been anxious to start on this expedition so as
to get some advantage out of two hundred of his men, whose
term of service expired on August 10 ; but it was not until the
11th that he set out, and in such spirits that he hoped he would
be allowed, after punishing the Senecas, to march on Detroit.
He marched up the Alleghany, and set to work burning houses,
and destroying cornfields, and gathering plunder, later to be
sold for the benefit of liis men. He had lost neither man nor
beast when, on September 14, he was back in Fort Pitt, having
temporarily, at least, quelled the savage temper in this region.
In October, he sent a forr e to drive off trespassers who had
left the Monongahela and had crossed the Ohio, while he tried
to persuade the Delawares not to molest any who escaped hi.'i
vigilance.
He was still dreaming of an attack on Detroit, and in Novem-
ber he asked Washington's permission to make it before Fcb-
ri. V, when the floods would interfere. He was advised liy
Washington to wait till spring, and gather supplies and infoi-
mation in the interim. It was discouraging when Brodhead
heard of the death of David Rogers and the capture of the
supplies which he was bringing up the river from New Orleans.
If the reports which reached Fort Pitt were true, — and Brod-
head had asked Zeisberger to get him information, — the gani-
s(m at Detroit counted but about six hundred, regulars and
militia.
While thus neither Mcintosh nor Brodhead had accompllslud
GENERAL SUSPENSE.
141
imu'li, there bad been in Jefferson and others a larger confi-
dt'iicL' in the daring backwoods spirit of Chirk. By Jnly 1,
1779. Clark had returned to Vincennes, only to be disappointed
ill meeting there but one hundred and fifty of the recruits
whom he had expected from Virginia, and but thirty of the
tlirt'(> lunidred Kentuckians who had been promised to him.
\\"\x\\ an inadequate force, he was not tempted to carry out
"the clever thing" which he had set his heart upon, and so, in
August, leaving Helm at Vincennes, he returned to the falls of
tilt' Oliio. Here he again raised the question of an attack on
Detroit : ))ut it was the opinion of his council of war that at
least a thousand men were necessary for such a stroke, while
with lialf that number he coidd successfully hold his own.
To do this, it was thought, required a force of two hundred at
tlie month of the Ohio, and a hundred and fifty each at Vin-
cennes and Cahokia.
Clark's jiosition at the falls, where his men had been prom-
ised one lumdred and fifty thousand acres in bounty land, alarmed
Dc Peyster during the winter, lest Clark should fortify so good
a strategic point. It was Clark's puri)ose to s])end the time till
spring in an incursion among the Shawnees on the INliami and
Scioto; but the river fell and rendered transportation difiic;ult,
and the ])lan was abandoned. On November It*, he wrote a
letter to George Mason, which, with his letters of Ftibruary 24
from \'incennes, and April 29 from Kaskaskia, constitutes the
main sources for the study of his campaigns. Clark's memoirs,
said to have been written at the recjuest of Jefferson and Madi-
son, th(mgh more in detail, were written (1791) too long after-
wards to be of comparable value.
' I
So tlie year (1779) was closing almost everywhere beyond the
mountains with suspense on both sides, l)ut with the opposing
generals intent on preparations for a new campaign i;: the
s])ring.
In August, 1779, Ilaldiniand had sent some aid to Detroit,
and had taken measure to reassure the Six Nations, whose sjjir-
its had been rudely shattered by Sullivan and Brodhead. It
seemed doubtful if Clinton could keep his promise of large rein-
forcements for Canada, for by Sei)tember the negotiations for
exchanging the Convention troops which surrendered at Sara-
i'i
I
' :;i ^
142
GEORGE ROGERS CLARK.
'." i
il.'l
M;|
Q
n
toga had fallen through, and South Carolina, where the British
were strengthening- their foothohl, had made large deniiiiids
on the resourees at headquarters in New York. So Detroit,
tiiouiih a new fort had been huilt there, wa:5 far from seciiie
when, late in the year, De Peyster eame from Maekinac to take
charge.
That eonnnander liad left the garrison at the straits hardly
more eontident. The effect of Hamilton's diseoniHture, wlicii
news of it had reached tiiem in May, had been discouragiiii;.
It rendered the French uneasy, and, as De Peyster said, '* cowed
the Indians in general." Ilahlimand, when he heard of these
results, asked De Peyster to send some Puants, Sacs, and Foxes
down to Quebec to give them new courage at the sight of a
British fleet, and later he sent a speech, for De Peyster to
render to the tribes, in which he advised them " to keej) the
Bostonians [Americans] out of the country in order to enjoy
peace and plenty."
De Peyster had by this time asked to be relieved, and Sin-
clair was sent to take the post, which in his superior's judg-
ment was '' in a critical situation." Not long before, a Freiidi
trader, Godefroy Linetot, had deserted to the rebel cause, and
in July, 1779, it had been believed at Mackinac that the rene-
gade was preparing to attack St. .loseph with four hundred
men. After this the Indians were slowly rehabilitated in tlie
English interest, and before De Peyster left he had hinistdf
begun to be hopeful that '" the Indians would clear th ^ Illinois
at one stroke," and welcome the Cherokees coming up from the
south. Ilaldimand hardlv shared De Pevster's ecmfidence, and
when Sinclair arrived in October. 1779, he found it not so easy
to arouse the Indians for a s]tring camj)aign to the Illinois.
Sinclair iiad been sent therewith a distinct i)lan of cani})aign on
the part of the home government. He was exi)ected to descend
the Mississippi, while Campbell fi-om Pensacola took New Or-
leans and came up to meet him. Germain in the })revious June
had notilied Ilaldimand of this ])lan, and at a later date he had
instructed Stuart to keep the southern Lidians in open eonnnn-
nication with Detroit. Germain's purpose had already been.
temporarily at least, dashed by Galvez's ])rom])t movement in
September, 1779, on Natchez, later to be explained, and by ;ii'
efforts at the nortli failing.
i
THE CUMBERLAND REGION.
143
Hifoiv the year (1779) dosed, a new movement in the west-
I'lii i('ni<»ns had been conhunnnated, which gave the pioneers a
tiriii iiold on the Cumberhmd valley. During a season which
was the severest the frontiersmen had experienced, and wliich
was marked by suffering and famine throughout the west, James
Knl)t'rts(m, now closing a ten years' residence on the Ilolston,
liad spent the previous year among the Cherokees, laboring
to keep them quiet. About November 1, 1779, witii a train of
iiimiigrants from the Watauga hamlets, he started west. By
the ('h)se of the year they had built a fort and a few cabins,
wliicli were the beginning,^ of the later Nashville. It was a
rc'nioii then known as the French Lick, and had been, since
1714, occasionally occupied by the French hunters. Vast herds
of l)uiV;do had long found the lick an attraction. Within the
next three months Robertson's i)arty built a stockade, and scat-
tered tiieir huts about the ground.
This occupation of a new region was the most decided gain
for the American cause which a year of anxiety had developed.
Clark still held the Illinois country, to be sure, but he was
surrounded with little of that domesticity which comforted Rob-
ertson at the French Lick. With little homogeneousness in
tiu' Illinois population, there was scant confidence in its future.
Now and for some time yet, Clark's ability to maintain himself
(lepeiuU'd on the pecuniary aid which Vigo and Pollock ren-
ilered. In >»ovember (1779), the Virginia Assembly had de-
cided to strengthen Clark's position, but their actiori was v.holly
dependent on the credit which the governor of tliat State could
(il)tain at New Orleans. For three and a half years from
March, 1778, Clark dispensed fifty thousand dollars in specie,
[or nearly two and a cpiarter nii'lions in currency. Up to the
close of 1779, he drew in neaviy c(pial parts fifty thousand dol-
lars or more in specie from Pollock and from the Virginia
[treasury. Pollock's account with Virginia, mainly for the su])-
Iport of Clark, shows that he advanced in specie down to Au-
jgust. n*^!, Over ninety thousand dollars.
V:'i'r
i )
mm
CHAPTER IX.
THE SINISTER PURPOSES OF FRANCE.
1774-1779.
I I
u « -• ^t
!" I
Ui^
Louis XV. of France had died in 1774, and in the mid.
summer of that year, Maurepas, affable and courtly, but what-
ever you please in principle and a known enemy of P^njiland.
liad been put at the head of the cabinet of the new king, Louis
XVI. Tlie minister of foreign affairs was Vergennes, now a
man of fifty-three, a patient and polite diplomat of the intrigu-
ing school. He was perfectly unscrupulous when occasion le-
quired, and an adept in the arts of deceit. " A little good-
natured wisdom," said Jay at a later day, " often does more in
politics than nuich slip])ery craft. By the former, the Yivw\\
acquired the esteem and gratitude of America, and by the
latter their minister is impairing it." It was his policy to be
prepared for war, and to watch for an oi)p<)rtunity to catoli
England at a disadvantage.
He must have looked on with some satisfaction when he saw
his Anglican rival strive, by the Quebec Bill, to hem in lur
revolting colonies by the same geographical confines wlmli
France in claiming to the AUeghanies had so long struggled to
maintain. A few years later, as we shall see, Vergennes liiui-
self would gladly have ])ressed the same restraint ui)on the nas-
cent American Republic, if Franklin, Adams, and Jay had jiivon
him the op})ortunity. Already the alliance which was to follow
the downfall of Burgoyne was a })urpose of Vergennes. but
he could not at this juncture escape anxiety lest the coiicil-
iatory counsels of Chatham would i)revail, and lest Enghiiul. h
plimging into a French war, would, as her cabinet darod to
hope, succeed in winning back the loyalty of her colonies. lie
was, indeed, astounded at the imbecility of the English ministn
in neglecting opportunities of appeasing the rebels. Ih' was
told that the obstinacy of the king was at fault. The nionanli
VERGENNES.
145
nii"lit iiuloed be stubborn, but the real fault was the blindness
of i\w loiy party to the change \vhic\ was taking place in what
that a"e called the prerogative of the king, and in the principles
of the liritish Constitution. There was an unwillingness to
loco'-iiize the fact that revolutions are no respecters of vested
political interests. The Tories failed to undei'stand that civic
i)ro<'i'oss is often made on the wreck of the j)resent.
Voi'ot'nnes was possessed by a similar obtuseness. Still, an
oceasit)nal light was thrown into his mintl by his consuming
desire to humble England. Egregiousl}^ perfidious himself, he
was continually prating of English perfidy.
Con<'ratulating himself, somewhat prematurely, that Spain
was won to his views, Vergennes, on August 7, 1775, in a
coininunication addressed to the Spanish minister, distinctly
foicsliadowed his purpose of active intervention in the Amer-
ican war. In October, M. Bonvouloir sailed in the " Charm-
ing Hctsy " for Philadelphia, under secret instructions from
Vergennes, to observe what was going on in the American
Conorcss. lie was also to seek occasions to let the Americans
know of the sympathy of France.
Doniol's brJky acknowledgment of French heartlessness, as
his great wo"k has proved to be, as well as Stevens's FacHiniiles,
sliow us how detestably insincere Vergennes could be. Near
tlie end of 1775, he put on record his opinions for the edifica-
tion of his king. He told his royal master that French aid
alone could make sure the success of the colonies. lie assured
him that it was the true policy of France to cripple her natural
tiieniy. When the struggle in America had weakened Eng-
huul. the time, he said, would come publicly to pssist the revolt.
Meanwliile, he ex})lained, France must keep the American
coinage up, by pi-omises, till such a propitious turn of the con-
tost eonies.
Tlie American Congress was at the same time playing into
Aergennos's hands. Late in November, they had instituted a
Connnittec of Secret Corres])on(l('nce, with Franklin at '"-s
head, and on Decend)er 12 this conunittee instructed 7* ■ ./uir
Lee. then in London, to make aj)proaches to the Continental
])o\vei's.
^\ lien the new year ( 177G) opened, Vergennes found himself,
through the intrigues of his enemies, in a degree of embarrass-
'iii
i >\
mr
h. ;i5: i'
mi^f
'.
p ii
146
THE SINISTER PURPOSES OF FRANCE.
mont \vlu(^li was increased by the indecision of the king. I^.
fore January was gone, a h'tter from Hcauniarchais, sayini; that
Knghmd was nearly hopeless, was so skillfully used in Vtr-
gennes's hands that the king withdrew his opposition, and tlit
way seemed clear.
Still, the influence of Maurepas and Turgot was against piv-
cijjitating a war, which, in the hitter's judgment, might, liv
emancipating the British colonies, give the signal for the lovolt
of all coh)nies of whatever power. Turgot was indeed in a
fair way to prove too much of an obstacle, and in May he was
dismissed.
Early in ]Marcli, encouraging reports came from Bonvouloir,
and Gerard de Kayneval formulated the i-esnlts for Vergennes's
eye. It was represented that if the humiliation of Eiiglaiul
was carried to an extent of assuring the indei)endence of tlic
colonies, France could have no fear of them in their exhaustion,
War with England was rej)resented as inevitable, whatever the
result of their assisting the colonies.
Vergennes had no disposition to retreat, and on May 2, 177G,
he definitely requested the king to approve a grant of money to
the colonies, and the royal assent was given. Up to this tiiiu'
the minister had abstained from positive action in aid of the
colonies : but he had winked at the help which was being given
in the French ports. It was a turning-point, and a policy was
begun of decided significance.
The troops which England hau already dispatched toAnicrioa
alarmed Vergennes, lest a way be found in the sequel to liinl
them against the French West Indies. At the same tinii'. he
aroused Spain by pictu»ing a like danger, if these troops should
be moved against New Orleans. The ministers at JMadiid
were not slow to see how Louisiana could aggrandize Spain, if
England, in tlie first instance, and, after that, if her sevcriMl de-
pendencies, could be ke])t back from the Mississippi. Notliiuij
could conduce so much to this end as the exhaustion of l)oth
l)arties in the war, and the greater the exhaustion, the lietttr
prospects for France and Spain. It was thus, with S})anish
connivance, the hope of Vergennes to lure the xVmericans to a
collapse by giving them ho])e that they could obtain a subsidy
of money. On Ma/ 3, 1776, Vergennes proposed to Spain
that she should advance a million dollars to the xVmericans,
FRANCE AND SPAIN.
147
(iiimaMi, in advisinjj liis royal uiastor to accede to the propo-
sition Mild .sharing Verg-ennes's sinister aims, congratuhited him
on a iiioveiiient which might. not only force England to destruc-
tion, hilt would at the same time exhiiust the Americans. The
colonists would in this way become in the end an easy prey to
tilt" IJoui'hous.
Mciiuwhile, the American Congress, ignorant of the con-
cealed jjiirposcs of France, had sent Sihis Deane to Paris as its
a^i'iit. The Committee of Secret Correspondence had given
hiiii. nil March 8, his iu.structions. Deane soon found himself
the sport of two parties in the gay cai)ital. On the one side
lie was shadowed by a complacent American named Jiancroft,
wlio n'lioitcd everything to the English ministry. On the other,
Vt ratlines, with whom Deane had his first meeting in July,
(lTT(j). ])layed the synj])athizing friend to conceal his inimical
wiles. With dijdomatic blandness the French minister prom-
ised all that America could need.
Not long afterwards came tidings of the Declaration of Tn-
(le])eiulcncc. Vergennes was now ai'oused. and active inter-
feieiiee seemed innuinent, while licaunuirchais liad attained a
|)()sition where he could assure the American Committee of
Secret Correspondence that his fictitious house of ilortalcs et
Cie was ready to be an intermediary in bringing Congress
and the French government into closer relations. Still later.
( August. ITTG), Vergennes, while urging his royal master that
the time for action had come, also suggested to Sjiain that she
could now throw off the mask. Spain hesitated, as Portuguese
affairs perplexed her, but on October 8, she assented. Abnost
at the same time, news reached l^iris of AVashiugton's defeat
on Long Island, and that untoward event called a halt in the
autniiin of 1776.
,^^
M*
^^M
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'tif
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,ii !'
Meanwhile, events were moving ra))idly in America, and
Spanish officials were v/inking at aid given the colonies at New
Orleans.
Intelligence of the action on July 4. 177t). at Phihuhdphia,
had liaidly reached Fort Pitt when, under orders of Congress,
and l)y direction of the State of Vi'-ginia, Captain (ieorge
Gihson and Lieutenant Linn started, on July 19, down the
I'ivei' in the disguise of traders. When, in August, they arrived
': !i
! ll^
li^
m*^
148
THE SIXISTER PURPOSES OF FRANCE.
f!' I
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I [If
at New Orleans, they found the Sj)iuiish governor, Unzaj^a. in
no eoniphicent mood. Hi' had been uneasy under the siis])iri(iii
that in diphnnatie ways all was not going well. He was n\)\n\'-
hensive that Kngland would sueeeed in })aeifying her eoloiiifs,
and could then, with their aid, turn upon Louisiana. To «fet
information, he had already sent a s})y to IMiiladelphia.
Gibson and his ('omi)anion found, however, prompt sympatliv
in Oliver Polloek. This American had begun active exertion-
in behalf of his countrymen in April, 1770, when he had uusiu.
cessfidly tried to j)ersuade Unzaga to })rotect American vessels
against British warshii)s. With Pollock's aid Gibson's a(t>
were partly concealed from the Jiritish s})ies, and he boiij^lit
twelve hundred poimds of powder. A i)art of it, under Pol-
lock's direction, was shipped north by sea, while the greaUr
bulk of it, nine thousand j)ounds, in one hundred and tifty kt'^s,
was placed on barges to ascend the river. This was done whili
English spies were watching for some overt act, and, to uvAv
it appear that he was cr)mmitting some offense against Spaiiisli
law, Gibson allowed himself to be thrown into i)rison.
Linn, in charge of the barges, started homeward on Septem-
ber 22, 177G. It was a long pull against the current for ucarlv
eight months, and it was May 2, 1777, before the lieutenant
delivered his dangerous burden to Colonel William Crawford.
at Wheeling, " for the use of the Continent." The expedition,
in its slow progress, had run great risks of being interce])te(l.
After liinn had started north. Pollock wrote from New Or-
leans to Congress, tendering renewed services and recounting;
the beneficial effect which the Declaration of Independence liiid
made in that town. lie said that the governor was ready to
open trade with the Americans, and would protect their criiiseis
and prizes, should they come into the river. He also added
that this Si)anish official was ready to unite with Congress in
maintaining a regular express by the Mississippi and Fort
Pitt, between Philadelphia and New Orleans. Pollock's sym-
pathies had not escaped the notice of the English spies. Hi*
surrender was demanded by the British conunander at I'ciisa-
cola, but was refused. An English sloo]>-of-war was lying down
the river, and Pollock was fearful that some untoward ai'<i<leiit
might throw him into its commander's hands. Accordini;!}
he desired Congress to give him a connnission in some ca])a(i{}
ifi ■
*tf
GALVEZ AND POLLOCK.
149
so that lie i-ouM have its protection in an emergency. In the
suiuf K'tter Pollocli adds that the Sjianish governor had sent
orders to the mouth of the river to i»ut American vessels enter-
iiii;' the pusses wnhiv the Spanish tiag.
Oil the 1st of February preceding (1777), Don Jk'rnanhi
(If (iiilvcz. the conunander of a regiment in the garrison at
New ( )rli'ans. succeeded to the governor's cliair. Ho very soon
opeiied c(»nnjumication through Major Cruz, at St. Louis, with
Colonel Morgan on the Ohit), and took Pollock into his confi-
dence as one whom Unzaga assured him lu; could trust.
(ialvezwas a voting man of twenty-one, of powerful family
(•oinu'cti»»n, and likely to bring Sjianish and French interests
into close relations. Jay, who later knew his relatives in Spain,
iuforiiied the president of Congress that '' the one on the Mis-
sissippi has written favorably of the Americans to his brothers
liere, and it wouhl be well to cultivate this disposition."' The
opiiortiinity to do so was not lost.
The new governor soon strengthened himself by bringing
t'liiigraiits from the French West Indies. In retaliation for
liritish captures on the lakes back of New Orleans, he boldly
seized some Phiglisli vessels trading between the Balize and
M;ui(dia('. He began to build some boats to carry long-range
mills, wliicli would be more than a match for the light guns
which any vessel con.ld take over the bar at the mouth of the
Mississipjii.
Pollock soon devised some audacious plans. In April, 1777,
he sent a vessel north under Lemire to inform Congress that
(ialvcz stood ready to furnish cash and supplies to any American
force intending to capture Pensacola, and a little later (May 5)
he lilted (^'ongress to make a decision, and, if favorable, to send
l)l;mk coniniissions to be used in raising troojis in New Orleans.
Colonel George CJordon, commanding at Fort Pitt, had fore-
stalled any action of Congress, and before Liim's return he had
sent word to Galvez that if the Spaniards would supply trans-
jxirts. he was hoping to send one thousand men down the river
jneparcd to attack ]\Iobile and Peiisacida. A little later, the
Spaiiisli governor was assured that he need have no apprehen-
sion. Imt that the Creeks, Choctaws, and Chickasaws couhl be
tlejiended upon to stand nentral. Nothing came of the project,
but the Committee of Secret Corrcripondence took on their part
i !
in !
;, I
\
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51
k< -^/f >T
ifTf^
I ■ I
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■ir!
150
THE SIXISTKIt PUlil'OSES OF IRAME.
ail lin])ortant strp when they a|i|)()iiitt'(l, in Juik>, 1777, Pollofk
their eonimercitil aj^eiit, and (lire<'tetl hint to ship at once f.iit\
or fifty thoi'sand dollivs' worth ol" cloths and strotuls to riiiln.
(U'l])hia by three or four swift vessels, promising to send iiom
in return to balance the uecount.
It was not long before the British ])lo('kade of the Athmtii
eoast had become so close that (,'onj;ress found it inipossihli' ti.
send the Hour out of port. In Octolx'i-. Pollock was tolil to run
the necessary risks oi forwardinj;' sui)plies along the coast. ;^
transportation by the river was too slow and, because of Jndiiiii
forays, too hazardous for their i)resent exigencies.
On Scptendu'r 2(5. 1V70, a few days after Linn's barges had
cast oft" their inooiings at New Orleans, Congress had a])poiiit»d
some eonuiiissioners to Kurope. At their head was Franklin,
and he was not without hojje that in the tiiud settlenu-nt iu'
could induce the British ministers to sell Florida and Quebec
to the new Republic. His companions in the mission were to
be Arthur Lee, n()W in London (for Jefterson had declined to
be one), and Deane, already in Paris. The latter, active in
nund, had conceived a new ])lan for relieving the stagnalimi dt
events, and on December 1, Ijefore Franklin arrived, he liinl
written liome, outlining a scheme to attract ininiigration. ami
to find money for the dejdeted treasury of the colonics, lie
thought that the country which the Quebec Act had aimed to
alienate from the colonies would be "a resource amply adi'-
<puite, under j)n)per regulations, for defraying the whole ex-
jusnse of the war, and for providing the sums necessary to pur-
chase the native ri"ht to the soil.*' To give this land its value
he proposed that it shoul i be made a distinct State, of twenty-
five million acres, to be confederated with those other coloiius
wlil(di had made a declaration of inde])endence. The settlini;
of it was to be left to one liundrcd or more grantt'cs. wliilt'
Congress reserved for their own advantage one fifth of the laud.
mines, etc. To induce immigration, he relied upcm the syiu-
l)athy with the American struggh' which, des])ite the cak'U-
lating selfishness of tlie Yergennes ministry, was marked among
the French })eo])le. Before the month (December) closed, tlio
American connnissioners, Franklin being now on the s])ot,
had their initial meeting both with Yergennes and the Count
ill Ih'iii
^■"\
FLOHIDA BLANC A.
161
(rAiiiiulii. They got some encoiiragt'iiiout in the promise that
Aiiit'iiwin j)rivateers should hav*- ecjiial |)i'<)teetion in the French
and Spanish i)oi'ts. Vergeiines, however, liad h)st some of his
holdiitss, or was veiling it, when, a few weeks later ( Fehruary,
1777) (iriinaldi was sneceeded at Madrid l»y the Count Florida
HIiiiicii.
This man, who thus became the Spanish king's prime minis-
tt r. was forty-six years old ; he had risen from iin inconspicuous
station, and by +'oree of character had well crowded with action
his niatiM-e life. He disliked Fngland, was jealous of France,
ami hated revolutions. He certainly was not (piite ready to
make good all the pronuses which (irimaldi had made. He
had iiis eye on Portugal, an<l he wished rather to have French
aiil in 'securing that little kingdom, than to join in the struggle
in liritish America. He thought, also, that France and Spain
coidd work together better in Hrazil, a I'ortuguese dependency,
than in North America. Vergenues felt ot!u;rwise, and this
lack of accord, as well as the bad news from Washington's
army, seemed at present to be fatal to an agreement.
To offset the ill effects of the military miscarriages near New
York, Congress was cpiite prepared (Decend)er, 1770 ) to ))rom-
ise its a^.-lstance in capturing Pensacola from the British and
share ■ i 'vantages as a port, as well as the navigation of the
Mississii)pi, with Spain ; but this willingness was not known
till April, when Franklin opened the questi«m with Aranda.
A few weeks before (March 4, 1777 ), Arthur Lee had met (Jri-
iiiakli at Burgos, but he could get no jjromise of active assist-
uni-e. lie further learned that Florida lilanca was apologizing
to Kiiglaud and jdaying shy with Vei-gcnnes. Nevertheless, it
was intimated that the Americans would find ))owder and other
.sii[)[)lit's at New Orleans, which they e<mhl take, if they liked,
on credit.
In France there was an active public oj)inion, asking for ac-
tion, largely induced by the influence of Franklin. But Ver-
ifenncs repelled the request of the American commissioners for
nuns and ships, and made a show of ])rev<!nting Lafayette and
De Kail) embarking for America, By A])ril 20, however, La-
fayette, who had fled to Si)anish territory, put to sea, tliough
ostensibly for the West Indies.
This exodus, or some other incident, had aroused Stormont,
r 4
i!
\ \
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! '.
!':i!1lfl
152
r//A' SINISTER PURPOSES OE ERANCE.
the British juubiissaclor in Paris, to a belief that an expedition
to aid the rebels was arranged by a Freneli general ottieer. niid
he sus})eeted that he eonld get more partienlar information it he
could pay fifteen hundred guineas for it. His government »vas
not (piite as eredulous, and directed him not to pay the moiiev.
Before long the French cabinet was assuring the London st;it(;s-
men of their determined neutrality. This led the British iiiin-
istry in 'July to propose a treaty, in whieli botli England and
France shoidd guaiantee their respecti' e possessions in America.
Vergennes was not to be caught, and before many days liad
passed, he and the king were pretty well agreed that tin; ex-
j)ected crisis for determinate action had come. There was some
difficulty in making the king see wisdom in abetting a rebelHon
against a royal brother : but Vergennes had little sympathy witli
any such sentiments, when the pur})ose to punish England was
in the balance. It had come to be simply a questicm of the
o})portune moment for a jmblic declaration. Franklin, in Scji-
tember, was assuring Congress that the commissioners were
niuch too far from accomplishing their object. The final fruition
of all his hopes was nearer than Franklin could have judged.
Tlie autumn had brought mingled elation and regret in tlio
colonies. AVashington had failed at Brandywine and German-
town ; but Burgoyne had capitulated at Saratoga. An army
worsted was no offset to an army captured, and Jonathan Aus-
tin Loring, when lie sailed, on October 30, as the messenger of
good tidings to the American commissioners in Paris, carried
also conviction to the hesitating cabinet of Frau'-e.
Early in December, 1777, and not many hours apart, the
startling news i\'ached Lord Noriii in London, just as he had
returned at midnight from a debate in Parliament, and it was
broken to Frankli.\ at Passy by the Boston messenger. It was
soon heard by Vergennes. '' There must be no time lost," \v
said. He let the king, who was wondering what Sj^ain wduld
do, understand that ini advantage was likely to accrue to wlioin-
ever first welcomed the Americans to the company of nations.
Beaumarchais, when he was trying to induce the Fremdi
king to advance the Americans a million, told him that '• to
sacrifice one million to make England s])end a hundred is but
advancing a million to obtain nine and ninety." The ])nsoiit
news was a stronger i)lea tlia:i any argument of his couM ln'.
B Ull G YNE'S S UlUlESDEli.
153
art. tlu'
i
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1 it \v;is
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It \v;is
)st;" \v
11 wmilil
) whom-
tioiis.
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French
'
Kit '-td
is but
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present
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-ul.! !)'•.
:.-
and having received it from Linulou, he had hopes of being the
first Id hreak it m Paris. He was hurrying to that cajjital
as fast as liis horses eouhl gaHop, when his cairiage over-
turned, and he was i)ut to bed in agony in a neighboring house.
It was December 0, and he sent a message ahead, dictated from
a eoiieh of pain. It was too hite. The king was already en-
■^a^vd in inviting propositions from Franklin. Two days later
(I)eceiid)er 8), the American eonunissioucrs, in language that
had probably been arranged with Vergennes, made their re-
s|)(iiise in a document which was at once disjiatched to Spain.
It had no inunediate effect. Spain's Mexican and Brazilian
flrets. with their treasure, were still awaited, and it was not ])ru-
(leut to incite England to their capture. Beside, Spain's rup-
tiu'c with Portugal was still unhealed. At least, such were the
professions.
Vergennes, meanwhile, was having conference with the
American commissioners, and on l)ecend)er 17 they were in-
formed that France wa.4 ready for an alliance and would make
an acknowledgment of their independen<^e. Ten days later
(I)eeend)er 27), Vergennes was sending word to Miulrid that
Spain was losing the opportunity cf centuries to cripple the
])()wer of England, and recover Gibraltar, Minorca, and Florida.
France had already pledged her ])ower to the extent, in one way
and another, of about three million livres, as Vergennes and
Franklin both knew.
The new year (1778) oj)ened in F^rance with the American
eonuuissioners greatly satisfied with the outlook. " Ev(;r since
Bingoyne's fate was known," wiote William \a'(\ " we are
smiled at and caressed everywhere." Louis XVI., following up
the arguments of his minister, was sending word to his Jiour-
hon brotlier of S])ain that he had come to an understanding
with tile American commissioners, "to prevent the reunion of
America with England." F^very obstacle removed, on lA-bru-
aiy •'», 1778, the treaty was signed. Stonnont, the Englisli
iiiid)assador in' Paris, divined what was in progress, and a cer-
tain " Mr. Edwards " was probing the secrets for him, — per-
iiajjs. inider a new guise, the same Dr. Edward Jiancroft who
had hcen dogging the steps of Deane. Stori:iont was ])aying
woU for what information he secured, and was naturally im-
mersed in the misery of not knowing just how much to helievo
'11 f
^■i^ m
"". ^
154
THE SINISTER PURPOSES OF FRANCE.
of all that was betrayed to hiin, while, as the negotiations pro-
ceeded, Maurepas, in his intercourse with him, was blandntss
itself in his denials. Within two days, it was confidently be-
lieved in London that the French king had at last succumlx'd,
and had banished his qualms of conscience in recognizini;-
lebels. It was sup])()sed that the allied parties had agreed to
give Canada and the West Indies to France, if the fortunes of
war threw those regions into their hands.
On March 10, 1778, Vergennes instructed Noailles in London
to break the news to Lord Weymouth, and on the 13tli it was
done. The respective andjassadors of the two countries were
with(U*awn, and when Stormont reached London on the 27tli.
he found bank stocks at 09, a drop to less than a moiety of the
value of two and a half years before.
This ccmdition to a mercantile people was very alarming.
Grenville Sharp and otiiers were already outspoken for an
accommodation witli America on the basis of her independence.
It would prevent, they claimed, a rupture with France and
Spain. North had inclined to the same view ; but it was not
a grateful one to the king and the rest of the cabinet. Tliey
so far felt the pressure, however, as to introduce into Parlia-
ment (February 17) acts of conciliation with America on tlie
ground of contimied allegiance. They were passed, and reaclu-d
America by the middle of April.
France, fearful of their effect, was soon reassured by a
prompt rejection of them by Congress. The movement of the
English ministry encouraged Florida Blanca to offer mediation
for the purpose of curt>ing the ambition both of the colonies and
of England, and of assuring some territorial aggrandizement to
Spain. It was Spain's ])roposition to confine the revolted 0(do-
nies to the Allegliany slope, while she guaranteed to England
the valley of the St. Law^rence and the region north of the Ohio.
takfn;- to herself all south of the Ohio between the mountains
antl the Mississi])pi. England was not so much in straits that
she could come to such an agreement, and the arbitration was
refused.
Spain got nothing for her pains, and France was content.
both with the failure of Lord Nin-th, and with the disappoint-
ment of Florida Blanca. It all looked well in the mind of ^ er-
gennes for securing deeper revenge upon England. Vergennes
l:l
ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE.
155
cari'd notliiiii^ for Ainevica, if only her exhaustion was increased
so that France could the better become the arbiter of her future.
His siini)le purpose was to degrade England first, and America
lU'Xt.
Tlic defeat of Florida Blanca's i)lot with England was felt
1)V W'lucnnes to open the way to secure the alliance of S])ain,
aiul it was well known what Spain wanted. " The Court of
Spain." wrote Lee to Congress, March 19, 1778, " will make
sdiiu' (lifHcultics about settling the dividing line between their
possessions and those of the United States. They wish to have
the eession of Pensutula." Ten days later (March 29), Ver-
•'•eniies wrote to Gerard at Philadeli)hia that Spain would
pi'ol)al)ly require a 2)roniise of Florida before she would accede
to till- alliance, and Gerard was instructed to prepare Congress
for yielding that point. To insure the continuance of the alli-
ance with France, Gerard was reminded that the United States
slionld be made to understand that Canada nuist remain to
Kiii;tand, France renouncing any purpose of regaining that
ju'ovince.
\f
i>-
\"
Wlien Congress, on ISIay 4, 1778, had ratified the treaty, at-
tention had already been directed to the Spanish problem on the
(iiilf. Patrick Henry, as governor of Virginia, had as early
us October, 1777. bi'cn urging upon tlie Spanish authorities at
New Orleans the opening of trade with the States by the Missis-
sippi, and now again in January, 1778, he was making a dis-
tinct ])ro])osition to (Jalvez to accept produce sent down from
Kentucky in return for munitions and cash. In the following
Jnne. Colonel David Pogers started from F'ort Pitt, in two
lioiits built by General Hands orders, to make a beginning of
tlic trade. Peaching New Orleans in October, he found that
(i;dvez was so ignorant of the geography of tin' valley that lie
had sent the goods intended for Virginia to St. Louis. Thither
Itou'crs was obliged to return for them. The passage of tlie
Mississipiii to and fro was made with little danger, as "ver since
A]nil. tlie river above New Orleans had been fri'cd of the Eng-
lish Hag; but later, while ascending the Ohio, and near the
month of the Licking, the little flotilla was waylaid, as we have
soen, by Hamilton's Indians, and its conunander killed.
^leanwhile, a more active career awaited Captain James
« »
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15G
THE SINISTER PURPOSES OF FRANCE.
AVilling of Philadelphia. This officer had departed from Pitts-
burg, bearing a coimnission from Congress. He had less tliiiii
fifty men ; but as his business was mainly to plunder, he piclad
up recruits as he went. One of his aims was to placate or in-
timidate the Toi-y settlement about Natchez, wliere a body of
loyalists had bought of the Choctaws, in 1777, a stretch aloiin
the river from 31° to the mouth of the Yazoo, a distance of
something over one hundred miles. During January, AVilliiig
had carried a i ather ruthless hand among the upper settlenieiits
of the river. In February, he was at Natchez, devastating the
estates of such as had fled across the river. lie seized one of
the Tory leaders. Colonel Anthony Ilutchins, and t<>'>k liini to
New Orleans, where he was put on parole. The })licnder which
AVilling also took away was estimated l)y those who suffered at
a million and a half dollars in value. The agents of France
in New Orleans were not altogether pleased at this kind of
domination for the American flag, inasnuich as too much suc-
cess might give the Re})ul)lic such territorial claims on the river
as it was not French pol'cy to encourage. Rocheblave, who
commanded the British post in the Illinois, when lie heard of
the fall of Philadelphia, and that it was reported that sonic of
the chief rebels were " flying by way of F'ort Pitt," imagiiu'd
that Willing's exploits "'ere simply preparing the lower ]\lissis-
sippi as a refuge for disheartened i)atriots.
In April, 1778, Pollock complained to Congress that a Eritisli
sloop-of-war was still capturing vessels at the river's mouth, bet
he had at least ground for rejoicing in the new commission from
Congress, which Willing had delivered to him, and in that offi-
cer's destruction of the Tory nest at Natchez, which had been
supplying provisions to Pensacola and Jamaica.
Pollock now dispatched one Kcubcn Harrison to Natclicz
to preserve the neutrality which Willing Iiad instituted ; Imt
Ilutchins, breaking his paiide. reachc'l that post ahead, and.
gathering his old associates, Harrioon's boat was lured to tlu'
banks and ".•'.ptured. This for a while ended the neutialitv.
To keep the river open for the p;issagc of supplies to the Ohio
looked now hopeless, fri- the *' Hound," a vessel sent from T'li-
sacola, was likely l»efore long to reach a station at IMancliac
near Baton Krage, where luu* boats could patrol the ri\t'i'.
Pollock's plan was for American boats coming down from above
to avoid .aiiture by being ])ut under the Spanish flag.
m
POLLOCK AT NEW ORLEAXS.
157
Willing was now raising men in New Orleans, antl was in-
teiitliiii; to risk passing up the river with a flotilla in time to
iL'iicli tile falls of the Ohio in Oetober, whieli, with his lading
(if >iii)plies for Fort Pitt, he could best pass at that season.
Ill April, 1778, Gal vez issued a proclamation i)ermitting trade
with the United States. Pollock, at the same time, was fitting
out a ('a})tiir('d letter of marque as an American cruiser, lie
WHS somewhat embarrassed for money, as he had not yet re-
ceived from Philadelphia the #30,000 due him for the supplies
which he had sent up the river.
Notwithstanding there had been no r. " esion given as yet in
Madrid to the American cause, it was apparent that the rep-
ivst'iitatives of Spain and America were acting now in much
hariuiiiiy at New Orleans. The price of this informal connec-
tion might put Spain, possessed ultimately of Florida, in a
position to contest with the liei)ublic the eastern bank of the
Mississip])i, as it turned out she did.
As the summer (1778) came on, the British plans had worked
out to tlieir satisfaction. They controlled Natchez with a force
of two hundred men. Another sloop-of-war, the " Syl^di," witli
a view of one hundred and fifty men, kei)t a body of sixty
IJi'itisli rangers under cover at Manchac. Others were expected,
for Clinton, in New York, had been aroused to the exigency.
Pollock was accordingly obliged to bestir himself and send
warnings uj) to the Arkansas to meet any boats descending the
river. In July, two Scotch merchants in New Orleans, Koss
and ('anij)bell, were found to be sending tidings to Nat(diez of
iutcndo;! attemi)ts to send supplies u[) the river. Tiicy were
seized a'ld sent to Pensacola. The reestablished Tories at
Nalcliez had indeed rendered the bhxdcade of the river so effec-
tual that Willing licsitated to start with liis supplies. In
August, however, under the escort of an armed force, led by
Lieutenant (ieorge, he hoped to ascend the liver for other
e.\l»loits, — the expense of the undertaking being met in part
liy ;i loan of ■'^0,000 from Galvez ; but nothing came of the ])lan.
i*olIock had been long anxious for some decisive stroke. In
May. lie liad urged Congress to start an ex])edition from Fort
ritt t(i sweep the British from the river, and then to advance
'Ui I'ensaeola. lie was confident there was not in that post, be-
••^ide Indians, more than eight hundred to a thousand men. He
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'''HE SIXISTEIi PURPOSES OF FRANCE.
thought a thousand Americans could clear the Mississij)!)!, and
that three thousand could capture Pensacola. He had himself,
he adds, secured a i)rize ship, the " Kebecca," and put a suitable
armament on board with one hundred and fifty men, and in two
months he hojjcd to co('»})erate in attacking the English ship
at Manchac. But his plans miscarried. In the autunui, the
British control of the river was so well maintained that he was
obliged to send Willing and his men north by sea. In Decem-
ber, he dispatched a vessel to Havana with merchandise to he
exchai'.ged for supplies, which were to be sent thence t(» tlie
Ui?ited States. He had gone on spending his own money and
receiving no remittances from C.'ongress, which was now over
•f40,000 in his debt. He was selling his own slaves to enahle
him to meet his outstanding obligations.
As the summer and autumn (1778) wore on, the jmrpose of
France was developed. Franklin, as sole conunissioner, was
treating with Vergennes in Paris, and Gerard and (iouveriieuv
Morris were conferring in ]*hiladeli)hia. The object of Ver-
gennes was unuiistakable. He would, in confining the new
Kepublic to the Atlantic slope, propitiate Spain, and in giving
the region north of the Ohio, with Canada, to England, lie
would establish a constant inenace between the colonies and tlie
motlier country, and cripple tlie future of tl'e nascent Kepnl)lii'.
So he talked with Franklin with as mucli biand conceahnent of
his intention as he could, while he instructed CJerard to })repai'e
Congress for submission to Spain's demand. France at tliis
time had eighty shii)s of the line and sixty-seven thousand
sailors, and for ten years she had been drilling ten thf)usan(l
gunners for her navy. Nevertheless, she urged th.at England
with lior one hundred and fifty ships of the line (and t\ > hun-
dred and twenty (Mght in all) was an overmatch, indess the
sixty great ships of S})ain coidd be added. D'Eslaing, with
his fleet, had not certainly, during the summer, justified in
American wavers the ho]ies which had l)een entertained. Tlu'ie-
fore it was necessary for Amex'ica, as Vergennes represented,
to abate her territorial ])retensions and secure the alliance of
Spain for a common good. By October (1778), it seemed as if
Vergennes had Ifrought Florida Blanca to consent to join the
alliance on certain conditions. These were that the war should
GERARD IN PHILADELPHIA.
159
be continued till (iibraltar was gained for her, either by cai)-
tiiif, oi" by agreement at the peaee ; and that America shouhl
aiMce to lier having Florida aJid the trans-AUeghany region.
Morris, in Philadelphia, was unfortunately showing how the
Republic might yet give in to such demands. He was con-
fessing to (ierard that yielding the Mississippi to S})ain and
Canacla to England might the better restrain the western com-;
mnnities in any arrogant hope they felt of future independence.
Tlit'io was no such hesitati(m about Canada in Lafayette. He
and D'Kstaing had planned for an invasion north of the kSt.
Lawrence, and had sent from Boston a ])roclamation to arouse
tlie native French of Canada. This done, D'Estaing had in
November sailed for the West Indies, while I^afayctte, two
months later (.Fanuary, 1779), went to France to work out this
aygrcssive movement for the coming season. Washington saw
the dangers of it for the Republic, as a Frenchman like Lafay-
ette conld not. The fear of the American leader that France,
rei'stablished in Canada, would help the schemes of Spain on
tlie Mississippi, led very soon to the abandonment of the
l)roject.
Nor did a scheme of Vergennes and Charles IIL of S})ain,
jilaiiiKMl at the same time, result in any action. Gerard was
iiistnu'ted to sound Congress cautiously in the matter, but we
know little more of it than as a proposition to the United States
to aoeei»t a long truce with England instead of a peace, during
which France and Spain would have time for arranging ulterior
projects. England, however, was in no mood to come to terms
of France's })i"oi)osing' after her own a])proachcs to Congress
had been repelled, and while France ke]>t a tli'ct in the Ameri-
can waters. It was ai)parent that both England and S])ain
preferred to gain time, rather than connnit themselves to any
definite arrangement.
Early in 1779, Congress had decided (January 14) to make
no peace without the concurrence of France, and it was ap])ar-
ent at wliat ])rice Spain would render her aid in the wai'. and
that the United States were mainly to pay the cost. Cicrard,
instructed by Vergennes, was assiduously impressing upon Con-
gress that the demands of Spain were proper and should be
met: that it was meet for America to renounce territorial am-
i'itiou and be content with thirteen States along the Atlantic
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THE SINISTER PU It POSES OF FRANCE.
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slope, and tliat there was great danger of an Anglo-Si)anisli
l(?ague, unless Pensiieola and the free navigation of the Missis-
sippi were assured to Spain.
Spain, meanwhile, was toying with Grantham at Madrid,
])rofessing a desire for allianee with England, and suggesting
the benefits of the projjosed long truee with her colonies as l)est
to ealm the internecine j)assions. At the same time she was
shufHing with France, and waiting the results of Gerard's iu-
trigues at Philadelphia, huoyed up the while by the hojx' of
regaining something of that imperial dominion in the New
World which the bull of demarcation had assigned to her at the
end of the fifteenth century. While Vergennes (February 12)
was submitting to Sj)ain a proposition to fight England unceas-
ingly till America's indc])endence was secured, leaving Spain's
aspirations to be satisfied by wresting something from America
in the future, Florida IJlanca set no less a price on the adhe-
sion of Spain than the old demand of Gibraltar. When tlieir
demands were known. Congress, on March 19, with consideral)le
spirit, announced that while Spain might possess Florida, the
American States had no intention of releasing claim to all
that England gained below the Great Lakes by the treaty of
1763, and to the full navigation of the Mississippi. To make
their intentions definite. Congress defined the bounds by a line
from the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, along the height of
land between the Atlantic and the St. Lawrence to the nortli-
west head of the Connecticut, and thence direct to the south
end of Lake Nipissing, and on to the sources of the Mississip])i,
— of course in ignorance of just where those sources wer'3. It
was provided as an alternative that, if it became necessary, the
line beyond Lake Nipissing might be run farther south, but not
below 45°. On the south they claimed the left bank of tlie
Mississii>pi above 31°, — the old southern bounds of the Caro-
lina charter of 1663, whiidi had indeed never been acknowledi^ed
by Spain. There was also a distinct demand on Spain for a
port of entry on the river within Spanish Louisiana.
While this action was pending, and the British connnander
in New York was strengthening Pensacola with General Camp-
bell's force of fifteen hundred men, Spain, fearing Engl.ind h'i-^
now that she had lately augmented her fleets, entered into
a secret treaty with France on April 12, 1779, and thus joined
m
SPAIX AM) A\\V.X.l.vy>.
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haiiil-^ in the now tri])l»'-roinbintiti(m ayahist (iiviit Britain.
Till' iHofessi'd object of this chuuh'stino alliance was to seenrc
(iihnihar, and to distract England l)y an invasion of the Jiritish
islaiiils, and l)y attacks on Minorca, Pensaeola, and Mobile. It
is (iiily <»f late years that the fnll text of this convention has
licconie known, and Bancroft, in his earlier editions, had alloweil
larger pretensions for S})ain than wei'e given to her.
Six days after the treaty had been con(dnded, Spain made
(itliur [icrHdious propositions for alliance with England, and
tlifso being rejected, on May 3, 1779, she openly declared war.
Then' was now no further doubt on England's part of what she
was to encounter. In the early part of the sunnner the Euro-
]»('an i)arties to the conflict were ujana'uvring for an advan-
tii<;e. while Congress was at the same time facing a serious
complication in the evident purpose of France and Spain to
insist on recognizing England's territorial i)retensions in the
(^iii'ljec act. France saw that this gave Sjjain a better chance
of wresting the coiuitry north of the Ohio from England, — as
indeed was attemi)ted by Spanish tvoo])s in 1781, — than from
the grasp wiiich Virginia was preparnig to make ui)on it, and
(lid make in 1779.
On June 17, 1779. Germain notified Ilaldimand of the Span-
ish war, and instructed him to reduce the Si)anish posts on the
Mississippi and assault New Orleans. At the very beginning
of the year (1779) Hamilton, at Vincennes, had reported that
tlie southern Indians, Chickasaws, Cherokees, Choctaws, and
Alihamons, had been banded in the British interests, and that
were he sure that Spain had declared war, he could, with tlu;
aid of the savages, push the S])aniards from the Mississippi,
since, as he affirms, the Spanish autliorities had but slender
inflnence with the tribes. The British conunander at Pensaeola
had also had his emissaries among the Ciicrokees, and within
a month from the time when Ilaldimand was prompted by (Jcr-
inain to attack the Spanish, these savage maraudei-s were hai-ry-
ingthc confines of Carolina. Arthui' Lee had anticipated this,
and while Germain was writing to Ilaldimand, Lee was warning
^pain tliat a British foothold in Carolina meant the use of it
as a base to dis])atch the Indians against the Spaniards on the
*"df. Already, by a pact with the tribes, the Chickasaws and
^lioctuws were scattered along the Ohio and Mississippi to
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mten'o\)t sui)|)lies from Now OrleanH, in case they had run tlie
jjauntlet at N'atcliez, wlwr*' somo English rangers under Captuin
Jih)onier wen; now stationed.
This was the condition in tlie Great Valley, and such were []w
English intentions, when (ialve/, the young Si)anish governor
at New Orhjans, threw himself into the war with admirablu
spirit. As early as March, 1770, Patrick Ilenry had uimd
upon Washington to dispatch an ex])edition against Natcln/
to ])i'eserve eonununications with New Orleans from the iip.
country, since Pollock's shipments of munitions and sui)))li(^
l)y the river had become uncertain. Little heed, however, iiad
been given to the advice, and at this time there was a siiKill
chance that Campbell at Pensaeola and IIan»ilton at VinceiiiiLs
nnght be able to work in conjunction and maintain the blockade
of the river, if not drive the Spaniards out.
On »Tuly 8, the ^Madrid authorities had sent instructions tn
(iraivez for an active campaign. The proclamation of hostili-
ties with England had been made at Havana on July 2'2, and
Galvez was soon aware of the British jturpose, which he leaiiad
from an intercepted disi)atch.
By August 18, he had fitted out a flotilla, when a hunicaiif,
sweejung the river, sank his vessels. His energy soon replacid
them. Accompanied by Pollock — to whom Cialvez had un-
successfully offered a Si)anish connuission — and a few otiui
Americans, who ])referred to carry their own flag as a separate
detachment, and with a following of six hundred and seventy
men, (iialvez began the ascent of the river. On SeptemlxT 7,
with a force increased at this time to over fourteen luuHlnil
men, he ap])roached the southernmost i)oint held by the British.
Bayou Manchac, where he carried Fort Bute by assault. IK'
was now one hundred and fifteen miles above New Orleans, and
from this point to Natchez the British were in possession. A
week afterwards (Sejjtember 13), he began regular approadiis
before the fort at Baton Kouge, and eight days later it suircn-
dered, and carried with it Fort Panmure at Natchez, the suc-
cessor on the same site of the old Fort Kosalie of the Natchez
wars. Colonel Hutchins, the paramount British authority in tlif
region, and a traitorous sneak, by nature, left it to Colonel
Dickson to make the surrender.
Several hundred prisoners, large supplies, and various trans-
JUHN ADAMS.
1G3
ifoits thus fell into Spanish hands, and (ialvez retnrned to New
OiKans to extend Louisiana over Florida, a.s far as the Pearl
Kiver, and to weleonio in October some reinforcements from
llavMiia.
Tlu'se siu'cosse.s <>noourag»'d Pollock, who was just now much
in need of good cheer. With Contin^ utal money in circulation
to about •i'200,000,000, and reduced to an insij^niHcant value,
Oni'-ress had failed to keep with him its promises of remittances,
and, to make matters worse, not a single vessel of those he had
sent north hy sea with supplies had eseapeil the liritish bloek-
aders. About the only produce which Congress could depeiul
ii|(()ii to keep Pollock in funds was tlour, and it was i)ractically
uiidci' an embargo in the Atlantic ])orts, so much of it had
heen iitcded to feed the army and D'Estaing's fleet. Nor could
relief be innnediate. There had never before been so ime a
crop of wheat in the States, but it would take time to grind
anil bolt it, and to send it to New Orleans amid the risks of
capture.
While affairs were thus prosperous at New Orleans for
Spain, and American intei-ests were with increasing diiUculty
sustained by Pollock, Congress had been struggling with the
<|iiesti()n of the ultimate bounds of the new Republic, and now
in the instruction given (August 14) to .fohn Adams, who was
aliout going abroad prepared to treat with (ireat liritain, it
had sid)stantially agreed upon the limits set by that body some
months before.
Adams was just at this time in a rampant state of mind, — a
condition not unusual with him, — and in a letter from lirain-
tree (August 4), while Congress was coming to its purpose, he
liad not only objected to the surrender to Great Jiritaiu of
Xova Scotia and Canada, but he had i)ictured, in ignorance of
her secret intentions, the great complacency of Si)ain, which he
judged would make her an agreeal)le neighbor in the future.
Hut Congress, before its president could have received Adams's
letter, declared, on August 5, that if Great liritain persisted
"iu the prosecution of the present unjust war," advances
•should l)e made to enter into a defensive and offensive alliance
with France and Spain jointly, to the end of gaining Canada,
I'lorida, and the free navigation of the Mississippi. It only
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shovvH how littk' tlu- tnu? chariictiT of Spiiuisli and Kn-iicli jiiu-
pOHt'H was undeistood In ('on;;ivHS, that it coidd have hoped ti
hrinj;' at that time tho.so powers to assure the States any one ct
thr»s(' three conditions.
I he same propositions were a<^ain hrouj^ht nn<h'r discussinn
on Septend)er *.>, when the terms of a treaty with Spain wtiv
eonsi(l«'red, and two chiys hiter it was determined to ayrec [>,
join Spain in an invasion of tMoriih'i and the eontpie.st of IViisn.
eohi, hut only on condition of her granting; the free navi>;;iti(iii
of tlie Mississippi, with a port of entry below 31°. Matttis
between them wouhl run smoother, it was interj(!ete<l, if Spiiiii
would advance the States the sum of five million dollars, li
this frame of mind Congress committed the Spanish mission t"
»Jay on Se])tend)er "27, and two days later ])assed his instiiii
tions in accordance.
Neither France nor Spain was jn-epared to accept siuli
terms, and the French minister at Philadei|)hia renewed lii-
])rotests and pictured the future misery of a republic too 1iii'l;c
to h(dd together, — a future of disintegration that was much tu
the mind of Vergennes. Virginia, the most interested of tlic
cohmies in this territorial integrity, was urgently instructing'
her (hdegates never to think of yielding to the S|)anish claim.
Meanwhile, on August 2, a successor to (ierard in Luzcriii'
liad landed at Boston. Thence he made his way to AVest Point,
to confer with Washington. The new envoy intpiired of tin
commander-in-(diief how far his army could be depended iiimii
in an attack on Florida. Washington was wary, and we liaw
the notes of the talk, made by Hamilton, who acted as iiitti-
preter. By these it appears that Washington thought it iniglit
be possible to assist in that enterpi'ise, if Congress thought well
of it, and the British were driven from Oeorgia and South Car
olina. There was here a confirmation of Arthur Lee's opinimi
of the difficulty of hokling Florida, with the enemy in tliost
States.
This attem])t to engage Washington independent of Con-
gress was quite in accordance with the pui'pose of Vergennes t'
make the several Suites agree <^n their own parts to the tr('atit'>
Vergennes's object was thereby to ])erpetuate better the intliuMur
of France among them. — a condition which that minister nevo
lost sight of in view of an ultimate agreement with Grent Brit
Till': inESVII I'EOI'LE.
166
('(
iiiii. Ill SfptciiibtT. Ill' plainly iiitimatnl to his coiilidaiits that
wliili' it was to lio hopt'd that thr I'liitcil States would hold
iiniiait till tlu'lr indcpi-ndtucc was secured, the interest of
FiaiHi' I'ecjuired after such an event that the union should bo
ludkcii. in order that it should not heeonie a power danj;ei'ous to
Fiance and her aspirations. That thei'e was anion;;- the French
ncdiili' and in the Frencii military and naval contingent a wide
sviiipatliy foi' the cause of Aineriean independence is true ; but
it was emasculated by the perfidy of their ministry. Ameriea'H
ohliuatittn to what stood at that time politically for F^ranee was
iiiut'li like the dependence ()f an unfortunate sj)endtlirift ui)ou
a calculating ])awnbrokt'r. It is a misuse of words to call this
oliiiiiatiiin by the name of gratitude.
^^'llat Hamilton divined in that day has been abundantly
proved by the publication of evidence in our day : " The dis-
nu'iuheniient of this country from Great Jbitain was both a
(Icteiiiiinary motive and an adecpiate compensation to France
f(»r the assistance afforded." Again he says: "If a service is
rciulcrcd for . . . the immediate interests of the party who
perforins it, and is })roductive of reciprocal advantages, there
seems scarcely an adeqnate basis for a sentiment like that of
platitude. ... To suppose that F" ranee was actuated by friend-
sliip ... is to be ignorant of the springs of action which inva-
riiiltly regulate the cabinets of princes."
Ill following the course of F^rance in our Kevolutionary War,
there is every reason to emancipate ourselves from predilec-
tiiuis. prejudice, and tradition, the three great eusnarers of
seekers for historical truth.
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CHAPTER X.
A YEAR OF SUSPENSE.
1780.
ViKGiNiA had persistently nurturetl her territorial claims U
the iiortliwest ever since the treaty of 1763 had brouglit tliis
♦''Ver-niountaiii region under British control, and the royal \n-w-
Lunation had formulated an issue. She had resented the \m-
t Misions of that proclamation in constituting ;his territory
" cn;wn lands " for Indian occupancy. She had rehearsed her
claims till the other colonies were tired of them. She hiiti
never once questioned, as others had, that the English king, in
1009, had any right to assume jurisdiction beyond the springs
of her rivers. She rriifde no account of the annulment of her
charter ni 1024, and claimed that the recognition of her
*' ancient bound " by the English Commonwealth in 1(351 dis-
posed of tha*" objtHition. She recalled how, in 1749, the rovnl
instructions to Governor (xooch had recosjnized both banlis of
the Ohio as being " within our colony of Virginia." When
England got her real title to the trans-Alleghany regions in
1703, she called it merely a confirmation of her innnutahle
cliarter. She pronounced solemnly, by legislative eniU'tiuciit.
that the Indiana deed of 1768 was void. She saw no reason
why Trent and the traders should be recompensed for losses in
the Pontiac war any ?nore than others who suffered daniaue
from the same cause, ar.d if the traders were to be favored, she
held that Pennsylvania and not \'irginia should recoup tlieni.
since they belonged to that colony, (ieorge JVIason, in her
behalf, charged Sir William Johnson "with mysterious iunl
clandestine ccmdnct ' in furthering that grant, for Virginia h;iil
already prei?mi)ted the very land from the Indians at the trt'Mtv
of Lancaster. She saw nothing in the Walpole grant of 177-
as sustaining the rights of the crown against her claims. She
saw no way for the Republic to maintain Its rights at the future
"v«t
THE (H)NFK1)KRA TION.
107
i)eace against the limits of the Quobec Bill, but in standing
squarely ui)on Virginia ";• chartered rights.
We have seen ho^v soon the frontiersmen began to make
inroads on this roya reservation of 171)3, and how tlie rights
of the Iroquois and Cherokees, as affiliated witii tiie nortliern
and sw.ithern ccdonies respectively, were jdayed oft" against each
other If the New York clai.ii, as derived from the Iro(|uois,
was iUusory, Frardtlin could, on the other hand, charge Vir-
oinia w ith inventing the claims of the Cherokees to the Ken-
tiiekv region in order to bolster nj) her charter right. In a
draft of an act of confecUa-ation for the colonies, when war hal
become inevitable, Franklin had, in 1775, aimed to bring the
daiiiis of Virginia to a tribunal. In this draft he made all
disputes as to bounds between coloni^es referable to Congress.
In it he also gave to that body the same right which Jie had
ieeo"iiized earlier to be in Parliaiaeut, to plant new colonies in
this western wilderness. The next year, June 29, 1770, Vir-
ginia, in ado})ting her new State Constitution, which the war
had forced upon her, stood scpiarely by her old j)retensions of
jurisdiction ir. tliis region, with the right of establishing one
(ir more States within her cliarter limits,
A few weeks later, in Congress, John Dickinson ]iresented
(July 12. 177G) the articles f(U' conrederation in a new sliaj)c,
destined \\\ the main to be those under whi(d, tlie States finally
achieved their independence. The draft ])rovided tliat no lands
could be pui'cdiased of the natives, either by any colony or by
111! individual, before i\w. limits of the colonies westward were
mljudieated upon, and that, when these linat,^ were determined,
till' confederacy was to guarantee su'di bounds to the ccdonies,
ami no puicdiases were to be made beyond them exc( pt by the
United States for the general bencHt of all the States. It dis-
tinctly ])rovided that Ccmgress should have the jjower to settle
iiitovcoionial boundary disputes : to "limit those bounds whi(di
hy charter, or ])ro(damatiou. or under any pi-etense, are said to
extend to the South Sea:"" and to "assign teri'it(>vies for new
I'olonies and ascertain their boundaries/" wliitdi maybe adndtted
to the confederacy by the assent of nine States. Caiuula. at the
same time, couhl join the confederacy at her owa ]deasure. These
ni'tules, f adojited and assented to, jn-acticallv made Congress
the arena in which Virgiina must contend for her pretensions.
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A YEAR OF SUSPENSE.
While this matter was .still in abeyance, Congress made a dis-
tiuet assertion of its einitrol over these western regions liv
resolving on September 10, 1776, to grant lands over the moun-
tains as bonnties to the Continental troops. This meant recom-
pensing Virginia for yielding for this purpose such lands as
should be selected. Maryland at once (October 9) announced
her objection to making such payments a charge upon all tliu
States and a benefit to one, and on November 13, 1770, Man-
land's protest to this effect was laid before Congress. The
position of this dissentient State is best expressed in instructions
to her delegates at a later stage of the controversy : " Policy
and justice require that a country unsettled at the counneuoe-
ment of this war, claimed by the British crown, and ceded to
it by the Treaty of Paris, if wrested from the common eiieiiiv
by the blood and treasure of the thirteen States, should be con-
sidered as a common property, subject to be jjarcelcd out witli
free governments."
It was now clear that the smaller States, and those wliidi had
no such western claims, were prepared to insist u])on niakin;;
these trans-Alleghany lands a common source of financial sup-
ply in the struggle with the mother country. Congress moved
slowly in a matter which produced such variances of opinion,
and it was not till October 14, 1777, that it dared even ap-
proach the cpiestion. It then directed that the colonies should
have a common treasury, and that there should be a system of
])roportionate taxation among tl>e States to supply this treasury,
The next day, October 1"), 1777, Maryland tried to force the
issue by pro])osing that Congress should have the power to
set a western limit to the States claiming to the Mississipjii. so
as to create a ])ubli(' domain beyond. Maryland stood ahim
in the vote. Within a fortnight, the larger States condmied
(October 27 ) to make it a provision o^ the impending act of
confederation that no State without its consent slioulil lif
stripi)ed of its territory for the benefit of the United States,
Within three weeks, the I)iekin,son draft, with all the hnid
amendments whi(di Virginia had insisted ujion, was adopteu
(November 15, 1777), subject to the ratification of the States,
It was .soon a])parent that the confederation would not iiave
the su])port of Mai-yland without some acknowledgment of the
rights of all the States in these western lands. By early suuiiiier
i::k
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VIRGINIA LAND OFFICE.
169
ill till' following year (June, 1778). Maryland, with Delaware,
New Jersey, and Khode Island acting mainly in accord with
her, tried to induce Congress to remove difficulties by voting
that conunissioners should determine the limits of the States
claiininii' to the Mississi])i>i, and that the fee of the old ''crown
huids. " under the proclamation of 1703, should belong to the
rnitt'd States, while the original claimant States should retain
jurisdiction. Congress declined to accede to the proposition,
and ini 'Inly 10, 1778, appealed to the hesitating States to
accent *he articles, and leave the settlement of their demands
t(t thi' tuture.
Jt soon became kn<nvn that V^irginia had substantiated her
claim north of the Ohio l)y the success of Clark, and in October
she set up, as we nave se-^n, a civil government at Kaskaskia.
Two months later, ^Taiyland set forth the grounds of her
|M»sitinii in refusing to accept the Act of Confederation, and the
iu!W year opened with Congress further temporizing by post-
jKiniug on Jan lary 6, 1779, the consideration of Maryland's
ilfclaration.
In May, 1779, \ iiginia aggressively determined to open a land
iiffice in the teiTitory, oifering the land at forty pounds the hun-
(licd ai'ies, and declaring valid all her existing military grants.
This again aroused Maryland, and she instructed her delegates
til lay lief, )rc (^ongress iier protest against this project. This
fdioed Virginia to a new rehearsal of her claims. There was
with some an ivttempt to throw disrepute upon Maryland's will-
Inniu'ss to exempt from her general contention sucli tracts as
had been "granted to, surveyed for, or purchased by individuals
Ufore the commencement of the present war,"" by tracing it to
I iMU'iiosc to save a grant between the Wabash and the Illinois,
which, in 1773. had been made to (lovernor Johnston of Mary-
land in conjunction witli Dunmore and Tryon.
Some of these earlier grantees did luiite in September, 1779,
ill presenting a memorial to Congress, in which the representa-
tivis of the Indiana and Vandalia com))anies were included.
Ill this paiiei'they asked to have Vii'giiia's purpose of dis])()sing
"f thcs(i lands in October prevented. This led to a vote asking
tlio States to make no grants of sucli lands while the war lasted.
' ii'cjinia defended her right to open a land office, but the mo-
tion i>ic vailed (October 30) despite the opposition of herself
:iiiil Xoith Carolina.
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170
A YEAR OF SUSPENSE.
The manifestly increasing antagonism to Virginia's cxtreiuc
claim did not prevent her still making grants (October ) of
these same hinils to her soldiers, and taking steps to open new
routes over the Cumberland Mountains. As confidence in-
creased in the ultimate solution of the question against tlic
Virginia pretensions, Delaware had ali'cady acce))ted the At (if
Confederation in February, 1770, and in Noveiiib<,'r Xew Jtisiv
did the same, but both States had done it under protest. Xtin
the end of the year (Decend)er 14, 1779), Virginia's rcmoii-
strances grew milder. She was willing to listen to " just ami
reasonable propositions for removing ostensible causes of dchiv
to the complete ratification of the Confederation," and to grunt
lands within her charter bounds to tin,' continental line of any
or all the States. In obtaining this concession, Mai-yland li;nl
scored a triumph.
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Such was the condition of the controversy in Congress, wlicn,
in the opening of 1780, it had become generally recognized llnit
the future trans Alleghany extension, both of the claiiiiant
States and of the new Republic, depended on the success of the
military and ]>ioneer movements on each side of the Ohio.
llaldimand had begun a system of canals round the ra]iids of
the St. Lawrence, which did much to facilitate i)ushing of siip-
])Hes to his western ])osts, but liritish attempts to enforce tin
])retension of the Quebec liill on the north of the Ohio, in
eft'orts directi'd fiom Detroit nnd Mackinac, had so fai' f.iiled.
notwithstanding the sympatliy of the Indian tribes. South of
the Ohio the adventurous pioneers had strengthened tiu'ir hold
upon the regions of Kentucky and Teunes.see in spite of l)viri>ii
and savage raids from north of tlie Ohio, and threats nH tiio
Hritii 'i agents, Stuart and Cameron, from tlie side of Fhiiiili.
The frontiersmen's success liad also so far put an ob.stach' in
tl'.e way of the Spanisli pretensions, which France was aiixiuib
to advance.
The Americans had little more than a hope of lioldin^' thiir
western posirions north of the Ohio. The ex]>ectation of :iii-
vancing on Deti-oit was for the present, at Iwist. ke])t in ;ili<'\-
anc<>. On the B^•!ti^h side (he ])lans of the ministry, i-oniiiiittt'il
in the n(»rth to Uahiiniiwid, were thus in tlu; hands of one wli*
had no hesitation in espousing all that the Quebec Bill inti nded
ST. LOUIS THREATENED.
171
The ]ilan of Germain to iiuiintain a line of cominunieiitiou be
twcci) C'aiiadii and Moiida luul iiidotd been checked l)y the
precipitate action of (ialvez at Nt-w Orleans, but it did not, in
tlu'ii' ignorance of the Spanisli successes, seem alt»^gether ini])rac-
tii-iible to Sinchiir, or to his superior otiiciM at Quebec. The
('(innnandiint at Mackinac was not informed of the fall of
Nutclicz till midsuinmer ( Jidy 30), when the tidings came from
llriMiiiiand, who had leamed of the misfortune but six weeks
hcfiii'c.
Thus in the dark, and supposinjij^ tltat Brigadier Cam]>bell,
leaving Pensacola, would enter the Mississi})pi some time in
M:iy. Sinclair, when in February the clays were j/alpabiy h-ngth-
eiiing, sent messages to the Sioux a?id other tribes to unite in
tlie early spring of 1780 at the Wisc{msin portage, and to bring
with tlieni supplies of eoi'n for a campaign. At tiie same time
be urged AVabasha, his Sioux ally, "' a man of uncommon abili-
ties.'' tu move with his " ])eople undebauched and addicted to
war '" down the Mississi]>pi towards Natchex, there to act as
eirennistances might require.
To divert the rebel attention from this main part of the oam-
])aign, llaldimand had instructed (Februaiy 12) Do Feyster, at
Detroit, to arouse the "Wabash Indians, and "amuse" CUaik,
"V (hive him from the Ohio I'apids, '" otlierwise the Indian
(Oinitry will be open to the continual incursions of the rebels,
luid safe communication will be formed between Fort Pitt and
tlie ^Mississippi." The British authorities were soon to learn,
it tliey liad not already been inforuied. by an intercei^ted letter,
t Clark's ]mr})ose to build a new fort on the Mi&sissij){>i.
It was ]\[arch (1780) when the Spaniards at St. Louis learned
of Sinclair's plans, and a few weeks later, in April, some l)oats,
with supplies which Gratiot had «'avried vq» to Pi-airie du Chien,
were ea))tured by the approa'bnig band.
St. Louis was now a ♦••iv-. ,»t a hundrKl and twenty iiouses.
priueipally of stone, with a population of j»*'rha|>' eight hun-
ilred. mainly French, and a hundred .aid fii'ty negroes. On
May •ji'i. 1780, a force, thought to have comprised about nine
liinuh'cd Indians, fell upon some farmers, who incaxitiously —
for the enemy's approach was known — had gone beyond the
itrotoetion of the stockade. Si.iclair had hardly feared that
the «»v;iges would fail in an assault; but he was nor sc eonti-
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A YEAR OF SUSPENSE.
rORTIFlfATION"?
The cut, Hhowiiig tlieir relations to tlic town as it was in1S22. is from !.. F. liri'liV ',..'-'''"'".'
<i. round tower. A. l)loeklii)use. /. Catholic Chape!. /,'. Haptlst Clniri'li. /. jail. m. l'ri"*l'.v-
(lent in holding' the ])liict', if once taken. 15iit no assault fol-
lowed, partly because of the usual savage luiwillinuuess to
attack a post which had been forewarned, and partly becaiisr
of tlie lukewarinness. if not insincerity, of Calve and thi- otlu'i
French leaders of the Indians. The break came when the >;t(>
and Foxes, alleged to be under Calve's influence, swerved fn>m
the task.
It is thouylit that the whole force, which Sinclair had eiLian-
izcd, consisted of perhai)s fifteen hundred warriors with ! iirn-
pean leaders, while a body of other savai^es with a iiuiulu i' of
.'^lACLA IR S EXP EDI Tl ON.
173
STKUF/r
OF ST. I.ons, 17S0.
///moi.« .//,./ .1/(.v.vo»r(, Allmiiy. 1S'23. Key: ./. line nf works. /, tnwpr, r. (Ii'ini-liiiinr. /•. eates.
t^rwii iiifctiiiK.hoilse. ii. iiiiirkct. o Missouri bunk. />. IVrrv. 7 iM windniill. ) . ox-inill.
hviic'li tradLM's, inspired by Sinclair's ]»i'(»iiiisi- to roscivc to them
the tiattic of tl)t' Missouri valley, had been led by Laiiiiladi" by
\v;iy of the Chieaoo ])orta,<ie. This eontiiiocnt was exiK-eted to
t'iill 11] inn Kaskaskia in raso of success at St. Louis, and to
placu the Illinois villages under contribution, and to send su|)-
l)lirs fioni them to (ireen Bay and Mackinac, — the sujtport of
\vliiili post was at this time creatinf^ much eoni])laint in the
"iiimiiinications of Germain. l.'iuj;lade had for a guide a
'■"itaiii Monsieur Durrand, who had been found with a (piantity
I'f continental money in his pos.session, and to secure his fidelity
'""inc'Inir liad taken possession of all his property.
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174
A YEAR OF SUSPENSE.
When the (.'ommaiuler at St. Louis hml learned of his dani^fov^
he had sent word to Chirk. Early in the year, Jefferson, tlir
better to secure the Virii;inia title to the Kentui'ky region, IkkI
directed Colonel Thomas AValker and Coh)nel Sniythe to exteml
tlie line which separated Virginia from Carolina to the ^lissj'^.
sii)i)i, and at a ])oint where it reached that river (30' 80 )
Clark had been instructed to build a fort. The site of this jud.
posed stockade, known as Iron Banks, was about five miltN
below the month of the Ohio, in the country of the Chickasaw,
and Choctaws, who soon manifested their enmity. The sjiot
had attracted Governor Henry's attention as early as .laniiaiv.
1778, and Clark in September, 1779, had issued cmlers to indiuf
settlers to occupy it. Todd had at the same time nuule siui(li\
grants, not far distant. Leaving that ])ost to j)rotect the Ken
tucky settlements from other raids, when the news reached him
from St. Louis Clark immediately responded, and twenty-fom
hours before Wabasha and his horde ai)i)roached St. Louis, h
was on the opposite side of the river at Cahokia, watchini^ fni
his opportunity. He had no occasion either to cross the iMis-
sissipj)! or to defend Kaskaskia, and found nothing to do hut
to dispatch Lieutenant Montgomery to pursue the retreatini;
enemy.
By June 4 (1780), the first of tlie fugitive savages rcaihed
Mackinac, those inider Calve coming by Green Bay, wliilo
others returned by Chicago. They reported that tlicy had
killed about seventy persons, had taken thirty-four prisom r>.
and they showed forty -three scalps. Sinclair at once sent two
vessels to the Chicago Kivcr to bring off the main body of
Langlade's men. This was done in time for them to csiapi
the attack of a mounted American force, which a few days later
ap])eared at that point.
So ended ignominiously the attempt to control tlu; Missi>-
sippi from the north. Sinclair brooded on his disa])pointiiH'iit
for seven or eight weeks before he got some relief by learning, as
we have seen, that he had not been alone disap])ointed, for tlu'iv
liad been a similar disaster inflicted nine months before hv
Galvez in the lower parts of the Mississippi.
The Briti.sh force, with which Haldimand had intended to
" amuse " Clark while Sinclair's expedition followed the Missis-
mi
BIRD'S EXPEDiriON.
175
30'
sii)|ii. It'ft Detroit near the inidcUe of April, 1780, under the
ii)iiiiii:iiul of Captain Henry iJird. It consisted of about six
hiuidifd iiieii, led by Elliot and tli«' (Jirtys. It iiad been fitted
out at a eliar«;e of about #300,000. J^ogan, with a band of
savages, aeeouipanied it, while a foree of Union warriors had
at t lie same time startei' in the direction of Fort I'itt, to rivet
the rebels' attention in that direction and intereejjt any foray
of \'irninians on the u})per Ohio. It was sui)posed by tlu' tribes
tliat retaliation for the continual attacks on emigrant boats
iiiinlit incite such inroads, and for the fear of such reprisals the
Miiii;()cs and Delawares had been nuich alarmed.
Uird had passed by the Maumee portage to the (ireat Miami,
aiul on the way Alexander McKee had joined him with s<»me
live liundred Shawnees. The varying reports of his entire foree
would seem to indicate that the fickle savages came and went on
the march as they liked. The information which Jiird got at
Lorinicr's Station showed that Clark was at the falls with two
hmidrcd men, poorly srpplied. Bird's purpose, as Ilaldimand
had directed, was to attack that post, and he had with him two
suiall cannon, the first guns that had been taken into Indian
warfare.
His Indians, however, ju'oved unruly. Ilaldimand had
warned him that savages cared more to have raids ])r()jected
for wliicl. they could get advanced gifts, than to participate in
unreciuited forays, and Bird's experience did not belie the; warn-
ing. His red brutes killed h'S cattle, grew insubordinate, and
tinally refused to advance tov/ards the falls. Not wholly to
fail of results, Bird turned towards the mouth of the I^icking
and, ascending that stream, captured several Kentucky stations,
and took a large number of prisoners. Having accom])lished
IK) strategic i)ur})ose, he suddenly turned back, his captives
hearing the plunder, and reached Detroit on August 4. He
niii;l:t have inflicted serious mischief on the river by stopping
to waylay the emigrant boats, fen* something like three hundi'ed
of tlu'ui, averaging perhaps fifty feet in length, and carrying
U'W persons each, it is supjwsed, reached the falls during the
season. His precipitate retreat, how(!ver, saved him from
Clark, who was now afield with a force he had raised in Ken-
tut ley. Clark carried a rather high hand in gathering his men,
for lie shut the land offices to throw the speculators out of em-
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A YEAR OF SUSPENSE.
})l(>yinL'nt, aiul stationed gujirds on the outward trails to take
the arms from fuj-itives. In this way he gathered at the site ot
Cineinnati — oitj)osite tlie Licking — about a thousand ritleiiicn.
mounted or afoot, and huilt there a bhu-khouse on tiie site ut
the future city. It was August 2 — tlie rt'ports of the dute
are somewhat luicertaiu — when he went forward, earryini; u
single cannon in his train. Having moved sonn; fifty or sixty
miles, in dismal weather, he found, on August 0, the Indian vil-
lage at Ciiillieothe in Hames. lie hurried on to IMijua on the
Little Miami, in the region of tlu; modern Spi-inglield. After
a conflict, in which he got no assistance from Henjaniin Loiiaii.
who liad gone astray with one division of his force, he scattered
the Indians, who under two of tlie (iirtys somewhat stubbonilv
confronted him, though Clark brought his tliree-|)oundei' iiitu
action. He then burned the town and destroyed the neighltor-
ing cornfields, lleliad succeeded in inflicting such a rctaliatitrv
stroke as to save Kentucky from savage raids for the rest of
the season. Clark returned to the falls, his force scattering, on
the way, to their homes.
All this, however, was too late to alarm Detroit seriously.
If flefferson could hav(! compassed it. he would have ke])t Clarlv
to the larger project of seizing the straits. Karly in tiie year
( February 10), while uninformed of Sinclair's intentions, .bf-
ferson had written to Washington to intpiire if there was truth
in the rumor that Colonel Brodhead was to be sent against
Detroit from Fort Pitt. He added that "these officers [Clark
and Brodhead] cannot act together,'" and if Brodhead was to
lead an attack on the straits, he would see that Clark was sent
in some other direeti<m. Ten days later (February 21). I )n id-
head had learned from prisoners that then; were four hundred
and fifty men at Detroit and eighteen hundred at Niagara, beside
large hordes of Indians. The numbers troubled him, and he
begged Washington to make a diversicm on the Sus(piehann:i
to check any hostile incursion by the Alleghany.
On March 18, Brodhead informed Washington that he had
heard from Clark, who was willing to coliperate with him.
"either for the reduction of one of the enemy's posts or against
the Indian towns," and that Clark expected to be reinforced in
the spring. At the same time (March) Jefferson, who had
yi
DETRUIT.
177
pc'iiiaps niisjudgt'cl Clark, wrote to this officer that he must
ahaiitloii all h()[)e of advaiunnj^ on Detroit. This letter was
iutt'icipted, and probably banished the anxiety which De Pev-
stiT liad l>efore that felt.
\\\ April, reinforcements and sni)plies not reaehlnj;- him,
liiddlicud informed Washington (24th) that unless Clark could
jctiii iiiiii, Detroit eould not be threatened. He complained that
tilt" lioimdary dispute between Virginia and l*ennsylvania, and
the necessity of protecting the local frontieis, had j)revented his
siiiiiinoiiing any militia. Clark, as we have seen, was too nuu'h
iii't'ded at this time at S<^. Loiiis to think even (d' making a
diversion uj) the Ohio. Brodhead di<l not willingly abandon
all hope, and tried to get other and perhaps Ijcttcr tidings of
tlic liiitish force. A scouting party which he sent towards
Sandusky had returned (June 130) without success. Ten days
latei' (duly 10), Jirodliead outlined to his lieutenants a march
so far as Sandusky at least, but his j)urpose was discovered, and
tlie plan was abandoned. Just as this ])rove<l futile, an onset
t'loni the side of Cahokia was attemi)te(l and likewise failed.
rolonel \a\ Jialme, a man bred to the cavalry service, with a
leu score (])erhaps a huiulred) French and Indians, had started
to surprise Detroit, thinking to arouse the French of the sti'aits
to welcome him. His force, however, was entrappt'd one night
(III the Miami, their letuler killed, and his jjajiers taken. This
must have lelieved llaldimaud of some anxiety.
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So the season (1780) ended with much the same equal dis-
tiiliiition of loss and gain which had characterized the last two
yeai's, \wYi\\ of the Ohio. The English had ])retty well kept
their hold on the tribes. The death of AVhite Eyes, the friend
(it /eisberger and the chief of the peace ])aity of the Delawares,
had left that faction witlumt a head, and it had gone over to
the royal side. At the west, however, the Sacs and Foxes had
pronounced for the Americans. Practically, neither side eould
claim to have made good their territorial jiretensions ; and there
was continued ajjprehension on both sides well on to snow-fly-
ing', (luy .Johnson, connnanding at Niagara, and (jiov«'rnor
Toihl in Kentucky, wave growing more and more anxious ; Clark,
!it the falls, was in greater trepidation than De Peyster, at the
straits. J^rodheral, at Pittsburg, was complaining of the want
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.1 }7i.lA' OF srsrKXSK.
(»f iiioiu-y, credit, unci jji-ovislons, ami was alarmed at rumois of
a Hritish advance from Detroit.
Hut on the whole the year (lT80) had given hetter proiiiiM!
S(tuth of the Ohio. C'lark had estahlished Fort .leffersoii. Ijut
it had only been maintained hy fighting the Indians ahuiit
it. The situation was insalubrious ; it was difficult to keep it
supplied : settlers did not like the neighborhood, and liually.
its "ari'ison being needed elsewhere, it was the next vtiu
al>:indoned.
The light at King's Mountain (October 7) had drawn ott' ;i
large part of the Hghting militia of Virginia and North Caro-
lina, and the Cherokees had seized the opportunity to rise uiutii
the exjjosed settlements. Retribution came to them suddenly.
The heroes who had gained the brilliant victory — which is
later to be described — rendezvoused, under Sevier, Martin.
and Campbell, on the French Uroad, and rushed upon the Cliir-
okee towns. These attacks laid twenty-nine of the savaj;vs
low ; seventeen were taken iirisoners, and fifty thousand biisluls
of corn were destroye<l. But one American was killed. The
campaign over. Colonel Campbell (.January IG, 1781) reported
to Congress the desirability of erecting a fort at the junction
of the Tennessee and liolston rivers, the better to hold tlie
country.
But nothing, meanwhile, seemed to daunt the eager settltis,
For souje years to come, they came' into this wilderness at the
rate of four or five thousand annually. They came both by flo-
tilla on the Ohio, and by the Wilderness road. Two years later.
there were twelve thousand souls in Kentui'ky, and in 17S4.it
is computed thex'e were as many as thirty thousand. The dis-
covery of nunjerous salt-s])rings had conduced to this sur})risini;'
inHux, for the price of that condiment had for some time been
almost prohibitory. Virginia had divided the country into
three counties, each with its lieutenant, and all three subordi-
nate to Clark as general conunanding. The ohl system of gain-
ing a fixed extent of soil by scpiatter right had given place to
treasury warrants, carrying acreages, which were variable, hnt
defined. The new system was hardly in consonance with the
habits of the scpiatter population earlier on the soil. In some
C UMliEll L .1 A7^ SE TTL EM EN TS.
179
rt'spccts, the ways of lifr in Kentucky were bcconiinj^ ivksomo.
Tlio laws of Virj;inia were in some aspects burdensome under
their remote conditions. To carry appeals from loeal justices
ti» A\'illiamsl)ui'g was costly. There was a constant tcpdeney
ill the older communities to underrate their forbearance with
till' liiilians.
As the result of such discontent, some six hundred and forty
residents on both sides of the Ohio, in Kentucky and Illinois,
iiiiitL'(l in May, 1780. in a petition to Congress to be set up as
a separate State, and left to manage their own internal affairs.
The movement provt'd premature, and was doubtless inunature,
ami there was no evidence that it was countenanced by many of
the stalder and more experieni'cd pioneers. The east had its
complaints at the same time, and it was not unusual to hear in
Coii^i'ess more or less apprehension that the "•" freedom from
taxes, jiiilitia duties, and other burdens," as well as the allure-
nieiits of the land offices, in Kentucky,' were enticing deserters
truiii the Cimtinental armies.
Koliertson of Watauga, accompanied by some Ilolston adven-
tiueis. seeking new trails and fairer lands, had, as we have
seen, during the previous autumn ( 1779). seized upon the bend
(•f the Cumberland, known as the Fren<'h Lick, and was now
(•(iiiipaeting the new settlement. Late; in the winter of 1779-
S'l. ('oh)nel Douelson. a sharer with liobertsou in the move-
ment, witli thirty boats, carrying some two or three hundred
sdids. including the less hardy of tlie nu-u. but largely composed
of the women and (duldren, — and among them the future wife
I't Andrew Jackson, — had started on a ])erilous voyage down
the Tennessee, and uj) the Ohio and Cund)erland, to the ap-
[lointed spot. It was not the first nor the last of su(di river
('X]>editions : but it has become better known than the others,
owing to the jireservation of the leader's diary. This record
shows the hazards of the wintry stream, and how the flotilla.
Inset by small-pox, was whirled in the rifts, and ran the fusil-
l;',(h's of the cunning Chi(dvamaugas. After all their trials, the
lU'w-eoniers jKjled their bateaux uj) to the Cund)erland bluffs
'111 April "24, 17J*0. and vere welcomed by Robertscm. They
tiiund that a stockaded village had been Lud out. It was
named Xashborough, after the governor of North Carolina,
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A YEAR OF SUSPENSE.
when it had been found to be within the chiuter limits of that
State, The })02>uhition now seattered alonjj the banks of tlie
Cu'.nberhmd was thoujj^lit to number not far from five luinibfd.
Some among them had Iteen renegades from the Athmtie slope.
to esea})e the marauding forees of Cornwallis. Kobertson.
before the deeision of the settk'nv it's allegiance was sett ltd.
had been in eonferenee with Clark about a title to the binds:
but the same survey, as eondueted by Henderson for N(»itli
Carolina and Walker for Virginia, whieh had fixed for ("laik
the site of Fort flefterson, had also determined the new stttle-
uient to be beyond the jurisdietiim of Virginia.
Three hundred miles of forest se})ar.ated it from all neifjli-
borly succor. Its people were adventurers, but they liad
known the value of orderly goveryment on the llolston, and
accordingly, at a meeting convened at Xashl)orough on Mav
1, 1780, Kobertson presented .some articles of association, and
they were readily adopted. They are supj)osed to reflect the
form of the con.stitution of Watauga, which has not been
saved for us, but of this imitation we fortunately have nearly
the whole, with the amendments shortly after ado])ted. I'he
two hundred and fifty-six males who signed it declared their
])urpose to " restrain the licentious and supply the blcssinp
flowing from a just and equitable government." It is a token
of the bloody conditicms of their life, that of these two huudivd
and fifty-six subscribers, mainly in vigorous early manhood.
scarce a score were alive a dozen years later, and it is said th;it
only one man among the dcjjarted had been known to die a
natural deatli. Nothing better than this shows what living was
in these isolated settlements. If food and powder gave out. it
meant a stealthy march, amid lurking savages, to the ncaicst
and better sui)plied settlements. Nothing but the dauiithss.
ness of a military leader like Robertson could hold such com-
nninitics to the task of s»d)duing the wilderness. II(^ was now.
under their new articles, thecluiirman of their board of " jiiilu<x.
triers, and gi'ueral arbitrators," and with universal suflVa-v to
sjipport him, he was to admini.ster the executive business of the
little comnumity till North Carolina set uj) a county g«»\i in
nient in the region in 1783.
The whole region of Tennessee and Kentuckv had 1 n
threatened by the success of the British at Charleston in M:iy
I I
(iALVEZ AND POLLOCK.
181
( 17^0), and l»y tlu' imbceility of (iati's at Camden in Angnst.
\\\\\ tiR' over-mountain men from Ilolstou, under Shelby and
St'\irr, aided by a regiment of Virginians under Colonel Wil-
liam Cainpltell, had rallied to a self-imposed task and retrieveil
those defeats. Mounted almost to a man, with evergreen sprigs
ill their eoon-skin eaps, they had followed their leaders througii
the pusses, a thousantl in number, and perhaps many more, for
till' reports are at varianee. At King's Mountain, in Oetobor,
17X0, they encompassed Fergusson and the loyalist militia from
thr Ciiolina eoast. The baekwoodsmen wonderfully proved
their wily eourag«', man to man alike in numbers, but it is to
lie regretted that their victory was darkened by some dastardly
acts.
Tiieir success had caused a lull, which pi-epared the way for-
tunately for Greene to assunu! the connnand of the southern
(lepartuient before the year closed.
Fmtlier south, the success of dralvez in the autumn of 1770,
oil the Mississij)pi, had been followed by the S})anish attack
(111 Mobile in the foHowing March. Ueinforcements joining
liim trom Havana, Galvez left New Orleans with about two
thousand men, and on the loth took Fort Charlotte on the
.Mobile River in seascm to defy Campbell, who came to succor
it. The Sjianish rule was thereby extended from the Pearl to
the I'ordido River.
.Meanwhile, Oliver Pollock, in New Orleans, was doing his
hest to send powder and supplies to Todd and C'lark. He
found ditiKeulty, however, in negotiating the pai)er sent him by
( larU because of the scarcity of sjiecie. He obtained temi)orary
relief from the private fortune of a Spanish official, and from
the generous acceptance of Virginian l»ills by one Daniel Chirk,
an Aiiieiiean whose claim on that State long remained unsettled.
All I lie while trying to keep up the credit of continental bills,
Pollock was daily diminishing his available cash to the extent
of nearly nine thousand dollars in the aggregate. The de|)re-
liatioii of these bills was, on the whole, nnich less in the Great
^ alley than on the Atlantic coast.
Then' had been throughout the year two ])roblenis d(!e|)ly
affeeting this trans-.Mleghany region, which had closely engaged
tile attention of Conjrress.
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A YKAll OF SUSPESSK.
'' H'
AVith a population in tlir States visin<; three million, nnd
likely to increase abnorniallyi there was no disposition anmuM
the representatives of the people either to accept the dictates df
France and Spain south oi the Ohio, or those of En^hiinl
towards the lakes. The (piestion practically turned on the lifr
navigation of the MissiL;si]>pi as l)oundin<r the empire accpiiicd
hy the treaty of 1703, and on the control of this western c((iiii-
try as a public domain sui)posetl to be capable of meeting the
cost of the war.
.lay, who had been chosen minister to Spain (October 4), to
enforce its claim to the Mississippi just at the time that (Jalvtz
was grasping the lower parts of that river, had found in Machid
great difficulties in his suits. Congress drew i.ioncy-bills on
him, hoping for his success with the Spanish ministiy, but tliat
government broadly intimated to him that their assistance
would dei)end on obtaining exclusive control of the Mississipiii.
Ever since the Continental Congress had sought the recognition
and aid of Spain, the Missi.ssi})})! (piestion, in one form or
another, had been a ])erplexing i)roblem. It was made all the
more ditticult through the cond)ined Hourbon interests of Spain
and Fi-ance, and by the einl)arrassing disjmsition of a strong
faction in Coiiaress to sacrifice the future of the West bv siir-
rendering to Spain this control of the Mississip])i. The iiurpost'
of this faction was, as Kichard Henry Lee said, nothing Imt ;i
studieil " depreciation of our back country."
The ^Madrid cabinet insisted that the proclamation of IT'!:)
had divested the colonies of all territorial rights l)eyoii(l tlic
Alleghauics. To meet such ])retensions. Jay, on his arrival in
Spain, had instructed his secretary, who jn-eceded him on tin'
way to Madrid, '"to remember to do justice" to the rights of
Virginia to the western country.
Jay soon discovered, u]ion confronting the minister himself,
that it was the obj"ct of Spain to entraj) the Americans into ;in
alliance which would have coni])elled them to continue tlir w.ir
"for objects which did not include ours.*" This sinistci' )iiir-
pose dawning upon Jay's mind, he had resolved, so far as lie
had the ])ower, to yield nothing. ^ France is determined. In'
wrote home, " to manage between Sjjain and America so as tc
make us debtors to French influence with Spain, and to ni;il<t'
Spain obligated to their influence with us.""
GAIiDUQUI.
183
As the negotiations with GiinUuiui went on, it was suggested
to Jay that matters between Spain and tiie Unitetl States wouhl
oo iiiore smoothly if .lay wouhl only offer the surrender of the
Mi>sissii)pi. Jay replied '* that the Ameiicans, almost to a nuui,
liflitved that God Almighty had made that river a highway for
till' people of the upper country to go to the sea hy : that this
(duiitiy was extensive and feeble : that the geneial, many ofti-
cirs. and «)thers of distinction and inHuence in America were
(jirply interested in it ; that it would rai)idly settle ; and that
the inhabitants wouhl n<»t be n'adily convinced of the justice of
lieiiig obliged either to live without foreign connnodities or los»!
the surplus of their ])roduetions ; or be obliged to transport
both over rugged mountains and through an immense wilder-
iitss to and from the sea, when they daily saw a fine river flow-
hig before their (U)ors and offering to save them all that trouble
ami expense, and that without injury to S])ain."
(iardo(pii rej)lie(l that the ])resent generation would not need
the river, and that it might be left to future ones to manage
their own affairs. AVhen these complexities were reported to
Franklin in I*aris, he replied to ,Iay (October 2, 1780) : '• l*o(U'
as we are. yet as 1 know we shall be rich, 1 would rather agree
with them to buy at a great prii^e the whole of their rights
in the Mississipj)i than sell a droj) of the waters. A ncighbm-
iiiinht as well ask me to sell my street door." Congress gave
Jav all the su])i)ort he needed. " If," they wrote to him, "an
express aeknowhrdgnu'Ut of our rights cannot be obtained from
Spain, it is not by any stipulation on the part of America to be
iiliiKpiisJicd."
The French minister at l^hiladelphia was meanwhile eagerly
ahettiiig the Bourbon interest in the same spirit. He rejtre-
scuted to Congress that the United States had lU) rights to
territory westward from the settlements as they existed at the
date of the ])roelamation of 17(53, and that the east bank of
tile Mississi))])! was British territoi'v, ojjcn to Spanish inroads.
Till' understanding between France and Spain was a))i)arently
eoniph'te, and, as the season wore on, Carmichael, days seere-
tarv. became convinced that Sj)ain was mano'uvring for delays,
trusting rather to prompt interposition at the general peace to
attain her ends.
Meanwhile, John Adams, who. in February, 1780, had
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.1 J7i.l/i' OF SL'SI'ESSIl.
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reiu'lied Paris, clothed with authority to tivat for poaci-, was
flatterinjj Vergennos in May that "•an ailiam-c witii Krance was
an honor and a st'curity which had been near his heart.' It
was not many weeks, however, l>efore this importunate Yankee
was offending Verf^einies l>y his self-aggression and want of
taet. Fortunately, he saw behind the «liplomacy of the wily
Frenchman what .lay, released from his Spanish toils, later
diseerneil, and what Franklin, in his belief that gratitude to
France was both a duty and good poliey. was loath to see.
At Madrid, Jay's imj)ulses and his instructions aUowed liiin
to go no farther than to ])romise the aid of America in estali-
lishing Spanish hold on Florida, and before this, Mirales. the
Spanish minister in Philadelphia, had been instructed to engaL,^e
with Congress for a body of American troops to enter the
Spanish service for that purpose.
On October 4, 1780, Congress had further upheld Jay by
new instructions, and Madison drew up the case of the I'nited
States. It was reported to Congress on October 17, anl was
at once sent to Franklin and Jay. It represented that tlie
Illinois and Wabash regions were under American jurisdiction.
and that the mouth oi the Ohio and the course of the Missis-
sippi down to 31° were controlled at Fort Jeft'erscm. It was put
to the credit of the United States, and not to that of Virginia.
that this condition prevailed ; and Virginia, at the same time,
proposed that the Mississippi beh)W JU' should be guaranteed
to Spain, if Spain would guarantee " to the United States "' all
above that i)arallel.
The Americans were making rather than confirming principles
in international law. Claims to the free navigation ' '" a river
whose mouth was held by an alien wei-e not then to je settled
1)V any well-established conclusions in which all nations agreed.
The free(h)m of the Rhine had been determined by the Ti-eaty
of Westphalia in 1048: but that of the Scdieldt was yet to be
left inisettled by the Peace of F'tmtainebleau in 1785.
This action of C<mgi'ess in October was hardly done when
the ill success of Gates in the south and the sense; of insecurity
which Arnold's treason )iad caused produced one of those
revulsions to which strenuous times are liable, and in Novrm-
ber, 1780, there were signs that Congress, on the urgency of
South Carolina and Georgia, was weakening its position. It
.i«i
viiui/MA AM> Till-: MurriinicsT.
185
\\;i> known that, on the one hand, Finj-land was en(U'avorin;j;
to disjoin Spain from the French alliance, and, on the other,
it wa.s an uvery-«lay oeeurreneo that Luzerne, in IMiiladelnhia,
\v;i^ l)ringini;' to hear all the pressure he eould to efl'eet the |)ur-
iioM- of France and the interests of Spain. With this turn (»f
aft":iirs, Conj^ress aj)proached the t'lul of 1780 with not a little
iiiiifst from sectional discord. Virginia was admonishing New
Kiinland that if she weakene«l on the Mississippi cpntstion. siu*
might rue it when the question of the lisheries was to be settled.
In respect to the other problem, the year (1780) had oi)ened
witli an encouraging outlook. X^ .v York had ste|>j)ed forward
witli a proposition to cede to the States the claim which she
])rofessed to have acipiired (1701, 11'2{>) from the Iro(|uois to
tlif western lands. She argued that the grant to the Duke of
York had barred the claims of the New England colonies, while
that of Virginia was estopi)ed by the rescinding of her charter
and the grant to Penn, which preventions gave precedence to
the Indian claim which she advanced. It was in fact the least
valid of any of the claims, but was good enough to give away
as a i)recedent. On February 19, the New York Assembly
authorized her delegates to make either an unreserved or a
limited cession. The act was read in Congress on March 7.
Six weeks later, that State authorized (\ingress to restrict he.r
western limits.
These actions had their effect in Virginia. Late in June,
Joseph Jones wrote to Jefferson : '• (^(mld Virginia but think
lierself, as she certainly is, full large enough for vigorous gov-
cnunent, she, too, would moderate her desires, and cede to the
I'liited States, on certain conditions, her territory beyond the
Ohio." George Mason, in Jidy, formulated tlie Virginia ])roj)o-
sitions. These were to give up the (•(uuitry between the west
l)oiui(ls of Pennsylvania and the Ohio, north of Mason and
IMxon's line (being the region since kn<»wn as the Panhandle ). if
Coiigrc guaranteed to Virginia her remaining territory, which
lie elaiuu'd to be bounded by the north bank of the Ohio on one
side, and by the North Carolina line ( -i'' 'W ) on the other.
This cession of the territory north, of the Ohio was contingent
upon seven conditions : First, that the territory should eventu-
:illv lie niade into not less than two States. Second, that Vir-
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A YEAR 01' SUSPE.XSE.
<il'
giuia hIiouUI be roiinbiivst'd for Clark's expedition and all otlirr
attending expenses. Third, that the Kreneh settlers should lie
protected in their titles, and defended against ineursions fioiii
Detroit. Fourth, that one hundred and fifty thousand acius
shoulil he reserved as bounty lands for Clark's soldiers. Fittli,
that the eession at the falls made to Clark by the Wabash In-
dians should be eonfiriued to him. Sixth, in case Virginia diil
not have land enough south of the Ohio to make good her mili-
tary bounties, that she should have it on the north. Seventh.
that all the territory not thus reserved should be held in com-
mon by all the States, and that all individual purchases of land
should be void.
An impulse to hasten the comi)letion of the confederation
was palpably growing, and, on September (3, Congress urg«(l
the States claiming a western extension to " remove the onlv
obstacle to a final ratification of the articles of confederation."
and make a united cession of these disjjuted territories. Con-
gress had l>een l)roiigh>4o this, not only by the New York act
of February 19, but by consideration of counter representa-
tions made by Virginia and ^laryland. A few days later (Sep-
tember 12), Madison felt sui*e that the crisis had passed. In
October, there were new hopes for a while. Connecticut offered
to cede her charter claims beyond the mountains, i)rovid«'d slii'
could retain jurisdiction. Congress, with the otherwise encour-
aging prospect, was not disposed to hamper the transfer, and
declined to meet the conditions. On the same day, Congifss
ordered that all ceded lands should be held for the conunon
benciit of all the States, — the initial legislation for a puhlic
domain, — but at the same time recognized the rights of the
States to be reimbursed for the cost of maintaining their claims.
It was further agreed that these lands should be divided into
republican States and become candidates for admission to tlic
confederation.
The year closed with Tom Paine in his Public Good attack-
ing (Decend)cr 30) the Virginia pretensions to their chartt-r
rights. lie dwelt on the vague definition of the charter of
1609, as admitting no such precision of bounds as Virginia
claimed, and in the belief which at that time prevailed of tiie
narrowness of the continent, no such imperial range of bounds
could have been contemplated. Contemporary newsi)a))trs
\k
RESULTS IN 1780.
187
allege that l*iiine*s souse of justifi' wan busetl on proiiiiso from
the IndiaiiJi C'cunpJiny of twelve thoiisaiul acres of this same
lanil, though Conway, his hitest biograi)her, ilisputes the state-
iiii'iit.
I'aiiie outlined u j)lan of settin<j up a new State of nearly the
saiiu' limits as the present Kentucky ; and by the sales of its
ti'iiitmy he cxpceti'd to rei)lenish the national treasury. Ilam-
iltuu was one of the few who did not expect much aid to the
treasury in this way. '* Back lands," he says, '• are a very j^ood
rcsoiuTe in reserve : b\it I susj)ect they will not have so much
pri's.'ut financial etWcaey as to be useful to procure credit."
So. upon the whole, the year 1780 closed in the west with
good omens, if with checkered results in actual accomplish-
mc nt.
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CIIAPTKK XI.
EAST AND WEST.
1781.
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TllK year 1781 was luintically the last year of the wai mi
tlie Atlantic slojn'. (irt'cni' had shown the highest aliility in
the south in snatching the fruits of victory from defeat, iiiid
C'ornwallis had iu'cn cntrapix-d at Yorktown. TJie year li.-nl
oi)ened sadly in the n^volt of the Pennsylvania line, and tlic
depreciation of the eontinei»_tal papi-r had gone on, so that liy
nnilsnnnner th»( bills were in effect valueless. Scarce a sixth
of the taxes could he eidlected : and the confederation, after it
was perfected, seemed hut a mockery of " the firm and ]t(r-
])etual league of friendship " which it |>rofessed to he. No mic
f(dt its futility more than Washiiigton, and he had com])laiiif(l
to his ])ersonal fi'icnds, " I see one* head gradually changiiit,'
into thirteen. I see one army branching into thirteen." Vtt
with all this, there came the flash at Yorktown, and the year
closed along the seaboard with ho])e.
Heyond the mountains there had been, during the year, the
old iteration of cross movements, with no real gain to either
combatant; but in Congress a first step, as will be later shown.
had l)een taken in giving a continental control to the " crdwii
lands '' reserved in th(^ ]>ro(damation of 17G3. While tlitsi!
cession movements l)adc fair to s(dve the problem of tin* cnn-
federation's jisserted extension to the Mississi])])i, and to estali-
lish a ground for a boundary at the peace, the Spanish claim to
that river was still a source of anxiety. On the same day nii
which Vii'ginia had pro])osed an inadmissibh? cession (January
2), Congress, as we shall see, had iustruiited Jay to yield tin'
MississipjM to Spain, rather than lose her alliance. Likewise
on the same day (January 2\ an ex])edition left St. Louis to
jdant the Spanish flag within the dis])uted territory. Under tli<>
lead of Captain Pourre (or l^ierro), .i force of sixty militia and
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sixtN Iiuliaiis iiiarclu'd two Imiidrcd li'aj;u('S across tlic Illinois
regi<»ii, and f«'ll upon an Kn^^lish post at St. .los«'pli (m-ar tlio
nKMJirn Niles in Michi^'an ), oaptun-d it, secured prisoners, and
tlu'ii (|ui('kly retreated, and weio liaek in St. Louis in March.
l{(»tli Franklin and .lay, when they heard of it, were |)repan'd
to liilicve that Spain had attempted the incursion merely to
C'stalilisli a claim to l»e advanced at the peace when, under p()s-
sihle diplomatic complications, a mere dash across the country
iiiij;lit count a<^ainst the steady hold whieh Clark had iixed
\\\m\ the Illinois.
Met'ore I'ouriv had returned to St. I^onis, (Jalvez, on Fehruary
'28. started with a Heet, convcyin;;' fourteen hundred men. to in-
vade Florida. He ajjpeared before Pensacola and, despite some
(l(tV<tion in his naval auxiliaries, he ])ushed his transports,
uiidfr tii'c, j)ast the Kn<;lish fort into the inner hay. The ad-
mind was cha;;rined, and followed in (ialve/.'s wake. The for'
hi'iit otf the fleet, and (Jalvez brought up his land forces and
(ipcnt'd trenches. A hr** ' vas made in the walls by the ex-
|)l(isinn of a magazine, and while storming ])arties were organiz-
inii. t'"' I^i'itish, on Alay 0, hoisted the white flag. Thus all of
west Florida fell into Si)anish hands, and Spain had secured
a coveted foothold on the flank of the Soutluu-n States. Kiuht
luuitlred troops, with which ramjibell, under (Jermain's orders,
liad expected to secure the lower Mississippi, were sent pris-
iiiicrs to New York under ])arole, but to the discontent later of
tilt' Spanish government. During the absence (tf (ialvez, and
on the rumor of his defeat and of a British fleet being in the
(iiilf. the British settlers and the loyalists, including the Con-
nt'cticut colony, living about Natchez, rose (Ai)ril 22) up(»n
till' Spaniards and by a ruse overawed them. Colonel Ilutch-
ins once more (Aj)ril 29) spread the British flag upon Fort
Paniinu-e. while the S])anisli garrison marched to liaton Houg«'.
ri"iii (Jalvez's trium])hant return, the instu'gents were in dan-
pr of his resentment, and fled across the country to Savannah,
making a ])ainful march of one hundied and thirty-one days.
Some of them fell into the hands of the hovering bands of
patriots, and the rest reached that town in October. It is a
story of prolonged misery which Pickett has tidd in his Ahi-
hniiKt.
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While Spain was thus sin'cessful at the south and had, hy a
dasli at St. Joseph, attenii)*e(l to give effect to her diplomatic
pretensions in the northwest, the real strujj^gle as to the future
ownership of the great stretch of country between the Allej^lia-
nies and the Mississii)pi was to drag on for another year along
the Ohio and on its affluents.
It was still in the autumn of 1780, and at the close of the
active campaigning of that year, the dream of Jefferson to make
at last an effective demonstration against Detroit, by which
Virginia would be relieved of maintaining five hiuulred or a
thousand men in the western wilds to protect her frontiers aiul
outlying settlements, .left'erson had api)ealed to AVashington
to give the movement continental sanction, and to furnish the
munitions and supi)lies, while Virginia called on her militia.
To give and to take counsel in the initiatory steps, Clark had
come over the numntains, and was representing in Richmoiul
that the overnment nuist be i)repared to confront the coming
season something like two thousand British and Indians in the
western country. The ])roblcm was how to anticii)ate tiie as-
saults of such a body and carry the war into the enemy's coun-
try. When Jefferson, in September, 1780, had been sending
prisoners from Richmond to New York for exchange, he had
not given up Ilafuilton, for fear of the active energies tliat
officer miglit impart at Detroit if he should rejoin his old com-
mand. Clark's futile attemjjts to reach Detroit had alreaily
cost Virginia something like half a million ])ounds of the cur-
rent money, and it was com])uted that another three huiuhcd
thousand must be added to that, if the present expedition shonhl
succeed. Jefferson hoped, as we have said, that this pecuiiiarv
aid woidd come from the Continent, while Virginia supidicd
the men. He sent out orders for the frontier militia to gatlicr
at Pittsburg, on March 1, 1781, but he imparted to the county
officers no definite plan for the campaign. There was. how-
ever, no misunderstanding as to the jiurpose between Clark and
the governor, and Clark was in his daily councils.
Steuben was during the winter trying to impede the raids
of Benedict Arnold along the James River, and Clark, still at
the east, entered into these defensive movements with alacritv,
leaving Jefferson, meanwhile, to direct the preparations which
were going on at Fort Pitt. Late in December, 1780, JelVer-
i; ..f;
CLARK'S NEW PLANS.
191
son ilii'W up Clark's instructions, charging him not only with
the iai)tnre of Detroit, but with securing control of Lake Erie,
lie promised him two thousand men, and assured him that
uiiumiiiition and packhorses would be at the falls of the Ohio
hv March 15. If pre])arations were then completed, Clark
would Ite able to take advantage of the early break of the ice in
the Wabash, and reaeh Lake Erie before the enemy could move
tht'ir forces across it. Washington, in reply to Jefferson's ap-
peals, was at the same time dispatching orders (December 28,
ITcSO ) to Hrodhcad, commanding at Fort Pitt, to furnish all
till' tioops he could, including an artillery company, and to
avoid raising (pu'stions of rank with Clark. Jefferson had asked
Washington to give Clark a continental commission, to prevent
any (pu-stion of rank, but Washington had declined because
Clark was on strictly state service. In January, 1781, Clark,
linirt'iiny: still at Kiclnmnid. was made a brigadier-o'cneral of the
Virginia forces, "■ to be embodied in an expedition westward of
the Ohio." They were destined for a cami)aign which was
to he rendered unusuallv active by a widespread uprising of the
Indians in the British interests. At least, so felt Slaughter,
who held the falls in Clark's absence, and who was disturbed by
the innuu's which reached him. Stories of this kind induced
Jefferson, on .lanuary 13, to ask Steuben to relejise Clark from
his engagements on the seaboard, in order that he might pro-
eced innnediately to the western country. Thus withdrawn
from further participation in the movements on the James,
(lark, who proceeded to Pittsburg, found little to encourage
him.
Weeks went on, and there seemed to be little chance of Clark's
siruring the two thousand men which Jefferson had ju'omised,
tliouiili, on Februarv 13, the governor had informed him that
Steulien had consented to Gibson's acting as his lieutenant
and taking his regiment with him to the west. Continual
alarms in Kentucky and the inva;^ion of tide-watei Virginia
Were keeping the fighting men at home, atid Jefferson, finding
tile militia loath to inarch from their settlements. Iiad called
'Fehrnary 10) upon some of the county lieutenants to urge
viiamtecrs to rally around Clark.
Wasliington had sent Clark little aid, and it may be douitted
if the commander-in-chief felt much confidence in a hazardous
\y^
H
I
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'i
:i
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192
EAST AND WEST.
movement of militia, liable to scatter at any sudden rumor of
an Indian raid upon their homes. We find Clark in March.
1781, comidaining to Washington that Brodhead, who had de-
clined to detacli (Jihson's regiment, kept men from his ranks.
but the connnanding general coidd well make allowance for the
environments of danger at Fort Pitt, where Brodhead hardly
knew whom to trust. He had, however, more than once ( Fel).
luary 25: March 27) assured Washington that Clark slniuld
have his best supi)ort, while he accounted to the conunandinj;
general for tlie apathy of the militia by say: ^^ Miat " they art-
availing themselves of the unsettled jurisdiction." Brodlicads
condition was indeed desperate. He could get no supi)lies. and
there was every indication of his being very shortly envelojjt'd
by hostile savages.
Late in the winter (February, 1781) it was known that the
Delawares outside the ]Moravian influence were moving west-
ward along Lake Erie, ])rofessedly in search of game ; but it
soon became certain that they were putting themselves witliiii
the range of British influence. When the spring fairly opened
and the Cherokees were making hostile demonstration in the
southwest, it was only too apparent that the Americans had
hardlv a friend anumy: the warring tribes of the Ohio valley.
With this c<mdition of things, Brodhead, on April 7, led. with
something of desperation, one luuidred and fifty regulars from
Fort Pitt against the recusant Delawares. At Wheeling his
little force was strengthened by about as many militia umhr
Colonel David Sheplierd. Brodhead crossed the Ohio, fell upon
the Indian town at Coshocton, laid it waste, destroyed tlie tat-
tle and stcn-es, and returned with his i)lunder. He had by this
movement pushed the Delawares back from the Muskinunm
and Tuscarawas, and forced them to the Scioto and San<liisky,
and they never returned. Some Christian Delawares, whom hf
had encountered at the ^Moravian stations, followed him back to
Fort Pitt. Brodhead's success was in part owing to the n.is;!])-
])rtdiension which Simon (tirty, now by De Peyster's oidcrs
among the ^\'yandots, had of Brodhead's strength. While the
Anu'rican exptMlition was ]mrsuing its devastating march, (iiity
supposed that it comprised at least a thousand men, and th:it
Clark had already started down the Ohio with as many nmn'.
It was this false information that held the Wyandots back.
CLA HK'S lys TR L'C TluyS.
193
That Clark's enlistments suffered from these movements by
Middlu'ad was elear ; and the failure of Washington to send
him loiTuits, as well as the uncertain jurisdiction of Pennsylva-
nia ami V^irgiiiia, rendered it very doubtful if he could move
ildwii the river by the middle of June, as he hoped to do. More
tlian niicc in May (21st and 20th), Clark apjjcaled to Wash-
iii;;tnii. "It has been the influence of our post on the Illinois
and Wabash," he says, "■ that has saved the frontiers, and in a
ijivat measure battled the designs of the enemy at Detroit. If
they ji;ct possession of them, they will be able to connnanil three
tiiiit's tlie number of valuable warriors they do at present."
The (litticulty between Brodhead and Gibson was ripening.
Tlie latter ottieer, prevented by Brodhead from aiding Clark,
was restless under the deprivation, and Clark intinuited to
Washington that positive orders from him would give Gibson
the release he longed for.
The exact scope of Jefferson's instructions to Clark had not
yet hcvn divulged, and what Clark let fall favored the belief
that his i)urpose was in reality to succor the exposed Kentucky
vtth'iiK'nts,
This jjretense of Clark v.as evidently accepted by Ilaldimand,
whfii he heard of it, as his true intent, for as early as May tliat
i;viieral was sending word to Sinclair and De Peyster that the
Aiuerii'ans would not enter Canada, and they must be attacked
iiliiui; their frontiers. lie advised De Peyster to cease pam])cr-
iii^ thf Sandusky Indians, and to keep them busy in breaking
lip American settlenuMits north of the Ohio.
It was thus while the British were thinking themselves safe
tioiu assault north of the lakes, and intent on making their
Imliaiis wage a vicarious warfare, that Cl.irk, near the close of
-'lily, 1781, embarking a force of only four hundred, out of the
two thi)iisand pronused to him, and carrying three field pieces,
l"';'an to move down the river from Pittsburg. On reaching
^\ hti'liiig, he wrote to the governor — no longer Jefferson, who
li;iil resigned on June 1 — that he had *' relintiuitdied all expec-
ta'ions. I have been at so much pains." he says, " that the dis-
•ililiiniitment is doubly mortifying." His only hope was that
iif >hnuhl learn that Detroit had not been reinforced, which
"li^lit yet encourage him to attempt its capture. As he went
j on. his force alternately diminished and grew by desertions and
-, i
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I B >l Bl
il' '\]Mi
■/■'
194
EAST AND WEST.
:)}'■
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w:
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ailditions, and it bore a rather hetei-ogeneous aspect wlicn. on
September 1, he reached Fort Nelson at the falls. Do IVv
ster, at Detroit, better informed at last than Girty, had latlni
tardily sent down to the Ohio a force of a hundred raiiir,.is
under Captain Andrew Thompson, and three hundred Indiaib
under McKee, to watch for a favorable moment to waylay ( lurk.
Joseph Brant and George Girty — the latter formerly one ot
Willing's marauders — were, fortunately for De Peyster, already
astir. On August 24, at a point eleven miles below the (iicat
Miami, they fell upon a flotilla of niountcd Pennsylvania vuluii-
teers, one hundred and seven in nundjer, under Colonel Aiclii.
bald Lochry (Loughrey), following in the wake of Claik. and
seeking to overtake him. A letter to Clark, sent forward liv
this lieutenant, had been intercepted and revealed the situatidii.
Clark had not reached the falls when every num of this foriv
was either killed or captured. They had landed to cook their
breakfast and f ad their horses, when they were suddenly at-
tacked from both sides of the river. A third of them werr
killed, and the rest surrendered ; but the colonel and others.
imable to march, were later nuirdered.
Three days afterward, the victors, moving up the Great Miami.
met MoKee coming laggardly down from Detroit. Tlic ((nii-
bined bodies were not deemed to be sufficient to assail Clark.
now in his stockado at the falls, as they had learned on S('i)teiii-
ber 9, when within thirty miles of that point.
The enemy soon broke up, and a part, some two hundred in
number, bent on mischief, were led by McKee and Hrant to-
wards the Kentucky settlements. IVIeanwhile Clark, tVariii;'
attack, lay inactive at the falls. About the same time, a Chero-
kee chief, aided by some of these raiders, threatened tho
Cumberlnnd settlements; but Robertson effectually r('])ulsed
the assailants, and gained prestige enough to hold, for a time
at least, his neighbors, the Choctaws and Chickasaws, in the
interests of his people.
As the sunnner advanced, the northern Indians gathered for an
attacik on W heeling. Zeisberger, the Moravian, who had learned
of the savage })urpose, sent (August 18) warning mcssap's, so
that the attack when it came was expected, and the garrison of
Fort Henry was prepared. The enemy were baffled, anil with-
¥
(Ii'lhI in
5rant to-
tVariii;'
■iH'd till'
r('i)iilstHl
»r a time
s, in tilt'
BRODHEAD AND GIBSON.
195
I'd for nil
1 li'iinieil
1
saii'i's, >"
1
vristni of
I
11(1 with-
1
(licw. but not till tliey had taken some prisoners, and from one
of tlieiii they had learned that the Moravians had forewarned
the garrison. The result was hardly to be avoided. The Mo-
ravians liad proved spies and tale-bearers, while claiming immu-
nity as neutrals, and, if the evitlenee is to be believed, they had
been tortuous in their re})Iies when accused of it. Gnadenhiitten,
their settlement on the Tuscarawas, was therefore broken up
bv a party of Indians, Tories, and trench partisans, under Mat-
thew Elliot, who drove the missionaries and their Delaware
iieopliytes to Sandusky first, and later to Detroit (October 25),
where they eoidd do less mischief.
Brodhead, who had been eonq)laining (August 29) to Wash-
iiiU'ton of the dissensions in his camp, owing to a divided head-
>hil) between himself and Gibson, could have had little regret
when, on September 17, he withdrew from Fort Pitt, leaving
(iibson in command. Neither this new commander, nor Clark
at the falls, had any longer a hope of reaching Detroit. Brod-
lieud had been withdrawn by order of Washington, who at the
iiKinient of the change was closing about Cornwallis and York-
town. The brilliant outcome in October of this movement in
the Virginia ])eninsula gave AVashington for a time little oppor-
tunity to think of the situfition on the Ohio, and of the barren
issues there of the year's eami)aign.
Rut neither Clark's abortive aims at Detroit, nor Greene's
ikfeats in Carolina, were without results that told in the end.
(ireeno could say of Eutaw (September 8) that it was " the
most obstinate fight he ever saw," and that " vie ory was his."
Notwithstanding the distresses of the cam])aign, Greene had
rciiilered Yorktown ])ossible. Clark had still a stronger hold,
f'eble as it was, on the northwest than De Peyster had. lie
liiul some seven hundre ' nd fifty men at the falls, fed on rot-
ten buffalo meat, and the savages surrounded him, and far and
iHMV the settlers were forted, but, as Ilaldimand acknowledged,
* lark had still kept the British on the defensive between the
Ohio and the lakes, a condition which occasional raids of the
savages did not relieve. Ilaldimand charges it upon the caj)ri-
tious conduct of the Indian allies of the British that Clark's
fate had not been decided, and the terror of Clark's name
liad done much to create that capriciousness. That Clark had
V\
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190
EAST AND WKST.
escaped the ex])ected fate dctenniued, as it turned out. th,
future territorial alWianee of the j^reat northwest.
U
J ' i
i/',-
mn
t ' .i
Cold weather settled down in November with lialdimaiid still
ignorant of the fate of Cornwallis, and looking forward ti
another season of hostilities on the Ohio. Now that Yorktown
had determined so nuiel; on the seaboard, Congress, whiili n-
eeived an ottieial notice of that victory on Oi-tober 24. u;(«
within a month, as Livingston informed Franklin (Novi'ihImi
20), prc^pjiring for an active campaign for the next seasdii.
When Franklin heard the great news from the Virginia peiiiii
•sulsi, he wrote from Paris to John Adams : " The infant llti(ult«
in his cradle has now strangled his second serjjent," refciiin:;
to the news from Saratoga which sealed the French alliaiirt;
four years before.
Washington, scanning the future, saw the necessity of foiv.
ing decisive results beyimd the mountains in the next caiu-
paign, and for this object (ieneral William Irvine was sent 'o
take conunand at Fort Pitt. One of the earliest reports wliidi
Irvine made to Washington was that Lochry's neiglibors dt
Westmoreland County, in Virginia, were disheartened at tln'
havoc which that officer's defeat had made among the flower if
their young men. They were accordingly seriously thinkitl^ nf
abandoning their county in the spring. On the other hand,
the fact that the indecisive campaign of the last season in that
regi(m had not deprived the Americans of any territory limi
already, as Irvine reported (December 3), instigated " ]tt'(i))li'
of different })laces to concoct plans to emigrate into the Indian
country, there to establish a government for themselves." T!ii-
impulse was in large measure owing to the continued inicii
tainty of the limits of the jurisdiction of Pennsylvaniii ami
Virginia. An agreement had been reached in the pi-cccdiiii;
April by whicdi the five degrees from the Delaware slioiiM I'f
determined on the southern boundary line of Pennsylvania.
There had, however, been delays in running the bounds, so that
the weary settlers were threatening to migrate beyond the di-
puted territory, and Irvine was reporting to Washington, in De-
cember, that until the lines were drawn the militia were uselts-.
There was also, doubtless, an adventurous s])irit and some am-
bitious projects interwoven with these restless motives. It \va>
(I .\ tifi;
PEXySYL VAMA BOUXDS.
197
owiiit;. perhaps, to the stringent acts which Pennsylvania passed
;i"aiiist such an exodus that the Virginians in greater numbers
tliaii the Pennsylvanians were joining in tlie removals. The
lint; wliich was expected to set at rest these disturbances was
not in tact actually run in a provisional way till November of
tlu' next year (1782j, and it was not conHrmed till three years
later ( 1785).
Irvine felt that while the present time demanded, first of all,
military success, it v.'is not wise to inaugurate such remote
ill
lih'
— 120-N-Lat-
F\
,^
PENNSYLVANIA
■''■■SS' N.L.
PENNSYLVANIA AND VIRGINIA BOUNDARY IIISPUTE.
Note. —This rut is from N. B. Craipr'H Ol.h'n Tiiiir. PittKlmrR, lS4r., vol. i. p. 449.
I^".i ■' is tlip filially cstftbliHlu'il I'l'iiiisjlviiiiia line (oiirv-il and HtrniRlit) is the
hhf 1 Iniiui"! hy Pennsylvania. is the line pro)iosp(I by Pminion'. — o — o — o is the
mr |iri)p(i»e(l hy Virginia to be continued north by the curved line.
aiitonnniies. He was donbtfid if even the established Kentucky
>''ttl('iii('iits, or such posts as Fort ^Nlelnto.sh. could be sustained
till more peaceful times came. His pur])ose was to i)re])arG the
iiiinu'diate frontiers against savage raids, and then to devote all
.ivailal)le resources to following up tht> Indians to their destrnc-
thm. and to waste no time in merely burning their towns. He
planned in the end to make, if he could, a sudden attack ujion
I ' ii
i' I
f * ' »j
Mi
AJ '
If: I
198
EAST AND WEST.
Detroit. He had no i)ur})os(' to hold the straits, if he got jios-
session of them, for tlu' distance to Detroit was too great to
transport suj)j)lies, and the British woidd still conunainl tlif
Likes. lie expected only to make a dash and do as nnich daiiiuj^c
as he could, and then retire, hoping in this way to impress the
Indians and accpiire a temjjorary res})ite till the final influence
of Yorktown towards a peace was made clear. Washiii<;toii.
in his correspondence with Irvine, recognized the necessity ami
expediency of the movement, but nothing could well coniu of
the project during the winter.
The tenacity with which, under all his disappointments, ("lark
had maintained his grasp on the northwest during 1781. made
that year such a turning-point in the struggle with the nuitlicr
country beyond the mountains as Yorktown had proved to lie
on the Atlantic slope. Not less important was the firm step
forward which the States had made in the same interval in
determining their political relations to this western conntrv.
Just one year from the time when New York had indicated a
scheme of compromise. Virginia had retreated from her first
pretensions so far as to offer (danuary 2, 1781) a cession ot
jurisdiction o er the country north of the Ohio, if Congress
woxdd agree to certain conditions. To one of these, that tlie
region should ultimately be partitioned into States, there could
be no objection. Nor was it unr* asonable to re(piire Congress
to reimburse her for defending this same regior *rom the as-
saults from Detroit, for there was then unsettled on lier liands
the just claim of Oliver Pollock for a very large sum which lie
had advanced t( Clark in his necessities. Congress knew well
enough its ov/n indebtedness to the same ardent jjatiiot, wlm
had beggared himself in the cause, and had parted with all
his pro])erty in New Orleans at a sacrifice, in his efforts to
repay the money which he had borrowed from the liu'st ot
the Spanish king. Congress, as well as Virginia, had caused
Pollock's end)arrassment, and it might well meet the obligations
of both. It was furthermore no unexpected stipulation that
the French Canadians inhabiting this region, and who had so
readily changed their allegiance, should be protected in tlit'n
landed rights ; that all bounty lands which had been promised
to the soldiers should be respected. It was no hardship for
V
77//; COXFKDiniA Tluy rollMEl).
11)0
ConnTt'Hs to aj^ree that all royal grants in that country sliould
l»e lii'lil to be void, lint when, hy implication, Virginia asked
tliat the claims of New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut,
and tliat all claimants under native grants, both those of indi-
vidiiids and of the Indiana Company, should be disregarded,
and that the Kentucky country should be guaranteed to her, siie
air()"';intlv asked more than Congress could possibly concede.
To take these and all other propositions, from whatever source,
into consideration, Congress on January 31, 1781, instituted a
conmiittee, who i)roceeded to c;dl ui»on all the claimant States
and i^rantees to make a showing of their rights.
N\'\v York moved promptly, and directed her delegates to
c'xei'ute a deed to Congress of the territory west of a self-im-
iMiscd boundary following the meridian of the western end of
Lake Ontario, but retjuiring a guarantee of her territory east
of that line if Virginia secured such a })ledge. This deed was
executed on March 1, and Maryland, having authorized her
delegates in anticipation, on the same day signed the articles of
eonfederation, in the belief that the crisis was ))assed. The
next day Congress began to head its bills, '" The United States
ill Congress assembled."
Matters rested till October, when, just as the toils were tight-
ene I about Cornwallis, and a connnittee of Congress stood
ready to hear Virginia and her rivals formulate their respective
claims, that State stood aloof (October 10) and contended that
any presentation of her ])osition was not consistent with her
(liiifnity. and ten days later she vainly tried to embarrass the
comiMittee and limit its jwwers.
On November 3, the committee made its rejiort. They rep-
resented that they had not obtained from Virginia the same
assistance which had been furnished them by the rival claim-
ants. The committee, as was expected, made the most of the
opimrtunity to aggrandize the Iroipiois claim of New York,
Intth north and south of the Ohio, and to belittle that of Vir-
ginia. They attempted to show this depreciation by setting the
lights of the Iroquois, the grants which the traders of the Indi-
ana Company had received, and the limits fixed by the procla-
mation of 1763, against the charter rights of 1G09. It was
fartlur claimed that the crown lands as George the Third had
tiffined them had fallen naturally to the revolting colonies as
%
; '
230
EAST A\n WEST.
!' r.
\m
\ti >'■
'■\'i
a whole. Tlio grant to the Vaiuhiliu Company, though k'{,';illv
instituted, was lu'ld to he too hirge t'<u- puhlie policy, while it
might he ex[)e(li('nt to make some eom])ensation to tiie pnijtri-
etors in the final settlement : but that the assumed holding' of
the Illinois and Wahash Company had no warrant in law what-
ever. The committee closed with urging Virginia to make an
unrestricted cession. Madison, who was fearful that Vii'^iiiia
would take deep umbrage at the report, still hoped that the
seven States necessary to act on the connuittee's report WduM
save Virginia from su(!li humiliation, and indeed the report as
a whole was never acted upon, since it was seen that the cession
movement could get on better without such friction. And licre
the matter rested at the close of 1781.
We have seen that, beneath the lowering skies of the open-
ing of the year ( 1781), Congress had taken the initiative ami
Virginia, notwithstanding her recent rei)roach to New Eng-
land, had abandoned her denuuid for the free navigation of
the Mississii)pi in order better to gain the adherence of Spain.
flefferson sent instructions to that effect to the Virginia dck'-
gates on .lanuary 18. Some weeks later, Virginia moved in
Congress that the river beh)W 31° be yielded to Spain, if slif
would "uarantee the free navigation to the United States above
that point. On February 15, Congress, supine and in despair.
instructed Jay to yield, if it was found necessary to the secnrinii'
of a Spanish alliance. As the weeks went on, there was a i>nu'-
tical abandonment of all beyond the mountains, except so far
as France might dictate the retention. Congress vas even
ready, pending an acknowledgment of independence, to agree to
a truce with England, if France and S])ain would deny that gov-
ernment the occupation of all it had claimed. The degradation
was e(miplete when, on June 11, to Luzerne's delight, nine States,
wdiicli were mainly those oceu]ned by the enemy, forced throiiuli
Congress a vote, leaving absolutely to France the definitions of
the American bounds. Luzerne felt so sure of his victory that
he informed his government that Congress would be content
with the Ohio, if not with the Alleghanies, as a frontier. The
surrender to France once made, all sorts of notions ])revailed as
to what could be saved of the western country. It was ho|ieil.
by yielding the Fort Stanwix grant of 1709 beyond the Kaua-
JAY ly MADRID.
201
•1
wlin, — re(iiiinng at the same tiiiu' tlu' destruction of all ncigh-
liKiiutj foi'titied posts, — to satisfy Franct- ; but if more was
(leiii:iiiile(l, they hoped to ajjju'ast' the Knmco-Spanish avidity
liv yielding, " for the use of the Indians,"" Niagara and western
New York, and all the western Ao\w of the Alleghanies, except
so far as the charter of Pennsylvania covered the territory ahout
till" forks of the Ohio. These alternative schemes are outlined
ill a paper by Gouverneur Morris, preserved in the Sparks uiau-
usdipts. Virginia at one time (June 8) tried in vain to get
ii votr in which the western bounds were defined as leaving the
St. Lawrence where the 45111 j)aralh'l struck that river, and then
procot'ding by the lake to the Miami (Maumee), and so to the
souict's of the Illinois, and down that river to the Mississip})i,
l)iit ii(»t another State had the courage to insist upon it and
save the coiupiest of Clark.
While everything was fluttering to the death in Phih»dclj)hia,
the soul of Jay in Madrid was rasped almost beyond endur-
ance. He knew the ministry to be "insincere and mysterious,"
and it is jiretty well proved, as he then feared, that his letters
were ojiened in the Sjianish ])()st-office. He was conscious that
those to whom he was granting dii)h)nuitic courtesies knew
more of what Congress had done than was permitted him to
know. He got intimaticms from Gouverneur Morris that led
him to conjecture the truth.
Finally, however, he obtained his luckless instructions, and
im .Inly 13 delivered them formally to Florida Blanca. He
iitiiM now. at least, talk with him for the future ujion terms
more eijual.
By August, Congress had received Jay's response. Joseph
•loiies "ives us his version of Jav's chagrin : " The Dons are
phiyiiit;' a game wholly for themselves."
When Congress awoke to this, with a spurt of valor, it voted
Aui;iist 10, unanimously, to yield nothing to S])ain. liefore
tliis (letormination could have reached flay, he sought to -force a
ili'cision out of the laggard and tortuous Spanish ministers. On
Stpteiiilx'r 22, he made a formal projiosition to relincpiish the
iiiivinatiou of the Mississipj)i below 31°, intimating the groat-
iifss of the concession, inasmuch as it nuist retard the settle-
nipiit of the country. He told the minister that the concession
iiuist he accepted immediately, for it could not be held to if
■f i
lii )
it'-
m
m V
202
EAST A\n WEST.
(K'feiTL'd to the geiienil pcaci!. lie assumed this hohl front with
the saiue spirit with vvhieh he liiul trieil to impress on Coiii^ivsH
that their vvaverinj;' was a mistake, and that any spirit was
l)»;tter tlian ono ''of humility and eomi)liance." Tiie " 'iisttr
failed, and .lay was obliged to eonfess to Congress, when he
next wrote (Ootober 8), that Spain insisted on the entire con-
trol of the Gulf of Mexieo, and the exclusive navigation of the
Mississippi. " The cession of the navigation of the Mississi|i|ii
will, in my oi)inion," he added, " render a future wiir with
{Spain unavoidable.'*
Before the president of Congress had received this, Oliver
Pollock at New Orleans, with ample knowledge, was writiu",' to
the same ofHeial that the United States nmst insist on a port
of deposit near the lloumas village, twenty-two leagues above
New Orleans, where there was high land, and that they must
claim a pilot stand at the Halize.
Four days after Pollock wrote this, Cornwallis surrendeixil,
and there was clearing weather.
CIIAPTKK XII.
I'KACK, ITSl'.
TiiK surrciuU'i' of ('(trnwallis : the (lisposition of Parliament
to |)fa»'t>: Conway's successful motion (^Fchruarv 'I'l) to dis-
coiitiiiut' the war, which led North to exclaim, " We are heat
(■(iiii|)letely ; " Burke's triumphant hopes, — all were recogniza-
lilf si<;ns of the eoniin<j^ end of tlu^ dragyinj;' conflict. The
Hiitish held a few ports on the seahoard, hut by .Inly they hiid
I'vaciiated Savannah. Such Atlantic footholds were not likely
ti» interfere with America's securing an unhrokcui coast from
Maine to Florida, though there was to he an attempt to make
the numtry east of the IVnobscot the price of the final surren-
der of such ports.
While there was little op))ortunity for French machinations
aloni;- tin eastern slope of th ^ xVp[)alachians, it was otherwise
licyond the mountaii , and the progress of events in the great
wcsfcin valleys might in the coming months (1782) he of
cardiniil importance in settling the ultimate hounds of the
Iu'])nlilic.
Possessions in the northwest, as they stood, favored the i)er-
nianence of the American occupation, if there should be no
lii'cat disaster during the coming .season (1782). Ilaldimand,
as conunanding along the northern frontier, showed no disposi-
tion to l)e active. (luy Johnson was eager to make a dash on
I'oit Pitt, and Rocheblave, now restored to the (^anadian ser-
vice, thought that a show of force on the Ohio might swerve
tilt' Kentuckians from their allegiance to the confederated
States; l)ut Ilaldimand gave litt^a encouragement to any move-
nuMits beyond a projected one of De Peyster to dislodge the
Anicriean settlers abimt Chicago.
Clark still held his post at the falls, and was anxious to
make it the rallying-])lace of patrol boats on the Ohio, but with
a treasury of four shillings and " no means of getting more,"
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PEACE, 178^
he could do little. The place, however, was already begiimiuir
to bustle with a transit trade. One Jacob Yoder, an adventur-
ous trafficker, had brought in the spring some nierchandise
from the seaboard to the ^lonongahela, and from Old Kedstoiit'
on that stream he had Hoateil it (h)wn tlie river to tlie falls, in
search of an ultimate market in New Orleans.
There ^vas a belief that by faithless acts, some Moravian
Indians, who had returned to the Muskingum, had threatt'iiud
the quiet of the river. So, with little hesitation, a partv of
Pennsylvaniaus, under David Williamson, had ruthlessly fallen
u}H)n them. It 'vas a natural retribution when, in June, Colmitl
Crawford, under Iivine's orders, led a party against the 1 )tla-
wares on the k?andu>ky, and this unfortunate leader was eaptuifd
and burnt at the stake. In -August, a still harder blow was
dealt by Captain Caldwell, with a party of British rangers and
Indians, dis])atched by De Peyster, when an attack was niade
on Bryants Station, resulting, a duy or two later, \n a couiitci'
struggle of some mounted Kentuekians at the Blue Licks.
This conflict provetl to be one of the severest defeats which the
frontiersmen ever sustained. A few weeks later, a force of
British and Indians made an assault on Fort Henry (Wheeliiii;),
Colonel Zane and a feeble garrison j.a])})ily sustained themselves
till succor arrived. Before the season closed. Major Craijf,
sent from Fort Pitt, made a useless reconnoissance (Novembei)
towards Sandusky, while at the same time Clark, animated In
revenge for the season's disasters, starting from the falls, Icil a
thousand men against the Miamis, antl devastated their towns.
It was the last brilliant dash of a nuin who, amid the whirls of
disappointment, was soon to surrender himself to evil habits,
and drop ou*^^ of memorable history. He had now made tli.'
hnal rude onset against British ])ower in the northwest, as lio
had made the first four years before.
Though Haldimand, on the British side, had, in the main.
throughout the season counseled defensive measures, it had not
been eas}" for him to prevent retaliatory strokes. Brant had
hoped, while the year was ch)sing, to give a finishing Idnw.
Before the progress of the negotiations in Paris were kmnvn
to presage peace, this savage chieftain had jdanned an attack
on Fort Pitt, but learning of the excellent condition in \\hicli
Irvine had put that post, he desisted.
i^i ,f
NEW YORK AND VERMONT.
205
Tims it happened that negotiations for peace were going on
in i'aiis while the fortu" js of a desultory conflict were swaying
hitl.Ti" and thither beyond the mountains. There was in the
west, as in the east, no marked change in the position of the
comliatuuts as the season cksed.
it was, consequently, as we shall see, mainly the attitude of
France and Spain touching this very western country, rather
than the de' ^,nds of lOngland, which caused perplexity in the
st'ttlcnicnt of tlic boundaries of the new nation. Indeed, tiie
(>()i)(l results of the final treaty we mainly owe to England, for
1)V [(laving into the hands of our more bitter .uemies, France
ami Spain, she could have seriously hampered the young Ke-
piihlic at its birth.
m
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i'
While the surgings of the war had not afft'cted the veld Ave
possessions of the belligerents in the west, the relations jI the
States to that territory had, pending the negotiations for i)eace,
heeii carried to an effective stage. Congress was brought in
January (1782) squarely to affirm that the confederated States
hail succeeded to all the cliarter rights of the sea-to-sea colonies,
as abridged by the Treaty of 1703. Thus the ground was (!on-
veniently cleared when, on May 1, 1782, Congress set itself to
consider the committee's report of the preceding Xovember 3.
The main thing to be dealt with v as the acceptance or refusal
of the deed which had been offered by New York. There were
reasons why Virginia kept a jealoiis and watchful cyo ujxm her
Northern rival. The Southern ^>tate saw danger in the press-
ing Vermont question, for i*^ that district was admitted to the
Union, it meant, as Xew York claimed, that Congress could
(loeide between a State and a ])()rtio'i of the same State seeking
autonomy. Such a result might prove a precedent, as Virginia
saw, for Congress to partition that State's domain in accei)ting
Kentucky. The success of Vermont would bode further ill to
\ ii'ginia, in that the admission of that Ntu'thern State to the
cont'i'deration would swell the vote of the non-claimant States,
in considering the proposition of the committee to despoil Vir-
^nnia of her rights, by accepting the «'ontiicting claims of her
I'ival, New York. It was clear to Virginia that if Congress
ileeided for New York, it threw the whole force of the confed-
eration against her.
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PEACE, 1782.
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The country was in something' like a death struggle, and was
impressed with a belief ( however futile it proved to be) that a
publie domain at the west was going to furnish means to pav
the ex2)enses of the war. Under these circumstances, there was
little chance that the rival claims of Virginia and New York
woidd be dispassionately weighed, since measures in legislative
bodies are not always, under the stress of war, pushed to just
conclusions.
The cpiestion of the relative value of these rival claims has
not indeed proved easy of solution in later times, Bancroft
holds all claims but Virginias to be invalid. The Suprciiiu
Court of the United States, in .Johnson r. Mcintosh, while pro-
nouncing against Indian titles as opposed to European pre-
emption, may seem so far to have sustained the position of
Virginia. But the historical tpiestion is complicated by tlie
royal annulment of her charter in 1024, though the Virginia
publicists have contended that further action in 102^ showed
tliat the consequent })ossession by the crown of the origin;.!
territorial limits did not deprive the colony of its rights of juris-
diction ; nor was this again affected, as they further claimed,
by the prodanuition of 1703. In Congress, at least, at this time
and later, the native grant was sustained, and ])ointedly, for tlif
Indiana title, being a native one. was u])hcld, and the Vaiidalia
title, being a royal ))i'C('mption. was voided.
We have seen that Thomas Paine had raised a new issue in
giving a construction to the terms of the charter of 1000 wliicli
was opposed to that maintained by Virginia.. The chartrr.it
will be remembered, makes one of the lines running Xym'V from
the coast proceed due west, while the other t n-ns northwest.
and both by a vague im])lication were su]>])os ^d to strike tin'
western ocean. Virginias due west lino was the Xorth Caio-
lina bouiulary, and the northwest oiu' that which cut off tin'
western parts of ^laryland and Pennsylvani:. and extended
indefinitely towards Alaska, abridging thereby jilso the west-
ern extension of Massachusetts and Connecticut-, lvalue's ibie
west line struck back from the coast at the Maryland line.
while his northwest line struck inland at the south till it joined
the west line or entered the western sea. This water was
held at that time (1009 ), as I'aine contends, to be so near the
Alleghanies and beyond their western slope that the two linrs.
NEW YORK CESSIOX.
207
as lie umkM-stoocl them, would probably touch the sea before
tliiv (^ollitleil, and so warrant the exju'ession of the charter,
that thv / extended to that sea. Paine contended that this
coiistiuction gave a more reasonable limit to the colony than
thi' extent claimed by Virg'inia, which was large enough to
eiiihrace lifty colonies. It will be seen that this view disposed
at once of the controversy so long and bitterly v»'aged by Vir-
i;iiiia with Maryland and Pennsylvania, and affected the juris-
diction of the upper Shenandoah.
Congress, however, was clearly determined not to decide be-
tween disputed interpretations, if a settlement could be reached
l>y the voluntary (piitclaims of the rival States. The mani-
festations of the hour were easily colored by ])redilectioiis.
Madison fancied the Middle States, which had been oj)})osed
to Virginia by reason of the niunbers of t! eir citizens who
wore interested in land comi)anies, werj now drawing to the
Virginia side. The K«)rthern j)eo})le said that Virginia was, (m
tlu' contrary, losing ground, and even Madison, rather than con-
tinue the contest, at last felt dis})osed to yield everything that
would not benefit the arrogant land com])anies. The pur])ose
of these he thought might be thwarted by setting Kentucky up
as a new government. Indeed, if Irvine's observations were
coireet, there had grown during the sunnner, beyond the moun-
tains, a strong disi)osition for more than one such separate
ptvernnient.
The (piestion of the acceptance of the New York deed came
up in Congress a month befi)re the ])eace commissioners in Paris
had closed their labors, and Virginia stood alone in casting her
vote against it. After a struggle of six years, the jxdicy to
whicli the C(mstancy of Maryland had contributed, but which
Coiigress had more wisely shaped, was now established. The
New York deed, based on the various treaties with the Irocjuois
in 1<!S4. 1701, 1720, 1744, and 1754, as the committee's report
iif August IG". 1782, enunuM'ated them, conceded to Congress
till' fee in the territory between the lakes and the Ciunberlaiul
Mountains, with a stretch westward, and all under a title which
Madison styli'd "flimsy." lie charg''d N\'W York with urging
Iii'V jurisdiction, not so much to maintain it, as to secure sonu;
'I'dit for her cession of it. The true Virginian plea was that
the iro(|u ois. while they could confer the right of occupancy,
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PEACE, 1782.
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could give no title against the prior discovery of other Cliiis.
tian people. If the New York title had validity, it really lift
to Virginia Imt a remnant of her supposed jurisdietion to b,
surrendered as indisputably hers. Congress luul decided tiiat
to accept this New York claim was sufficient for the oceasiuu. as
setting an example to be followed by the other claimant Status.
and its action ])ractically banded the confederation in that oli-
jcct. Unless Virginia was bound to stand for her rights, — ami
the event ])r<)vcd she was not, — and unless Connecticut and
Massachusetts and the States south of Virginia were to assimif
a position equally perverse, — and the event proved they were
not, — the question of a great public domain was thus opitor-
tunely settled, a month before the i)rovisional treaty of ptjace
was signed at Paris, when Congress, on October 29, voted td
accejjt in due form the deed offered by New York.
While thus in two important ways the relation of the West
to the new Ke})ubli ; had been settled on its own soil, W(! need
now to turn to a consideration of the dii)lomatic foil and fence
at Paris, which were ended on November 30, 1782, in a provi-
sional treaty of peace.
i !,:
This dli)lomati(; struggle had resulted in a distinct American
triumph, owing in large measure to the prevision and daunt-
less convictions of Jay, and to a natural revulsion in the minds
of the other American commissioners against both open and
sinister efforts of Vergennes, — a revulsion reluctantly reached.
however, by Franklin. John Adams was confident that the
western ])opulati(>n could not be appeased if their ex])ectations
were al)ri(lged, and he had proved himself a courageous ally of
Jay, and had insisted that with firmness and delicacy — the
latter not precisely his own trait — the connnissioners could
get all for which they contended. Franklin was never any-
thing if not politic. Shelburne's opinion of him was that •" he
wanted to do everything by cunning, which was the bottom (it
his eharactor, ' and most Englishmen have taken that view of
him ever since. He was certainly never more astute — which
may be a more ])leasing word — tlum in now yielding to Adams
and Jay : and he was never more successfully judicious than in
disarnnng the resentment of Vergennes, when that minister dis-
covered how he had been foiled. So peace and independence
h
PEACE SECURED.
209
were tiiiunpluintly won, and v hat tlie West most needed for its
fiitiirt' development was gained.
The new boundaries had been setcled on lines that ultimately
startled even those who had coneeded them, and constituted one
of the ^rounds for the later assaults by Fox and his adherents.
( )t' tlu' eight hundred thousand s(|uare miles of territory with
wliicli the y<-ung' lie})ublic entered upon her career, one half of
it. of \vhii;h France and Spain would have deprived her, lay west
(if till' Alleghanies. This broad extension was but the begin-
iiiim of an ultimate domain, which is measured to-day by three
and a hilf millions of square miles. The courts in the United
States have always held that the territory secured through this
treaty was not a concession of concjuered lands. It was rather
tilt' result of a rightful partition of the British eni])ire \\\)Oi\
linos which had bounded the American colonies. Livingston, in
letters to Franklin in January, 1782, had enforced this view:
"The States," he says, "have considered their authority to grant
lands to the westward coextensive with the right of (ireat
Ihitain." This extension to the Mississippi, he again says, "■ is
founded on justice; and our claims are at least such as the
events of the war [referring to Clark's successes] give us a
right to insist u])on," while the settlements in tlie West "render
a relinquishment of tlie claim highly unpcditic and unjust."'
To secure these bounds, the American connnissioners had
acted almost defiantly towards France. Lee understood their
spirit wluMi he asked in Congress : " Shall America submit the
destiny of the west to France, while Sjiain, her ally, stands
ready to grasp it? " Hamilton read Congress a lesson, when he
said that it was not France who coidd have extorted from us
'• Inuniliating or injurious concessions as the price of her assist-
ance," but Congress, who placed France in a condition to do it,
liy imposing cm the connnissioners the obligation of deferring to
Vergcnnes. This degradation had been felt in C^)ngress, and
to a demand to recede from it, the friends of those instructions
liad a])ol()gized iov the injunctions by de(daring tlieni oidy for-
mal : hut no one then knew that France had intrigued to secure
their enactment as a means to save the western country to
Spain. It was fortunate that under Jay's lead the connnission-
ers disregarded those instructions, and Adams certaiidy did not
construe them as imposing the necessity of following the advice
of Vorgennes.
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210
PEACE, 17SJ.
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When Livingston, after the treaty was signed, ealleil the
condnet of the commissioners in question for making the ticutv
without the privity of Vergennes, Jay fittingly re})lic'il that
France eouhl have no comphiint, since the treaty had nothiiii; in
contravention of the treaty of 1778; that it eouhl not be ! mul-
ing till France had concluded a gencal treaty ; and that the
instructions ])r(!Sui)i)osed France woi.ild act in the interest of
America, while it was })roved she was ])lanning for Spain's and
her own advantage. This explanation of flay gave the tone to
the advocates of the conunissioners in Congress. liicliaid
Henry Lee said that France deprived herself of the right (if
privity when she began to i)h)t against her American allv,
Kutledge and Arthur Lee contended that the public good re-
quired the action of the conunissioners.
" The English," said Vergennes, wlien it was all over. '• had
bought rather than made a peace." Wiiile all Euroi)e was
wondering at the British concessions, it is not difficult to under-
stand the British motive. The party of peace, which Grenvilk'
Sharp represented, had got the upi)er hand. The stubboniiicss
of King George and his advisers had given way to those iiiihi-
bitable pi'inciples which often wreck the ])resent to settle the
future. It had become necessary to decide whether Ciuiaihi
should be environed with a kindred people, or with the race of
Bourbon aliens.
As early as January, 1782. Livingston, in the imccrtainty of
the future, had intimated to Franklin that a neutral liidian
territory beyond the mountains would be ])referabie to a direct
British contact in that direction. In this the American foreign
secretary was not probably fully aware of the purposes of France
and Spain. In June, D'Aranda gave to Jay a coi)y of Mitch-
ell's map, on which he had marked what he proposed to nuike.
if he could, the western limits of the American States. It
showed a line running north on the back of Georgia td the
mouth of the Kanawha, and so to Lake Erie. It aff<)r(hMl a
recognition of the grants which had been later made in tin' tei-
r Hi ::!
Note. — Tlu» opposite Rcctiou of a Cfir/f tjhtt'rnle tffs Trfirf Efnt^ I'ni.^ ff Int}i'i)*')i<hi)i\^ <\f
V AnihiifHe Si'plinitriDiKile il'iijiri'.^ .V. limine, Imihiiiiir Hi/<h(ifinii>/i<' <le In Mnriiii' il<' Fri'in'.
1782. shows tlie Freiioli view of the Umits of the United States, to he .inoweil hy the tre.ity, — tli'
line ruiniinif soutli from " SandosktS fort " on Lake Erie. The dotted Une at the top of the liar
extends to Sandusky on Lake Erie.
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I the treaty, — till-
the top of tlie nwp
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PEACE, 1782.
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I'itoiy restriettMl Ity the jn'ocluination of 1703. All this was
as far as tlie Hourbon cal)iiu'ts wvvv incliiu'd to go. To this
was opposed the American arj^iuneiit that the very prohihitiiins
under that i)roelaniati()n were an aeknowledgnient of the States'
inherent eharter rights, whieh that instrument had only tempo,
rarily assailed, as Livingston had rehearsed to Franklin.
This line drawn on Mitchell's map was the first clear indica-
tion of what Si)ain wsvs striving for. D'Aranda eoujjlcd liis
graphic argiunent with claiming that the Spanish capture of
the Illinois fort had pushed their rights eastward till they
reached the territory belonging to the Indians. Jay ha idly
needed the promptings of recent instructions from Livingston
to deny the Spanish conquest and to maintain the American
rights.
Kayneval now put into Jay's hands a i)aper in which he tried
to show that after 1703 England had never considered the
western country a part of her " established " colonies, and that
Spain never actpiired the territory above the Natchez. The
country between the Spanish ])ossessions and the Alleghanics
was, as he claimed, the inheritance of the natives, and to secure
them in their rights he i)ro]>osed a tortuous line, running north
from the Gulf to the mouth of the Cumberland, on the cast
of which tlie Indians should be under the protection of tlio
Americans, and on the west the S])anish should have a sii^ilar
su])ervision, with an exclusive right to the navigation of tlie
Mississippi. In September. Jay acquainted Vergenncs tliat it
was his determination to abate nothing of the ^lississipju claim.
It was a sign to the French minister that he had b-^th alertiuss
and firnuiess to deal with in the American commissioners.
D(! (irasse, after being ca])tured by the British fleet in the
West Indies, had been taken to England, and, ]>assing on
parole from London to Paris, he is thought to have carried an
intimation from the Englisli cabinet which induced Vergenncs
to send Kayneval to the English capital. Oswald believed that
Eaynevars object was to bring Shelburne to allow that liotli
banks of the ^Mississippi shoidd go to S])ain. If he could have
accom])lished this, Vergennes, as Kayneval intimated in a ])ai)t'i'
which he gave to Jay, was ])re])ared to su])]iort England at the
final settlement in a demand for the limits of the Quebec Act.
Kayneval had never agreed with Jay's views, and had thought
i u
VKlKilwWKS A\I) SIIELIiriiXE.
213
aiiv loncossion iniule by tho Ainericiin comiui.ssioner too small.
In pressing upon Slu'lhunic the ncci'ssity of heinniiny the
Aiiii'iicans in on the west, he rcveaU'd for the first time to
the Kiii;lish eahiiiet what was really the purpose of France
and Spain, and opened the Knj^lish mind to what North had
warmly contended for, — the integrity of the liounds of 1774 in
tile Ohio valley, both as a justice to their Indian allies, and as
prcst rving the forts which they had erected north of the Ohio.
it Idoiin'ht back the old ])roposition of Vergennes, made two or
tiine years before, of closing the war by dividing the western
country between Kngland and France.
Vergennes's present pur])ose was patent. He wished to
weaken the United States, and he desired to have Kngland
acknowledge that the bounds of Canada ran to the Ohio, so
that if evi'r a turn in fortune rendered it possible, France
could recover by treaty her ])ossessions in the St. Lawrence
valley. rFust what Kayneval's i)n^'j)osc was in this Knglish
mission has been a subject of controversy. Diplomatic denials
in the mouth of such a nnin count for little. If we take his
ostensible instructions as evidence, they contravene the charac-
ter of both Vergennes and his creature. It is necessary always
to remember that Vergennes never had any purpose but to
aiigrandize France.
Shelbnrne was clearly suspicious. lie saw that to release
tlic Americans from the French toils, and from any evil to
l)ritain resulting therefrom, was to give the new nation an
extent of territory which would conduce to its dignity and
liuttress its indcjKMidence against lioui-bou intrigue.
Oswald, the English agent, in talking with In-anklin, signifi-
cnntly hinted at the recent liussian discoveries "on the back
(if Xortli America" as affording a possible basi; for a friendly
power to move against S))ain, if that country drove both Eng-
liiiiil and the United States to extremities. " This a])pearcd a
little visionary at present." said Franklin, ''but I did not dis-
pute it."
So the Spanish and French Bourbons were thwarted in I'cality
hy the adhesion of England to her old colonial charters, and by
lier |)urpose to make them an inheritance for her enianci])ated
colonies. The con(piest of the northwest by Clark told in the
tinal result rather more against the pretensions of S})ain than
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214
PEACE, 178 J.
aj^alnst tlioso of England, C'lai-k liinisclf, in March, ITSO. li-d
siispecti'd tliat Spain wonld ^^ladly liavi- had the British ('a|ttuiv
all posts oast of the Mississippi, so that they nii<;ht he r<'t;il<tn
by her troops, to estaldish there a elaini which would serve to
lielp her to their ))ossession at the ])eaee.
Congress had indeed formulated its right to the trans-Allc
SOURCE OF THE MISSISSirPI.
[A reference to so well known a map as tliio ol " North America " by Samuel Dunn, ilated in
1774 (nearly twenty years later tlian Mitchell's), and making part of the Ainirifiin Milihinj
I'oiket Alliif, issued for the use of ISritisli offlcers, by Sayer and Bennett, London. 17"ii, mily f'a
years before tlie negotiations of 178'J, might have thrown doubt on the geography of the earlier
map, if mucli attention had been paid to the point.]
ghany country on these ancient charters, and it had not recog-
nized that there was in the proclamation of 17G3 any abateiiuiit
of those rights. Neither in the negotiations at Paris, nor in
the planning for a public domain, had this profession been lost
sight of.
Of the territory which the treaty had saved to the Aiiieri-
cans, Jefferson said at the time in his JVotes on Virr/iniu : '" The
country watered by the Mississijijii and its eastern brandies
Note. — The opposite map is from " A Plan of Captain Carver's Travels in I'dfi and ITi'"." in
his Travel.i, London, 17S1. It shows the relation of White Bear Lake (touching 47"), the 6iiii|)u!('tl
source of the Mississippi, to the Lake of the Woods.
(liiteil 111
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I'KACE, 178'.'.
<'(»iiHtitiit«'H live cigliths of the United Status, two of whifli tivf
eighths are tn-eupied by tht; Ohio ami its waters ; the residuary
streams whieh run into the (Jidf of Mexico, the Athmtie, aiul
the St. Lawrence make the remaininix three eiuhths."
Under her treaties with Franei; and Spain, England claiiiud
a ri};ht to use the Mississij)))! fron> its source to the sea. and
the new treaty followin;^' an offer which day had made tln(iiii;li
Vaughan, when he sent him to Knyland to counteract the jilots
of Kayneval, confirmed to the United States an equal sliaiv
with England in that navigation, and Shelhurne, at the time
in ignorance of the attendant geography, imagined that Mrit-
ish manufactures were by this j)rivilegc likely to find a new
market. The denial of this liritish light to the river by Siiaiii
led, as we shall see, to complications whieh gave some romantic
interest in the near future to the history of the western scttlt'-
ments. England's claim to that right rested now, curiously
enough, on the supposition that the n})pcr reaches of the (Jieat
Kiver were availalde for .shipment or travel from Canailiaii
territory, and when the source of the ^Iississip])i was found to
lie wholly within the American domain, and when the purcdiusc
of Louisiana in 1803 had secured both banks of the Mississi|H)i
to the United States, England abandoned the right, and made
no reference to it in the treaty of 1814.
The concession of territory whi(,'h the treaty mad'- to the
United States in the extreme orthwest was everywh'.'rc a sur-
prise. Luzerne wrote to Vergenu • "The Americans, in jiusii-
ing their i)ossessions as far as the ':« of the Woods, are
prc])aring for their remote posterity a coi. Munication with the
Pacific." The ])ro})hecy has been fulfilled.
A discontent, much like that of France, was at once mani-
fested in Canada at the line which the treaty had given thf
United States on the north. There was a widespread fcelini;
among the Americans that Kuglaixl lyould never consent to
dividing the Quel)ec of 1774. (Itt eral Irvine, when in cdhi-
niand at Fort Pitt, hud felt ccmfificnt of this. Ilaldimand had
long struggled to make the (Quebec Bill effective. Now when
he saw that his r fforts had not only failed on the Ohio, but that
farther east the Americans had gained Niagara and Oswego.
lie felt a sense of shame in the necessity which it involved ot
riiE ToniEs.
21'
niiiiiNiny; thu Iroquois, the British alli«'8, to tlu' other side of
I/iUf Ontaiio. Tliis necessity iiuule Sir John .loluison eall the
tii:iiv iiii •• iufajuoiis " one.
The snrji'inj^ ot" the wai' had not n)a(h> the fate of tiie Oliio
(•(iiinti'V eertain, notwithstjuidinj;- the hrilliant exploits of ("lark.
Tiie iie;;otiations at Paris iiad aecordinj^ly lingered, with many
cuiiiiter-plots, as we have seen, over the (h'stiny of that rej;ion.
j'laiikliii at one time had feared that Enj^land was tryin<;- to
(IctMcii France from the American alliance l»y oft'erinj'* to restore
Caiiiida to her, and hut for Rodney's defeat of De (Jrasse
( A|tiil, 1782), there niii;ht have been some cjiance of it. The
Kiii;lisli, on the otiier hand, had had their Hts of distrust for
fear that I'^rance mi;;ht prevent the United States coniin<]f to
an independent negotiation, when the Ohio country would have
licfii the consideration in other diplomatic bargains. That Kng-
land Iiad a lingering hope in some way to secure that country
as a refuge for the loyalists is evidtmt. " We did not want
such neighbors," said Franklin, who had been too nuu-h ex-
asperated against the Tones soberly to estimate what a loss
the country was to suffer by their ex])ulsion. Fraidvliu indeed
had suggested to Oswald that these political outlaws should
even be denied a home in (^anada, and that the American juris-
diction ought to extend to the Arctic circle and so accomplish
their exclusion. lie added, with a mock gi-aciousness, that pei'-
haps some of the Canadian waste lands couhl be sold to indem-
nify the royalists for the confiscation of their estates. This
was an intimation that he very soon regretted he had given,
lie confessed, however, that there might be some Americans
\vh() felt that (^anada in Ibitish hands would be the best guar-
antee of the Anu'i'ican Union.
It has been clainied by Dr. Wharton, in his Tntcfnatlonal
l.inr /)i(/(',sf (iii. 913), that if Franklin had not been hampered
hy liis fellow negotiators, he would ])r(tl)ably have secured
Canada to the United States, but there is little jiround for such
ii lioiief. He could have had as little hope of it, when tlie test
I'unie. as Vergennes had of restoring the ancii'ut reign of France
witliin its borders. (Jrenville. in a letter to Fox, stated th(>
'lUfstion squarely when he said that England would naturally
^>'e little reason to give away a fourteenth province, after she
liail lost thirteen.
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PEACE 1787.
Tlie acquisition of the country between the Oiiio and the
lakes, the joint control of most of tlie midland seas and the en-
tire jurisdiction over others, was of itself a jjrosperous stroke.
It carried a sufficient success, even though Kngland did Udt
concede the navigation of the lower St. Lawrence, which she in
fac', denied down to the conclusion of the reciprocity trtiitv
in 1854.
There had l)een, during the closing months of the negotia-
tions, more than one jjroposition as to these northern bounds
submitted to the English niinistrv.
Kayneval, as we have shown^ had been content to leave the
question to English diplomacy, never once (luestioning that she
wouhl stubl)orn]y stand by the Quebec l^ill, and Vergenut's.
wlien the final negotiations were aj)proaching, had written to
Luzerne that the Americans had no claim whatever to carve
away any part of the Quebec of 1774. Oswald, however, liad
felt the })ressure of Franklin, and he had jjointedly re})orted to
Townshend that to reduce Quebec to the limits which it liad
mider the })roclamation of 17(33 was " necessary and indispen-
sable '" to a peace. Accordingly. Townsliend. on Septendn r 1.
instructed the B-itisli agent to consent " to a confinement of the
boundaries of (''anachi. at least, to what they were befoi'e the ai't
of Parliament of 1774, if not to a still more contracted state
on an ancient footing." This was jn-aetically an acce])t!ni('i' oi
the Nipissing line of 17<»8. Jay met the occasion witliin a
short time, and on October 5 ])ut info Oswald's hands some
articles which Fraidvlin had approved, and wliich embraecd
this Xipissing line, which turned from the St. Lawrence at 4")
north latitude, and lan straight to Lake Xipissing, and th.^nce
to the source of the ?Iississip]n. Thrive days later. Oswald
forwarded the draff to London for his Majesty's consideration.
Tlie line did not. as Franklin had anfiei])ate<l, ))rove satis-
factory, and Sfracluy, one of the imder-st c retaries, was sent to
Paris to strengthen Oswald's hands, beai-ing a letter to liim
dated October 23. There had intervened some nnlitaiy snc-
cesses for th" 1^ 'itish arms, and the ministry felt more ( iieoiir-
aged in their ability to press a recognition by the Ignited States
of the loyalists' claims to the Ohio coinitry. Accordingly.
Strachey was exi)ected either to secure this, or, as an alt-eina-
tive, to push the northeastern boundary from the St. Croix
THE B0I:ND ARIES,
210
Avcstwanl to the Penobscot. But it \v;is too late, and the Aiuer-
icaii t'diinnissiouers were as firm as ever.
Ill N(»veinl)er, Straehey sent to the foreign secretary a new
(halt of a treaty, accompanied hy a niaj) whieii showed Os-
\v:il(r> line, and two others, now submitted by the Americans,
wild wi re iireptived to accept either one of them. One of these
liiif. tollowetl the 4oth parallel due west to the Mississippi,
tlicnby accei)tin<i' tlu; ])eninsula between Lake Ontario and
Lake Huron in lieu of what now constitutes the upper parts of
Micliiiiiuu Wisconsin, and ^Minnesota. The other proposition
was a line startiui;' from where tlu; loth })arallel touched tlic
St. Lawrence, and foUowing- the mid-cliannel of river and hikes
westward and beyond Lake Su[)erior. This line took the re-
verse in the exchange of ])eninsular territories. Strachey. in
his letter accoinjianying the draft, reeonunended that certain
'• loose '" expressions in it should be " tightened " in the en-
<;rossiiieut of it in London, and premised that the American
coiiiuiissionei's were *' the greatest (piibblcrs '" he had ever
kiiiiwn. They had been (piibbling to some effect.
Tlie forciu'n secretary, on Novend)er 19. at the instance of
tlie Duke of Kiehmond, adopted the middake line, and urged
till' siiiiiiug of the treaty Itefore the assembling of Parliament.
Kleveii days later it was signed, and in sending it the sauu.> day
to London, Strachey wrote: '* (mxI forbid, if I should ever
have a hand in another ]>eace I "' John Adams said : " The
peace depended absolut(dy ui)on the critical momiait when it
was signed, and haste was inevital)le.'"
Oil December 10, Strachey. who had in the mean while gone
to London, wrote back to Oswald that he had found '* Mr.
Towii>liend and Loid Shelburne perfectly satisfit'd." The sat-
isfaction did not prove, however, sufBcient to insuie quiet.
The American commissioners might w«'ll congratidate Liv-
ing-'toii that the bounds which they had secured showed little to
eoiiiiilain of and not much to desire. Rut in England uj)on
second thougiit, and in Canada at once, there was little of such
cninphicency, because of the weighty loss which befell the nier-
laiitile inrerests. The trade of Canada was not very great, but
it was it?' all. Shelburne C(»ngratulated hi'.nself that wh'le
Canada affordcvl ,.idy £50,000 annual revenue, he had. ])ut an
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PEACE, 1782.
end to the war which had cost £800,000 a year. The treaty's
partition of the valley of the Great Lakes had, moreover, dealt
a blow to Canada in throwing more than lialf of ^he west-
ern trade in ^kins — reckoned at £180,000 — into the con-
trol of the Americans. It was estimated that not far from
fonr tliousanct Indians of the watershed of the upper lakes were
accustomed to gather for trade at Mackinac, which was also
by the treaty brought within the American bounds, llaldi-
mand, by dispatching Calve to them, lost no time in trying by
seductive speeches to keej) these tribesmen faithful to British
interests. The ><orth West Company of Montreal stood ready
to profit by such opportunities as long as the surrender to tlie
Americans of the western posts could be delayed. Through
this postponement the company was enabled for some years to
control the trade of the more distant west through stations at
La Baye and Prairie du Chien.
The traffic which the Canadians had long conducted through-
out the region northwest of Lake Superior was now likewise
threatened by the Grand Portage becoming, under the treaty.
the American boundary. This passage was the water-way —
called by a misconception in the treaty Long Lake — which witli
some interruptions connected Lake Superior with the Lake of
the Woods. The trade passing along this communication had
amounted to about £50,000 annually, and there were nearly
three hundred men y<Jfti'ly following it at the end of a course of
eighteen hundred miles from Montreal. Ilaldimand, prompted
by the solicitude of the Canadian traders, had advised them
not at present to throw any doid^t on the divisionary line whieli
was to be tracked along tliese linked and unlinked waters.
To question it would, he feared, lead to a joint survey, and that
to a disclosure to the Americans of the channels of trade in
that direction. Meanwhile the Canadians had begun to search
fov another ])ortage wholly on British ground, and one Frobisher
had speedily found it by the way of Lake Ne})igon.
This ])assage of the Grand Portage was sui)])osed by the
connnissioners in Paris to be the true source of the St. Lawrence
waters l)y a water-way of a steady incline, but broken by carry-
ing-places. It was really known by tiiose more familiar with
the country to be cut by a divide whicdi turned the streams on
one hand to Lake Superior and on the other to the I uke of the
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THE GRAND PORTAGE.
001
"Wddds. Modern exploration, indeed, as tlie line is run, has
shown several minor divides in addition. It is said that the
simi^vstion of making this broken current the line of the treaty
cauu' from one Peter Pond, a native of Boston, who had been
coiniei'ted with the North West Com])any, and whose represen-
tations were accepted by the Englisii commissioners. This
was casiev for them, because Pond's statements seemed to be
in ait'ordance with Mitchell's map of 1755, the principal one
usi'd l>y the negotiators. In this map, as in all the contempo-
rarv maps, Lake Superior is shown to be well filled with islands ;
and the mid-water line, athwart the lake, was defined as i)assing
tho northern end of Phillipeaux Island on its way to the Grand
Portage. This was in accordance with a belief that the north
end lay nearly opposite the entrance of the water-way. The
fact is, that it is much more nearly on a line with the south end,
and by this misconception the international line on modern
maps makes an unexpected turn in order to throw that island
on J-"" .American side.
It as at that time also supposed that a line passing from
Lal.c Superior up this water-way and crossing the Lake of the
AVoods would at the northwest angle of that lake strike the
4!* of latitude, and if then continued due west on that parallel,
that it would strike the Mississippi somewhere in its u[)i)er
parts. Mitchell had not exactly figured this condition in his
ma]), but it could be inferred from what he did show.
In 1785, this same vagrant Bostonian Pond made, as we shall
S(>t'. a jdot of this region, in which he was the first to em])hasizc
the fact tl:at the !^Tississip])i really rose far south of the 49 of
latitude, and se ••nt off Englishmen from the chance of navigat-
ing' that river This developuicnt actually left a space of about
one hundre' i. i ;■. •;>etween the springs of the Great Kiver and
the Lake of t5u V/wods. In this interval there was, of coiu'se,
hv tiic treaty no i 9r"u.m of bounds, — a ditficulty solved after
Louisiana was accjuired by dro])])ing the line due south from
the lake till it reached the 49th parr-llel, along which the
houndary was then carried west to the mountains.
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The proclamation of 17u3 was the cause of other diffieul-
tit's on tlie southern border. Florida at the general peace was
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PEACE, 1783.
restored to Spain, England having held it since 17G3. It was
the sole success of the miserable intrigue in which S})aiu \vm\
been engaged, and if the later admission of Lord Lanstlowne
(Shelburne) is to be believed, England yielded it now in the
hopes that it would endjroil the United States and Spain in tlic
future. Whether yielded for that jmrpose or not, it certainly
became a bone of contention, and D'Aranda is said to have
warned his sovereign that it would.
Its retention by England would, under the secret clause of the
new treaty which had Ijcen agreed up(>n, have stopped the bounds
of the Re])ublic at the latitude of the mouth of the Yazoo, li'J
28', instead of carrying them farther south to 31", — anotlicr
result of the proclamation of 17G3, and equally the source of
later troubles with Spain. Notwithstanding such a diminution
of the Kcjjublic's area. Jay had hoped the negotiation wmld
have left west Flori-'') in the hands of England, and in the
usual ignoran(!e of tlit ! iphy of the source of the ^lissis.
sippi, he urged it upon ti., ..glish commissioners as affordinj^-
near the nsouth of that river a complement of the commercial
rights which they accpiired at the source.
The fact that England in the proclamation of 1703 had an-
nexed this debatable territory — now containing j)ei'ha|is ten
thousand inhabitants — to west Florida, as well as (lahcz's
successes in cai)turing the English posts within it, was the
ground of the (daim whicd. Spain nrged for possessing to the
Yazoo. If Congress, in 1771>, had yielded to the importunities
of Patriclc Henry, and had succeeded in doing what (ialvcz
later did, the secret clause of 1782 might have ])roved effective.
As it was, the success of (ialvez had been at the time grateful
to Congress, and when, at the dost of the war, Oliver Polloek
])resented to that body a portrait of his friend, the S]>anish gov-
ernor, it was accepted " in consideration of his early and jealous
friendship, frequently manifested in behalf of these States."
If the United States, in the conclusions whi(di had been
reached, had any occasion for gratitude, it was because in the
perilous issue England for a brief interval showed something of
that '' sweet reconciliation '" whi(di Hartley and Franklin had
talked so much about, for that temi)orary blandness came, as
John Adams said, at the right moment to serve America's tern-
VJ::iiGEXXES.
:i:23
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toiial ambition. Certainly, the United States had no gronnd
fur ^^atitude to Franee or i?[)ain, neither of which liad any other
intt'iitii»n than to a<;gran(lize the other, iuuniliate Enghind, and
ciiimlc America. Fortunately, to secure these results the inde-
iiL'iulonee of the United States was necessary, and this was the
oiilv i)i(>i)osition to wliieh Vergennes was constant. There was
iiidocd no reason to expect anything else of the Bour')on polit-
ical twins. "' The Americans know too much of politit-s," said
Talleyrand, "to believe in the virtue called gratitude between
nations. They know that disinterested services are ah)ue enti-
tlfd to that pure sentiment, and that there are no such services
liitwcfu States." This was the key to the dii)lomacy of that
aiic and times have not luuch changed.
Sparks in his time, and AVharton of late years, trusting too
iiiiplicitly in the ])ublic and even confidential j)i'ofessi<>ns (>f Vcr-
^('ii.ics and Hayneval, — two so expert masters of duplicity that
tliiy needed constantly to struggle to prevent duidicity becom-
ill^ masters of them, — have believed that the susi)icions of Jay
and Adams as to the purposes of France were without founda-
tion, and that Franklin had the (di'arest conception of the situa-
tion : but the publications of Circourt. Fitzmaurice, Doniol,
and Stevens have indicated that the insight and prevision of
Jay was true, when, a fortnight before the treaty was signed,
111' wrote to Livingston as follows : "■This court is interested in
separating us from (Ireat Britain, and on that ])oint we may, I
lielieve, depend upon them : but it is not their interest that we
should become a great and formidable people, and therefoi-e
they will not help us to become so. It is their interest to keep
some point or other in contest between us and Britain to the
end of the war, to prevent the possibility of our soonei- agi'ce-
inji'. and thereby keep ns employed in the war and dependent
on them for suppli(^s. Hence they have favoi'cd and will con-
tinue to favor the Briti^•h demands as to matters of boundary
and the Tories."
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The provisicmal treaty was made definitive on Septend)er 3,
1783, after England, France, and Spain had Jigreed among
thenis(dves to other terms of ])eace in tlu^ i)receding January.
The iiitiM'val since the signing of the preliminary treaty had
allowed England time, through new political leaders in the coali-
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PEACE, 1782.
tion witli North, which Fox iiianaged, to recover from her trac-
table mood, and the final treaty was signed by those who did
not formulate it. It was useless to hope in tlie revision for the
rectification of wliat .lolin Adams called "inaccuracies," and
its language was unchanged.
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CHAPTER XTII.
THE INSFXUKITY OF THE NOHTHAVEST.
1783-17.S7.
TiiK war for independence was over. Jefferson i-eekoned
that the struggle had eost the people of the United States
something like !|140,000,000, while it had caused England the
iiu'ftVctual expenditure of at least five times as much. It was
iu'knowledgp"! in the House of Connnons that every soldier sent
aoioss the nbu had cost ,£100 sterling. Brissot, with only aj)-
juoxiinate correctness, put it rather strikingly : " The Ameri-
cans pay less than a million sterling a year for having main-
taiiu'd their liberty, while the English pay more than four mil-
lion stei'ling additional annual expense for having attempted
to rolt tiiem of it."
But this monetary disparity was no test of the far greater
loss which Great Britain had suffered. Her dominion had been
curtailed by a million square miles, as it was then computed,
and this territory constituted an area best assured of a future
aniont;' all her possessions. Her prestige was injured, and her
hereditary enemy across the Channel gloated on the sjiectade.
Her colonial children had been divided: a \n\vt of them were
left suspicious of her, the rest were looking to her for substan-
tial recognition of their loyalty. Her savage allies had been
turned over to the tender mercies of those whose })ossessions
tin V had ravaged. There was a po])ulation of about three and
a (|uarter million, mostly her kin in blood, whom she had alien-
ated wlioi she most needed their support. All this had hap-
pened because her ministry were blind to the advance of human
itltas, and were stubborn in support of an obstinate king, who
could not see that the world moved on, and that there was an
inevitable waning of old assumptions in the royal prerogative
and Parliamentary rights.
The American commissioners had made a triumph under the
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THE IXSKCURirY OF THE XORTHWEST.
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guiding iuHiience of fJay and Adams, as Ilainiltou at tlu; time
reeogni/od, which cut by a double edge. Not only had Kii".
land felt one edge, but France had felt the other. •• 'rin;
Count do Vei'gennes and I," said one of these conunissioucrs,
" were pursuing different objects, lie was endeavoriuj; to
make my countrymen meek and humble, and I was laboiiui;' to
make them proud." It proved, indeed, the pride that ^octli
before a fall, and that fall was very near being a fatal one
when, some years later, John Adams's predictions were verified.
" England and Franct'," he said to the president of Congress.
Se])tember 5, 1783, •' will be most perfectly united in all artificis
and endeavors to keep down our reputation at home and alunail.
to mortify our self-conceit, and to lessen us in the opinion of the
world."
A few days after the signing of the preliminaries, Jolin
Adams, addressing Oswald, one of the British commissioners,
deprecated any resentnuMit which the motlier country might l)e
disposed to harbor. " Favor and promote the interests, i'c|)ut!i-
tion, and dignity of the United States,"' he said, " in everytliiiiij
that is consistent with your own. If you pursue the plan of
cramping, crippling, and weakening America, on the sujiposi-
tion that she will be a rival to you, y(.. will make her really so ;
you will make her the natural and i)erpetual ally of your natu-
ral and perpetual enemies," — and she came near doing so,
Some days after Adams had written thus. Jay, in addrcssinij
the secretary of foreign affairs ( December 14, 1782 ), said in
explanation of the complacency shown by Britain in the yw-
liminarie \ and in the king's speech : " In the continuance of
this disposition and system, too much confidence ought not to
be placed, for disappointed violence and mortified aml)ition are
certainly dangerous foundations to build implicit eontidenee
upon.''
A few months later. Jay again wrote (April 22. ITS:)):
" They mean to court us, and in my o])inion we should avoiil
being either too forward or too coy. . . . There are circuin-
stances which induce me to believe that Spain is turning her
eyes to England for a more intimate connection. They are
the only two European powers which have continental posses-
sions on our side of the water, and Spain, I think, wishes for
a league between them for nmtual security against us."
'Nil
CRITICA L COXDITIOXS.
221
Similar ai>i)rc'lu'nsi<)iis wrvv shart'd by .sagacious observers
on linth sides. Matlisoii wrote to his father (.lamiary, 1783) :
••The insidiousiiess and instability of the British eabinet forbid
us to lie sanguine." Ilaniilton warned (Mareh 17, 1788) Wash-
iii^tuii of the ''insincerity and duplicity of Lord Sheli)urne."
I'xiijiiuiin Vaughan wrote in February from London that the
treiity '' had }»ut many good [u-ople into ill humor, and it
has i^ivcn a thousand i)rete.\ts to the bad })eo])le among us."
Fiaiiklin found it easy to l)elieve that any change of affairs in
Kur()|)e, or udshaps anu)ng the Americans, would find the min-
i-.tiy ready to renew the war, for, as he wrote, the British court
'• is not in truth re 'onciled either t(» us or the loss of us." He
maintained this o} uuon steadily, and wrote ( Sej)tembei' 13) to
tile president of Congress that the English court '• would never
coasc endeavoring to disunite us." These views wei'e reflected
in tlie expressions of Kichard Henry Lee, William Jiingham,
and nianv others.
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In entering upon its new career, the young Republic was in-
deed surrounded by hazards greater than she had surmounted.
Wlien, on January 20, 1783, hostilities were declared at an
end. they gave ])lace to internal dissensions and external in-
trigues. These things startled the steadfast patriots. " There
lias not been a more critical, delicate, and interesting ])eriod
diiiiiii; the war," wrote Elias Boudinot to Washington. Wash-
iiii;ti)n at one time was forced to say of the sad conditions.: " I
think there is more wickedness than ignorance mixed with our
councils."
Jay, in Sei)tend)er, 1783, was urging u])on Gouverneur ^lor-
ris: •' Everything conducing to union and constitutioiuil energy
of government shoidd be cultivated, cherished, and protected,
and all counsels and measures of a contrary com})lexion should
at least be suspecte<l of impolitic views and objects."
A hotter s])irit of union might have parried some of the
(laniicrs. but there were others naturally inseparable from
having for neighbors (m the northern fi'ontiers those who, when
tlu! ti'eaty was soberly revie'wed, saw how much they liad lost.
Still gi'oater peril came from the inherent weakness of the con-
federacy.
Edmund Randolph wrote to Washington : " The nerves of
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228
77//i' L\S1-:CLRITY OF THE SOUTHWEST.
•■ovcrmnent are unstrung', hoth in t'licr^y and money, anil the
ta.sliion of the day is to eaitininiate the l)est services it' un.
sui'fessful." Franklin felt that these riuuors of ineapacitv and
wionj;' were doing the State nmeh injury, and jH'rsistently luld
that matters were better than they seemed. "Our donicstif
misunderstandings," he wrote to Hartley, ""are of small extent.
though monstiously magnilicd l)y your mieroseopie newspapers."
llaitli'V had warned Fi-anklin while the negotiations of peace
were jiending that the victorious States might, after all, reject
the authority of Congress, as they had that of Britain, so tli;it
the i)eaee would be but the ill-fated moment for relaxing all
control. llamilt(m wrote to Washington on March 17, llHo:
" There is a fatal op])osition to continental views. Necessity
alone can work a reform. But how produce this necessity?
how ai)i)ly it? how keep it within salutary bounds ? 1 fear we
have l)een contending for a shadow." There was no better
proof of it than the fact that not a quarter of the reipiisi-
tions which Congress had made, and was to make, on tlit; States
for the necessary expenses of government were and eould lie
met. The niH'd of a central controlling power was more and
more engaging the attention of circums])ect observers. Hamil-
ton now undertook to devi.se a plan of a military establislmieiit
for the i)eace. He urged that a system independent of and
controlling the separate States was essential, if the western
country was to be jjrotected and the navigation of the Missis-
sii)i)i to be secured.
It was soon evident, such was the laxity of the bonds between
the States, that the stipulations of the recent treaty could not be
enforced. The only power to hold the States to their obliga-
tions in this respect was that same Congress whose demands weie
of no avail in asking jjccuniary support for the government.
That there existed a disposition on both sides not honestly to
observe the conditions of the treaty was only too a])pareiit.
— on the part of the British because they did not wish to o'l-
serve them, and on the i)art of the American Congress because
they could not. Jefferson spoke of Congress as " inactive s]iec-
tators of the infractions because they had no efifectual |io\ver
to control them." Adams contended that the British ministry
THE LAKE I'USTS.
229
Wfii' in the lirst instance res)>uiisil)li' for ii hreiicli of the «Mtiu-
pact, ''ay maintained thai the hhuue hiy with the Americans,
aiiil lie said to »Iohu \(hims ' that there had not been a single
(lav. since the treat} jok effect, in which it had not been vio-
lated Iiy one or other of the States."
It is safe, liowevei', to assume with Richard Ileiiry Lee, " that
lioth countries were to bhime, ami transgressious were (m each
■,i(lf coe([uaI."' Hamilton said, " The (juestion is one so mixed
and doubtful as to render a waiver e.\j)edient on our part." At
the (lid of a long controversy over this point of first responsi-
liility, it was " Curtius's " o])inion that "the j)arties were as
rciiidte from agreenu'nt as when they began. ' The real ai)prc-
lu'iisidu was whether either side, actuated by passion, should
take advantage of the infractions of the other, and deliberately
put eonnnon concessions out of reach. Hamilton remonstrated
with (lovernor Clinton on such " intem])erate proceedings" in
New York as really put the treaty in jeopardy.
That breach of the treaty which seriou.sly affected our western
iiistory was in the detention of the military po.sts on the Great
Liilvts, which were, by the terms of the treaty, included in the
coiu'essions to the Republic. There was, perhaps, some ground
for the fear, on the })art of the British, that the concession had
seemed like abandoning their Indian allies, and that some time
was needed to reconcile them to the change. Such had been
the fear of Hartley, and he had ])roposed for the definitive
articles a delay of three years in which to pacify the tribes.
The siip})ression on the part of the English, however, for a
Iniio; time of any reason for the detention was in a high degree
init:iting. When it was announced, it proved an allegation
that threw the blame ujjon tlie Americans, since it was held
that there had been obstruction in the several States to the col-
lection of British debts, which were to be i)aid under the terms
of the peace, and that the jjosts were retained as security for the
uni)aid indebtedness. There can be no doubt that the rightful
jiioeesses of law for collecting debts had bi'cn impeded, as Jay
in his report acknowledged. Hamilton, in his Ohscrrdt'ioiin on
Jiiy N Trcdtij, points out that various acts respecting the British
<lel)ts, in New York, Virginia, and South Carolina, antedated
the eoiiclusion of the treaty, as fixed in the final ratifications.
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Tin-: ISSECUHITY (tF TIIIC NvnTIlWEST.
Rhode Isliiiid. New rlcrsiiy. North Ciirolinji, iind (icoi^ia \\m\
iiuidf thf (h'hts payahlc in (h'prt'cijited juijum- iiioiu-v, when tin'
ohligation was in stfi'liiij;". ( '(tngri'ss virtually ai-UiiowlrdmMl
this when it eaUed upon the States (April 18, 1787) to repeal
those ssunc laws, llamilton further nrj^cd it was "an usinpa.
tion iij)on the ])ai't of any State to take upon itself the husiiicss
of retaliation." Indeed, I'ennsylvania, in showin-;' that one of \\v\-
acts complained of had in leality been passed hefon; the ticatv
was made, jtointedly atlirmed that " when treaties are hroktn
on the one part, representatives from the other contraotiiig
])arty to i'e])air the hreaeh should always precede retaliation,"'
jNIeanwhile, the dei»t(,vs themselves were Hyiny; o\ir tin-
mountains, whei'e they eould not be followed, im])overisliiiig
in some decree the producing power of the east, and adding
to that population w!<ich Fiankliu, in his SvihUih/ Fchuis t<,
yl?y/^'>'/c(/, charged the British j;'o\ernment with pourinj;' into tliu
States. jSondinot, then president of Congress, had early fore-
seen the difficulty. On Aprd 12, 1783, he wrote to Lafayette:
"The term" of peace give universal satisfaction, except that
no time is mentioned for the American merchants ])aying their
English debts. Having the greatest part of their estates in tlic
])ul)lie funds, and having suffered greatly by the depreciation of
the money, inevitable ruin nuist be their portion if they have not
three or four years to accomplish the business." Congress diJ
indeed, in the following June, send instructions to have a limit
of three years for i)aying the debts inserted in the (iefinitivc
treaty, but no change was made. Franklin, in a more exasper-
ated s])irit, rehuked the British importunity, when he said it was
British depredations that had made Americans unable to iiieet
the demands of their Bi-itish creditors. As the years went on.
and the licpiidation of the debts was still arrested, Tom Paine
reminded the British creditors that it was their conunercial
restrictions that interfered with the course of justice, in <lt-
])riving the American merchant of his legitimate gains. It
was estimated that these debts amounted to about #28,000.00(1.
and to this #14,000,000 in interest was to he added, niakiiiu
#42,000.000 in all. It was Jay's advocacy of paying this in-
terest that came near at a later day (1794) defeating his con-
firmation as special envoy to England. Kufus King thonu'lit
that no jury would award interest. John Adams claimed that
the war had annulled P^ngland's rights to interest.
DEI'OUTATION OF ULAVES.
231
Tlif cliiff infiiiij^oiiH'iits of tlic treaty on the Ainericun s'nUi
\V( If <iiu! to Vir,i;iiiia. It was owiiij;- to her tobacco cro)) that
her [ilaiittTs now owt'tl nearly as much as all the othec States
<(imliiiie(l. Hrissot jmt it in this way : " The inih'peiKh-nt
tiiiciicaiis have hut little money. This scarcity rises from two
causes. First, from the kind of commerci' they heretofore have
carried on with Knj;land, and afterwards from the ravaj^-es of a
.seven years' war. This commerce was iturelv one of exehantje,
ant! in certain States, as Virginia, the importations always sur-
jiassed the exportations, and the result was that they could not
but he debtors to Kngland."
This (piestion of the creditors' ohli<;ations was mixed up in
tlie |iulilie mind with a rij;htful demand for compensation du(!
tlie Americans for the loss of fuf;itive slaves, carried ofV hy the
British at the evacuation of New York. The j)resident of Con-
oress wrote to Franklin, June 18, 1788 : " It has been an ill-
jiidi^ed scheme in the British to retain New York so long, and
send olf the negroes, as it has roused the spiiit of the citizens
of tlie several States greatly." The valuci of such slaves was
placed hy their former possessors at more than 400,000, and
tliey were said to number, adults and children, nearly three
tliitiisand. as commissioners, sent to watch the evacuation of New
York, reported.
That this deportation of the blacks took jdace was acknow-
ledged l)y Pitt, but it was contended that when the slaves fled
witiiin the British lines, in some instances in resi)onse to Carle-
ton's proclamations, they became liritish property, and could
he lightfully carried off like other accpnred chattels, and that
the terms of the treaty had referencti nu\y to seizing slaves for
tile purjjose of carrying them off, which had iiot been (h)ne,
though there was a doubt in some cases if the slaves had not
collie within the liritish lines after the signing of the treaty.
Joseph dones wrote to Madison that this rape of the blacks
would inevitably be used to justify delay in ])aying the British
delits. Hamilton contended that if it was infamous in (ireat
l^i'itain to seduce the negroes, it would have been still more
infamous to surrender them back to slavery. lie held that the
British interpretation had nmch in its favor, and the act was
not "such a clear l)reach of treaty as to justify retaliation." On
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THE INiiECURITY OF THE NORTHWEST.
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inucli t!ie siiuu' grounds the British might (leuuuul, it was
ceiitendcd. the deserters from their service who had yield*', i to
America)', seductions. At all events, this carrying oft of slaves
instigated the Virginia Assend)ly in May, 1784, to put stiitu-
tory obstacles in the way of English creditors. Patrick lii'iny
was a warm advocate of these retaliatoiy acts. Hichard Henry
Lee and others of less })assionate mood opposed them, luit in
vain. Among the soberer remonstrants was George Mason,
who wrote to Mr. Henry: "On the whole, we have better tcinis
of peace than America had cause to expect, and I cannot hut
think it would be highly dangerous and imprudent to risk a
breach of the peace." Tn the sequel, Virginia grew more mod-
erate, and there was talk of a plan to li(piidate the debts in
seven annual installments, flc^fterson could flatter himself that
before the last installment of the debts was paid, the value of
the deported slaves could be reserved. Virginia, meanwhile,
had made lier compliance contingent upon that of the otliev
States, and uj)on the surrender of the deported negroes. In
these demands, as in her imperative demands for the evacuation
of the i)osts, she was led l>y Patrick Henry. Congress in the
eml, and on o re])ort from Jay, did, as we have seen, what it
could to induce tue recalcitrant States to purge their statute-
books of all laws hindering the collei'tion of such debts : tlie
relief, however, was not absolute till the adaption of the Fedeial
Constitution gave such matters into other h;<nds.
Thus the most serious risk of the ])eace came from that State
'vhich, in her territorial o.Ktensiuu, claimed to have gained most
by the ])ersistent effoits of the peace commissioners to carry
the Republics bounds to the ^lississippi.
There was another British ])lea for the retention of the wi'st-
ern post' viiich liad far less justification. The An;:-ri('aii com-
missioners had resolutely refused to guarantee any conipeii-^a-
tiou to loyalists for their losses, and the British agents had as
persistently refused to make reparation for private property
of tlie i)atriot party destroyed during the war. It was .lays
opinion that " Dr. Franklin's firmness and exertion "' on the
American side did much to maintain their ground. All wliieh
the .Vmerican commissioners would concede was in the tiiih
article of the treaty, that Congress should recommend to the
W^ J
THE TORIES.
233
several state assemblies to repeal Uieir confiscation acts, antl
iiKike such restitution of projierty already confiscated as tliey
could consistently. The sixth a^'ticle, however, required that
tlure should be no future confiscations or persecutions, — a })ro-
vi>i<iii whieli, it nuist be confesse.l, was subjected by st)nie, as
Hamilton said, to a "subtle and evasive interpretaticm."
The American })eople naturally rated the Tories by the worst
of tliem, and how little sympathy there was for them can be con-
eeived from Franklin's statement of their case: "The war
a"ainst us was beLtun by a general act of Parliament deciarin"'
all nur States confiscated, and })robably one great motive to the
loyalty of tlie royalists was the hope of sharing in these confis-
cations. Th^y iiave played a deep game, staking their estates
anainst ours, and they have been unsuccessful." " As to the
Toiies,"' said Jay, '• who have received daniagt.' from us, why so
iiuieh noise about tliem and so little saui or thouglii of Whigs,
who have suffered ten times as niucii from these same Tories ? "
Carleton, with undue haste, had pressed Congress to do what
had been promised for it ; but Livingston replied that no action
could be taken till the articles of j)eace were ratified, wlien, as
he alleged, tiie recommendation of Ccnigress would be received
with more respect, after the " asperities of the war shall be worn
(h)\\n."" When lady »1 idiana Penn ai)i)ealed to Jay for the
restoration of her rights in l*etnis}]vania, he rejdied (Decend>er
4. 17S2): "There is reason to expect that wliatever undue
(h'u'.ee of severity may have been infused into our laws l)y a
merciless war and a stronj; sen.se of ininries will yield to the
iiiHuences of those gentler emotions which the mild and cheerful
sea-on of peace and tran(|uillity nnist naturally excite." The
roeommendation called for by the treaty was in due time made
hy Congress, but the States, having the matter in their own
(liseretion, showed no inclination to favor the loyalists.
Tlie connnissioners, who were aware that the terms of the
treaty in this res])ect were consideri'd in lMiro|)e "very Im 'iili-
utiiin' to Britain,"" in.^isted, in a communication to C( j<;Tess
(Se|itend)er 10, 178;]). that the provisions of the treaty siiould
he <;nricd out "in good faith and in a manner least offensive to
tlu' tcelings of the king muI court of (Jreat Britain, v.iu) ui)on
that ]ioiut are extremely tender. The unseasonable and unne-
eessary resolves of various towns on this subject," the}' added,
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234
THE INSECURITY OF THE NORTHWEST.
M
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"the actual expulsion of Tories from some places, and the
avowed im})lacal)ility of almost all who have puhlished their
sentiments about the matter, are circumstances which are am-
strued, not only to the prejudice of our national magnanimity
and good faith, but also to the j)rejudice of our government."
Nevertheless, the States were content to feel, as apparently
Franklin in his heart felt, that the recommendatory clause of
the treaty was simply embodied to dismiss the matter, and, if
any relief was to be afforded the loyalists, there was naturally a
general accpiiescence in the belief that their relief should wait
the withdrawal of the British forces. The fate that should then
Lefall them was perhaps expressed as considerately as was likely
to be the case in what Jay Ayrote : "I think the faithless and
cruel should be banished forever and their estates confiscatcil ;
it is just and reasonable. As to the residue, who have either
upon principle openly and fairly opposed us, or who fiom
timidity have fled from the storm and remained inoffensive,
let us not punish the first for behaving like men, nor Ite ex-
tremely severe to the latter because nature had made them like
women.'"
So the debts and the loyalists were made by the British min-
istry to justiiy as l>est they coidd the retention of these lake
posts for the next twelve years, with all the repression Avhieh it
imjdied upon the development of the northwest, which amounted,
in Hamilton's opinicm, to the value of £100,000 a year.
Two or three months after the ])relinunaries of })eaee had
been received. Congress, with the same j)reei))it':nu'y which cliar-
acteri/ed Carleton in urtiiii''' action about the loyalists, in-
structed Washington to arrange with Ilahlimand for the same
s])eedy transfer of these posts at the west and on the lakes as
had been made of the ])ort of New York. The station-; in
question were tliose at Macdvinae, Detroit, A\'abash, Miami,
Fort Erie, Niagara, Oswego, and a few miiu)r points, iiududini;-
two on Lake Chain])lain. The jiost at Detroit carried \vitli it
some two or three thousand nei<>hboving inhabitants, and lli-n'
were, in addition, some othcn' settlers near I)utchinan"s Toint.
Accordingly, on July 12, 1788, Washington wrote to IIaldiiii:inil
and dispatched Steuben with the letter. On August M. ili"'
American general, having reaidied Chambly, sent his credentials
iii. i
THE INDIANS AND THE TREATY.
235
fiuward, and Ilaldimand hastened to the Sorel to meet liim.
It was then that Ilaldiinand, with great civility, orally declined
to discuss the matter without definite orders from his superiors,
itiul a f L'W days later took the same position in letters which he
Mildrt'ssed to Steuben and to Washington. The English general
;ilsi) declined to allow Steuben to proceed to an inspection of the
pDsts. Steuben later told the president of Congress that in his
i)|)iiiion the British were " j)lanning their schemes in Canada for
lioldiiig the frontier posts for a year or two longer."
Hartley, indeed, had anticipated in the course of the nego-
tiations at Paris, as has been shown, that the Indians would
fiiiil themselves l>y the treaty "betrayed into the hands of that
|)''ni>Ie against whom they had been ineired to war," and that
it was as necessary to treat them warily as it was that pro-
vision should first be made for the traders. Already, in August,
178;^, the British traffickers at the upper posts had com])lained
of American interference with their profits in a trade which
was known to be worth <£50,000, in the region beyond Lake
Sti|)crior. A little later the Montreal merchants represented
that the trade of Mackinac comprised three (piarters of the
tutire trade in the Mississippi valley between 39° and 60"^ of
latitude. The finest fur country was represented to be that
south of Lake Superior, but here hardly a quarter of its ])()s-
sible yield was secured, owing to the irascil)iHty of the Sioux.
Well might Frobisher, one of the leading traders, e(mtend that
it would be a "fatal moment" when the posts were Liven up.
Hartley's reasons for delay in surrendering this traib^ were
precisely those now advanced by Ilaldimand in reporting his
action to Lord North, and he was doubtless right in alleging
tliat undue haste migiit incite the savages about the posts to
wai'. while the traders de^^endent on them needed time to close
their accounts. After waiting nearly a year for such molli-
fyiuL'- and conclusive effects. Ilaldimand on his part in A])ril,
1TH4, asked instructions from Lord North ; and Ivnox, on the
otliiT liand, on May 12, 1784. was oidered to make a new
ilt'inaud, and sent Cohmel Hall, who in July was dismissed by
Ilaldimand with the same courtesy. l)ccause no orders to sur-
render the posts had been received, l^revious to this, on A])ril
i', Great Britain had ratified the definitive treaty, as Congi'(>ss
l.:)i! done on January 14 preceding, and in August Ilahlimand
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THE INSECURITY OF THE NORTHWEST.
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was in possession of the verified document. It was now a])])ar.
ent that the issue had become a serious one. The ([uestiou was
not only upon the h\nguage of the treaty, " with all convenient
speed," but also upon the propriety of considering the provi-
sional or the definitive treaty as the true date for release. Tlie
Atlantic ports had indeed been given up after the provisional
treaty, but that was an act of mutual convenience. It was
Hamilton's opinion that the practice of nations in similar caM.s
was not decisive ; while the United States had seemed to agice
to the longer period by deferring its legislative rcconunenda-
tions till after the final treaty had been ratified.
It has sometimes been alleged that the retention of the posts
was simply an ex])edient to force the Americans to make sncli
terms with the Indians as the British commissioners had failed
to make by the treaty, and possibly to gain souie vantage-
ground in case there might be a further rectification of the
frontier.
The relation of the frontiers with the tribes was certainly a
critical one, and largely because of the neglect of the Indian
interests by the British. Patrick Henry was ui'ging !it this
time an amalgamation of races, and he desired to have bounties
offered for half-breed children as a means of jiacification ; hut
there v/as generally greater faith in nuiskets. General Jedediali
Huntington was now reconunending to Washington the sending
of some five or six hundred regulars to the frontiers, for the
military situation in the west was looking serious. At the ])ea('e.
according to Pickering's estimate, it had been thought that ninie
than eight luuidred troops would be necessaiy to garrison tlie
entire frontier, north, west, and south. That officer had thin
assigned one hundrcnl and twenty men to Niagara, " the most
important ])ass in America,"" sixty to Detroit, and one hundred
to the fartlier lake posts, in rlune, 1784, ^lonroe urged ("mi-
gi-ess to be prepared to maintain a western force ; but all ln'
could accomplish was to secure s(»me seven hundred twclve-
mtmths' militia from Connecticut, New York, New .Tersey. juuI
Pennsylvania, to protect the frontier.
Indian outrage's were renewed on the frontiers in the spring
of 1783, and in Ajn-il. Dickinson of lAMinsylvania was moving
Congress to take some effective steps. On ^May 1, Congn'ss
ordered that the northwestern tribes should be ofticialh in-
THE FUR TRADE.
237
foriiu'd of the terms of the peace, and one E])hruim Douglas
was sent to Detroit. De Peyster, the British connnander at
that post, was found hy Doughis to have given the Indians tlie
impression tliat the jmsts were still to be retained by the lirit-
ish. On Juiy 0, in the presence of the American agent, De
I'tvster urged the Indians to be (piiet, and told them that he
cduld no longer kee]) them, and gav<; Douglas an o})portnnity to
rxphiin the treaty. A few days later, Douglas went to Niagara,
\\\wAv General McLean was now feeding three thousand Indians,
and there had an interview with Brant. This chieftain disclosed
tliat tl'.c liulian lands must be secured to the tribes before any
treaties could bv^ made. Douglas reported to General Lincoln,
now secretary of war, that he was neither permitted to accom-
])any Brant to the Mohawk villages, nor to address the Indians.
Simon (iirty, who was De Peyster's inter})reter, served in the
same capacity later f(n' Sir John Johnson, when another confer-
once was held with the Indians at Sandusky, and Johnson warned
them not to permit the Americans to occupy their lands. It was
advice which led to many difficulties, though Congress itself
was not without resj)onsibilities for the long and harassing
conflict which followed ii])on their occu})ation of the territory
noi'tli of the Ohio, though it may be claimed that the results
wt'iv worth the cost. '• As to originating the Lidian war," said
Roudinot, ten years later, while president of that body, " so
far fr;(ni its being: orijiinated bv Great Britain, I know that it
oiigii ated in the false policy of Congress in 17!:i3 ; I foretold
it tlieu, with all its consequences."
It is necessary now to broaden our survey somewhat in order
to nnilerstand better the real reasons which had induced llaldi-
nuind to devise a jdan for retaining the ])osts, — a scheme into
wliic'h tlie ministry ca'^ly entcn-d. " AVlio are these miglity
and clanvoi'ous (^ue'oec merchants ? '" exclaimed \\'illiam Lee,
when the news reached Brussels in February, 1788, that they
Wire com])laining of the peace. It was, ax fact, these Can;'.-
<liiin fur traders who saw in the concessions of the bounds
which liad been made in the treaty that their traffic could no
loiiLivr be protected from the rivalry of the Americans. As
Brissot I'cckoned, the annual sales in furs at London, coming
from Canada, amounted for a few years succeeding the peace to
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r/f^: INSECURITY OF THE NORTHWEST.
:il)t)ut live niillion *' livres tournois." " It is from this consider-
ation,"' he adds, " that the restitution of these forts is withheld."
It was supposed at the time that one of the objects in prolong-
inir British intriu'ues with the disaffected Vermonters, so as to
(letacli theiu from the Union, was, as Hamilton expressed it. to
" conduce to the security of Canada and to the preservation of
the western posts."
The Britisli furthermore felt that these American rivals would
iind no h)n_i;er any obstacles to their wish to open an inter-
oceanic channel of trade. Carver tells us of a juirpose which had
been entertained by the Atlantic colonists, before the outhreak
of the Revolution, to send an expedition under Colonel Ho«j;crs to-
wards the Pacific, with the expectation of discovering- the loiii;-
hidden Straits of Anian. The clash of arms had i)revented the
f idHllment. While the war was ])rogressing, however, the English
government had sent Cai)tain Cook on his famous voyage, with
instructions (1776) to make the Pacific coast at 45° north lati-
tude, and to follow it uin-th to 05°, in the hopes of finding that
long-sought strait, for the discovery of which the British gov-
ernment had recently offered a reward of £20.000. Littli; was
then known of what Spain had already done on that same coast.
for the Spanish flag had really been shown above 42° and up to
50°, while Ilaeeta had actually surmised the existence of the
Cohunbia in 1775.
When Cook, at Nootka Sound, saw the natives trendile ;it
the noise of his guns, he was convinced that the Spaniards had
not already accustomed them to ordnance. lie himself missed
the Straits of .luan de la Fuca, but by recording the presente
of the sea otter in those waters, he intimated a future industry
of the region. His journals were not published till 1784-1^") :
but a brief official report had already been made ])ublic. wiiicli
John Ledyard, a Connecticut adventurer, used in jireparing ;in
account of tiie voyage, published at Hartford (1783) just at
the close of the war. Ledyard had been a corporal of marines
on Cook's ship. It was an indication of the interest, since the
pressure of war had been removed, whiidi was taken in adven-
turous traffic that Ledyard. eager to be the fiist to open trade
on the northwest coast, now engaged the attention of ludiert
Morris in his plans. Ledyard was through life the sport of
freakish fortune, and no effort of his could mould the passing
Ul
NORTH WEST COMPANY.
239
encinuautMnent even of Morris into i)nu'tic'ul shape, and lu'
wt'in ti) Eiiroi)e to enter new fields, Jefferson, then tiic Ameri-
can minister at Paris, feeling him to be " a jierson of ingennity
and information, but nnf;.rtunately of too much imagination,"
ocntlv encouraged him, and Lcdyard started to j)ass through
Kii>--ia and approach his goal by way of Kamsehatka. Sir
,l(is('|ih Hanks, who had encountered him, iiad reached a high
(i|iini(in of him, and thought him the only i)erson fitted for such
an cx]»loration. His attempt failed, and it was left for some
iidsttin merchants, a few years later, to accomplish by a voyage
amund CajJC Horn the i)rei'm])tion of the valley of the Columbia,
t(i Ix'conie the goal of fur-trading competitors.
An oiganized effort on the ])art of the British merchants had
lu'cn made in 1783, just at the time when the retention of the
])osts was under consideration, by the formation of the North
A\'est or Canada Company. This trading organization almost
iiniuediately started u]) rival comi)anies. Some bloody contests
in tilt' wilderness followed between their respective pioneers,
which were ended only by their combining in 1787. Sej)a-
lately, and later jointly, the trading instincts of these associates
jmsliod adventurers on the one hand up the Ottawa and so to
tiie Peace Hiver, and b}' the Mat'kenzie to the Arctic seas : and
on the other hand ultimately to and beyond tlie Rockies. By
178'). they had begun to plant the British flag north of the
Mississippi and upon the Missouri, as well as on the lesser
of the upper affluents of the main river. The headcpiarters
of these operations were maintained on that portage, between
Lake Su])erior and the Lake of the AVoods, which the treaty
had jnst made the line of boundary of the new Republic, in
ii^novance of the real ultimite source of the Great Lakes in the
springs of the river which enters Lake Superior at Duluth. A
cerroet knowledge of geography would in reality have lost thiC-
Tiiited States a large part of the modern Minnesot:;. The
tiattie along this treaty route was concbicted with a policy too
like tliat which iiad enfeebled New France on the same soil,
to insnre an equal contest with t^.e American setth r in the later
•struggle for the possessitm of the Colund)ia valley, fherc was.
however, on the part of some, a conception .lat American
tntorprise must .seek iti channc^ to the Pacific and the nations
hoyond not so nnieh in the north, in conflict with the liritish,
as in the south, in the rivalry of the Spanish.
Vi.
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1 1,
111.
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240
THE INSECUniTY OF THE NORTlIWESr.
. I
By the time that Caileton hiid witlulrawn (November. 17H3)
the British troojjs from the Athintio coast, it had becuint'
ai)i)arent to the Hritisli government, on the prompting of tlu-
merchants of Canada, that the conditions of the peace were
far from favorable to tliat chiss of snbiects. These ti-ailiii"
combinations had of hite been extending their operations from
Detroit and Mackinac as centres, and their movements had
condnced to the founding of Milwaukee and other new posts
on and beyond the lakes. A later attempt to carry a hufffv
vessel than had before been used on Lake Superior thioiigli
the rapids at the Sault failed ; but with such craft as still
sailed on those waters, the volume of the trade was large, and
more than half of it was conducted by the merchants, throiij^li
the posts which rightfully fell to the Americans by the treaty
and were still in British hands. Hamilton ]mt it more stroii_:ily.
and said that by siu-rendering half the lakes, England (jiiit
claimed a nmcli larger ])art of the fur tiade. Of the two thou-
sand troops now holding (\inada, less than eight hundrt'd
occupied the })osts from Oswego westward, while less than four
hundred held Lake Chamjdain and its api)roaches. Preseiving
the ])osts by such a force as this, it was hojjcd to prevent the
transfer of allegiance to the new Uei)ublic of the allied mer-
chants, who might otherwise prefer to cling to their profits
under tlie new Rei)ublic rather than to their birthright without
them. It was, perha])s, safe to trust to the future for some
vindication of a refusal to give up these stations, and the delay
had convinced the ti-aders tl>;vt there was no immediate need of
discovering other portages to the far West, as at first they had
begun to do. Thus not only were mercantile interests to he
served, but ])ride also, for there was a growing sense of mor-
tification at the loss l)y the treaty of the principal carryiiii,'
])laees, and the hope was entertained that some rectification ot
tlie boundary might yet be ])ossil)le, through the failure of tiie
American government to maintain itself, as was indeed later
attempted by those who negotiated a treaty with Jay in ITIM.
In arguing the question of priority of infractions, the Ih'itisli
agents claimed that, until the ratifications of the treaty weiv
exchanged in May, 1784, it was not incund)ent ')n the British
government to issue orders to evacuiite the ])osts, and that such
orders, if issued then, could not have reached Quebec bciore
I
-!,:
■tH
u
77/7i LOYALISTS.
241
M
,Iiilv. 1784, and that i)rior to tliis tliu American States had
♦•niM'tt'd hiws impeding the e(>lleeti<»n ot" the Hritish dehts.
Tlic fact is, however, that the British policy had heen (k'ter-
niiuiil oven bef ;re the two governments had respectively rati-
licd the definitive articles, for tlie day hefore Parliament con-
liniicil tiie treaty, Sydney had sent instructions to llahlimand,
wliidi reached him before Jinie 14, 1784, to hold fast to the
posts. It is thus certain that a month before the time came
for relieving the British government of an inii)utation of ini-
fairiii'ss, this action was taken. If it was not an infraction of
till' treaty, then no enactment of the American States, anterior
to the same date, could be held to be such. The facts arc, that
l)iith sides were faithless, and practically by acts of even date ;
nor was there any disposition on either side to undo promptly
wiiiit had i>een done, when both sides were fully informed of
the ratilication. The motives in both cases were those of mer-
I'antih' gain.
The retention of the jmsts meant a ])rofit to the English in
excess of what would be gained by the possession of Xcw York,
and larger than any possible loss by repudiation of the debts.
When (lovernor Clinton of New York, after Congress had
latith'd the treaty, demanded the evacuation of Oswego and
Niagara by sending, mi March, 1784, an agent who made the
demand at Quebec in May, Ilaldimand, who did not, as it
turned out, get word of the British ratification till the following
Annust, would not recognize the right of a single State to make
siieh a demand ; and as if to screen the real object of the posts'
retention, intimated that the posts might not be surrendered at
all, if the claims of the h)yalists were not better res])ected. In
Aui^Mst, that general was pointedly warned by his sui)eriors
to refrain from such explanations, and in November, he left his
siK'eessor, St. Leger, instructions to observe the same warning.
Jay, n September (5, 1785, when the loyalists were moving
into Ontario almost by thousands, notified John Adams that
'■sonic of the loyalists advise and warndy press the detention
<|f tlio posts:"' but when, in the hitter i)art of 178;'). Adams, then
the Amei'ican minister in London, first learned officially of the
^ninnuls for still holding the ])ost. it was not ascribed to the
iii';^leet of the loyalists, but accounted a means of securing
l>aynu>nt of the debts.
M
iM V
III
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24'J
77/ A' IXSECUIUTY OF TIIK NORTHWEST.
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Wht'ti Iliildinmiul, in inakinj^' answer to the dcniaiiil for the
])ost.s within the jurisdiction of New York, had referred to
tile loyalists, their fate had lonjj been ni)perniost in his mind,
liy August, 1788. tlie pioneers of this ex})atriated l)ody were
l)eginnin<j to reach Canada from New York in large nuiidiers,
to seek for new homes. Dunniore, while the ne<4(»tiati<>iis for
peace were going on, had proposed to settle tliese faithfid sidi-
jeets on tlie Mississipiti, with a view of using them t'roiii that
base in continuing the war, just as Washington at one time had
looked beyond the mountains to find an asylum if irretrievahlc
disaster overtook him on tlie sea coast. Jiut the peace had
changed all. Fraidilin and his associates would not listen to
any scheme of making tiie confederation responsible for the
security of the loyalists, while there was no provision for which
the Knglish connnissioners had contended so steadfastly, and if
Jay was correct in his assurance to Livingston, Decembei' 12,
1782. the British commissioners did not expect that restorations
would be made to all that class. But their constancy had hecn
of no avail, and the fortunes of the luckless Tories had l)((en left
to the uncertain consideration of the several States. There was
nothing then left for the British commissii,:iers to do bnt, in
the choice of northern bounds which the Americans gave them,
to select those which left the southern jieninsula of Canaihi
between Lakes Ontario and Huron in British hands. It was
here, in a region which had been ])reviously almost unoccnpicd,
that it was now ])roposed to settle these unha])])y rt'fn<j;ees,
though Ilaldimand, in November, 1783, reconnnended that a
settlement be made near Cataraqui. Beside those who had
come overland from New York in the sununer of 1783, otliors
left the same port by ship in the following autumn, to join siuli
as had gone before. In the exodus it is supposed that ahont
fifty thousand fled to Canada, and if the figures of the Tory.
fludge Jones, can be trusted, there were one hundred tlionsand
of these exiles who departed fi-om New York to seek some
asylum between March and November of that year (1TS3).
Within a twelvemonth, there were certainly ten thousand of
them who found tlieir way to these upper Canadian lands, and
some twenty thousand are known to have gone to the maritime
provinces.
These outcasts carried into Canada just the blood, hardihood.
r^'S
M
IXIJIAX Ji.ilDS.
24n
juul cmiiaj^o wliiuh were so needed in a new country. From
thci: devotion to an undivided eni|)in', they later assumed the
iiaiiii' of United Kmpire Loyalists, to distinj;uish them from
dtliei' settlers. They were a band that the States could ill
iirtord to drive from their society. Not a few of the i\nu'rieans
then felt that these defeated countrymen could have been much
licttt r dealt with within the Uei)ublie than as refiip-es in a
ii(ii;lilMtrtng land, where they would be stirred by animosities.
,l()li?i Adams said of them: "At lionu'. they would be imj)otent :
iiljinad. they ai'e mischievous." No one felt it at the time nu)re
wiiriiily than Patrii-k Henry, who urged that they should be
eiu.'(»in:ig'e(l to settle beyond the A])i)alachians. "They are,"
lie said in a speech to the Assembly of Vir<;inia, "an enter])ris-
iiii;', moneyed ])eoj>le, serviceable in takin<>' off the sui-jdus prod-
nets of oui' lands." lie added that he had no fear that those
who liad "■ laid the proud liritish lion at their feet should now
lie afraid of his whelps.'
While what is now the Province of Ontario was conun<r into
iH'inn north of the lakes, there was a ])arallel movenu'ut going
on south of Lake Erie, which was in the end to reacdi a far
;;T('at( r devclo])ment. Before the tidings of ])eace had reached
this more southern wilderness, and late in the winter of 17H2-
8'). the frontiersmen and the Sliawnees, with other confederated
tiihes. were still keej)ing up the hostile counter-movements
whicli liad long tracked that country with blood. Hamilton
was reaching the con<dusion that "the most just and humane
way of lemoving them is by exteiuliug our settlenu'uts to their
lu'iyiihovhood." The Indians north of the Ohio had not re-
vived from Haldimand the aid for which they had lio})ed. for
the policy of the P)ritish made at this tinu' for peace. Never-
theless, tlie old feuds, quite as madly followed by -white as by
sava<;e, were not to be quelled, and they continued for sonui
years. Judge Lines shows by figures that fiom 178:5 to ]7i>0,
:it least fifteen hundred fnmtiersmen were killed in these imjda-
eahle raids, and that twenty thousand horses w(>re stolen from
ene siilc or the other. General L'viiie, who was watching tliese
lawless actions from Fort Pitt, did his best to prevent settlers
passing north of the Ohio, and he believed that nothing ])ut the
("xtirpation of the Lidians or driving them beyond tlie lakes
and the Mississip])i could ever render this region habitable.
I '
Hi
vr
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,'
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244
77//; ixsEciJinv or the soirnnvEsr.
This WHS the condition of that country when American ntli-
oei'S, n()W lookinj;' forward to :i respite from war, were h()|iii|M
to provide within it new homes for some part at U-ast of :i di*.
hanih'd army. This peact'ful movement had l)eynn in tlie spline
of 1783, at Newl)iir<;h on the Hudson, whiU' \Vashin;;toii \v;|.,
awaitin}^ theoftieial })ronndt^ation of peace from C'arleton in New
York. The movement was at the start in the hands of (leiicr-
als Ihnitinj^ton an<l Kufus Putnam. On .Fime It!, two htiiKhvd
and eighty-eight otTHcers of Washington's weary army, iiiuinK
New KnglancU'rs, petitioned Congress that tlie Lands giaiitiil
for military service in IT7('> shouhl be surveyed in what is ikiw
eastern Ohio, so that they eouhl be occupied, and in time con.
stitute a separate State of the Union. The hinds to which tluy
referred were east of a nieritlian which h'ft tlie Ohio twenty-
four miles west of the Scioto, and struck northwai'd to the .Man-
jnee, whence the line followed that stream to Lake Erie. Put-
nam bespoke Washington's influence i>i behalf of the petition.
and suggested for the ])roteetion of the intended settleiiu'nt>
that a chain of forts, twenty miles apart, should be ijlaced (in
the western bounds of this tract. Washington transmitted to
Congress the letter of the ofKeers, with Putnam's letter and his
own a})pr()val; but nothing came of the appeal.
Meanwhile, various projects had been broached looking to ;i
more com])rehensive appropriation of the region to civili/t'd
uses. .Fefferson, with the instincts of a pcd/tician, was conteni-
plating the planting of a State on Lake Krie as a northern ;i|i-
])endage, which should be offset by a southern one on tlie Ohio.
This was a revival of a ])roject of Franklin some years betorc.
C\)lon(d Pickering, with a northern fervor, was thinking of a
State to be set up at once, with a military spirit, and from
which slavery should be excbuled. On fJnne o, ITH:^. Cohincl
Bland of Virginia iitroduced in Congress an ordinantc for
erecting a territory north of the Ohio and dividing it into (hs-
tricts, with the ultimate purpose of making States of tlicni.
when their po])ulations reached two thousand each. This Ur-
ritory was to be defended by frontier posts, and seminarifs of
learning were to be encouraged.
While all these measures were thus still incdioato. nnanthnriml
appropriations of the Indian country by reckless ])artii's sicnifil
likely to revive lingering hostilities. To avert this danger. Con-
1
tji:('^:;
i.
Ma
WAsiiiXfrroy axd tuk west.
245
no- ti^ ;i
•ivili/t'd
COlltl'lU-
ifin :ip-
(. Ohio.
lirtore.
lo- of ;i
(1 from
,('ol(tllfl
iici' for
Into ili;<-
tlicni.
liis U'l'-
thoi'i/i'"^
■r, Con-
.-Tc-.^. ill Si'pti'iiilicr, 1783, isrtiuul :i proclamation au;aiust such
uiilawt'ul oi'('Ui)ation of the Imliaii lands. This action did little
to accomplish its ohjuct. We soon tind McKeo, in September,
tcllini; Sir .John .Johnson that the Sandnsky Indians snspcct
tlic Americans of a design to encroach upon their trihal lands.
'I'lic steady H(»\v of settlers across the Ohio did seem to point
to such a pnri)ose. lialdimand was cijnt'dent that these provo-
cations wouUl eml in a war, which woidd he ruinous to the sav-
a<;c. This meant that the retained posts would ho deprived of
a natural harrier : and he accoidinoly mged Sir John .lohnsou
to iiicid* ite moderation u])on the Indians.
^^'ith these dan<;i'rs impendino', \Vashinfj;ton, on Septendtei- 7,
ITiS;'.. reconunended in a letter the layin;;' out of two new Stati'S
in this western region. In lanouaoe nearly following that of
Wasliinnton, Congress, on October 1"), in preparing the way
for till' ordinance of the next year, resolved to erect a distinct
ii'overnment north of the Ohio, but at the same time a eonnnit-
tec reported to C\)ngress that the Indians were not prei)are(l
*• to iclinquish their territorial claims without further stiug-
i;l('s." and reconmu'uded that emigrants be invited to enter the
reuion east of a line drawn from the mouth of the Great ]\Hami,
111) ^'"'^ stream, aud down the Maumee to Lake Erie. The next
month. November, 1783, Washington, in taking leave of the
lUiiiy, pointed to the west as promising a ha])])y asylum for the
uVi.ui soldiers, "'who, fond of domestic enjoyments, are seek-
ing for })ersonal independence."
Wc lu'cd now to consider the existing state of the controversy
over the title to these same hmds. The steps for a western gov-
ovniuciit, both north avid south of the Ohio, were doubtless in
l>;iit owing to a wish to bring Virginia to an unresti'icted ces-
sion of hoi alleged or estal)lished rights to the country. There
li;i(l liccn a memorial addressed to her Assembly in Deceml)er,
178:'). asking to have Kentucky set up as a State, aud urging
that more States would add to the dignity of the Union. He-
firriiig to this desire for self-governnu'ut. it added, " A fool can
put on his clothes better than a wise man can do it foi- him."
^\ hen we considei- the almost inexplicable language of the
^ir^inia <']iartei' of 1009, it shows how state piide can obscure
the mind to find George Mason i)ronouncing its detinitit>n of
1'
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24G
THE INSECURITY OF THE NORTHWEST.
bounds " intelligible and admitting of natural and easy con.
struction." However this may be, Virginia was now content to
hold that, defining her limits in her constitution of 1770, and
the confederation accepting her adherence, with full knowltMl^e
of that constitution, the other States v/ere bound to reconniy.t.
the confederation's declared principle, " that no State shall In-
deprived of territory for the benefit of the United States."
Tiiis precluded the Union, it was held, making any demand lor
cessions. With these convicticms, the Virginia Assembly had
proved little inclined to brook any opposition, such as Tom
Paine had made in his Public Good., when he rej)resente(l the
United States ac the peace becoming " heir to an extensive (juau-
tity of vacant land " in t\w. west. The Assembly was so in-
I'ensed at Paine for such opinions that it stopped, at the second
reading, a bill which had been iritroduced to compensate him
for his services in the Kevolution.
Congress had already determined to accept cessions, as it had
that of New York, without inquiring into title. A conunittce
had been appointed to look into the terms of the cession pro-
posed by Virginia, and on September 13, 1783, this committee
had recommended that Congress should accept the V^ii-ginia ces-
sion, if that State would withdraw the guarantee that Kentucky
should be secured to her. This action was supplemented by an
order establishing the undivided sovereignty of the United
States over the west. There was little now for recalcitrant
Virginia to do but to hasten her action. Edmund Kan(U)liih
had seen the unfortunate predicament into which the State was
thrusting herself, and some months before had written (March
22, 17i33) to Madison : " I imagine that the })ower of Congress
to accept territory by treaty will not be denied. This will
throw a plausibility against us [Virginia] which never hcfoio
existed in the contest with C^ongress," — for the treaty of ])eacc
had, in fact, buttre-sL-ed the exclusive claim of the United States.
Jefferson, too, was becoming fearful lest Kentucky, :ipph in;;' to
be received as a State, would be favored b,- Congress with
bounds stretching east to the Alleghany. This, he felt, would
deprive the ])arent Stato of that barrier of " uninhabitalih^
lands " which she ought to have to separate her from a iieij^h-
bor on the west, if Virginia maintained her bounds on the
Kanawha.
VI R GIXIA 'S CESSION.
247
( )ii October 19, 1783, Monroe luid written to George Rogers
Clailv urging that a new State should be set up with the tradi-
tion "t Virginia, so that the okl eoninionwealth, now beeoniing
awaiv of her isohition among h>.r sisters, Miiglit have an efficient
ally ill tlie federal councils. The pressure had become so great,
butli within and without, that tlie next day, October 20, the
Assi'iiil)lv authorized her delegates in Congress to make a deed
of cession, without the objectionable reservations. This they
(lid March 1, 1784. The instrument provided that "the neces-
saiv and reasonable expenses," later estimated at £220,000,
connected witVi Clark's conquest and rule in the northwest,
should be paid back to Virginia by the United States, if the
claims were allowed before Septend)er 24, 17H8. This had been
consented to, not without apprehension that tlie charges would
he inordinate, since few or no vouch(>rs could be produced.
This time-limit ])roved sufficient to protect all claims but Vigo's,
for he was at the time beyond notice.
The deed had also nuide reservation of bounty lands for
soldiers. In December, 1778, and again in May, 1779, Vir-
ginia had set aside for this purpose a tract in Kentucky, part of
which v.'as later found to lie witiiin North Cai'olina ; and to
make this loss good, in November, 1781, she had substituted a
new tract bounded by the Mississippi, the Ohio, and the Ten-
nessee rivers and by the Carolina line. This end)raced nearly
10.000,000 acres, and one third was for the Continental line and
two tliirds for the tate troops. If this did not prove suffi-
cient, it was now j)rovided by the dee<l of cession, in order to
satisfy some objectors to a cession, that a tract north of the
Ohio and between the Scioto and the Little ^Miami should bo
addeil. There proved to be no objection to ohese provisions,
and Virginia congratulated herself that she had made in the
cession " the most magnificent sacrifice ujion the altar of ])ublic
good which was, perhaps, ever recorded in the history of States."
since by it she "chiefly ])aid the bounty claims of all tlu; Conti-
nental officers and S(ddiers of all the old States.'' This over-
elated connnonwealth had no a])prehension. np]iarently, that she
had been making free with territory to which other States had
as e'ood a title as her own or even a better one, though all their
titles were poor enough, it must be confessed, comjiared with
that wliich the treaty of peace had given to the confedcratios;.
■SI
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248
THE INSECURITY OF THE NORTHWEST.
1.
%-\
A renewed effort upon the part of the Vandah'a Company to
obtain the recognition of Congress, now that it had aecjuiieil
this western region, failed of success.
There was one way beyond her ostentatious sacrifice in which
Virginia hoped to gain, and that was in the use of her ri\tis
as channels of conununication between the seaboard and this
western country. Patrick Henry, in one of his speeches in the
Virginia Assend)ly, said : " Cast your eye, sir, over this exten-
sive countr}', and see its soil intersected in every quarter with
bold, navigable streams, flowing to the east and to the west, as
if the finsrer of heaven were marking out the course of your
settlements, inviting you to enterprise and pointing the way
to wealth." There would be the greatest advantage to \'ir-
ginia, said Washington, " if she would open the avenues to the
trade of that country, and embrace the present moment to
establish it,"
Jefferson, in 1782, in speaking of the ^lississipju as likely to
be the route outward — but not inward — for the western coun-
iv)\ for heavy commodities, looked to the Potomac and the
IIuds(m as lines of communication for the lighter burdens, lie
had, indeed, in his graphic description of the combined enei-gies
of the Potomac and Shenandoah in bui'stiug throngh the barrier
of the Blue Ridge, invested that tidal avenue of Virginia with
]K)pnlar interest. In com])aring the rival routes to the coast
froni Cayahoga, on Lake Erie, Jefferson ])v)inted out that to
reach Xew York by the Mohawk and Hudson re(]uired eighty-
five j)ortages in eight hundred and twenty-five miles, wliilo it
was but four hundred and twenty-five miles to tide-water at
Alexandria on the Potomac, with only two portages, and this
route, he said at one time, " promises us almost a monoiioly
of the western and Indian trade." One of these ])()rtaues
was between the Cayahoga and the Beaver, where, as (ieiieial
Hand had inf(n'med Jefferson, a can.al could be cut, conneetiiiu'
lagoons, in a fiat countiy. The other interruption was between
the Ohio valley and the Potomac, where a distance of fifteen
to forty miles was to be overcome, "according to the tntuhlf
Note. — Tlie opposite mnp is n acctioii of tlip " Map of tlic wpstcrii part of tlip tcrritoi i.s )it'-
loiiRiiit; to the Unitcil States." in Ornrirc Iinliiy's '/'"pofi. Di'scriptinii, Loiiilon, ITflH. It ~li"«'*
tlie ditterent ruiiteH from Uiciiiuond luiU Alexuiulrin over tlie mouiituiiis.
i';^.
ml
,- i'
1 '. !i ' *
wi
-«»
250
THE INSECURITY OF THE NORTHWEST.
which shall be taken to approach the two navigations." Wasli-
Ington, two yeirs later, figuretl it more carefully, when he iikkIl'
the distance from Fort Pitt to Alexandria three hundreil and
four miles, including thirty-one miles of land carriage. Tliis
was by the Youghioghcny : but if the course by the MonoiiLia-
hela and Cheat Kiver was followed, the distance would bi' fuuiul
to be ,'^"ee hundred and sixty -five miles, with a portage of
twenty miles.
Beside the rival ])lan of using the Hudson and the Mohawk,
there was still the route from Philadelphia, wiiich was a dis-
tance of about three hundred and twe:ity miles, wholly by land.
If water carriage be sought, this connnunication would he
lengthened to four hundred and seventy miles, and would folluw
the course of the Schuylkill, Susquehanna, and Toby's Creek.
the last, an affluent of the Ohio. Charlc- Thcmison, the sec-
retary of Congress, was directing attention co two other Penn-
sylvania channels. One was to leave Lake Erie at Prescpilslc.
and proceed by the Alleghany and one of its branches to a
portage connecting with the Juniata. The other joined Ontario
with the east branch of the Delaware, through the lro(]uois
country. Virginians were aware of the spirit of the Pennsyl-
vanians, and Marison wrote to Jefferson that "the efforts of
Pennsylvania for the western commerce did credit to her publio
co'incils. The commercial genius of Virginia is too much in its
infancy to rival her example."
No one took more interest than Washington in this question
of western transit. lie expressed himself not without appre-
hension lest the new settlements on the Ohio, left alone, wmiln
find it for their I'ommercial interests to bind themselves with
their British neighbors on the north, and seek an exit for tiuii'
produce through the St. Lawj'ence, or with the Spaviiards on
the west and south, and find an outlet in the Gulf of Mexico.
This might hapi)en, he felt, all the more easily because aliens
in considerable nund^ers, bound by no tradition or affinities of
blood, were casting in their Iocs with the people of the remoter
frontiers. It was with these fears, arid seeking to avert tlieni.
that Washington turned to find some practicable connnnniea-
ti«m through the Apjialachians. He could but be struck, lie
said, " with the immense diffusion and importance of the vast
IV 1^
WASrIIXGTOX AXD THE WEST.
251
inland navigation of tlie United States. \\'ould to God," he
exclaimed, " that we may have wisdom enough to inii)rove
tlit'iu. " Madison looked to this " beneficence of nature '" as the
suit' protection for the evils of an over-extension of territory.
.lust after the close of the war, ^^'ashington had visited the
liattk'tields along the upper Hudson and the Mohawk, and had
been impressed with the capabilities of canalization in that
direction, so as to form a western route, lie described his
eourse to the Chevalier de Chastellux as "' up the Mohawk to
Fort Schuyler (formerly Fort Stanwix)," whence he ''crossed
over to AVood Creek, which emptie's into Oneida Lake and
affords the water conuuunicatiou with Ontario. I then [he
adds] traversed the country t<- the head of the eastern branch
of the Sus(juehanna. and vie'.ved Luke Otsego and the portage
between that lake and the Mohawk River at Canajoharie."
Latt-r, when once again in Virginia, in March, 1784, Wasli-
ingtoii was urged by Jefferson to weigh against these New York
routes the lulvautages of the course by the Potomac. In the fol-
lowing September (1781) Washiugton, going west to see some
of his own lands, — ou the Kanawha and the Ohio, which he
was yet to hold for ten years and more, — followed the upper
PotDniac, and made observations of the most accessible ways
to rcacli the waters of the Ohio. On his return, he addressed
from Mount Vernon (October 10. 1784) a letter to Benjamin
Harrison, then governor of Virginia, in which he said : "It has
long ln'cn my decided opinion that the shortest, easiest, and least
expensive communication with the invaluabh' and extensive
eouiitry back of us would be by one or both of the rivers of
tliis State, which have their s(mrces in the A])pala('hian Moun-
tuius. Nor am I singular in this oj)ini(m. Evans, in his J/i/j)
iiikI Ai)(i/i/sis of flic Jfidd/r Colo7iies^ which, considei'ing the
iiiily iK'riod in which they were given to the ])ublic, are done
with amazing exactness, and Ilutchiiis, since, in his Tojiof/nt/Ji-
I'li/ Dcscriptidii of the ^VcxtwH CoiDifri/, a good part of which
is from actual surveys, are decidedly of the same sentiments,
as indeed are all others wlio have had o]>portunities and have
lieeu at the pains to investigate and consider the subject."
^^ asliington then goes on to point out that Detroit is farther
ti'ini tide-water on the St. Lawrence by one hundred and sixty-
t'ight miles, and on the Hudson by one hundi'ed and seventy-
• I
%
M '
(■?■
■ ■ {
252
THE INSECURITY OF THE NORTHWEST.
I *^ ,
1.'
SIX miles, thau it is from a port for sea-going vessels on the
1 otoraac. He proceeds to reconunend the appointment of a
commission to inspect the portages between the Potomac and
the waters flowing into the Ohio, as well as to report upon a
route by the James and the Great Kanawha, where the overland
connection was thought to be about thirty miles. Jefferson had
said of the Kanawha, as a suitable avenue for transit, that,
rising in North Carolina, it " traversed our whole latitude," and
offered to every part of the State " a channel for navigation
and commerce to the western country."
Samuel Wharton, in 1770, had said of the Kanawha valhy
that barges could be easily nioved to the falls. " Late discover-
ies have proved," he adds, " that a wagon road may be made
throujih the mountain which occasions the falls, and that bv a
portage of a few miles only a communication can be had be-
tween the waters of the Great Kanawha and the James."
Washington closed his letter to Harrison with a reference to
a new proposition of propelling vessels by mechanism : " I con-
sider Rumsey's discovery for working boats against the stream,
by mechanical power principally, as not only a very fortunate
invention for these States in general, but as one of those cir-
cumstances which have combined to render the present time
favorable above all others for fixin.»', if we are disposed to avail
ourselves of them, a large portion of the trade of the western
country in the bosom of this State .'rrevocably."
James liumsey, to whom Washinf;ton referred, was a machin-
ist living on the upper Potomac, now a Viian of little moi-e than
forty years, who had exhibited to Washington a month before
(September 0) a model of a double boat, which, by the applica-
tion of mechanical power to setting poles, was intended "to
make way against a rapid stream by the force of the same
stream." This exhibition drew a certificate of approval from
Washington (Septend)er 7), but Rumsey soon ..bandoncd tliis
device for another, as we shall later see.
in
Note. — The opposite map is Wr\sliiiip;toi>'a sketcli (1TS4) of tlie diviile between tin' I'l'tomai'
anil tlia Youghioglieiiy, ns eiii;raveil in U. S. Docs., XIX. Conp., 1st Session, House of Kep.. H(|inrt,
No. 228, The oommittee making tliis report point out tliat the road (liotteil line) from Cnnibcr-
land tc the Vonj^hioglieny is almost prerisely tlie ronte of the later Cumberland road. :iiid the
dotted ili'e A B, across the Dividinc: Ridge, is almost identical with the reconnnendiiticii nf
the Rovernni^nt engineers (182(')) for the cour„e of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Tln'.sc rorre-
spondences tlie committee consider to be proofa of the insight of this " great and extraonliiiary
man."
saint'
fl'Oltl
I this
I'litomac
.. ni'i"'rt,
Ciiiiilii'i-
, :iim1 tlie
(iliition of
(iivre-
liioi'linary
r t
'.
:•' I V
254
THE INSECURITY OF THE NORTHWEST.
''I .'M
^/:
,'■ 'vf
Tins letter to Ilarrison was coininunieated to the Vii<;iiiia
Assembly, and led to the formation of the flames liiver inul
Potomac Canal Coini)any. By December, 1784, the project
of such an organization was well in hand, and Washington went
to Annapolis to consult with the Assend)ly. Shortly afterwards
(January 5, 1785) he wrote, from Mount Vernon, to General
Knox that the bills whii'h had been prepared both for the Vii--
ginia and for the Maryland legislatures, in which each State iiad
jdedged £1,000 to the project, were drafted to his liking. The
})lan embraced two measurtfs. One was to clear a road, say
forty miles in length, from the north branch of the Potomac to
C^heat Hiver, an aHHuent of the Monongahela, — a route wliicli
Jefferson considered '• the true door to the western con: lerce."
The other scheme was to carry a road from Will's Creek, and
connect with the Youghi(»gheny, anotlier branch of the Monon-
gahela. This, however, recjuired tlic^ concurrence of Pennsvl-
vania, and in December. 1784, the Virginia Assembly had asked
of Pennsylvania the privilege of free transit for goods through
that government. The Assenddy of that State had discovered
by a survey that a canal wholly through her own territory, and
connecting Philadel])hia ^vitll tlie Sus(pu'hanna, would r('(|uire
£200,000 for its construction. This large cost ins])ired Jefferson
with the hope that the Yorighiogheny route would ]n'evail. and
Washington was convinced that this last channel was ■■ tlio
most direct route by which the fur and ]i(dtry of the laker,
could be ti'ans])orte(l, wliil(> it is." as he added, " exceedingly
convenient to the people who inhabit the Ohio (or Allegliiuiy)
above Fort Pitt." In anticijiation of this route being selected.
Brownsvilh' was, in tlie spring of 1785, regularly laid out on the
IMonongahela, near Ked Stone Old Fort, whitdi had for sonic
ye.ars become the usual starting-point for boats eairving ciiii-
grants down the Ohio to Kentucky, and around which landini;-
]dace there had grown up a settlement of boat-builders arid of
traders in sui)plies.
A route for which surveys by the new bill were also oideved.
and wliich was more satisfactory to th(> mass of tide-water Wv-
ginians, was by the Jamc^s River, whence a short portage, say
twenty-five or thirty miles, conducted to New Piver, and then to
the Kanawha below its falls, and finally to the Ohio. It was
on this I'oute that Washinoton earlier secured sonu^ lands, and
'%»^"*f
;iiul
the
uiv )
■rti'd.
Mil the
some
fini-
idiiii:'-
lid of
l.'ivd.
r Vir-
r-Z/T-^.
-wW^
v-^-^. .
rilii' almvp map Ih from a MS. iimp by HitUpwcIiUt (IT'.Hn, rcproilucoil in the W'islern UfMnie
irisl. >,;,■. Triicl. .\u. IS4 (1884). It shows the vallpys of MuHkiiigiim and CiiynhORii, and the in-
'liaii p.athfl.]
m|;
250
THE INSECrnrTY OF THE XOUTIIWESr.
■A i'i
i S '
I :n
'I
Li
Albert Gallatin was at this time Hurveyinj'' some adjacent prop,
erty on the Kanawha for himself.
When these plans were well devised, Washinijiton, on Xovcin-
her 30, 1785, wrote to Madison : " It apjjears to nie that im
oonntry in the nniverse is better ealenlated to derive hfiictit
from inland navi<>ation than this is: and certain I am that tlic
conveniences to the citizens generally, which will be opeiitd
tliereby, will be found to exceed the most sanguine expecta-
tion." Very likely this letter expresses exactly the opinions
which Washington in the previous spring had disclosed to the
connnissioners of Maryland and Virginia, when, after tlicir
conferences at Alexandria in the interests of intercolonial trade.
they had accepted an invitation to Mount Vernon, and spent
several days with its owner, — a meeting that proved one of the
preliminary steps to the federal convention at a later day.
AVhatever the favorite route from tide-water, it was neces-
sary, when once the Ohio basin was reached, to discover tlic
best avenue to the hikes. On this point Washington had Ix-cn
actively seeking information. He had apjdied to Kichard
Butler, then Superintendent of Indian Affairs, particularly in
reference to a connection which Jefferson had recomniendcd
between the Muskingum and the C\ayahoga, so as to reach Lake
Erie at the modern Cleveland. Later, in 178G, Ccmgress made
all the i)ortages between the lakes and the Ohio basin common
highways, — a i)rovision that was the next year embodied in the
ordinance of 1787. At a still later day (January, 1788), the
New York portage by Lake Chautauqua was, at the instance of
General Irvine, made the subject of other action.
AVhile these physical difficulties were nnder consideration, it
was clear to Washington's mind that, to develo]) any su(di busi-
ness as these rival routes contemplated, it was necessary not
only that a large immigration should be sent beyond the uionn-
tains, but that it should be directed in the right way. It was
a})parent that for the jn-esent the contem])lated channels of
trade might suffice and serve to keep the nascent common-
wealths of the west in touch with the older eommunitit's : hut
AVashington did not disguise his continued ai)prehension iliat
" whenever the new States became so populous and so ex-
tended to the westward as really to need the Mississippi.
there covdd be no power to de])rive them of its use." 1 here
'
CAXAL COMPANY.
257
was. particuhirly lunoiig the Vir<;iiiiiins, ii (growing' conviction
that this Mi.ssis.sii)pi question was a burning- one, and its solu-
tion couhl not be far aliead. It was a necessary outgrowth of
tliat caballing of Vcrgenncs and Spain which .Fay and his asso-
ciates, in 1782, had so bohlly and dexterously overcome. France
was still as treacherous and Sj)ain was as weakly obstinate as
they had been then. In the sununer of 1784, Madison had
met Lafayette at Haltiniore, and j-ndeavored to make him com-
))i(iicnd that FT-anee neeiied, in order to i)reserve the friendship
of the United ^,ates, to jtersuade Spain to give up her exclu-
sive ])retensions to the Mississii)])i. " Si)ain is such a fool that
allowances nuist be made," said Lafayette. It was only a ques-
tion how long she could afford to be a fool, while her nfi-iend-
lincss was not altogether distasteful to Washington, since it
helped his ulterior i)rojects about the western connections of
Virginia.
After the James River and Potomac Canal Company had been
foniied, Washington was induced to becouM' its first ])resi(lcnt.
He I'eiiiaincd long enough in control of it to take a broad view
of its future development. Just after he had resigned his j)res-
idency, and was about to assume the execrtive chair under the
Federal (\mstitution, he congratulated Jefferson that the recent
surveys had shown the sources of the Oliio and Potomac nearei-
than was supposed, and two or three boats had lately , isscd
from Fort Cumberland to Great Falls, nine miles above tide-
water, showing what })rogress had been made in oi)ening the
Potomac.
Ill a))preciation of the value to the company of his services,
the Virginia Assembly made Washington a considerable sharer
in its stock. lie hesitated long about embarrassing his action
hy ai'cepting such a gratuity, and was persuaded to do so only
hy the uigent re])resentations of Patrick lleni'v. He reserved,
liowevei', the right to make its advantages ultimately accrue to
the ])iil)lic. as later under his will was jn-ovided.
As to the j)olitical needs of the country thus to be reached
and developed, there had been movements in Congress looking
to the formation of States out of it. while the war was still in
lirogi'ess. It had been proposed, in 1780. to constitute States
of dimensions not more than one hundred or one hundred and
\f\
! .;
- m/k -
' W it'
d
■
258
THE lysEcruiTY or the xoiithwes'i:
fii
■«'/!'
Hfty iiiilcs scpiJiro. Wjusliiuj^ton had been ui'f^iiiy; .lanii's I)ii,ino
to iictiun ill this matttT, and on Octolter 15 Coiiliji'i'ss resolved
on some step towards setting upsnch Western States, and .Itllci.
son was made the ehairman of a committee to ccmsider the (]ii«>s-
tion. On Mareh I, 1784, lie rejxjrted an ordinance which ••ave
to the ])roj)osed States some snch area as had been sn<if>;estc(l in
1780. His ori<:;inaI ])hin, liowever, was more (Munjirehensive than
an or<^anization of the northwestern rej^ion merely, for he dc.
sired, with the consent of Viriifinia an»l the other Southern States.
to include also their over-hill country, and to exclude slavery
therefrom after the year 1800. By this plan there cotiM he
hiid out fourteen States south of the 45th parallel and nouli of
the 31st. He proposed to give two degrees of latitude to facli
State in horizcmtal tiers. The most westerly north and sontii
column would have six States below the 43(1 parallel and one
above, lying west of Lake Michigan, and a second still fartlier
north, stretching to the bounds of Canada. Those below the
43d would be bounded on the east by a meridian cutting the
falls of the Ohio, Near this jxiint Louisville was already :i
town of a hundred motley houses, including the only variety
store in the Ohio valley, ke])t in stock by the traders who jiassed
down the river from Pittsburg. North of the 43d parallel, and
lying between Lakes Michigan and Huron, was anothei' State.
with four other States lying directly south, and extending to
the 35th ])ai'allel. Scmtli of that the country east of the 'ne-
ridian already named was to be joined to South Carolina and
(Jeorgia. The eastern boundary of this second column of State>
was to be a meridian cutting the mouth of the Kanawha. This
left an irregular piece of territory lying east of this last me-
ridian, and inclosed In- it, by the Alleghany Kiver. by tlie west-
ern Ixmnds of Pennsylvania, and l>y Lake Eiie. which was to
make an additional State. By this division the Ohio bisected
the two States lying between the 37th and o\h\i parallels. It
was jH'ovided that these States could become members of the
confederation as they successively attained a poj)ulatioi> e(|iuil
to the smallest of the original States. A series of curious and
pedantic names, rather ludicrously mixed with more familiar
Note. — Tlie opposite mnp is n ■'I'ction of a " C.irte Gt'iiiTale (les Etata-Unis " in Crivciaur'B
L'llns iViin CiiUh-nlriir, I'ari.-i, ITS?. It sliow.s tlic proposed divisions of tlie wi'stern lirntnry
under Jefferson's ordinance of 1784. Frankl md is misplaced.
I! 9
;■ to
•iir-
aiul
States
rhi>
liir-
wcst-
is to
rctcd
It
i" tlh'
i|iial
and
liliar
crritory
^_^^Ou(ifo \iar
F L o\ K 1 1, ;;
h ' I
. '.
'!
lU'
;i
I' i
1
1
i
1
A
£Jl
L
2f;0
THE INSECURirV OF THE NORrilWEST.
M
//'
:ip})ollations, was gi\on to the grou]). riic most nortlii'iii of
all was iiiiiiK'tl SyWania. Micliiiiania and ChersonesuN lav
respectivfly west and east of Lake Michigan. Just south of
these hiy Assenisipia and Metroj)otaniiM : t\w\\ eanie in the next
tier lllinoia anil Saratoga: while JNtlypotaniia embraced ihc
country holding the various rivers that joined theOiiio in it>
lower course, and J'elisii)ia lay to the east of the last naiiitil,
and mainly s(mth of the ( )hio. The State of irregular oiuliiif
was to l)c calleil Washingl;on.
The oi'dinance was recommitted, somewhat modified, a^aiu
rei)oited March 'I'l. and was later by aniendnu'nt subjected to
other change'. Jefferson's uncouth names were abandoned.
The Ohio, instead of the 8t>th pai'allel, was made the boundary
between the States which had earlier been called Saratoga and
Pelisi])ia. The territory poi'th of io uj) to 4!* was added to
what Jefferson had called Michigania. The (dause abolisliini;
slavery after 1800 was removeil. The o'-dinanee thus reformed
was adopted on April 28, 1784. The essential feature of tiie
ricw^ law was tiiat the States could adopt constitutions like that
<>f any of the original States, and when they reached a i)()pida-
tion of 20.000, they could be admitted to Congress by delegates,
and they could Iiavc che right to vote when a census showed
their State to have a jiopidation eipial to the smaUest of the
old States. All prftvisions wei'c in d\v nature of a coin]iact
between the new comnumities and the old.
i'hough an act of Congress had thus indicated the f'^' ire of tlie
nortluvest, there was little disposition among the peoj.; .o give it
force, and it remained practically a dead letter for the next thiee
years. Dui'ing this interval tentative efforts wei-e made from
time to time to im])rove the scheni". Washington objected to
the ordinance as being too ambitious. Tie thouglit a plan of
" progressive seating," by which States should be called oneaftei'
another into being, as ])opulation demanded, woidd have heen
wiser. There was a feeling anumg the frontiei-smen in favor of
natural boundaries rather than for astronon»ical ones. Thi-
objection was nu't by Pickering: "This will make some of the
States too l.irge. and in many of them throw the extremes at
such uneipi.d distances from the centi'es of government as nm-'t
prove exti'emely ineonvenient." This terminal question look
a definite issue when, in January, 1785, the settlers west of tlie
OHIO SURVEYS.
•2G1
1(' iliP
Alli'-iliiiiiies sfut a meinorial to Congress, asking' that a si'pa-
\-aW -ovi'rnint'nt should be set uj) witli bounds ujion the Kana-
wliii and Tennessee rivers : Init thi' movement was premature.
I'ickeriny now chnelojx'd an aetive agency in two direetions.
it i-> ] idbable that he ineited liufus King to move, on March
Id. I'^i.), that the ordinance of Api'il 23, 1784, shouM be
aiiiip It'll so as to abolish slavery after 1800. The projjosition
\va> I'i'tVrred to a eonunittee, who I'cported on April (>. but the
matter dropped without definite action.
At the same time (^March IG, 1785), Jefferson's ])lan for a
survey of the ..estern territory was referred to a grand eonnnit-
tiT. I'ickering had, at the beginning of that month, sent a i>lan
to (lerrv. in which he dei)recated the Virginia habit of seram-
iiliiig fur :dh>tments and of setting up '" toi.Ui'iawk claims,"
whicii had i)revailed in the Kentucky region, and which had
[iiMved an incentive to Indian outbreaks, lie outlined instead
;i sclieiiie of township surveys, with indications of the (juality
(if the lands, in order that there might be a more systematic
assignnii'iit of riglits \)\ etmstituted authority. C)n April 12,
178"). the grand eonunittee, of whi(di (irayson was chairman,
I't'ported an ordinance of such a character, which provided also
that a section of a scpiare mile should be reserved in each town-
ship for the sup})ort of religion, and another for schools. TIim
(■(hicational clause alone was retained. The township was nuuh'
>ix miles square : and five ranges of townships were to be sur-
\v\c(I between the Ohio and Lake Erie, beginning west of the
I'riiiisvlvania line. The district between the Scioto and the
Little Mianu was reserved to meet the bounties due the troops
whi) took p;irt in Clark's campaign. On April 2(i, an observer
wrote to (Jerry that Congres-. h;id spent a month on the prob-
liiii. while Virginia made ixiaiiy ditticulties. •• The Eastern
States." he added. ^" •>■>•*' for actual surveys and sale by town
-liips : the Southern S^tates are for indiscriminate locations."
On May 20. 178;"), the re])oi'ted plan was adopted as in etfcct an
iiiljuiiet of the ordinance of 1784, and (Jraysou wrote to A\as]i-
iii.:toii that it was the best that under existing circumstances
riiuld lie procured.
It was evidently the juii'pose of Congress, in this ordinance
I'f May 20, to follow Washington's advice :ind push westward
'ly stages, and make settlements by *• com])act and progressive
.. M
%':
I
I *
I
202
THE INSECURirY OF THE NORTHWEST.
settlements,"' Tlu' expansive tendency liad, moreover, eaiin'd
.lay's reprobation. " Tlie rage for sej)arati((n and new Stiitt ^. "
lie wrote to fJolni Adams, October 14, 1785, •" is niiscliitvuii> ;
it will, nnless i'lu!ckcd, scatter onr i'es(nirees and in every \i(\\
enfeeble the ^"nion."" AVliiit territorial limits to give tln' new
States became an inherent element of any scheme. Monroe.
who was interested, jonrneyed w«'st on a tonr of observMlimi.
lie fonnd the discomforts of the way fatigning, and <loulitlc.ss
looked \\\mn the eonntry in a spirit which was influenced liv
his irksome experiences. He saw and heard enough about thf
<'oimtry to believe that the stories of the inordinate fertility ot
the soil were the W(n-k of land specidators. Nevertheless, tlicit'
was, as Jay i xpressed it, "a rage for cmigratijig to the wt'stciii
i'onntry,'' and the Continental Land OfHce was thronged \vi;li
those seeking " to ])lant the seeds of a great people beyond \\w
mountains." In Monroe's judgment, no more than five St;iir>
could l»e })rofitably laid out where fFeft'erson had count»'d dii
])erhaps double that number. When Alonroe returned, a niuvc-
ment was viu'orouslv ma<le in Congress to discredit the astro-
nomical bounds and substitute natural ones, and to reduce the
number of States to be laid out to three or five. It was neces-
sary, in the first instance, that the conditions of the cessions
of Virginia and Massachusetts — later ex])lained — should Im-
made to conform to the new disposition of States, and this was
in du(^ time ;iccom])lished. (frayson now ])roposed a division
like this: An east and west line should be drawn from the
western bounds of Pennsylvania so as to touch the soutlicni
head of Lake Michigan. This gave one State in the lowci
Michigan ])eninsula :nid aimther west of that lake, extciii'iiii;
north to 49 , and bounded west by the Missi.-sip))i. Hctwicii
the Ohio and the east and west line there were to be thicc
States, to complete the five, and the lines to separate llnin
were to be meridians cutting the mouths of the Great MiMiiii
and the Wabash. This last line was later changed, s<) tlint tin'
division followed the Wabash cM'th till it reached Viiicciuus.
and t'.ien went due north by the river and In' a meridian.
Jefferson saw <langer in this smaller nund)er of States, lii'
wcmld have them of about thirty thousand s(juare miles cull,
and not one hundred and sixty thousand. It was like the (lilft'i-
t ace between Virginia, east of the mountains, and a comnion-
O'V
MA SSACHL'SKTTS CESSIOX.
263
wealth three times us large, as he eonteiided. lie feared that
the iiiople in sueh hirge States eould not be ke))t together, and
that liu'V wouhl vei-y likely break up their territory. In tiiis
wav tliey might, in i)art at least, withdraw to join either the
Puitisli or the Si)anis]i. He wrote to Madison ( DeeeniLer,
IT.sti ) that he thought this ])oli('y of making huge States " re-
versed the natural order of things." lie then reverted again
to lie chance of distractions arising from the disposition of
Spain to niono))tdize the Mississippi, and said that the prospect
(rave liiiii " serious apprehejision of the severance of the eastern
iiud western jmrts of our confederacy. A forced connection
[with tlie west] is neither our interest nor within our j)ower.'"
.lert'erson wa.'. not ahme certainly in perceiving troubh' ahead
ill I his direction, hut there were measures more pressing which
must l>e i)ut in train, before any congressional action regulat-
iiiL; the eivi< government of the northwest coidd be satisfac-
teriiy a|»i)iied. The first of these was to complete the release
of territorial claims, urged by some of the si'aboard States ;
and the other was to (piiet the Indian tiller sufficiently, at least,
tr- open areas to settlenient. It is necessary now to consider
t!:r two measures.
I he cessions of New York and Virginia had thrown the
fiuther responsibility uj)on Massachusetts and Connectictit.
Coiuieetieiit was still governed under her original chartei-,
which gave her a sea-to-sea extension. ^lassachusetts had had
a siniihir charter taken from her by the king in council : but
>he dill not recognize the ))ower of the monarch, and now with
a new and revolutionary constitution, sjie stood for her original
territorial rights.
The Hist (diart(>r of Massachusetts jtlaced her northern
hiiiiiids ((11 a parallel three miles noi-th of tlie Merrimac River
1111 any part of it. Tn early days she liiid contended that this
meant three miles north of that rivei's source in Lake Win-
iiipiseogce. while New Hampshire was willing to accept a
line which started west three miles north of its inoutli. Tin?
(lispnte euliiiinated at a time wlieii .Massacdiusetts was little
inclined to favor the royal ])rerogHtive. The Privy Council,
heiiiti called ii))on to arbitrate, punished the older colony by
• nrving the line from a point on the coast three miles north of
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THE INSECURITY (jy THE NORTHWEST.
tlio mo'itli of the Morrimae, so that it ran parallel to that river
till it reached its southernmost bend, from which point it was
carried due west, — as defined in the maps of to-day. Massa-
chusetts, in recognizing, at that time, this })araniount autliority
of the sovereign as settling her bounds east of the Htidsdii.
argued that west of that river, beyond the riglits actjuircil \>v
New York, — wliicli were allowed to extend to the nppt r
waters of the Delaware, — her inde})eiulenee secured her ori;;-
inal rights so far as they had been untouched. Tlu'refore slic
claimed that her rights were luiinipaiied in the northwest, lie-
tweeu the latitude of Lake \Vinni])iseogee and a eontiiuiatiuii
of her bounds on C\tnnecticut. This gave a belt westwaid,
eighty miles wide, north of 42 2'. These limits gave Mas>,a-
chusetts ])retensions to the large)' part of western New York. -
wherein she was a rival claimant with New York, — anil the
southern parts of ^Michigan and A\^isconsin, whei'e Virginia,
holding rival claims, had already released them. The M()lia\.k
basin was unsettled l)eyond Cherry Valley, at the headwaters
of the Sus(|ueluinna, and German Flats. New York, wliile
claiming Jiuisdictiou in the country farther west tliau the Md-
hawk. particularly in the valley of tla; (Jenesee, after liaviui;-.
for a yeiir or two before, presumed to sell the lands which were
in dis])nte. enteicd into aa agi-eement with Massachusetts made
at Hartford. Decendx'r 12. 1780, by which she recognized the
fee of that retiion west of Sen<M':i Lake to bi' in Massacluisetts.
but sultject to the native title, Tiiis arrangement covered six
ndlliou acres, whi<di Simeon de Witt was to survey and i>lot
in a ma]». subse(|uently ])id)lished in lSU2. ]VIassaeluisetts sohl
these lands in 1788 lo Phelps and Gorham, who had souglit in
vain to enlist the aid of iJufus King in the purchase, but that
])ortion of it. about four million acres, west of tlie (Jenesee.
later reverted to Massachusetts, and was again sold bv her t"
Robert ]\Ioi'ris. He retained what was known as the ^btni-
Keserve, and sold th.' rest to the Holland Land Gomi)any. 1;
is not necessary to go into details about this ])articular p:irt
of the western claims of MassachuM-tts. When her western
bounds — of the St.ite ))r(»pet — had been fixed in 1770 by a
line, roughly paralhd to the Hudson and say twenty miks e;i-'
of it. Thomas ntib'hinscm, one of her conunissioners. hnd tor-
tunately insisted that the acceptance of thiit line was without
CONNECTICUT CESSION.
i(H'jU'.lii-(> to the ('l.'iiiiis of Miissachusetts farther west, so that
till-; *^t:ite was n(»t now debarred from claijning in the far West.
Till- was l>ut one of the ol»lij;ations under whieli Massaehusetts
l.sv to hvr later exiled <4'overnor, one of the loyalists who was
hrst provided for, in Ku^land. ^^'hat I iufchinson saved for
.\i,i>-.;H'husetts east of X!a<;ara was not indeed to be yiehled to
tip' pulilie domain ; but this was not th»> i-asi; with the fift\-four
tiiousand square miles in Mieliigan and beyond, wliost- fee and
jiiiisdietion she ceded to Congress by an aet of April 19, 178").
T!ii> \v;is prior, as we have seen, to the movement for rediieing
t':,e number of States proi)osed to be sot up in the northwest.
To remove the last bar to a <']ear title to tins public domain,
tlitiv was now riothing left but for Conneetieut to do what
M;issaehusetts \vm\ done, in regard to a strip west oi Pennsyl-
vania and south of L;jkt' ICrie and of tlic ^lassachnsctts c»»ssion,
or between 41 and 42' '2', and stietohinti' to the Mississippi.
This elaiin eovered about forty tbcsusand scjuare milos. In
assertion of her charter rights, (iovernor Ti'uinbull of ( 'onneeti-
(Mit. on November 15, 1783, hnd. by i)roelan)ation. warned all
iiitruth'rs off. i'onneeticnt liad had a long and, at times. son)e-
whiit ferocious cpiarrel witii Peinisylvania over a similar strip
whii li cut off a northern segment of iho territory of William
Pciiirs charter, and only a year before (1782) it had been
settled )>y the intervention of Congress, which gave no re;)sons,
hut upheld the claim of Penuivylvaiua. So what was le'ft for
(aiiueeticut to eoritribute was this same s1i'i]» further westwai'd,
where it eovered what is n«>v, a part of the Staters of Ohi(\ Indi-
ana, and Illinois. AVithin it were the sites where Cleveland
\v;is to l>e founded a few years afterwnds in IT!*!, and Toledo
aiiil Chiengo at a later day. This was the cession which Con-
iiifticiit made, Septeniber 14.. 178*). She impose<l a condition.
liowever. which, but for lie;* ]>ron)ise to settle the eountrv on
l.akc Va-'w. might have failed of ai'«'eptanei' in ( 'ongress. This
■iv.is reserving a section ai-iug Lak«' Erie in the present State of
Ohio, uhich is still ki'own jm tht- Wesrern I{e-.crve : and whose
^tt lenient, .soon tti tdio^v, realized the ho])e of rranklin. twenty
years i»efore, of ;i barrier State iu that position. After a
-.tni^gle in (\>ngress. in which there was niu'-h .>ppos»tion u
■Awv ifeoiiuition of the Conueetient'x chnrter ii-his in fliis re<-
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77/ A' ISSECUniTY OF THE yOllTHWEST.
t'rvatioi>, the act of cession was a('e<.'))te(l on May "J(j. It was
supposed tl)at the reservation as defined inehided about six
million aert's, but it proved to contain only about three niiliion
two hundred and Hfty thousand acres, when it was liiiallv
surrendered to the T7nited States ia 1800. This Connecticut
cession, barrinj^- whttt was tempi i-arily withheld with suiue
doubt as to the retention of jurisdiction with the fee, compacted
the great ])ublie domain of the lunthwest. There was still a
small unclaimed area on Lake Hrie. The long controversy u\c:'
the western l>oundary of I'eunsylvania had been closed in \~X\
bv running her southern line due west from the Delaware tur
five degrees, when it turned at right angles and was extemicd
north to 42°. This point proved to be contiguous to Italic
Krie, but there were five or six miles of lake shore east of it that
did not belong to New York, since tht; western bounds of that
State had recently been run by Andr.'W Fdlicott on a meiidiaii
twenty miles west of the most westei'ly i»oint on the baiiU> of
the Niagara Ixivcr. Thus a bit nl territory nearly triangidai
in sha])e and known as the •• Krie triangle,'' measuring some-
thing over two luindred thousand aer(>s. was considered t<i bo
a ]tart of the ])id)lic domain, not end»raeed in the ordinances
of 1784, or in the later one of 1787. In 1788. the United
.'States extinguished the In<lian title in it for ■£1,200 and then
sold it to Pennsylvania, by which that State secui-ed on the
lake the old pt)rt of PrescpiTsle. now the city of Erie.
Meanwhile, before the cession of Connecticut had been made.
Congress had in connection with the ordinance of ^Nlay 20.
1785, created the ofHce of (ieogra])her of the Cnited States.
electing to that ])Osition Thomas Ilutchins, who had liecii
l>()U(pu't"s engineer in a camjtaign in this western count iv
twenty years before. After the Connecticut Iveserve had liccn
made, lluttduns was directed to survey sev(Mi. instead i>f tivc.
longitudinal ranges of townships, north of the Ohio, west of
Pennsylvania, and south of the Heserve.
This ])l;in of a rectangidar survey was first suggested in the
report of a committee, of which Jefferson was chairman, on
iSIay 7, 1784, and it was in accordance with his distrust of
rivers and ridges as suitable lines of demarcation. It has been
suggested that the hint of such a survey came from Diiieh
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77//-; I.MHAX TITLE.
•2()7
])i;i('tic'e in a coiintrv too ttat for natural dividt'S. What llutcli-
in- now undertook to do t'onstitntcd the first systematic- survev
ui-,t ot the mountains, and was known as the Seven Kauyes.
To start it, a " geogra})her"s line," so ealled, was run due west
for forty-two miles from a point whert' the hounds of I\'nn-
svlvania crossed tlie Ohio to a meridian that struek the Ohio a
few miles above Marietta, and formed the western bounds of
nineteen towns in the most westeri» of the ranges. A ])ost was
set at eaeh mile, anil every six miles a spot was indieated us a
townshij) eornei', through wliieh a meridian line was run to the
OiiHtand to the line of the Keserve (41 ), v'ut by other east
and west lines at regular distani'es of six miles. In this wa}'
till' lines were marked, at first, without any very nice rt'gard to
the inagiu'tie variation, tliough Kufus King had ti'ied in Con-
gress fo insure a reeord of it. Another diffieidty was soon pointed
(lilt by Piikering and others, whieh was that there was no rec-
ognition of the converging of the meridian going north. ''A
difference of six hundred yards in ten miles nuist surely ])ro-
(hice material errors." said Pickering. This was ren»edied at
a later ])eriod ( May 10, 1800, Act of Congress) by running
other base lines oeeasiomdly, witl\ new six-mile subdivisions.
While the work was going en, it was necessary sometimes to
protect the surveyors from inroads of the savages. Tupj)er
had been engaged with llnteiiins, and it was his report on the
conntry to Putnam that lulped start the later Oliio Company,
llnteiiins did not live to comjtlete the work, and when he died
in 1788. at Pittsburg, the charge of the survey was :v sumed by
the treasury. Ilntehins's work has given him fame, as by it he
introduced that universal sipiare j)lotting of the publie lands
whieh makes tlie ma]) of our Western States and Territories
so unattractive to an eye accustomed to the diversity of geo-
p-apliieal boundaries.
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The (|iiieting of the Indian tith' has been mentioned as the
other necessary })reliminary to the sueeessful settlement of these
wistern lands. The ri'd man had first recognized in 1784. in
the treaty of Fort Stanwix, the authority »>f the new lv.'|)ublic ;
:iii(l this meant. iU an enforced dealing with the Indians, a
more extensive governmental relation than had been main-
tained with them in the past. The confederation had of late
ir
208
THE ISSECUHITY OF TlIK SOllTlIWEST.
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years sp'jiit uiimuiUy less than •'¥2,500 in tlie Indian proljlcm,
the j^reater eost devolvinj;' upon indivichial States. In 17^4,
the eost, to the extent of !J4,500, fell upon the United States.
It was held in later years by Chief Justice Marshall that a
P2uroj)ean nation inakinj;' discovery of a territory had the sole
rij'ht of extinguishing the Indian title within that territory,
and that individual hargains with Indians for land were of no
binding' effect. This principle had been established by Con-
gress in 1781.
The earlier treaty of Fort Stanwix, in 17(38, had, aeeording
to the claim of the Indians, considered the Ohio as the bourn 1-
ary between them and the whites ; and recognizing this, it now-
devolved ui)on Congress to take steps to enlarge the territory
open to settlement. In March, 1784, that body deemed it
desirable that the Indian title shoidd be ((uieted on the hither
side of the nu-ridian of the falls of the Ohio. I\) do this, it \\;is
necessary to bring the tribes to treaty stii)ulations, and some-
what unadvisedly it was determined to enter into pacts, tribe
by tribe, rather than to deal with them in a mass. There weic
two obstacles in sight. One was the ditticulty of finding the
money \iceessary for the })resents required in a successful agree-
ment witii the savages. The other was the obstinacy with
which the Indians, in some part at least, and under British
instigation, were ()})posed to abandoning the Ohio limits.
It was politic to begin at the immediate frontiers. Kicliaid
Butler, with whom Washington had been consulting about llie
Ohio i)ortages, was in October, 1784, joined in a connnissioii
with Oliver Woleott and Arthur Lee, to whom representatives
of Pennsylvania should be added, to meet the New York In-
dians at Fort Stanwix, in order to extinguish their title to lands
lying north and west of the Ohio, and within the limits of
Pennsylvania and New York. A treaty was ukuIc, and by it
the Iro(pu)is, who had been pressing west along the soutlierii
shores of Lake Krie, were in fact shut out from any furtlier
advance in that direction. The pretensions of the Six Nations
to make sale of this territory angered the western tribes, who
claimed It as within their own j)atrimony. This reudereil it
necessary to ])lacate those discontents.
Fort Mcintosh had fallen into disre])air since 1783. and was
now refitted; and here, on Januarv 21, 1785, the American
/A7)/. 1 A' llESEll I '. I TION.
209
ciiiiiiiiissionors, IsaiK! Laiir, (it'orge Kogt'i-s Clark, and Saimu'l
II. Parsons, nu't rcpri'scntativcs of the AVyundots, Delawari's,
(liippt'was, and Ottawas. It was now agreed for a satisfaetory
consideration that a region in the northwest of the j)resent
Stiilc of Ohio shonld remain inviolably in the Indian posses-
sinii. fxeept that the whites siionld he allowed traets, six miles
s(iu;ire, ahont any military post whieh was within the territory.
Tilt' region thus reserved stretched on Lake Erie fi-oni Cava-
FORT McINTOSH.
[After :\ plati' in The ('(ihnnhiiiii Min/ii-iiiP, Jaiiiiiiiy. IT'.Mi. Si'e the sioiie sketrli revamiieil in
I\iiiixiiliiiiiiii Aicliire.'!, »i"('oiiil serins, vol. xiv.)
lidHa to the ^Nlanmee. Its eastin-ly line ran by the Cayahoga
aiu' the Tnscarawas to near Fort Lawrence. The sontheiii line
vxtciidcd thence to the portage eoiniecting the Miami and the
MiiiuiuH', and by the latter stream the line extended to the lake,
(icny. on Fel)ruary '25, 1785, writing from New Yoi'k, infoiincd
Jt'ftVison that Arthnr Lee had just returned fi-om the Imliau
country, and had re})orted that the new treaty had secured
tliirtv million acres for cominii" settlements. There were all
the wliile o])posing views as to the desirability of aecpiiring
the Indian title beyond the Miami, and so to the ^Iississij)pi.
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77/ /i ixsEcunirv of riii-: xortiiwest.
Pickering was ainoiii;' those who opposed any such movein.iit
as openiuj;' the hinds to " hiwless einij;rants," who were ratluT
incited than restrained hy any prohibitory enactments. Od tlic
otiier liand, there were those who <'onten(h'd that sneli })nrciiaMs
were necessary to give the color ot" rigiit to "hiwless emigra-
tion," and so [)rcvent an Indian war.
There was another pressing ditheulty, an<l that was tlir
invasion of these lands, north of the Ohio, hy ivresponsiMc
land-gral)l)ers. In dannary, 1785, (iovernor Ileniy hatl warned
all intrndersof the dangers they incurred. Congress was deter-
mined to prevent the occui)ation of the accpiired lands till tliev
had been surveyed. On danuary 24, 178'), CJeneral Ilarniar,
now in command on the Ohio, had been instructed to drive
out all scpiatters, and he did not hesitate to brand them as
" banditti, whose actions were a disgrace to human nature."
In March, he sent Ensign Armstrong along the north bank ef
the Ohio as far as a point opi)osite Wheeling, to dispossess the
intruders, and this officer reported that he had heard of many
hundred more, as far west as the Miami. The work was fol-
lowed up by a j)roclamation from Ilarmar on April '1. ITlSo :
and by vigilant action that general succeeded in preventing' a
combination of the adventurers, for the purpose of resisting
under some organized form of government. By May 1, ilar-
mar reported that the cabins of such s(piatters had been burned.
The inunigration by tlu; Ohio, whi(di had now been going
on for some years, was estimated at the close of 1785 to liave
carried something like fifty thousand souls west of Pittslmrg.
and there was enough communitv of interest among tluni.
P^nglish, Scotch, Irish, and (ierman, to warrant in the sununer
of 178(J the setting w\) of the first newspaper west of tlie
AUeghanies, the I^ittshiirr/ Gazctfe. The stream of emigiant-^.
aggregating year by year from five to twenty thousand, and
S(unetimes in a twelvemonth making a procession of a thousand
boats, had been stranded mainly on the Kentucky side of tlie
river, but the lateral valleys on tht> north bank had received no
inconsiderable niunbers, as Armstrong was now reporting.
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While these measures were in ])rogress. it had occurred to
the philanthropic Countess of Huntingdon (February, 1785) to
send a company of English colonists to settle on lands adjacent
sri,'\-/-:ys a\i> si:TTLK.\ri:\'rs.
•Ill
tip till' Imlians. in order to iiiHiiciici' the siiviige eliiiraeter tliroiij^Ii
(liiistian iu'ii;lil)oi's. and so In-iiij; them to civilized ways.
Till re was no doiiht that a s|)iiit in tht- white man. difVeient
fiHiii that prevailing' anioiiij;' the wild adventurers of the west.
\\;i- needed on the t'rontiei's : hut there was a tear that eolonists
(jiri'ct from KnL;lish homes would feel more synipathy with the
Knuiisli of the retained posts than with the nei;;'hl)orin<' hnsh-
r;iiiu< rs. and that aeeordin<j;ly the philanthropie ex})t'riment was
toil duiiii'erons for trial. So nothing eame of it.
All these movements did not eseape the notice of Simon
(iii'tv and other emissaries of the Hritish at Detroit. Very
likely it was by the lnsti';ation of such men that a disuffeeted
leiuiiaiit of the Shawnees, Minf;oes. and J)elawares, and a few
Cliei'okees, got together in council on May 18, 178."), and gave
wiii'iiini;' through one flohn Crawford, a Virginian whom they
held, that ri'si.stance would be made to encroaehmt-nts noith of
the Ohio, if such were ])ersisted in. Ten days later (May :2!>)»
we find McKee informing Sir flohn Johnson of tlie irrowiu"'
(li-icnntent of the tribes, and the pressure which those ahuig the
Wabash were exerting on the easterly Indians to combine in
order to enfoire their rights.
In Auffust, an Indian council at Niagara, and the move-
iiieiits of the autumn months, showed that it was difht'idt to
iiisMi'e (juiet, esj)ecially as thert; were rumors of an American
iittMck on Detroit. Such had been the uncertain condition
wlifii. on June lo, 1785, Congress, to give liigher authoi'ity to
llarmars action, ])roclaimed that the surveys of the new lands
must be completed before settlement could be allowed. It was
felt by Hamilton and others that the ])roclamation was likely
tn be futile, and that the territory must inevitably become the
theatre of a savage war, and in April, militia had been called
nut for three years' service on the frontiers. There were fore-
iKidiiig symptoms in the active agencies which Simon (iirty
and .loseph Brant were exerting along the fi'ontier. A> an
Iri)(|uois chieftain. Brant had felt dee)>ly the manner in which
his ttibesmen had been driven from their old homes and forced
to tind hunting-grounds on Canadian soil, and had turned a
(leaf ear to ^lonroe's entreaty to join the American rathei- than
tile Ih'itish interests. Xothing had more per])lexed Ilaldiuiand
than making suitable provision for these idd allies of the I'ritish.
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23 WEST MAIN STREET
WEBSTER, N.Y 14580
(716) 872-4503
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Di'spite their antipathy to the Aiuericans, Brant and liis conn-
trymen were not a little incensed, moreover, in seein;^- wliat
measures the British Parliament had taken to provide foi- tlic
losses of the loyalists, while the losses of his own j)eople had
been left without eorresjjonding relief. lie was threatening
durinjif the summer (1785) to proceed to England and lodir,-
his comi)laint with the ministry, while llaldimand tried to
assuajije his resentment.
In the autumn (1785), tlie commissioners, of whom General
Kohert Howe was now one, began to prepare for a further treaty
to carry out the wishes of Congress ex})ressed the preceding;
June. Monroe accompanied them "for 2)rivate considerations."
as it was said. Captain Dcmghty, stationed at Fort Mclntosli,
was j)ersuaded that a more generous treatment of the Indians
would be better, and recommended to the secretary of war a
greater outlay in gifts. Jay, as a looker-on at the centre oi
government, was far from content with what the Indian depart-
ment was doing, and by no means sure that there were not
sinister agencies at work. " Our Indian affairs do not ))r()spcr."
he wrote, .laniiary 9, 178G ; " I fear Britain bids hUjhvr tlian
we do. Our surveys have been checked, and peace with the
.savages s(?ems somewhat precarious *'
Doughty detailed a company of infantry to escort the ((un-
missioners as they proeeeded west. Arrived at the mouth of
the Miami, a field was cleared, stockades and blockhouses were
built, and the post was named Fort F'inney. The Indians had
been notified that this was the spot for a conference. ( )n
November 13, 1785, Oeneral Samuel II. Parsons joined his
fellow members, and the commission was ready for its task.
The Shawnees on tlie Scit)t(>, who had kept aloof from thf
meeting in January, 1785, now came in, and a treaty was con-
cluded on much the same terms as at Fort Mclntosli. Tht'V
agreed to confine themselves in the territory between the (Jrcat
Miami and the Wabash. This was on January 31, 17Hti. and
the Indians left five hostages to insure the release of wliite
l)risoners, which were held among the tribes. Another tdVcct
of the treaty was that it afforded for a while protection to the
government surveyors on the western lauds.
These several treaties had at last secured from the Indians
COUNCIL AT M AGAR A.
273
itarticiiKitinj;' Ji rt'cog'uition <)f the titli* of this j^reat iiorthwestiTii
(oiiiitrv wliic'h the United States had received from (rreat Mrlt-
aiii. This reeognition, however, had not been obtained without
oxcitiiij;' the jealousy of some portion of the conceding tribes,
narticidarly of such as had sought an asyh\m under Pritish
authority in Canaihi, and were in December sitting in coiuicil
at Pt'troit. lirant, despite Ilahlimand's endeavors to i)revent
liiiii. liad proceeded to England, and we find liiin there on
.laimary 4, 178G, presenting his claims, and, in behalf of tlie
whole Indian race, aj)pealing to Sydney for countenance and
aid in the savages' efforts to keep the Americaiis south of the
Oliio. flohn Adams says that he saw the chieftain at the
(liu'cu's drawing-room. " The ministerial runners," adds this
(ihscrvcr, "give out that Brant is come to demand compensation
for the Indian hunting-grounds ceded by the English, and to
"ct soiiu'thing for himself as half-pay as colon«d." Brant was
iltr]»ly chagrined to find that there had really been a cession of
tilt' Indian territory to the Americans, and made the best lu;
could of Sydney's i)romise to ])ay Xir),000 for the certified
losses (»f the Indians, l^rant's disappointment was apparent to
tilt' ministry, but they counted on his ))acifying his tribe, and
ailvisctl his abstaining from revengeful hostilities against the
Anit'rii'ans.
While the government in London was struggling with tin;
importunities of this chieftain, the American commissioners had
tii't'ii ttuly jjartially successful, as we have seen, at the mouth
of the Miami, inasmuch as the Cherokees and Mingoes were
raitlin^' along tiie Ohio, rather than to join the conference at
Koi't Fiini(>y. while the tribes near Sandusky were holding ah)of.
Major Doughty, in March, 178G, sent one I'hilip Liebert to tlu
lakf slit>re to gain, if he c<)uld, these suspectt'd bodies. It is
dt)ul>tt'ul if the savages who had seemed com|)lacent at Fort
FiiMii'V were acting in the best faith, for by April they knew
ill Dt'ti'oit that their signing of the treaty was only to gain
tiiiif aiitl ])revent the harrying of their villages by the whites.
Bv iiiidsunmu'r ( 178G), Sir .John .Fohiison and Biaiit, who
liatl now returned from England, had cailed upon the Niagara
a council of the Six Nations and the western tribes. From
Bnuits bearing, Campbell of the twenty-ninth regiment, which
! m
i .
,)•
'! »
!' I
in
1
JU
1
274
77/ A' ISSECClilTY OF 77/ /i MJltTinVEST.
Wiis ut Niagara, rejMH-tod that tlie Mohawk chioftain was in jl]
humor, and oart'd only for his own interests. Girty, McKce.
and their Indians soon joined the eoiineil, and on July -A. I "St;.
the Indians had gathered there in good luunhers. Braul now
did his best to nnite them in a eampaign against the Americans.
His speeeiies had not their nsual ett'ect, and he next tried jmv-
sonal solicitation among their villages, but he was no more sue-
ees'.ful here : and in S('|)tend)er he was telling the British jfiul-
ers in Detroit that he could do nothing more. Indeed, tlii'if
was already a movement among the Indians to start westward,
and find homes beyond the Mississippi, but it did not go far.
As the summer of 1780 wore on, it was by no means sure
that the danger was over. There was a disposition in Virginia
to bring matters to an issue. Rufus King records how the gov-
ernor and Assembly of that State were "clamoring for a war
against the Indians," but Congress without a quorum stood
still. King further comments on " the lawless and probaldy
unjust conduct of the inhabitants of Kentucky towards the In-
dians bordering on the western side of the Ohio." The secre-
tary of war was powerless. When, in .lune, 178G, he needed a
thousand dollars to transi)ort powder to the western troops, the
treasury board were not able to supply the funds, and the troops
deserted because they were not paid.
The Indian bureau of the confederation had set up two de-
partments, one north, the other south of the Ohio. The instinie-
tions of their respective agents on the spot were to regulate
the relations of the settlers to the Indians, and to protect the
savages in their territorial rights. To aid in this, Coiigrcs,
which in March had declined to aid Knox in reorganizing the
militia, voted (October 19, 1786) to raise a body of tiiirteen
hundred and forty troops, so as to increase the western force to
a legionary corps of two thousand men, Imt the condition that
they should be raised in New England soon aroused sus])!-
cion that, under the color of protecting the western settlers, it
was the real i)urpose of Congress to overawe the partici])ai)ts
in Shays's rebellion in Massachusetts. On November 29. (iciiy
wrote to King of the Massachusetts legislature that "the coiui-
tiy members laugh and say the Indian war is only a jxditicai
one to obtain a standing army." On the Canadian side there
was something of the same indirection. The British governiueiit
CLARK AT ViyCEXXES.
275
wciv not ready to espouse the cause which Brant had not hwu
alilt to set afoot in the west, but they were not averse, as
l)on'lit'ster's instructions to Sir»Iohn .lolnison show (Noveniher.
1T>'''>», to furnishing- supj^ics to tlie Indians, and in October
tliiiv were two huudreil savage warriors waiting at Niagara for
jiowdtT.
Si) tilings were inicertain at every point just beyond the
iiiouiitains ; but farther west, on the Wabash, there were other
I'oiiiiilications arising from the discontent of the ohl Fiench set-
tlers at Vin(!ennes. There were in this place, and near tlie Illi-
iiitis. ])erhai)s a thousand French, and they numbered four to one
Aiiitiicau. In the confusion following the war, witli their alh>-
jjiiiiice deprived of an object, they had petitioned the A\nerican
(."oiit;ress to set u]) a government among them, to be in some
sort stable, and there was at the same time some talk of bring-
in;,'; Milditional Frencli thither to increase that poi)ulation in the
Ohio valley. This being denied, the situation had become
uravr. Vincennes was a town of some three liundred houst's,
1-ut the sixty American families who made a portion of the
|Hiiiiiiation lived apart from their French neighbors. The out-
lyiiiH American scpiatters had withdrawn from the (hmgers at-
tcmliiig their cxi)osure to the savage marauders, and had sought
slu'ltcr among their c()mj)atriots in the town. The Indians, on
tlu'ir part, were harbored among the resident Fren(;h. So the
jiartisiiiis on both sides lived in much insecurity, facing and fear-
inu' eat'li other.
It was an oi)p()rtunity for tlie Kentuckians. who. seeking the
IfadiMsliip of George liogers Clark, now but the wi'cek of his
t'nrnii r self, organized at IIarrodsl)urg on August 2. 178(), and
advaiict'd to relieve the Americans bv scattering the Indians.
111 this they sought to do what th(> general government seemed
iiitlisposed to attemjjt. (fathering towards the middle of Sej)-
tinilier, at the falls of the Ohio, on the ITtli. some twelve hun-
«ln'(l in number, horse and foot, they started out. llarmar.
wlicii lit" heard of it. had no confidence in their success, so bad
was thi'ir organization, and such tlittieiilty had Clark experi-
• iictMl in holding the men to his standard. The ai>prelieiisi(*»n
was wtH founded, for he accomplished little, and fell back
uiHin Vincennes. Here, in an attempt to support a garrison,
Ik' seized stores from the Spanish merchants, and it was for a
-; !
; 9
t' 1
'1 1
■
t
. B
i,
i
f' m^Km
IJl^
k
I
27G
THE ISSECUIilTY OF THE NVHrinVEST.
\\\
.1
II
wliilo supposed that he intentled to attack the Spanish ;u loss
the Mississip])!.
The weeks thi(>ii<;^h the autumn of 1780 were disturbed ones.
Kentuekians still i)ursued the Shawnees and rava<;e(l their
towns. The Indians were everywhere uneasy, and all tlnimirli
(leorgia and Virginia the inhabitants were in arms, it was
the old story of encroachments and counter raids, A huiithed
thousaml dollars in specie, said Kufus King, had been jmid in
ten years to satisfy the savages, in the hope of pacifying tliein.
but the sacrifice was futile.
Ijate in 0(^tol)er, Lord Dorchester reached Quebec to assume
the su])reme conunand. He had come with special instnictioiis
to prevent, if possible, the Indians bringing on a war with tlie
Americans. On November 27, we find him informing Sir .lohii
Johnson that this was the king's desire, and in December he
writes to the connnandant at Detroit to '' confine the war in as
narrow bounds as possible," if i*. sljould inevitably come. Kraut
was at this time at the straits, and had sumnnmed there a gen-
eral assembly of the tribes from the Hudson to the Mississi])|ii.
It was his purpose to fornudate the last Indian appeal to 1)(> sent
to the American (^ongress, A paper was drawn up with sucli
skill as Brant possessed, endiodying a })rotest against the con-
gressional i)olicy of treating with separate tribes, instead of cov-
enanting with the entire body of the Indians. It insisted \\\m\
the invalidity of the Indian cessions of land as individual trilus
had made theni. It stood stubbornly for the Ohio as the In-
dian boundary, and deprecated the sending of surveyors across
that river. There was too nuicli reason to believe, as most
Americans then thouglit. not only that British sympatliy snp-
])(n'ted the hostility of the Indians, but also their demand for an
Ohio frontier.
Brant certainly felt that in making this stand, it was iitcts-
sary to have the countenance of the English : but it was a
(jucstion how far they would sustain him in actual war. It
turned out that Sydney, in April, 1787. instructed Dorchi'stor
to avoid assisting the Indians openly, but to see that tluv had
what annininiti(»n tliey needed. This disguised aid was appar-
ently become the British policy, wliile the troops with whioli
they manned their ])osts were insufficient for an active (h'-
fense. The forts themselves were in a "iniinous" condition, and
MOXA IICHICA L VIE \VS.
'Ill
D<»r(li«'sver had only two thousand men to hohl them alonj- a
line eleve 1 hundred miles in length. The governor depended,
however, ui»«'n the assistance of the hnalists and Canadians, if
the forts were atfca'^ked. Sydney had instructed him to retake
tlic j)osts, if they were lost. Nevertheless, it was the manifest
policy of the British cabinet not to come to extremities, if it
could he avoided.
The Knjilish ministry were quite prepared for the information
wliicli Dorchester now began to transmit, and the i)ul)lie press
was only too ready to augment the stories of a gradual disin-
tegration in the new Kepuhlic. The governing class was eager
to believe such tales. Lord Lansdowne so felt, and Jay tried
to disabuse his mind. " We are hap])y,"' said the American,
•' in tlie enjoyment of much more interior tran<piillity than the
Knulish newspai)ers aHow, or their writers seem to wish lis."
rnfortunately, the (juesticm of debts and h)yaHsts had shown
tlicni tlie insubordination of the States, and they were in doubt
if it was possible for any rei)resentative of the confederation
wliich could be sent to their court to be sure of his position.
Slu'fHeld jm'dicted that, sooner or later, the western c<mutry
woidd revolt and seek the rest of the world through the Missis-
sippi, All these things incited in England the hoi>e that intes-
tine disorders an<l a half-hearted interest in the ])roposed new
constitution would urge public feeling to seek social and political
stability in a return to monarchy, and it was fancied that Ham-
ilton was latently the leader of a growing monarchical i)arty,
atjainst which the newly organized government was only a tem-
porary barrier. Hamilton had indeed ]irivately vouched for his
contidence in the British Constitution : but his public acrtion was
opposed. Speaking of the Federal Constitutitm, he said, '* Not
more tiian three or four manifested theoi-etical opinions favora-
lilo in the abstract to a constitution like that of (ireat liritain ;
liiit every one agreed that such a constitution would be out of
the (|uestion.'" So there lingered, not without cause, a feeling
among the Knglish that public sentiment would some time find
a reason pro])itious for an offer of <me of the king's sons as a
sovereign of an allied kingdom, and there were broad intimations
made that a prince of the house of Hanover would serve them
hcttci' than a French Bourbon. The chance was not untalked
of in the States. '" I am tcdd," said "Washington to Jav, August
',
278
THE ISSECrniTY OF Tin: yORTHWEST.
f
I
I ■! I
I
/ •
1, 178>i, '■ that even rcspei'tahk' cliaractfrH speak of a inonar-
ehical goveinineiit without horror." " I cannot ht'llfve," ^aid
JU'HJaniin Lincohi, " that tliese States ever will or ever can lit-
governed hy laws which have a };eneral oj>eration. Were one
miih'r an al)sohito UHtnarch, he nii^^ht find a remedy. Imt -^oine
otiier mode of relief must be ju'ovided." Ijineoln was furthfiof
the opinion that the extent of the country alon;; the sealMtanl,
end)raeing such a vari«'ty of climate and pi-oduction, rendcied
a uniform government less easy of exercise than if its area
stretched westward in an isothermal l)elt. "Shall we have a
king? " asked fFay. '* Not, in my oj)inion, wliile other expedients
remain untried." '• No race of kings," said .lefVerson in com-
menting, " has ever presented above one man of common st-nso
in twenty generations." lint .lohn Adams, in his essay on
constitutions, had distinctly shown himself, it was thounlit.
friendly to tilt! British Constitution, — a i>i)int that at a later
day Fauchet made the most of in his dispatches to the Frciieli
government.
There were certainly great provocations to these «langcroiis
sentiments. Shays's rebellion in Massachusetts had unsettlt'd
the national hopes, because, as Hamilton said, that State liad
thrown her citizens into rebellion by heavier taxes, "for the
common good," than were paid in any other Anu'rican ('nm-
nuuiity. To make nuittcrs worse, .Jefferson in his wild uiihal-
aiice had welcomed the revolt, or proposed to cherish it, as a
benignant sign, and based his consolation on what Ilaniiltoii
called a *' miseralde sophisn>.."
The reckless financial course of Rhode Island had mad«' dark
the future of all. "The turbulent scenes in ^lassachusctts and
the infamous ones in Kliode Island " w«'re the words in mens
mouths. "The bulk of the people," said one observer. " will
l)robably prefer the lesser evil of a ])artition of the Union inin
three more practicable and energetic governments," and tin
advocates of such a j)artition were a force to be coiubateil liy
the writers of The Frihnillst. one of whose salient ])oints wa-
that a dismemberment of the Union woidd reo])en the (pic>tieii
of the right to the western lands, lodged in the seaboard State>.
and expose the territorial disputes among the States to tin
arbitrament of war.
Whatever the result, whether the call for a king, or disinti-
BHITISII DKLA YS.
•JTO
nona^
," Miul
,';iii be
Vi- oil.'
t some
I'tlit-r of
al)o:inl,
I ntlni'il
its iirt'ii
llHVt' !l
ptHlifiils
ill ctun-
on srnso
[•Hsay oil
thou;j,lit.
t a lalt-r
B Froncli
•Mation, it had bt'coiiu' clt-iir to tin- liritisli leaders that tiiiif
wdiild work to their advaiitao;e. So atiy dihitory poliey which
Would ]>ut ot)' a hostih' demonstration on the part of the In-
(li.iiis. into winch the posts nii;;ht he drawn, was a manifest
iMinlciice. Meanwhile, it was tr«ie that a ;;oo«l th-al of the recur-
rent liitterness in reference to the retention of the posts, which
tlif Americans had shown, had j^om-. \\'hatcver truth there
iii;i\ have l)een in it. Dorchester was bej^innino- to think that, if
tiicv could not recover these nulitary stations, the Anu'ricans
were content to accept the situation, and seek to rival them in
ti"iiliiiu-p«>*<ts hy estahlishiiio- new ones «)n th«' lakes. ^^ hen he
jeanicd that a eonsi(h'rahle number of Americans were en-
camped on the (ireat Miami, and nakinjjf their way towards
Viiiccnnes, the alternative i)resented itself to his mind that if
tliev were not aiming to atta<'k the posts, they were intending
to atVord support in founding these rival stations.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE NORTHWEST OCCUPIED.
ly
f H! :
1786-1790.
I)UKiN(i 1785, General Benjamin Tupper of Massachusetts,
who was one of Ilutehins's surveyors, had opportunities of
traversing the Ohio country. On liis return east, he wrote to
Washington that he liad been charmed with the aspect of tliu
west. Later, he spent a night in Kuthmd, Massachusetts, in a
house still standing, where with its master, General Kufiis
I'utnam, a jjroject was considered of leading a colony of old
soldiers to this attractive region. The midnight talk of these
old companions in arms revived the h)ngings shown at New-
burgh two years before. It was accordingly agreed between
them to issue a call to the disbanded officers and men of tlie
army living in New England, to meet in Boston on March 1,
178G, to consider a new project of westward emigration.
The call met with a good respcmse. Eleven delegates ap-
peared from ditferent New England comnumities, and within
two days the Ohio Company was organized. Not only officers
of the army were welcome, but those who had served on the sea
as well, and among the naval veterans was C\)nnnod<)re Whi])|ile
of Rhode Island. There was a good deal of j)reliminary woik
to be done, for it was necessary to seek those who held laml
certificates for service in the war, as these credits were to lie
accepted in payment for the soil. There being already a tide of
settlers turning towards Vermont, New IIam})sliire, and Maine,
it was also necessary to set forth by advertisement the greater
attractions of this western country. In due time, such business
methods were well arranged under Generals Putnam and Par-
sons as directors, to whom a third, Manasseh Cutler, skillt'ul
with the })en and fertile in counsel, was added.
Rufus Putnam had made a creditable record in the war.
though, as is often the case with engineer officers, he hail not
m^'
CUTLER AM) DASE.
281
' ti
lutes a)!-
l williiu
otticcvs
tlic sea
iVh'U'l'lt'
vv woi'k
i.l laiul
e to I'f
I tiil*'"f
Maine.
oTcatt'i'
l)usiness
skillful
[he Nvai'.
Iluul not
•"•aiiied a eojjHpit'uons position in the puhlie eye. Me was (tf a
.M;i--.acl)iisetts stoek that had always been well known. Samuel
jlnlilen Parsons was a Conneeticut man, of good 8tandin<:j,
tiiuni;h of late years some diseh)sures, principally in the secret
sffviee hooks of Sir Henry Clinton, have raise<l an nnfortnnate
suspicion that he failed at times in loyalty to the revolutionary
cause. Friendly efforts have thrown these chai'<;es into the
catc'fory of things not i)roven, but it still renuiins a fact that
iiis good faith in relation to the Ohio Company was, in some
respects, (piestioned by his associates in that undertaking.
I'iit the chief spirit in this colonizing movement was a minis-
ter of the gosjjcl in I))swich, Massachusetts, who gained distinc-
tion enough in his ])ulpit to become a Doctor of Divinity, and
he knew scarce less of law and nu'diciiu'. Manasseh CutK-r
was a self-r»'liant num, and liad that conHdence in his star which
fliara<*lori7X's a certain type of New Englander. Moreover, he
Ix-lievcd, as that sort of a man often does, in making his neigh-
hois and those h" knew best his associates in any hazardous
undertaking. lie was as shrewd and as jxditic as any among
till' people he favored, not above telling half the truth and bar-
ipMJning for the rest. He was ecpud to cajoling when he could
not persuade, and by that token not a poor politician. AVith
whatever skill he had in subduing opposition, he was a master
in oltservation, both of man and nature, and natirralists look
hack to his botanical records to-day as among the earliest in
New Kiigland of much scientific value. He knew, above all,
liow to stand u}) against oj)position, whether in man or the
devil. Such qualities gave him the h'ading j)lace among those
who were devising plans for a new life, and seeking, under his
inspiration, a new career in the distant West.
While tliese measures were being sha])ed in Boston. Nathan
Hane. an Kssex County man, representing Massachusetts in
Congress, iuul opened the way for a conunittee, of which Monroe
was niadc the chairman, to report an ordinance for the govern-
ment of the northwest, and in considering the nnitter, M(»nroe
had invited Jay to confer with the committee. It was the
piiipose of the new movement to sup))lant Jefferson's ordi-
nance (»f 1784. Its ])rogress was delay«'d, quorinns failed, and
a new Congress intervened before, on April 20, 1787, the
revised ordinance was reported. There were some features in
•J82
'////•; S()irni\vi:sT occrj'n:/).
"
it nut in the earlier law, hut tlicrc was notliin;; in the natnif uf
a coinpact to prt'Vfnt r«'|i(*al without conuiion <'oMHrnt. Tlu;
<|Ut>stion of prt'vcntinj^ shivci-y ha<l Ik'uii so st|uari'ly nn'l .ind
thrown out in .K'tl't'i'sim's cxjn'rit-nco that th«' Hul»jt'rt was uuw
i^°noi-(>il.
A f()rtui;;ht hitcr, on May !>, the hill canif up for a snoiid
icadinj;-. ,\t this tini»', ( irncial Parsons, now in attrnilaint'.
put in a uifuiofial for a ^i-ant of land witliiu tin* jui-isilictinn tit'
the pi-oposi>«l ortlinant-e. Tiu'rc was, howt'vcr. sonu'thin;; in flic
inaiiner of his applicatron that <listurhe«l lioth CutliT mihI
INitnani when tln'V heart! of it, and even rxcitetl suspicions uf
I'arson.s's honesty. A third readinjj; was in order on thf iirxt
(hiy, hut there \\as no (|uonMn, and all i)usin(>ss was laid over.
A njonth and more now passed, durinjj; which interest was
centred in the feth-ral eonvention, which assendiled at l*lii]:i-
delphia on May 14. In this interval the work of ( 'on<;ress wan
hloeUed hy the ahsenee of delej^ates. Durinj;' these idle days
Cutler had appeared in New York, i)repared to siiperscilc
Parsons in direetin<j; the application for land in hehalf of tlir
( )hio Conipany, now representinj; two hundred and fifty sliari's
at a thousand dollars each. Cutler reached, that city<ui .inly a.
and foinid Congress with a (|uoruni, ♦he first it \).h\ had since
May 1 1 ; lait its president, .\rthnr St. ( 'lair, was ah.sent. lliitcli-
ins had advised that tlu- company ask for its territi.ry ne:n' the
Muskingum. Cutler now, in presi-uting the suhject iiiitsv.
showed that he was dcterniiui'd. if land was purchased, that :i diU'
recognition should he made in the ])ending ordinance of tlinM'
social and political ]»rinciples whi«'h had heen fornndatc<l df
late in the constitution of Massachusetts, and in the laws of the
States whi(!h the new era had fashioned. Cutler's proj)o-<itinii
came hefore the connuittee on .Inly (5, and ineluded a payiiifiit
for the land which he asked for of sixty-six and two thirds
cents the acre, in soldiers' certificates, which, reduced tt» specie
value, was etpiivah'nt to eight or ten cents.
Congress at this time hardly knew where to turn to meet its
financial ohligations, and such a ))roposition was a wehoine
relief in its distresses. Three days later, on .Inly S^ the ordi-
nance was recommitted to see if it could not he modified to suit
the demands for which Ctitler stood. Th<'?e conditions ami
expectatitms hronght a now atmos])here about the deliheratioiis
f \
CVri.KU ASh THH (HIDLXAXC/:.
•2H3
of ('MiiLjn'ss. 'Plir iit'W pioposMls. it WMH foimd. ojx'iicd the way
to |<:iy otV :il)<Mit i>iif tenth of tlir national tlrht, an*l in a<l*lition,
tlir |>i'os|U!ct .sccnictl ^ootl of I'oniliinin;;' into :i code of finxla-
iiimtal principles tlu* nunicrons social ami political iilcas which
were flying ahont in the air, and many of which had, in one
way or another, from time to tinu*, l»een l)ronj;ht directly to
tlie (tltservation of Conj^ress. Some of them involved. h(»wever,
a sMiotherinj^j of cherished antipathies on the part of some of
the nienduirs, particnlarly a demand for the extirpation of
slavery north of the Ohio. C'ntler was in his element in stand-
in;; as the ehumpioii of freedom, and he was politician enough
to Uiiow how tlu' Vir<j;iniH opposition conld he cpiictcjl l>y show-
iii"- to the representatives of the Southern States the better
cliaiice they had of compacting their interests south of the Ohio,
if they conceded something' on the other side of that river to
till' principles of the North, since stieli concessions mi^ht
strenLTthen the ohli^ations of the North t*) protect the |»rodnets
of >lave lahor in the Sonth, and to stand by that section of the
idiiiiti V in an inevitahle contt ; th Sp.-'in over the fr'c navi-
;.Mtinii of th(^ ,Mississip»>i. This was to he the chief victory of
Cutler in paving the wjiy for the later moti(»n <»f Dane. The
(itiii r points upon which Cutler insisted Wi'i-e more easily carried.
Siii'h were i-cservations of land for the su])port of reli^iion and
filneatioii. The latter ohject received a douhle r<'e(tt;nition.
Five sections in each township were set aside for the henelit (»f
M'liiKils. :ind two whole townships were devoted to the advance-
iiH'iit iif lilteral learnin<;.
Wliile in the hands of the new committee, it would seem
tiiat the draft of the ordinance was submitted to Cutler for his
M'nifiiiy. and under his influence, doubtless, some other of the
tiii;il social ))rovisions of the instrument foinid their-i'lace in it.
^^ itii these amendments, it was re|»ortcd back to Conijress on
•hily II. and went promptly throu^h successive readings. It
1 aine a law on the loth "with yreat unanimity,"" the eight
States present all voting' for it. Hufus King was not ])resent in
tilt' liiial stages of the (piestion. and Dane*, after the i)assa<f.re of
tlif ordinanee, wrote to him: "We wanted to abolish the old
•'ysteiii and get a better one, and we finally found it necessiry
t" adopt the best we could get." All that was desired was not
"lituiiu'd : but it was nevertheless a triumph for Cutler and those
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284
THE NORTHWEST OCCUPIED.
who sympathized with him. The Virginians had yiekled iiiucli.
There were, in faet, potent reasons otlier than those ahead v
mentioned for them to accede, since it gave them the liopc of
using the proposed trans-montane community to further their
scheme of opening communication with the west througli tlie
Virginia rivers. So the tricks of give and take, as politicians
understand them, did tlieir part in the work.
It is of littk' consequence, if not futile, to tiy to place upon
any one the entire credit, such as it was, of this famous ordi-
nance of 1787. Cutler's interposition was doubtless opportinu-.
What the Massachusetts country parson was from the outside,
very likely the Massachusetts lawyer, Nathan Dane, was from
the inside ; and with both comliining, with Congress ready to
bargain and be comjdacent, and with the example of Jeffei-sou's
earlier ordinance, and the personal influence of King and otlieis
according, the instrument took its final shape, as the natural
and easy outgrowth of surrounding conditions. It was also,
as Rufus Kiig called it, "a compromise of opinions,'" and he
added, in writing to Gerry, '' When I tell you the liistorv of
thi i ordinance, you shall acknowledge that 1 have some merit
in the business."
Congress, as we have seen, had caused a large tract of ter-
ritory to be survej'cd west of the mountains, thiidviug, by dis-
posing of it, to i)lace the flnances of the young Uej)ublie on a
healthy basis ; but there had been few or no sales of tiie l:ui(l.
Cutler, as a buyer, had now appeared, ready and anxioiis to
make a i)urehase and give a vital flow to the revenue.
The federal conventi(m, just at this time sitting in Phila-
delphia, was seeking to find a way out of a d'sinal ixjlitical
environment. It needed, in one as])ect, the encouiageuient of
just the outcome which a co})y of the perfected ordinance, as
])riuted in a Philadelphia newspaper on July 25. afYorih'd it.
The bold assum])ti()n of Congress to reguhite the public doni:;in
was a stroke which helped the i'(mventi<m better to understand
the relations of the States to the unorganized territoiy in tlic
west. The enlarged conee])tion which the new ordinnuce gave
of the future i)roblem of western power, and its effect on the
original States, clarified the ]ierpiexities which had excited in
the convention the a])prehensions of Gerry aiul others, l he
influence which the new outlook had upon the different nicni-
CHARACTER OF THE ORDINANCE.
285
1k>is was naturally in acconlance with their individual habits
of mind. Morris expressed a fear at granting any new western
staff privileges like those enjoyed by the seaboard eoninion-
wcalths. The chief advocate of equal rights was (ieorge Mason
of Virginia. "If it were possible," he said, " by just means
to prevent emigration to the western country, it might be good
policy. But go the people will, as they find it for their in-
tcn st : and the best policy is to treat them with that ecpiality
wliicli will make them friends, not enemies." He had, too, a
ju>t anticii)ation of the time *' when they might become more
iiiiiinious and more wealthy than their Atlantic brethren."
KIiil;', whom Brissot was reporting as '* the most eloquent man
in tilt' United States," evinced wherein his hope lay : " The
eastern State of the three jjroposed will probably be the first,
and more important than the rest ; and will, no doubt, be
settled chietiy by eastern people, and there is, I think, full an
('t|ual chance of its adoi)ting eastern politics." So with some a
li()|)f to bolster the ])ower of the North as against the South was
not the least consideration in the movement.
»^!
The ordinance shows, in its conglomerate character and some-
wliat awkward combinations, the rapid changes which took
place in it during the brief interval while it was upon the
anvil of Cutler and the reformers. The company which was to
act under it was waiting, and there was no time to spend
to weld into synunetry its independent })arts. The instrument
was peculiarly the outcome of ju'evalent ideas. Congress by
pvevious legislation had experimented with many (tf them.
Die statutes of several of the States, the constitution of Massa-
chusetts, and the liills of Kights largely patterned ujum that of
\ ir^inia. and wliich the new fervor of inde])endence and liber-
ated humanity had elicited, were but other expressions of cur-
rent hopes diawn ni)on, while devoted hands were moulding the
Itidvisions of the ordinance. Thus it was an end)odimeut of
curicnt aspirations, and had not a single new turMiiig-])oint in
Innnan progress: but it was full of points that had already been
tmiicd. Let us j)ass in review its li-ading features so as to
show this.
The ordinance was intended to provide security and ])oliti-
cal content in a territory of two Innulred and seventy thousand
li'
IJi
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286
THE NORTHWEST OCCUPIED.
five hundred and fifty stjuare miles, or thereabouts, which was
hirger than any known in Europe, except Russia, and twict- as
large as Great Britain and Ireland combined. This coiuitry
lay above the Ohio, east of the Mississipi)i, and was bounded
on the north by Lakes f^rie, Huron, and Superior. It was to
be divided eventually into five States, and the Eastern States
had welcomed this i)rovision as a substitute for the smaller
conunon wealths which Jefferson had proposed.
As this provision was made a part of a compact, it was sup-
posed that this territorial distribution was binding. Everybody
counted blindly. -They did not sufficiently comprehend that
any planning for the future of an extensive and little-kiiowu
territory must necessarily, compact or no comi)act, depend for
its perpetuity on a sustaining public interest. The (juestiou of
bounds of these five States, as provided in the fifth compact
of the ordinance, was peculiarly liable to such vicissitudes. In
defining the latitudinal line which was to make the nortlicni
boundary of the three lower States, the framers of the ordi-
nance had overlooked the more accurate (!on figurations of
Ilutchins's map of 1778, and had g(me back to MitcheH's maj)
of 1755. In this way they accepted a folse position for the
southern bend of Lake Michigan, which tliat divisionary line
was to touch. The (piestion of sharing in some equitable way
the frontage on the lakes, and the plea that an infringeinciit of
the compact of the ordinance was necessary to afford sucli a
frontage so as to prevent Illinois casting in h^r lot with the
South, in due time, threw to the winds, as a matter of course,
that obligation of the instrument, and a majority vote dissolved
tlie compact, as it did in another (piestion of inherent national
interest when the ac(inisiti<m of Louisiana was confirmed. A
similar disivgard of the agreement, also, in time abridged the
rightful claim of Wisconsin to the region east of tlie ujtper
Mississippi and south of the Lake of the Woods. In this re-
spect any modern map shows how futile the compact was.
The provision of the fourth section of the compact seekiiiLi' to
promote trade in transit, by declaring streams and conncctMin
portages conunon highways, had already been anticipated, in
connection witli Virginia's project for opening channcds to west-
ern trade, by a resolution of Congress on May 12, 178(). l*iok-
ering had urged it before in a letter to Kufus King : " It seenis
SLAVERY CLAUSE.
287
vt r\ necessary to secure the freedom of naviijating water com-
iiiuiiuations to all the inhabitants of all the States. I hope we
sliiill liave no Schehlts in that country."
Tlu! assurance for a representative government, which the
oi'liiiance gave, was aeconii)anie(l by a provision which allowed,
as was permitted in the ordinance of 1784, the adoption of
rlif laws of any of the older States. The provision sometimes
jUdwd an onerous one amid environments which rendered mod-
ititations of such laws necessary to a healthful condition of
puhlic life. It was provided that wlien a State reached a
l)(i|Milation of sixty thousand free persons, it could form a con-
stitution and be admitted to Congress by delegates aHowed to
vote, while with a less pojmlation such delegates could not vote.
A property cpialification was rendered necessary in order to
\w cither voter or magistrate, and, if manhood suffrage is an
advance, the ordinance made a backward step, for Jefferson's
(irdiiiance had given every man the right to vote. The new
act nearly mated the jn-ovision of the Virginia constitution of
ITTti. where a vague requirement of "sufficient evidence of per-
iiiaiicnt coninKm interest with, and attachment to, the conunu-
nit\ "" had been considered to mean the ])ossession of a freehold.
Tilt' section for the exclusion of slavery, which was intro-
duced by Dane on the second reading of the bill, was a matter
that had been for a long time bandied about between North and
South, and between factions for and against, both in the Noi-th
and in the South. The phrase, " all men are born free and
c(|ual,"" in some of its forms, used in the Virginia Constitution
in 177<». repeated in the Declaration of Inde])en(lence, and cop-
ied ill the Bills of Hiuhts of Massachusetts and Pennsvlvania,
\va« ^Inu^ily a hackneyed expression of political assertion, as
Jdlin Adams said at the time. It nn-arit what it pleased any-
liody to say it meant. There was no thouglit in Virginia that
it touched the question of slavery, wiiile in Massachusetts,
under the pressure of pulilic opinion, it was seized upon by
tlio Siqn-eme Court of the State, in 1788, to signify t!ie h'gal
abolisliiiicnt of slavery in that conmiunity. With the same
language to deal with in the New llam])shire constitution
(1788). it was early construed as freeing those only who were
horn after the enactment. Similar jdiraseology in the Vermont
eftn-titution, in 1777, had not been held to abolish slaver}-.
288
THE NORTHWEST OCCUPIED.
m
i V
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With such " rights aiul liberties " as Virginians actiiiiivd
under her constitution, with her interpretation of that ])liriis('.
she eovenanted with the Union in her deed of cession of Man-li
1, 1784, that they shoukl still pertain to her citizens then in
the northwest territory. Notwithstanding this, her representa-
tives had voted for Cutler's bill, which he thought in coiitlirt
with that covenant. While, then, this professed prohibition of
slavery in the northwest was in fluly, 1787, enacted in Now
York, George Mason was saying in August, in the federal con-
vention in Philadelphia, that '' the western people are already
calling out for slaves for their new lands, and will fill tiiat
country with slaves, if they can be got through South Carolina
and Georgia." Mason's reference was of course mainly to tlie
people south of the Ohio ; but it is by no means certain that
Cutler knew just what this prohibition of the ordinance meant
for the north side of the Ohio. There were four or live thou-
sand French and half-breeds in the Illinois country, wliosc
rights of property had been guaranteed in the treatii.'s of 17()3
and 1782, and human servitude prevailed among them. Did
this ordinance })rovide for its extinction and without compin-
sation to the owners of slaves ? Some evidently feared it. tor
there was some emigrati<m of such over the Mississip))i from
Ivaskaskia. Fortunately, in the awkward dilemma, the taitli
and justice of Congress, careless of promoting them, wi-rc cstali-
lished for that body by St. Clair when he became governoi- of
the territory. He reported to the President that he had lon-
strued the ordinance with something of the same freedom tliat
had been used with the glittering words of the liills of Ki^hts.
as intending only to prevent the introduction of slaves, and
not aimed at emancii)ating such as were there and had been
introduced '' under the laws by which they had formerly been
govi'rned." lie hoped, he said, that in doing this he had net
misunderstood *' the intentions of Congress." as by his inter-
pretation he liad quieted the apjjndiension of the peopk' and
prevented their flying beyond the Mississi])pi.
Therefore the ordinance failed to abolish slavery, and it was
not, moreover, aiiv novelty in its })rofessions of abolishment.
When there had b t n, luider Pickering's influence, a movement
in the army, in 1783, to ])rovide homes for the war-stained vet-
erans, it had been a condition to emphatic for misinteri)reta-
liELIGlON AND EDUCATION.
289
ti<tn that the total exclusion of slavery should be " an essential
and irrevocable part of the constitution of the jiroposed State."'
Mason and other Virginians had been, as we have seen, advo-
latcs for the abol'tion of slavery. Jefferson's j)reliniinary
ordinance of 178-1 had rooted it out of every part of the trans-
Allti;iiany region, though this section had received only the
votes of six States, when seven were recpiired. Cutler had
indeed, with Dane's aid, turned the southern adherence to negro
bondage so adroitly to his own piu'pose that he had secured,
futile though it was, the ex2)ressi()n in the last article of the
c'oiiipact which was intended to extirjjate slavery. For this in-
tention due credit must be given ; but King and J*ickering had
been i)ublic advocates of abolition before ever Cutler was heard
of. The American Anti-Slavery Society had been founded in
I'liiladelidiia in 1775. Tom Paine had written the preamble
of the Al)()lition Act of Pennsylvania in 1780. A society for
tho liberating of slaves had been organized in New York in
ITiS"). Notwithstanding these signs, it is apparent that the
])i()visi()n of the new ordinance for this end was never pro-
claimed, for fear of the influence it might have to prevent emi-
uration to the territory. There is indeed no evidence that the
sni»|)ose(l fact of proliil)ition was ever used in any advertisement
of tlie Ohio Company to advance settlement. The ordinancu;
can hardly be said to have been instnuuental in keeping human
bondage out of the noi-thwest in later years. It afforded a
rallying oy ever after 1705, when the movement of the slavery
faction began in that region to overcome and eradicate the aver-
sion of the peo})le to sut'h bondage, but it was the constancy of
a later gcMieration, and the leading of sucdi as (iovernor Coles,
and not an ordinance which was never in its entn-e ])rovisious
effective, whicli bad been annulled by the adoption of the con-
stitution, and substantially, rei'uacted by the first Congress, that
did the wcu'k whicdi \v!i« really consummated in the constitu-
tion of Illinois at a mud) later day.
Congress had for some time played fast and loose with the
question of I'eligion and education, (ieorge ]\Iason bad long
been the redimbtable (diam])i()n of both. In tiie revision of the
^ irginia laws in 1777, Jefferson had contended for " religious
freedom with the broadest bottom." Though the provision f iv
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290
THE NORTHWEST OCCUPIED.
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the support of religion had been once lost in Congress, the sii».
tenanee of edueation had been a part of Bhin<rs motion in .Iiiiii',
1783, and again in the bill for surveys in 1785, when lot six-
teen was set aside in eaeh townshi}). The allowing of all kinds
of orderly worship and the furtheranee of religious interests,
the support of education and the i)rotection of Indian rij^lits,
were now secured — as they had been often allowed befon; in
other parts of the country — in the first and third artieli-s of
the compact.
The provisions of the second comj)act for the regulatiiij-' of
social life were all ordinary observations jjcrtaining to conniion
law processes, the writ of habeas corjniit, and trial by jury.
The conditions developed in Massachusetts by Shays s rebellion
had induced Kiehard Henry Lee and Nathan Dane to become
sponsors of the clause which prohibited laws impairing the ob-
ligations of ])rivate contracts. The absolute ownershij) of laiuls,
the equal sharing of property, and the prevention of primo-
geniture and entail were all in the creeds of Jefferson, Monroe,
flohnson, and others, and had before been embodied in the laws
of Virginia and other States. Hamilton had pointed to tlic
conunon observance of an equal inheritance as insuring the
country from the evils of a moneyed aristocracy.
So the ordinance of 1787 introduces us to nothing new in
human progress. There was doubtless that in it which i)ro\((l
a guiding star for future legislation, as in the striiggle over tlio
slavery question in Illinois ; but it may well be (luestioned if
later enactments, without such a beacon, and keeping in sight
the interests of the community as they arose, woidd not have
made of the northwest all that it has become. The provisions
of this fundamental law were operative just so far as the ])iil»lie
interests demanded, and no farther, and the public interests
would have had their legitimate triumph unaided by it. Tlie
ordinance simply shared this condition with all laws in commu-
nities which are self-respecting and free.
The ordinance disposed of. Congress, on July 23, authorized
the Board of the Treasury to sell to the Ohio Company a trai't
of land lying between the Seven Ranges and the Scioto, :uiil
beginning on the east five miles away from the left bank of tlie
Muskingum. The tract was supposed to contain cue million
t^aa
new 111
jn'ovcd
over tlio
loiu'd if
in sight
ot hilVt!
ovisidiis
])iililii'
lltl'IfstS
coiunui-
th<iii/e(l
.. *. I
)to, anil
of tlie
million
THE OHIO COMPANY.
291
THE OHIO COMPANY'S n'RCHASE.
[FfDiii a Genrral Mnp itf the Cimrsi' of the (thin fyom il.i .Sniirre lo il.i Junction icil/i the
Missixxipiii. in CoUot'H Atln.s.']
Hve liiindred thousand acres, for which there was to be pni.l, if
tilt' liiciiouremeuL proved correct, a million dolhvrs in soUliers'
oertiticiites, ore half down and the other half when the land was
surveyed. In order to increase the inducement for the j^overn-
HK'nt to sell, — for there had arisen a douht if Cutler's terms
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THE yoininvEST occupied.
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(»f payment were to be Jicee})te(l, — and at the same time to
play furtively into the hantl.s of Colonel Duer, an ardent spccii-
lator and '" representative of some of the i)rineipal eharactcrs
in the eity," this New Knghmd parson and trusted agent ot the
Ohio Company, on the same day, and keeping Duer's partici-
l)aney ii: the shade, suddenly increased his proposal for tcnj.
tory. He asked now for five million aeres, and offered a
l)ayment of #8,500,000. Cutler by this time had discovered
that St. Clair, who since the 17th had heen in his ehair as
presiding officer of Congress, was not averse to receiving the
governorshij) of the new territory, and though St. Clair was not
Cutler's choice, the latter found it i)olitic to favor the presi-
dent's somewhat disguised asi)irations so as to advance his
own enlarged i)roject. Under this reinforcement, Cutler's la;;-
ging project luul been resuscitated, and the bargain was coii-
eluded, and the desired area was secured. It was to include
country north from the Ohio, ten townships of an eighth range,
and to extend west, south of the up])er boundary of the tenth
townshi]), till seventeen ranges of six miles each had been cov-
ered. Ilutchins thought that the meridian making the western
bounds of the last range would come nearly opposite the month
of the Kanawha, thus by a considerable stretch falling short of
the Scioto, This was indeed a misjudgment, which, with t)t!icr
mishaps, led to some serious compli(!ations, as we shall see.
The bargain clinched. Cutler and AVinthrop Sargent, the
later secretary of the colony, to whom the grant had l;""i
made, sold on the same day a half interest to Colonel William
Duer, as had l)een understood, who, on his j)art, agreed to ad-
vance money to help mei !; the payment on the whole. The
other moiety of the ])urcl*.ase remained with Cutler and those
associated with him in the subterfuge.
Three months later, after the surveys had been made, the
bargain was Hnally consummated (m October 27, 1787. It was
then found that the Ohio (\)nipany's ])art of the i)urchasc was
Imt nine hundred and sixty-four thousand two hundred aiul
eighty-five aeres, for which only '|()42.850.()6 was to be ]taitl.
Th.e transaction had absorbed something less than one halt nf
the two million acres pledged by warrant to the soldiers ol' the
recent war. Congress had, August 8, 1786, made the Anicri-
can sliver uoiiar very like the Spanish, and this specie l)as;s
'■■ »
FORT II ARM, Hi.
203
was to govern the value of the warrants, however variable the
ciintiit jjajter value of the serip.
It was fortunate for tlu' new settlement that it was to have,
at tilt' mouth of the Muskingum, an assured safety in thr neigh-
liiirliood of Fort Ilarmar. whieh had been built there in 17H")
fdi tlic jnoteetion of the surveyors and as a refuge for the traf-
tickt'is on tile river. This post and Kort Mcintosh at the
iiKuitii of the Big Beaver were the only stations now held by
FORT HAKMAK.
[After a cut in the Ameiinni Pioiuir, vol. i.. Cinriiiiiati, 1H44 Tlie aiiiall lioiise in the left
fiiri'Krmniil Is where St. Clair made the treaty of 17S'.>. Just aliove this hoUHe i8 the month of
the Muskingum, and over that the polut on whicli Marietta was built.]
till' government north of the Ohio. They commanded tlu;
routes to two different portages, both leading to the Cayahoga
iiiitl Lake F^rie. Wharton, in 1770. in addressing Lord llills-
l>i>i'i»ugli. liad spoken of the Cayahoga as having a wide and
(k't'lt mouth large enough to I'eeeive great sloo|)s from the lake.
" it will lit'i-eafter be a ])lacc of great importauee," he added.
It was considered in Virginia that (tne of tlu; most effective
X"TE. — The niiip on the two follnwinir pn^eh is iri'iii Cn'-veofur's //»7^/v.« i/'i/// ('iilfir^ilriir,
viil. iii.. I'aris IT"-'" :-.:iti ^i. •■«!■. tiie valleys of the HockhockiuK. MuRkinKinn.aml Hii; HeaviT, and
I'rp.rtn 10 be based on observations of Bouquet, and on information from the Shawnee ehief,
Wliiii' Kvea.
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THE NORTH WEST OCCUPIED.
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iiicasiireH to Ik- fostt'itMl was tliu opoiiiii},' of i-iiiials where now
these jMntUj^'es necessitiited a hmd caniaj^e. Tl>e coiuitry, ine-
Hpective of its vahie for transit, was of itself an attractive one,
and at this time, as (ieneial llarniar tells ns, iiutlalo swarmed
along its alluvial bottoms, not to disappear till ten or twelve
years later, leaving mvmories with the settlers of many a savory
hauneh. Putnam, when he eame to know the eountry, called
its climate as ''healthy as any on the gh)l)e ; " and of the laml
itself he said that it was the '' best tract, all circumstances
considered, which the United States had or ever will have to
dispose of, to such an extent." In respect to its numerous
intervales, he held it to be a more advantageous settlement than
either the Scioto or Miand regions, which, as we shall see, were
at the same time seeking other occuj)ants.
The new movement was as encouraging to the government
as it was j)romising to those end)arked in it. Before the salt-
was consunnnated, Kichard Henry Lee had written (^October 11,
1787) to AVashington that the lands at the west were becoming
" productive very fast," and he was hopeful enough to beliine
that *' the lands yet to be disposed of, if well managed, would
sink the whole thirty millions [of debt] that are due."
Diu'ing the summer of 1787, Ilarmar with a military force
had advanced to Vincennes to take its French population under
protection, while Major Ilamtramck was left in command at
Fort Ilarmar to watch the eonnng immigrations. With the
following s))ring, the tide; of .settlers flowed actively, 'llie
Conestoga wagons, which of late years had superseded the j)aik-
ninle in ])assing the mountains, poured into Ked Stone on tin-
M{)!!()!igalu'la, bringing some discontents, if current reports are
believed, who were escaping from subjection to the new Federal
Constitution. Pittslmrg, with a population, as Colonel May
ex])resse»l it, " two dogs to a man," was in itself federal in
symj)athy ; but the surrounding counti-y afforded all the sym-
pathy that was wanted by the flying democrats. This wcstein
comnumity was now for the first time kept in some corre-
spondence with the seaboard, through a postal service on horses
which had just been established, connecting Philadelphia at a
NoTB. — The map on tlie opposite page is from The Xavlftntrir (Pittsburp;. Stli p<i., ISHI. ami
shows Iiow tlie nnvlgal)le rhannel passes tlie MiisldnKuni. Tlie islands are; 34, I)>n'all's; ;!o,
Miiskinginn ; 3C, Second ; 37, James's ; 38, Blennorhasset's. It is the earliest published river ''li:irt.
•
• '7
M
force
THE NAVIGATOR.
ISin. aii.l
Ivair.-. M.
Hver ili;irt.
'; .\
?w
f.f s li\
208
THE NoiiTinvEsr occupied.
fortniglit's interval with the Ohio. The fluthoats in which the
new-comers descended the Monongahela to the main river wnc
htted with wa<j;on tops over their after-parts, affording sonic
slielter to the women and eliihlren. The men picked off tin;
bnft'ak) and wihl tnrkeys on the banks to keep the company
snj)plied with fresh meat. It was not easy to n»ake an accnrntc
record of the number of boats which were constantly })assiii^
into the Ohio at Pittsburg, for many floated by in the nij^lit :
but in 1788, up to May 11, at least two hundred boats, avciaji-
ing twenty persons to each, jjassed that i)oint in tlie daytime.
When land in Pennsylvania in large tracts was selling at lialf
a guinea an acre, there was naturally a large exodus over the
mountains.
Not a boat of this moving flotilla was freighted with so nunli
of ])roniise as one long, bullet-proof barge which, in the hazy air,
passed unguardedly by the moutii of the Miiskingnni. till its
company was first made aware of their nearing their destiiiii-
tion by the walls of Fort Ilarmar looming through a thick mist.
With sonte aid from the gari'ison, for which they had sigrialcd,
tlie overjoyed com])any pushed their boat back against the
current, and brought it uj) against the eastern bank of the
Muskingum. The name of this fateful craft was the " May-
flower."' a reminiscence of tliat other vessel, which ueaily a
hundred and sixty-eight years before, and freighted with a still
greater pronnse, cast her an.'hor under the shelter of Cape (imI.
The bleak shores of Xew England, without a sign of wclcoiiic
on that November day. 1G20, were a strong contrast on this Ttli
of 'April, 1788, to the limpid stream reflecting the verduiv of
s])ring. and the welcoming flag (>f the new Eepublie float iiiu
above the fort.
Let us go back a few months. At a meeting of the |)io-
moters of the Ohio enterprise in Boston on the 21st of ilic
})receding Noveniber, it had been determined to found their
future city at the mouth of the Muskingum, and two days Inter
Kufus l^utnam was chosen the leader of the pioneers. I'oat-
builders were sent forward, and by the last of January. I'Mi^.
they had begun their work on the Youghiogheny. l'utii;iiii.
with the surveyors and engineers, joined thi>m by the middle ot
February. Everything was ready, and by the 2d of Ai)ril tl"'
MAUIETTA.
299
'• MayHower" Hoated ci.t upon the stream, r.nd five days latei-
sill' reached the Muskingum. " No eolony in America, "' said
^\';lshin>i•tou, "• was ever setth'd under such favoraUle cireum-
stances. " The position which had been chosen was a striking-
one. Sanuu'l Whaiton, in 1770, had extolled the country.
Kvans and llutchins had publicly joined in glowing (lescrii)tion.s
(it it. The ^nfiuence oi the Ohio and the Muskingum formed
twii attractive peninsulas, with high banks, and a breadth of
two hundred and fifty yards of limpid water fiowing between
tliem. On the lower point Fort Ihirniar had been liuilt. On
till' upper were the scattered mounds of a long-vanished pt'oi)le.
Here, amid a growth of trees, some of which, surmounting the
caitli works, attested their great age, the labors of the new
colony were to begin. Through the late spring and su'riner
the initial work of the pioneers, and of those that soon joined
tliem, was carried on. Grouiul was cleared for many an allotted
home lot. and for their stockade, called the Caiiijiiiti. Marthts.
.*^oiiie built huts of the planks that had made their boats.
Others felled trees and constructed ruder shelters. The few
yokes of oxen which they had brought dragged the timber
among the stumjis, where lately tlie forest stood. They sank
s!i\v-i)its, and turned tree-ti'unks into planks. Some were at-
tracted by the comely grain of the bhick walnut, and saved it
against need to make household tables and chests.
They gained ac(iuaintance during tliese sunnner months with
every subtly changeable (piality which the climate could show.
There was at one time inten-e heat and myriads of gnats. The
river water, which was their de])eni)enee, was sickeiung in its
tepidness. Then there came cloud-bi'.rsts, followed by rainbows.
Away in the mountains, l)eyond their observation, there were
tlelnges, and the rivers that skirted their acres became wonder-
fiillv aii'ltated, and thev look* d on in wonder. Thev had never
before seen rivers rise so ra]>idly. Again, the torrid air would
tiee suddenly befor«' an atmosphere which in Jun«' seenu'd like
Sejitendu-r. All su(di changes induced a ra])id vegetation,
wliieh surprised M. Saugrain. tiic iiatr.ralist, who was on the
s[)iit diu'ing the year. Their gardens leaped from sprout to
N'TE. — Till" iiiap on tlip two fdllnwinir paci'i' sliii\v« Furl Harumr ami tlic site of Maricttn, tn-
pithcr with aiiriciit cartliworks of the " MouiiJ-buililiTs." It in from Crnvecfi'ur's Voijityc diiua
I'l hmte Pensylvtinir, Paris, ISOl.
i '4
n
^
.h
'111 if
p
I I ii 'I
'i;
I if
\l.
S J
^
-' "S
W-**r-
j Jlonhcu/lf,f. Q
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pi
If
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IX w
I. r
302
THE XOIiTIIWEST OCCUPIED.
■ m
m ''
\. P'. I
^ •;' '
n 1
Imd, and from blossoms to edibles. Fifteen thousiuul t'luit
trees were in bearinj;' within a few years. JJrissot found ihf
soil " from three to seven feet deep, and of astonisliin_<;- fertility.
It is pr(»j)er," he adds, "for every kind of culture, and it niiilti-
jdies eattlc almost without the eare of man." Tliese and the
<«ame — buffalo, deei-, bear, with turkeys, pheasants, <;'ees('. and
(hieks — and the marvelous fish of the streams — earp, stur-
geon, and pereh — furnished their tables with a ri« \\ abuiulaiicc.
Those who were invited to the mess of the ofiheers in the tnrt
were gladdened with a still greatt-r variety, lint their New
England bringing-up did not let many of them forget tlicir
Sunday " dinner of beans," as one of their diaries shows.
The neighboring Indians, who ventured among the settlers
to shake hands and barter, soon pereeived that a jioliey differing
irom what the savages had known in the whites was goveniiii<;
their new neighbors. Thi; New Knglanders were making tlicir
settlement nuieh oompaeter than had bet'U the habit of the
sipuitters u])on tonudiawk elaims on the otiier side of the Oliio,
Parsons was soon reporting to liis friends at the east how tlu
natives were struek by this. That individual irresponsihilitv
which had been found in the long knives of Kentucky was on
the veiy next day after the arrival of the first barge banislicil
from the new colony by the })ronudgation of a code of laws.
These were temporarily devised, i)ending the arrival of tlicii'
governor, and nuide public by being nailed to a tree. They
selected a nuin of repute among them, Hetarn Jonathan Mci^s,
to be responsible for their enforcement.
Within a few seasons, something like twenty thousand souls
floated down the Ohio to such exj)ectant, law-abiding conuiiiiiii-
ties, and it remained to be seen whether these novel conditidiis
of civilized life in the western wilderness would have a bciicli-
eent effect ui»on the five thousand savage warriors who made
their homes between the Ohio and the lakes.
The colony's working parties in the ffeld were from tiic lii-t
])ru(h'ntly protected by arnu'd ])atrols. There were, indti il.
occasional alarms, comjudling the withdrawal of everybody to
the shelter of the stockade, but there was no serious distuibancc
of their quiet beyond an attack u])on an out])ost which tli'V
.soon established up the Muskingiun. A few Mingoes and
other savage desperadoes wandered on the Scioto, and frmn a
ir
■>i n
ic iii-t
ilidt't'd.
)(((1\ tti
rhallrc
li tli"y
's ami
'I'iMii a.
,i
MAKIKI lA.
[This cut is from Harrib's Joiininl of ii Tuiir in l,sii:i
m:
I I
HI
'
!.
,1
i :
:
h
N^
1:i iJi.'
304
THE NORTHWEST OCCUPIED.
i> '
i /<. I
' I
\\\
J
liigli rock on the Virj^inia bank, nearly oj^posite its mouth, the
Indian lookouts watched for the descending boats, and some-
times lured them to destruction ; but above the Muskiiimim
there was little danger, and the bed and blanket linings of the
low cabins on the emigrants' boats rarely received in tlit'si'
upper reaches of the Oiiio the bullets of tin skulking foe. Sd
it was that tliey who passed beyond, bound for Kentuckv, ran
the larger hazard ; but the risks did not produce great hcsitaiicv
among them. By the end of the sununer of 1788, there were
less than one hundred and fifty adult nuiles in the Muskinnuiu
colony ; while for the previous twelve months, something like
five hundred boats, carrying ten thousand emigrants, were
known to have passed Fort llarmar, to take the chances of tlie
savage gauntlet and laud their ))assengers for the Kentiieky
settlements, with which there was now talk of uniting those on
the Cumberland.
The New England element on the Ohio became eventiiaHv
mixed with a lai'ge infusion of that Presbyterian Scotch-lri^li
blood which had been long strengthening the fibre of the Ken-
tucky s])irit. Those of this blood that passed into the Ohio
region came over the mountains from New York and Pennsyl-
vania, and have L ft their descendants in the east and central
regions of the present State of Ohio. Those that fled from tlie
uncongenial sun-oundings of Carolina and its slave code were
scattered along the river shelves and back of them, between the
Muskingum and the Miamis.
The spring of 1788 was a busy one for Putnam .and liis .)iii-
])anions. There had been the labor of gathering and tiaiis-
sliipping tlu'ir supplies at Pittsburg, now a muddy and coal-
blackened little village of a few score houses and a thousand
people. AVhen Parsons and Sargent reached there on ]\Iay 1-.
the former was soon ap])roached by Jk'itish emissaries, anxious
to make commercial connections for the new settlement. Their
choice of negotiator has a sinister look, wiien we remember
how Cutler had distrusted Parsons. Nothing came of it. Put-
nam, a safer man, was nuu'h nu)re interested in what Con-
gress was likely to do with Brant. This Mohawk leader was
still restless. " The Indians are having a critical time." he
said. " The Yankees are taking advantage of them, and the
English are getting tired of them." If Congress showed w
I I
■i"
li;fe|f'»
c
6?- W
ARTHUR ST. CLAIR.
305
deposition to redress the wrongs of his people, svouhl Brant
viild tt) the Indian passion for war? A desohiting conflict
sfciiit'd likely froiii the lawlessness of tiie remoter sqnattcrs,
and was apparently to be forced on the Wabash by the inroads
of till' Kentuckians, who were unhapj)ily most of the time be-
voiid the control of the government. '' Not a single Indian war,"
said 'lay later in one of his Fedct'dJist papers, "has yet been
ot'casiniied by the aggressions of the present federal govern-
iiiciit, feeble as it is ; bnt there are several instances of Indian
I. ill
I
J '
MAniKTTA.
[From Collot's Alhis.'\
lidstilities having been ]n'ovoked by the im])roper conduct of
individual States, who, either unable or unwilling to restrain or
jiimisli offenses, have given occasion to the slaughter of many
innocent inliabitants."
Btfdi'e tlie arrival of St. Clair as governor, the colony had
conipueted itself and given to their town, in commemoration of
Marie Antoinette, the Fren^'h (pieen, the name of Marietta,
liy niiiniiig together parts of her double name. As they had
icciii^iiized in this the aid of France in their revolutionary
stnig'iile, they celebrated the fruition of the war in a festival on
Indt'])eiidence Day, when venison, bear, and buflPalo meat regaled
the ai)]tetite, and General Varnuni, who with others had left
iihodc Island to escape the tyranny of her ])a})er-money faction,
dulivorcd an acceptable address. Five days late\', they received
their new executive with a salute of fourteen guns.
This man, Arthur St. Clair, was of Scotch and noble birth,
and luul been educated at Edinburgh. He had come to Amer-
ica thirty years before, and had served under Andierst at Louis-
hiirn; and under "Wolfe at Quebec. He had been sent later on
staff husiness to Boston, and had there married, in 17G0, the
I i.
'In Ir
'\ lU
t'
*m
'A
M
!! i»
i /
;}ut;
Till-: XORTinVKST OCCUPIED.
daiigliter <»t' a family of social staii(lin<;\ and secured nitli Ihi
a coinpctcnce. This he later lost in I'eiinsylvaiiia. win ic h,.
had settled in 17*14. »Ioinin«;' the j)atr:ot side in the war fm
independence, he had, though much in service, attracted little
favoraltle notice. He perhaps met nndno censure for his full.
are to thwart IWirgoyne, at Ticondero^a. ip. :!n " unexpectid ninl
niiaccoiintahlo '" evacuation of that post, as llandlton said. Ilr
later enganfd in the civil service, and was president of Cdii.
yress when Cutler, playing upon his vanity, helped on his dwn
projects l>y favoring' St. ("lair's aspirations to be <;'overnor of tln'
new territory. It is fair to remember, however, that St. C'hiir
pi-ofessed this was an honor thrust upon him. lie was now :i
man of fifty-four, and not in his pcditical opinions w ithoiit some-
what advanced views, as appeared in i)art when he it.adr lii>
inauj^ural address. Eleven days later, in .Tuly, he cr'atcd. liy
pn.cdamation, the county of \\'ashin^ton, which endjiaceii tin
'eastern half of the i>resent State of Ohio, ami the niaciiiinn
of government was set in motion. Ho and tiie three judges —
Samuel II. Parsons, J. M. Varnum, and .1. C\ Synnnes — ikiw
fashioned a })ermanent code of laws which, in its provisions.
was very strict and even cruel. Debt and })etty offenses wciv
harshly treated, and '* in punishment of crime '" the stiitutes insti-
tuted a barbaric kind of servitude, compared with wliicii tiiu
boiulaj^e of the slaves at Vincennes was mild. (In Septi'iiilur
22, the governor marched in the procession of magistrates which
opened on that day the first session of their organized c(iiii't.
St. Clair found, however, his most difficult task not in uov-
erning his immediate dependents, but in carrying out the wisius
of Congress to extinguish the Indian title everywhere soutli of
41°, and west to the Mis.sissip])i. Mated with this was the lui-
haps greater difficulty of controlling the recklessness of the
irresponsible squatter and the wild bushranger's provocation of
the Indian.
So(m after Brant had presented his memorial to (^on^iess.
insisting upon the Ohio as the Indian boundary, the <;<ivitii-
ment of the eonfedei'ation had addressed itself to acconipii>li
by treaty what it hardly dared attem])t by war, while the north-
ern posts were in tlie hands of the British. The chief iniptili-
ments in this action had been found in the ram])ant propensi-
ties of the Kentuckians. " It is a mortifving circumstam'e.
lie i>(i\i'iii-
; H
:- H
cA^fpr's M.nrrirs.
301
wioti' IlMniiar on Dt^oeinner 9. 1787. to the secrotarv of war,
"that wliilf iindor the sanction of the fcdi'ial authority noii'otia-
titiiis f(ir treaties are holding with the Indians, there slioultl l»e
siuli ))resuinption in the peojde of Kentueky as to be forinini;'
txpoditious against them." The natural result of sueli irregu-
lar warfare was the forming among tlu; tribes of "' confedera-
tiitiisand combinations."' whose mischief-making it was expected
that St. Clair would thwart.
It was a (|uestion then, and has been since, in all surveys of
this period, how f.ir the British government, or its individual
M
H\
? ^
ill
ii
308
THE NOR Til WES T 0( 'CI I'lEI).
r:i
': r
m
n
■
I 1
.aj^ents, were respoiiHihle for tlu- Indian hostilities. St. Claii.
in flaiinary, 1788, wrote to tlu; secretai-y of war: *'■ Nnt\vii||.
standing' the advice the Indians received from Lord l)(iirlit'v
ter to remain at peace with the United States, there can lie
l)ut little doubt that the jealousies they entertain are foiiicnttd
by the agents of the British erown." Hamilton wrott; in Tin
Fvdcvalisf : " The savage tribes on our western frontiers (niijiit
to bo regarded as our natural enemies and their [(ireat Uiit-
ain] natural allies, because they have most to fear fi'oni us and
most to hope from them," and for this reason he was urginj^^ a
standing national army instead of local j)rote('tion of tlic tKin.
tiers. A lack of unity of pur])()se in the States, and a setting'
of local interests before those of the confederation, was a ('(in-
stant source of per})lexity in many ways. In dealing witli tlic
Indians, this lack of a common policy was most harassing. In
»Iuly, 1788, St. Clair com])lains of the government of New
York distracting the Six Nations by calling them to •ouncil
at Fort Stanwix and making a treaty, at the same time that tlic
federal authorities were inviting them to a conference at Fort
llarmar.
Since 1780, when the tribes had been summoned to a council
by Georgia Kogcrs Clark, the Indians as a body, on one ])ii'-
tensc or another, had avoided making a treaty with the wliiti's.
In the summer of 1788, St. Chiir had urged such a meeting'
ui)on them, not, however, without a suspicion that tlu'v would
decide upon war as an alternative. In this belief he was de-
termined to be foi'carmed, and by the tirst of September. ITHH.
he had called upon the governments of Virginia and P.-nnsyl-
vania to hold in readiness some three or four thousand niilitiii.
while he equipped his regulars for forest service, and hoped to
add to them some three or four hundred recruits fioni tlie
French on the AVahash.
It was with some ai)])r(>hension lest they were more deter-
mined on war than on ])eace that St. C^lair saw the w'arriorcliiet-
tains begin to assemble at Fort llarmar on the 9th of Sep-
tember, 1788. Kejjresentatives of the various tribes caiiu' in
slowly. Meanwhile, a dubious character, one rJohn C(inu(dly.
known to be a British emissary, was disquieting the goverudi.
lest to the Indian difKculty another was to be added. Tlie ^nv-
ernor heard in November that Connolly had gone to Kentiieky
1 ; *
Sr. CLAHi'S TH KATIES.
309
ill ImIiiiH' of Lord Doirhi'ster, iiiid it was not (|iiite cloiir whotluT
('(.iiiioHv's j)urpose was to detach tlu- Kt'Htuckiaiis from tl>o
Aiiicriian cause l)y oft'criu''; thorn better seeurity under Hritish
|ii()t('i'ti(»u, or his mission had sonu? connection with the Span-
iards :iiid the Mississippi. We now know that Dorchester had
a iiidiitli before (October, 17SH) informed his home jjjovernnu'nt
tliat tlie people of KentueUy were both phinnin^ to force thi^
Mi>sissippi and to bargain with tlio English for an outlet
tlirnui;li the St. Lawrence, and this throws some light on the
way ill which Parsons had been aj)proached at I'ittsburg.
jUl'ore this, in August, 1788, Madison had written to flelfer-
sdii : " Spain is taking advantagt^ of disgust in Kentucky, and
is actually endeavoring to seduce them from the L'nion, — a
fact as certain as it is important."
Wliih; St. Clair was in the uncertain frame of mind that
suspicidus of this kind engendered, by I)ecend)er I'J, those of
till! Six Nations and other tribes who had been proof against
tlif persuasions of Brant and MeKee had assend)led at Fort
llariiiar in such numbers that the governor was ready to oj)en
till' cD.ifcrence. There was by this time, because of St. Clair's
constant professions, no ho])e on the Indians' i)art that Brant's
('(intention for the Ohio as a boundary would be recognized.
Brant and his Mohawks had withdrawn to Detroit. This
(It'vclopnient distressed St. Clair, as it well might, and it gave
liini further anxiety to learn that Dorchester was strengthening
the t'lirtifications of Detroit. lie also received further ])roofs
tiiat tiie S[)aniards were seeking to undermine the loyalty of
tlu! settlers on the Cund)erland and Tennessee, and that (\)l(»iu'l
(icoigc Morgan, who had received a grjuit from the Spanish
fur a settlement on the west l)ank of the Mississip))i, was hold-
iii,H' out inducements for settlers dis])osed to expatriate them-
H'lvt's. This settlement of New Madrid, which J^rissot called
■"a pitiful project of granting to those who shall establish them-
selves there the exclusive right of trading to New Orleans,"
pioved a movement which lirissot thought in reality " the tiist
foundation of tlu^ contpiest of Louisiana."
Amid such anxieties as these, St. ("lair went on with his nego-
tiation till in the course of January, 1789, he eoneludcd two
treaties. The first was with the Six Nations, except the Mo-
hawks, whom Brant had withdrawn. It confirmed the provi-
310
77//-; xoirniw'i'jsT ocvti'iKi).
' ! (1
>i
i I,'
sions made at Fi»rt Stanwix in 17H4. The otlicr was witli tin
Wyamlots and otlicr westcni triltcs, ami coiillrined the ^lam,
towards Lake Hric iiiadu at Forts Mcintosh and Finney in I'm,").
In soniu respects the new aj^ri'cnients were more advanta^cims
to the whites than the earlier ones. At all events, they con.
Ili-nicd all the <;i'ants niadi' l»y tin* Indians north of the ( )liii,
wiiich Brant had lahorcd to prevent.
St. Clair niacU' ])r()claniation of the I'csult on .lannaiv "11,
17H!I, and, as Parsons said, the ti'caty ended " to the sati«if;ii'.
tion of all concerned." St. ("lair himself was conlidcnt tli;it
the Indian confederations had been broken and •* Mraiit had
lost his iuHnence," thon<;h, as the <;overnoi' wrote to Knox, it
was not possible for him to extend the bounds beyond the lines
earlier agreed upon. St. Clair soon discovered that tlie tiiliiN
who wei-e not '' concerned "" in it wj're far from being satislicil,
and tJiis meant the distrust of a large \vMt of the twenty to
forty thousand Indians — for the estimates are not very luv-
cise — scattered over the northwest. The Shawnees ))aiti(ii-
larly were insolent and began their restless maiau<liiigs. wliich
had a tendency for a whih^ to check western immigration. —;i
condition not unacce])tablc to the Hiitish fur traders at I)etr()it,
Knox wrote to Washington a few months after the treaty was
signed that the Indians ])ossessed a right to the soil in tlicsc
western lands, and it was only to be taken from them by tin ii
eonsent or a just war, — a princijdc easy enough to coiii|)i(-
hend. and ever since maintained by the A., 'rican couits : Imt
the fact that there are always likely to be tr-. m- bands not
uniting in agreements ojiened tlum, and has rais« since, a
<j[uestion of title which has usually to be settled by force.
! ' ;
IVIcanwhile the fair fame of the Ohio Company was sutfeiini;'
from the remote results of the conduct of its i Ii;' f jnoniotcis.
AVhen it was known what was meant by the stuid^'! inci'casc uf
the purchase which Cutler made, by which he fbtained nioio
tha. three times as much land as the company itself had in-
tended to accjuire, there was by no means among his associatt's
a general ap])roval of his puriioses.
Cutler's furtive mancvuvre in the purchase, in order to screen
so many " principal characters of the country," ga\e place to
questionable devices in subsequent efforts to make the most ot
/I
.loiCL liMiLoW.
an
vliat liiiil bern iu'quireil as tlu' rt'Wiinl of cdUusioii. It is ii«>t
iloar just how far Ciitlei' was lesponsibk' for tiK' extravagant
rcprt'si'iitations wlilt'li wi-rc iis(,'(l in Paris to pronioti* a howihler-
iii;; spi'culation and to dtipt' innocent enthusiasts. Hrissot, in
tlctViiilin;;' the luoiiioters. ehliine«l that these seductive descrij)-
tioiis were oii^inal, nut witli C'uth'r ami his allii-d coiitiivers,
l;tit with llutchins; still it is certain the company adopted them.
Tlie eom]>act of the two companies, as rcpresciitcd l»y Ducr and
1 111 lor. professed that tlu'V were "joii.tly and e(|ually concerned
ill l'!urope and America in the disposal of their lands," which
cniinects Cutler on its face with any nefarious ])ractices of I>uer
and \\U a<.',ents. Putnam, at least, as (»iie of the trustees of the
company, could hardly have l»een ignorant of much that was
(Idiic. and was indeed actively cni;a,L;ed in some part of it. The
olijcct which these scheming confederates had in view was to
draw into tlu' Scioto speculation for their own gain, the pidjlie
.securities of the United States wliich were held in Hiii-ope,
anil to entice to the Ohio country those who were dismayed at
the sudden murkiness which ))orten(I .1 and accompanied the
French Kevolution. There was, moreover, a })ur})ose to whet
tlic eagerness to engage in such .Vmerican ventures, now that
Jt'ft'crson's consular convention with Fi'ance was calculated t(»
kee]) the United States subsei'vient to that country, and that
.such participation was likely to prove advantageous to French
(•(iiiiiii rcc. The agent who was employed to accomplish this,
after other agencies had failed, was ,Ioel Barlow, a man now
foiu'-and-thirty years old, of Connecticut stock, who had just
liccinne known as one of tlic *• Hartford wits." and the author
of Tlic Vlxlon of ColmnhiiK. Sailing from Xi'W Y(»rk. he
reached Havre on June 24, 1788. and was soon at his task in
I'aris. In what this agent did, he may have exceeih'd the
autlioiity committed to him. and in such acts his })rincipals
arc relieved from complete i'es])onsil)ility for what foUoweil.
The next year, 1780, Barlow formed a company in Paris, and
s»tltl to it three ndllion acres on the Ohio, west of the seven-
teenth range. The payments for it were to run in ])art till
Ndte. — Tlip iiijxp on tlip foUowinif paces in from n map, Pliirt ilrs Arfints ilf.i finnjinfinim ilr
VOhiu 1 1 lilt Sriiito, ijniri' /mr J'. }■', Tunlifi, and used liy Barlow in Paris to ailvaiici' liis decep-
tive inenKurps. It represents the " Seven Kani;es " and the lands of tlie Oliio Company as
'• cleared anil inhabited,"' ami plaeos the " I'reniirre Ville " as withont the bonnds of the Ohio
Company, wlien it was within them. Marietta is called " .Mariana."
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THE NORTHWEST OCCUPIED.
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17U4. To advance the speculation, Barlow caused to be tni'iied
iiit(» French an overdrawn description of the country, wliich
Cutler had printed at Salem in 1787, couched in langnuiie
showing the inevitable vices and devices of land specuhitur.s.
This translation was published at Paris in 1789, and it was
accompanied by a map, prepared l)y the associates in Auu'iica,
as Todd, Barlow's biographer admits, though he acknowlcdi-cs
that he keei)s the worst side of the transaction out of sinht.
This map aimed to further the deceit, l)egun in C'utler's advi r-
tisaig description, and if that was drawn fnrni Ilutchins. the
false statements of the ma}), representing both in the Seven
Kanges and in the Ohio and Scioto Comi)any"s land a settled
country, were certainly the associates' and Barlows fal)vicatiuiis.
Barlow, it may be allowed, was not alone in hoi)eful clieer fur
the future, if he was deceptive in the present, when he claimed
that there would be in twenty years a larger ])opulation beyond
the mountains than was then on the Atlantic slope, and that.
"sooner or later," the capital of the whole country must 1)e in
the centre of it, for Hamilton not hmg before, in the federal
convention, had prophesied a doubling of the representation in
Congress in five-and-twenty years.
If the business of the Scioto associates v/as a nefarious one,
not A little of the mischance must be ascribed to the feverish
condition of France. The infatuated Parisians were easily led
to their ruin, and there is little evidence that they ])ut Barlow's
persuasions to any test, though existing caricatures, issued at
the time, show that something like correct knowknlge of the
Ohio country existed, for one of them indicates a Ixdief tliat
the company weru selling imaginary acres, and offering maps
— as was the case — on whicdi rocdcy deserts were re|)resented
as fertile jdains and the territory was supplied with all t!ie
ai)purtenances of civilized life, while in but one corner ol" it a
few i)ioneers were completely isolated in their incipient struggles
with the wilderness.
If this Scioto venture, as we shall later see, proved a grievous
misery, an experiment more creditable to those concerned had
taken place in the Miami country. In August, 1787, dchn
(leve Symmes, who was one of the three judges associated w.'li
St. Clair in the government of the nin-thwest, applied tn the
v^' S
.1
.S VMMES'S COL OX V.
315
];iiul office for a niillioii acres lyinj^' between the (ireat and
Little Miami, ottering terms the same as the Ohio Company
liad })ai{l. The inerensing demand for hind had carried up the
vahie of the military scrip, so that the comj)letion of tiie trans-
for was not reached till May 15, 1788. I,«*;ael Ludlow, a
New Jersey man, who had made the survey, found that the
iiiiliidH acres sui)posed to lie between the two Miamis were
(liiiiiiiisiied to something over a ((uarter of that extent. In the
following July, Synunes started to reach his grant. He had
fourteen four-horse wagons and about sixty persons in his train.
With this ('(piipment he landed from his barges at the Little
Miami on September 22, 1788, accom])anii!d by Ludlow, I)en-
iiiau. and Filson, names associated with the beginnings of this
vtiitiue. Here, on a site oj)posite to the s])()t where, eoniing
from the Kentucky mountains, the Lii-king jmured into the
Ohio, tlioy (danned f<n' a town, but before nmch could be done,
tl: ' )-(li nrowded about in a hostile manner, and it was
thoiii ' j>; iJent to return to Limestone (Maysville), sixty miles
up the ri .*>r, on the Kentucky shore, where a settlement had been
iicgun four years before. In November (1788 ), a l)arty returned
to the same spot and built a blockhouse. About Christmas,
Doiuuan, Ludlow, and another i)arty left Limestone, and ])ush-
iiig their boats through the floating ict'-cakes, they landed on
iK'ccniber 28, on the same ground. Some eight hundred acres
of the immediate i-egiou had been bought by Mathlas Dcuman
and two others, whom he admitted to tlie enterprise, for some-
thing less than tw() luuulred and fifty dollars. In the party
was ,]olm Filson, wh ; vas to em])loy his skill for surveying in
laying out the strC' s if a town. It fell to Ludlow to take
niiasiH'ements, inr u r- find out where the purchased area
hc^aii, at a .4)01 t*. » y miles from the mouth of tlie (Jreat
Miami. Denman an ! '^ud' w began to consider wiiat name to
i^ive the projected st ttk.ix-nt, and thought, (»f Cincinnati, in
(•onuiicmoration of the society of wliich \\ asliington was then
tilt' head : but Filsim, who had been a sclioolmaster, exercised
liis unpolished wits in fashioning a strange name. He was not
iiuite sure which of the two endif.gs to his eonglomei'atcd desig-
nation he preferrf'd, hurt/ or r/f/c ; but he had no doubt about
ilu' rest of the . '^nposition, and his pedantry i)revaiie<l. So
Lusantiville wa;. i'V.'ed, signifying the town {rillr) opposite
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316
THE NORTHWEST OCCUPIED.
{(inti) the mouth (os) of the Licking (Z). Wlu'ii St. ("luii-
later came upon the spot, he preferred Cincinnati, and the f utun;
city was saved a ridiculous designation. Filson, being soon
killed by the Indians while venturing inland, was not destined
to make a similarly bizarre combination of the city lines, and its
streets were really laid out by Ludlow.
This and other settlements in the neighborhood assured, (Jtn-
eral Ilarmar sent a detachment to protect the colon}-, and on
September 20, 1789, the troops began to erect a stockade on a
reservation of fifteen acres. The post was named Fort A\'asli-
ington, and in December Harmar, accomi)anied by about tlii-cM;
hundred men out of the six hundred in his de])artment, arrived
and established there his lieadtiuarters. Cincinnati, under such
military protection, outstrip i '1 the other neighboring settle-
ments on the Great and L^( iami, and soon became the
county seat.
The use that was to be made of the Mississippi and its eastern
affluents had now become a biu'uing ])olitical jiroblem. The stren-
uous contention which Franklin had nuide in 1783 to secure the
main current of that river as a boundary of the young Kej)nl)-
lic had brought its sequel. The Ohio, which had already l)e-
come the main avenue to the Kentucky and Cumberland regions.
was now the principal approach to the new settlements on tlie
northern banks. So long as the British retained the lake posts,
the Ohio was to have no rival as a western route. Washington.
soon after he became President, had addressed himself to this
perplexing question. In October, 1789, he had asked St. Chiir
to investigate the portages between the Ohio basin and Lakes
Erie and Michigan, as forming a ccmnection with the posts,
which he hoped now to demand with the weight of a better
organized government behind him. So he instructed (iouver-
neur Morris to sound the British authorities about (.'utering iiiion
a commercial treaty. He also directed him to reopen the (|nes-
tion of the posts, while Hamilton intimated to the British audit
in New York that his government need no longer fear that
the United States did not offer a stable administration to deal
with.
While this matter was pending, the use of the Mississi})pi was
1
THE MISSISSIPPI VOYAGE.
317
a iiiDie vital consideration for the west. The Ohio, from Pitts-
Imi'H' to the rapids at Louisville, had a course of ten hundred
and seventy -four miles, as it was then reckoned. Ilutchins
had described it as carrying "a great uniformity of hreadth,
fiom four hundred to six hundred yards, except at its confluence
with the Mississippi and for a hundred miles above it, where it
is a thousand yards wide. For the greater part of the way it
has many meanders amid rising ground uj)on both sides. . . .
Tlie height of the banks admit everywhere of being settled, as
till y are not liable to crund)le away. . . . There is scarce a
jjlace between Fort Pitt and the rapids where a good road may
not bt
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e nuule and liorses employed in drawing \\\y large
di
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bar
ires
against a stream remarkably gentle, exce})t in high freshes."
A dow'^ voyage on the Ohio was easy and pleasant, l)arring
the risk of the savage bullets, and the barges of the emigrants
went on at three or four miles an hour in ordinary stages of
the water ; but their progress was accelerated to double that
speed in the spring freshets. The return voyage was altogether
trying. Any plan of an ocean commerce for the West by an
outlet in the (rulf of Mexi^^o presented so serious an obstacle
in the stennning of this current that the canal companies of
Virginia derived their chief impulse from this obstruction in a
rival route.
From New Orleans to Louisville, now a town of some sixty
dwellings, boats of forty tons, manned by eighteen and twenty
hands, could hardly accomplish the trip in less than eight or ten
weeks. — a voyage which the first steand)oat which accomplished
it made, in 1815, ni five-and-twenty days. It was a serious
question if »iny method could be devised to overcome this obsti-
nate current so as to reduce this time. There were those who
contended that some scheme of artificial propulsion, such as
Kunisey and Fitch were now ex])erimenting with, would yet
reduce the cost of transportation on this up-voyage to a tenth
of tlic expense of carriage by land and water from Philadelphia
to till' same point. When Cutler had tried to impress the sus-
oeptible public by that vein of pro])hecy which blinded the
])oi)i' settlers of Gallipolis, he added : "■ The current down the
Ohio and Mississii)pi for heavy articles that suit the Florida
and West India markets . . . will be more loaded than any
stream on earth. ... It is found by late experiments that sails
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318
THE NORTHWEST OCCf'PIED.
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arc used to great advantage against tlie ciii-rent of the Oliiu.
and it is worthy of observation that, in all probability, steam-
boats will be found to be of infinite service in all our river navi-
gation."' Cutler himself had had hoi)es of substituting the serew
for oars in the ordinary manual labor of the boats. In August,
1788, he had tried an experiment on the Ohio, with the 1h'1|)
of Tup])er, in which he claimed to have " succeeded to admira-
tion "' in propelling a boat by a screw worked by hand.
If this question of artificial propulsion was one factor in the
Mississijjpi (piestion, there was another in the opposition nf
Spain to the claim of the West to seek the ocean by the (hilf
of Mexico, and Jay was soon aware that Spain " did not nnan
to be restricted to the limits established between Britain and
the United States."' In May, 1785, Gardoqui had come to
negotiate a treaty of commerce in behalf of Spain. In confer-
ences which he later had with Jay, it was jjroposed that tiie
United States should abandon for twenty-five years all claims to
descend the ^Hssissipi>i to the fJulf in recompense for the com-
mercial privileges which Spain, on those tei'ms, was disposed to
grant. Kufus King recounted the arguments of thof.e ready to
accede to this demand. lie believed that if the free navigation
of the Mississippi was secured, the east and west must sepa-
rate, for the connnerce of the west would inevitably follow the
Mississippi. To populate the west would indeed make a mar-
ket for the western lands, but the dis])osing of them at this
risk would pay too dearly for rcjdenishing the treasuiy (»f tiic
C(mntry. lie acknowledged that the cr}"^ tor the Mississippi
was a popular one, but to insist on the point was a sure wa\ to
a war with Spain, and such a conflict, with a probable loss of
territory and the fisheries, was too great a risk. Edward Knt-
ledge of South Carolina told Jay that " the majority of those
with whom I have ccn versed believed that we should be bene-
fited by a cessi(Mi of it [the Mississi^jpi] to Spain for a limited
time."
Jay himself was ready to accede to the demand of Spain, hut
on bringing it to the attention of Congress, in August, 178G, it
was api)arent that the country had become clearly divided on
the issue, and thei-e was great heat in the controversy. The
members from tlie South and West, with few such exceptions
as Rutledge, insisted on opening that river in opposition to the
■A!
SPAIX AM) THE MIS SI SSI J 'PI.
319
coiniiicrc'ial classes of the North, whieli valued the professed
(i|ilM)rtimities of trade even at the cost which Spain demanded.
Otto wrote to Vergennes in Seiiteniber, 178G, that he feared the
liL'iitcil oj)position of the two sections would lead to oj)en advo-
cacy of disunion. Jay's purposes had anmsed Virginia. On
M;iirh 1. 1787, Randolph wrote to Madison: " The oeclusiou
of the ]\Iississi})pi will throw the western settlers into an innne-
(liate state of hostility with Sj)ain. If the subject be canvassed,
it will not be sufHcient to negative it merely, but a negative
with some emi)hasis can alone secure ]Mr. lleniy to the objects
of tlic convention at Philadeli)hia." Mason said in the federal
convention in July : " S})ain might for a time deprive the west
of tlicir natural outlet for their ])roductions. yet slur will, be-
cause she nmst, lii lly yield to their demands." Henry Lee. in
August, when it seemed that Jay might carry his point, wrote
to A\'ashington : " The moment our western country becomes
Itopiilous and cai)able, they will seize by force what may have
been yielded by treaty." In October, Lafayette said to Jay :
'•1,1 a little time we must have the navigation, one way or tiu;
other, which I hope Spain may at last understand." In De-
cember, Madison, observing as Kand(»lph had done, rei)resented
t(i Washington that Patrick Henry, heretofore a warm advocate
of the federal cause, was now become cold because of Jay's
jtroject, and was likely, if Congress acceded, to go over to the
"tlicr side. ^lonroe and (irayson, to avoid a ru})ture, weie
inclined to compromise, so as to agree with Gardocpii that
exports from the west shouhl have free ])assage by the ^lissis-
sippi. while imports should enter the Atlantic ports.
As the months went on, ilie feeling in sympathy with the
west increased, fleffci'son wrote of Jay's project in January,
1787. as " a relincpiishment of five parts out of eight of the
territory of the United States : an abandonment of the fairest
subject for the ])ayment of our ])ublic debts, and the chaining
of those debts on our own necks."" If. by virtue of this descr-
tion of the west, he added, "they declare themselves a separate
people, we are incapable of a single effort to retain them." In
A])ril, ilarmar. at the ra])ids of the Ohio, found the ({uestioii
"the greatest subject of discourse."" and the opinion ])re vailed
there that, if the Spanish demands were met, it would be "■ the
greatest of grievances." The Spaniards were warned that their
320
THE NOllTinVEST OCCUPIED.
\i
H
I !i'
obstinacy might throw the wcstcM'n people into the uriiis of
England, who eoiilcl offer them the St. Lawrence as an oiiilct.
lirissot said that if Spain would only o])en the Mississipiii.
"New Orleans would become the centre of a lucrative coin.
meree." Brissot believed Spain would do this, except that she
feared " the connnunication of those ])rinciples of independence
which the Americans preach wherever they go."
By February, 1787, Jay's party in Congress showed signs
of weakening, and later, when New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and
Rhode Island deserted him, Jay abandoned all ho])e, i'mt
Spain was firm for an exclusive use of the river, and the tiim;
was only put off when the question would come to an issue.
Virginia might resolve, as her Assembly did on November 1"J,
1787, that the free use of streams leading to the sea was giiai-
anteed " by the laws of God and man," but something more
than legislative votes was necessary to secure the boon. Tlitrc
was a lingering suspicion that England, at the peace, had so
readily yielded the western country because she was sure it
would eventually involve the new lie])ublic in controversy witli
Si)ain, and rumors of a coming conflict were, as t now tinned
out, constantly in the air. llarPKU- wrote in Oanuaiy, 1788,
to the secretary of war : " I very much (piestion whether tlie
Kentucky and Cumberland people and those below will liavc
the audacity to attempt to seize Natchez and New Orleans. I
know of no cannon and the necessary a})paratus which tliey
have in their possession to carry on such an ex])editi()n." It
was at the time evi(ient that though Kentucky had sometliiuij
like a hundred thousand ])oj)ulation, the wiser course for attain-
ing success was to bide the time when Spain and westeiii
Europe were embroiled in a war.
The ([uestion, particularly in Virginia, entei'ed into the dis-
cussions over the adoption of the federal constitution, wlii(di,
now that Massachusetts had ado])ted it, trusting to the future
ft)r amendments, was in a fair way to become the law of the
land. Madison contended, in the debates in Richmond, that
the constitution, by creating a strong government, would render
the o})ening of the Mississi])pi certain. Patrick Henry doubted
it much. " To j)reserve tlie balance of American ]iower,'" ho
said, " it is essentially necessary that the right to the Mississi])pi
should be secured." The distrust which Jay's purpose had
(
}\\ !)
STICAM BOATS.
821
d'cati'd was hard to eradicate. ''This affair of the Mississip])!,"
siiid Jeft'erson to Madison in Jum-. 17H0, "by showiu";- th;it
('oii'j[rcss is capal^le of hesitatinj;' on a (jiiestion whieh j)ro|tos('s
;i clt'ar sacritice of tlie western to thi' niaritinu' States, will with
(lit'liridty be obliterated." In a well-known letter whieh Kufus
rutnani wrote to Fisher Ames in 171*0. that leader of the Mari-
etta settlement strove to show how nothing bnt necessity eonld
wean the West from the East, while the seaboard towns ninst
])(' the natural market for the western products ; but to ])reserve
this iiuitual dej)en(lenee, the Ohio region nuist be sustained by
Congress in its demand IvU- the free navigation of the Missis-
sippi, and he urges An)es .o jn-ess Congress to that conclusion.
j.
I \\
A second factor in the Misslssi]i])i ])roblein was some method,
as already indicated, of stennning its current by artificial
means. AVe have seen in the ])receding chapter that, in 1784,
Kuiiisey had gained the apin'obation of AVashington for a me-
olianical method of using setting-poles in ])ushing boats up-
stream. Very soon after this, he had grasped a notion of using
steam for power, as indeed William Henry of Lancaster had
suggested to Andrew Ellicott as early as 1770. Kunisey's new
iiotidii was to use this power in forcing water out of the stern
\vlii(!]i had been taken in at the bow, and in this way to projjel
the boat. In the autumn of 1784, the legishitures of Virginia
and Maryland had granted him the exclusive use of the inven-
tion in their waters. At the same time (Xoveniber ) he com-
nuniicated his plans to Washington, but they did not gain liis
full confidence. On March 10 of the next year (1785). he
wrote to Washington : "• I have quite convinced myself that
linats may be made to go against the current of the Missis-
si])|)i or Ohio rivers . . . from sixty to a hundred miles a day."
It is difficult to reconcile all the conflicting statements circu-
hitcd and vouched for by Kumsey and his rival, John P^itch,
each chiiming ])riority in the use of steam. It is certain that in
March, 1785, Fitch, who had traveled much in the western
country, and was countenanced l)y Ilutchins, ])rofessed with
some little reserve to Patrick Henry that his knowledge of the
northwest wiis not equaled by that of any other man, and that
he intended to put his knowledge to use in the construction of
a map of that region, which he soon actually executed, cutting
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822
THE xonrinvEsT occupied.
^to\"^'kV.,^.
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Note. — Tlie iibiivi^ cut is a .ski'tch fnnii Kiti'li's map. The tliif-mnl-d sli line is the lio'inilary
on ("aiiiiil;i. Tlit- (/(i.s7/ line defiiips the wcHteni part of IVimsylvania. The ilal lines nimw \\\f
boinuls ipf the proponed States under the ordiuiinoe of 1784. There are various legends uu tlie
map in the plaees indicate<l hy the eapital letters, thus : —
K. A maji of the northwest parts of tlie United States of America.
1!. Tlie several divisions on the N. W. of the Ohio is the form which that country is to W Iiiiil
off into .States accordinc to an ordinance of CoiiKress of May the 2(1"', 17S.">.
C. The author presents this to the puhlic as the production of his leisure hours, and Hitlers
himself that altho' it is not perfect, few cni'ital errors will be foinul in it. He has not atd iiijitiMl
to take the exact meanders of the Wateus, hut oidy their general course. In forming tlii> ii. i
he acknowledges himself to have been indebted to the ingenious labours of Thamn.i /fiitr/rus mid
ir///'" ^f'Miirrdii, Esq'". But from his own surveys and observations he was led to liii|'i' he
coidd make considerable improv^-ments on those and all that have gone before him. H"" for lie
has succeeded is now submitted to the impartial public by their very hble serV, John Fitch.
I I.
■^v
FITCH'S MAP.
323
til. .Dijju'r himst'lf, luul woikiii"- oft' the copies in ii hand-press
(il his t»\vn eoasti'uetiou. lie luul lioiu s tliiit. l)y traversinij the
cninili'V and sellini;' liis maps e could ohtaiii what ujoiiey \w
iii'iili'd ti» carry out a project which seems very soon afterwards
to liav, entered his mind. He later claimed that when the
ciiiiccptiou of using steam to i)ro|)el a boat against the current
i)i tlie western waters (hiwned up(;n him, he had not heard that
aiiv one had ever hroached the idea. The scheme, when he
advanced it, did not altttgether conuncnd itself to tiiose who
liad liad experience with the Ohio and Mississippi currents, and
.lacoli Yo<ler, who, it api)ears, was the lirst to take a boat with
nil rchandise to New Orleans, had expresseil his distrust. Fitch,
witli his earnest vigor, set to work on a model, and before h)ng
had it afloat on a little stream in Peiujsylvania. It was a boat
])iii])('llfd by paddle-wheels. On August '2\), he wrote to the
proidi'Mt of Congress that he had invented a machine to facili-
D. To Thomas Hi'TcHiNs, A'.v/'-. ,'<('(»/'"/''"''''" ""' lnHfil ''^lules. Sir; It is with tin' K''fiit''»tt
(lirtM'Miii' I W\< leave to lay ut your feet ii very Imiiiljle iitteiiipt to promote :i scieme ot wliiili yoii
are so liritjlit an ornament. I wIhIi it were more worthy yonr patronage. UnacenHtomed to tlie
liiiMiiess of ennfiiviiif;, I eoiilil not render it as pleasing to the eye an I would have wisheil. Itiit,
an I rtitler njyMelf, will he ea.iily forgiven hy a gentleman, who knows how to dintinKtiish lietweeu
f.iriM :iiiil sulistaiK'e in nil tliinjjs. I havi' the lion' to he, sir. your very hhle serv', .lonN Fitch.
1'.. The fulls of Niaijara are at present in the middle of a plane about five miles hack from
the siuiiinit of the mountain, over whieh the waters once tnmhled, we may suppose. The action
111 the wati'r in a lonj; course of time, has worn away the solid rock and formed an iimiien.s*' diti'li
wliiili none may approach without horror. After falling perpendi<ular 1.VI feet (as dome have
(■iiiiipiitiMJ) it continues to descend in a rapid seven miles further to the Landing place.
K. Copper ore in yreat abundance found here.
(J. Tlie falls of St. .\nthony exhibit one of the grandest spectacles in nature ; the waters da-li-
'm\i over tremendous rocks from a hei^jht of about forty feet perpendicular.
H. Kroiii Kort Lawrance and thence to the mouth of Sioto, a westerly ccmrse to the niinols i.s
Ri'iuTally a rich level country abounding with living springs and navigable waters ; the air pure
iiii'l tie' climate moderate.
I. Tliis country has once been settled by a people more expert in the art of war than the pres-
flit iiili:ihitants. Regular fortiHcations, and .some of these incredibly large are freipiently to be
fuiiiul. .Uso many grave.s or towers, like i>yraniids of earth.
,1. I'ioria's wintering ground.
K. On the .Mianiis are a large nunilxr of Indian towns, inhabited by Slmwnnoea, Delawnres,
Milii;"*, \c.
I.. I'hc lands on this lake are generally Hat and swampy: but will make rich jiastnre and
llieuiloH land.
-M. Kniiii Kort Lawrance to the mouth of Vcllow Creek and northward to the waters of Lake
Krie is u'cncrally a thin soil and broken luml.
N'. KniMi the mouth of Sioto to Fort Lawrance, between that line and the Ohio, the soil is tol-
eralilc good ; but generally iiinch broken with sharp hills.
r. From the I'ennsylvania line to Great Sandy, and thence a southwesterly course to the
t'.vroliiia line, is generally very poor land and very mountanous, rocky and broken.
<^ The Kentucky oountry is not so level as it is generally represented to he. there being a
ranite of hilly land, running thro' it N. K. \' S. W. : also very deep valleys on the larg streams.
K Ir.iiihaiiks, settled in the year X<^ ami evacuated the same year.
The original map, from which this sketch is made. Is in Hirvanl Cidlege library, and I have
lipurd of hut one other copy. A photograph of it, nearly full size, was taken for the late Judge
t'. C. Hal. '.win of Clevelaml.
• Ill
■ I
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324
77/ A' y nun I WEST occupied.
tiiti' iiiturnul nav'i;;'ati(>ii, uiid laid lii.s plans iK-t'oi-c that liody.
In ^H'i»tt'nil)t'i', he outlined his s(dien»u to the Anu-rican I'liilo-
H;>j)hi('al Society, and ei;;ht or ten weeks later, on Deci-ndtcr il,
lit oft'ered a model tor their consideration.
^l'■aIlwhil( , Kiteli had ju'titioned the \'ir;i;inia Assendtlv tnr
aid in [»ushinj;' his in\eiilion, and (Jovernoi- Henry ente'red into
a honil with him, l)y which Kitch agreed that if he could sell
u thousand copies of his ma|) at six shillings each, he winiid
exhibit his steand)oat in \'irginia, giving " full proof ol tlic
l)racticai»ility of moving by the force of a steam engine . . . u
vessid (»f not less than one ton burthen." This agreement was
dated «>n Novend)er 1(5. ITHo, and Fitci; was to forfeit £{M^) if
the conditi<»ns were not fidtilled. The maps were not sold, and
he lost the aid of Virginia. He successively aisked, but without
avail, similar assistance from I*ennsylvania, Maryland, and New
.Jersey. He had had before this, in k"^eptember, an interview
with (iardocpii. To indvice the Spanish minister to })atvonize tlic
scheme, he had set foich the I'uture of the west luider the intlii-
enceof such an invention, and had gi 'en him a copy of his map.
lie hiul intimated, also, an alternative project of working his
})addles by horses. Gardoqui scmght first to secure an exclusive
right to Spain in the results, and to this Fitch would not agree.
\\v. now I'csorted to forming a comi)any in Philadel)diia, where
he had received the aid of a Dutch mechanic, Voight by name.
and in the summer of 178G, he made some experimental trips
with a new craft on tiie Delaware, attempting, on July 2n. to
use a screw, and doing Letter a week later with paddles. Tliis
furthered bis jdan of sid)scription, but when Franklin offered
him a gjaUilt ', instead of a suhscrintion, he confesses he wiis
stung to the (| lick. In Decem!i«r, 178G, he ])rinted in the
CohivihUin Miujdxlno a description of his boat, with a eut of
the little craft, and this still more animated the ]iublie intenst.
Anew vess(d, forty-five feet long, with upright paddles, w:is coiii-
])leted in the f(dlowing "May, 1787, and on August 22 lie uiade
an exhibition of it on the Delaware for the delectation of tlie
mend)ers of the federal convention. This gave him some addi-
tional notoriety, and he announced a scheme of huilding a lioat
for lake use with two keels. He ])roposed, also, to edge it-*
wheels with spikes, so that in winter it could be run on the ice
at thirty miles an hour.
: 1
lire 1 1 AM) iiLMst:y.
3-25
Tliougli tht'iv is suiiu' (lisc'iTpiiiicy in evideneo as to the date,
it would seem that Ids final snci't'ss was acddeveil in tlio sjuinj;-
(it ITN^i, wiion he moved a vessel ealled the " I'erseveraiiee," ot"
>i\tv tuns l)urthe:k, tor eij^lit ndles on the Sehuylkill. liriss()t,
who saw the txperiment, says that the i)ower was exerted l»y
'•time large oars of eonsideral)lo force, which were to <>ive
sixty strokes v minute." In »hdy, he used stern jjaddles in a
trial on tlu; Delawai'e, and went twenty ndles. Notwithstand-
ing this, Fiteh did not escape ridicule from the iiu'redidous, and
I'liissot expresses some indignation "to see Americans discour-
agiiii; him hy their sarcasms."
Till' now active rivalry of Kumsey added personal bitterness
to the controversy between them, as shown in a pamphlet which
was printed. Kumsey, being as imi)ecunious as his antagonist,
had sought in the same way to get the assistance of the legis-
latiiics of some of the States. He clahued in his nu-morials
that ins boat couhl make twenty-tive to forty miles a day against
a strong current, using for the power a current of water taken
ill at the bow and ejected at the stern.
\Vlien Kumsey memorialized the Virginia Assembly in 1785,
the project was thought chimerical, and gained no attention
till ' -shington, to whom he had disclosed his method, gave
hill 'rtificate. It was not till the early winter of 1787 that
lie iiiu.ie a pid)lic trial of a boat, eighty feet long, on the Poto-
iiiac. making three miles an hour on December 3, and four miles
on I)cc(!inber 11.
^^'llile Fitch was, by his experiments, creating some enthusi-
asm ill Philadelphia in 1788, Kumsey was making promises in
Kni;laiid, and foretelling the possibility of crossing the ocean
in tifteen days. He died of ajjojjlexy four years later (Decem-
licr '1',], 1792), a disappointed man. Some abortive attempts
had been made in Scotland by Miller in 1788, and by Syming-
tdU in 1800, to solve the problem, but the first real success did
not come till 1807, when Fulton ran the " Clermont " on the
Hudson, and when, two years later (Xovember, 1809), the " Ac-
commodation " steamed from Montreal to Quebec in thirty-six
hours of actual progress, having anchored on three nights.
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t'
CHAPTER XV.
TIIK SOUTHWEST INSECUKE.
1783-1786.
The i)oaoe of 1783 had brought no better security south of
the Ohio than had been attained on the nortli of it.
In May, 1782, just as the English cabinet was making up its
mind to grant the indepen'lence of the colonies, a Kentiidiv
(Jerman, Jacob Yoder, liad puslied oft" from Redstone on the
jVIonongahela, in a big boat laden with Hour, to risk the passajie
to New Orleans, and reap, if he could, some ])rotit from Ills
venture. lie was fortunate. The Spanisih authorities on the
Mississij)pi were waiting then for the outcome of the war, and
had no reason to stop this adventurous trader, who had siie-
cessfully run the gauntlet of the Lidians. lie reached New-
Orleans in safety and s dd Ids flour for furs. These skins he
took to Havana, whore he bai'tcrcd thtni for sugar, which in
turn he shii)ped to IMiiladclphiu. With much money in his
pocket, the rx'sult of his specuhition, he recrossed the mountains
to his Kentucky home.
Meanwhile, the negotiations at Paris were hurrying to a close.
and wiic?n it became known that by a secret ])rovision of tliiit
treaty, England and the Sta'es, in order to reconcile tlw-ir dis-
cordaut views, had agi'ced in any event to ignore th(> SiMuish
claim to territory above 31^, there was no chance of Ytxhrs
venture being relocated, and such i)eaeeful commerce soon -ive
place to stagnation on the river, only relieved by an occasioniil
freebooting sally of the wild Cumberland frontiersmen, who
wanted to get v/hat sport and |)lundcr tliey could out of hanvin;;'
the Spanish settlements along the river. Cruzat, c(miniandiiig at
St. Louis, complained to Rol)e.'lson of therv lawless acts: l>ut it
was difficult to fasten resjjonsibility anywhere, though tlic an-
thorities at Nashborough labored to prevent such incursions.
For twelve years or more to come, Spain was to be the ci veil
SPAXISH HOSTILITY.
327
euciiiv of the new Republic. All this while she was seeking to
lure tiny who woukl act in concert with her, both among the
wild tiil)es of the southwest and among the ahnost as wild
fidiitiorsmen of the outlying settlements oi the confederacy and
the later Union. Events seemed at time? distinctly fashioned
for her advantage. The whites in Georgia and along the Ten-
nessee were recklessly invading the Induvn lands, and inciting
tlu'iii to retaliate. Before the Revolutionary War had closed,
it had seemed plain to Governor Harrison of Virginia that
Ixjuiiils nuist be agreed ujton to restrain the white squatters,
ami he and Governor Martin of North Carolina had con-
sulted in November, 1782, about ai)i)ointing commissioners to
settle a line. When Pickering, in April, 1783, was planning
ji peace establishment, he liad provided for the southwest only a
modest cpjarter of the eight hundred troo})s which he destined
to garrison the exj)osed })osts, as a })rotection against the dan-
gers t(5 be apprehended from '• the Indians and the Spuinsh.*'
As early as May 31, 1783, a treaty had been made at Augusta
with the Cherokees, and later (^November) with the Creeks, by
which the Americans secured the title to a tract of land west
of the Tugaloo River, but the result failed to secure the ap
proval of the great body of those tribes ; nor was the warlike
faction of the Creeks won by other agreements, which had bi'cn
made witli the same tribe and the Chickasaws, in July and
November. The (^reeks and their Spanish backers were thus
hoeome a se/ious problem in the southwest.
The general ])eace of 1782 had been a vexatious one to the
pouii at Madrid. S])ain had not secured (lil)raltar, as she liad
lio|H'd to do, and matters on the Mississi])])i. with the understand-
ing that existed between England and her now independent
colonics, were no less a disa])pointment. Lafayette, who in tlie
spring of 17S3 had been in Madrid, wrote thence to Livingst(m,
the Secretary for Eoreign Affairs, that he "could see that
American inde])endence gave nnd)rage to the Spanish ministry."
Before the war closed, Virginia had already pressed lu-r
elaim to an t>xtension to the Mississii)pi, where Clark had built
lort deff'erson. but North Cai-olina liad never officially ))ushed
lier jurisdicti(m beycmd the mountains till in May. 1783, her
legislature by an act stretched her southern boundai'v by the
parallel of 3G^ 80' Hkewise to the Mississippi. This enactment
t \
'< '».;!
V ]
328
THE SOUTHWEST INSECURE.
was not only a warning to Spain that her claim to the easteni
bank of the Mississippi would be contested, but it also showed
the people of the Holston and Cumberland valleys that tliey
had not escaped the jurisdiction of the ])arent State in ooiuf
westward to subdue the wilderness. Both of these settloMonts
had steadily grown. There was perhaps a population of tliiot'
thousand five hundred souls in the Cumberland district. The
older communities along the Clinch and the Holston had bi'nun
to form some of those religious consolidations which the Metho-
dist conununion carries in its spreading circles, while the
Scotch-Irish in southwestern Virginia and in the neighboring
parts of Kentucky and Tennessee hiul set up the presbytei-y of
Abingdon, an offshoot of the larger one o£ Hanover, which had
been formed in 1749.
In this extension of her western jurisdiction North Carolina
had not failed to reserve a certain tract of this territory foi' the
use of the Indians ; but she had done it of her own option, and
without consulting the tribes. This was an arrogant act, winch
the Creeks quickly resented.
The Kentucky settlements between the Cumberland and the
Ohio had, in March, 1783, been divided by the Virginia authori-
ties into three co'inties. The principal seat of local business
was at first placed -at Ilarrodsburg, but later at Danville.
These settlements showed signs of civil regularity wliieli did
not prevail to the south of them, and invited renewed ininii-
gi-ation. This in some part pursued the Virginia path by the
Cumberland Gap, following what was known as the Wilderness
Koad, which, however, was but a mere bridle trace for pack-
horses. The larger ])art of the migration floated down the Ohio
1 ^m Pittsburg, which had just been formally laid out as a town
by the agents of the Penns, with a ])o]ndation of about a thou-
sand. As a rule, however, the Virginia emigrant struck the
Ohio ninety miles below, at Wheeling, and thereby avoided
some of tiie difficulties of the shoaler water between that point
and Pittsburg. In either case they disembarked, as had been
the custom from the beginning, at Limestone, and thenc(> made
their way over a well-beaten road to the valleys of the Licking
and Kentucky, not failing to ren.ark how the buffalo had de-
serted their old traces, and taken to the less-freciuented portions
of the country. It is not easy to determine with accuracy the
lilr
II:
McGILLIVllAY.
329
extt'Ut of this inflow during the years immediately following the
peace ; but it has been reckoned as high as twelve or fifteen
thousand a tv^elvemonth, with proportionate trains of pack-
horses and cattle. These numbers included, doubtless, a due
share of about f"ur thousand European immigrants, who sought
the States yearly.
Whenever these wanderers encountered the red man, it was
iu»t (lifHcult for the new-comers to discover that, to the savage
inind, the enforced transfer of allegiance from the English crown
to the new Kepublic was a change that wronged and incensed
th(! victims of it. To the military man, who was not an uncom-
iuon member of the new emigration and who IkkI seen service
under Bradstreet and Sullivan, this attitude of the Indian mind
hocled no little mischief.
Tlie restless conditions of the tribes in the southwest offered
to Miro, now the Spanish connnander at New Orleans, an
opportunity for conference and intrigue. The way was opened
hy the ceaseless endeavors of Alexander McGillivray to form
a league of the southern tribes against the Americans, in order,
with Spanish countenance and with a simultaneous revolt on
the part of the northern tribes, to force the exposed settlers
haek upon the seaboard. The scheme was a daring one, and
no such combination among the redskins had been attempted
since the conspiracy of Pontiac. But McGillivray. with all his
ovaft, had little of the powers of mind which the Ottawa ( hi> i
hail i)()ssessed, and his efforts fell short of even the' temporal y
siiocess which Pontiac had achieved. McGillivriiy was a half-
breed Creek, whose mother was of a chief family of that nation.
His fatlier was a Scotchman. >Ie had sonu'thing of the Scotch
hard-lieadedness, and had receired an education by no means
despicable. Adhering to the royal side in the late war, his
l)ro[)erty had been cimfiscatcd, and he was now adrift, harbor-
in<j hatred towards the Amei'icans, while he was not iiij.iablo
towards the British, who had betrayed, as he laimed, himself
and his race. As early as January 1. 1784, he had connuuni-
cated with the Spanish connnander at Pensacola, with a ]iro])o-
sitioii for a S])anish alliance. He also intimated the ])ossibility
tit'detaeliing tlie over-mountain settlements from the confeder-
acy, nmintrjning that the west contained two classes of discon-
tents, who might well be induced to play into the hands of
I. H
u
u
1
//
330
THE SUUTinVEST jySECl'HK.
Spiiin. Oiu' of those iiu'liuled the tribes, indignant at the
desertion of them by Great liritain. The othrr was the bixly of
Tories now traeking over the mountains to begin a new cart'cr,
mingled witli runaways eseai)ing the federal tax-gatherers.
Ou sui'h representations jSIiro was ready in May, 1784. to
hold eonferenees with these soutliwestern tribes. On the 2-(l,
he met repn'sentatives of the C'hiekasaws, Alabamas, and Choc-
taws at Mobile, and sanetioned a treaty of friendship aiirl
nmtual sui)j)(.rt, while he enjoined ui)on them the neeessity oi'
refraining from taking seali)s or otherwise maitieating tluir
j)risouers. On the 30th, he met MeGillivray and a large body
of Creeks, Seniinoles, and Chlekamaugas at I'ensaeola, and
entered into a like agreement. By the Hth of June, this halt-
breed ehieftain was on his way bai'k to the tribal centres, hiar-
ing promises of full suj)plies and nnmitions from the Spanish
posts. The desultory eontliet whieh followed tlirougli a eoiirse
of years, known as the Oeonee war, was on the whole a gicat
disappointment to MeGillivray, for he never suceeeded for any
length of time in making the C^reeks and their abettors main-
tain a solid front for the task which he had set.
While this savage warfare ke])t the frontier's anxious, tho
sinister pur])oses of Spain were only ])artly veiled in her at-
temi)ts to aid the Indians. The fe<leral government knew lui-
feetly, as Pickering had intimated, that the enmity of Spain
was a constant factor in this southwestern jiroblcm. Laiaycttt".
in February, 1783, had written to Livingston from Cad'/ that
"among the S])anish, the Americans have but few well-wislu'rs.
and their government will insist upon a j)ri'tended riulit all
along the left shore of the Mississippi."
During the sunutuM- of 1783, then* were constant attenii>ts of
the S])aMiards tostop Anu'rican brats trading on the* Mississi|)i)i.
and it was believed that the renewed activity of the Indian
dej)i'cdatious along the Oliio was by theii' instigation. lo
))n'vent tliese evils, the KcntuidiV ix-ople looked to the pan'nt
State in vain. They soon discovered that with military niovc-
ments directed from ^^'illiaulsburg. as the n^ilitia laws iiainind.
delays intcrjwsed that were dangerous, wliile s(df-i)rt)ti'iti(Mi
eiudd not allow hesitancy of action. This led them to con-^idir
the advantages of autonomy, while its necessity and justice wire
not unrecognized in the tide-water region of Virginia. ^^ i-h-
ni':\JAM!X LOdAX.
3ai
itniti'flniu
iiii;t(»n was outspoken, and favored eontining the westeiii limits
ot tlu> old State to a meridian eiitting" the month of the (treat
K;m;i\vlia. He revealed to Hamilton his anxiety when he told
him tluit, nnless sneh eoneessioiis were made, it would take hut
till tiiueh of a featluT to turn the wt-stern jjeople to other mas-
t(i->. ,letYersou wrote to Madison that Virgiiua ought to let
Ivii'.tuekv yo, and that jiromptly, lest all the over-monntain
l»tt>iilt' shoulil unite, when (.\)ni;ress would sustain their claim,
to iiiake the mountains iustead of the Kanawha the lu)undary.
lie tlunight it no small advantai^e for \'irginia to have the
Imntlred miles and iii<)re of mountains heyond that river as a
harrier hetween the two States.
Filson. a Pennsylvania sehoolmast<'r who had turned sur-
veyor, had lately run throun'h these Kentneky settlenjents and
estimated their ])opnlation at about thirty thousand. His niaj),
iiiaile at this time, shows fifty-two settlements and ei<;hteen
scattered houses. He had also just |)id)lislK!d an aeeonnt of
Keiitueky, in whieh he had had the aid of Daniel lioone,
David Todd, and .lames Harrod. Boone had also eonneeted
the early days of the pioneers with the jtresent in a sketch of
his life, which Filson had taken down at the dictation of his
friend.
The movement whieh MeCiiilivray was ineitinj;- at tlie south
j;rew to look ominous. In this crisis ('oh>uid Benjamin Lo<;an
assendded hi:- militia captains at DanviUe to take measures for
inoteetion. This body of counselors was law-abidinj:; enough to
shriidv from any nn)vement not j)urely defensive, but their nuli-
tiirv oi'gaiMzation, in the abseni'(> of civil control, o|)poitnncly
otVi'red the best initiative towards a representative convention
to lie held at Danville on Deeendter 27. Still holding to tlu;
military divisions of the peo]de, it was directed that a single
(lolegate from each ct)mpany sl.onld bo elected to attend. AVhen
the convention met, the (pu'stion of withdrawing from the gov-
.'rniiient of Viru'inia divided the conference. In this uneer-
taiuty it was readily seen tiiat independence was rather a civil
tlian military tpiestion. Accordingly, a new notice was issiu'd,
ri'Cii.i'.;. lending tlu' people, by delegates, to be assend>led at Dan-
ville in May, ITf^a, to tak(,> the problem into full consideration.
NiiT?.. Tlio map on the two foUowinn paRPs i» the principal part of FiUon'B map of Ken-
tucky,
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334
THE SOUTHWEST INSECURE.
AVliile this Kentucky luoveiucnt was making proj^ress uikUt
the forms of hiw, more headlong action was taken beyond the
moiuitains of North CaroHna, which for a while thrcattntd
serious complications. That State, in her Bill of Uights in ITTtj,
had anticipated the fornuition of one or more other States in
due time out of her western territory. There had been laid,
as we liave seen, in this over-mountain region, the foundations
of two separate communities. They were destined to be uniti'd
in one conunonwealth, but they held at this time little coniiiui-
nieation with each other, though the more distant was spriiiig,
as it were, from the loins of the nearer. The one in wliicli
James Robertson was the leading spirit was scattered in tlie
valley of the Cund)erland, tributary to Nashborough, or Nash-
ville, as it was now becoming the fashion to call the collection
of huts which bore that name. Miro had already his eye upon
Robertson as a likely ally in his future s('hemes, while yet he
was sending him friendly messages, explaining how he was
doing wjjat he could to restrain the savages who were raidiii;,'
the Cmnberland frontiers. The time was not yet ripe for the
Spanish intriguer to show his hand in this region.
Farther east, the country originally settled from Virginia.
and lying just below the southwestern corner of that State, was
the valley in which the Watauga Association had moulded a
self-centred community. With its growth the North Carolina
legislature had divided the region into four counties, — Wash-
ington, Green, Sullivan, and Davidson, and all but the last wore
infected with the same unrest as was pervading Kentucky.
Tiiese settlements were separated from the support of North
Carolina by the mountains on the east, while in the west it was
a long distance beyond the Cumberland Gap before the nioro
western connnunities were reached. Their closest ties were
with tlieir neighbors across the Virginia line on the north, ami
near it their jjrincipal town, Jonesboro', was built. This Wa-
tauga region — as a whole it might be called — lay between the
Alleghany and Cund)erland mountains, and was drained bv the
Clinch, Holston, and other tril)utaries of the Tennessee. It was
ex})osed towards the southwest by the course of that river, ;'h)nn;
which it w^as open to inroads of the Chei-okees, and particuhirly
of the Chickamaugas. the most relentless branch of that trihc
It was also in this direction that the .settlements looked to
n
m
J ONES BUR C CON \ 'ENTl ON.
335
inoroaso their territory, and they had aheady begun to extend
bevi'iid the agreed aUotinents by the; tribt-s, and were buihling
stnckades in eiose proxiiiiity to the Indian vilhiges. The peace
of tlie valley was still farther jeopardized by the oeenpation in
Ft'hrnary, 1784, of a traet of territory near the great bend of
the Tennessee in the j)resent State of Alabama, under a Jnove-
iiunt led by Sevier and JJh>unt. The position was too ad-
vanced for support, and had soon to be abandoned under the
savaue threats. With tiiis aggressive temper, the authorities
(»f North Carolina had little sympathy, and the frontiersmeri
comitlained that the legislature made no appropriations for
gifts with which to apj)ease the plundered savages.
At this juncture the state Assend)ly at Ilillsboi-ough, in
-liuie, 1784, voted to cede to the ('onf(!deraey their charter lands
lying west of the mountains and extending to the Missi.sjipi)i.
This cession covered twenty-nine million acres, and the act gave
Congress two years in which to accept it. The report of this
action, si)reading over the mountains, was all that was neces-
sary to arouse the rebellious spirit of a ])eople who felt that
without their concurrence they were cast off by the ])arent State
and left to shift for themselves. It was to them, at least, ap-
parent that if they were to find any protection against their
hostile neighbors, in the interval before the acceptance by Con-
gress of the cession, it was to be in their own vigilance.
In this state of affairs a convention nx^t at Jonesboro' on
August 23, 1784, and organized under the i)residency of Sevier.
It was agreed by delegates of the three counties already named,
ami by a two-thirds vote, that they be erected at once into an
iii(l(']u'ndent State. When this decision was known to the
rabble of hunters and woodsmen who surrounded the court-
house, there were sliouts of turbident joy. The convention
frained an ad(!ress, setting forth the jdan and advantages of
iiuh'])eiulence, Ui.d determined on holding another eoiivention
ill November, to adopt a constitution. It was decided to apjJi'al
to Congress for countenance and advice as to the ])ro])osed con-
stitution. There was a disposition to induce tlu' contiguous
l)art of Virginia to join in the movenu'nt. Thi; was a note
which alarmed the authorities at Williamsbiu'g, and Patrick
Henry saw in it the finger of the Spa lish devil.
^^'hile these things were taking place at Jonesboro', the legis-
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THE SOUTHWEST INSECURE.
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lature at New Jiorue, taking ulanii, n'})L'aled the aet of cession,
This reversal for a while tein})ere(l the impetuosity of the Scjiii-
ratists in the valley, and when a new body of delegates convened
in November, it was found that the party for independence had
lost strength, and the convention broke up amid a confusion of
aims, (iovernor Martin took advantage of the seeming dispcr-
sion of the rebellious l)arty, and invested Sevier with a eoniniis-
sion and autliority to lead the disaffected back to their loyahy.
In December, accordingly, we find the man who had been
counted upon to i)erfect the revolutionary scheme, and who was
yet to head the revived movement, doing his best to hold tlic
people to obedience to the laws.
So the year 1784 ended witli great uncertainty as to the
juditical future of the three leading conununities west of tlic
mountains. In Kentucky, the soberer sense of the jjcople plainly
deprecated any hasty action. In the Ilolston region it seemed
as if a division of i)ublic o])inion would delay acticm, at least.
At Nashville, in its remote situation, more connected with Ken-
tucky than with the Ilolston region, there was nothing as ycv to
incite alarm.
How far these initial measures for indei)endence were made
with Spanish concurrence is not clear; but it is not probable
that Miro had as yet ventured uj)on any direct assurance of
support. The Sjianish authorities, however, were certainly
cognizant of IVIcGillivray's aims and ho})es.
The Americans, when the United States made Oliver Pol-
lock its agent at Havana, had already lost a vigilant friend
at New Orleans, who might now have divined what time has
since disclosed. He left the Mississi])pi iov his new mission in-
d<d)ted to the royal treasury in the sum of |'151,G9G, which lie
had borrowed to assist the American cause in the days when
Spain was playing with the sympathies of the struggling col-
onies. At this time, while Virginia was per})lexed with her
western problem. Pollock was imprisoned in Havana durino'
eighteen months for debts which he had incurred in her beliidl.
a rigor doubtless instigated by the changed feelings which
Spain was harboring towards the new Republic.
There was little doubt in the minds of Congress that a strug-
OPENING OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
3;i7
olc with Spain was inuiiineut for the control of the Mississippi.
Latavotte, wiio hud written from Madriil such iinassuring opin-
ions of the Spanish temper, had now returiu'd to the Statt-s,
and in lialtimori! lie diselosed to Madison his belief in the
(lit( iinination of the Madrid cabinet to stand by what they
(It'tint'd their interest in the matter. Madison was so impressed
both witii Lafayette's assurances and with the absolnte neces-
sity of thwartinji;' Spain in her purpose, that he saw no way of
av(»iilin««; a war except for France and Britain to intervene
jointly, and proHt by the trade that the free navi_<>ation of the
Mississippi wouhl bring" them. America's ilemand, as Madi-
son formulated it, was not only for the free use of the river,
i)ut for an entrepot below 82°, for he felt assured the west
would never consent to shift the ladinj;' of their descend injj;
boats to sea-going vessels higher up the river. Free trade down
the stream would make, he contended, New Orleans one of the
most flourishing em})oriums of the world, and S[)ain ought to
see it. The French in New Orleans, he again affirmed, cannot
l)e denied this trade by their Spanish masters.
^\'hile all these views were connnon, Congress on Jime 3,
17S4, instructed its diplomatic agents that the navigation of the
Mississip})i must in any event be rendered free.
hi
Dining 1785, events took a more decided color from Spanish
diplomacy. The opening of the Mississippi became with the
))()ssession of the northern posts the two objects nearest the
licart of the west. In January, Madison said discouragingly,
•• \Vt' nuist bear with Si)ain for a while," and trust to the future
to develop a sale for our western lands through the opening of
the Mississippi. " All Europe," he added, " who wishes to
tradt! with us, knows that to make these western settlements
tlomish is their gain," To such terms Lafayette replied :
•'Spain is such a fool that allowances nuist be made." Just
wiiat these allowances might be were soon to be disclosed, when
Don Diego de Gardoqui, with the nltimatum of Spain, arrived
in Phila(lel])hia in May, 1785. lie did not jjresent his creden-
tials till July 2, and at that time Jay was authorized by Con-
gress to treat with him.
Meantime, the rumors from the west made people fearful of
they knew not what sudden developments. It was heard with
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Till': SOUTHWEST ISSKVi'UE.
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ahinii that Goorgiii hsul sent lut'sseufjcrH to New Orleans. (If
niaiiding the surrentler of Natchez, only to he rebntlVd hy
Min) with :i profession that he hail no anthority to eoni|ih-.
It was not this so nineh as the assnranee of a single Stale in
exercising dploinatii! funetions in vi«»iation of the federal cuni-
pact that seemed serions. It was well known that Wasiiin^ton
did not shari' the impatience of his southern brethren alioiit tin-
Mississippi. He looked uj)on delay in the settlement with
Spain as likely to })romote what he deemed of more impoitaucf,
— the devel(»i)ment of trade channels across the mountains. In
June, 178'), In; wrote to Marhois : "The emigration to the
waters of the Mississippi is astimishingly great, and chieHv of
a descrii)tion of j)eople who are not very sul)or(linate to the
laws and constitution of the State they go from. Whether the
jn'oluhition, therefiu-e, of the Spaniards is just or unjust, politic
or imi)olitic, it will be with difficulty that people of this class
can be restrained in the enjoyment of natural advantages."
Again, on Se])tend)er 7, Washingtcm wrote to Koclnunboaii :
" I do not think the navigation of ihe Mississipj)! is an object
of great importance to us at jjresent," and Ik; added that it
might be left till the full-grown west would have it " in spite of
all opposition."
Apprehensions of difficulty prevailed, when, on July 20. Jay
l)egan his negotiations with Gardoipii. The American secre-
tary very soon saw that the Spanish agent would interjjosc few
direct hindrances to a treaty of commerce whereby the Atlantic
ports would profit. Jay knew that there was nothing wliich
the country needed nxuv than a season of business ])ros])erity.
Taxes were burdensome, and those who could were flying acioss
the mountains to escape the gatherers? of them. To ])ay siicli
demands and to a])pease England 1 y meeting her claims for
debts, connnercial opportunities were needed. But it soon be-
came evident to Jay that Spain had no intention of enrichin";
the Americans except by acquiring corresjionding advantaj,'es
to herself, and these were the best security for her claims on
the Mississip])! in the absolute control of its navigation. To
meet such demands Jay could do nothing while Congress ad-
hered to the vote, which we have seen was passed a year before,
that in any event the Great River nuist be left open. Notliini;
which Jay could suggest weakened the firmness of Gardocini
JAMKS niLhixsoy.
339
(III iliis point. So there j^ivw in the American's mind the lie-
lift' that all wouhl go well if Conj^ress would consent to yield
till' Mississinpi for a term of y»'ars — say twenty-tive — with-
out |iirjudice to later claims. This, he thouj'ht. woidd certainly
sittistv tlu' Northern States, which were to <;ain Mi »st l)y coin-
nit'icial i)i'ivilcj;('s, while the South and West might agree that
any imperative demand for the free navigation of the river
would not arise for a generation. This was known to b» Wash-
iiii^ton's view of the 'exigency. Virginia had just a))i)ointed
coiiiiiiissionors to open a wagon road from the head of danu's
IJivcr to the Kanawha falls, and beyond to Lexin<;ton, in Ken-
tiicky. \Vashington claimed that it was likely to lie cheaj)er
to carry western pi-oduec through the mountains to tide-water
tliiiu down the Mississipi)i, if it started from any ])oint east of
the Kanawha, or even from the falls of the Ohio. Congress,
lit'sitatiug in such a belief, on August 2') instriu'tcd flay to
close no agreement with (iardoipii without their a])pr',)val.
While the thrifty German and slovenly C\dt were raising
more flour in Kentucky than could possibly be constimed, there
was small chance that any scheme of closing the great channel
of western commerce for a lifetime would find favor. Noi-
indeed, could an plan of repressing the marvelous ex])ansion of
tlic west be at > "'^' ' to. Before Jay began his negotiations, he
had written to Lafayette that this western incnvase was going
on "with a degree of rajudity heretofore unknown," and that it
would continue, '* notwithstanding any attemjjts of anybody to
prevent it."
The prevalence of views in the East and in Congress antago-
nistic to western ])rogress, as they were deemed, could but arouse
tl)(' latent spirit of inde})endcnce which we have seen existed
in nioie than one over-mountain region. Tiny j)articularly
aroused a recent comer to Kenttu'ky. who was gifted with all
that makes for subtle leadership and unsci'upulous jxditical
daring, — a smooth affability, a cunning mind, a ready speech,
and a fascinating addi'css. The possessor of these insinuating
(lualities was James Wilkinson, an officer of the Kev(dution,
who, in 1784. had resigned the adjutant-generalshi]) of Pennsyl-
vania and had a])i)eared in Lexington. His reputation, even
tlioii. was not without tarnish, but lie had left susjncions behind,
r-nd had thrown himself at once into mercantile life. The men
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340
THE SOUTHWEST INSECURE.
he dealt with hud little cause to inquire sharply into a charac-
ter which Kooseveltnot undeservedly calls "the most despicable
in our history." Wilkinson was soon vigilant as a si)eciilator
in skins and salt, — sharp enough, doubtless, but where evciv-
body about him was a rasping bargainer, he was not cons])ie-
uous for moral delincpiencies. lie wrote to a friend, whom
he liad left in Philadelphia: "If I can hold up cleverly for a
coui)le of years, 1 shall lay the foundation of opulence for ])o.s-
terity." lie claimed to the same corre pondent that " his local
credit and consequence^ vanity apart, were not inconsiderabJL'.'"
He always had had a belief in his star.
At the time when delegates met in May, 1785, to consider
the question of independency, AVilkinson was too ill to attend.
and we very likely owe it to his absence that the convention
persisted in holding to constitutional grounds, and agreed to
solicit the permission of Virginia to become a separate State.
It also took an advanced stand in political policy when the
members declared for equal representation and manhood suf-
frage, as against the Virginia practice of equal county re))re-
sentation irrespective of population. In order to make tlie
circulation of an address effective, it was also determined in
the convention to set up a printing-i)ress.
It was Wilkinson's boast that determinate action was deluyed
till another meeting in xVugiist, in order that the members
might have the advantage of his presence. When, on August
14, the new convention met, he made a passionate demand
for an imnunbrite unconditional reparation from Virginia. He
claimed that he had been at the start one of those adv(M-se
to independence ; but that the renegade sjjirit in Congress on
the Mississippi (|uestion had convinced him of the necessity
of such action. Before tlio nuMubers assembled, he hud UL;ain
advised his distant friend that " free trade out of the Missis-
sippi would ])ush Kentucky most rapidly. Our pre lucts are
so prodigious." ho addi'd. "that our exports would exceed our
im})orts fivefold. We are unanimously ready to wade to it
through blood." lie closed his fierce prophecy with a sugi;'e.s-
tion that the Mississippi would be no sooner cleared than the
Spanivsh mines beyond it " might be possessed with the greatest
facility." Witli these views he entered the convention, but its
UKMubers resisted his violent urgency, and deferred to another
convention the final settlement of the question.
■^•^
THE HOLS TON PEOPLE.
341
"When this healthy and moderate action was known at the
t'iist, Madison recognized in gratification that " the tirst in-
stance of the disinenibernient of a State had Leen condncted
in a way to form a sahitary i)recedent." ^Vashington stood k'ss
fur their order of going, and was prepared to meet the people
of Kentucky " upon their own ground, and draw the best line
and make the best terms, and part good friends."
To turn t(j the ])eoj)le of the Ilolston. Tliey proved to have
sliaicd only a temporary calm after tlieir convention had dis-
solved. Sevier had been unable to uproot the latent pas;-.ion for
independence. Early in the year (1785), the Separatist leaders
had ])etitioned CongTess for the right of setting up their new
State between the Alleghany River and the meridian of Lonis-
vilic. Its northern bounds were to run from the junction of
tlic (ireat Kanawha and Greenbrier and along the 37' jKirallel.
Its ijouthern were to be by the 34". This would have given them
a large part of Kentucky, and have carried their territory well
down to the bend of the Tennessee. AVith these rather mag-
inficent visior.s, their Assenddy met at Greenville, now selected
as a ca])ital, and in March begun theii- work, in a rude log
caliin, whi(di had an earth floor and a clapboard roof. This
hasty body stood for a populaticm which it was supposed num-
lieivd about five-and-twenty thousand. Rut it was a community
with no other currency than that ^supl)lied by fox and mink
>kins. varied with such agricultural products as could be passed
from hand to hand. With this money they proposed to pay
their civil sei'vants, and, upon an ap])ortion<'d salary of such
]irodiicts, Sevier, now in the headlong stream like eveiybody
I'lsc. was chosen governor. Their new chief magistrate verv soon
sent a letter to Congress asking for recognition, but it was
uuhfcded, as Governor Martin had warned them it would l)e.
Patrick Henry, alarmed at their territorial ambition, feared
that it woidd arouse the tribes and cause im])odiments in the
Spanisii negotiations. ]\reanwhile, as governor, he cautioned
the State's Indian agent not to conunit Virginia to any partici-
liatinii in coming events.
In May. Congress urged Xortli Candlna to icnew hei" cession
anil thus place the territory of the Se])aratists under federal
conti'ol : but a state pride declined to part with any i)ortion of
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THE SOUTHWEST INSECURE.
lior teri'itory with a rebellion unquelled. On the last of Mav,
Sevier's people made a covenant with such of the Cherukccs
as could be enticed, and got a (piestionable title to lands sdiith
of the French liroad, and east of the ridge which ])artcd the
waters of the Tennessee Kiver. They invaded without any siu-li
pretended right other lands of the Chei'okees and Creeks.
Such acts added an Indian war to their otlier difficulties.
Against all these usurped functions Governor Martin issued
a manifesto ; and in June Sevier replied, taking the ground
that the Separatist movement had followed upon their being
cast off from the parent State by the act of cession, and iiu
revocation of that cession could undo their action.
In September, 1785, Benjamin Franklin, sharing now witli
AVashington the highest veneration of their countrymen, had
landed in Philadelpiiia on his return from his h)ng and distin-
guished service in Europe. He soon received a letter wliicli
Sevier had written to him in July, in which the Separatist gov-
ernor communicated the purpose of the Ilolston comnnuiitios
to i)erpetuate Franklin's signal name as that of their new com-
monwealth, and asked his counsel and su})port. Sevier at iniicli
the same time had written a i)ropitiatory letter to the \'ir-
ginia authorities ; but in neither case did the new magistrate
elicit wliat he wanted. Indeed, the struggling and unkempt
little re])ublic was to find few friends outside its own limits.
In October, 1785, Massachusetts had moved in Congress and
Virginia had favored a motion that Congress would su])]»oit
any State against a secession of a part of it ; but the members
were not (juite i)rc]iar3d to act. Patrick Henry was at the same
time warning the Virginia delegates of the dangerous i)roximity
of this rebellious State. If Congress hesitated, the Virginia
Assembly prom})tly made it high treason for any attempt to
dismember her territory in such a revolutionary way, and au-
thorized the governor to cm])loy the military power of the
Stiitt in suppressing any such movement.
AVhih' the future of the south frontiers was uncertain throuuh
all these movements. Congress made an effort to act in a n:i-
tional capacity and soothe the irritatinl tribes. In the ju'eceilini;
jNIarch, that body had authorized the ai)])ointment of eommis-
sioners to treat with the Indians. As the summer wore on,
i!
nu'inlicrs
GREEN VILLE COXVE.XTIOX.
343
nuiiois of war were frequent, and in September, Colonel ^lar-
tin, now living on the llolston, as the Indian agent of Vir-
<'ini;i. had informed Patrick Henry that the southern Indians
were i)rei)aring, in conjupction with the Wabasji tribes at tlie
iioitli, to raid the frontiers. There was need of promi)t action,
and in October the commissioners sought to o])en negotiations
with the. Creeks at Galphinton, but those; wary savages kept
aloof. In the latter j)art of November, 1785, they succeeded
better with the Cherokees, and met nearly a thousand of them at
ll(i|)t'well on the Keowee (November 18-28). It was a i)rincii)le
witli these natic. 1 agents to act as if no private or state
agreements had already been made with the tribes. It was not
lUR'xpect'jd, therefore, that both North Carolina and Georgia
complained that lands which they had reserved as bounties for
their sokiiers, in the late war, were reckh'ssly acknowledged to
holong to the Ciierokees. The Indians showed by a map that
the territory which they had not parti'd with covered more or
Il'ss of Kentucky, Tennessee, the Carolinas, and Georgia. It
ineliuled both the Henderson purchase and the lands of the
Cumberland conniuuuties, but they were not disposed to dis-
place their occupants. The line, as agreed upon, was to run from
tlic mouth of Duck River (where it joins the Tennessee) to the
liili;!' se})arating the Cund)erhind and Tennessee valleys, and on
l('a\ iug this water-parting it was to strike the Cumberland, forty
miles above Nashville. The whites within the Indian territory
were to have six months to remove ; but those who were living
— some three thousand in nundjer — between the French
Broad and the Holston were to remain till their case could be
adjuilicated by Congress. The tieaty included a formal ac-
kiiowleilgmeut of the su})reniacy of the United States, and made
it obligatory upon the Indians to give prom})t notice of any
intended hostilities of the Si)aniards.
These were the conditions when, late in 1785, a new conven-
tion met at Greenville to adopt a ])ermanent constitution for
the new State. (3ne Samuel Houston drafted the document
which was first considered. It gave the nanu' of Frankland to
the State, and was in various ways too ideal for a ])ractieal
pL'oplc. It has only very recently been brought entire to the
atttMition of scholars. It called for a single legislative clnunbei-,
made land-owning necessary to office-holding, but eve this
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THE SOUTHWEST INSECURE.
(lualiHcation must bo unact'onipauied by ineinbcrship in the
professions of law, medicine, and theolo<,^y, while an adhcsiun
to Presbyterian forms of eluireh government was required. A
small majority settled the question both of rejecting this consti-
tution and substituting substantially the existing one of Nortli
Carolina. The il.ial vote ilisplaced the name of Frankland ami
atlopted that of Franklin.
And so the year 1785 dosed with no improvement in the
affairs of the western country.
■ I'
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i
The year 178G wns jjerhaps the most hopeless of the Ioikv
collapse which followed ujjon the peace, — hopeless not so
nuich from accumulating misfortunes, as from an aindess un-
certainty. The affairs of the several States were n wo critical,
or were thought to be more critical, than the condition of the
whole confederacy. So each eonnnon wealth demanded at home
the services of its best men, and sent its less serviceable citi-
zens to Congress. The business of that body lagged tlnoiii;]!
the lack of assiduity in its meml)ers. A scant attendance either
bh)cked work entirely, or, on the spur of an unlooked-for
(piorum, i:npulse rather than \visdom directed their counsels.
Throughou: the States the pa])er money problem discjuicted
trade, and the famous case of Trevett against Weedon in
Rhode Island showed how the courts stood out against tiic
po])ulace. The Shays nibellion in Massachusetts had siiown
that the rottenness of the core could break out on the suifiicc.
while the promptness of Ciovernor Bowdoin and Oeneral Lin-
coln in suppressing the insurrection gave some encourageimnt
that the old spirit which had won indejH'udence still lingered.
Washington sunnned up the general apprelu'nsion when he
said, "■ That ex])erience has taught us tliat men will not adopt
and carry into execution measures the best calculate. 1 for th.ir
own good, without the intervention of a cocicive ])ower.'" No
sucdi ])ower existed. The treaty of Hopewell, on which flie
federal authority had staked its re-putation for ability to dial
with the Indians, was proving 'in enquy act, .ii}d the later treiity
which the sanie comsnission^r had made with the Choctaws and
Chickasaws in Januarv, 1780, was only less em])ty beciuisc it
cotu'erned bounds iiiore remote from the whites ; nevertln less,
its provisions we:e not beyond the observation of Robertson and
CLARK AXD LOGAN.
345
tlic I'luuberlaml people, who resented vvluit they deemed fecU'val
intfit'erence with their rights. When Congress rutitied both
tn aties in Aj)ril, it had littk- effect but to make the federal
1 impose seem more im])otent than before.
'I'liis antagonism of the eentral authority and the frontiers-
men was naturally the oeeasion of a savage unrest, and as the
si»i'ing opened, the exjmsed settlements were in great alarm. On
the north, the tribes of the Wabash were giving way to a hmg-
li;irl)()red enmity. The Shawnees, at a conference on the Miami,
had but grudgingly acknowledged the new Republic, while their
pi'oniises of peace lasted no longer than there was white man's
rum to drink. So the western settle' • v.ts were beset on all sides.
Patrick Henry sent the ai)])eal of Vi.ginia to Congress for help,
and in duly its secretary informed him that two companies of
infantry had been sent to the falls of the Ohio to coJ)pcrate
witli the militia. Henry urged u\nni the Virginia delegates in
('niiL;i'ess that the only way to prevent " loss and disgrace " was
to vusli u})on the hostile towns. The result of a spasm of energy
on the part of some Kentucky colonels was that in the face of
the political turmoils which the settlements were experiencing,
as we shall see, a thousand men gathered at the ra})ids of tlie
(Vino, and were organized by George Rogers Clark for a dash
ujion the Wabash towns. The expedition, which was made in
the autumn of 178G, i)roved a failure. Clark, now but a shadow
of his former self, could not control his men, and with an ex-
hausted con)missariat, and having accom])lished nothing in pro-
portion to the outlay which liad been incurred, he turned back
witli a disordered rabble. His disgrace was in some meastu-e
otfsi't when Colonel Logan, with five hundred mounted ritle-
inon, by way of diverting the savages from retaliatory move-
ments. sH])ped hastily among them and disconcerted them by
the rapidity of his havoc. This and a (hisli of Sevier at the
south, later to be mentioned, were tlie only relief of a ])itiful
season of Indian war. During it all, the federal government,
liy tlu' aid it gave here and elsewhere, met drafts (tu its tieas-
uiy for five times the amount wliich its Indian (h'partnicnt liad
mpiired iu any previous year since the Revoluii()nary ^iViiv had
cIosimI. Iu the autumn, Congi-ess made a new effort to control
the Indian affairs, when, on November '2\\ Dr. .lames White
was made its agent for the southern tribes. Virginia at once
iii
4 il , !.
THE SOUTHWEST INSECURE.
yiekled to the federal action l>y withdrawing her own agent,
(ieneral Martin, thongli this officer was still retaineil by North
Carolina in his old service.
In:
Amid this hustle of savage war, which was beating the fron-
tiers on all sides, the eomniunities of the Tennessee, CumiIxt-
land, and Kentucky were still struggling with their political
l)roblenis, and Congress was warming in debate over the (jucs-
tion of the Mississii)pi.
Le^, us turn first to the latter anxiety. Miro, in his ca})ital
of 1^'lew Orleans, now a motley town of some five thousand sonls,
in which the French masses were far from being content undur
their Spanish masters, was pursuing a policy of trade that
stretched far out into the American territory, as the i)eace of
1783 had defined it. As director of this trade, Miro had a
divided purpose. He felt that he must not gather too hu^v
gains by imposing upon the tribes prices which the Americans
could cut down, for he well understood how the Indians could
be led to hostile alliancc^s by reason of better bargains.
Miru's organization of this trade wa;: a successful one. He
carried on a considerable part ( ^ it up the Mississipi)i, l)ey<)nd
the Arkansas to the Illinois, and here, anii)ng the Sacs, his fac-
tors contended in rivalry with the Canadians coming down from
Ma^'kinac. From Mobile, now an active little settlement of
some seven hundred and fifty people, he sent some sixty thou-
sand dollars' worth of goods north to the Choctaws and (^liicka-
saws. From Pensacola he distributed about forty thousand dol-
lars' worth of goods among the Creeks and Cherokees ; l)nt Miif'i
found it good policy to relincjuisli to McGillivray some share
of the ju'ofits, while allov/ing that chief a pension of six hundred
dollars beside. From all these channels, it was calcul' ted that
the Sj)aniards reajjed a profit of about a quarter of the outlay.
This trade iip the Mississii)])i necessarily brought the Span-
ish agents into contact with the adventurous Iventuckians who
dared to traffic down its current, and it could only be a (pios-
tion of tima before some violent rencontre would take ])lact'.
Natchez, at this time, was a place of s,onte fifteen hundred iidsah-
itants. It lay within the bounds claimed by the Americans. l)ut
was still occupied by Spain. This possession was a standing'
challenge to the unruly frontiersmen, and even on the seaboard
- I
mt
i
JAY ANI> GARDOQUL
347
n agent,
:)y North
the i"ii)ii-
Cuinlici'-
politieal
the qiies-
is ca])ital
iiul souls.
ent uiidei'
radc tliat
peace of
iro liad a
too larL;r
Vmerieaiis
ians could
one. He
pi, Iteyond
s, his fac-
h>\vn from
lenient "f
ixtv tlldU-
Chicka-
isanil dol-
hiit Mirn
ine share
hunilred
ted that
e outlay,
the Span-
nans who
he a (pies-
ike place.
I'ed inhab-
l-icans. Init
standiui;
seahoard
au expedition woukl have heen formed to capture it, cotdd a
certain .swaggerer, John Sullivan by name, have connnanded the
following which his ambition coveted.
'Hiere were still some lingering English in Natchez who had
heen engaged in trade there, wiien Miro, in June, 178G, warned
tlieiu of the necessity of leaving or becoming S})anish sul)jects.
hi this he was acting under cmlers from Madrid, by which he was
t(d(l to allow them an interval to close up their affairs. Just
about the same time, an Ohio flatboat, laden with flour and
kickshaws, floated to the landing, S|)anish (»fKcers seized the
vcss( 1 and confiscated the cargo. The owner was allowed to
journey homeward, and as he went he told, with such embellish-
ment as his injured sense suggested, the story of this Spanish
outiage. The news, spreading like wildfire, reached CUark at
Vincennes, while on the ex])editiou which he made so ruin-
ous: and here, in retaliation and to a])])ease tlie cupidity of his
men. lie seized the stock of a Sj)anish tiader in the town. The
news of Clark's iiidiscretion reached Wilkinson in I)ecend)er,
whilt! he and his adherents vere waiting at Danville for the
(•(invention to gather, to which reference will be later made.
Wilkinson, already in correspondence with Miro, and looking
forward to a com])licity in trade with the Sjtanish governor,
seized th(> restless interval to frame a nunonstranec^ against
(larks act, and signing it with others, it was dispatched to
Williamsburg, accompanied by affidavit affirming the unfit-
ness of Clark foi' conunand, arising from habits of drink. The
iiicMiorial pointed out the danger that such lawless conduct
'.vould ci'cate, and how the foitnnos of the west were \\\\t in
jeopardy. These representations had, in due time, their effect,
^leanwhile Jay. struggling with Gardoqui, had been embar-
rassed by the ])ositive ])osition which Congress had taken as to
the (leidnsion of the ^Iississip])i in its vote of June 3, 1784. So
ill May, 1780, Jay had asked Congress to a))])oint a committee
to counsel with him : and on this committee, indicating the jire-
'loiiiinating views of Congress, were Kiifus King and Colonel
IVttit of Pennsylvania, who shared Jay's opinions, while Mon-
inc. sure to be outvoted, was made a third member, and repre-
•^cntcd the southern interests. "With the backing of a majority
'»f his advisers. Jay, on August 3, reported to Congress a jilan
' \
(ii
'->iJ'.
^^
848
THE SOUTHWEST INSECURE.
f
I.
H
involving the closing of the Great Kiver for a term of years, as
a price for couiniercial advantages. The scheme immediately
aroused the indignant o])position of the southern meudins.
Grayson of Vii-ginia protested. Madison wrote in heat todclVtir-
son, and wondered if New England would sacrifice her fishciies
for the tobacco trade. Monroe fancied he saw in the opi)ositi()ii
of New York a purpose to ])rofit by the closing of the river
so as to gain time to develop western conununications l»v the
Hudson. Washington, however, still adhered to his dilatiny
policy. The debates in Congress which followed showed tliat it
was a ccmtest between the North and South, with the Middle
States in the balance. Jay carried seven States, and there were
five against him. The Articles of Confederation reipiired nine
States to decide such cpiestions, and with a clear majoritv of
two for rescinding the vote of .lune 8, 1784, it became a (ines-
tion whether the articles or a majority should control. If
pressed to an issue, it might cause serious danger to the confed-
eration itself. Monroe wrote to Patrick Henry on August 12
that the majority, if they coidd not force the minority to con-
cede their jjoint, intended to dismember the Union and sot up
an eastern confederacy. He was furthermore moved to sug<;est
that the South should use force to prevent Pennsylvania going
with the North. Madison was more moderate, and trusted to time
to convince the Eastern States that, as carriers of the country,
tlie Mississippi was really of paramount importance to tlieiii.
The year (178G) closed in a ferment. The North was told that
it understood the South and the West no better than England
understood the seaboard when she brought on the Revolution.
and that the West had no intention of cultivating its soil for
the benefit of Spain. The West claimed that it could put twenty
thousand troops in the field to protect its interest, and that it
could recruit this force from two to four thousand yearly.
li
If not united on the Mississippi question, Congress had no
divisions on maintaining the bounds w^hich Great Britain had
conceded in the treaty of 1783, and on August 30 Jay was
instructed to stand by its provisions. A few weeks later, w lit'ii
tlie incident at Natchez became known, and Clark's retaliatory
act was reported, feelings ran so high that Jay and his friends
did not think it prudent to be too urgent. Madison and those
fl
VUIGINIA AND KENTUCKY.
349
working for a convention to reform the government had '><*-
cKiiit' conscious that the Mississippi question was creating a
sciitiniont antagonistic to any movement to reinforce a central
o()V( rnment. He accordingly brought the question bt!fore the
Virginia Assembly, and late in November that body gave an
uiif(inivocal expression of its views in o})position. It was ap-
|i;ir('ut now, as the winter came on, that a hasty step on the part
dl' -lay and his friends must produce irretrievable disaster, not
only on the seaboard but through the west, where the proceed-
ings of Congress had been narrowly watched.
To go back a little. In January, 178G, Virginia had agreed
to an act of sei)aration from Kentucky, if the act should be
acct'pted by a convention to be held in Septend)er. She also
made it a (Condition that Congress should admit the new State
to tli(^ Union after Septend)er, 1787. When this action became
known in Kentucky, it is ])robable that among the body of the
j)e()[>le there was a general assent to its j)rovisions. Not so,
however, with some ambitious designers who had already begun
to look to the advantages of Spanish trade ; and as the election
of delegates api)roached, it became evident that measures would
be set on foot, intended to move the connnunity be3'ond a mere
a('({uiescence in the conditions of the })arent State. The occur-
reiux' at Natchez and the debates in Congress were opportune
aids to such schemers. Wilkinson entered upon the stage to
remove what he called the ignorance of the people. " They
shall be informed," he said, " or I will wear out all the stirrups
at every station."' The chief contest was to come in the district
wln'ie Wilkinson was the candidate of the absolute Sei)aratists.
He was opposed in the canvass by Humphrey ^larshall, and
took unfair means for victory, as Wilkinson's opponents said.
The revolutionists carried the election •• tw( hundred and forty
ahead," as he wrote. " I s])oke three and a half hours. I pleased
myself and everybody else exce])t my dead op])onents." As
tin- time for the convention a])proached, Wilkinson wrote (Au-
gust 18) to a friend : " Our convention will send an agent to
Congress in November to solicit our admission into the confed-
eracy, and to employ the ablest counsel in the State to advocate
our cause. I could be this man, with XI, 000 for the trip, if I
coulil take it." He was thus quite ready to anticipate the date
k"
I-!.
1 :
V .'l
-rrrr
i^ ! ■ I
/(!
':. > i
h >
/I 1
MiM :
H^:
.'■ t
i
\n
350
r///i SOl'THWEST IXSECURE.
which the Virginia Assembly iiad pvcserihcd, hut was not wt
])ivi)areil for that complete imlepcndenct' which he was yet to
advocate, after his interview with Miro the foUowing year.
Mere coimnercial success seemed now his ardent hope, and he
was buying tobacco in large <piantities. '' I look forward ti»
independence," he said, with villain(»us glee, "'and the highest
repntaticm in this westerji world."
When the (M)nvention met in Septend)er, it was a])i)arent that
the draft upon its members, which the exi)editions of Clark ;unl
Logan had made, was going to i)revent a (juorum for some tiiui'
at least. '^ ne convention thus failing of an organization. AVii-
kinson and. his frhmds found time to draw up a representation
in censure of Clark's acts at Vincennes. which was dispattlud
to the Virginia Assembly. So the year (178G) i)assed out in
this respect in comparative inaction.
Now, to glance at the Franklin communities. Tln'y w. re
growing more and more distraught. The anti-Separatists had
set up a magistracy rejn'csentative of Xorth Carolina, and the
two factions brawled at each other. Every attempt at a con-
ference; was met by an unbending adhesion to their res])t'ctivt'
l)rini*i]iles. To darken the sky still more, some reckless hordes
of Cherokees and Chickasaws hovered about the exposed sta-
tions, and bid definnce to any restraint of their head men. who.
on the first of August, had made a new concession to the whites
in granting other lands between the Blue Kidge and the uavii^a-
ble rivers. Things finally got to such a pass with the niaraail-
ers that Sevier mustered a band of one hundred and sixty
horsemen, and made a dash which scattered their forces.
So, a third year (1786) of the uneasy peace closed beyond
the mountains with little chance of confirnu'd tranipiillity. An
attempt had been made in July to couti'ol moi'e effectually
jmblic sentiment by the starting of a newspaper, TJic P'lftx-
hio'f/ Gazette, at the forks of the Ohio : and to strengthen the
bonds of union with the parent State, the settlers had opened a
road from Louisville to Charleston on the Kanawha. But in
December, some disaffected s])irits ])repared and cii-culated a
numifesto, that '• (ireat Britain stands ready with open arms to
receive and support us," It was a sign that the coming }ear
was to have new developments.
CHAPTER XVT.
THK SI'.VM H (^IKSTION.
1 787-1 7.Si).
Six yt'ai's liad passed sinco the colonics had become a i'cc( (io-
nized lvt'i)ul)lic. It was daily hcconiing a luori' and more serious
([uestion if the country could disentanf;le itself from the ditti-
culties which environed it. There were dividi'd counsels amonj;-
tliosf who had done the most to achieve its ind(']H'ndence. \ at-
lick llenrv still believed in the confederation, for the "ood it
li;i(l done, and thouj^ht the South in discarding;- its articles would
lose a safeguard, (ieorge Mason was sus[)icious of the gi-ow-
inii' ])()wer of the North. Under such cliam])ions as these, Vir-
iiiiiia was likely to unite as one l)ody and lead a i'oini)actcd
South, if the question of the Mississi]))»i was ])uslied much
further by the commercial North. ^Madison and Washiiiiiton
represented more modi'rate sentiments, — the one fidt that a
stronger union nnist be attained at some risks of southern
rights : the other had little svmiiathv with the feverish rcsent-
inent of Pati'ick Henry. Jefferson was sure that the AVest,
wliilc it had such a dominion in view as the navigation of the
Mississi])pi would secure, could not be held back by the Nortli.
Tlio vast bulk of the American jjcopie lay within two hundretl
imd iifty nules of the Atlantic coast, — possibly four millions
ill all. IVyond the mountains, and excited over this question
of Spanish arrogance, lay but a small fraction of this ])opulation.
Tills relatively scant body of ])eo])le was almost entirely south
of the Ohio, for the region to the north could hardly be called
>ettlod as yet, though the French along the Illinois and AVabash
Wore mixed with a small ])roportion of Knglisli and Scotch.
Living l)eyond the Mississippi, and mainly towards its mouth,
and in the adjacent Floridas, were perha])s thirty or forty thou-
siiiiil French and Spaniards, not without jealousies of each
••tilt r. and by no means confident of maintaining a successful
I \
ir
ill
352
THE SPANISH QUEST I VN.
M
'(5
1.,
float agiiiust tho bunded riHt's ot" i\\v Kentucky and the Tin-
nessee.
Miro and GanUxjui, esich aiming at the same result, Imt
hardly 1 'ss jealous of eaeh other than the diseordant parties ut
[iOiusianii, U'low very well that there were t\V() im})()rtant fue-
tors in this prohlem t»f the west, vit'wed from the Si)anish side.
One was the active loyalty of MeCJillivray and the synii»iitliy
of the southern tribes, whose adherence must be secureil hy
gifts and favoring traffic. It was not h»ng before the C'liicka-
saws disclosed to General Martin, the Indian agent of Caro-
lina, that Spaiush eniissaries were intriguing for their trade.
The other factor was the disaffection of the western jicDpic
towards the federal union, which NavaiTo, tlu; Spanish intciid-
ant, was trying to make the most of by holding out hu'cs for
migration to the Spanish territory. The policy of Min'i imkI
the intendant was hardly more comi)atible than those of tlie
governor and (lardocpii. It was the hoi)e of Navarro to sliow
a bold front towards the American frontiersmen ; Miru believed
in seducing them by the relaxation of eonuuercial requirements
at New Orleans.
The Mississi])pi question had become, in the western mind,
inextricably udxetl with the danger which it was thouglit ii
stronger government, the likely outgrowth of the proposed fed-
eral convention, would impose on the south. The substitution
of a majority rule, a probable result of such a change of j^ov-
ernment, for a two-thirds' rule, now their ])rotection in all tjiics-
tions like that between the new Hepnblic and Spain, could imt
portend the downfall of their southern influence. The i)ait of
the west nearest the seaboard, and likely to maintain by wiiter-
ways an intercourse with the coast, as was the case with what
is now West Virginia, was little affected by the ]n'essing exi-
gency of the Mississi])pi question. But as one went faitlior
beyond the Kanawha, indifference gave jdace to excited feeling
when the Spanish demands were mentioned. This was distinctly
seen a year or two later, when the j)roposed Federal Constitution
was inider debate. While ninety -seven j)er cent, of the nearer
west was pledged to the sujjport of that instrument, ninety per
cent, of the Kentrdiy settlements were as strongly advi rse.
Yet even in ^he naost settled ])arts of Kentucky, commercial lea-
sons, as they did in the tide-water districts, stood for adhesion.
/;. I A' 1 7 L L /•; ( -ox 1 7;.v jiox.
3o3
am
1 the two votes which Kentucky <i^;ive for the eoiistitiition in
tlic \'ii'^iniii convention came from rIetVerson County, the best
e(iiii|iactc(l of the si-Uh-mcnts.
\\ itii all this wi'stcrn discontent, the people were very far from
unanimity on any remedial plan. Some were strenuous for forc-
iii"' Congress to legislate in their interests. Others strove for
absolute independence, wit!\ or without the iiUianee of Spain.
Still others looked to union with Louisiana, whether that ju'ovinc*'
remained Spanish oi" French. The most audacious spirits talked
of attacking New Orleans, and wresting- Louisiana from S|)ain
to use it as a counter inriuenee against nortliern overbearing.
It was a diflicult task to reconcile all these opposing views.
Tlicre was one man who thought that lie could mesh all in his
own net, and he was the vain, smooth, and dashing Wilkinson.
The convention at Danville, in which he expected to be a
|)o\vi r, and which for want of a (luorum had failed of an organ-
i/ution, finally got to work in January, 1787. This delay had
disarranged the plan which Virginia in her enabling act had
set, and opened the way for revolutionary measures; but the
uieiuhers proved temperate desj)ite Wilkinson's adverse persua-
sions, and simply voted to ask Virginia to rearrange lier dates,
wiiile Kentucky waited in patience. This sober negation was
a signal triumi)h of good temper, for tlu'ie can be little doubt
that the new-fledged political dub oi Danville, a gathering of
representative S])irits, had reflected the current aspiration w hen,
at a meeting on January G, 1787, they had voted that immediate
separation from Virginia would tend to the benefit of Ken-
tucky. Whether from ignorance or for niischici, there had
come rumors that Jays measure of closing the Mississippi had
become a law, and to spread this untruth a circular was given out
in some quarters in March, wliicdi also ke])t concealed the really
strenuous efl'orts made by the ])arent State to promote the west-
ern interests. All such forced mano'iivres were but a ))art of
the poKuiy of the AVilkinson /action to coerce public o])inion. To
inerease the disquiet, Gardocjui was at the same time making
incautious advances to such western leaders of opinion as he
could reach. Madison, in ^larch, 1787, disclosed the evidence
of this to Jefiferson, ex])ressing dread of the consecjuenee of
sucli appeals to the wild ambition of the frontiers. Nor were
the reports which reached him of British intrigue less disquiet-
^
"Ill
,
! I
I :
hi
854
77//; SI'AiXrSII QUESTION.
!
iiig, for lu> knt-\v tliuc emissaries from Caiuida " had been ftcl-
ing the i)ulse of some of tlie western settlenr.'nts." It \v;i>
l>retty certain, too, that there were those sonth of tlie Ohio wIk.
met them with listening ears. Meanwliile, Gar(lo(|ni hatl linn
in conference with the Virginia dele;;ates, who had been charged
to deliver to him the not imcertain opinions of their Assenililv.
— demands which we luive seen \\ ilkinson fonnd it convciiinit
to ignore. The minister and his interlocntors had indidijid tu
their liking in menace anci expostnlation, but to little effect.
liy jNIarch, 1787, these i'lcidents and alarming rej)orts lr(i)ii
the west had brought flay's i)r()iect to at least a temj»or;irv
stand. Madison did not view with miconcern tlie trail which
the debates in Congress on the Mississippi ([uestion had laid on
the southern consciousness. "' Mr. Ilenvys disgust exceeds all
neasure," he wrote to fJefferson. and at times it seenu'd a~ it
ti.:_' movement towards a federal convention, which he had so
much .-.t heart, had received an irrevocable setback.
On April 11, 1787, -lay finally reported to Congress the draft
ot an agreement with (iardoipii for the dosing of the Mis-
sissippi, as an accom\)animcnt of a connnercial treaty with
Spain. It was at once ai)i)ar'nt that Congress had lost imnh
of its sympathy for the i)rojcct, and after an acrimonious deliatc
on the 23d, in which the Northern States were chai'gcd with
trying to protect their vacant lands against the comiu'titiuu cf
the west, the; rival feelings began to subside, and Jay soon grew
(piite of the mind to make, either by treaty or force, Spain
yield to the inevitable.
So the burning question passed : and for the next eighteen
months we hear little of it, except as it offered a ready excuse
to the intriguers in their efforts to sway the western peoph' in
their own i)rivate interests. But for this, it would have Ihch
accepted as finally disposed of by Congress till at least tlic am-
bitious hopes of the u'Cit could find more ])roi)itious times. I he
trials of savage warfare and the seething condition of western
internal politics were not favorable, at present, to any decisive
aggression on tlu' jh wer of Spain.
The Franklin movement was ncaring a collajise. There was
a hoju' in Marcdi that Kvan Shelby, representing North ('.inv
iina, nught effect a comi)romise with Sevier, but all signs faihtl.
WILKIXSOX AT XEW O/iLJiA.XS.
355
It iiixt looked us if the Chiekiimaugiis iniylit ('ntiap the hick-
Ifss govi'i'iioi', lU'd his last appeal to Henjaiiiiii Fianldiii had
t'ailtd. Tlie Holstoii Sei)aratists seemed cowed, and in the nick
of tiiiH' (May -1) a lirni and judieious adiiress from (lovernor
( ';is\vell satisfied most people that the end of the upstart eoni-
iiioiiwealth had eome.
ill Kentneky, the convention met in May, 1787, and the
tricks of the intriiiuers were discovered when it was li'arntMl
that there wa;; no warrant for the circular of March. Soberer
cniinsels {)revailed, anil the mend)ers accej)teil anew the trials
(if patience.
\\ ilkinson, with a growing consciousness of his loss of })olit-
ical power, had turned to fosti-ring his own pecuniary gains,
ill the preceding autumn (1780), he had visited Natchez, and
had opened friendly relations witii (Jayoso, the Spanisli com-
iiiaiidur. He had estal)lished them in jsart hy an intimation
that if Kentucliv felt it necessary, she might invite Kngland to
(It'sccnd with her tlie Mississippi and effect a joint oceupani'y of
Liiiiisiana and New Mexico.
Sometime in the wintei', Steuhen had applied to (Jardotjui
for a jKissport to enahle a gentleman to visit Xcw Orleans, l»ut
tlie request was refused. Steuhen's friend was \Viikinsoii, wiio
at a later day explained that, under the guise of a commei--
cial venture, his real object was to open confidential comnnini-
o:itioiis with Miro. (iardocjui's ivfusal did not daunt liim, and
uathering together his Hour, bacon, butter, and tobacco, he had
<vcrythiiig ready to send a flotilla duwi the river in the spring,
hi , I Mile, 1787, his barg(!S wei'e tied up to the l)anks at New
Orlcnns, without an attem])t of any Spanish ofHcei" to seize
tliiiii. Tiiere is some mystery as to the way in which AVilkin-
sdii secured this })rompt exemption. It is not improbal)le that
<iayoso"s reports to Miro had ma(h' the Spanish governor timid,
and tliat he had learned that (Jardocpii, who was not accoin-
l>lishing all he wished, needed more time for further efforts
lit'fore a rupture with the Ke})ublic was f(>rced. If Min'' hesi-
fati"! at all, AVilkinson seems to have succeeded in leaching
liim that there was more ])r()fit in tradt^ than in war. lie speed-
ily exeiu]>Hfied his maxim by driving such l)argains with the
^'piiish merchants that he sold his tobacco f(»r livt hundred
';i
I,.'
I ik
35G
THE SPANISH QUESTION.
^
tiuK'S its cost. AVhether Wilkinson deceived the fi'overnor or
betrayed his country muttered little to himself as long as lie
accomplished his object in ensnaring Miro in his conuncicial
plot, tjjrougli which a division of j)rofits was to enrich both.
The sanguine American had already entered iipon ambitious
projects in Kentucky, for which bountiful returns in trade wcic
(juite neci'ssary. In October, 1780, he had bought the site of
the future Frankfort, and had secured the passage of a bill in
the Virginia Assembly to erect a town upon it. He was to liavc;
a fine house of his own there, and to make imi)rovcments suited
to establish the new settlement as the head(piarters of his busi-
ness operati(ms. Indeed, its situation admirably fitted tlie
phice to become the scene of busy hibors in the construction ut
barges for the river trade.
(iardt)qui, in Phihulelj)hia, had kept a jeaUms ej-e upon Miru's
activity in New Ork'uns, and in the previous January the Span-
ish governor liad found the minister's emissaries watching his
movements. If there was to be any sharing of jirofits, (iai-
(hxpii was not inclined to be forgotten, and to j)ropitiat«' liim
Miro had shipped a lading of three thousand barrels of tiour tu
Philadelphia.
In all this Wilkinson was shrewd, and su])posed he pciiiia-
nently covered his tracks, as he did to his contemjjorarics. hut
researches at Madrid at a later day revealed his rascality, lie
is said to have filhid his pockets witli •I'o.^.OOO fi-om his vcntiiiv.
and with these gains he took ship for Philadel])hia. He canird
away also a ])ermit for further trade, which was renewed in
1788 and 1790, with all the advantages wliich came froii; tln'
])ower to bribe by it whoever was prom])ted l)y avarice to mU
iiis independence. Befoi-e Wilkinson was ready to leave. Mini
obtained from him an outline of what the Spanish faction pro-
posi'd to do in Kentucky. In Septen)ber, Miro transmitted it
to Madi'id. wlu're it tells a damning tab to-day. Tlie slcoiv
American did not quite succeed in inspiring confidence, ter
both Miro and Navarro were themselves too much entangled in
the plot to be conscious of rectitude ; nor was he altogetlit'i'
trustful of 't in an accomplice. They accordingly in Novini-
ber, just as AVilkinson was setting sail, and not I'crtain .»f tin'
turn of affairs, ajipealed to the home government for niil in
fortifying the line of the Mississi])pi, whereby to Indd lutck
.'1^
KI'JX TUCK y A XD TL XNESSEE.
351
finin the mines of Mexico ''a poor, daiiiii;-, :nul aiuliitious
piDlik'. like the Ainerieaiis." for as such Navarro, whose plnase
thi^ is. not inai)tly rated the peoph' lie was dealing witli.
Wilkinson, on his wa^' home, })asse(l through Kiehniond just
at'lii' Christmas, 1787. He here heard of the outeome of the
tV(k'r:d convention. The result alarmed him, and he declared
thiii the first Congress under the new government would pass
,lav s measure and settle the destiny of the west.
r>ffore following Wilkinson over tlu' mountains for other
ii .inues, let us glance a moment at the condition in which, on
liis ifturn in the early nutnths of 1788, he found Kentucky.
Tlic revolutionist party had, in the ])receding August, estab-
lislifil at L«'xington 71ic Kcntuckij itdncttc, as an organ in
tlieir interests. It ai»]-.'ared on a half-sheet of coarse papei-,
ti'M inches by nineteen, with the imjtrint of fJohn Bradford,
who two years before had come to Kentucky, a man of some six-
aii(l-tliirt\ years. The press had been carried from I'hiladelphia
t(i I'ittsbu' nid theni-e floated down the river to Ijimestone,
and so tra />'.»(; ted by paekhcvses to Lexington. V>y a mishai)
oil tlic way the type " fell into jn," as the })ublisher announced
in liis first issue.
Tins initial number of the revolutionary organ was barely
liicnlated before, on Sei)tember 17, 1787, the cxmvention of
wliicli so much was expected, and for whicli a remarkable
p.itience had been exercised, came together. Its opinion was
imw uiianinious for separation from Virgini.-v and the necessary
vtitf to ])ropitiate Congress to aecejit the new State was passe<l,
— aU Ix'ing done in accordance witii the re(piiremeiits of the
iiialiliiiij- act of Virjrinia. It seemed now fairlv certain that the
(linnity of Statehood was at hand. The n'cent setting up, in
'bily. of the northwest teriitoiy at Marietta was deemed an
('iui)i'st of the jmrpose of Congress to apportion the western
ctMiiiti'v into States.
!*
li:
.1
Lnolving to a similar movement south of K.'iitueky. the iin-
t'lrtMuate Franklin ex])eriment had delayed the final cession of
the Noith Carolina lands. These lay still farther soiitli. and
^trctclied to the Mississi])])i in a stiip of teriitory wliicli. by
•Clinic interpreters of the South '^^!Violi:ia cliMrtcr. bi'longed lo that
) .\
i.
i:i-
i\i
'■\
mm
ill
li!
i
:-'. K.
358
77/ A' SPAXISH QUESTION.
State. Georgia, however, was thought to have at least as l;()o,1
a title to it. It was a (question where the due west line h<j;;iii,
aud as the Savannah had dif'terent tributaries at the nortliwcst,
the point seleeted by each was to giv»; as nuieh territory as pov
sihle to its own jurisdiction. South Carolijia elaiuieil to iiiii
the line from tlic juiuition of the Tugaloo and Keowee rivets,
wliere they form tlie Savannah, (ieorgiii claime<l the source ot
the Keowee as the real head of the Savannah, and that the line
should start westward at that fountain. Tlw claims of tlic two
States were before Congress in May, 178<), for adjudic;itioii.
and the de<'ision had not been reached when South Carolina,
on March 8, 1787, made a cession of her rights, and on Aiimi>t
0, Congress accepted it.
The year 1787 !iad, from the exasperation of the Indians,
been a restless one thi-oughout tht; regions watered by the afflu-
ents of the (iulf, as well as upon tlie adjacent waters wiilch
flowed into the Atlantic. Savannah had even l)een thrcatciu-il.
and new defenses were planned. The Tennessee region liad
been hard pressed under tht; assaults of the Creeks, and Koli-
ertson was forctMl to ask assi.stance of Kentucky aud Sevi<i.
Ending, as lie said, that the Creeks •' talked two tongiio."
he had marchc^d in June, 1787, against the savage stronglnilds
near the Muscl(>' Shoals, and had i'oiind among their villages
sonu' French traders, who iiad "Supplied them with arms, niid
he had other proofs that emissarit^s from the French on tlio
Wabash had for two years been inciting them against t\w
Cund)erland people. There had been some Indians inurdiif I
near !he Clincdi Hiver. and (iovernor I>ando]])h of X'irgiiiia
sought a.s Jcst lie could to sto]) the retaliatoiy countermaiilit's.
and to hold liOgan and Ciockett in (heck. Amid all this
savagery. James White and .lames Conner visited tlie siic <if
Knoxville, and located here a warrant for liud which tlnv
had received for service in the revolutionary anny. So :i iie ■
western town was started.
Early in 1788, AVilkinson was back among his Kentiickv
friends, nursing his secret. If not disclosed to his nearest ctii-
feder.'ites to its full extc t. it was to be better understood, maiiv
years later, when Miro s dispatch of January 8, 1788. to his
^1* nm^M^:^
it as !;o()il
HI' l)r;4;iU.
lortliwfst.
ry as pov
otl to run
ee rivers,
soui'i'e lit
it the iiiu'
)f tilt' two
jiuliciitiiiii.
( 'ai'iiln.;i.
Dll AugiM
e Iiidiiiii^.
y the atHii-
ti'i's which
thivatciK'iL
vcii'lon had
i, ami Kuh-
mtl Sevier.
» tongue-,
itroiiu'holtls
Ir vilhiiics
arms. Mini
ifh .'11 iho
|t(faiii>t till'
nmnlt'i'*''!
f Virj^iiii;!
CMIlKI'fht'S.
<1 all r!ii'>
tlu.' site iif
liieh tliev
S(» a iit'v.
KciiTufkv
leart'st I'l'n-
ood, niuuy
i;88. to his
77//'; CUyfBEHLAM) PEOPLE.
359
"•ovi'iiiineiit was lound, and it ai>}Hiaretl lunv traitorously the
\vil\ Ivt'ntiu'kiau had bargaijit-d away the western settlements,
111-, eo! resp^Midence with Miio in the spring of this year
(ITH.S), which was .sent down the river by boat, and has also
lieeii preserved, shows how he atteni]>ted to auj.''ment the liopes
(It ih'' S[)ani.sh g'overuo!' by ass\irinj; him thai all was well ;
thiit there was no likelijjood of Congress thwarting their jilans -.
ami that he iiad sm-eeeded in blinding Washington, ''the
future king of .Vnieriea,' as he called liim. With these assur-
iiiiee-. .Min'i had little diffieuliy in a riting to Madrid that the
frontier colonies were .secure for Spain.
W c\\ he might think so, for hoth from Cumberland and the
liiil>ion, as well as from Kentucky. » ame the welcome tidings.
In the Cumberland district, Kobcrtson and Mc(jillivray had
indeed been running a tilt at each other. The Cumberland
leailer. supposing that Spanish intiiguc had aroused the Creeks
;uul the Chickanuuigas, had madt', as we have seen, a dash u[)ou
tliein at the Muscle Shoals. .Miro had iirotested against l{ob-
(•rt>(»n's suspicions, and McCiilliviay had laken his revenge
ii[H)ii the whites. After this bloody satisfaction, that half-breed
Creek iiitimate<l to liobertson that if i»o w<Mdd consider the ac-
count closed, he was ipiite willing to bury tiie hatchet. Wherc-
ii|i(in rt»coneiliation went so far tluit in thi> spring of 1788.
^IcCiillivray infornu-d Miro tlsat Kobcrtson and the Cumber
laud jicoplc were piiiparing to n»ake friends with the ( icck^
and throw themselves into the arms of Spain. Thi- meant a
suhstantial tiiumph of Spanish interests, for Nasliville. the
Cuiuliei'laiid I'ajiital, which had grown t.i be a sfttleuient of
eighty or ninety log huts gathered abovit a courc-hou.se. had
hi'coine the iallying-])oint for some tiv»> tl.or.sand hardy pio-
neers. These wen; scattered along .'igUry «Mld miles .»f the
liver bank, and constitiu I a self-sustairning eonnuunity, thrown
ii|iiin its own resoupft-s. and sep:«rat^'d bv a traxdvless wilder-
ness from the dwelh'rs on the Kt iitncla. ^^'ith the setth'ment
:il"Mit .loiu'sbont", one hundred .lud <'ightv-tliice miles awav.
flic-e Cunil)erlan(l ]>e(>])lc had more intercouise, but still it wj-i
Hot Very close. The track lay throiiuii a dangf^rous counrn ,
111 vhieh Martin had had tiuryv a. stiaiggl*- with the irascible
* liickainangas : but the way vvas .sorni made safer, when the
;iil \v;is Improved, and armed patrols passed to awd fro. It
•^r"
1
^T
;/'
< '
;if'
360
THE SPANISH QUESTION.
t ' i
was over tliis trail that thi North Carolina judges came at
times, under the escort of such a j^iiard, to administer back-
woods justice in the court-house at Nashville
Passing over this route from North Carolina, young Aiuhi'w
Jackson, now in his twenty-first year, and armed witli a coniniis-
sion as puhlic prosecutor, had stopped on his way at e7onesl)oio'.
where he found the legitimate government restored and Sevier
a fugitive. Hard ])ressed in his disapiiointnient, that luckless
magistrate had courted the authorities of Georgia, and ])r()|)(isi'(l
to occui)y a part of its territory on the great bend of tlie Tennes-
see with such followers as he could nuike adhere to his fortunes.
This failed. At times he thought that he coidd plunge into
an Indian war, or lead an attack on the Spaniards, and in tliii^
way ])r()long his jxjwer. Then he thought he could do lietter
to offer his services to Miro and Gardocpii, as he did on Se])-
tember 12, 1788, and throw himself and his State ''into the
arms of his Spanish jNIajesty,'" just at a time when Congress,
rising to the exigency, had determined (Septend)er 10) to insist
at all hazards on the navigation of the ]\rississipi)i, !Mc(JilIiviay
got wind of Sevier's purjiose, and contirmed the Si)anisli autliur-
ities in the hopes which Sevier raised. AVith all this tergiver-
sation, Sevier had seemingly no heart to turn upon the ])areiit
State, and when Ciardocjui sent Dr. James White to open terms
of agreement with Sevier, the latter is said to have informed
Shelby of the plot that Gardoqui was proposing.
So Sevier lived on for a while in this uncertainty. At last,
trusting to his ])opularity to save hin;, he put him.self \vitliin
reach of one Tipton, an old enemy, and in October he was
arrested and carried before a judge. There is a story, a(hnit-
ting of embellishments, which goes to show that he was rescued
under the eyes of the judge and suffered to vanish into tl'e
devious ways of the wilderness, and that the youtiiful Jackson
stood by and witnessed the escape. This was the tah' wliieli
Jackson told to amuse the loungers when, a short time after-
wards, he reached Nashville ; but he earri<'d more iin]i(iitant
tidings when he took to the Cumberland settlers the story of
the adoption of the new Federal Constitution, and disclosed the
pre})a rations which were making, when he left the seaboaiil. i<ii'
the election of Washirigton as the first President.
After March, 1788, Miro had been left alone in New Orlean''.
t i
I ,
,-S\.
cauif at
iter back-
g Andrew
a conuiiis-
onesl)oi'o'.
iiul Sevier
it liu'kless
il j)V(»|n)se(l
he Tenues-
is fortunes,
•lung'e into
Liul in tills
[ do better
id on Sep-
5 '" into the
11 Cong-ress,
.0) to insist
ilcCiillivray
iiisli autlu)r-
lis tcM'giver-
tlie parent
open terms
-e infornit'il
At last,
'If \vitliin
V lie was
US(
Iniit-
il
torv, ;n
kvas resouet
sh into tl'e
d Jael
\S(in
tide wliicli
I time at'ter-
unp"
rtant
llie story
ise
losed the
1. for
l»()aii
^w Orleans
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION.
3G1
Navarro having- (U'parti'd for Spain with reports. Wliile the
uoverncn" was still worrying over .seven Innulred hungry souls
who had been burned out in New Orleans and thrown u})on the
resources of his granaries, he had some satisfaction in believing
that he had at last got into close touch with different sections
of the Amei'ican .southwest, lie would not have been .so com-
plaiHiut in his joy if he had known that his rival, (ranhMjui, at
al)out the same time, had received orders from Madrid to play
into Wilkinson's hands.
'riic critical time for Kentucky had come in June, 1788, just
as Miro, at New Orleans, was receiving renewed assurances
from Wilkinson, brought by a flotilla which that speculator had
dispatched from Frankfort. On the 2d of that month. Congress
!iad voted to make Kentucky a State of the Union, and liad
appointed a conunittce to draft the bill. This was no sooner
done than, on July 2, 1788, the news of New Hampshire's
adoption (June 21) of the constitution came. This counted
tlie lunth State in the column, and made the trial of the new
government a certainty.
Virginia had been for some time considering whether .she
also should accede, and the question in her convention was
t\u'ning largely upon what would be th(> effect on the West and
the navigation of the ^lississippi by the operation of the new
constitution. It had long been felt that the risk was great, and
tliat tlic acceding of Virginia was doubtful. W^ashington, in
A[)ril, thought that the widespread apprehension in Kentucky
would swing Virginia into o])position. At that time, it was
supposed that nine of the fourteen Kentucky members of the
Virginia convention had committed themselves against the new
e(»nstitution. AVhen the conventi(m met, it proved that seven
iiieiabers instead of nine stood out, and rallied with the rest
ahout Grayson and Henry. These leaders, however, proved
inie(|ual to force a majority of the convention to agree with
them, and on June 26, Virginia, to make a tenth State, by a
suftieient majority in the convention, had wheeled into line
before the news from New Kampshirc had come.
It seemed now in Congress that Virginia, having been com-
mitted to the federal experiment, and the ohl Congress hav-
iiii;' heeome moribund, it was best to leave the question of
setting up Kentucky its a State to the approaching governnient.
»;^
1 1
1 ■; :
;1
j
i
y'
■11
«
.(I
/•'
I I
n t)
3G2
THE SPANISH QUESTION.
Accordingly, on July 2, the day on which tho nintii State was
known to have been secured, the coniniittee which had hccn
appointed to grant an enabling act asked to be discharged.
This outcome caused a sore disappointment in Kentucky.
Public sentiment was inclined to charge the majority of ('(in-
gress with jealousy of tiie west. It was alleged that its mciii-
b(;rs had a direct purpose of delay till, under the new ordci' of
things, Vermont couhl be brought into the Union to oft'set the
new Southern State.
This api)arently was the conviction of John Brown, one df
the representatives in Congress from Kentucky, and in this
frame of n)ind he had had an interview with Gardocpii. This
assent had intimated to the Kentuckian that Spain was ready to
bargain with his constituents for the navigation of tlie Missis-
sipj)i. Brown disclosed by letter the j)roposition to some friends
in Kentucky, and probably took Madison into the secret, it is
not certain that Gardoqui was as guarded, and in the attempt
to vindicate Brown's loyalty, wliich has been made of hite
years by his grandson, it is said that the Spanish agent made
no st'cn't of his purpose. It seems certain that (iai'(l()(|iii"s
proposition never took the form of a settled understanding. On
the other hand, it is not known that it elicited from Brown iniy
repugnance. He may have kept silence the better to (haw
(iardo<jui into actions which could be used to force Congnss
to uphold vigorously Kentucky's demands of Spain and lui'
recpiirements of Stattdiood. Brown had indeed already eoni-
mitted himself as an advocate of the indtqx'udence of Kentrnky
within the Federal Union. In Ajjril and May, Madis(m ha(! iiei-
suaded him that the Mississip[)i (piestion stood a better chance
of S(dntion under the new goverimient than under the old.
Jefferson had told him that "■the navigation of tht; Mississipjii
was, jiei'haps. the strongest trial to wliicli the justice of the
federal government could be ])ut.'" In fJuly, Brown had written
to his Kentucky friends that *^i)ain would not give u]) the Mis-
sissip])i as long as Kentu(!k\ is a part of the United States.
and there is small doubt lirown's serious a))prehcn<ions.
There is little (piestion that inhupii, in some way, bnuiilit
similar importunate claims to '^'ury Innes and George Nielio-
las. two other influential Keniuckians. The extent to wliieli
these three friends went at Gardoqui's bidding shows them at
V' !
>iiL
THE WILKIXSOX FAVTIOS.
nG3
Ica^t to have been indiscreet, while it is just :is certain that tlio
(•(iiidiict of Wilkinson and .Indye Sel)astian, in the way in which
siicli advances were met by them, })roved themsidves umiiistidv-
nl)lf traitors. Sebastian made a bohl acknowled<;nuMit in the
(■ml. Wilkinson sneakiiigly sought ever after to cover his tracks.
Wlicn. on fluly '1\\ tin- Kentucky convention met, Wilkinson
luailc :i show of causing Jirown's suspicions of Congress to bo
(liscloscd; l»ut he did not think it })ru(lent to reveal Ibown's
account of Ciardo(|ui"s insinuating j)roinises. A considerable
NEW MAUKII).
[From CoUot'H A tins.]
part of the convention, irritated by the ])rocrastination of Con-
Urcss. was ready to follow Wilkinson and Sebastian in declaring
for the innnediate independence of Kentucky, but the majority
was against it. The conservative stability of the Scotch-Irish
dill iiuich to j)roduce the result, though the efforts of the east-
tni merchants to close the Mississippi, ;uul the avowed purpose
til seat the new government in New York, instead of further
south, brouglit contrary influences to bear.
The Wilkinson faction finally succeeded in getting another
I'onvcntion ordered f<n' November, but before it nu't thei'c weie
two new j)hases of the comjdex political t'ondition r;ipidly de-
vt'loping, and they need eonsideratiou.
lii
i f
Note. — Thi" mni) on tlip two followiiic paces is from ,1 " Map of the \ortlirrn ninl Miit'Ie
States" in .ledediali Morse's .Inierirnii (ifuririi/j/i!/, Klizabethtowii, ITS'J, engraved l)y Amos I) o-
litUi'. It was repeated iu the Boston, 1703, edition.
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wo ■^■57 O
&
3(jG
77/ A' S}>A\Isn QUESTION.
;••'
li'
,t
w
It had been an object of Spain to indiu'c tlie American t'lon-
ticrsnicn to settle on lands Iteyond the Mississippi, Miro liad
invited Robertson to this end. Gardocpii had sent eniissaiies
to the western conntry to disclose a lik(^ plan. His agents fomiil
little willingness to accept snch offers, though some advcntiudus
spirits lik(^ Steid)cn and George Rogers C'lariv were ready ti>
lend their influence.
In July, 17H8, Si)anish troops had been sent to fortify New
Madrid, a })osition on the river some distance below St. Louis.
As a part of the scheme to strengthen the line of the Missjs-
si|)j)i against piratical inroads of the Americans, Natchez was
further fortified, and a fleet of patrol boats was soon piaceil
on the river.
Colonel George Morgan of New Jersey, a revolutionary soMicr.
had of late been trying to induce Omgress to help him found
a colony near Kaskaskia. This pending, (Jardo(pn sought him
with an offer of conceding twelve or fifteen million acres of
land at New Madrid. On October 3, 1788, the terms were set-
tled. It was exjjected that his followers wouhl be Pn»testaiits,
and "uarantees ajiainst religious interference were made. Free
trade down the river satisfied the commercial recpurcnicuts.
The position of New Madrid, nearly opi)osite the mouth of the
Ohio, gave earnest of a large town. Mtn-gan issued a circular
setting forth the advantages of the plan. It ])romised land at
an eiiihth of a dollar an acre, with aid in buildin"' dwellings. It
set forth the richness of the country, the abundance of buffalo
and other g.ime, which, if furnished by contractors, would cost
a penny the pound. Free transportation down the Ohio of all
household effects woidd be given. Schoolmasters woidd accom-
pany the emigrants.
One of these circulars coming to the hand of Madison, lie
wrote to Washington (Marcli 2(5, 1780) that it contained *■ the
most authentic and ])recisc evidence .)f the Spanish i)roject that
has conic to my knowledge." He also wrote to flefferson that
" no doubt the project has the sanction of Gard.Kpii." and the
Mississipjii is "the bait for a defection of the western ])co|ili'."
This movement of Gardo(pu was but one of the rival imas-
ures which estranged Miro fnmi the Sjianish agent at the si-at
of government, and neither the latter nor AVilkinson was satis-
l!',';l with the prospect. It was too evidently a sinister stroke at
ir
DUltCHESTER AM) KENTr('Ky
3(57
tlic sct'ret plans of the Spanish faction in Kentucky. ^Vilkin-
-dii liatl just olttained ( Au<;ust) a renewal of his license from
Mint, and a cargo of dry good« had been sent up the river to
him. acc<»nij)anied hy the prudent advice from his confederate
lint to put too high a i)rice upon his wares, for fear of diminishing
among the Kentuckians the advantage.s of Spanish intercourse.
Till' other new jdiase of western condition, to which reference
has Itcen made, on being developed in the autumn of 17S8,
was not on the side of the Mississipj)i, hut on that of Canada.
TliiTc was a faction, as has been indicated, among the Kentucky
|)(tliticians, who looked rather to France than to Spain for the
sithition of their difHcul^ies. It was hoju-d that France would
assert her right to Louisiana, and invite the west to a share in it.
Some such representation had been made to the French minis-
try, when it came to tiie notice of the Knglish. It was thrcugh
some one at Detrt'it that Lord Dorchester's attention was Hrst
talh'd to the chanc.' of making common cause with the disaffected
west. The same informant told the Canadian governor of the
iiuivt'iiient then gathering head for tlie occupation of the Mus-
kingum country. A hint was also given of that disloyal spirit
which the secret service books of Sir Ilenrj' Clinton have fas-
tened, justly or unjustly^ upon a soldier of the Kevolntion who
was at this time a leader in the Ohio movement. This corre-
spondent of Dorchester adds that "aCieneral Parsons anuuig
tlit'ui has ma<le a<lvances to establish commercial interests with
'"anada." If this could hai)i)en north of the Ohio, there was a
glimmering hope that some similar leader might be found south
i)f the Ohio, to be clandestinely b'u'koned into toils. V«'i'y
likely this secret informer in Detroit was a half-pay Mritish
orticrr. Colonel John Ccmnolly, a Pennsylvanian by birth, who
in ITT') had served the royal cause under Lord Dnnniore. For
this he had suffered a long imprisonment. lie had also a dis-
tinct ])ersonal grievance against the Americans for the contis-
I'iition of some ])roperty at the falls of the Ohio. He saw, or
thought he saw, how it was the commeccial instinct of the east,
|iaiti('ularly of New Lngland, which had started the new life on
till' Ohio, and had sent adventurous people, possessed "of a
universal facility," to fill np "this teui])ting, though remote
fotuitry."
308
THE SPASISH QUEST! OS.
i '
^'ilif
p! '■
'if!
;M
Connolly was sut'h a i)erson as Dorchester needed to jtidlu-
the secret iini)ulses of the sctth'rs south of the Ohio, lie li It
Detroit in October, and, proceeding- l)v the jNIiann, reached Lou
isvilli! in time to witness the canvass which was tlien goini; oi.
among the clec*"ors of the new convention. In this he saw llu
Spanish and anti-Spanish factions striving for mastery, ih'
heard nnich of the outspoken advocacy of Wilkinson on llu
Sei)aratist side.
While Connolly thus looked on, he gave out that he was on
the s])ot simply to see after his own interests in eonfiscatiMl
l)roperty. lie admitted his real object cautiously, and jjrolcvlilv
never committed himself to many persons. Among those whom
he a|)proached was Colonel Thomas Marshall, who very jn-oniptlv
remindi'd him that if Lord Dorchester meant kindness, he had
best first stop the raids of the Indians on the fnmtiers. Later,
on Novcnd)er 18, 1788, or thereabouts, Connolly met Wilkin-
son at his own house. To him he disclosed his full plans. Ten
thousand nu'U were to be sent from Canada down the Missis-
sippi, whih' a British fleet forced the river on the (lulf side.
Wdkinson was not more ])leased with seeing his own jtluiis
foiled by this new schenu' than he had been with (Jardoiiui's
])rojects. Accordingly, by the aid of confederates, he caused a
feigned personal attack to be made (m Connolly, which made tlie
s])v ai)prehensive of assassination, and i)romi)ted him to leiive
hastily for Detroit.
Connolly, who on reflection thought he had escaped a ])rivate
plot, and that really half the Kentuekians were ready for his
scheme, made a rather sanguine report to Dorchester. Tlie
governor's letters to Sydney show tluat certainly there had l»een
some considerable response to his overtures. The lat(^ .lolm
^lason Brown, in his vindication of John Brown, brings to
light, fi'om the Knglish archives, a pai)er of reflections from
one of these seeming clandestine ])artisans. A few weeks
after Connolly's disajipearance, both Marshall .and Harry limes
communicated to W^ashington what they knew of Coimollys
doings.
While (\)nnolly was still in Kentucky, the convention, whose
preliminary canvass he had been watching at Louisville, met at
Danville on November 3. It had appeared at one time ;\< if
•\ n't
t Vhi I
BROWS AM) niLKIXSOX.
369
Willdnson would he rejet'teil in his cjindidjiture, but liis skillful
(li-<-i'iii
blinsr saved liiin, wliile his confedorjiti's were defeated.
Tlic convention adopted an address to Conj'ress, in which
it was said : ** As it is the natural right of the peoj)!*' of tliis
(•(Hiiitrv to navij^ate the Mississii)))i, so they have also a rif^ht,
(1. rived from treaties and national eoini)aets," and these rights
•• we conjun! you to |)ro('ure."'
Urown, with an air of knowing more than he expressed, ad-
d th
it
itly
il what th
nted
)atient
caiiif. What he meant by tliis enigma is eli-ar enough, when
Oliver PoUoek informs Mirn that there is, in lirown's opinion,
no salvation for Kentueky but in swinging over to Spain.
A motion was unule to send a temj)erate and respeetful ad-
dress to the Virginia Assend)ly, lu-ging an act of separation.
Wilkinson tried in vain to substitute a vote instructing the
(li'Icgates in the Assembly ; and then read to the convention a
iiu'iiiorial which he said he had left with Miro to be sent to
Madrid. From the best evidence obtainable Wilkinson in this
paper had unreservedly connnitted himself to the Spanish plot.
Ill all these steps his pur])ose, by his own confession to Mini,
was to foster a spirit of revolt, and to irritate Congress to some
iiii'aiitious a(!t. When such views obtained as (iovernor (^lin-
titii had openly ]>rofessed to (iardoipii, nam ly, that the jx'ojding
(tf the West from the Hast was a national calanuty, it was not
(lirticidt to hope for Congress to be eciually indisci-eet. To
lii'lp on such a plot, Wilkinson told Mir«') that he looked to
Spain to sow other seeds of discord between the East and the
West, and Miro sent his friend five thousand dollars to use in
tampering with the conscience of the unyielding.
Asa blind, Wilkinson further moved to ask (\)ngress to take
decided action against Spain, and it was so agreed.
I'x'fore the year closed, Wilkinson had begun to think that,
after all, his )>lans might irretrievably fail. Such a mischance
was |terhaps hinted at by his confederate, Dunn, to whom St.
(lair, now on the Ohio with a show of nulitary authority, and
knowing Wilkinson's intrigues, was writing in a warning vein,
and Itegging him to " detach Wilkinson from the Spanish party."
Ill this conjunction Wilkinson and his friends sent a petition
to (lardoqui for a grant of land on the Yazoo and the Missis-
><il'p> ; and writing to jNIiro about it, he informed him that his
1^
r, i
f ^r
..<) !(
370
'////•; Sl'AMSIl QL'KSTION.
I ,
/"(
» ;
J\
ff
j)m'l>o.s(' was inci'dy to st'cure a place of ivfiigo f(»r himself aiul
his a<lherents. in ease it shouhl heeoine necessary to liave one
This measure off his miiui, AVilkiiisoii ma»U' hastt' to sliuw
(iar(h>(|iii how iiii))ortant a faet<)r he mij^ht become in thwartiii<f
liritisli iiitrij;ue, l>y informinj;- that Spanish ajieiit (.lauuaiv 1.
1TM{>) that the emissaries from Detroit were still active in tin
west. .Inst at the same time, Koln'itson. thinkini;- to ])ro|»iliate
Mir('> Uy naminj;; a district on the Cnmherland aftti- iiim, widtc
(January 11, 17^f!>). as did later (leneral Ivoheit Smith ( March
4), that tlu' time was apprcKichin^' for the Cumberland people
to join with Spain. Wilkinson almost simultaneously was iljs-
|)atchin<;' a new flotilla of twenty Hatboats to continue his coiu-
mcrcial connection with New Oi-lcans. So it seemed to tiic
Spanish intriguers nortii and south that there were to be renewed
efforts in behalf of Spain, before her American eonfedcratus
slunk away to tlw. Vazoo.
The inauj;urati(»n of the new •••overnment at New York, set
for March, was not far distant, and time would, therefore, bcl"<iiv
loni; show what its eft'eet was to be on Wilkinson's ])urp()scs.
Washinnton, with the interval ra])idly shortenin<;- Ix'fore yrcat
res))onsibilities would devolve upon him, and fully inforined of
what was doinj^ in the west, caused a warnin<>; to be inserted in
the Ah'Xdiuh'in (iaxcttv that this Spanish intri<;ue "was pici;-
nant with much mischief." Later, in March, 1780, not inii<;
before he was to be inaui;urate(l, he wrote to Innes : "1 liavi'
little doubt but that a ])erseveranee in temj)erate measures will
j)rodnee a national policy nnitually advantan'cous to all parts uf
the .Vmerican Hepublic." It was significant of a steady liaiid
ready to <jras)) the helm.
From a letter addressed by Wilkinson to Mird, on Febriiarv
12, 1789, we learn jjist how the situation seemed to that conspir-
ator, or rather how he chose; to make it seem to Ins confederate.
lie assured him that the leadiny,' men in Kentucky, with tlie
exception of Colonels Marshall antl Muter, were committrd tn
" the important objects to which we aim : "' antl that some delay
was inevitable till the new {j^overnment had assend)led and de-
clared itself, and that if it would bo in tlic way of resentment,
the sceuriny of the Vazoo p'ant nn};ht pi-ove timely. Mean-
while, he trusted that Spain would not i-elax her efforts to sow
dissension in the west. lie recounted the circumstances of Con-
's i;
WlLKLXSOiV AXIJ McalLLIVilAY
371
iiollv's mission und of liis ignominious Hi<;lit. Ih- said tliiTc is
;i (iirront rumor that Knj^huul is trvinjj^ to rostorr (Jilualtar to
Spain at the pricr of New Orleans and tlu' Kloi idas.
j'wo days later ( Krl»rnarv 14. 17S*.>), ^Vill\inson dispalrlH'd
;i second letter. In this he regrets that (ianhxiin, instead of
Mini, liad l)eeu given the power tt» treat with Kentneky, and
jiojicsthat the Yazoo country will enahle him and Miro to defeat
till' plans of (iardotjui and Morgan at New Madrid. Miro. as
it appears from a remonstrance which he sent on May 20 to
Madiid, did not con<*eal his fears that (iardM(|ui had ln'cn <»ver-
nailicd l>y Morgan, an<l that the true ohject of the Amei'ican
was to plant a new Amei-ican Stat*' \v«'st of the Mississippi.
With this ai»prelu'nsion. Miro later (duly) ordered the com-
iiiaiidant at New Madrid to strengthen his defenses, while he
dill (tstcnsibly what he could for the comfort of tin- new <'olony.
Tliere nught well 1m' ground for fear on Miro's part that with
all liis magnificent vision of an extended Spanish dominion, he
was lumsclt. as he deemed (lardtxpn to he, dealing with traitors,
who at any moment might turn upon him. His position was
cortainly a trying one. S«'nt to govern a province, his govern-
iiit'iit had dispatchcil a covert enemy, with ]>owers that war-
ranted him t(» invade this provim-e and set up other jurisdictions.
Amid all this perplexity came in May the news of the death of
the Spanish king and the accession of ("harh's I\'..and he knew
not what change of jtolicy.
The Mississij)|)i, although coveted, was in fact the weak side
of Louisiana, for it o])ened a path to her eneinies, hoth up and
down its course. The river once passi'd and in contnd, the
iiiiii.> (d' New Mexico were within the invathvs" grasp. New
( )rlraiis. with its five thousand ju'ople, sludtering a disatTe<'teil
IViiicli prei)oiiderancc, was a prize for any daring commander.
The forty-two thousand inhahitants (»f Louisiana had little hetter
oolii'sion to make a defensiv<i front.
It had heen, if it was not now. (dear to Hiiro's mind that the
two main supports of his hopes were ^^'ilkinson and Mc(iilli-
vray. — tlu; oiu; to seduce the west, the other, supposed to hohl
more or less control over the seventy thousand Indians ol the
s(iiitliw'.'st. to make them serve as a harrier to Spanish territory.
To add to MircVs ])er])lexities, he had become, through the
^•oininiiiiications of Wilkinson and Pollock, aware <d" the iiv;d
372
THE SPANISH Qf'KSTIOX.
m
<j
'
;i '
fi!
ill
iiitri<^ues of France and Kn;;lan(l. France had f]fiven up Lou-
isiana to Spain bccansi' she liad failed to sceurc tiie returns slic
wished from its trade and mines. Since then, the Americun
suhduers of the wihlerness had shown iier that the true wealth
of the (Jreat Valley was not in its deposits or in its furs, but
in its agricultural ])roduct8. This develo))ment was relied upon
to arouse French eui)idity. It was said that not an acre hud
been cleared about Natchez but by Americans, who were now
suj)plying the markets of New Orleans from their farms, — now
reported, with probable exaggeration, by one observer as tlu'ee
thousand in nund>er, averaging four hundred acres each. I'm-
ductiveness like this made sometlung more of the country than
a bulwark of the New Mexican mines. The F^rench nmst w-
member, it was set forth, that by gaining the west, they would
gain supremacy in the nuirket for flax, hemp, and wool, and
could drive all tobaccos out of the trade by their own. Theiv
were thirty thousand old subjev^ts of France, they were remiudt'd.
who stood ready to welcome theui in place of their Spanish
masters, lieside these, they could depend on the sympathy and
aid of the F^-ench on the Wabash and in Canada, and open an
asylum to the disaffected, who were already Hying from tlie
FYench shores before the seething agitations of the lievolutiou.
In aid of this French scheme, some interested persons in Km-
tucky had transmitted to the F'reiu'h representative? in NCw
York a memoir upon the condition of the western country, calcu-
lated to affect the (iallic imagination. F^ortunately, it did not
bring the direful effects which Barlow's ])romises had produced
on the Ohio. Indeed, Kentucky at this time had nnu'h more to
otter to inunigrants than the territory north of the Ohio. The
migration of settlers was so rapid and so large that it is diffi-
cult to reach a conservative estimate of it. The Ohio and the
I'oad from Limestone and the Wilderness Koad were crowded
with the trains of pioneers. During the twelve months divided
between 1788 and 1789, to take no account of the oveiland
movenu'nts, twenty thousand persons had passed down the ( )liiii.
past Fort Ilarmar, in eight or nine hundred boats. With tlieiii
were counted seven thousan<l horses, three thousand cows, nine
hundred sheep, and six hundred wagons, — and all were, with
few cxce])tions, bound for the Kentucky settlements.
There were at this time, as contrasted with the scant poi>ula-
FRENCH ASl) EXCLISH FACTIOXS.
373
tidu north of tlio Ohio, not Ji great deal siiort of niw huiulrcd
tl. Misand souls in tlu' st'ttlenients of Kentucky, C'uinheihuul,
ami Watauga. What distuiWed Aliio most, and offered the
l^icatest inchieenient to the French and Knglish factions, was
tliat more than twenty thousantl riflemen, a hirge part iiiountod,
wciv ready to l)elt their fringed shirts for any emergeucy.
Kentucky alone, it was thought, coidd send ten thousand mili-
tia to a ))oint of danger, and her mounted patrols were always
alert in the traveled ways.
In urging an alliance with France, its advocates claimed that
the * Ueghauies forbade for the west all (^onuuunication with
the Atlantic; that the unity of the Kepuhlic "was broken by
the mountains ; "' that the success of the seaboard couhl not
('((iitributc to the prosperity of the west. " The west, in short,
rt'(|uires a j)rotector. The first who will stretch out its arms
to it will have the greatest ac(|uisition that could be desired in
the New World."
It is not j)rol)able that this project of a French alliance,
looming as it did at times in excitable minds, ever made much
l)rogress. Its real effect was to thwart and incite by turns the
iMicigies of both the English and the Spanish.
The British scheme bad more of realitv in it ; but it also
failt'd of maturity. That there were in the west supporters
of an Knglish connection, beyond the numbers which Connolly
t'ni'diuitei'ed, would seem to be evident from the correspondence
of Dorchester with the home government. In one of the gov-
ernor's disi)atches (April 11, 1780) he transmitted some "des-
ultory reflections of a gentleman of Kentucky," which, if not
tlie work of Wilkins(m. was in (piite his manner, and would have
enipliasized that intriguer's faithlessness to Miro, had he known
of it. The writer says that " the ])olitics of the western country
must speedily eventuate in an apj)eal to Spain (tr Britain." In
transmitting this pai)er, Dorchester wrote that the factions in
Kintiicky that })romised best looked to an alliance with (Jreat
l)iitaiii, for the jmrpose of detaching that region from the
Inion and capturing New Orleans. The i)eoj)lc urge, said
Dorchester in effect, that S])ain had helped the Ignited Stat«'s
anainst England, and that there was now the chance to pay
them off. Still, they wanted no active assistance till New
Orleans was captured. Having thus put the case, Dorchester
w.
ii
lili
I )
:lr'!
i \
n
.III
374
77/ /i SJ'AyiSII Ui' EST I us.
askt'd the ministry how far he I'ouhl safely {^o in respond i ml; to
8Uch appeals.
In this, as in other problems, the newly installed federal piv-
ernment was likely to prove an antagonist to deal with, ditV» u nt
from the defunct «'onfederation. Grenville seems to have sus.
peet«'d this, and cauti(»ned Dorehester against aetive interfereiirc.
Wilkinson was well aware of the ciianged eonditions, and m
Septendxjr 17, 1780, he wrote to Miru, in a jjitiable and stlf-
convicting s])irit : "1 have voluntarily alienated myself from the
United States, and am not yet accepted by Spain. 1 have re-
jected the proffered honors and rewards of (ireat Jiritain, wliilf
declining tlu* prcennnence which courted my accejjtance in tlif
United States. 1 have giv«'n my tinu', my property, and every
exertion of my faculties to ])romote the intei'ests ui the Spanish
monarchy. Hy this conduct I have hazarded the indignation of
the American Uinon."
While this desjjondency was growing upon him, AVilkiiiM»n
had failed of an election to the convention, which met on .Inly
20, 1789. Without his leadership the Sei)aratist faction lianlly
daied assert itself. The new ])roposition of Virginia which
came before tlu; convention had some objectionable provisions
as to th(! ])ublic lands, and it was fcmnd necessary to take t'lir-
ther time to settle the differences. So, the convention adjourn-
ing, Kentucky was not yet a State: but the S))anisli (picstion
had lost a great deal of its ini])oi-tance, and vis for a w hi If
about droi)ping out of local j)olities.
1*
i
! •''
CHAPTEK XVII.
UXCEKTAINTIKS IN TIIK SOlTinVKST.
17«J(».
W'liKN the iit'W fccU'nil f^ovoininciit was put in oiMiiiitioii,
tlit.'ii' was Olio Nortlii'iii aiul «»iu' Soiitlicni State still without
the riiion. In NovciiilxM-, 17Hi>, Nortii Caroliiui hud adojjtctl
tlic constitutioM. Many (pu'stioiis toiicliiiij; tlu' w«'stei'n fouiitry
xmtli tit" Kriitiu'ky could not be coiisidei'ed till Noith ('ar<»lina
liail tluis acted. This ie<;ion rounded out the coiuitiy, in con-
(•('|itii)ii at least, to the Mississippi, and altliou<;h Kliode Island
still remained recusant, not aeeedinj; (ill May, IT'.X). Oliver
Wolcott iiii<4lit well say, because of Kliode Island's insigniti-
ciiiict', that the "accession of Nortli Carolina has blasted the
li(>l)fs of the anti-federalists." With small delay, on February
2.">, ITilO, throu<;h a deed signed by her senators, North Caro-
liiui (■('(led to the I'liited States the region now called Tennessee,
u tciritory then reckoned as extending east and west three hun-
<!rt'(l and sixty miles, and nortli and south over a degree and a
ImU" of latitude. The occui)ants (tf this territory, now some
thirty thousand more or less, were not consulted, and the Indian
title still covered it, except at the east, where the Franklin ex-
|ii riiiicnt had been tried, and towards the west, where some two
tlioiisand s(piare miles surr(Minde(l Nashville as a political centre.
\\ ithiii the cession lay lands assured to the Chickasaws by the
treaty of Hopewell (flaiuiary 10, 1783), and others conHrmed
to the Chenjkees by the treaty of November 2H. 178'). which
\vere still further to be increased by the treaty of Ilolston. .Iidy
■-. 17l'l. The lands thus ])reserve(l t(» the tribes made about
tivc iiiillioii acres in the east and central regions, with about
half as much more towards the Mississijipi. In addition, North
t'aniliua had already ])h'dged considerable areas to her rev(»lu-
tioiiary soldiers, to individual grantees, and for the redein))tion
of her scrip, so that the United States got little or nothing
y
I L
? ' 1
'• ■
;
i ; i
i /u Ji
37(5
/•.vrA7.'7'.i/.v77/;.s- i.\ Tin-: socTinvhisr.
iindrr the t'ossioii lu'vond the jurisdiction ovrr tlic tort \ -live
tliousjind stjuari' iiiilfs which constituted the tciritory. IimIikI.
it WHS thou>;ht that North Caroliuji in her i)r('vions ;;•rant^ liml
exceeded tlie area of the counti-y hy half a million acres.
On April 2. Conj^i-ess accepted the cession, and in May. tliat
body set up the ceded territ(»ry, to which was presiunalily
addcid the narrow east and west strip already made nvt r Kv
South Carolina, as "the Territory south of the river ( )liiu."
This act created a <>overnor, and also three judj^cs. wlut wcir i,,
yield to a territorial assembly when the pt>pulafion coidd >hi»\v
a body of five thousand voters. The new ^•overnmcnt wiis 1 1
l)e ;;iiided by provisions similar to those of the ordinance of
1787, except that slavery was not prohibited. William liluuiit.
a North Carolinian of popular yet dij^nified manners, wh.i in-
j(»yed the contidcnce of the people, was made <;overnor, rcnchiii;^
his i)ost in ()ctol>er. The territory was divided into two mili-
tary districts, the eastern of which was placed under Sevier,
now made brigadier-«;'eneral, and the western under Kobertson,
to whom was accorded a like raidc.
;;m ;
As to thci country south of the new government, thci-e was a
conflict of claims 1 ctween the I'^nited States and (Jeorgia. Tlit'
federal government insisted that it was acquired from (in-Mt
Britain by the treaty of 1782, the mother conntiy li.ivini,'
yiehled thereby the title which she assumed under the pincla-
mation of 17()JJ in making it a part of west Florida. \\\w\\
she thus took it from that region and allowed it to the I'liiti'd
States, it was her ])uri>ose. if Lord Jjansdowne's confession is t"
be believed, to make discord thereby between the young Kipiili-
lic and th(^ house of liourbon. Whether intending or n-it. slir
succeeded in that ])ur))ose. Georgia contended for piior liiilii-
to this debatable region under her ehartei-, and she w:is imw
holding it, as the county of Mourbon, bounded on the south li\
the international line of 31 , and cm the north by the Vazo'i
Kiver. (ieorgia's pretension of acipiiring the Indian title
within this territory was adjudged to be illegal, since the li.nlit
of ]»reemption was reserved to the United States undci' tin'
Federal Constitution which Georgia had accepted. SIic li:i>l
refused to guarantee the title, however, to large tracts of laml-*
in the Yazoo country, which she had granted, in the iii-t iii-
;l ■»:
aKOlKilA.
8
« <
T i: 2/ isr E S S £ E
;nU' OVtT liy
riv<'r ( )liin. "
who were til
H I'Ollltl >lli>\V
llllt'llt WilS t 1
onliiiaiii'f "if
Hi.'iiii Bliiiiiit,
lltTS, will I fU-
nor, rfiifliin^
nt<» two iiiili-
lUuU'l' Sevier.
er HolH-rtMiii.
h'or<;i:i. i •»'
/ M
[From .IiMlciliiili Miirwc's Amerirnii ilmrtlfir. BoHtnii, 1797.]
I, the lir-t m-
staiii'c, to a coinpany fuiincd in Ch.ai'li'ston, and known as the
South Cai'olina Company, and later to <»thfr connianifs known
a^ tilt- Virginia, Timmu'ssci', an<l (Jcor^ia ('oni])an cs. These?
,i;rants had bei'u made in DcccndxT. 1780. that *- the Sonth
^'arnjina Company (Mnl)i"U'in<j^ ten million acres, that to the Vir-
liiiiia ( "onipany eleven niillio;< fonr hundred thousand acres, and
that to the Tennes.see Company four n'illion acres. She threw
tlie harden of prot«'ctin<;- the settlers Uj.on the com])anies. and
this (tpenod complications with Spain, further affecting' the
'liii'stion of the navigation of the Mississipj)!. •*
'^>'b
l-i i '
m
mm
:■
h Ui
378
UNCERTAISTIES IN THE SOUTHWEST.
Of the territory thus hiuuled over to anotlier military dircc-
tion, the Choctaws and Chiekasaws hiid ehiiin to parts of it,
and throughout the whole of it, Spain professed that slif had
jurisdietion.
One Dr. James O'FaUon, a man about forty-five, and an
adventurer, was made a<j;ent of the South Carolina Company.
He wrote on May 24, lTi>0, from Lexington to Miro, statiiij;
that he was ])repared to treat for making this delnitable countiv
a i)rovinee of S])ain, and hinting that if their negotiations suc-
eeeded, other western communities were prepared to take simi.
lar stej)s. He said that within eighteen months he should have
at his beck some ten thousand men, eai)able of bearing arms,
and that in June he would visit New Orleans for a eonferouce.
Miro could not fail to see Wilkinson's hand in all this, and
O'Fallon had indei'd been in conference with that so far disap-
pointed treason-monger, who had l)een watehing the movement.
as affording a new fiehl for his intrigues. As early as dami-
ary, 1790, he had tiied to ingratiate himself with OFallcin
and his associates, })leading his ability to induce the Spanish
authorities to quiet the atlverse interests of the Choctaws. In
June, 1790, writing from Frankfort, Wilkin.son notified Miro
that O'Fallon's ])lans were in the Spanish interests, though tlu'
man himself was somewhat vain and flighty, " I am, never-
theless," wrote Wilkinson, " inclined to put faith in him."
O'Fallon's sclieme was to organize a force in Kentucky, and,
floating with it down the Mississippi, to take ])Ossession of the
country, with George Rogers Clark, as rumor went, in niilitaiv
connnand. It was given out that the federal authorities favoivd
the undertaking, and would adopt the military establishment.
AVilkinson and Sevier, with a body of disapi)ointed Franklin
men, were exi)ected to follow and make the settlement.
In this state of aft'airs, Miro wrote to ]Madrid (August 10).
describing the land of the South Carolina Company as extend-
ing from eighteen miles above Natchez to thirty miles aliovc
the Yazoo, .all of which, as he represented, was witinn tlio
Si)anish jurisdiction. He doubted the ])olicy of harboring on
Spani.sh territory *i sej)arate community with its own militaiv
organization. It does not appear that he was aware that tlie
company, in order to secure settlers, had given out a piu pose
to make in due time an American State of their colonv, and it
i;f r
LAND COM I' AMES.
379
iiiMv well be (l(ml)te(l if tlie projectors liad any such real inten-
tinii. Miru, who was never quite sure of Spain's maintaining
li( ist'lf on the Mississippi, had enough suspieion of the coni-
pimy's avowed aim to fear that it would beeome an aggressivi^
( ii.iiiv, unless Spain should in some way obtain eontrol. AVil-
kiiison. with that devilish h'cr whieh he knew how to employ
ii|)nii oceasions, had intimated that the best way to seeure this
coiitiol was to make the C'hoetaws so harass the settlements
thut tlie eolonists would turn to Miro for ])roteetion. In the
same letter the governor informed the minister at Madrid that
he liiid already taken ste])s to aet on Wilkinson's adviee.
Tlie lands of the V^irginia Company lay north of those of the
South (\u'olina Company, being a streteh of a hundred and
Iwciitv miles along the river and running to 34 40' north Inti-
tilde, and so comprising what he calls a part of the hunting-
^idiiiid of the Chiekasaws. a tiibe in the main friendly to the
whites, but not always controlling their young bucks. Still
farther north were the lands (»f the Tennessee Com})any. All
the I'ompanies'' territories extended one luindred and twenty
miles back from the river. To the lands of the latter com-
pany. Miru acknowledged the Spanish (!laim to be less certain.
In one way these new developments gave ^liro some hope.
He felt that Wilkinson, who had so far talked nmch and done
Httle. might now find a bettei' field for his intrigue. The gov-
irniir complained of the small gain whieh Morgan had made
farther uj) the river, and chaiged him with preferring rather
to enjoy his ease in New Jersey than to endure the hardshi])s
of the new colony. He thought further that the trade which
\\ ilkiuson had been suffered to develo]) between Kentucky and
New Orleans had worked to end)arrass the rival scheme at New
Ma«lri.l.
Miri'i told the minister that if O'Fallon's ])roposition was
n'fused, the alternative for Sj)ain was to ]uish in settlers in
such niuubc/s as to hold the region, and he adds that if the
Americans oppose, he will use the Indians as Wilkinson had
Mtu'gvsted.
There were other chances which Miro was glad to recognize,
fur the Creek half-breed, Mc(iillivray, who we shall see had
just been invited to New York, had written to the governor in
/ i
.1 .
I >' ;
'■•;('
i'l
i i
if!
880
UNCERTM STIES IN THE SOUTHWEST.
May, 1790, that thougli he was indeed goiiij^ thither to eonchulc
a jjeaee with the Aiuerieaiis, he had no intention of desert in;,'
his Spanish friends, and was even prepared in due time to
assist the Spaniards in attacking the Sonth Carolina inti-iulei's.
Miro took courage from this as he wrote to Me(iillivr;iy in
August, 1790.
liut the movement of O'Fallon was not to come to any siicli
conclusion, for a finishing blow had been dealt in New \m\{
just at the time when MeGillivray was annxsing Knox and his
fellow negotiators. In August, 1790, Washington, who was
ke])t informed of the military preparations in Kentucky, issmnl
a proclamation, signifying his intention to sui)press by forei' any
hostile movement against the Spanish. So it was that, in tlif
sjjring of 1791, the project was abandoned. On March 'li.
Jefferson had instructed (ieorge Nicholas to arrest O' Fallon.
]\y this time Hamilton's scheme of finance luul so carried uj) the
national and state scrip that it could be used to better advan-
tage than in buying Yazoo lands, and there were no securi-
ties for the adventurers to work with ; and furthermore,' the
national government was preparing to protect the Indians
against state machinations in the disposal of the Indians"
lands. So the com])anies and O'Fallon vanished from sii;lit.
In the following August, the agent of the South Carolina Com-
pany, who had been jdaced at Walnut Hill, abandoned his
post, and hostilities on the Mississippi were averted.
It Is now time to look after MeGillivray and his treaty. Tlio
Spanish traders in Mobile, since the English surrendered the
Indian traffic in 1782, had never been able to keep it u]i to
the prosperous condition in which they received it ; but such as
it was they found the readiest channel for it in ascending tlif
Mobile and Alabama rivers, — sluggish streams that offcied no
great obstacles. By an upper afflluent, the Tond)igbet'. tliev
reached a village of the Chickasaws near its source, and thtncf.
by a three-mile portage through a region ceded for tradini:-
posts by the treaty of IIoi)ewell, they could get into the hasin
of the Tennessee. Thither passed trader and warrior with
equal ease. Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Cherokee, cntn in-
Note. — The opposite ni.ip, Rhowiiig tlie ponntry between Mobile nml Pensacola aw\ O"' Ti"-
nesiee River, is a Hection of Smuiiel Lewis's Mnp of l/ic I'nited States, 1V95.
I '^"
jr.
r to conclude
of desortiii''
line time to
m intnidcis.
•Gillivray in
to any sudi
1 New Yuik
[nox and liis
on, wlio was
tueky, issued
l)y fovft' any
s that, in tlie
I Marcl. -I-l
est 0' Fallon,
sarried up the
better advan-
re no secuii-
therniorc t!ie
the Indians
the Indians'
1 from sisilit.
Carolina Corn-
band oned his
d.
treaty. Tlie
•rendered tlic
[ceep it uj) to
; bnt such as
aseendiu!4- tlif
liat offered no
iibigbee. tliev
e, and thouci'.
for tradin.ii-
lito the basin
warrior with
•okee, eouiinu
f ■ S
iiH'M
'.
■f\
5 ■
■^
m
Mm
882
UXCERTMyriES IS THE SOUTHWEST.
from different direetions, had often combined here for fatal
forays along the Tennessee and Cumberhvud settlements, or
had scattered in seal})ing parties to appear and disai>i)('ar in
a night. The most restless of the savages were the (."hicka-
maiigas, a small and independent band of CheroUees, youtlilHl
bucks themselves, and likely to be joined at times by the roviii"
youngsters of the other tribes. They had caused Colonel Mar-
tin, iu his efforts to keep the frontiei's quiet, more anxiety than
any of the other tribes, and he had, under varying foitniios,
advanced uj)on them and retired time and again. Of late.
Knox, the secretary of war, had kept the local forces as iniicli
on the defensive as could be done, while he hoped that the pro-
vocations to war wouhl cease. It was the hostility of this ruth-
less band, after Sevier had lost his hold upon the abortive
Franklin comuHmwealth, which had induced the settlers south
of the Ilolston and French H»:oad rivers to unite for protection,
despite any appeal for forbearance.
It is not easy to reach any satisfactory estimate of the num-
bers at this time of these southern tribes. There were, ]>or]iai)-<.
two thousand five hundred warriors among the Cherokees. and
they came in closer contact wit?i the Americans than any others,
and had of late becii talking of migrating beyond the Missis-
slp])i. They had easih' learned the timely art, when the whites
pushed them too hard, of sending comjdaints to the authorities.
" AVe are drove as it were into the sea," they said on one o( ea-
sion. "■ AVe have hardly land sufficient to stand upon. We
are neither fish nor birds. AVe cannot live in the water, nor
in the air ! " They were fond of making treaties, and not vciv
faithful in the observance of them.
The Creeks were more numerous, and spent th»'lr varyini:
rage more readily upon the Georgians, who, with the Span-
iards in Florida, were their nearest neighbors on the east and
south. The Choctaws were sui)posed to be much www nu-
merous than the nearer tribes, but their remoteness generally
])revented more than small parties of vagrant warriors joininj;
the other tribes. The Chickasaws were as a rule the most tract-
able of all. They were a handsome race, and rode a fine breed
of horses.
NoTK. — The opposite map of tlip Crppk poiiiitry, nii(t the liome of McGillivray, is from a map
of Georgia in Citreifs American Alius, Plillatlelpliia, 17it.''>.
V i
'IV for fatal
tlenients, ur
lisaitiH-ai' ill
the C'liicka-
aes, youtlil'iil
)y the ro villi;
J()K)iiel Mar-
anxiety than
Jig fortunes,
n. Of late,
rces as ituicli
that the ]iro-
of this riitli-
the abortive
settlers south
)r pvoteetion,
' of tlie iiuiii-
wre, ncrliaps.
Iierokees. ami
m any others.
1 the Missis-
en the whites
e authorities.
on one o( ca-
"1
ton.
W
water, nor
an»
I not very
leir varviii'
th tl
th
le
]»aii-
t ami
e eas
:'h nuii-e lui-
.»ss ji'eneially
i-riors joiuin,;!
ie most traet-
^ fine hreeil
Ivray, i» frc" " ""'1'
h]
) ' I
! i
It'
I' I
)
\ ■■
M
Mil
IE I Ml
•I ! I
384
UXCKRTM STIES IN THE SOtrTIIWEST.
T\w vciir 1700 had oiu'iied witli some warninirs of a new (•(uu-
Itination ainoii;^" the southi'va Indians. Ono William Anyiistiis
Bowles, a young English vagabond, who had been in the Kny-
lish Jinny during the Revolution, had for some years espoused
the English, Spanish, or American interests indifferently, mihI
had played fast and loose with savage and eivili/ed life liy
turns. He now ('onii»aeted portions of the (.'reeks and Chcio-
kees, and induced them to send him and some of their trilicv
men to England, l)earing an address to the British king. Tlic
party managed to reach the Bahamas, wlu're Lord Dumnoif
furnished them a i)assage- to Halifax, and in July, 17*.>0, they
were at Quebec. Here Dorchester tried to detain them, luit
they insisted on going to Loiulon, where they i)resented the ad-
dress, and promised to put their tribes undei" liritish protection.
and asked for arms and other help. Meanwhile, among the fac-
tions of those tribes, where an active rival of liowles was more
])owerful, an effort had been made during 1789 to unite them
in a league against the whites. This plot, in August, AlXW
had come to the knowledge of Colonel Arthur Camp'oell, and
he had connnunicated the news to Washington.
This other leader, whom we have already mentioned as tlic
son of a Scotch tradtir by a Creek woman, whose father had
been French, had already made the name of Alexander McGil-
livray notorious along the border, for, during the Revolutionary
War, he had, like Bowles, been active in the royal interest.
His losses by confiscation in that contest had spurred him with
a revenge which of late years had been well known to the bor-
derers. He was a man of an active intellect, and not lacking in
edncati(mal training. In physical bearing he was a noticeabU'
figure: s})are of limb, but lofty in stature, while under a beet-
ling brow he moved with great alertness a ])air of large ami
lustrous eyes. lie had an Indian's wary artfulness, a Frencli-
man's uraee of demeanor, and somethinj'' of the Scotchman s
canniness and love of trade. He was imder l):nding obligations
to the Spaniards, and as we have seen in his communication
with Miro, he did not mean to foi-get them, while he was ready
to settle with their rivals, ho])ing in each case to serve his own
interests. As a go-between in the Indian trade he had liis
price, and the London house of Strahan & Co., acting in Pensa-
cola, found liim convenient in negotiating for trading permits
McalLLIVIi.W.
385
with tlif Spanish otticials, who were said to recM'ive nioiv than
il-.OOO a year from that coiiimercial house. It is hardly to be
.Iciiied that M('(Jillivray <;(>t a <;'ood store from l)oth of the l»ar-
^iiiners. He had before this sou<;ht to make the (Jeoru^ians l»iiy
:it a i^'ood i)riee an iinmiuiity irom the raids of his people, and
oil tlieir refusal he had taught them that his ])riee was much
K'ss than the eost of war.
Ill this pass, (itjorgia, whose frontiers faced the Creeks all
along the Altamaha and Oconee, had ai)pealed to the general
novcrnment for aid, at a time when rumors nudti|)lied in New
VoiU that Spain was ineiting the Creeks, and the English the
Sliawnees, to make a general war.
Knox saw in a Creek w^ar a i)retty certain forerunner of
out! with Spain, and having some intimations of McGillivray's
greed, imi)ortuned Washington to invite that leader to come
to the seat of government. At the same time he prejjared for
a failure by dis])atching troops to tlu! (ieorgia frontiers. The
iiirssenger of ))ea('e was Colonel Willet. The invitation was
accejited, and in June MeCiilliv.ay and twenty-eight of the
])rin('ipal men of the Creeks, marching through the New York
streets under an escort of Tanunany sachems, were conducted to
(iciieval Knox's house, where McGillivray was lodged.
As in all Indian negotiations, the interchange of views went
(>'i slowly, amid untoward rumors. Miro, with his usual suspi-
cion, which was not wholly removed by McGillivray's parting
letter, was thought to have sent an agent after the Creeks to
spy out their acts in New York and ]>revent action hostile to
Spain by a free distribution of gifts. It was at the same time
l)t'lieved that an Irocpiois agent had cautioned McCJillivray of
the risks he was taking, and had tried to lead him to an alliance
with the northern tribes.
But no allurements could turn the greedy and)assador from
liis ])urpose after the government had disclosed to him their
Sit'iit'i'ous intentions. In consideration of the Creeks' recognition
of the United States as tlieir guardians, and acknowledging the
protection " of no other nation whatsoever," the American
lU'fjotiators confirmed to the C^-eek chieftain and his friends
the sole ])rivilege of trade with that tribe, and agreed to make
jiooil with 1100,000 that leader's losses in the Kevolutionary
War. The government ceded back to the Creeks certain territo
\^
u\ ■
(. 1
38G
USCERTMSTIKS IX THE SOUTH WEST.
1 !'
H
ti i
ries which had inadt' the Ocoju'c tlie line of the whites, and wliidi
(ii'or<.^ia had paid for. This act hiter aroused the indiynatidii
of Patrick lleury, wlio had invested in some of these siiiiir
hinds, and who, as he professed, had hoi)ed to find a refiiLjc
there from the despotism which lie sometimes believed was to
transplant the republicanism of his country.
The authorities further created Me(iillivray a l»rij"adicr-<:(ii-
eral in the Amei-ican army, with a yearly stipend of •ii'l.'jOd.
So, in good humor, that chieftain dofted his new uniforiu and
signed the treaty. It mattered little to him that, at the same
njoment, he held both from the Spanish and Knglish gov<'rii-
ments other commissions. Washington, as he said, had gre:itly
honored him in giving him some books and his own epaulets.
which he took with him on his honu' journey by sea, landiiii;- at
St. Mary's in Georgia.
While in New York, McGillivray wrote to Lord Dorchester:
" In the present treaty I have been obliged to give uj) suiiie-
thing in order to secure the rest, and guarding at the same
time against what might shake my treaty with Spain." Sueli
double-faced ])rofessions, however, did not succeed. The treaty
with Si)ain had, for a large faction of the Creeks, been im-
])erilcd too greatly : and the United States had bargained with
a deceiver. The hostilities at the south saw little abatement.
and Spain continued to have an ally in the irate Creeks.
But these Indian affairs suffered an eclipse in the sudden
apparition of war along the iMississip})i, and the McCiillivray
treaty was doubtless hastened by it, for the United Statt's \\:is
at once brought face to face with a serious problem, in the solu-
tion of which she needed a free hand. It is necessary to uo
back a little and see how the Mississippi (piestion seemed lis-
tening to a conclusion at the time the Spanish complication with
England turned the federal government from an aggressive to
a waiting mood.
Gardo(pu. on returning to Si)ain in 1789. had given there the
impression that the navigation of the Mississip])i had ceased to
be a burning (piestion on the American seaboard. He gave as
a reason for this apathy that the drain u])on the coast ])(»iinl!i-
tion, through the o])ening of the river, would cause a settinu
back of the prosperity of the older States. There was a No a
CHMiACrElt OF THE WEST.
387
icati(»ii witli
iinvalciice of f'jjir that tlu* free river passage to the sea of
toliat'co. now lu'coining an iiii})ortant staph' in Krutucky, wonhl
Ininn a powvriul coiui)etitor into the iiiarki't for the prochu't
((f Virj^inia anil Maryhuul, \vh()se soil was ah'eady heeouiing
cxliaiistccl.
With tliese viesvs accepted, there oouhl but be in Si)ain an
iii.jx'rfict coin})reh('nsion of the real attitude of the western
coiiiitiy, and there was doul)tle.ss iu some i)arts of the American
cast hardly better information. Nor was there an adequate
i'oiice})tion of revived Si)anish efforts to stop the Kentucky
l)ii;iis on the river. Miro at New Orh'ans could hardly have
fnilcd to observe the <;rowing" prosperity of the Americans about
Naichez. Brissot had said, with French enthusiasm, that "the
FreiK'h and Spaniards settled at the Natchez have not for a
century cultivated a single acre, while the Americans furnish
the n'reater i)art of the j)r()visions for New Orleans." We have
seen how the attemj)t:i of the South Carolina Company to ex-
tend tliis activity above Natchez had exi-ited the governor's
apprehensions.
The fact was that the Declaration of Iiulependenee had failed
to make (piite the same sort of self-centred Anu'ricans west of
tlie mountains as had been created on their eastern slo))e. The
western life was breeding a more dauntless and aggressive race,
which rejoiced rather in obstacles, and placed u])on a higher
])lane than human law the rights which they felt belonged to
thi'iii l)y nature. They were not a little im])atient to have thi.'ir
ri^ht to an vipen navigation of the i\Iississi])])i based u])on
treaty obligations, as acipiired fi'om F'rance by England in 17G3,
and transmitted to the Republic from the mother country in
17S2. They looked by })reference to the inalienable rights of
tlii'ii- position on the ujjper waters of the (Jreat River, as carry-
iii.H' an incontestable claim to a free passage to the ocean. AVhat
Thomas AValcott, journeying on the Ohio in 1790, heard in
u (h'bating club in Marietta gave an unmistakable indication
of t!ie pi-evailing temj)er. There was, as lu> says, a diversity of
sentiment as to the treatment of Spanish arrogance, while all
were of one mind in the certainty, within a few years, of the
liver being opened " by strength or force, if not by right or
treaty."
By 1790, the danger which had been felt, of accomplishing
'^
■ 4
1 1
ii
\vi
M 1 1
388
LWCEHTAISTIES IN TIN-: SOL'TinVKST.
this iM'suIt l>y some pact ()t' the westi-rn lenders with Spain, had
jn-aetically vaiiished before the risiuj^ power of the const itii-
tional J{epul>lic, which had marshaled men in new i-aid<s, niiik-
in;;- hold those who had heen timid, and conservative those wlm
had heen aggressive. It was this change that had caused \\ il-
kinson to trendile for his power. When he saw Washington
putting in otliee at the west the known eni'mies of S|»ai!i, lie
had gras[)ed the hand of O'Fallon almost in (lesj)air. Coiiciiv-
ing that Congress suspected him, he had written to Miin:
"My situation is extremely painful, since, abhorring duplicity.
I nnist dissemble." Miro, on his part, was aware that all W'il-
kiuson's abettors, save Sebastian, had fallen away from iiim.
The latter was l)y this time reduced to begging a gratuity from
the S})anish governor, who seemed by :.<) means sure that the
time had not come for pensioning each of the confederate trai-
tors, in order that he might use one as a spy ujmn the other.
In this condition of things tlie intriguers could well be left to
spoil their own game, and the federal government were freer
far than the confederation had been to deal with the ])retenses
of Spain, both as to the river and as to the territory whidi slit-
coveted to the east of it. From the tinu' when she was con-
niving with France to deprive the United States, by the Treaty
of Inde])endence, of a larger ])art of the western coinitry, Spain
had indeed abated something fi'om the claims which would liavt;
given her all west of a line drawn from the St. Marys Kiver
to the Muscle Shoals, and down the Tennessee and ( )hi<) to the
Mississii)pi. Later, she had sought to accomjdish her ])ui|tose
by the conspiracies of Wilkinson. While these were |)en(lin<^'
with diminishing chances of success, Spain had been prac-
ticing all that vexatious hesitancy which has always cliarae-
teri/ed her diplomacy. The time had come for this to eea-;e.
as Jefferson th(night, and in August, 1790, Ik^ instructed Car-
michael, then the Americ^an re]n'esentative in Madrid, to hrini;'
matters to a crisis, urged thereto, doubtless, as we sh.'dl see. l>y
the precarious relations which had arisen between S])ain and
England. Jefferson's instructions were to assume the right ot
navigating the Mississi]>])i, and to raise a question only al'ont
a port of de])osit near its mouth. At the same time, he advi-ed
Short, in Paris, to persuade Montmarin. the Spanish anilms-
sador in that capital, to further the American suit. In the
y//A XOIiTinVEST COAST.
889
lit;iils which .k'rtV'r.sun drew uj* lor C\iiiiiicluu'rs j;ui(him'('
( August 22), ho says that more than half the American terri-
toiv is ill the Mississippi basin, where two hundred thousiind
pinple, of whom forty thousand can hear arms, are impatient of
S|i;iiiish (h'hiys. If we eannot l»y arjiument fcuve Spain to a
(•(iiitiusion, lie a(hls, we must eitlier lose this westi-rn j)eople,
wlin will seek other alliances, or we must, as we shall, wrest
what we want from her. If Spain will only give ns New
Oilcans and Florida, he adds further, slii- should see that we
arc ill a jjosition to Iielj) her jirotect what lies heyond the Mis-
sissippi. This was a direct hid for a Spanish allianet' in
tlic sudden complications which had arisen upon the action of
a few Spanish ships on tins I'acilie coast, and, in Septeinber,
false luuKtrs prevailed in New York that Spain had made the
('(iiici'ssion.
To understand this l*aci(ie entanglement, it is noeessary to
take a brief retrospect.
The fur trade of the northwest coast was a prize for which
Spain and England had h)ng been contending. The elforts to
tiud an overland passage had been far more striking with the
Kiiiilish. while the Spaniards had for the most part pushed up
the coast from California.
As early as 1775, Cadotte, who had long been a trader at the
Saiilt Ste. Marie, had exj)lored with Alexander Henry north-
west of Lake Sni)erior. and, in their wandering, had fallen in
with one Peter Tond. This adventurer was, according to some
accounts, a native of Boston, l»nt was prol)ab;y born, a.s Ledyard
had been, in (Connecticut. He was strong in body, eager for
ha/a ids. intelligent in spirit, with a knack for scientific obser-
vatinii. and an eye for mercantile profit without many scruides
as to the method of it. He had, in A])ril, 1785, in behalf of
the North West Company of Montreal, a fur-trading organiza-
tion, addressed a nuMiiorial to Governor Hamilton at Quebec.
)iriip()sing to undertake, in connection with other members of
th;it company, the exploration of ^ the whole extent of that
luilviiown country between the latitudes of 54' and 07"" to the
I'acillc Ocean." He informed the governor that he had learned
fiDiii the Indians that the Russians had already established a
trading station on that coast, and that other posts were sure to
■11
■ s
in
i
( . \
/ 1
i ;■ '1,
1 ;ri
!''
,
!
<ft'Bii> ' ''
1 . -I
'6\H)
iwchiiTAiyriKs IX THE sorrinvEsT.
1m? t'stiiblislu'd theiv l)y Aim'ricans, who lia*l liei'n Hliipnintfs
of ('uittaiii Cook. Ill' I'urtluM- saiil that it" the tlflivcry ut tlii>
liilio posts, as contoiiiplattMl in the treaty of ITH'J, wiis cvor
iiiadf, the way would \w opcut'd for cuterprisiiii;' AiiH'ricaii^ to
rcai'li by tin* Lake Superior route that distant re;;ion. and rein-
force their eountrynieii, who had sought it by water. For these
reasons \\v. ui^ed upon Hamilton the necessity of protecting;
the North \\'est Company in the undertakings wljieli they liml
outlined.
Tlu! explorations of Pond about Lake Athabasca had ron-
vinccil him, as his map, which has conu' down to us. shows, that
the western end of that lake was not very far distant from tlif
Pacific. The accounts of Cook's voyage had just then lieen pnli-
lished (17^4-8;")), and a comparison of Cook's charts and tlii>
map, by ditVerences of hninitude, secnu'd to sjiow that the fre-.li
and salt watei-s were within a hundred miles of each other. On
a nui]) preserved in the Marine at Paris, and which is given liy
Hrymner in his Canadian .Vrchive- Ivcport for 18it0, ami wliicli
is said to be a copy of Pond's awing made by Crevec(cnr
for La Kochefoueault, the coast ol •• Priiu'c William Sctnnd. as
laid d»»wn by Captain Cook," is separated from the affliu'iits of
**Aranbaska Lake'"l)y a coast i-ange, beyond which, as the
legend reads, the Indians say they have seen bearded men. As
signifying an inviting route to the western sea, IVmd had rc-
))orted the climate of Atindiasca as nioil 'rate, and said it was
i)wing to the ocean winds, which wc, in our day, recogni/e as
the idiinooks.
Pond, as we have intimated, was not averse to ])laying off
one master against another, and while he was assuring Hamil-
ton that his interests were for Britain, he seems to have si-nt
another copy of his map to Congress, which fell into CrJvc-
cceur's hand, and upon a copy which he made, that traveler
wrote of its author : '' This extraordinary man has resided seven-
teen years in those countries, and from his own discoveries, as
well as from the rej)orts of the Indians, he assures himself of
having at last discovered a ])assage to the [western] sea." This
memorandum is dated, " New York, 1 March, 1785."
NoTR. — The limp on the opposite page is a spotion of Pond's map (as reproduced in Bryiuner'»
Caniuliiin A rehires, ISltO), showiiiR tlie Grand Portage and the source of the Mississipiii. The
river " Winipique" connects Lake Winnipeg witli the Lake of tlie Woods.
I'tn
T.
I sliipiiKites
ivt'iy of the
'1. was ever
iiii'ri)':in> to
111, iiiiil ii'iii-
VoV tllfof
t' proU'ftiiit;
I'll tlu'V li:i'l
cji had ritii-
, sliows. tllllt
lit troiii till-
'11 ht'cii ))ult-
kvts :ni*l tln<<
Kit tlu' t'lT-ll
I other. ( )ii
1 is yivt'u I'V
I), and which
y ('rc'Vt'Cd'ur
im Sound. :i><
tj afHiunits ot
hich, as \\v
t'd int'ii. As
*(>n(l had ic-
l said it was
vi'('oj;'ui/.f as
])hiyini;' oft'
[riiii;' Ilaiiiil-
to hav<' si'iit
into C'lvvi'-
that traveler
'sided scvt'ii-
(st'ovcrifs, as
ts hinisolf of
sea." This
luced ill Bryiiiiiir's
Mi88is8iiii)i. The
892
UXCERTAINTIICS IX THE SOUTHWEST.
m
Vtwt Poiurs ambition to reach the Pacitie had not been accom-
plished when, in 171*0, Vancouver was on that coast, estahlisli-
hig new chiims for Enylaml. lie passed, without knowiii;^' it.
the mouth of the great river tliat heails near the sprin<j;s of the
^lissouri. It was left for the Bost(m ship " Ct)hunbia," uiulcr
('a])tain Kendrick, in the same season, to enter that river id
bestow the name of his vessel upon it.
Not far from the same time, Sjjain aiul England, the two
great European rivals for North America, who were each intent
on contracting the limits of the young Republic, came into colli-
sion on the western coast of Vancouver's Island. Spain. l)v
vLitue of Balboa's discovery in 1518, and subsecpient ex])loia-
tions up the coast, and England, by reason of Drake's assunij)-
tion of New Albion in 1579, and the recent explorations of
Cook and others, set their respective claims to this region in
sharp conflict. Spain, being at the monu'ut more powcrfnl at
Nootka Sound, seized some English vessels trading there. It
was this act that was now likely to bring the arnu'd forces of
the rivals to leveling muskets on the ^lississippi, and to open a
conflict of which the Uriited States, with grudges against each of
the contestants, might find it dit^cult to be a passive obseivcr.
When the news of the seizure at Nootka reached England.
and it was known that the Spanish authorities had sinijily
released the captured ships without making rejjaration. the Knj;-
lish king, on May 5, 17(>0, announced in Parliament that war
with Sjiain was inuuinent. (ireat activity followed \v. the dock-
yards and arsenals. Louisiana was at once recognized as the
most vubu'i'able part of the Spanish empire. To engage tlic
westei'u Indians for a campaign against New Orleans by the
river, large stores of gifts were hastily sent to Canada. Por-
chestcr was, at the same time, instructed to secure if ])ossil)lc the
active aid of the United States, and, in case this failed, he was
told to ])lay u]>on the passions of some of the disaffected regions
of the Kepublie. While the northern and stmthern factions of
the country were being brought to a sharp issue on the question
of a site for a cai>ital, and were seeking at the sanu' time to
play off Vermont and Kentucky against each other in the
balance of power, by fixing periods for their admission to the
Union, the British government was seeking to make a breach
ive obsorvtr.
.f,*^: >
NdKlIIWKST I'OAST.
lSIhiwjiii,' Niicuka Simiiil as on the inaiii laiiil. when ifully on tlie outi-r coast of \'aiiioiiV('r'8
l-iliiMl; al.Mi Markfiizii's trick ami tlu' Hupposcil waters west of I/ikc Superior and Hinlson'n
'■'.V. ri,.. n\ap is a part of a " ("hart of tlic N. W. Coast of America, kIiowuik iliscoveries -lately
'"I'l"." in .leilciliali Morse's Aiiirnn.:'. I'liiiTiKiil (liiiqrdpliii, Post'Mi, Ist eil., ITs'.i; ttli eil.,
! I
llli
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m ■
HK ^ i ! , i ' J
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4
Mi
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394
UNCEllTAINTIES IN THE SOUTHWEST.
between e;ieh of those States and the Union. It was thoiij;lit
that the diseontent in Vennont, not wholly stilled by the dut-
eonie of Yorktown, was rendered at this juncture peeuliaiiy
susee})tible while she was ajjpealing- to a laggard Congre>;s ti)
give her sisterhood in the Union. So Doreliester was instructed
to open eoninmnieation with such as he could ap])roaeh.
A convention in the Kentucky country was about dctt r-
niining to take final measures for securing Statehood, — it was
to take place in July, — but it was not certain that the niajnrity
for it would be large. To take advantage of any such indiffev-
ence, Dorchester was further instructed to picture to the Kcii-
tuckians the advantages which would accrue if they a('ce})t(cl
the help of England to force the Spaniards from the Missis-
sii)pi. There was also, Dorchester was expected to show. ;ui
unmistakable gain for them in an English alliance in ojieii-
ing the lakes and the St. Lawrence for the export of their
])roduce. Such were the terms of Grenville's dis])atches to the
Canadian governor in May, 1790, at the; time that prepara-
tions were making in England for a S])anish war.
The C(nulitions on all sides were perplexing. Great Ibitaiu
was anxious lest war with Spain would give the Americans an
o})portunity to wrest from their feeble garrisons the lake posts,
and there was danger that such hostilities might lead to the
dispatch of a crowd of privateers from tlie American ports.
There was a chance that the military power of the He])iil)lie
would have more thai" ic could do to protect and hold in alle-
giance the western cruntry, and Dorchester's inforujation tVoiii
the Ohio region v/as encouraging to British hopes. He learned
that the " discontented Continental soldiers " at the ^Muskinmnn
colony were " attache! to the United States by no other tie
than personal regard for tlie President, considering themselves
sacrificed by Congress, and defrauded even in the sales of the
lands they occupy;'" and this feeling, said a correspoiuleiit.
gave them "an extreme tenderness toward the British goviin-
ment."
Early in the year, Dorchester had sent to the States an emis-
sary on an ostensibly fi-iendly errand, but really to s])y out the
feelings of the people, and to ascertain what ])ie])arations were
in hand for any armed excursion. This messenger was a eei-
tain Major Beckwith, and his instructions were dated on »liiue
m-w
T.
,vas thouiiht
by till' tiiit-
e peculiiiily
Congvt'^^s to
IS instvuctctl
lacli.
about (Ictrr-
»od, — it was
the iiKiioiity
iit'h imlit't'ii-
I to the Ki'U-
hey a(H'i'})tiil
111 the Missis-
to show, ail
nice in oiuii-
povt of tlu'ii'
patches to tlu'
that piepaia-
Grreat Britain
Americans an
le lake posts,
t h'ad to the
iiericaii ])oi'ts.
the Hepnl
hold m alli
M-ination i'foni
lie h'ariu'il
e ^luskiiitiuni
no other tie
themselves
riles of the
le s
lent.
horrespont
li'itish tiovein-
Itates an einis-
ho siiy out tlie
lavations were
ti'V was a ''el-
ated on -luiie
\VA SHING TON'S CA BISE T.
SO-J
'1~. lie was specially directed to learn the chances of the
I'liited States joining Kingland in the threatened war, and the
liktlihood of their resisting the persuasions of Spain to relv
ii|iiiii her aid in attacking the lake posts. Dorchester had an
American corrcs])ondent, who was assuring him that (iencral
Knox would be only too glad to attack the Spanish j)osts on
tlif up])er ^Mississippi, while an English Heet forced the river
tiiim tile Gulf. This letter-writer had outlined a further j)lan
of a joint expedition to the Santa Fe region, the west being
eouiited on to recruit an adequate force from its three hundred
tlidiisaud inhabitants. This occupation of the Spanish mines
was a favorite aim with Dorchester, and he had in contem})la-
tioii to found a basi for such an expedition on the Mississip])i,
iKUtii of the Missouri, whence it was only eight days' inarch to
Santa Fe, through a country fit for military oi)erations. It was
certain that Spain feared sucli an attack, and was striving to
strengtiien lier Indian alliances beyond the ^lississippi, and
was seeking to induce the Indians on the east of that river to
migrate to the other bank, and her persuasion had had some
iiiHuence among the Cherokees.
The policy of the United States, so far as Wa.shingtoirs cab-
inet was to form it, rested in councils far from harmonious.
Hamilton could not forget the irritating vacillation of Sjiain
iluriiig the Kevolntion, and her inimical conduct ever since,
lie thought she had no reason to exjiect that the United States
WKiild shield her from British enmity. He was, on one point
at least, in symj)athy with Jefferson in contending that Spain
iimsv either open the Mississippi or take the conseipiences. '" If
(ireat r>ritain sides with us," he said, "and France with Spain,
there will be a revolution in oui- foreign polities."' AVlieii Beek-
witli songlit to sound him. Hamilton was cautious, and rather
vauuely ])romised an alliance with England " as far as may be
eonsistent with honor."
-lefferson's anti-English views were too notorious for England
to expect any countenance fi-oni him. Dorchester had lieen
warned of this, though his American corres])ondeiit assured
Iiim that the Americans, as a body, were "by no means favor-
iihle to Spanish interests." It was Jefferson's belief that a
Spanish war — with the Americans neutral — would be sure
t » throw both Louisiana and Florida into the hands of Britain.
ii:
I '
1
( ' '
1
li
»''i
i
1
Jli>
390
UNCEliTAINTIES IX THE SOUTHWEST.
■if V
Ift
' 'M
%
III!
I' !i
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This woultl iiu'iin, he coiitonded, that Kiighuul, ])osHi's.siiiu,- tlio
west hank of tin- Mississippi, would control the trade of tlic
east hank, and hold the navigation oi that river as the ])riic
and lure of an alliance with the western States. It would,
moreover, surround the Kepuhlic on all the land sides with
British power and with British Heets at the seaward. It was,
j)erhaps, sonu^ consolation to him, in a possihle alliance of tlic
States with England, that, in the division of the spoils of war,
Florida might fall to the Americans. His expectation was
that France could not hel]) heing drawn into the war on tlir
side of Spain, and if the States couhl maintain neutrality in'
saw a chance of "■ the New World fattening on the follies of
the Old." If American neutrality could not be preserved, lie
much preferred that the Repuhlic should take sides with Spain.
For this end he was ready to guarantee the trans-Mississippi
region to Spain, if she woidd cede New Orleans and Florida
to the United States. lie thought that to enter ui)on the war
in this way woidd induce a popular support, and that Spain
should agree to sid)sidize the Americans, if such a stand l)r()u^■ht
on a conflict with England. To prepare for such a consuuinia-
tion, Jefferson instructed Carmichael to let the Spanish conit
understand that, if such a ])lan was not acceded to, there nii«;lit
be great difficulty in restraining the w'est. Such a guarantee
of the distant west was not, fortunately, in the way when Jef-
ferson himself, not many years later, bargained for this same
Louisiana, and forgot how he had so recently })rofessed that
the United States \vould not for ages have occasion " to cioss
the Mississippi."
Thei'e was one cor .ji<leratiou which, in case of war, had caused
Washington much uneasiness. It was whether Dorchester
would, with or without permission, cross the American territniy
to reach the Mississippi, in an effort to descend to New Orleans,
The President consulted his cabinet in August on the stand to
take in case Dorchester should ask ])ermission. His advisers
were at variance, as before. Hamilton was for allowing the
passage rather than hazard hostilities. Jeft'erson said that.
while circumstances did not warrant giving the negative wliieli
the request deserved, it was best to avoid an answer, and if the
passage was made, to treasure the memory of it against a time
77/ A" DILEMMA OF SPAIN.
807
of Kiiu'land's distress. Adams, the Vice-President, differed only
fioiii riefferson in advising a dignilied refusal and waiting till
:iii indemnity conld be enforced.
Tlie dilennna of Spain was the most serions of all. She rec-
oiiiii/ed that the United States might assist her, but she was not
prepared to pay the cost, and slu' knew what risks she was run-
iiii,:; of an Anglo-American alliance, with the aim of forcing
the Mississippi.
So the S])anish jiolicy was to shuffle as long as it would be
])iiiil('nt ; to embroil France if she could; to organize an In-
dian exiH'dititm against the Pacific posts of the English, and
tak(^ advantage of develoi)ments.
Affairs in this way could not drift long, with such a deter-
iniiicd adversary as England, and on October 28 Florida Blanca
yit'ldcd to the British demands, and so avoided war, in conclud-
ing the convention of Nootka, wherein lu' acknowledged the
equal rights of England on the Pacific coast. When, on No-
vember 12, the ratifications were exchanged, England ceased
to be a factor in the Mississip})! question.
I ■
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hinst a tune
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CHAPTER XVIII.
THE CONDITIONS OF 171)0.
The federal government in coming- to power found the Nditli
and the South not unequally niatehed. Pennsylvania and the
States northward sliowed about two million inhabitants, niitl
there was an equal ])oj)ulation in Maryland with the fartluT
south. It was thouglit that the valuation of the thirteen States
was approximately #800,000,000, and this aggregate was nearly
e(iually divided between tiie two seeti()ns. In some aspects of
business activity, they were also nearly equal, and the •'ifn.OOO..
000 exports of the North eould be set against a eoiTi'spondiiig
siun for the South. In doniestie trade the North doubtless
held some ])reponderanee, for the one hundred and fifty thou-
sand tons of shipping engaged in fishing and in coastwise tnifHc
was mainly owned and employed in the North, and this section
claimed a large part of the three hundred and sixty tlioiisiind
tons engaged in the foreisiii trade.
The territory which was assured to the United States by the
treaty of independence, but which was as yet, west of the nioiiii-
tains, but precariously held for the most part, was variously
reckoned, according to the imperfect estimates of the time, as
between eight and nine hundred thousand square miles. Of
this impei'ial domain, not far from two thirds was unocciijiietl
excei)t by vagrant Indians. The great bidk of the four million
people, whom the world was learning to call Americans. (k<ii-
pied a region stretching along the Atlantic seaboard. It ex-
tended back to a line which roughly followed the crest ot the
somewhat disjointed Appalachian range, and measured tioni
Maine to Florida not far from three tlumsand miles, 1 his
more compactly settled territory which the French mai)s repre-
sented as the United States, and in this were followed by some
English maps, contained not far from two hundred and twenty-
five thousand square miles, or probably a scant cpiarter ot the
rori'LATIOX OF THE WEST.
3!I9
entire acreii<;t' of the Republic. Of the gross popiihitiou of
fdiir inillion, consitU'raljly less thtui half a inilliou souls were
Hcattored occupants of the remaining" three quarti'rs of the
national domain. There was great uneertainty in estimating
tlii^ outlying population. Some placed it as low as two hun-
(livd and Hfty thousand, while others reckoned it at over four
limiihcd thousand, and it was thought it liad the eapahility of
(Idiililiug, through innnigiation and the prevalence of large
families, in fifteen years. Burke had said of it. wjien Parlia-
ment was struggling witli the problem of controlling it : '• Your
'■liilihen do not grow faster from infancy to manhood, than the
Amtnicans spread from families to conununities, and from
villages to nations." Much the larger i)art of this western
population was settled in confined areas, isolated by stretches
of wilderness, and thickest along the streams in West Virginia,
western Pennsylvania, Kt'utucky, and Tennessee. There were
only tile beginnings of settlements north of the Ohio, exce])t as
one moved on to the Wabash, tlie Illinois, and the Mississippi,
where the mongrel communities, originally French, at Vin-
ceunes and Kaskaskia, were encountered, mixed with Canadian
traders and Spanish interloj)ers. This isolated class offered a
life little consimant with that which tiie American pioneers were
i'stal)lishiug in the intervening cour.try.
There is the same uncertainty in ai)portioning this aggreg.ate
over-mountain po})ulation among the several districts. Perha])s
there were seventy thousand, or as some re(;koned nearer one
liumhed thousand, which found a centre in Pittsburg. This
I'ennsylvania folk stretched up the Alleghany and Mcmonga-
hcla. and their lateral valleys, and there was some talk of their
ultimately ac(puring Statehood. Kentucky, which witii i<^'5]»eet
to si;il and climate was usiudly spoken of as more favored than
;inv other American region, claimed to have abimt st'ventv-four
thousand inhabitants, including twelve or thiiteen thousand
lilaeks. It is still more difficult to determine the population
of Tennessee, divided between the llolston and Cumberland
ivoious. Tiie enumeration has gom* as high as eiglity thousand
;iii(l as low as thirty or forty tliousand.
The immigrants to these regions south of the Ohio had prob-
ahly, in the largest numbers, come from Virginia, now the inost
popidous of the thirteen States. The impoverishing of Vir-
'i ii
ir
400
THE coyj)iTio\s or i :'.>(>.
I'l';
Kt
■'1 I
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I'mMx
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I:
giiiiii soil by tobaceo was serving to increase the spread ot licr
pi'ople beyond the inoimtaius. The current was not yet whnllv
checked, which in the middle of the century had brou<;ht otlup
pioneers from Pennsylvania and Maryland throu<;h the \;ilk'y
of the Shenandoah on the way to the Kanawha and beyond.
The oj)ening of the river route from the Mononiiaheiii to
Limestone on the Ohio, '' the most beautiful river " of the
world, as it was customary to call it, hail diverted a large pait
oi the stream of adventurous settlers, but they mostly went td
Kentucky, for there was still diffieulty in the kind (piestioiis on
the Muskingum, which was preventii' its full share ot the
intending settlers. Further south, an emigrant stream was con-
stantly passing from Carolina.
Then; was possibly a j)reponderance of English blood in all
these diversified currents; but the Scotch-Irish and the (icr-
nians were numerous enough to give a strengthening fibre
in this mingling of ethnic strains. There was, in this soutli-
western race, little mixture of the New England stock, thonuii
a few families from Connecticut and Massachusetts had niadc
a mark among them. This northern element, however, was
just beginning to assert itself north of the Ohio, in conumuii-
ties destined to become more mixed in blood than those south
oi that river. The Ohio Coin[)any, as we have seen, had taken
shape in the New England si)irit. The region between tlit; two
jSIiamis was controlled by the racial ipiality of the middle
States. The lands reserved for bounties to the Virginia sol-
diers, something over four million acres, and more open to In-
dian attacks than other parts of the northwest, invited still
other individualities. When Chillicothe was founded, Kentucky
and Tennessee sent thither a restless horde. In this there was
good blood mixed with less desirable strains coming from the
])oorer elements of Ilolston and Carolina. It was left for New
England to restore a good average when the Western Kcscrve
along Lake Erie came to be settled, its i-eputation for havin?
a damp and cold soil tending to deter immigration for some
years.
It is generally computed that there were, in 1790, inarly
four thousand three Inuidred people, other than Indi"ns, north
of the Ohio. Of these there were about a thousiaid in and
around Marietta, to be increased during the year by more than
! 1'
AVCOll the two
irffiiiia sol
led, Kentucky
1)11 for liavin;;'
THE ILLL\()IS SETTLEMESTS.
401
one Iiiiiiilrcd and thirty new families. The hostility of tlie
Indians iirevented their hunters j^oing far beyond the support
iif their armed guards, and the buffalo by this time had dis-
ai>iMared from Kentucky, exeej)t alxmt the sources of some of
tlic livers, and were rarely to be found north of the Ohio,
unless in similar feeding-grounds near the fountains of the
iKiithcrn tributaries of that river. So a scarcity of food was
iKit an unusual condition, and. duiing the early months of 171)0,
till IV had been danger of famine but for the kind help of a
\'irgiiiia hunter and farmer, who was settled on the ojjposite
side of the Ohio. Tiie next year, however, the eroj) jiroved a
"(mmI one.
On the lands of fludge Symmes, between the Great and
Little Miami, there were reckoned to be one thousand three
liuii(hfd souls. St. Clair, in rlanuaiy, had visited these settle-
lucnts, and set them uj) as the eounty of Hamilton, and made
at (iiu'iunati the seat of government for the shire.
The settlement on the ^Vabasli was su})})osed to have about
;i thousand souls, among whom St. Clair early in tlie year had
been, and had found them thriftless. They were dreading a
scarcity of food, and the governor relieved them. He officially
(•(intirnied their oceupaney of the lands, which had been origi-
nally secured to them under the French rule. Another thou-
sand of this trans-Ohio population was to be found in the other
(lid Flench settlement at Kaskaskia and in the luljacent region.
St. Clair had found these also fearing a famine, and he had
issued orders to prevent the Spanish, in St. Louis, crossing the
liver to kill buffalo and to carry off" the timber. This scarcity
fil' food liad driven off" a good many to join jMorgan's settlement
at \ew ^ladrid. and it was the general comjdaint that much of
their distress was owing to the f.ailure of Virginia to i)ay for
till' supplies which they had furnished to George Rogers Chirk
twelve years before. These difficulties were increased by the
oltsi luiiig of land titles, which a transfer of allegiance had j)i<)-
•hiecd. and St. Clair had had poor success in endeavors to
ivincdy the evil. He found that the passage of supplies l)y
iisi'eiiding the Mississippi from the Ohio was jeojiardized l)y the
velocity of the current, and he at once urged upon the federal
Si'oviH'iinient the construction of a road for a distance of fifty or
sixty miles, leaving the Ohio at Fort Massac, so that the region
i^
■■I :
I.
4<I2
THE COMjITIOXS or IV.xi.
\\
could l)t' hcttfP hioii^Iit iiitt) ('(»imiiiin'K'ati<)n with tlic i'r(i]K of
Koiitiicky. TIk'I'o was urgt-nt iici-d of some such closer coiiiit'c
tion, for St. Louis, now a tlourishinj^' village, was drawing ,i\\;i\
the old settlers of KaskasUia and ("aliokia. This was |)aiti(ii-
hirly thu case with slave owners, for there was a wides|iiv;i(|
helief that the oi'diuance of 17H7 would (sveutually work tln'
emancipation of their Idacks. It was eharu'ed that .Mor^ai;
was encouranini;- this view in oi'der to obtain accessions to lii>
(!oI()ny. To place the federal interests in this distant rc^iini
under more ct'Hcient sni)ervisi()n, St. CMair. on leaving for his
]iead(inai'ters in dune, 17J>0, placed them under the inmudiatt'
control of Winthroj) Sargent, the secretary of the Noitliwcst
Territorv.
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In turnin<;' from this older alien element and asccndiiiL; the
Ohio, the newer and luckless French colony, for whose coiniiin-
Putnam had bc.ii i)reparing-, did not escajje St. Clair's atten-
tion. He says he found about four lumdred souls here. " not
usefully emi)l()yed and much discontented." There were a liiiii-
dred more at Muskingum, and another hundred at Buffalo ("itck.
waitinji' to move on with the oi)ening season. The begimiiniis
of this movement have been recounted in an earlier chapter.
The Scioto Company, of which Joel Barh)w, as ahvady
exjdained, was now the })rincipal agent in Euro])e, had aiiiit'tl
to attract the longings and cupidity of the French people hy
j)i'esenting what hi' called the allurements of the Auieiieaii
wilderness. The French government suspected the snare, ami
endeavored to warn the eager victims by caricatures, as we
have seen, but to little purjiose. By wanton promises. Barlow
succeeded in selling a hundred thousand aci-es of what lie |»id-
fessed was the coin]>any"s domain to hundreds of deludeil cli-
ents. Among them wei'e ten ])ersons of some notoriety, if not
consideration, who had been founders of the National Assem-
bly. There was a reckless folly in these people, who weie seek-
ing t() escape from France, cpiite equal to that of those who
were Iteginning to make that country the abhorrence of Europe.
Brissot, who was also a member of the Assembly, and wlio IkuI
been in America two years before, was chattering in the eafe^
in the vein in which he was the next year, in a jmblished hook.
to help on the movement. He warned the loyal aristocrats, wlie
lu' siiiirt.'. :111a
atnres, ;i> wr
f tlt'liKlftt ili-
turit'tv. if not
listocnits. will'
THE SClUTU cu.\//'.\\y
40li
sliout.'dii tciidciicy ti)fly fi'oiii wliiit was ('oiiiiiin, tliat in thus seck-
iiiL; •• t<» prcscrvr their titles, tlieii' honors, and their |»rivileL;es.
tiny would fall into a new society [in America], wheie the titles
.,,.4A,W">«^ '•'''' -.4..
^Fmiii 77«' Comimrre nf America iiil/i Eiinijie, by Hrissot iIc WarviUe, etc., Loii'loii. IT'.l-i.']
"f piiile and ehanee are des))ised and even uidvnown." lie
pointed out how Barlow's enter])rise a|)peale<l rather to the
poor, "who are de])rived of the means of subsistence l)y the'
I'ovohition," and who would find open to tlii-ni " an asylum
wlii'ie they could obtain a pro])erty." So this infatuated
fivnehman seconded the debased purposes of the Scioto schciu-
It'
11
[.
iu
404
THE VOSDITlUSS Or nun.
.>!•
I* I '
%
1 1
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■1
A
ei'H, jiiul went on g('iu.'rali/in<^, afttT liis soiucwliat anmsin;; piac-
tice, from cvliK'ncu insutticicnt but useful in his task. Ilinlnw.
nieanwhile, was busy oiliuj;' his uiacliint'iy. On Febniaiv 'Ix,
ITltO, lie wrote to St. Clair to l)rin^' to his '■ notieo and |iini.r-
tion a number of industrious and honest emi;;rants," who wt iv
seekiui^ new homes on the Ohio, "under the direetion of Messrs.
Jiarth and Thiehaidd." Knox, similarly informed, sonicwliat
later, on May lt>, told St. Clair that these Frenchmen wcic td
settle on hinds "eontraeted for by Messrs. Cutler & Co.." and
asked the <;-ovorn()r to protect them. Uarlow further, wltli a
refined cruelty, wrote to Duer, his ])rinei|)al in New Yoi-k, an'-
in;j;' him n(tt to omit any measures which coidd create j^dod first
impressions in these misyuided wanderers, for twenty thnii>aii(l
more, as he said, wouhl soon foHow the pioneers, lie a>k(il
him to have houses ready for them on a sjmt o})p()site the iiKnith
of the Kanawha, a<;ainst the arrival of these forerunners. On
this representation, Kufus Putnam, lendinj;' himself liliiully
to a nefarious sehenu', which subsecpu-ntly cost him •'#2.0(MI for
nnrecompensecl outlays, in the late winter, while in New York,
contracted on behalf of the; Scioto Coniinmy with one Major
John liurnham to <;'o with a party and erect cotta<;cs on the spot
which Barlow had desigMated, then "iiown by the Indian name
f Chicamago, but later called, as Putnam says, (lallioiKilis,
a . '>e soon contracted to Galli])olis. In ]May, ITiM). just at
the tni.- 'len Knox was eonnuending- these foreign adventurers
to the care t,r St. Clair, Burnham arrived at Marietta with lit'ty
men and a store of provisions to last till Decendter, wlien it
was expected the work would be done. On June 4, I'litnaiii
gave him his instructions. He was to learn from Ccdoiul 11.
J. Mei ;s on the spot where he was to ])lace the four ranges of
huts ^vhieh he was to build. They were to be reared of mund
loivs *-ith day in the chinks, and with chimneys of likf <(iii-
structicm. Each range or block was to have at the end a larj;u
room for meetings and dancing.
Some days later, this wtn'king party reached the site i»i tlic
future settlement, sui)])osed then, by some at least, to be within
the area which Cutler had gained for the Scioto Com])any. b»
whomever it belonged, it was wholly unfit for occu])an( y. witli
all the germs of disease about it.
While this work was progressing on the Ohio, there \va>
GALUI'OLIS.
405
aiiii'ii.L; saner oliservors little conHdeiieo in the fnturo (»f the
iiiiilfitaUing. Oliver Woleott, \vlt(» was a elassniato of Hailow,
;iii(l (loiil)tless knew liini well enouuli to distrust liini, wn<te of
till' movement : '' In eonse»|iienee of tin- Hill of Rights, a;;iee(l
to liy tile National Assembly, an ass(»eiation has 'leen foinied
fur :.ettlin<;' a colony in the western country. Ahout out; hun-
lind Frenehinen liave arrived with tho national cocUados in
tlicii' hats, fully convinced that it is ont^ of their natural rij^hts
t(i "o into the woods <»f America and cut down trees f()r a
n
liviiin'
The first couuM's had indeed just arrived in the I'otomac, six
lui;i(hed soids in all, in tivt^ ships, which had left Havre just
licfore New Year's. After a dreary i)assaf'o of three months,
tliiM' luckless vessels tied up at Alexandria on tiie I'otomac.
It was a m(»tlcv ciowd which they bore, and probably never
t'onrunucrs of a coloni/int;' schcnu- were so ill fitted in all but
i;;iy('ty of spirits for the task which was before thcni. There
wiTc carvers and artists with no annual sah)n to look forward
tor. There were <;ilders and frisenrs with no expectation of a
(hawing'- room. There were carriage-makers goiny; to a country
without a road. There were artisans to make tools without a
fiiiiiier to wield them.
It was summer before this extraor<linarv crowd started their
caravans over the mountains, or at least such ])art of them as
had not had their eyes ojM'ned and refused to <vo. Those that ])ro-
(vcded were discontented, and showed a refractory spirit. The
provisions that were furnished them ])roved ])ooi', and if they
tiicil to ])rocure other sui)])lies of the farmers on the way, cpiar-
ivls were pretty sure to ensue. As they ])assed the Seven
Ranges, there were no signs of the civilization for \> liich liar-
low's lying ma}) had prc])ared them. Once at the end of their
journey, they discovered tliat their title-deeds covered lands
which the grantors did not have to convey, and they ])erhaps
rciiicud)ered the truth of the Parisian caricatures. They found
I)uriiliam and his laborers looking to Putnam for their j)ay, and
the c(imi>any with whicdi they had dealt was nowhere.
It is dii^cult to jdace the entire responsibility of this shame-
ful (Irceit. Harlow, as an agent, may perl ;~ have exceeded his
iiistrnciions, though there is no evidence in his corres])ondence
«itli. his principals to show that they did anything to check his
I,,
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400
THE COXDITIOXS OF 1700.
rampant perfoiMiianees. If the Ohio Company is to ^c oxciil-
l)ateU, it was certainly Cutler's overdrawn descriptions wliich
were dei)ended upon to delude the poor souls. ]>arlow"s difi-
nite instructions from Duer and his associates have never Imtii
made known. The trutii seems to be that these speculatoi .>;,
some of the first peofjle of the land, as Cutler with some satis-
faction called them, had (counted upon buying continental st'cuii-
ties, while depressed under the weakness of the confederation,
and using them at face for meeting their obligations foi- the
land. The i'lauguration of the new government checked tlie
depression ar.d then enlianced the value of such notes, so tliat
they could no longer be bought at the expected discount. This
frustrated the schemers' plans. To make some amends to tlie
deluded settlers, Duer and the Ohio Company agreed upon a
ti-ansfer of some two hundred thousand acres fi-om the company,
ui)on which, in fact, by a miscalculation, the huts had l)ot'n
placed by Meigs and Burnham, but even this restitution in the
end was futile, for Duer soon after became bankrupt, and evciv-
thing was awry.
For a time, however, it seemed as if the trustful Frenchmen
got something for their money, and, occupying the fragile habi-
tations which had been pre])ared, Gallipolis was fairly l)i'i;nn.
But the fettered handicraftsmen, setting to their task, oniy
foTUid that their numbers grew less as the hardier of them
became weary and deserted. It was no easy job to ftli the
enormous sycamores which stood where they needed to i)lant
their fields. When the trees one by one fell, they found no
way so easy of getting rid of the ni .ssive trunks as to dig
trenches and bury them. Then their supplies grew scant, and
famine stared them in the face- They were sometimes warned
by the whoops of prowling savages, and they were beginnin<;' to
think that these children of a benignant nature, which tlie
French philosophers had told them about, were not aftci' all
tlie most innocent of neighbors. So they encountered shocks
to their sentiments, and blows as to their physical natures.
As autumn came on, they got all the ccmfort they cou^d from
the gracious messages of the governor, who dared to ex})r»'ss ti.
them the hoi)e that, amid their trials, they had still found i'lth-
pendence and hai)piness. He assured them that the rascality
of the shameless deceivers would be j)unished by la>v. ".iul vhat
PUBLIC LANDS.
407
tlio colonists would in the end have justice. He begged them
to 1»e patient a little lor.ger, till arrangements for their security
could be made, and the comfort of their conmiunity assured.
St. Clair ex])ressed his own views unreservedly to Knox on
November 26, that " an interested speculation of a few men,
pursued with too great avidity, will reflect some disgrace on the
American character, while it involves numbers in absolute ruin
in :i foreign land."
All this meant that there was need of much better discern-
ment in the use of these Ohio lands than the recipients of the
oi'dniance of 1787 had devised, and that the precluding of chi-
canery should go along for honesty with the prevention of servi-
tude. Hamilton had seen the evil easily to accompany the large
spt'i ulative mania which Cutler and his colleagues stood for,
and strove, but for the present unsuccessfully, to better the con-
ditions in the disposition of these public lands. On July 22,
1T90, he made a report for unifying and controlling the sales, in
wliieh i;^i proposed a general land office at the seat of govern-
nu'iit, with one local office in the northwest and another in the
southwest, where sales could be made to actual settlers of not
over a hundred acres to each. The Indian titles were first to be
quieted. Tracts were then to be set aside to satisfy subscribers
to the loans. Townships ten miles square were to be offered
for competition. There might in some cases be special contracts.
But the main restraint was to be a fixed sum of thirty cents
per acre, one quarter cash, with seciu'ity for the rest. It was
an effort to control as much as })ossible sj)eculative values. In
his repoi't on the public credit, Hamilton had declared that
cultivated lands in most of the States had fulkn in value since
the Kcvoluiion from twenty-fi\e to fifty ])er cent., and in the
remoter south still more. AVestern lai ds, he says, had been
heretofore sold at a dollar an acre ; I'ut this price was i)aid
ill (le])reciated paper, worth scarce a seventJi of its face. liut
Coiij;ress was not yet ready for a movement as Hamilton pro-
jmsed, and the owners of earlier grai.ts were ready at all times
to tliwart any jdans which would mawo the govennnent their
rival in the land market.
The public lands of the w<?Ht, from the time when the States
liad been urged to make cession of them, had been looked
|!:ilf
ii: I
I T% i ii
408
THE CONDITIONS OF 1790.
m
IV' ;
■:::T
upon as a source of income to meet the interest and pro-
mote the payment of the national deht. So they pUiyeil no
insignificant part in shaping tlie financial policy of the new
federal government. The movement instituted by llaniiltoii
for resuscitating the credit of the government was complicated
b\^ political and sectional interests. The debt of the Union as
a whole, resulting mainly from the war, was somewhere alxnit
}!54,000,000. Of this there were #12,000,000 held in forrjou
lands, and this it was Hamilton's plan to pay at once. Tliere
were -142,000,000 of the government securities held by the peo-
ple, and this was to be funded. In addition, there were #25.000,-
000, which constituted the outstanding debt of the individual
States, and it was Hamilton's purpose that the federal govern-
ment should assume this, with all its varying prc-i^n'tions among
the States, and fund it also. On the policy or i^ . lug these
state obligations there was strong oppositioi / ; t. part of
tliose who were alr<,'ady grouping themselves on the side of
state rights, and who saw in the measure only a scheme for in-
creasing the paternalism of tlie government. The debates of
Cony-ress were showinti' the mutual distrust of these antajionistic
factions. The rej)elling influences of radical and (jonservative
dispositions in domestic matters found other grounds for dii-
ference in the commotions which were now agitating Franco,
and which had come home to the sensibilities of people in the
untoward events which had founded Gallipolis. The so-called
federal faction rested their plea for breaking the alliance w'tli
France on the downfall of the govenuncnt of that coun' y.
which had made the treaty of 1778. Hamilton was the < ; ;m-
pion of this position, as he was of the funding bill an*, oi .;
using of the public lands for revenue. Jefferson, with J niu- ■
tastes and sympathies, as his enemies cliargcd, was the natnva.
opjionent of Hamilton's " mercenary phalanx." The organs ol
these res})ective ])artics were the G(tzettv of the United t'^fa/cs,
as c<mducted by Fenno, in the interests of neutrjdity if not of
English favor, and the National Gazette, which, under Fie-
neau, outdid its rival in the bitterness which hypocrisy, intvii'itc.
and falsehood cond)ined to exemplify in Jefferson at a y 'itHl of
his life over which his admirers may well throw a v I;. Ihe
blunt John Adams printed in P'enno's ])ai)er those Diy ' ■<
on Diivila in v.hich the Jett'ersonians found a plea foi nM\-
ihi
'he orsi'ans o
HAMILTON'S FUNDING BILL.
409
;u(liy, abetting" what Jetfevsou called llainilton's inonarehisui
" hottomed in corruption." It was not long before like distinc-
tions were agai'i shari)ly drawn, when the English packet
brought over Edmund Burke's Jicjfectlons on the I'Vendi Jicv-
ohdion, and when Tom Paine's It'Kjhts of 3Ian, in May, 1701,
found an echo in the hearts of the American sympathizers with
France, who, as Jefferson said, welcomed the i)amphlet of Paine
as " likely in a single stroke to wipe out all the unconstitutional
doctrines which the bell-wether [of the Federalists], Davila,
lias been ])reaching for a twelvemonth."
^^'hile the (piestion of sustaining or abandoning France
caused i)erhai)s warmer controversy in political circles, there
was meanwhile no lack of ardor in the way in which Congress
had discussed the (piestion of a site for the new federal city.
The (piestion was decided by the most conspicuous examj)le of
political log-rolling which had yet disgusted the soberer citizens
of the new liepublic. This compromise prevented, as such
plans are usually intended to prevent, a teu'iion of political feel-
inn' that miffht turn threats into action. Severance of the Union
was already intimated, and Washington pertinently asked '"• if
the Eastern and Northern States are dangerous in the Union,
will they be less so in separation ?"
In May, 1790, the Senate rejected a bill to jdace the ca]>ital
on the eastern branch of the Potomac. To prevent a site being
selected farther north, and to sustain an earlier vote for placing
the seat of government in " due regard to the particnhu" situa-
tion of the western country," the Senate, on June 28, considered
a ttill for forming a district ten miles scpiare, on the Potomac,
as the ])lace for the federal city. It was at this point, and to
lecoiicilc the o])posing demands of the two secticms of the coun-
try, that the 'political bargain, just mentioned, was made. The
future lumie of the gt)vernment was determined to tlie advan-
tage of the South, and as a recomi)ense the debts of the States
were ctssumed by the central government, to the gain of tlu>
North. So it was that Hamilton's fiuiding bill passed both
ihiuscs, and on July 9, 1790. became a law : and at tlic same
time the residence of Congress was establisluul at Philadelphia
till December, 1800, when the new capital was to be occupied.
The bill, both as regards the financial scheme in toucliing the
iiiipoKiince of western lands, and in respect to the location of
m I
410
THE CONDITIONS OF 17 'JO.
' ■
il!
i\.\'\'\
the capital, was in st)iiie sense a victory for the west. There
were some, however, like Inilay, who regretted the perniantiicv
of the choice of the Potoiaac ami thought the federal city slioiild
idtimately be transferred to the (ireat \'alley, and find a
home, for instance, near the Falls of St. Anthony.
As against the l*otomac, the advantages of a site on the Sus-
qnehanna were the most promising, because of the claims wliicli
were urged of its affording easier communication over the moun-
tains with the west. It was shown that the distance fr<»m tide-
water at Alexandria on the l*otomac to the Monongahehi and
Pittsburg — the usual i)ortal of the west — was three huiuhtd
and four miles with thirty-one miles of portage. Inday says
t it is asserted on the best authorities that the land carriaiie
•diis route may be reduced by further canalization of the
rivers to less than twenty miles. This was the natural route
from Baltimore and liichmond, and if the Ohio was reached hy
land only, it took a varying time, from ten to twenty days, to
pass the mountains from the ])rinci])al seaboard towns.
From tide-water on the Susquehanna to Fort Pitt was two
hundred and seventy -five miles, and if the route was carried up
tiie f Juniata, there was the easiest mountain pass of all, niakini;
a portage of twenty-three miles. Another but less favorable
passage went by the west branch of the Susquehanna, loadiiii;
to Toby's Creek and the Alleghany, and thence to the Ohio.
There was still a way by which those ])assing west, either from
llichmonvl or Philadelphia, entered the valley of the Shenan-
doah, and ])roceeded to Fort Chissel on the Kanawha, near the
North Carolina line. Thence the road led through Cumberhuiil
Ga]). It was the iisual path by which those who sought a hind
carriage entered tluj leafy regions of Kentucky and so passed on
to the rapids of the Ohio, now the liveliest spot in the west,
and to Vineennes and Kaskaskia beyond. It was generally eon-
ceded at this time that Alexandria was nearer by one hundred
and fifty miles to Kentucky than Pliiladelphia was, and twenty
to thirty miles nearer than lialtimore was, and this last elty
was west of the real centre of ])opulation of the whole country.
Philadelphia was now maintaining a weekly post by the Cum-
berland Gap with the Kentucky settlements, and it traversed a
road that in one place for a hundred miles was without a house.
and the average rate was about twenty miles a day. It tins
ill:
I
WESTERX KOIJTES.
411
loiito sluired the streanis of travel westward with the water
passage by the Ohio, the return by laiul was more usual in
aviiiihmee of the struggle ag;>iust the current of that river.
Tiiose who were bound for tlie Tennessee country, after strik-
ing the valley of tlie Ilolston, instead of turning to the right for
('iiinl)erland Gap, followed down that river to Fort Campbell,
near where the Ilolston and Clinch unite to form the Tennessee,
anil then struck northwesterly over the mountains to the Cum-
l)i'rland valli'y and so on to Nashville. The distance from Fort
Campbell was a little short of two hundred miles. Winter-
liiitliam, a eoutemi)orary writer, speaks of this nmte as "a
|ili'asant ])assage for carriages, as there will be oidy the Cum-
berland Mountain to pass, and that is easy of ascent, and be-
v(tiid it the road is generally level and firm, and abounding with
lino springs of water." Other descriptions of the time are not
so attractive, and they tell of glowing ravines where patrols
WL'iv sometimes met. and as night came on, there was some-
thing startling in the click of the hoofs of the ti-aders' ])ack-
linises, Imrrving to find a night's rest. The occasional log
liuts are spoken of as filthy, with the roughest household furni-
tiuc. for it was not till 1790 that frame houses began to ai)pear
along the way.
At Nashville, the traveler found the incvitabk; whiskey -tap
in its one variety store. The ])eoi)li' were just begiiniing to
open trade with New Orleans, sending thither, mainly by water,
and running the gauntlet of the river pirates, the ])roducts of
the region, — dried beef, hides, tallow, fuis, eorn, tobacco, and
Hax. Those who were not traders were a])t to follow the hunt-
er's trace, ■ hich i-an from Nashville to Natchez, through the
tt'iritoiT of the friendly Chickasaws. The portages which con-
nected the Tennessee with the Florida rivers sometimes brought
from the south the Spanish traders of ^loldle and Pensacola.
The routes tluis far I'numerated were generall}' adapted to
iuilieate the Potomac as the best site for the ])roposed federal
city, to wliich the water cari-iagc on the Ohio was not so favora-
hle. This easier ])assage to the two hundrc<l thousand square
miles, constituting the valley of the Ohi-^ and its tributaries,
was found by either the Alleghany or the Monongaluda, and
was now without a rival. The route westward by the Mohawk,
across the valley of the Genesee to Niagara, was slow in devel-
■PPIVP
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II'
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IS f t
412
THE CONDITIONS OF irool
oping, and tlie retention of the posts on the northern lakes
operated against a i)assage by Oswego and tiie Great Lakes.
Tlie Ohio boat, now become a familiar object in westtin
experience, was an anomalous construction of various sizes and
shapes. It had sometimes a keel, l)ut, on account of the <l:ffi.
culties of the return voyage, it was oftener built as cheaply as
possible, with Hat bottom and square corner.-i. It was some-
times constructed with stories, having a level or hipped roof
atop, and was steered by a long sweep at the stern. The usual
OHIO KLATBOAT.
[KioiM CoUofs AtUis.']
cost of these cheaper builds was five dollars a ton, and a boat
twelve feet beam and forty feet long — a common size — meas-
ured fibout forty tons. Some of them were arranged for stall-
ing domestic animals, and others afforded rough conveniences
for domestic life, as the temporary homes of journeying iniini-
grants. The trading-boats sometimes passed on to a distant
market, or tied up at the landings as they went for a local
traffic. When his merchandise was disposed of, the trader
usually sold his boat, and, on his next visit, he would tind its
plank and boards matched in new tenements or hucksters'
booths, within the young town. It was of such material tliat
F(n-t Harmar and other stockades had been built in part, the
living forest supplying the rest.
The cost of transportation from IMiiladelphia over ♦^he moun-
tains, and thence by boat to Louisville, was reck(nied at the
rate of <£1,()00 for forty tons ; but for the river ])assag(^ alone,
smaller merchandise was counted at a shilling per hnndnd-
weight, or five shillings per ton for a bulky mass. Toulinin,
RIVER NAVIGATION.
413
ortlu'vii lakes
eat Lakes,
et in westi-ni
ions sizes and
it of the .liffi.
as clieaply as
It was soiiic-
r hijuu'il roof
u. The usual
)n, and a boat
n size — meas-
iio-eil for stall-
1 ~
|i conveniences
rneying iiiiini-
1 to a distant
it for a local
)f, the trader
tvoukl tiud its
or hucksters
material that
lit in part, the
Iver the nionn-
3koned at tlie
l)assai>-e aione,
per humlrt'il-
Iss. Touliuin,
huying a boat at Kedstone, on the Monongahehi, for <£G-9-0,
in which he carried 13 horses, 21 negroes, 13 whites, and £100
worth of merchandise, took a fair saMii)le of these trading out-
fits. It was different with coarse articles, but fine manufactures
could often, at this time, be sent from Philadelj)hia over the
inonntr.ins, and be exposed for sale in tlie rough booths of the
liver settlements, where rent and taxes were of no account, at
prices not much beyond those asked in Chestnut or Market
streets on the Delaware ; and Philadelphia fashions, it was said,
were in vogue in Frankfort in three months after they apjjcared
in the Pennsylvania capital. The days of barter were jjassing,
as money was brought in by innnigrants. or was brought up
from New Orleans by the traders ; but still, slaves, horses, cat-
tle, and pigs were not infrequently exchanged for calicoes,
chintzes, and other fabrics.
The most favorable season for these river passages was be-
tween February and May, when the Ohio and Mississipj)i ran
with full channel. The fiatboats then s])ed along from Pitts-
burg to the Louisville rapids in eight or nine days. If they
passed on to the Mississi])i)i, they were sure to find it a headlong
stream, even well into the sunnner, but during July it began to
decrease in volume of watei'. It did not, however, at anytime,
rise to that height which it would have attained had all of its
sixty considerable affluents poured their s])ring tides into its
bed at once. A devastating overflow was, in fact, })revente(l by
tliese incoming rivei's being affected by their local freshets at
varvine: intervals, Kecent calculations have shown that in
high-water season the Mississippi might, by the simultaneous
swelling of its branches, pour into the (iulf three million cubic
feet of water a second, whereas, in fact, the outpour, because; of
this sequence of floods, is; only about one million eight lunidred
thousand cubic feet. Tiie velocity of the current from the
mouth of the Ohio to Baton Kouge is from four and a half to
five and a half feet per second, with full banks, and nuu'h
swifter thence on to New Orleans. In such a current as this, the
river boats made the run from the 'Ohio rai)ids to New Orleans
ill about twenty days. The usual practice of the ])ilots, to
insure safety, was to cross from one concave shore to the other
(reversing in going upstream), and to t''ust to the current when
there was doubt about the channel.
m
I '■ !:
414
THE CONDITIONS OF 1790.
•m
At Nt'w Oilcans, the ti'iult'v usually sold his jjroduce and the
boat which had brou<;ht it. (ioing to Havana with his j;ains,
he returned by sea to Philadeli)hia or Baltimore. There in- |)ut
his money into fine fabrics, and returned home over the ukmiii-
tains and joined his family, from which he had been absent
from four to six months.
The smaller boats sometimes made the return trip by the
river. There were often south winds to hel]) them stem the
current, and experienced boatmen knew how to take advant.xvo
of the eddying ui)-cnrrents at the river bends. Such boats we ^
S(mietimes back in Louisville in forty days. It was estimated
that the coarse lading of ten boats of sixty tons each would
purchase for the return a bulk of finer conunodities which
might be carried upstream in three boats of five tons eaeli.
Ascending the river was, however, too costly as yet to make it
the rule, but it was beginning to be believed that from New
Orleans to Louisville " by mechanical boats," the cost could be
reduced 'o one tenth. Fitch's steamboat on the Delaware was,
however, hauled up to rot this very summer, and the i)oor, dis-
appointed inventor hardly dreamed of the time when a more
pt'rfect vessel, with river obstructions removed, shoidd go in a
single trip from Pittsburg to Fort Benton, in Montana, a dis-
tance of four thousand three hundred and thirty-three miles.
crossing very nearly the entire Mississippi drainage system, with
its area of one million two hundred and sixty thousand scpiare
miles. But in August of the next year (1791) new iiuprove-
ments in steam-engines were patented by Fitch, Kumsey, and
Stevens of Iloboken, and decided steps were registered in the
solution of the great river problem.
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I'laware was,
CIIvVPTEK XIX.
HARMAR's and ST. CLAIU'S CAMPAIGNS.
1790-1701.
TnK continued retention of tlu; posts and the hostility ()f the
huliaiis, c'h)sely connected as hoth the Americans and tlie In-
dians felt, and as the British generally denied, was for the federal
ijovernnient the perplexing cpiestion in the northwest in the
hoginning of 1701. Jay, as Secretary rtf Foreign Affairs under
the confederation, had, as we have seen, contended that the
American breaches of the treaty of 1782 were at least equal to
those of the British, and that there was no good ground for
;iiiii(al)le settlement as long as either contestant failed to purge
Ills record. Jay was now Chief Justice of the Hei)ul»lie. It
was possible that some test case might come before him, and
tlio ])rospect was not a ])leasant one to the ardent reimblicans.
-h'ttVrson was satisfied that the English ministry had no inten-
tion of surrendering the posts, and was content to let the matter
rest till the United States were sti'ong enough to force an
evacuation. Gouverneur Morris and the Duke of Leeds had
been corresponding in Loiulon without result. That American
representative had also intimated to Pitt that the real reason
of the delay was the fur trade, and that the ..epriving American
ineroliants of that trade had jn-evented the profits which might
have liquidated the British debts. It was true that some of the
States were unconverted to Jay's views. In Georgia, British
debts were still confiscated. In Virginia, there were strong
legal and social combinations against the creditors, and Mar-
shall and Henry were active in the debtors' behalf.
On tlie British side there was the strong support of the Cn-
iiadian fur traders, who lost no o])])ortunity of pressing their
interests upon the government. One of these, who described
himself as an " Indian interpreter and trader," Long by name,
had just published (1701) his Vaj/ar/es <iml Tvavch^ and in it
he said : " It is an undoubted fact that, in case of a dispute
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410
HARM Alt's AND ST. CLAIIVS CAMPAIGNS.
with tlu! Americiuis, the posts would iniike but a ft'cble icsist.
anee" without the aid of the Six Nat' )iis, " and.ik'prived of tlif
posts, the fur trade wouhl surely he lust to this eountry," and
he contended for '" the i)ropriety of kee})ing " them. At tiiucs
these traders feared tliat the eourse of dii)h)inaey niiglit restore
the posts. They were always ready under such apj)rchensi()iis
to i)ress for an interval of five years in which to collect ;iii(l
withdraw their ])roperty. The offense to the Amei-icans was
not only that the posts on the territory which had been won liv
treaty were used in this lucrative traflic, but that the Ihitisli
traders, as St. Clair represented to liis government, presniiied
to traverse territory not within the infiuenee of these posts in
pursuit of this same trade. The Great Northern Com])auy df
Canada had, through Todd & Com])any, secured from ('anin-
dek't permission to trade on the western bank.of the Mississiji])!
in its upper parts, though it seems probable that the Spanish
governor had no conception with whom he was dealing in con-
ferring this privilege. The result was that liritish traders
passed to and fro, ])referably by the Wisconsin as the sliorter
route, but also by the Chicago ])ortage, and in both eases across
American soil in reaching these trans-^lississippi regions to
which the post at Prairie du Chien was the usual portal. It
was pointed out at the time how Vigo, the old abettor of Cieorj^e
Rogers Clark, in making his trips between St. Louis and Pitts-
burg, had shown that the river route was much cheaper tluin
the lake roate was by way of these portages. It was iudicatod
how profitable the Americans might uudce the business if tlu y
could get possession of it. They were at present forced to con-
duct a faint rivali-y from Vincennes.
There is no question that an Indian war was detrimental to
tlie British trading interests by diminishing the supply of skins,
There was, accordingly, little to be gained in bankrupt! ns^ tlic
merchants of Detroit and Mackinac by an official incitement
to war. Yet it w^as. on the other hand, ccmceived to be for the
advantage of the British government to divert American at-
tention from any attempt to assail the posts by keei)iiig' it
occupied with movements of the savages, and so to threaten ;i
war, if not actually provoking avi outbreak. It was a danucnms
policy and likely to get beyond control.
It had been very apparent towards the end of 1789 that war
'It
ALARMS.
417
IS coiniii};, and Washiii<>'ton had iiistnu'k'd St. Clair to hv
'O'
jjicpared by suiiimoniiii'' a thousand militia from Virginia and
Hvt' hundred from Pennsylvania. There were at this time a
few t'ortiHed posts in the northwest, — Fort Knox at Vineennes,
Fuit Washington at Cincinnati, Fort Steuben, twenty-two miles
iil)(»ve AVheelini;-, and Fort llarmar. Not one of them luul
move
than a few score defender;
K:uly in the year (1700), while St. Clair was on the lower
01
IK).
he had instructed Ilamtramek. eommandin<
It V
ui-
cTimes, to try to j)roi)itiate the Indians neighborinj;" to that
])ost : but the effort failed there, as it did elsewhere alonj^' the
Ohio valley. During the sprin<>- of 1790, there were alarms all
tlie way from Pittsburg- to the Mississip))!. Boats were eon-
stuntly intercepted on the Ohio, and mostly near the mouth of
tilt' Scioto. There was here on the Kentucky side a high rock,
which served the Indians as a lookout, whence they could scan
thi' river np and down. llarmar, in Ai)ril, 17!'0, had sent a
force to strike the Scioto some distance np, anil swtx)}) down
upon this nest of marauders, but it had little effect. The
stoiios of this wild foraging carried dismay far and wide.
Zeisberger, at the Moravian station of New Salem, — then on
the traveled route between Pittsburg and Detroit, — heard
of the ravages in April, and ascribed this nmrderous activity to
tboClierokees. The stories reached St, Clair at Cahokia on the
1st of May, 1790, when he wrote to the secretary of war that
liostilities seemed inevitable. He charged the British author-
ities with instigating the trouble, and thought it not possible to
stop the river de])redations by i>atrol boats, inasmuch as the
tiade with New Orleans had drained Kentucky of the jjrovi-
sioiis which a ])atrolling force would recpiire.
When St. Clair started up the river in June, 1790, he was
:>atisii('d that the intrigues of Bra it I, ad succeeded among the
Wiihash tribes, and that they would cons])ire with the Miamis
for a general war. In this frame of mind the govi'rnor reached
l*oit Washington on Jul}' 13, 1790. Two days later, he made a
ili'minid on Kentucky for troops, with the determination to take
tlu' otfensive. Judge Innes at the same time wrote to Knox
that uidess something of that kind was done, the Kentuckians
woro " determined to avenge tluMuselves,"' and the discontent
\^;is for a while farther increased by a rumor that the govern-
418
llAItMAirs AM) ST. CLAIIl'S CAMl'AKJXS.
^\ii, /I
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V,/
n
ment liiul (IcttTiiiiiied to abiindon the Ohio 'omitry. St. Cliiii's
activity soon satisHt'd tin; distnistful that an t'tt'ort woiilil at
least be made to protei't the settlt'inentH. Tlio '•'overnor now
authorized Richard Butler, conunandiiij;' in Alleghany County,
to summon the militia of the nearest counties in Pennsylvania
and Virginia to protect that region, and distract the Imliaiis
thereabouts, while Ilarmar was advancing uj) the Miami in a
campaign whi»'h had b(.'en decided u})on. On August 'J;5, ITIH).
St. Clair reported his plans to Knox, and told him that Ham-
tramek had at the same time been instructed to advance on the
side of the Wabash. Harmar's force was ordered to assenihle
at Fort ^Vashingt()n on Sejitember 15. As this day apjjroaclied,
it was evident that delays would occur, for Governor ^liftiin of
IV-nnwylvania was sluggish in sending forward his cpiota. Kikix.
meanwhile, was suggesting to St. Clair to keep in mind tlu'
founding of a fort on the upper Miami with a garris(m of sevon
hundred and fifty men, and to support it by auxdiary posts
on the Scioto and Maumoe. The ditificulty which oinifnnitcij
Knox was that eighteen luni'' 1 men woidd be necc^ssaiy to
carry the plan fully out an( ntain connnunications, wiiile
the government had no more tlian four hundred regulais to
spare for the object He anxiously asked St. Clair it' liis
militia could be depended upon to sui)ply the rest.
Tht^re was, at the same time, a division among "Washington's
advisers on the question of assuring the English connnandci' at
Detroit that Harmar's movements were not directed against
that post. Jefferson feared that if Dorchester's anxiety in th.it
respect was quieted, he would be freer to ])repare to attack the
Spaniards on the Mississippi, in the impending war with Spain.
though it was possible without such a notice he might snsiuMt
the sudden armament was intended to contest his passage across
American territory to reach the Mississippi. The final result
of weighing opinions was that St. Clair was instructed to coni-
municate with the British at Detroit, and on September 10 he
sent such a letter from Marietta, in which he expressed a liope
that the English traders might be restrained from giving aid
to the Indians,
The English had already beon making up their minds, as
Dorchester had written in March to Grenville, that the juists
were really the object of the American campaign, no nuitter
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iiAiLMAirs rA^rrAIfJ^'.
419
lu'iv nuiui^.
wli:it their profession. 'Vhv, Cjiniuliiin j^ovcriior thought, as his
li'ttt-rs show, that it was the Aiuorican jihin to advance hy
tlie Potomac to the Ohio, and then j)roeee(l aj;ainst Erie and
Hftroit. ''The possession, also," he aihh'd. '• of the great aj)-
])ii»afhes to C'anatia hy the Moiiawk and Oswego and uj) th(5
Soivl wouhl make them masters of the country." He urged
the sending to Canada of four thousand more soUliers, f«»r
though he eouhl re|>air and strengthen the ui)per posts against
an Indian attack, Niagara was the only one which could repel
the Americans. As the sununer canu' on and brought the
danger of a Sjjanish war, there was a (lisjM)sition in London
t(t tliink Dorchester'.s ])rognosticati()ns seasonal »le, ])articularly
wlicM the minister learned from him that Congress had voted
to raise five thousand foot and sixteen c(>m])anies of artillery
to I'einforce ilw western army, though the Senate had indeed
ivdiieed the number to three thousand infantry. This made
matters look serious to the British ministry, — the game was
luH'oming hazardous, — and in August Dorchester was advised
to prevent the Indians ravaging the American settlements, foi-
"if the United States send an army against the Indians, end)ar-
rassinents will follow." Dorchester, in further advices, repre-
sented St. Clair as a man of firmness and experience, but of no
great ability, whih^ Ilarmar was frequently intoxicated.
So under this drunken leader, as British rumor had it, tlui
little army was gathering at Fort Washington. The militia did
not i)romise well, with their bad eipiipments, and there were
,ilo') signs of insnbordination. By October 1, Ilarmar sent for-
ward an advance guarc to open the road. Three days later,
the general followed with his main body. His whole force
consisted of three hundred and twenty regulars and one thou-
sand one hundred and thirty-three militia. The rumor that
liad gone north gave him a much larger army, and jMcKee had
ii()tiH(>d Sir John ,[ohnson that the Indians could not stand
before it. It was re])orted to Zeisberger that the numbers were
eight thousand, and the smallest reckcming they had at Detroit
gave him two thousand. The result was that the Indians no-
where made a stand, and Ilarmar, in sixteen days, reached the
Miami and Delaware villages, near where the St. Mary's and
St. Joseph's rivers unite to form the Maumee. Here he foiuul
their three hundred huts deserted, and the storehouses of the
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HARMAR'S AND ST. CLAIR'S CAMPAIGNS.
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Detroit traders bared of their goods, which the Indians luul
asisted in carrying away. He however found twenty thousand
bushels of corn, which, with the huts, he burned.
Thus far, Ilarniar had accomplished what in Indian warfare
was often thought to count for something, and this mere di;.
struetion was the ground of St. Clair's claim that the expedition
was successful in delivering a " terrible stroke " to the enemy.
Ilamtramck, who had the same soi-t of success in his movement
farther west, knew better the significance of such easy warfare.
'• The Indians can never be subdued by burning their lioiisps
and corn," he said, " for they make themselves perfectly > jui-
fortable on meat alone, and they can build houses with as nuuli
facility as a bird does his nest."
If his devastations did not count for all he wished, Ilarmars
later blunders really negatived his doubtful achievements. His
troops were, on the whole, l)ut unpromising soldiers, many too
old for cam}>aigning and more too young, and h.^ heedlessly
committed them to work which only the best disci[)lined men
could do. He sent out, beyond support, three several detaeli-
ment.s, and gave Little Turtle, with better knowledge of the
nundiers he now had to deal with, a chance to overwhelm them'
in detail, and a loss of one hundred and eighty was speedily
inflicted. The main l)ody saw no foe, but after November 4.
when they began their disorderly retreat, it might have suf-
fered as much as the flanking parties, had the Ottawas not
withdrawn from the savage horde. As it was, Harniar took
back a larger ])art of his force than could have been expcet ■>'.
to winter them in scattered posts along the river, so as to pre-
vent the ravages of fan-ine.
McKee, on the British side, professed to look upon the figlit-
ing wliich had taken place as a victory, and as a trial of arm-
it undoubtedly was ; but such ])artial sitccess did not (piiet hi>
apprehensions, and he promptly appealed to Sir John Johnson
for aid. if the tribes were to be held together east of the Missiv
sippi. This indicates a ccmsiderable extx-emity on the t'licniys
side. Had Knox's advice bc»^n followed, and a .stoclcuh' Imilt
on the Miami, Ilarmar might have saved the men v.hieli he
heedlessly ex])osed, and have gained a vantage-grou)ul for a
treaty. The obstacles to the permanence of a recv'>ueilt;nieiii
with the Indians were, however, as yet great, and Hamtiumck
INDIA N MA RA UDING.
421
(lid not exaggerate the risks when he said to St. Clair, in
December, 1790: ''The people of oar fvontiers will certainly
be the first to break any treaty. The people of Kentucky will
cany on private expeditions and kill Indians wherever they
meet them, and I do not believe theru is a jury in all Kentucky
who would punish a man for it," — an opinion that Washing-
ton liimself certainly shared, when he atlKrmed that the " fron-
tier settlers entertain the opini<'a that there is not the same
Clime (or indeed no crime at all) in killing an Indian as in
killing a white man."
Tlu' Indians, when they counted losses and gains in the late
campaign, showed no signs of distrust of their ability to press
tiieir adversaries still harder. They apparently got encourage-
ment from their allied whites, and JVIcKee, whom St. Clair
cliarged with furnishing ammunition to the bands which at-
tacked Ilarmar's detached parties, was, with Simon (iirty's sup-
port, hot for further fighting. So it was Jocided to renew
marauding in December, 1790.
The first attack came on the evening of January 2, 1791,
when a body of Delawares and Wyandt)ts dashed upon a snuill
settlement at Big Bottom, dependent upon Marietta, but forty
miles up the ]Muskingum. Here they killed twelve persons,
ami leaving their mangled bodies on the ground they suddenly
witlidrew, carrying off four prisoners. The sad tidings reached
Marietta the next morning, and Putnam began to call in the
settlers and make ready for warm work. There were twenty
legnku's in Fort Harmar, and the settlements witliin reach could
muster about three hundred men. Belpre, twelve miles down
the Ohio, had not yet been alarmed, l)ut hovering parties of
Indians were seen the same day about Waterford, at ^yolf
Creek-.
The next warning came on th' NOth, at Dunlap Station, on
tile ease bank of the Miami, wlun Girty a])peared with three
Imndied warriors. The inhabitan.ts had been advised of their
approach, and summoned aid from Cincinnati. Just as it
arrived, the enemy withdrew. During lebruary, 1791, the
settlements along the Alleghany suffered severely, and by
-MareJi fleets of Indian canoes were assailing flatboats along
tilt' Ohio. It was just at this *■' .iC that Nathaniel Massie,
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422 HAKMAirS AND ST. CLAIR'S CAMPAIGNS.
who, as a surveyor of bounty lands, had picked out a site on
the north bank of the river, twelve miles above LiniestoiR'.
was laying in sto(.'kade and blockhouse the foundations of tlu'
later Manchester, the i)ioueer Virginia settlement on that side
of the river.
Meanwhile, both at Quebec and Pliiladel})hia, the authorities
were intent on military preparations. Dorchester, feariu"- that
llarinar's advance was but preliminax-y to an attack on Detroit.
ir^oued oi'ders in January, 1791, to the western conimaudei's tn
be alert and promptly confront the Americans if they aii-
proached. At the same time, AVashington notified Congress, in
December, 1790, tiiat he intended another exi)editiou at the
west, and laid before Congress a ])lan for raising three tlioiisainl
troops, to be ])laced under St. Clair for active work. A\'litii
Congress had a])i)roved, Knox asked Pickering to accept the
position of quartermaster of a western dej)artment, and pusli
the details, but he declined. In doing so, however, he expiossid
his convi(!tion that the tribes could be taught to respect tlie
reserved ])ower of the liepublie. Washington, buoyed in his
hopes by the restoration of the public credit, and tle])eii(liiii;
on the increasing resources of the counti-y, felt equally sure that
the Indians could be made to understand that the " enmity of
the United Stiitos is as much to be dreaded as their frieiidshi))
is to be desired." Jefferson had scant sym])athy with any iiiiH-
tary measures, and wrote to Monroe : " I hoi)e we shall driili
the Indians widl this summer, and then change our plan fiDiii
war to bribery," for the expenses of a summer's campaign will
buy " presents for half a century."
While the governuient was thus over-confident, Knox, on
^larch 9, 1791, issued orders to General Charles Scott of luii-
tucky to move suddenly against the Kickapoos and (ttlur
Wabash tribes, to prevent their joining the Miauiis, a<;aiii>t
whf.ni the main attack was to be made. It was equally desira-
ble that similar or other methods should at the east distrait
the Indians of New York, and kee]) them at least neutral. I'l
this end, Pickering was asked to put himself in commuiiicatinii
with Brant, while Governor Clinton was urged to win o\<'r that
NoTi — The map on the opposite page, showinu by the blark dots Moravian settli'iueut!, is
from G. H. Loskiel's Mission 0/ the United Brethren, London, 1794.
I
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ut a site oil
Linic'stoiu'.
tioiis (il; till'
on that silk'
^ravian settlement!, i»
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HARMAWS AND ST. CLAIR'S CAMPAIGNS.
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Mohawk chief by a gift, for ho was known to have infoniiod
Kirkland, tlie missionary among his people, that he had deter-
mined to head a western eonfederaey in forcing the Americans
south and east of the Ohio. These measures were at ones
seized upon hy the British to prove to the Indians that the
l)rofessions of peaee on the part of tiie Americans were insin-
cere. Jirant was known, in May, 171)1, to have gone west with
a following, but with wiiat intent was not known. On -huie 4,
1791, however, he wrote back to Sir John Johnson that he liuvl
decided to join in the coming fight. lie had probably hoard
by this time tliat Scott had, on May 19, crossed the Ohio with
tiight hundred mounted Kentuckians, and was advancing on the
Wabash towns. Scott's coming had been heralded, and when
he reached their towns, one hundred and fifty miles away, he
found them deserted, and so encountered no serious opposition
in burning them, lie killed a score or two of Indians, and caj)-
tured a somewhat larger number. When, retreating, he readied
the rapids at Louisville, he had been absent about tliirty days.
There could be no peace after this. In June, 1791, while
Knox, in Philadelphia, was confident that war was begun, the
Indians were gathering in large nunybers. Zeisberger, then at
the mouth of the Detroit River, was informed that four thou-
sand had assendded, and he was made anxious lest his peaceful
Moravian converts w >uld be forced to join them
It is not easy to determine how to apjiortion the rcsjmnsi-
bility of the savage war to which the Americans now secincd
to be committed. The tribes had a standing grievance against
the Americans in the treaty of Fort Stanwix of 1784, and yet
AVashington pointed out to Corn])lanter. who with other Seneoa
chiefs jiad come to Philadeljdiia in Decendier, 1790, that tlio
very release of lands, of which they com])lained, had bicii
confirmed by them in the treaty of Fort Ilarmar in ITHO,
" Therefore the lines nuist remain established," said tlie Presi-
dent, f'ornidanter had, during this conference, urged that cer-
tain lands should be restored ; but Waslnngton, taught by tlic
claims which the Indians presented that the treaty of 1784
had been made by irresponsible chiefs, readily sus2)ected that
any yielding now to the Senecas would encourage filmilar de-
mands from other factions of the tribes. There was imheil
just now a new grievance, in that Rol)ert Morris had bought
w^
COUNTER RAIDS.
42c
informed
lacl deter-
^inericiuis
•e at (»nc3
s that the
vere insiii-
i west with
3n June 4,
that he hud
}ably heard
! Ohio with
iciiig on the
1, and when
es away, he
s opposition
,ns, and cap-
;•, he reached
thirty days.
1791, ' while
8 \)egnn, the
vger, then at
it fonr thou-
his peaeciful
the res])onsi-
now set'inea
anee against
|T84, and yt
(other Seneca
'90, that the
^1, had hi'cn
,ar in 1TH9.
lid the Presi-
lo-ed that ccr-
laught hy tlie
laty of 1'^-^
Ispeeted tluit
|e similar »U'-
was indeed
had boiii^ht
for iJ100,000 the rights of Gorhani and Phelps to the hinds
sohl by Massachusetts in western New York, and Washing-
ton had already looked forward to trouble about the Indian
title, and was not unprepared for Cornplanter's accusation of
frand. Indeed, as Washington said to Hamilton, " land-jobbing
and the disorderly conduct of the borderers " were a constant
source of irritation to the tribes ; and to these were added the
complications which came of individual States interfering in
matters which belonged to the general government. The Ken-
tuckians raided of their own account the AVabash region ; the
Tennesseeans encroached upon lands at the jSIuscle Shoals ;
iuid New York had just in her Assembly voted to bu}' immu-
nity from hostile depredations, thereby damaging the prestige
of the federal authorities. So the evils wliicdi incited the sav-
ages to hostilities were not unaccompanied by uncontrollable
mischief to the Republic itself from similar sources.
On the British side the story was not altogether a satisfac-
tory one to the tribes, who were slow in forgetting that the
treaty of 1782 had been concluded by the P^nglish without any
recognition of their rights to ancestral lands, and that the
promises of aid, which had been im])licd perhaps rather than
actually promised, had rarely been fulfilled. ♦
While Dorchester, in his conniumicaticnis with the Amei'icans,
jnofcssed to desire peace, and the fur merchants dej)recated
war, neither contemplated with satisfaction any success for the
Americans which would hazard the British ])ossessi<m of the
posts, or lead to the establishment of other lake stations, which
would admit the Americans to the navigation of the lakes and
affect the profits of the older posts. In these conditions, the
movements of the Indians wen^ watched with anxiety, and
the encourag<'ment given to them to worry the Amei'icans. by
such intriguers ,'s (xirty and McKee, was likely at any time
to compromise the public ])eaceful professions of those in
unmistakable authority. llai-nuir's report indicated that if
lu' liad chanced to ca])ture the traders at the villages which he
ilostroyed, there might have been complications which would
fiirce Dorchester to retaliation, and bring on a war. Dorchester
hiniscH" perceived this, and with some ai)prehension he asked
Sir Jolin Johnson to discover the terms on whi(di ])cace could
be arranged between the Indians and the Americans.
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II All MAR'S AND ST. CLAIIVS CAMPAIGNS.
liut, inopportunely, it was just upon the eve of politital
change in Canada, which was to bring a new character to hear
upon the overstrained relations of the two countries. In Sc)).
teniber, Dorchester was informed of the constitutional art of
March, which had set up, as distinct from Lower Canaila, the
region west of the Ottawa, with ten thousand population, as a
new government, grateful to the loyalists, and preserving such
features of the (Quebec Act as were not inconsistent, and i)la(iii<i'
in connnand John (iraves Simcoe, whom the Americans had
learned to hate in the Revolutionary War. He probably soon
heard of the proposition of McKee to recstaV)lish the disused
fort at the foot of the Mauniee rapids as a necessary <)ut[)()st
of Detroit, though he was not yet prei)ared to undertake it.
From early s})ring, St. Clair had been prei)aring for liis own
work, h()])ing to get at it before autumn. In April, 1791. lie
reached Pittsburg, and endeavored to prevail upon tlie Scnc-
cas to join his army. A few days later, at Fort Ilarnuir, he
warned the Delawares that they must abide tlie consecincnces,
if they interposed themselves between him and the Mianiis;
and it was probably about tliis time that he sent forward to
the Miamis a speech which McKee said was intended to distniot
their councils.
By the middle of May, St. Clair was at Fort AVasliiiiijton,
where his little army was to gather. Symmes, wlvo looked
ui)()n the raw levies arrived from the seaboard towns wrote to
Elias Boudinot that "■men who are to be purchased from
})i'is()ns, wlieelbarrows. and brothels at two dollars per moiit'ii
will never answer for fighting Indians."" Such a force was not
an inspiring one for a man like St. Clair, no longer young, siili-
ject to intervals of illness, and not as alert as he oiu'e was. If
the men were poor and came slowly to the rendezvous, tlio mate-
rial for su})plies had passed no adequate insjicction in luiiiii-
sent forward. The ])()wder was bad. The saddles did not lit
th(^ horses. The oxen were poor and insufficient in iiiimlti'f.
With such tl-'ngs to worry him, St. Clair waited from rlumto
September.
In August, fearful lest tlie Wabash Indians might have re-
C(>\'e;'ed fr<»iii the effects of k" ott's raid among tlieiii. and iniulit
gather with the other tribes athwart his route, which had litrii
niLKINSON'S RAID.
427
fl'dUi .111""' '"
too plainly iiulicatt'd for the advance, he dispatched another
force, as Knox had counseled, to repeat the blow. A body of
iiioinited Kentuckians, Hve hundred and fifty strong', reported
foi this service at Fort Washington in fFuly. Wilkinson, who
li;i(l found Spanish intrigue getting tiresome, had sold his
Frankfort proi)erty and accepted the conunand of these ardent
vuliniteers. I [is enemies said it was a plan of the goverinnent
to luofit by his restless energy and divert it from mischievous
action at home. On July 81, St. Clair gave him his instruc-
tions, and the next day he led his clanking horsemen out into
the wilderness. The direction which he took seemed towards
ihe Miami towns, and on this course he traveled four days and
oixty miles, and then turned to the northwest. Passing now a
broken conutry full (>f swamj)s, he fell u])on Ouiatanon and
other villages of Indians, with French traders among them, and
devastated their cabins. His horses were badly used up, and
but five days' ))rovisions remained. He accordingly marched
towards the Ohio rapids, as Scott had done, and reached them
on August 21. Proceeding thence to Frankfort, three days
later, he dis])atched his report to St. Clair. When Washing-
ton lieard of the residts he said that the " enter])rise, intrejiidity,
and good conduct of the Kentuckians were entitled to i)eculiar
conunendation.''
The tidings of AVilkinson's sticcess found St. Clair in deep
anxiety. F^very messenger from the east had brought urgent
appeals for his advancing before the season was ])ast for success-
ful eam])aigning. His want of supplies, however, still detained
liini. He had now two regiments of regulars and some Ken-
turky militia, whom he might reasonably trust : but the boats
from Pittsburg still brouolit liini the wretched scourings of the
eastern towns, towards c()in]>lctiiig the '" two thousand levies
for the term of six months '" which (\mgrcss had ordered.
St. Clair's instructions, as often as he read them, gave him
•'.istpilet, in the presiM) e of such recruits. He was to establish
a "strong and ])ei .anent military post at the Miami village
. . . for the purpose of awing and curbing the Indians, and as
the only prev(\ntiv3 of future hostilities." and he was to main-
tain such a ga '.'rison in it that he could upon occasion detach five
or six hundrc(i men on s])ecial service. He was warned in liis
instructions that such a post was " an important object of the
428
HAILMAR'S AND ST. CLAIR'S CAMPAIGNS.
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campaign," and to be fouiuled in any event, and to be su})i)lit(l
with a six months' stock of provisions. It was left to his dls-
cretion whether he shoukl employ Indians. In making a tnatv
at last, he was told to insist on keepinj^- the tribes beyond tin,'
W^^^'Sh and Maumee, and, if he could, to divert the line to tlie
Mississippi from the Au Panse branch of the Wabash. Tliis
would give a good stretch of country along the Ohio to the
Americans, and disjxjssess few Indians beyond the Kicka]too.s.
If this was insisted on, he was warned to manage it " tenderly."
Still more cautiously must he treat the English, and it was
held to be impro])er at present to " make any naval arniu<;e-
ments upon Lake Erie."
All this was the expectation of the government and the not
over-confident hope of St. Clair. The plan had recpiired three
thousand effectives to be ready at Fort Washington by July
10, 1791 ; but the first regiment of two hundred and ninety-
nine men did not arrive till the 15th. It was Oc'tt)l)er before
the general could count two thousand men, exclusive of the
militia antl the garrisons of Forts AVashington and Hamilton,
— the latter stockade having been begun on Sei)tember 17,
on the Great Miami. From this point, on October 4, General
Butler, whose ap])ointment had not been wholly acceptable,
started with the advance, hunbering slowly on with his tiains,
five or six miles a day, through a bad country. On the l-'Uli,
the army stoj)i)ed, and was occupied till the 24th in build-
ing a stockade, wliich he called Fort Jefferson, intended to
shield his sick and hohl his surplus sui)plies. The eountiy
about it was fertile, but it was too late in the yeai- foi' his
animals to get much refreshment out of it. When he started
again, on the 28th, he soon discovered that the Indians were
hanging on his Hanks. There had been some desertions, and
to check them he had executed one or two who had been re-
taken : but on Oct(d)er 31, a considerable body of militia slindi
away, and St. Clair sent ^lajor Ilamtramck back with one of
his regiments of regulars to prevent their robbing his su])ply
trains. St. Clair had days of almost physical incai)acity tor
his task, and General Butler, who was next in connnand. was
scarcely better in health. The discipline and steadiness oi the
march would have suffered irretrievably, but for the exertions
of the adjutant-general, Winthrop Sargent. It was Washing-
U
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52'. CLAIR'S DEFEAT.
429
ton's criticism, when the miserable outcome was known, that
there had ll)een insutWeient efforts to get information of the
I'lii'iny, and that St. Chiir's scouting- system was inadequate.
It is certain that the enemy was not hmg in discovering that
St. (lair's scouts were not numerous, to say the least, lie had
been i)ointedly cautioned to be on his guard against surprise :
juul yet when he went into his last camp on November 3, on a
l)r:uu'h of *he Wabash, with a l)enund)ing winil sweeping over
lev ground, he was in the innnediate neighborhood of his enemy,
and with no chance of suddenly forming his line in case of an
unexpected irruption. So it was not to be wondered at that,
early on the morning of the 4th, some militia which he had
l)iv()uacked in advance beyond the stream, and too remote for
instant supi)ort, were broken in upon and thrown into a panic.
They fell hastily back upon the rest of the army. While he
was endeavoring to form his lines within his camp, which was
three hundred and fifty yards in length, the enemy swung aroinid
it, and whgn St. Clair found that his position was completely en-
veloped, he grew to a conception of the extent of the force which
was opposed to him, though Armstrong, an old Indian fighter,
was sure that five hundred savages, invisible as their habit
was, could have produced all that St. Clair saw. The assail-
ants from a thick cover poin-ed a deadly fire ui)on the huddli'd
and unprotected troops. St. Clair, with his gray hair stream-
ing under his cocked hat, had horse after horse shot under
him :is he endeavored to make ais force stand steady amid the
fii<;htful carnage. lit had '^ight bidlets pierce his garments,
liut not one grazed his skin. Butler was soon mortally wounded.
The few guns of the Americans were rendered useless, when
not a cannoneer could stand to them. The regulars lost every
offieer. The frenzied men, gaining maidiood under the trial,
tiicd to charge this way and that. The retreat of the Indians
hued them on, when the wily savages would turu and surround
them, party after party. Finally, tbcve being no hope, tlic guns
were spiked, and St. Clair gathei-ed his men for a last charge
to regain the road of retreat. He secui'ed it ; antl for four
niih's the Indian fire blazed upon the flanks and in the rear.
At h\st, over-eager for the spoils, dusky warriors drew off and
heo-Mii plundering what had been left behind. This saved
the army from annihilation ; but it did not prevent the Viien
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HARMAWS AND ST. CLAIR'S CAAfPAIGNS.
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throwing away their imiskets, and St. Chiir, near the roar of
the line, foinul the ground covered with these rejected weapons
as he passed along. He conn)lained that the horse he rode
" could not be pricked out of a walk," so it was inipossihic lor
him to ride forward and stop the waste.
The action began a half hour befon; sunrise, and the re-
treat was made at half-i>ast nine. The estimates vary, but it is
probable that St. Clair had in the fight not more tluin fouitinn
hundred men, and of these scarce half a hundred were uiiliurt.
Very few beyond the killed and desperately wounded fell into
the enemy's hands.
It is generally recognized that Little Turtle led the ludiuiis.
There was a small body of Mohawks present, but it is not
pi'obable that Brant was among them. Stone, his biogniphcr,
found a belief among the chief's descendants that he was in the
fight ; but there is no evidence of a more trustworthy kind.
The Delavvaiv.s, who had been stigmatized as women for lack of
courage in ])ast years, wiped out the disgrace by valijint deeds.
It was near thirty miles from the battlefield to Fort .b'ffer-
son, and the remnant of the army reached that post befoie
night. Here St. Clair found Ilamtramck and his conunand,
and left about seventy of his wounded.
On November 9, he sent from Fort Washington a messeufjcr
with a dis})atch, but nuuors had already reached the govern-
ment ten or eleven days earlier, and thirty days after tlie
disaster. About the same time the news of the Indian side,
traveling by the way of Vincennes, reached Frankfort, wlicn it
stirred Wilkinson's i-ampant energy, who was ready to strike
the war-])ath on the Maumee or " perish in the attempt."
• ,5
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The Indian question had now become more serious than ever
liefore, and there was great danger of the disaffection spreadini;
among the Six Nations. Pickering, during the sununer. liad
labored hard to propitiate them ; but he had encountered tlie
adverse influence of Brant. The activity of this chief was sur-
prising. No sooner was he heard of at the Maumee rajiids.
conferring with the tribes, than he was reported at Niagara, in
council with the British commander. His messengers, in the
interim, were plying back and forth. All the while, as the let-
ters now published show, warnings were coming from England,
a mosscn<it'r
JKFFKUSUN A\D HAM MdXD.
481
aii'l puHSL'd on to the ii))i)('r jtosts, to prevent an oiitbieak.
IVrhiip.s tlu' cabinet in London little knew how renegade niis-
c'liitt'-makei's were assuming among the Miamis to represent
British purposes to aid them in a war, and the Canadian
otticials were eonstantl} apprehending an attack on the posts,
thoiigii Heekwith was writing to tliem from IMiihidclphia that
the federal government disehtimed any sueh intention.
Before the news of St. Clair's defeat had reached l^hiiadel-
])irni. riefferson and Hammond, the newly arrived Hritish min-
istei', had begun their bootless eonferenees. It was not long
hofore it was apparent that Ilannnond had eome merely to talk
and keep watch. The two re})resentatives were hoj)elessly at
variance. They oj)|)osed each other on every as})ect of the
treaty of 1782. Ilannnond said that interest on the British
(li'l)ts constituted a pait of the oi)ligation. Jefferson denied it.
Ilannnond represented and Jefferson disputed that the Ameri-
cans had first broken the treaty. This kind of disputatious
fence was going on, when the news of St. Clair's defeat put a
stoj) to it, and the American cabinet gave itself to other mat-
tci'.. Of course it was necessary to find a sca}>egoat for the ill
hu'lv at the west. The secretary of war was accused of neg-
lect. The quartermaster had not done his duty. St. Clair had
proved a failure. The news from the New England States
showed that that section of the counti-y at least was tired of the
war. They believed with Pickering that i)acifying the Indians
cost less than killing them. The old prol)lem of the resjion-
siliility of the British for aiding the savages came u}) again,
ilannnond promptly denied any complicity in his countrymen.
It was a question whether a schedule of evidences, refuting
Ilannnond's asseverations, should not be given to Thonuis
Pinekney, who was just starting for England. Certain acts
were acknowledged by Hammond, but defended on the ground
of charitable giving of food to famishing beings. Again, it was
confessed giuis and jiowder had been given, but it was a neces-
sity of the Indian hunting season, while the Aniericans claimed
that such gifts in times of peace were quite another thing when
pfivon in time of war, and they became a breach of neutrality.
It (lid not make a bad matter better if, as the Americans con-
tended, McKee scattered the munitions of war with his hands
iind talked peace as he did it. Nor was it less to be resented in
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J/All.UAlt'S AXD ST. CLAIIi'S CAMPAKiSS.
Sir John f oliiisou doing the .same thiny statcHlly jit tlie nioutli
of the Niagara.
The fact was, it was extremely ditticult for the Hritisli jroy.
ernnient to treat tiie Indians as wards and adnunister to their
needs, and not transgress the limits of nentrality as the Aniuri.
cans understood it. It was further, no doubt, true that frifiidly
phrases uttered to the Indians by those wearing the liritisli
uiuform were easily conceived to be a pronn, e of help, by those
anxious to receive it. As reports spread west, it was easy for
the remoter tribes, espeiually if prompted to it, to imagine that
to espouse the (piarrel of the nearer people was the way to put
off their own sacrifices to the whites. Kufus Putnam inforiiifil
Knox that the Chippeways inelir "d to be neutral, but weiv
jdayed \\\to\\ in this way till they endjraeed the cause of tliu
Miamis.
When it came to the <piestio'i of bounds between the Indians
and the Americans, there is no doubt the English were pr;--
pared to do what could be done, without actually imperiling
the peace, to advance the demands of the tribes, and even to
denuind larger sacrifices from the Rep:d)lic. They talked iiiiich
about the desirability of a territory oarrier to keep the reck-
less Americans and the heedless Britons apart. Some of tlie
maps issued in London assumed this barrier as a part of tlio
political geography of North America. It was Jefferson's opin-
ion, from what Ilannnond had said, that the British government
wanted a new line run, which sliould leave Lake Ontari.) Ijythe
Genesee, thence follow the Alleghany to Pittsburg, and so west
in some way to the Mississippi. This would provide a barrier
country and open the Mississip})i to British access. If not this.
their purpose was to gain that river by running the line from
the Lake of the Woods to its sources, instead of due west to
that river, which the treaty required, and which had proved a
geograi)hical impossibility. Perhaps a line even better for
England coidd be secured, as Hammond sometimes clainu'd, by
starting the westward line at Lake Su])erior instead. Some
of the current maps of the English give this line as starting;
from the westernmost point of Lake Superior. Jeffeison. on
his side, claimed that the error of the treaty was remedied
more simply by running the line due north from the sources
THE I Shi AN LISE.
433
of the Mississippi, aiul thiit tiio ligiit of Kiiglantl to sliaic in
the luivigiition of tlu- Mississippi was iiisnttul in the treaty
merely to niei-t tho (!ontinj;('iu'y of Spain's yiehling west Horida
to Kiigland, in the y;encral treaty inutle seven wi'i-ks later.
Tims oroadly were tlie lii-itish scanninj^' the possihilities of a
rectifieation of the Ke|)ul)lie*s nortliern boundary.
The Indian demand •••ave tlie tribes all the eountry north of
the Ohio and west of the MusUinj^uni and the Cayahoj;!i.
Thty elainied on every oceasion that they had never parted
with an acre of this territory by any fair treaty. The Anieri-
ciiiis eited the treaty of Fort llarniar, insisted it was not a
fraiuhdent eonipaet, and, as lands had been granted under it,
tlie grantees must be protected. The British said that in any
event the Americans had, by the treaty of 1782, only the right
of piei'uiption to any lands south of the lakes which had not
l)een bought of the trilies ])rior to 1782 ; and that the treaty
gave the Indians the i-ight to decline to sell, if they would.
This view was a c(mnnon one in the English nuvjis, which ran
the l)ounds of the United States along the Allegiianies, There
is little doubt the Indians were taught sedulously this view
of the treaty, for it i)rotected the ])osts and j)erj)etuated the
Hi'itish fur trade. It would seem that to sustain this view the
iii'W act creating Ujijjcr Canada had studiously avoided giving
any bounds. This view also served the liritish in appeasing
the savage discontent at the cruel way in which the interests
of tlie Indians were aljandoned by the British couunissioners in
negotiating the treaty. It is elear from the letters of Brant
and Sir dohn Johnson that they understood the matter in the
IWtish way.
It was evident, then, that the combined interests of the Brit-
ish and Indians, in such a line by the Ohio, must be overcome
hy composition or force, l)efore the Republic could achieve the
territorial inde])endence whii'h was thought to be assured to
her by the treaty of 1782.
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CIIAPTEK XX.
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THE NORTHWEST TKIBES AT LAST DEFEATED.
1792-1794.
Ill
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Befohk the (lazing effect of St. Clair's defeat was disiiclltil.
Knox had }>lanned a legionary reorganization of tlie wcsttiii
army, on tlie basis of five thonsand men, with a sui)i)li'i'iriital
force of militia and sconts. While there was a probaijle iifccs-
sity for such military provision, it was deemed i)rudent to ascer-
tain if the intercession of the Six Nations could not end the
northwestern difficulty without a fui'ther resort to arms. Bct'uiv
the close of 1791, Cornplanter, the Seneca leader, had Ijitii
invited to rhiladelj)hia, and Kirkland, the m:ssionur^ . was
sought to use his intluenee with Brant and th ; Mohawks to
induce tliem to join the council. So pressure was brought to
bear upon the two extremes of tlie New York confederates, in
the hope to bring about the acquiescence of the entire leamio,
On danuary 3, 1792, Kirkland wrote to l^rant. urging hiui toai-
ce})t tlie invitation, and giving ]n'omise of ])rotcction, a guaran-
tee not altogether unnecessary, for Brant's name was assi.eiattil
with .sonie of the most fiendish acts of the Hcvidution. ■.vliose
eft'ects were not yet foi-gotten. A month later. Brant deelineil
(PVbruary 8), and later still (February 25), Knox added a mu
appeal.
Meanwhile. St. Clair had arrived in Xew York, ready to face
the charges against him for his failui'e. lie desired tiist a
court-martial, hut there were not officers enough available of
suitable rank. lie asked to retain his military conuiiissioii
initil such incpiiry as Congress should institute was over. Tliiv
however, as he was told by Washington, who remained tlir<iiiL;li-
out kind and considerate, was not practicable, as the law a!
lowed but a single majpr-general, and his successor was iiii|ii'ra-
tively needed to proceed to the northwest and take coiiiiiiainl
So, in April, St. Clair was induceil to resign.
■sa
DUER AND THE SCIOTO COMPANY.
4:55
[ii Fobniary, 1792, Congress was canvassing the chanees of a
lie oanipaign, and there was little heart for it among the east-
cm menxlters, who never qnite comprehended the western spirit.
Oliver AV'^olcott was a good rejn'esentative of th.ose indifferent
t(i the demands of the frontiers, ar.d was (juite willing to let
them tight ont their own salvation, and to run the risk of their
iiKikiiig foreign alliances. "These western ])eople,"" he said,
■•are a violent anil unjust race in many respects, unrestrained
l>v I:iw and con^'iderations of jmblic policy." Washington was
not <iuite so sweei)ing in his belief, but he f dt that western
urgency was very embarrassing. Among those who woidd make
the western cause that of the country, there was a division of
i)])iiiiou between the desirability of fixed posts for awing the
trilies, and the propriety of aggressi\re warfare. Washington
was decidedly on the side of those who had no confidence in
iiuTely defensive nu>asnres.
Tlif Indian department, in 1791, had s])ent #27.000 in snp-
pui'tiiig the St. Clair campaign, which was ten times what had
i'vei' heen a}>i)ropriated before, and ther*^ as not a little appre-
hiii^ion in entering upon anotlier year's warfare, likely to be
inori! costly still, to find that in financial aspects the spring of
17l''2 was a discouraging one.
Tin' speculative acts of Diier — and the enemies of Hamilton
iliai'gcd that that financial minister's funding jjolicy had ojiencd
tilt' way to stotdv-jobbing — had brought him to bnnkrupt<'v. to
add still further to the blackni.'ss of thi; (Jallijiolis scandal. Tlie
magnate of the S<-ioto Company, and one of those enunently
Hist |»eople of the land whom Cutler rejoiced in. was now a
prisdiier for debt. For a result, as Pickering wiote. " New Yoik
was ill an upro;vr. and all business at a stand." .leff'erson. with
a kind of satisfaction at the dilcinnia of the treasury, wrote,
i>ii March l<i : " Ducr, the king of the alley, is under a kind
iif clicck. The stock-sellers say lie will i-ise again. The stock-
!myt rs count him out. and the credit and fate of tli' naMon
-I't'iii to hang on the ilespei-ate thnnvs and jdnngi's of gainb ing
>i'imn(li>'ls." deft'ei'son riirther affected to Ixdieve that the
iiiistMies o'.' the South Sea bubble and tic Mississippi scheme
Were as nothing, ])i'o])ortionallv. to the drop in srcurities which
was now going on. In the midst of t^hls tinancial crash. Hufiis
I'litiiam antl Cutler appeai'cd in IMiiladelpbia, seeking from
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43G THE NORTinVEST TRIBES AT LAST DEFEAT Eli
Congress their aid in two resi)ec'ts to prevent the oolhijisf of the
Ohio Company. They represented that during 1791 an<l 17!I2
they had spent #11,350 in j)rotecting themselves against the
Indians, and they succeeded in inducing the governnicnt to
assume a part of this. Their other pk'a touched the ini]»oii(liii"
forfeiture of their lands, for their second payment of #r)(J.O00
was due, and they had nothing with which to pay it. Tlieir
difficulty came in the main, as they urged, from their additional
purchase of one million five hundred thousand acres, which tlicy
asked to be released from, for Colonel Duer and the oil, r "Hist
people," who had agreed to buy it of them, had not done so.
and Kichard Piatt, their treasurer, was in jail, also, with u
shortage of i|80,000 in his accounts. They asked, also, th:it the
chiU'ge for land per acre which had been agreed u})on should l)^'
reduced, as the government was offering land at lower rates.
and they could not compete with it. They made a i)itifiii plea
of the consideration they shoidd experience as pioneers, and
it had its effect. But the poor aliens at Gallipolis grnhl)ed
on without such consideration. The Indians yelped in tluii
ears, they got no letters from home, and it seemed to tlieir iniiul
a question whether revolutionary France or the " first pt'uple
of America "' were the most to be abhorred. In the spiinj^' (if
1792, they began to scatter. Some went to Detroit, otlieis tied
to Kaskaskia. Those that stayed grew hollow-eyed. n(ivou>.
and hungry, while Duer relished his prison fare, and Cutler
talked botany with those he met.
il f 111
While such was the unpi'osj)erous outlook to the world, the
President and his little cabinet were, during Mandi. ITl'i
discussing the vexed jiioWems that confronted them. \\\\v\\
some one raised the (piestion of em])loving Indians, Wasliiiiuton
replied that they nnist be with us, or they would be sure to W
against us. lie would use tliem as scouts to end)arrass the
enemy's s])ies, and jirevent their getting near enough to our
troo|)s to leai'u their nund)ers and ])ui])oses.
AVhen flefferson ])roposed to build a fort at Pres(|n'Isle on
Lake Erie, — the modern town of Erie, — so as to indicate tlie
American right to the navigation of that lake, and iiiteijio-c
aJi obstacle thereby to the connnunication of the Senecas with
the western tribes, he opened a (juestion that for tvo years stood
it 1)
rrr
PETER POND.
437
ana intrviwso
ill tlie way of pacifying Brant. The project was sure at all
tiiiiis to arouse a disposition in the British " to repel force by
foive,"' who looked ui)on it as fatal to their supremacy in those
waters. At this moment. Hamilton and Knox objected to it as
likely to hurry the country into a war with England. Washing-
tun lemarked that the fulfillment of such a j)lan was best left
to a time when the United States could devote a larffe force to
maintain such a post. Jefferson, in pursuance of his plan, was
suggesting at the same time to Hammond that the two countries
foiild agree u})on the naval force which was to be kept on the
lakes.
The (piestion came up again a little later, when Kufus l^utnam,
witl. little regard to available resources, sent in a ])lan of a line
of ])()sts, beginning at Big Beaver Creek, on the Ohio, and
extending to Cayahoga Creek. He had traversed the country,
and said it was the easiest communication to maintain between
the Ohio and the lake, fit for a land carriage throughout, except
where a causeway would have to be bnilt throuti'h seven oreiu'ht
miles of swamjjy land. Such a passage would not, he contended,
lie subject to the interruption at dry seasons which a water-way
was sure to encounter. At the noitherly end of this route,
where is now the modern Cleveland, he liad ])lanned a strong-
fort and naval rendezvous, as the best point for sending su])plics
!iy the cheapest way to the Maumee country : " The sooner we
show ourselves on the shores of Lake Krie, the better,'* he
aililed. Washington easily pushed the |)lan aside as involving
a division of tlu; proposed legionary force, which was not likely
to lie more than enough for the main stroke farther west, since
it was as yet by no means sure that recruits would be found in
alinndance. Beside, it was certainly AVashington's o])inlon that
ilefensive posts ahnig a line had but little military effect upon
Mich a scattered foe as the Indian tribes,
\\ V have si'cn that one Peter l*ond had within a year or two
lieeii trying to gain at the same time the favor of both the
ISiitish and ApKMicans. He had still more recently tried to
ivaeli the west by Niagara, but liad been turned back by tlu;
Hiitisli. He now ai)peared in IMilhuhdphia, and made some
startling statements to the government. He assured tjiem that
all efforts to establish a ])eace with the Indians would fail ludess
tliev would acce})t the mediation of England, He professed to
.
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438 THE NORTHWEST TRIBES AT LAST DEEEATIlh.
believe that this would have to be accoin])lishe(l by a joint ('(uii-
mission of three, vepresentiug vespeetively the Iiuliaiis and tliu
two governments, and that when the line of separation was
deternuned, the liritish would guarantee its preservation to the
Indians. Hamilton had little faith in Pond, as he well ini'dit
have, and there was still less trust in his story of tlie intention
of the British to settle a thousand families in the Illinois eoini-
try. The idea of British mediation in any way was an ungiate-
ful one to the eabinet, and they promptly dismissed it in their
eounseis. A little later, Morris, in England, heard a rumor of
the United States asking" England to intereede, and coininuiii-
eated it to A^'^ashington. He replied with something like indig-
nation that any suggestion of it would be promptly dismissed.
As the time ap])roached for the eoming of the Seneeas to
confer with the President and his advisers, it was decichnl at
a (•al)inet meeting that the Indian eml)assy "should be well
treated, but not over-trusted." Red Jacket and his fellows
reached Philadelphia on March 13, 1792, under the escort of
Kirkland. It was soon ai)parent that wliatever friendly dispo-
sition the visitors might manifest, a j)revalenee of it amoiii;'
the tribes at home could not be depended upon. Red .laeket.
in accounting for this widt'spread distrust among his i)eo|ile.
charged it upon the fact that the Six Nations wei'c not asked
to have any hand in the treaty of se])aration in ITcSii. He
further told Pickering, who conducted most of the confeienees
with them, that the western Indians did not understand how the
British and the Americans, '" im])oi'tant and proud as tliey lioth
were," having made a treaty, did not abide by it. Pickering
said that the Miiimi and AVabash Irulians had always Iteen
averse to a ti-ciity, while the treaties entered upon with the other
tribes were fairly made on both sides, and liad been j'lstly
kept. The United Stat(>s having thus ac(piired lands a:id made
grants of tliCii, they were under the necessity of jtroteeting
tin; grantees. It was said in reply that the agreement at I'oit
Mcintosh was not a fair one, as those wlio represented the In-
dians were not authorized. Fui'ther. there had been a studied
|)nrpose to exclude the Six Nations from these western tnaties.
This was, Ked Jacket affirmed, another cause of their grievame.
As was usual in such conferences, both sides uttei'ed their
beliefs, and that was about all, except, after \\'ashington had.
H
U' conttMcniM':
AMUONY WA YXE.
439
oil April 25, matle thnn a farewell sj)ee('li, they had a last
sf»ion oil April 30, 1792, ami departed with the promise to
siiul a deputation to the western tribes. Jirant, as we have
still, had declined to join in the delil)ei'ations, hut, on ^lay 27,
he wrote to Knox that if later he fountl the Miamis ai>proved
it. he would eonsider the invitation afresh.
While these interviews with the Senecas were i^'oin}^' on,
Washington had been runninj^ over the names of otfieers,
oxjierieneed in the late war, to find a successor to St. Clair.
His tirst choice was Henry Lee of Virginia, and this gentleman
>ii'ed the ap})ointment ; but he was the junior in rank to
these whom Washington wished to make his brigadiers, and
the appointment was i)assi>d by in avoidance of resulting jeal-
ousies and refusals. AVashington confessed he had nt!ver been
so embarrassed in making any a])))ointments. When the mat-
ter was discussed in the (!abinet, dert'erson records that the
President looked upon AVayne as " brave and notliing else."
Washington's studied and written estimate of Wayne, at tins
time, is fortunately ])reserved. He considered him '• more
active and t'uterprising than judicious and cautious. No econo-
mist it is feared. Open to flattery, vain : easily imposed upon
and liable to be drawn into scrapes."* Such a character — and
there is no doubt that such was a pi'cvalent opinion of •• Mad
Anthony "' — did not indeed promise well for the critical june-
tidii at the northwest, with England, if not in o[)en, at least in
t'(|ui vocal relations with tlie enemy. Lee, when lie heard of
the result, expressed to the President his surju'ise, and told him
the a])i)()intment liad. in Vii'ginia. created disgust. The choice
was. in fact, not a little infiuenc<'d by tlie resti-ictions of mili-
tary eti(piette and the necessity of harmoni/ing interests and
scf'Mring good lieutenants. So in re|)ly to Lee, Wiishington
net so much vindicated liis selection, as apologized for it.
" ^\ ayne."" he wrote, *' has many good points as an otHeer, and
it is to be hoped that time. refi<'ction. good advice, and above
all a due sense of the importance of tlie trust will correct his
foililes, or cast a shade over tliem."' It grew ap])arent in the
next few months that Washington was not without anxiety
lest results should reflect on his sagacity, and he kept Knox
in'(iiii])tly to the task of cautioning the new commander.
The ai)pointment naturally caused the English some solici-
' I
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440 THE NORTinVEST TRIBES AT LAST UEFEATEh.
tude, t'onsidoriiig' liow easily an Indian war could induce in-
adverti'uc'tis that niiglit ji'opanlize the rehitions of tlic two
iu'0])les. llanunond wrote of the new leader that he was '-tlif
most active, vigilant, and enterprising officer in the Aniericaii
army, Imt his talents are luirely military,"" and he felt, ;i> In^
wrote to Siuicoe, that Wayne might he tempted to attack tlic
British posts, since success in such an act wou^ ^ he sure to
make him the successor of Washington.
Tile selection of AVilkinson as the first of the four hrigiidicrs
was a bolder step, perhai)s. than the choice of Wayne. AVlicn
last heard from he had gone with one hundred and liftv
mounted Kentucky volunteers to bury the mutilated dcail on
St. Claii"s bloody held, and the act was one of the daring sort
to which Wilkinson was (juite equal. Washington, In discuss-
ing liiiii in the cabinet, had evidently recalled his dubious career
in Kentucky, for Jefferson's summary of the talk makes tju;
President call him " brave, enterprising to excess : but niiniy
unapi)rovable points in his character."' Ilis written estimate
avoids this shadow, when he calls Wilkinson " lively, sensible,
pompous, and ainl)itious."'
There had been an attempt to give the same rank to Colonel
Marinus Willet, an officer of large experience in forest wailare,
for he had been with Sullivan and had opposed St. Leger. lie.
however, shared the doubt of many northern men — being a
New Yorker — of the advisability of an Indian war, and rcfnsed
the aj)i)ointnient. In doing so, he gave an o})inion that he had
never known it to fail of success, when the Indians weie
attacked in a charge, with shouts louder than their own yell.
Wayne wisely profited, as we sliall see, by this veteran's ex-
perience.
Meanwhile, to bring the British minister to some distinct
ex])ression of opinion as regards the posts. Jefferson on May
20, 1T!>2. intimated to that gentleman that, while in nianajrini;
with the state governments so complicated a matter as tin'
recovery of the British debts some time must necessarily be
consumed, it was a very .short business for England to set
things right on her side by surrendering the ]iosts, which, as lie
said in one of his letters, was occasioning dai.'y cost (»f ••Mood
and treasure " to the United States. The story of tlic initial
infraction of the treaty, whether it was to be charged to Knu-
is
ltf:FUS PUTNAM.
441
in )ii:ui;i;rini.
liinil or to tlui States, luul bot'oiue stale, but Jefferson rehearsed
it. Ilaiuilton, reverting to the debts, admitted that they were
now only a question south of the Potoniae, and that there
were £2,000,000 still due in Virginia. The eorrespondenee
siious hf)W the two failed to agree in most points, and that they
well! at variance on the rights of the British traders to follow
tluir business on American soil. Nothing came of this recrimi
iKitiou, and llannuond alleging that European eomidications
wcie causing delay in the considerations in London, and other
(ilijfcts coming in view, the mattei was for a while dro])i)ed.
Putnam, another of the new brigadiers, had been character-
ized by Washington as i)ossessiug a '" strong mind, and as a
(iisoreet man. No (piestion has ever been made — that has
(•(line to my knowledge — of his want of firnuiess. In short,
tlicrt! is nothing conspicuous in his character, and he is but little
known out of his own State and a narrow circle." Soon after
his a])ponitment, he was selected to follow up a mission to the
Miaiiiis, which had already been sent forward by a decision of
tlie cabinet. On reaching Pittsburg in June, 1792, he found
Wayne there, busily worlcing at the problems before him.
Passing down the river, Putnam met at Fort AVashington ti-
(liiins of the murder of Captain Alexander Truman, of the First
hit'autry, and ins com})anions, who had gone ahead to reach the
Miauiis. After this, it was di'cnied foolhardy to follow in their
h'ack, and on July 5 Putnam sent back to Knox an urgent
(ipiiiion that an attempt be made to treat with the Wabash In-
dians instead. Ilamtramck was still in connnand at Vinccnnes,
Imt it was Washington's opinion that a negotiator of '" more
(ligiiitied character "' should be sent, and Putnam was author-
izL'il to proceed. He engaged Ileckewcldcr, the missionary, to
aci'd'iipany him, and on Sei)tend)er lo they reached Vinceinies.
IVii (lays later, tiiey entered upon negotiation, and after thre(!
(lays (»f l)(«lts and speeches, a conclusion was i-eached. by wliicb
t! - Pottawattamies and other tribes ])ut themselves under the
proti'ctlon of the United States. The great ])oint gained was
tliat It interposed a body of friendly Indians between the hostile
Miainis and the southern Indians, who were accustomed to
''liiiL;' their aid. by a detour thi-ough the west. Putnam had
!,'oii(.' rather farther than the Senate in the end was ready to
iippiove, in that he had guaranteed to these remote tribes the
sate possession of their lands.
%^
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442 THE MJllTinVEST TRIHES AT LAST DEFEATED.
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Tlicse ])Ossil)lo abettors of the Mianiis on tlu'ir western Hank
being- thus jjlaeated, niueli depended, if tliere was to \w iii-acf,
on an interces.'.ou witli the Six Nations to secure their aid dii
the eastern flank of tlie Miami eonfederaey. The vital point
in this end(!avor was to gain the interest of Brant, who in tlic
winter had deelined eo()j)eration, but was hiter persnadnl hv
Kirkhmd to resist tiie dissuasive efforts of Sir .John .lolmson.
Washington i-eeords IJrants arrival in lMiiladel|)liia on Juiie
20, 1T1>2, not far from t 'i' time that the misfortune to rnunaii
was taking plaee. The President exi)ressed the hope that tlir
government eould impress the chieftain with its ecjuitable iiitin-
tions. If iirants own words can be believed, he was offt ivil
a thousand guineas and double the amount he was ie('ti\ iiij;
annually from the British government, if lu' would adlu re to
the American side.
During his stay in l*hiladel})hia, Brant dined with the Kiig-
lish minister, but without causing any comment. The cahiiict
was pleased with his peaceful disposition, and he promised to l;u
himself to the western allies and intercede for the fulHlliiieiit
of the Muskingum treaty. This was hopeful, but the expecta-
tion was unstable. No sooner, on his return to Niagara, had
he come in (Contact with adverse interests, than he wrote to
Knox (July 2G, 1792) that he eotdd do nothing at the .Mainiue
council, if the United States insisted ujion the Fort llaniiai'
treaty. Three days later, he communicated with McKei'. ask-
ing if he should carry the Amfuican pro])osltion to the Indian
council. McKee, who informed Simcoe that he had liiiiisclf
urged the Indians to accejit a similar restriction of thtir dc-
mauds, told Brant to go to the couucil, but to have no liopi'
of getting it to agree to the F(n't llarmar line. Simcoe wlni
was full of the idea that the United States nn^ant to attack tlic
posts, had arrived at Niagara in August, and his views weiv
not modified by what he heard. Brant, falling ill, was oliliuvd
to transmit his message by his son.
Some weeks later, in September, 1792, the f(n-mal ciiit>a>sy
of the Six Nations, in accordance with the agreement ot the
Senecas in Philadelphia, left Niagara under tlie lead of ( 'oid-
])lanter and Ked .laeket. Tlie council of the ]\Iianii confed-
erates had l)een going on at the junction of the Augkiizi am!
Maumee, with some interruption, since si)ring. McKcc and
ii I
77//i L\I>1A\ COUNCIL.
443
Simon (lirtv had btun much of the time in iittemUmce, dealinu-
out |)()\v(lt'r and liatehets to the sc'ali)ing- i)arties, which at inter-
vals camc! and went on their miseiabh! errands.
The Shawnees, prominent in tht' council, had notilied the Six
Nations that they wouhl receive no })eace proposition excej)t
through them, and so the Senecas had come with sonu' expecta-
tinii of better treatment than they got. C'ornidanter and lied
.laiket found the smoke of the council fire curling aloft amid
the ()ctol)er leaves. Representatives of many tribes, all the
way from Lake Ontario to Lake Superior, and even from west
(if the Mississippi, sat crouched beneath the blue veil that went
twisting ui)ward. AVhen the speaker rose, there were sharp
lines soon drawn in their oj)inions. The Shawnees were un-
(■([iiivoeally for war, and the eyes of Sinum (Jirty, the only
white man admitted to their conference, gleamed with satisfac-
tion. Amid all the tedious and reiterative verbiage customary
iu such sittings, it was evident that the nussion of the Six
Nations was unpropitious. When lied fJaeket in his sj)eech
counseled j)eace, there were nuxnnurs of distrust. So, after all
was said, the urgent ap[)eals of Cornplanter and his followers
produced iu> other result than that the final plunge into general
hostility would be delayed till tlie Six ^'ations couhl arrange
with the United States for another council at the jSIaumee
vajiids in the spring of 1703. if, in the mean while, the federal
i;(iveiinnent W(mld withdraw their troo]>s south of the Ohio.
On the 12th of October, 1702, the council broke up. By tlu;
middle of Xovembcr, Ked flacket was at Buffalo Creek ready
to transmit to Philadelphia the decision of the confederated
ti'ilit's. It was hardly a question with some Mohicans, who
had icturned from the Maunu'e with the Senecas, that war
was inevitable.
\\ hen Brant was in rhilad(dphia, Washington had forecast
the alternative. " If they will not listen to the voice of peace,"
lit' said, "the sword must decide the dispute: and we are, though
very reluctantly, vigorously preparing to meet the event.""
Ihose pieparations had been going on all sunnner. Enlist-
iiicuts had not been l»risk, and Washington had occasion not
iiiily to urge more active measures, but to check the enrolling
••f what he called " boys and miscreants,"" for St. Clair"s expe-
I'icnce was not to be forji-otten. The President had watched
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444 THE MurrnwKsT rniiiEs .\t last dkfka/i:/!.
jinxiuiisly the ivportH of Wiiyiic to the scen'tarv of war. H,.
kiifw liow iiiucli success <l('i)('iul«'(l upon a \vt'll-(liillc(l t'oicc,
and upon tin; cordial colipi'ration of the coinmandcrs oflii'iis.
Kiiox liad told liini of tlic assiduity of \\'ilkinsoii. and lie tdnk
ot'casioii to K't that l»rii;adi('r know how much ho a|)pri-ciat((l
his "zeal and ability." He cautioned Wayne, howc r h,.
might avoid lavish cxpenditui'es in other matters, " not to ]»■
sparing- of powder anil lead to make his scddiers marksuieu."
Wayne at one time submitted })lans of what Washiiintdii
called "desultory strokes" niK)n St. Josi^ph and Sandusky, as
calculated to distract the enemy, and to retaliate for the maraiul-
ing which we have seen McKee and CJirty wen; encourai^iii;;'
at Auglai/e. Washington, however, had little conniu'iidatiiiii
for strokes at a vcnturi', which might lose more men tliaii tlio
recruiting could replace. More in)i)()rtant, as the President
thought, was it to get correct information by scouts, either from
the Indians or English, of the force to 1)0 encountered, so that
when the time came for advancing there might bo no gropiii;;
in the dark. IIi; also felt constrained to counscd a stiictcr
supervision of the contractors at Pittsburg, so that tlic imuii-
phiints which St. Clair had made might not be repeated, ih'iv
was the need of the care of an "economist,"" for dolm V<>\\r. a
traveler of this time, say.s that goods of every description arc
"dearer in Pittsburg than in Kentucky, owing to a coinbiiia-
tion of scoundrels who infest the ])]ace."'
All through the summer, the levies, either on their way to
Pittsburg or in cam]) there, had lost by desertions, and it \v;is
too difficult to enroll men to suffer this to go on. So. as tlic
autunm advanced, it was under consideration to mov" the ariiiv
onward to some sj)ot better guai'ded against the cliaiirc- of
escape, and whei-e the surrounding country had tlic fcatiiivs
suited to i)ractice the men in foi-i'st ])aths. AVashiiigtoii 1i;h1
been inclined to divide the force between Cincinnati. Maritttn.
and some s])ot not far from Pittsburg, where ^Vayne liimsilf
coidd remain in easy communication with the govcnuiicnt.
Finally, however, it was determined to make a winter camii at
a point about twenty-st>ven miles below I'ittsburg. and in No-
vember, 170:2. we find the President cautioning AN'aviic ai^aiiist
!: I
NoTR. —The map on the oppoHite imjje. of Pittsburg and vicinity, is from Victor CoUot- ./"'"•
Wfi/ in Aorl/i America, I'aris, IfL'U, Alltis, plate S.
KA TEh.
war. lie
illcd Idivc.
r"s otVii'crs.
mil lit' took
ai)|)l'<'fi;itr(l
jowe r III'
•• not (o \\v
■ksiiicii."
^Vasliingtoii
iindusliy. ;is
tin- iii;u"iU(l-
L'ni'onragiiii;'
iiunoiiilatidii
en than tlu;
K! President
eitlier from
■red, so that
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■1 a sti'icter
lat the eiiiii-
ated. lien;
oliii I'ojie. a
lerijttiiiii an'
a ettinhina-
their way to
v and it was
So. as the
v ' the army
ehanees et
tJH' t'eatmv^
in^'ton hail
Marietla.
lie hiiiisilt
ovenniieiit.
;'r eami' at
and in N"-
vne ai^aiiist
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440 r///-: xonrinvrsr ruinKs at last dicficateik
ncedloss oiitluy in the barracks. When in tlio sanif n tli
Washington met Conj^icss, lie confessed tli.it rccrnitin;;' had m(
faUen off that some adtlitional stimuhis ninst be devised.
Wiiihf these military preparations were <;'oinf^ on, it reinaiiicd
the policy of the federal ,i;'overnment t(» avert, if possihle. tlif
actual clash of aims. 'V\n\ proposition of the Miaud eontVd.
cracy at their last council opened the way. and there was the
same chainnd of conmr.inication as befoi-e in the professed will-
in«;iu'ss of the Six X.nions to intercede. Washin^ttni luid
litth' hoj)e of appeasing' the Indians, so loni;-, he said, as llu-v
were " under an influence whiidi is hostile to the rising ^iciit-
ness of these States," as the iu'iji;hb()rin<;' British were supposed
to be. The interccmrse which the mendxirs of the governiacut
had had with llannnoiid had not, to say the least, removed the
impressiiui of latent hostility, and of a ])urpose to inter|tos('. if
possible, a barrier territory, a])pertaining- to the Indians. Iiy
some new disposition of bounds in (lualitication of the treaty of
1782. I lanunond was but a younj;' man. peiliaps not as discreet
as he shouhl be, and he d(»ul)tlcss had a ditticult part to piiiy.
and it may be that he did not deserve all the suspicion under
which he lay at the time, and whi(di has affecti'd the dispositidu
of American historians since, dett'erson bluntly told him tliat
the ])id)lic was not ready to acce])t his deiual of Kntiland's ('((111-
jdicity in the ennuty of the Indians; though in diplomatic def-
erence, the American government nnght not be so distrustful.
In r)ecend)er, 1702, the cabinet had decidedly disclaimed :iiiy
intention of acce])ting Bi'itish mediation. If at that time tlicy
had understood Simcoe's character as wtdl as they did later.
they might not have agreed to allow his jiresence at the negoti-
ations to be renewed. Simcoe was at the time firm in the belief
that the Americans would make the intended conference an ov-
casion to assert tbeir rights to tlie navigation of i^ake Kric. liv
conveying the provisions whicb their commissioners i'e(|uIiL'il
over its waters in their own vessels. lie accoi'dingly sought
instructions as to what conduct lu; should ])ursue in maintaining
wliat he called British naval superiority on the lake. Clarke.
who was acting at Quebec in the absence of Dorchester, ciii-
phatically shared Simcoe's views, and the issue was ultiniatrly
avoided by a pro])osal of the Canadian government to fin nish
what su])plies were required.
THE A MERH '. 1 .V COMMlSSIoyHJ.'S.
447
Tlu! PrcHidcnt. who Icid failrd to induct; ( 'liailcs Cai roll of
Cai Tollton and (.'liailcs 'I'lioiiison, tlif old clfik <»t" the cailier
('(iii;;rt'SH, to act as coiuiuissioiicrs to the Indians, linally stdccted
litiijandn Liiicohi, Hcvorly Randolpli, and Timothy l'ii-kciin«;'.
Tlirv were contirnjcd by tho Senate, March 1, 17i>;{. It was
uiiili'istood that sonuf -tAO,!)*)!} worth of ])resents wonhl he put
,it tiieir disposal, with authority to c(»ntril»ute annually ■'i('lO,()00,
lii'siije •i)<'J,0()() to the head chiefs, as coni|>ensation for tl.i; uccejtt-
Miiii- liy the Indians of the terms of the Foit Ilarniar treaty of
17.*^!*. To art'ord some play in their conciliatory measures, the
cahiiiet had alrff.ldy expi-essed an o[)inion that if peace could
hittir l»e seeur«'d hy it, the commissioners nM;4ht consent to a
liiii' short of the Fort Harmar line, provided it kept secure all
lands whi(di the yovernment had already appropriatetl, <;ianted,
(ir roervi'd. This was yielding what the disj)uted treaty had,
ill .Irtferson's (»pinion, l)rou<;ht within the .Anu'rican jurisdic-
tion, and he alone of the President's advisers contendeil that
tin; coneession was unconstitutional, ilis alternative was to
retain jurisdiction, l)ut to a^ree not to settle the unappropriated
t('irit(»rv. It was his opinion, als(», that any line was lial)h' to
riTor of description, because of the insufficient kn(»wlc(l<;-e of
till' coinitry, and that Ilutchius's ma]), on which the treaty agrce-
iiicnt^ had been marked, did not show the lines with any exact-
iioss, except where the bounds were brought to tht; Ohio Kiver,
On May 17, 1793, Randolph and Pickering reached Niagara,
aiiil Lincoln, who had been engaged in foi'warding sup])Hes,
,' .ltd them eight days later. Here they leai'ued of tlie dccla-
iiition of war in Kngland atiiiiust Fraiu'c. and were well aware
lii»\v it was going to embarrass the goverurneiit's councils in
I'liiladflidua, and might affect the situation on the Canadian
'"Hinds. To adtl to their anxieties, Prant had gone forward
"11 May 5 to attend the ])reliminary council, before they had
liad a chance to confer with him. Just about this time we
I'iim from Zeisberger that the Moliawk chief, with eight canoes,
'*Hs passing through the Thames couutiy, on his way to the
Maniiici!.
It was understood that the commissioners were to await at
•>iMt;aia a sunnnons to the conference. Simcoe was gracious,
:iiid iiir a while their days ]iassed ])leasantly. AVhen it became
l^iiown that the Mianiis had sent messengers to express their
I
u
' !hl ^
: ic
III'
4
448 niE NORTHWEST TRIBES AT LAST DEFEATED.
\\]"
, r
!tl
'H'!.
I f(
inflexible inirpose to insist ui)()n the Oliio as the IxiMidarv,
and the commissioners had revealed to their host a .Ittt'iiiii-
nation as resolute to stand by the Fort llarmar tijjtv, tin
British commandi'r saw that there was little ehanee of war
beinL;' averted. Brant always held afterwards, with prohahh'
some knowledge of what the eonuniisioners might on ncccssitv
yichl, that, except for Knglish intevferenee, an accoimiuMhitiou
might have been reached. We now know from Simcoes IpH-t
that he profoundly distrusted the American purposes, and W-
lieved that tiie connnissioners were really aiming to alioiiate
the Six Nations both from the English and from the western
tribes.
Just as the Americans were to end)ark, on flune 'J(!, for San-
dusky, some messengers from the Maumee arrived, coiii])lainin};'
that Wayne was making hostile demonstrations while ilic (|iies-
tion of peace or war was still undecided, and some days lulor
the connnissioners eonununicated a wish to the secreta'v of
war that AVayne should be fiu'ther cauti(»ned. On ('nd)arkini;'.
the Americans found that Butler and McKee liad been de-
tailed to accompany them, as they had wished. They had only
])roceedei^ to Fort Erie, when they became wind-bound. On
shore there was a stockade inclosing a few rough l)uililiniis.
and outside a blockliouse, used for the kings stores. Irving
tlu're (m July 5, Bratit and fifty chiefs arrived from the Man-
mee, and, desiring a conference, it was decided to retiun to
Niagara for better accommodations, and to hold the iiiteiview
in Simcoe's house. The meeting was quickly ovei\ and Slni-
coe's letters tell us tliat. on fhdy 7, Brant started with liis miinl
nearly made up to recommend the yielding by th(^ Indians of
tlie settled lands north of the Ohio. A week later, tlie com-
missioners followed, and landed, on July 21, on the Canada si(k>
of the mouth of tlie Detroit Kiver Here tliev found a de])u
tation from the council, bearing a straight incpiiry if tlu'
Americans would yield to the Ohio line, and tlie (piestinn was
as pointedly answered in the negative. It was so<»n intimated.
however, that if the Indians woidd confirm the Fort llarniai'
line, and yield u]) the territory granted to (ieorge l\ogeis (lark
at the Ohio rajiids, the commissioners would not ask for any
Note. — Tin' view on tin- opposito pni^p fioin Lake (intario, lookinn into NiiiRara ll,M'r, iviis
taki'n liy tlir wife of Governor Sinu'oe in IT'.H. Fort Niuj;arii i« on tlie left. It isfniii D. b
Head's LiJ'e mid fimes 0/ Simcoe, Toronto, ISiK).
7i. 1 TKD.
! boKiuhuv,
. a ,l('t(M'ini-
ti'Ji'ty, tile
I ace of war
th pr(il)!il)ly
on ni'ct'ssitv
;omiii()(l;itiou
llU'Ot'S 1( H'V
)ses, iuul lu'-
'• to alienate
1 the wcsteni
I 20, for San-
C(nn])l:iiniiij;'
liilt! the ([iK's-
lue days later
seereta'T of
n eniharkinij,'.
iiad heen dc-
'hey hail only
Mnuind. On
oh huildinii's.
tores. Lying
nn the Miu-
to retui'n to
the interview
r. and Sini-
ith his uiinil
lie Indians of
cr. the eoni-
Canada side
rund a deini
iniry if the
(|uestiou was
»n iutiinat>'il.
Fort llarniar
]^)ovrs Chirk
ask for any
.ft. ItisfimnP. li
> ^'.
.'i I ■■!
■ j i ' ^1
(
i
■;i
450 THE NORTHWEST TRIBES AT LAST DEFEATED.
right in the soil beyond these limits, but only the right dt piv-
eni])tion. A Wyandot acted as spokesman, and stood firm for
the Ohio.
The next day, the 22d, the commissioners notified the council
that they were ready for a meeting. From what wc know of
the proceedings of the Indians whtn this message was ri'ctivctl.
it is apparent that the discussions were very angry. The Sli;i\v-
nees, Twightwees, and Delawares pronounced loudly for war.
Brant tells us that all liope of diverting them from it was
lost, when messengers arrived from the Creeks announcing re-
newed encroachments of the whit;"^ on their lands. Sinicoe
later professed to believe that Brant, in his advocacy of i;j.ii!-
eration, was in reality striving t/t embroil Englard and tin
United States, and ]5rant in return charged the Englisli wit)i
the resi)onsi])iHty, because they promised aid to the Indians
if they would resist American encioaelnnents to the hist.
Instead of inviting the connnissioners to the council, tlio
tribes sent, on July 29, adeputati<m. with Simon Girty as iiitci-
l)reter, and on the 30th the whole question at ' ■<*'ie and the jiast
history of their respective grievances were : ;'i'e. tsed. (iiity,
speaking for the Indians, insisted that the provisions of the
Fort Stanwix treaty should be the l»asis of an agreement. Tlie
connnissioners replied that the Stanwix treaty was nuidc twenty-
five years aback, and that it was modified when the treaty of
1782 jdaced the bounds of t)ie United States on the line of the
lakes. This was hardly a happy reference, when a standing
grievance of the Indians was that the treaty of 1782 })ai(l tliem
no consideration wh;^tever, and dealt out their lands as if they
did not belong to them. Nor was it hel])ful to be tohl that
the Indians who sided with Great Britai!» in the revolutionary
contest must accei)t the consequent necessity of niodifyini.; the
original treaty of Fort Stanwix. Such mollifications had taken
plac in the later treaty of Fort Stanwix, and in those snlise-
quently made with the Wyandots and Shawnees. To eoniiini
all these by additional gratuities, the Indians were reminded
that St. Clair had met six hundred Indians at Fori Ilarniai'.
and removed all objections. This having been done, and the
ceded lands i^arceled out to white settlers, the United States
were boimd to keep faith with the grantees. To make the mat-
ter still smoother with the tribes, they were willing, it the
^m
nw
miulf twenty-
'11 a staiKliiij;
;e\v ivimudt'a
iFort llaniuu'.
rnited St:(t(?s
WAR INEVITABLE.
451
(riant to Clark at the Ohio rapids be iiichuled, to add as a new
(>ift an unprecedented sum of money and many gooils.
Tiiese statements made no effect, and tlie conference ended.
Tilt' next day the Indian delegates intimated that tlie commis-
sioners had best go home, or at least such was the form of com-
moiit which Girty gave to their iitteranees. After some days
tilt' council sent a defiant answer in due form. They denied
that the United States had any better rigiit to buy tiieir lands
than the English had. They th(mght that the Americans,
instead of offering money to them, liad much lietter use it in
Inlying out their grantees, so that they could l-irn the Indian
laiiil over to its true owners. During these latia- days of the
conference, all efforts of Brant to induce Simcoe to interpose in
favor of a compromise having failed, the conniiissioners had
nothing to do but to declare that tlie entl had come, and on the
same day (August IG) they left Detroit for Fort Krie. At
this point they dispatched a messenger to Wayne, who was
waiting at Fort ^^ asliington, informing him of the failure to
iiogDtiate. Tlie outcome was known in I'hiladelphia in Sep-
teinher, and it was generally believed, as Wolcott said, that the
failure was "' in great measure owing to l^ritish influence."
Washington sliared this distrust, and, as early as February, liad
laiitioned Knox not to relax his prejiarations for war.
Keeruiting was going on slowly, and by Marcli, 1793, \V!>_, ne
had not received half his promised force. Wher? the spring
had fairly opened, he had moved his two thousand five hundred
(lien down the river to Fort Washington, and sent a sununons
fir the mounted volunteers of Kentucky, wliicdi a committee,
I'onsiNting of Judge Innes, John Jirown, Isaac Shelby, Benjamin
Liigan, ar.d Charles Scott, had been organizing.
W ayne, as we have seen, had been directed to act on the
(k'ft'iisive only, till he heard of the failure of the negotiations
:it the Detroit Kiver. With this resti-aint he learned, not
without irritation, of the raids which the Indians were making
111 every direction, but lie jtrudently kept quiet. During the
!<iiiiiiiier he had asked permission of Knox to send out a body
fif six hundred militia, away from tlie line of his proposed
iiiand), ])ai'tly to deceive the enemy as to his intentions, and
partly to distract their attention. The matter, as it liap])ened,
t'aiiif before Washington and his advisers at the very meeting
I i
il^i' ij'
Y/1^
*
Ill'
1 1
»fl
452 THE NORTHWEST TRIBES AT LAST DEFEAT 111).
at which they heard from tlie comniissioiiiers of their failure.
They were in no humor to risk defeat i)y dividing the west tin
army, and the same messenger who carried to its gem ral u
eontirniation of the tidings, which he had already receivrd. of
tlie fniitiess task of the
connnissioni'i's, toi»k ;i1.m>
;i refusal tu his }»'ojii)sal.
The Indians natiuallv
knew of the faihin
I WW'.
111
advance, and in Scjittiti-
ber they fell iii>u![ om.
of Wayne's convoys ;iiiil
captured some liorsts. On
Octoher 0, Wayne wrote
to ICtiox that the next
day he shoidd ;ul\;iiice
bevond Fort defCcisoii to
a position where he was
to hiy out a caiii}» for
winter quarters, and to
be ])re}nired to act as oe-
easion required. Thi-
Kentucky volunteers
were coming in slowly.
and he could not ro[)oit
more than twenty-six
hundred regulars, with some four hundred horse militia niul
guides, the rest being detailed for garrison duty along his com-
munications. He had tak^ n pride m his cavalry, and lie ha'l
divid<Ml them into companies, according to tiie coh)r of the
horses, — sorrel, bay. chestnut. luid gray, — and. as he wmt
to Knox. ]»e was anxious lest tl»e Indians would bring "'i >
ai'tion w liere dragoon^^ could not manoeuvre to uJv;, itajff.
William Priest, a traveler in the country at the time- says that
" it is generally imagined that Wayne will meet the fate ot
Braddock and St. Clair, but a few military men I have tlis-
cussed with are of another opinion, f(»r tlie general is iiniHiiii;
a bf)dy of cavalry on pi'ineiples entirely new. from which iiu'.cli
is expected."
His maivh was accordingly btgun on October 7. ITI'3, aii'l
[Tliif. out. tr.kci! from Hone's Jlintoridit Cullecliona
of Ofiio, [I. 14.;, .shows tlif iiiii' of till' Htockade at
Grctnivillf, in ii'latioii to the inodeni town.]
^BlF':
V
) "
1
n'A yyi-rs nun', i am rioys.
453
MX (lays later he was liiyiny out a winter's camp, six miles l)e-
vDiul Fort Jefferson, wlu<.-h he named iu honor of liis old eom-
m.indcr in tlu- -ionthern department in the revolutionary davs,
I'oit (ireeneville or, as it was eonunonly written, (iuenville.
it ids marehing force was not ail that he had hoped for,
Wayne felt that many months of diseipline had made a \'dv»;e
part of them ton,i;h and ready warriors, and that lie had some
iiMiiiriis before him for seasoning tluMu in all the hardship and
kill of forest warfare. They already showed a marked pro-
ti.iiiu'y in loading and iirin<;' on tlie run, and weri' not inapt in
^)»iin'4ing to their w<n'k witli lotiil iiallooes, as Willet had reiom-
rciH^d. Wayne, liowever, was still conscioxis of a murmnrinji;"
Jisioatent in some of the fresher levies, and he ehavged it upon
tilt' "lialeful leaven " of the demoeratic clubs, which Genet was
iiist now pati'onizing in the east, and whose refractory spirit was
iiiiikirig its way over the mountains.
Tlie British scouts had reported his position as not two days
listant from the .Vuglaize, and Dorcdiester heard of it and
ii-povted from Quebec to Dundas that, on October 18, Wayne
11,1(1 with him three thousand regulars, two thousand militia.
;(! two hnnih'fHl Indians, — a not unusual exao-sevatlon.
All through the autunui and winter there was anxiety in
''iiiiiida. In Febnuiry, 1794, l)or< licster informed Ilainmond
'liut Wayne's language, as reported to him, showed that he had
lostilc designs against the P^nglisli. P^vidently to gain time,
'i"iut the end of 1703, the Delawares had opened connnunica-
1011 with Wayne, prevailed to do so " by sinister means," as
M'.dvee said. Nothing came of it, for Wayne insisted, as a
;iivliiiiniary, on the restoration of prisoners. Dorchester, in
M;iri ii, was evidently thinking that some coercion had been
I'jilii'il V)y the other tribes to make the Delawares firmer.
A'ayne was awaie <»l the intinence wliieh Simcoe was now
•♦-rting on the Indian (•.•nucils. an<l we have Brant's testim<(iiy
at ' ■ British had given the Indians powder, and iiad led
ii 11. ; . suppose that in cas^^ of disaster they wouhl suecor them.
^Vay.i.' examined the ju'isoners hi> seoirts l>rought in to confirm
•11(1) iutelHgeni'e, if thev- was irround for it lie got little
>;iti8fact)<»n. 'iiiwever. There vw ,>' who affirined it. and
'itlieis wh#> dem^eti it. The^re ik no doiuw, however, that Simcoe
'^iiswishing ardeisGlv for Wayne's '- " ' and detenuined in any
454 THE NORTHWEST TRIBES AT LAST DEFEAT Kh.
event to prevent sn])i)Hes reaelun<;' liini by the hike from I'lcsiiu'-
Isle, lie could not have been un])repare(l, later, to iiM-.ivc ad-
viees from Dundas that, in case Wayne was beaten, the i)|)|K)1'.
tiinity should not be lost to secure a barrier territory Ix'twccii
Canada and the Americans. Simcoe had not as yet received
sucdi iinj)licit instructions, but he could easily divine tliem. \
sp(?ech of Dorchester, which had reached Detroit, ser\e(l im
ininu'diate pur[)ose, l)ut to arouse the Indians and to eduiiti'-
nauce Simcoe in active agencies in helping' them, Doriliester
had lately been in council with the ministry, and his wokIs
stood easily for their oi)ini(>ns. This speech was a reply, whit h
he had made on February 10, 1794, to an Indian delegation.
Kingsford, a recent historian of Canada, thinks thnt its indi,.
cretions were but the natural njvulsion which Dorclie.^ter felt
wiien, fresh from England, he saw how great a hold the Freiuli
Revolution had taken u})on t\\(\ Americans. AVhetlier tiiis
was so or not, the speech was intemperate and incendiary, and
when a report of it reached Philadelphia, Ilaunnond sought
to eiface its effect by declaring that Dorchcstei- had not heeu
authorized to make it. It is certain tliat Dundas later rtdmknl
the utterer for doing what was more likely " to provoke liostili-
ties than to prevent them." The language of tlu' hiuaiigiif
was so unguarded tliat there was a tendency even in Phila-
delphia to doubt its authenticity, — a beli(>f that later mislrd
Marshall and Sparks. AVashington cei-taiidy acce|)ted it. as did
Clinton, who forwai'dcd it to the President. It is now known
to bi! })reserved in the Knglish archives, and Stone, the Idouru-
pher of Brant, found a certified copy among the papers oi that
chief. Another copy was sent to Carondelet.
In this speech Dorchester charged the United States witli
bad faith in the boundaiy dispute ; that all advance of settle-
ments since 1788 were encroachments, which nullified the Aiuci-
ican right of ])rei'm])tion. lie said lie should not be siu'])ristMl
if England and the United States were at war in the ennrse ef
the present year, and in that case the wari'iors would have x\w
chance to make a new line, and ai)propriate all im]>r()veineiit-^
wliich the Americans had made within it.
Copies of the sjieech were circidated early in April. ITW.
among the western Indians, Lieutenant-Colonel Butler beinu :ui
active agent in the matter. Inspired l>y it, and acting iiidetd
iU
Hm
u
wwpww
^wmmm w ^'^imif^gmmm
AT THE MAUMEE RAPIDS.
455
uiuliT Dorchester's express orders, Simcoe, shiiviug Dorchester's
luck of oonfideiu'e in the American ])i'otestjitionrf, took three
c'oiiipiinies of reguhirs to the rapids of the vviainnee, and there
hastily constructed a fort, necessary, in his opinion, as an outpost
of Detroit, and intended to be a check ia the way of Wayne's
lulvance. This is the reason which Simcoe gives, on April 11,
ill a letter written on tlie spot to Carondelet, who had asked
liim to join vSpain in a cam])aign on the ^[ississipj)i, in resist-
aiu'c to the proposed French invasion of Louisiana. When
Washington heard of this positive advam-e upon American ter-
lito) \ , he called it the " most open and darhig act " which tiie
liiitish had attempted, and in sending instructions to Wayne,
Knox conveyed the order of Wasiiington that if, in the course
of the campaign it should betrome necessary to dislodge the gar-
rison of this fort, Wayne must do so.
On fhme 7, some Indian prisoners were biought in, and from
tlani W ayne learned of ►Mmcoe's advance. They also reported
tliiit there were two thousand Indians at the Maumee rapids,
and that, including militia, the British of Fort Miami garrison
counted about four hundred. One of the captives said that
the liiitish had promised to have fifteen hundred men in the
niniiiig light.
During Juno, 1704, Wayne was occupied with his daily drills.
lie txci'cised his men with sabre and bayonet, and kept out a
cloiul of scouts to ])revent aity si>y of the enemy getting within
observation. Besides using Ins backwoodsmen for this service,
lu' li;id a few Chickasaws and Choctaws. His wo()dchop])ers
viic opening roads here and there, and serving to deceivt the
inilians as to his intended march. He had already sent a detail
the field of St. Clair's defeat, and had built there a small
flirt, which, in recognition of his reoccui)ation of th(! ground, h*
■alli'd Fort Recovery. On the 2Gth, General Scott readivNi
(ii'eeneville with sixteen hundred mounted Kentuckians, and
innong them was William Clark, tin' l)rother of O.-orge Rogerrv
(lark, and later known for his ])assage of the Rockies. On the
'ii^tli, he sent forward a party, and when n< ar Fort Recovery.
mi the 30th, they were assailed by a rush of Indians u))on sonu'
iliagdons, who received the attack, charged in return, somewhat
li'i'kli'ssly, and thei'e was a consideiable loss of horses, which
\'>.vnc could ill spare. It was thought that there were whites
■*} ,
S
( I
I'
',]!
? ' j
". ;
If
■m^
;
P ■;)
j, I
M 'i
^/
■IV
456 THE NORTHWEST TRIBES AT LAST DEFEAT HI).
among the enemy. In order to deceive the Indians, he turned
west and went on to the St. Mary's River, where he built a
fort, which he eaUcd Fort Adams. In July, he turned east, ami
marched seventy miles to the confluence of the Au<;liiizc and
the Maumee. Here, on August 8, he built Fort Defiaiuf, in
the midst of inunense fields of corn. lie was now within sixty
miles of the British fort, and his route to it lay along the banks
of the Maumee. He sent forward a converted Shawnee to
announce his readiness to treat for peace. Little Turtle, tlic
Indian leader, was not disinclined to accept the offer. His
scouts had convinced him of the sleepless vigilance of W'avnc,
They had found it impossible to i)ierce the line of wateliful
spies by whi(di the AmericJin connnander concealed his force.
Sinicoe also had lost confidence in the ability of the Indians to
withstand the Americans, and he had written to Dundas that,
while he hojjcd for "Wayne's defeat, he was by no means sure
it would happen. " If Wayne Jittacks Detroit," he wrote,
"you must l)e })rej)ared to hear it is taken."
Just at the time that Simcoe was building Fort ]\Iianii. tlic
legislature of Pennsylvania had directed the occupatic^n of
Presqu'Isle, and on March 1, 1704, Governor MifHin had in-
structed Major Denny to raise a company of troojis, and to
])roceed to that spot and protect the connnissioners in laying
out the town. He was enjoined to avoid every unfriendly act
which could possibly irritate the Indians or excite the enmity of
the British garrisons not far off. AVhile the spring came on. it
was apparent that the movement had excited the fears of IJrant
and his countrymen, and that: there was danger of active o]i|io-
sition on the part of the British. It was even sui)i)osed tliat
the American troops on the way to that point from Le i)H iif
wouhl be met and driven back. In the latter part of May. tlie
federal government, fearing such comidications, and under-
standing the hazard which Wayne was confronting, asked Gov-
ernor Mifflin to suspend the movement. The request was looked
u]ion as an interference with the rights of the legislature, wliicli
had simydy ordered the occupation of their own territory. l)nt
Mifflin did not hesitate, and promptly issued orders in coulorni-
ity with Washington's wishes, and at a later day the Assenilily
confirmed them. The federal government were nevenlit.es-
fearful lest the resentful spirit shared by the Indians ami their
1 :
■>ha\vuee to
. Tuvtl.'. till'
offer. His
of Wayne.
of watoliful
ed liis foi'i'e.
e Indians to
[)undas that.
( means suit
," he wrote,
i-t ^lianii. tlie
)eeni)ati(>n of
liffiin liad in-
roops, and to
ii'vs in liiyiiiji
unfriendly act
the enmity of
i<>- eame on. it
WAYNE ADVANCING.
457
British friends might yet bring peril, and Knox, in writing to
Mifflin on Jnly 17, declared that there e<mhl be no certain
avoidance of the danger while British policy controlled the
Indians.
Matters were in this critical state when Wayne began his
advance ; and just before the American general delivered his
final stroke, Simcoe, a])prehensive of the worst, antl ignorant of
Washington's interposition at Presqn'Isle, was writing to his
superiors that nnless disaster overtook Wayne, nothing could
])r('vt'nt the American occupation of the southern shores of
Lake Erie from Buffalo Creek to Miami Bay, when there would
be an end to British supremacy on the lakes.
To revert to the hesitancy of Little Tirtle. Had Brant been
on the s})ot, that Indian leader might have had an abettor in his
tendency to treat with Wayne, though the movement to oc(ui)y
?res(px'Isle had done much to bring back the old antipathy of
the Mohawks. Brant, at a distance, was disquieted over the
rumors which reached him that it was going to l)e difHcult to
keep fast the Mackinac and other northwestern tribes who were
threatening to leave. The messengers which the southern In-
dians had sent to off'er encouragement to their northern friends
bad not been followed up by the arrival of southern warriors,
and the Miami confederates, without Brant and his associates
on tlie one side, and with the Wabash tribes indifferent on the
ntlier side, found they had little to depend nj)on except the
ihitish, whose hel}) they remembered had failed them in critical
juiiftures in the ])ast. So the chiefs had delayed to resi)ond to
Wayne's invitation.
The Americans had nothing to gain by hesitation, and
Wayne, on August 15, again advanced. His army now counted
ahout two thousand six hundred men. He himself was not in
jjood condition, for he was suft'ering from gout, and sat his horse
swathed in flannel. On his staff", yielding him assistance, he
luul a hero of later savage warfare, a future President of the
Reiniblic, in William Henry Harrison.
The army was confident. In long drilling they had antici-
pated all possible conditions. They kiiew there was no chance
of being envelojied as St. Clair had been. They knew that
their flanks were guarded, and if a charge was ordered, the gap
1
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111 ?
, J
i^-
4'iH THE NOliTinVEST TRIBES AT LAST DEFEATIlh.
I' lit ^)'- It'
I
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between the van and its sni)i)oi*ts, and the hovering dragoons,
wouhl not peiMnit their being eut off. In these and other pus-
sibilities, the army enjoyed that sense of seeurity which conies
from knowing the vigihmee of its commander.
The next (hiy, Angnst 10, 1794, a messenger met the advance
and delivered to Wayne a reqnest that the Indians might Imvc
ten (hiys in which to consider his proposals for })eace. Wayne
was not in a mood to dally, lit; hastily bnilt a defense for the
baggage which he intended to leave at tliat point, and moved
on. On the 18th, he reached the npi)er end of th(! ra])ids. He
threw up another breastwork to protect his jjrovisions, and
began to feel the enemy. He made up his mind tlu're were
from fifteen hundred to two thousand of them. McKee says
they numbered one thousand three hundred. The British Haj;
flaunted on the f<n-t at the lower end of the rapids, and he
knew not what he might have to encounter. Not far away, in
a ground of their own choosing, encumbered with the tnniks
of trees which a whirlwind at some time had prostrated, and
concealed by tall grasses which grew between, the enemy lay
crouched.
The action began with the Indians rising upon a bund of
mounted volunteers who were ahead, floiuidering over a gionnd
where horsemen were at a disadvantage. The first line of in-
fantry, flanked by other cavalry, came promj)tly to tlieir sn])-
port. Their orders were to fire, charge, and contimie filing as
they ran. They put their practice in tliis difficult movenient
into play, and on they went, scrambling over and under the
trunks, preservii.g a nearly even front. Tlie\' gave tin; enemy
no time to reload, and before the second line, with tlie support
of Scott's Kentucky horse, could join in the contest, the Indi-
ans were in headlong retreat. It took forty minutes to ])icss
them back — with not a chance to recover themselves — for a
distance of two miles into the immediate vicinity of the I'ritisli
fort. Less than a thousand of Wayne's soldiers had won the
day.
There was no sign in the fort of any attempt to snecnr tlic
savages. The hinges of the gates which were expected to open
and receive the fugitives did not creak. The Indians had van-
ished in the forests, and, as the commander of the fort infoiined
his superior, no one knew whither.
.1 ri:i>.
THE liATTLK WON.
459
otln'i' pos-
lil'll I'lJUlt-'ri
lie adviiuce
niii'lil luivc
!. Way lie
use tor till'
iiiid liiovfd
ajtuls. lit!
isions, and
there were
MeKee says
r.ntish tia;;'
ids, and In-
av away, lii
the trunks
sti'ivted. and
3 enemy liiy
n i\ l»iuid of
vvv a <;ronnd
<t line of iu-
o their siq)-
niie firin.u' as
lit nnn-enit'nt
(1 undi'r tlu;
,-(> the enemy
tlie sui»|)oi't
St, the Indi-
ites to l>i'fss
Ives — for a
f the l>iiti>l>
had won the
|to sueeor the
jeted to open
tans had. van-
Fort informed
Wayne's loss in killed and womuled had heen little ovi-r ;i
hundred. There was never any report on the loss of the enemy.
It is denied by the British v.riters that there were any whitt's
in tlie Hght. Against their general denial, there is Wayne's
own testimony that liritish dead were found on the field. It
lias been asserted that a body of Detroit militia, seventv iu
miniber, commanded l)y a C'ai)tain Cal(lw( 11, partieij)ated in the
action, and that four of them were killed. Jirant, at a later
day. said that he had procui'«Hl the ])owder wliieh was used from
the Ih-itish authorities at Quebee, and that he should have led
hi^ Mohawks in the fight had he not been sick and at a dis-
tance. So ended the battle of Fallen Tindiers.
Major Campbell, in charge of the jiritish fort, sent next day
word to Detroit that an action had been fought ''almost within
reach of the guns of the fort." The same day, August 21, he
sent a Hag to the American commander, asking what he meant by
such threatening action in sight of his Majesty's flag. Wayne
at once replied that his guns talked for him, but he rather need-
lessly argued the point of the British encroachment in building
a ))ost on recognized territory of the United States. He ch>sed
with demanding its surrender. The next day Campbell rejilied
that he could only receive orders to give \i\) the fort from his
own suj)eriors, and threatened that if the insult to the Jiiitlsh
flan' was continued, and the Americans came within i-ange of
his guns, h(! would open fire. Thee was a story started by a
traveler, Isaac Weld, a year later, that AVayne rode up to the
stockade with defiant bearing, so as to provoke a discharge, and
i;ive him a pretext for attacking. There is no other evidence
of such an act. Wayne's last notf was to ask the garrison to
retire to some post which had existed at the time of the treaty
of 1782. He wisely did not try to force su(di retirement, and
Cain])l)ell bore himself with like restraint.
Wayne contented himself with destroying the traders' huts
in the neighborhood, imduding those of MeKee, without a
motion on the part of Camjibell. Simcoe is said at a later day
to have taken upon himself the credit of jireserving the i)eaee,
>inee Dorchester, as he averred, had instructed him to attaidv
Wayne. It is known from a letter to Ilannnond in Septemlier
that Dorchester was confident of a conflict, to be brought on by
Wayne's attacking the fort.
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460 THE NORTinVEST TlilBES AT LAST DErEATKh.
After s])en(liiig- three days in conijilcting the (lestruction uf
all property outside the fort, Wayne hej^an a march hy tasy
stages lip the river, lie swei)t away cornliehls for fifty miles
on each side of the stream. . On reaching- Fort Defiance, he
put it in better condition for defense, and on August 28 sent
off a dispatch to Knox. It was less than a month later that
the first rumors of Wayne's success readied Philadelphia, dh
September 23, in atlvance of the official tidings.
' i !
From Fort Defiance, Wayne coiitinued his niprch u]* tlie
Maumee. He reached the ccnifluence of the St. Mary and St.
Joseph on September 17, and by the 22d he had c()iii|ilet('d
Fort Wayne at that strat»'gic point where the portage to the
Wabash began. He put Major llamtramck in connaand.
Simcoe, immediately upon the result of the campaign Iteinu
known, had written to Brant that he liopcd the Indians would
" recover their s])irits."' He expected now by a conference at
Fort Miami to help ])roduce such a reaction. Then; lie met
McKee and Brant, and ic was thought best to have a larger
body in council at the mouth of the Detroit River on October 10.
Meanwdiile, Wayne, at his new stockade, was listening to the
speeches of other factions of the tribes, who had learned by
recent events not to place much confidence in British promises.
Not all these speetdies were reassuring, for there was occasion-
ally a chief who would warm at AVayne's renewed proposals of
confirming the treaty of Fort Ilarmar, and at such occuireiiees
Wayne grew anxious and sent messages to Philadelphia for
reinforcements to be ready for any emergency.
The British conference at Detroit Kiver came off as ar-
ranged. Simon (iirty was present as usual, and helped in the
distribution of the British gifts. Simcoe now told the \\ van-
dots and the others that they must stand for the Ohio bniiiids
as resolutely as ever, and he jjromised that if the Ameiicaiis
approached Fort Miami again, they should be fired u})on. We
have Simcoe's speech and testimony about his advice from those
who heard it, and Brant supported his insidious views, lie
urged the Indians to convey in trust to the British all the land
north of the Ohio which was in dispute between them ami
the Americans, so as to give the British the right to interfeii'
in protecting it. He also treacherously counseled the i)atiliiiig
as occasioii-
()Oc'urn'ii<rs
\e from tliose
IVAYiXE AT GREESEVILLE.
401
up of a temporary truce whii'h would _t;ive both the Euglisli
ami the Indians the time for preparation which was needed,
so lis to renew the war with better i)romise in the sprin*;.
Such adviee, however, failed of the intended effect, and it was
soon apparent that Wayne had secured/ l>y his victory a vanta<;('-
iiiound that he couhl use to effect. The Delawares had already
aiiproached him, and Dorchester, kept informed l>y Simcoe of the
Ht'iicral disaffection towards Enj'lish interests which Wayne's
(li|il(»niacy was inereasiu*^, lost no time in informing the Ameri-
can general that (irenville and Jay. now negotiatinj; a treaty of
pacification in England, had reached a conclusion by which the
military conditions should remain for the present unchanged.
Tilt' fact was that the Jiritish government were more desirous
of itringing to an end tlu'ir critical relations with the United
States than they were willing to disclose to the American envoy.
Tliis growing jxtlicy of amity proved a sore grievani-e to Sim-
coe and he sjjent his energies during the closing months of
I'm in seeking to prevent such a «'onsunnnation. He urged
that Fort Miami shouhl not be abandoned. He wrote to Hauj-
iiioiid to stir him to a i)rotest to the federal government against
the dcmeantu' of Wayne, who, in gaining the Indian favor, was
thwarting some of Sinu'oe's cherished purposes. He wrote to
till' Lords of Trade »)tt"ering them a i)lan for shutting out trad-
ers fduiing from the Anu'rican seaboard, by estaldishing British
depots along the portages to the Mississi|>pi valley, ami par-
ticularly by that at C hicago. He grew ;iuspicious of Brant, and,
to prevent his defection, sought permission to offer the Mohawk
chief a ])ension for his family.
All this while, Wayne, who had reached Cireeneville early in
Xovt'inber, was receiving messages of ])eace from the same Wy-
aiulots that Simcoe had flattered at the Detroit River, and it
was soon known that the tribes who had crossed the Mississii)i)i,
to fi^ht under Little Turtle, had recrossed it to Spanish ter-
ritory. Wayne's i)lans for a final settlement in the ft)ll()wing
season were progressing with few halts. So, as Simcoe showe<l
iiiiiisi'lf a num grasping at straws, luit doomed to disappoint-
ineiit. the year closed with Wayne growing more and more in
stature, as the arbiter of the red man's future.
i I i
ift
II
J 1 1 li
J!^.
CHAPTKR XXT.
jay's THKATY and THK TKHKITOKIAL IXTEGKITY OK IIIK
NOKTinVE.ST SKCrUKI).
I' !
1794-17%.
Latk in 1703, the British <;()v»'niinent had shown m dispo.
sitioii to iipin'oach the uiisettk'd questions of the treaty of
1782. On Deceinhei- 15, Jefferson stated to Ilamniond tliat
the American grievances, so far as they related to the wtstcni
country, were, in the first phicc, the retention of the })osts : next,
the extension of British jurisdiction beyond ti)e area of Hritisli
])ossessi()us in 1782 : and hist, the obstacles phiccd by the au-
thorities in Canada in the way of the American right of navi-
gation on the lakes. The solutio'i of these (luestions at issue
was necessarily affected by the attitude which Spain and France
were assuming towards the United States, — a discussion cov-
ered in other chapters. To side with England, which was ;i
motive charged ui)on the federalists, was likely to bring on
a war with France, in which Spain might or might not he an
indifferent spectator, but it was hardly possible that Knglaud.
at least, would allow her to remain so. To side with France
would inevitably incite hostilities in England, and with Fn<,f-
land's coercion Spain was not likely to escape an alliance with
her. This was a contingency which the federalists greatly
deprecated, and the republicans were hardly ready to force. A
war with England meant, indeed, a chance for privateerini;'.
and the starting of such manufactures as would, imder the re-
strictions growing out of war, be idtimatcly ])roductive for tlie
North. What a British war meant to the South was a relief
from till' pressing burden of the English debts, — a certain
gain that obscured remoter loss. "The Virginians," said Oliver
Wolcott, "in general hate the P^nglish because they owe tlieiii
money. They love the French from consanguinity of cli.irac-
ter." llamilt(ni and the federalist leaders saw in an Knglish
JAY SEXT TO EXGLAND.
463
ttiir an almost certain loss of tlio country north of the Ohio anil
strt'tehing to the Mississij,pi, because of the ease with which the
(';iiia«lian forces could he aided from the West Indies. In
siiili a contingency, all the efforts which Wayne was making to
save that region to the I'nion would avail little against the
t'st;il)lishment of that barrier Indian territory, which was Sim-
iMif's dream. Such loss of territory nuist also give English
i!ii rchants the control of the Indian trade, a consideration
wiiifli had been pressed upon the hoard of Trade.
In this complexity of chances there was auicn diversity of
aim. even among those wlu) resented the c(»ndui't of Kngland.
Jay grasped the situation. •' Great Britain has acted unwisely
ami unjustly," he said (April 10. 1704), "and there is some
danger of our acting intemj>erately.'" So people were easily
i;i(iiil)ing into three divisions. First, there were those who were
tor peace with England at all risks. Then, those who were for
wai'. the sooner the better. Last, those who were irritated to a
vciy frenzy, but were restrained from forcing an outbreak, if it
cot I Id be avoided.
There was a danger that a prolonged uncertainty wouhl end
ill war, and Washington, eager to secure peace even at some
sacrifice, determined to try the effect of a special envoy to die
Hritish court. On Ajjril 0, 1794, he sent the name of John
•lay to the Senate as such an envoy. Jay had in the i)ast made
lie he^=itation in affirming that the Americans had made the
tiist brejich of the treaty of 1782. So both the envoy and
tilt' mission were little less than repulsive to the ardent haters
nf Kngland. With the admirers of France it was questionable
if any advance towards England under existing cinnunstances
was not a transgression of the treaty of 1778 with that ])ower,
— an obligation which the federalists denied. Randolph, as
secretary of state, inulertook to exjdain to Fauchet, the French
minister, — and there soon transjiired signs of an existing
iliiliious intercourse between the two, — that it was necessary to
iicudtiate with England t^) avoid a war which the States were
not ready to encounter, dohn Adams, with a politician's eye,
was at the same time supposing that the oj)))osition to Jay arose
fioiii an ap]irehension that, if the mission was successful, .lay
Would be lifted into a dangerous com]H'titi(m witli Jeffers )n.
Tlie most active objection in Congress to confirming tiie
.
\lt
I
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:
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404
JAY'S TltEATY.
.,' :
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I :
mission came from the South. This was hirgely for the allt ^( d
rciison that an adjustment wouhl ])eneflt eastern conum la..
und em^)arrass the South still more in the matter of the IJiitisli
debts. There was also a fear tliat immediate northern intirtsts
mi<^ht be paramount to regaining the j)osts, and this was the
})lea of the Sontlj to the West for support. In the final vote,
seven votes from Virginia, North and South Carolina, and
Kentucky, with a single vote from New York, eoiistitrtcil
the opposition, while eighteen votes, mainly from the Nditli.
secured the mission and conunitted Jay to a rather liarassin-r
task. The result was to thwart a proposed plan, whicli Madi-
son and others had counted on, to extort redress from Englainl.
At near the same time, on an appealed ease, the Supreme Court
had decided that certain acts of the Virginia legislature, in-
tended to relieve debtors to English merchants, were unconsti-
tutional. Thus the southern project was doul)ly blocked.
Jay's instructions were signed on May G, and at this time
the federal government knew that Dorchester had made liis
threatening .speech. They had not learned, howevei'. of a
result of that speech in the advance of Simcoe upon the Miami.
If tiiey had, Jay's instructicms might have been more vigorous.
When Jay reached England, on June 8, he suspected that
the two countries had only narrowly escaped war, and that I ^oi-
cliester and Simcoe, in their recent acts, had been inspired liy
ministerial views. Wii;h belter information we may now donht
if he had good grounds for his apprehension, and may i-atlicr
believe that the ministry were only too ready for some sort of
an accommodation. This appearance, to Jay's mind, arose in
])art from the fear, which he thought was entertained, tliat
Wayne really intended to attack Detroit; while the more eon-
ciliatory spirit which he found in Grenville, when he tirst liad
his interviews with him, was to be traced to a change in conti-
nental affairs, wliich had suddenly become a cause of alarm tn
the ministry. Three days later (June 23), Jay learned troui
Dr. William Gordon, the historian of the American Kevohiticm.
then living in England, that the United States nmst not cNpeit
to secure the sin-render of the posts. Jay, in re])ortiny (im-
don's views to Washington, confessed that he did not see the
insuperable difficulties which alarmed Gordon. A week hiter
(^June 27), Jay and Grenville were fairly at their work. By
lul, arose in
iiioiv "■•I"-
THE TREATY SKiSEb.
4(35
tho luuldle of July, they liutl «o iulvanced in mutual confidmu't's
that 'lay assuretl the English miijister that Wayne had n«j in-
structions to attack the post^, and Portland eoninuuiicatetl the
iissuniuce at once (Jidy 15) to Dorchester. Whereupon tho
two negotiators agreed that there shouhl be nothing (h)ne, un-
friendly in act, anywhere along the Canadian frontier, .lay
so notified Washington on July 21, and tlie English sent to
Dorchester a message which, we have seen, was transmitted
from (Quebec to Wayne.
After this the interchange of views went slowly on, all tend-
inis to establish, at last, a common ground, flay was some
tiftt'fu weeks or more away from his government, counting the
(lilt and return voyages. He grew, in his isolatiim, confident
that whatever he did would find inimical critics, and he wrote
to the President that he trusted, whatever might hai)})en, to
"the wisdom, firmness, and integrity of tiie government.''
There did not grow up in the States nnudi confidence in Jay's
accomplishing anything till some time in October, and then
the French faction grew certain that he could but sacrifice
the honor of the country. These revilers were convinced that
W'asiiingtou had failed to do what lie couhl to rescue Tom Paine
from the imprisonment into which Kol)espierre had thrown him,
ami that this indifference of the President was due to liis fear
that England, which hated Paine, might resent any sympathy
for him. Under such circiunstances, one readily understands
wliy I'aine, learning by rumor something of Jay's relations with
Urcnville, called it " a satire upon the Declaration of Indej)en-
deiice," and such opinions were easily wafted across the wat«'rs.
On November 19, Portland wrote to Don-liester that the
treaty had been signed, but that its contents would not Ite
tlivulgeil till both governments h:»d latified it. Jay transmitted
the same day to Oliver Ellsworth Ids opinion that he liad ex-
acted as nuich as could be i)rocured. Co])ies of the treaty were
Hilt off by different vessels on November 20 ami 21. The first
was thrown overboard at sea to ])revent the French capturing
it. The other idtimately reached its destination.
The British government, not yet possessed of Fauehet's inter-
'■epted dispatch, soon to be in their hands, had already taken
their me? -ire of Handolph, the American Secretary of State,
»iul, because of his hard denunciations of English action, pro-
i
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\4
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4»;g
./Ays TIIEA TV
I ! ' '
fi'ssed to Id'lit'Vt' his teiiii)oi' would be inimical to peace, mid
at ouee notilieil llaiiunoiid to avoid iiiteiroiuse with him. to
eoni]>a.sd his downfall if possihle, and to seek llaniiltoii iii>tta(l
as the means of eoneerting' action for the suppression «>f Iiidiiui
hostilities ah»n<; the frontiers.
IJefore any of the oDicial eonuninileations eould rearli i'liila-
delphia, a fast vessel, leaving Kanisj;ate, had arrived at ('ai)o
Ann, l)rin<:;in<f word that the treaty hail been sij;ned: this was
known in IJoston on .January "iO, lTl>o. Nearly six weeks latci',
on March 7, the treaty itself was in the hands of ^^^^sllillHtllll.
and remained there, a secret ])ossession, shared only l>y iIkoc
closest to him, for three months, day reaiihed New York on
May 28, to find himself chosen governor of New York two davs
before. Sunnnonses had already been sent for the asstinlilin^
of the Senate on June 8, to take the treaty into considciatidii.
Kanchet, ignorant of the outburst which his disidosnics alidiit
Handoli)h was soon to produce, interceded with the goveriuiiciit
to prevent the presentation of the treaty to the Senate till liis
successor, Adet, with the views of the French goveruincnt m
the crisis, could arrive. The new FnMich minister slid not natli
Philadelphia till June 13. At tint time, the treaty was Ik foiv
the Senate, in the usmil secret sessions, and that body \v;.s
known to have assendded in nearly full nundu'rs. There wtii'
runjors of the hard fate which had been planned for it. and tlic
reports did not misrepresent the fact. The o])p()sitioii was
warm. There was no sure index to the ardent discontents in
local syni])athies. Of the western mend>ers, Ilumpluty Mar-
shall stood for it : lilount was against it. It was. liowcvfr.
owinjr to the strenuous exerti()ns of Hamilton and Kutiis Kiiii;
that the instrument was saved, and then only by accept in<j an
amendment that did not, moreover, i»artieularly enuet in tlif
west, but affected the trade with the West Indies. A\'itli tliis
change, it took its final stages, on June 24, by a vot(! of twenty
to ten, and o\\ June 26 the Senate atljoni-ned.
The treaty was to have been given to the public on .Iiily
1, but the Aiirord, a newspa])er inimical to the goveiiinitnt.
secured the substance of it, and ju-inted it in imperfect sii.iiie
on Jinie 29. Two days later, the genuiiu' text was aeeessihlc.
Before considering the uncertainty in Washingtoiis inintl
whether he slioidd allow it to become a law, it will be well ''•
ti?
CAXADIAX t'UH Th'APK.
4(17
for it. and tlu-
Uppttsitniii was
(liscontfiits in
|i(l Kdi'us Kin;;
»V iiwt'litin^- an
nvifw at sonu' lenji^tli such of its provisions as afPootod the west-
ern t'oimtry. The agi-cciiu'iits ivspei'tiiij; the I'oiimieire of tlie
M'alioard, ami tiic establishuicnt of eoiiiniissions to adjudicali-
1111(111 iht' debt, did not affect the peoj)le beyond tlic nMuinlainK
t'xn'pt as they in some ilegree shared in the fortunes of the
last. Of the •^-5,000,000 to be phiced as ehiinis against the
AiiK'rican debtors, a small part concerned the western |)eoi>h',
ami little was at stake with them when the whole business of
the claims was bi-ought to a ch)se in 1804. In respect to the
tnule with Canada, the west had a principal interest, f«)r by
the provisions of the treaty the eastern merchants were in some
iiu-asure shut out from it. It was, on the whole, a gain to the
west, for it <»pened the St. Lawrence route to the sea for w<'stern
piddiice, with low duties, and none for furs. It also promised
that return nienduindise coiild be bnmght to a large section of
tile west at less cost than transportation over the mountains
wiiiiid entail. It was llamiltoirs o])inion, about the rights
ai'corded to the Indian traders to i)ass th«' boundai-y line in
titlicr direction for trattic, that the United States would profit
iiiiirt' than Canada. He also believed that thes(> jirovisions
Mocked "the dangerous ))rojt'et of (ireat liritain to confine the
liiitcd States to the Ohio," and that thi-y t«'nded " ntost power-
fully to establish the influence and authority of the general
i;overnment over the western country." Tlu' objection which
was pr(>ssed was that the Constitution was violated in taking
t'lom Congress the right to regidate trade, and vesting it in the
tivatv-making ])owei'. AVhcn, later, it was attemi)ted to regu-
late this Indian trade another way by Wayne's negotiation, the
paiaiiiount authority of »Iay"s treaty was allowed at the instance
of (ireat Hritain.
It was, iiuleed, true at this time, as (leneral CoUot, who was
a little later ins])ecting these conditions, saw, that the tribes and
fiii'-licariuu' animals south of the lakes and east of the Missis-
^i|>l>i did not constitute the cd'ief resource for what was properly
"lilcd the fur trade. The favoi-able conditions were, in fact, to
1"' toiiiid west of the ]Mississi])pi, in Spanish territory, to whi(di
I'tvess must be had through what the treaty of 1~S'I had recog-
nized as Ameriean territory. It was from this country that
tile Knglish house of Tode tt Co., who had bought the right
liiHii the \ew Orleans government for i;20,000, had, by making
( I
4G8
JAY'S Til/: A TV
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fortifitMl stations alonjj; the St. IN'tt-r ami Dt-s Moines livi-r^.
almost (•oiiii>l('tcly drivcii tlic Spanish ti-a^h-rs, notwithstiiiiliii;'
thr transpoi-tin};' of fiirs to New Orleans l»y the Mississi|t|ii was
much casici- than to takf them to Montreal.
The Spanish had kept the Missouri Hiver in tlu-irowii liamU,
and, two miles from its month, they maintaine«l a tradiii;;-|((ist.
St. Charles, which, with its hundred and more houses. \\;i-. the
remotest station in this direction. The rivei-, as Coljnt >,ii(l,
had heen exjdored ui)ward more than six hundred li a-ius
without finding any ohstruction. Its current was said td lie
irentle till it received the IMatte, which aftei- their iiMRtion
forced the stream rapidly along. That l"'rench travelei- reuclicd
the conclusion that the Missoin-i nmst I'ise in a projnii^.itiini
of the Cordilleras, which Mackenzie had called the Stony Moiin-
tains, while they were known to the trihes as the Yellow M((iiii-
tains : and these mountains were reported to run parallel to the
coast of the South Sea, a hundi'cd or a hundred and fuiiity
leagues distant. The notions then ))revailing placed liii;li n|i
on the Missoin-i the Big liellies (t'ight hundi-ed warriors) ami
just helow them the Mandans (three hundred warriois ). Tiuir
trade was mainly l»y the Red River to the Indians aliout liml-
son's Hay ; hut over the moinitains, lifteen to twenty day-;
distant, were the Crows, on a river which conunuuii-ati d with
the South Sea.
Of the i^l'.KOOO in duties which were paid on Anierieaii fiiiN
in London, a large pai't came from Sj)anisli Louisiana, ainl
nearlv all from west and north of the lakes. This was paitlv
occasioned l>y the fact that the S])anish traders, so far :is tiny
rivaled the English ones, were ohliged to draw their su]i]ilii'<
from Montreal, which they paid for in peltries. The KiiL;li->li
wert^ l)articularly active <mi the St. IVter and Dps Moines, wlniv
they canu^ in contact with the Sioux. To rt ach the St. I't'ttr
the English passed from Tjake Sui)erior to the (loddard Ivivti.
tiience by a portage of nine miles to tlu^ St. Croix, and so to
the Mississippi. They took the (ireen Hay and WiMdiisiii
River route to reach the "Moins" River, whiidi was nt \v^-
inii)ortance in this trade than the St. Peter. The Kngli-li li:"'
Note. — Tlic map on tlip opposite page is from Gilthrie'K \r}r Si/s/fin of (leoiini/i/iij in ii "Mai'
of tlicriiitf.l StateH nKrecabh' to the Vi-ari- of 1783," Loil'loii, liSsi-'J-J. It hIiows tli.- .-iil'l"'!*'!
iHlaniU of Lake Superior and tlie Orand Portage.
loiiics rivt-rs.
:\vitI»st;iiHlini.':
isrtissi)tjti WH".
ir own li;iiiil>,
tvatrm^itiist.
Misi's. \\;i-. tilt'
s Colliit >;iii|.
ullt'cl l(;i;^lU's
,';is siiitl to 111'
tlicii- jiiiic'tiitii
llVL'lcl' llMfllt'll
I |)r()l»ni;^!iti"ii
e Sttniy M'liiii-
Yellow Miniii-
piirallt'l tt» tilt'
I'd and twenty
dacfd liiiili "1>
warriors) and
vrriors ). Tlii'ir
ns •,\\u)\\\ lliiil-
o twenty tl;iy>
nmnicati'd with
American fnvs
ionisiana. and
"his was partly
so far as tln'V
their suitidii-i
Tlu' Kn-li>l'
Moines, wIh'Iv
, tho St. IVtti'
J(.d<lard IJivi'V.
roix. anil so t"
and WiM-i.nsin
vh was of If''
, Knulisli li:>'l
I- (;,;,ii)iijihil 111 i'
lit shows till- ""I'l"'
•Mav
m
ii
i
470
./.I ys riiii.xTY.
iiiiul*' tlifir cliief tl(>|M)t of HiipplirH :it Maekiiiar. Init now tli;ii the
tri'Mty was to tl'iilisf»'r this post, tlu-y wrrr |tlaimiii;; to iiiiiiniaiii
tlit'ii' coiiiicctioii with thr traiis-MissisMinpi (•ounti'\ fioin St.
•ioscph's Ishtiid in thf chunml conncrtinL; Lakt's Supciiui aixl
Huron. Tht-nct' to Montreal, their usual route had lain li\ tlif
old porta;;:^ ^<> the Ottawa from LaU(> Huron. 'I'hoii^li thi-
pDita^es in this course were numerous, their eanoei>t^ cnidil
count more accurately on the time reipiired in reaching Muii-
treal by tluH course than hy that of the lakes, since advciH-
winds on these waters sonu'tinies delayed their boats, and inuilf
their arrival too late for shipment to Kn<;'land.
I'nder these circumstanct's. and kiutwin;;' that the surrender
of the posts would stren<;then the Anu'iican juriMJictiun over
the extreme limits td' the Kepidili<', (ircn\ ille had stultliuniK
contended for a rectilication of the liounds west of Lake ^nyy
rior, .so that the Canadian traders could ]>ass to upper Lonisiutia
over British territory. This (piestion was mated with aiiutlicr,
namely, that of the Hritish rij;ht to navi<;;atc the Missi>si|i|)i. as
|)rovidcd by the treaty of 17H*J. and eoni|dicated also l.\ tlic
demands of Spain in ll)<- .^^ante direction.
The treaty of 17.'<-! had drawn tin- northern boimdarv line nf
the Ignited States due west from the Lake of the Woods aldii":
the 4!Mh i)arallel, till it struck tlu> headwateis ui the Missis-
sippi. The sources of that river, it was U(tw known, wtic
•'onsiderably south of that line, and thci'cforc at no point did
Ib-itisli territory touch the .Mississippi, upon which tiw Irtafy
^ave her the ri^ht of navination : foi- while America and Spain
held the river at the north, the latter c(»untry possessed liotli
banks at its month. It was (irenville's (daim that since tlic
treaty pive Knp;land a rinht upon the river, she was entitled ti>
a rcctifi<'ation (d' the boundary so as to assure that ri^lit. -lay
cx]ilained the <>rant of such a ri<;ht on the river to have lucii
allowed by the I'nited Stiites because, at the date of the tnaty.
it was sujjposcd. as the secret arti(d«' of the treaty inditiiti'd.
that Kninland. in the j^cncral treaty, then soon to follow, wciiild
secin'c. in the a<'(pMsiti<>n of west Florida, a boundary «>ii tlic
river at the south. That accession of territory not t;d<iiii:
})lace, the Americans (daiincd that the ri«;ht of navii;atiii'4 tlic
river either lapsed, or. if it held, it mnst be considered as exist-
ing- without a boundary on the river.
77//; TIIKATV M.irS.
471
illDWll. well'
(irniville inHintt'd u|ii>ii an o|)|M».sit«' vi»'\v. iiml. to p't his «lt'-
Mirnl Ixiuiuliiry, proposal niiiniiii; a line from Lake Siipn-ior in
oiH' of tw(» ways, so tliat tlic n|i|ii'r waters of tin- river slionUl
traverse Hritisli territory,
riif^e alternative |iro|to,si-
tidic Were, in the one in-
•■taiiee. to run a «hie west
liiir fi'oiii West May, on
l/ike Superior, to the cast-
tTii hraneh of the Mississip-
pi, a- sdine o
f th.
Ihit
isn
iii;i|>-. had aheady di-awn it :
and. in the other, to rnn a
line from the month (d' the
St. Croix Kiver, at the Mis-
>issippi, dn(> north till it
'truck the honn^' 'ry lie-
twci'ii the LaKe of the
Woods a' Lake Snpei'i<»r.
I'liNO ^ M M-
LTIiIk iiia|> Ih 11 |iri"liii'i'il fr^iii K. U. >> ulV " In-
aciMiniti- Kiii>»li'(lk'i' n( tlif SKiirc'cn ii( tilt' AliKHiH-
Hl|l|li III till- Clow llf tin- I<ll»t Cl'lllllty," DIM- (if tllH
•IllV rel)lie(l that he eotdd ^Imiihrxh r Cnlleiif fniilriliiiliniix, M »ciii'>i, No.
; 1 1 '■ " ii> tiiki'ii frciiii IVtiT riiiiil'H "Mull llf the
iinly consent t<» close the Hii,|miir» Itny CiMinlry. \1K\- in th.- Stilt.' De-
"ai) Itetween the source of '""■" • »' Wa-iiimiinii. i„i,i N.iii .uIIh it "tii..
'" ' tilMl iiiiip iifliT 1Tn:1 til kIhiw that Hit' MishiHslplii
till' Mississippi and latitude <ti>l not ri>iii-h any point went of tin- Lake uf tliu
4!l l>y the most direct line.
riie map which (irenville hrouiiht foiward to illustrate his
views was Kaden's map of 11\K\. In this niaj) the Mississippi
was drawn as known »tidy to about a dej;ree ahove the Falls of
St. .\nthony. North of this ]>oint there were three hranches, one
lit which nmst jn-ohahly he the true Mississippi. One of these
tlowfd from a marshy lake in 4;V. A second fh»wed from
^\ liite Rear Lake near 4(! . Lack (»f these were marked *• Mis-
Mssippi hy conjecture." The third hranch issued fi'»»m lied
I-alie in 47"^, and was called '* Lahontan's Mississippi." .lay
iilijt'cted to the acee])tanee of any tentative j^eonraphy, and j)ro-
I'Dscil a survey to <;;ain ])recise knowledm'. lie contended that,
:is the American I'ommissioners in 17S»- had offered an alterna-
tive of the 45" and 49 , and the latter had Ik n accepted, the
iWisitm mu.st stand, and the Mississii)])i must either be shown
to cross that parallel, or must be connected with it by the short-
est line.
•I ''
,1 I
1i
fi
!!t
472
JAY'S TREATY.
If^
ir< ;
'%
P M
' ' ,
if ■
Jay persistently clun<j[ to liis view, and Grenvillc yitldcd. con-
senting to a surve from one degree below the Falls of St.
Anthony n<n"thward, leaving the definite eonneeting lim- i^-
future consideration.
While the commissioners nitending to make this sm-vcv weiv
preparing for their work, they leariu'd that the helief luaoii"
till' traders as to the ujjper waters of the Mis.sis.sip|ti \v;is of
this sort: Following the river up beyond the Falls of St. An-
thony a hundre<l leagues, you reached Crow Wing Kivei- (ni tlif
left. Another hundred carried you to Sandy Kiver on ilic
right, uj) which those wishing to reach Lake Suju'rior usuallv
went. Still a hundred leagues more, and Leech Lake was
reached, which was held to be the true source of the Missis-
si])pi, and it was fifty leagues southeast of the Lake of the
Woods. These northwestern bounds, as de.scril)ed in tiic (^Uf-
bee Hill in 1774, and repeated in Carletons connuission in
1775, had been uncertain, in that a due north line from tlie
mouth of the Ohio was jn-escribed, without defining it as follow-
ing the curves of the Mi.ssissi|)pi, till it reached the sonthcin
bounds of the Hudson Bay Company.
How true, now, this trader's geogra])hy may have been was
soon to be decided by a survey, which the North West ( 'onipany
ordered David Thompson to make, so as to deterininc how
many of their ])osts were .south of 40°, and conse(|iit'ntly in
American territory. In March. 1708. that surveyor started
west on the 40th ])arallel. He first found two of tin; conipanys
houses (m the Ked Hiver south of that boundary. In Ainil. ln'
reached a four-mile carry, by which he entered u])()n a livtv
which t'onducted him, thirty-two miles away, to Ked Lake.
where the North West Company had tem])orary trading-|)(tsts. at
a si)ot found to be in 47° 58' 15". There he found a iioita^e
of six miles, and, four days later, passing through a level coun-
try spotted with ponds and luxuriant with wild rice, he entond
u])on Turtle Lake, an expanse of water four miles siiuarr. but
having lateral bays, which gave its outline a reseiublance to
that animal. This was then recognized as the sourct! ot tin'
j\Iississi])])i, and in 1782 it had been supposed to lie faitluT
north than the Lake of the W^oods. This error has hern :ii-
coinited for by su])i)osing that the fur traders, in ascendiiii: tlit'sc
upper waters of the Mississippi, reckoned as a leaguo (ilnvf
vicldi'il. oon-
Vails (.1 St.
inu' liiiL' f(tr
i survey weif
Itc'lii't" amoii^-
ssipi)! was ut"
is of St. Aii-
Kivcr on ill*'
KivtT on the
perior usually
ch Lake was
of the Missis-
; Lakt' «)f tlu'
e«l iu tlu' (Juf-
couuuissiou iu
line from tlic
no- it as follow-
id the soutlu'iu
havo hvi'W was
Wi>st('oiiii'''ii>y
(U'tovmint' liow
conseipu'utly in
irvovov stai'tftl
f tlu! conil'Muy s
In Al-ril.lK'
,1 n])ou a vivfv
to Uod l-»k.'.
IvaAiu-i-po^t-^- ■'"
imml tv p»»i-t:i.;''
[.•li a lovol coun-
rice, lu' oiitriril
Us siiuaiv. I'lit
oseuil'laiu''' to
soun-f "f til''
to lit' f:ii'tluT
Iv has lurn a.-
|,is(.,'uain,L;' tli«'><'
kii-uo (tlav.'
THE USE OF THE MISSISSIl','1.
473
iniK's) the tiiuc it took to smoke a pipe, while in reality only
two miles were passed over in that tinu'. Thonii)S()n found the
north end of the lake to be in 47° 38' 20", or one hundred and
t\vt'nty-ei<;ht miles south of the point where the map-makers in
17m.' had supposed it. There was another post of his comi)any
on lu'd Cedar Lake near by. In May, Thoinpson i)assed down
the Mississippi, two hundred miles by the winding of the stream,
to Sand Lake Kiver, up whieh he turned towards Lake Supe-
rior, and in this neighborhood he found two other stations of
the North West Company.
Thompson's wanderings had shown how many posts nui.st be
aliandoned, as in Ameriean territory, and had also shown to the
>;itistaetion of the waiting eonnnissioners that Turtle Lake, as
the source of the Mississippi, was something short of two de-
jfvees south of the 49^ bouiulary. The acceptance of Thomp-
son's observations then, and the accpiisition of Louisiana a few
yt'urs later, took from the extreme northwest line all interna-
tional importance.
Hamilton, in May, 1794, had urged Jay to try to get England
to hell) in the matter of forcing Spain to open the h)wer Missis-
sippi " by giving her a participation in that navigation ; but,'' he
aililed, " with negotiations going on with Spain it must be man-
ajjed carefully." Jay did not forget Hamilton's injunctions, and
lie conceded to England by the treaty her right to navigate the
Mississi])pi, as it had .stood in that of 1782, with tlu; additioiud
pntvision that all ports on the eastern side of the I'iver, 'vhether
lulonging to one party or the other, shouhl be open to Hritish
traders in the same way that the seaboard ports were, ^^'hile
«onie held that this concession to England was a shrewd (Uie, to
:;iin her adhesion in treating with S])ain for the opening of the
liver, it was looked upon by others as affording the liritish an
"pporfiniity of monopolizing the trade of the river under the
cover of their gunboats.
Tliis agreement of Jay and (rrenville as to the joint use of
tile Mississippi gave great oft'ense to Si)ain. and iu lu'r protests
4' was supported by the French Direi-tory. Spain claimed
tliat the right of navigation whii'h England ac(|uired by the
treaty of Paris, in 170;}. was surrendered when siie gave up
«est Florida to S])aiu iu 1782, a position which both England
111(1 the United States denied. " The Spaniards are feverish
i
i
, -T
i
•\'
t
I
I
1
>;,
i
' .■
1
■ 1
■J . 'M
Ml.
M
U'
3 I V
Y
«l-=!
474
JAY'S TREATY.
witli respect to the Mississippi article," wrote Woleott to Ham.
iltou in July, 1795.
The treaty offered another point of attack to its oppont-nts. in
that there was no specific agreement on the })art ut ( iituviH,.
that Knglisli agents wonld in the future abstain from iiieitiii','
the Indians to hostilities, .lay's instructions had directtd liim
to recpiire that, " in case of an Indian war, none but the iimkiI
supplies in ])eace shoidd be fiUMiished " by the Knglish to riicir
Indians and their allies. A contrary couthiet had Ioiil; l»t'ii
the subject of complaint by the American govei'inneut. •• Tlic
British government,*' the instructions further said. "Iiiivin^
denied their abetting of the Indians, we nuist of course ac(|iiit
them. But we have satisfactory proofs that Britisli agents are
guilty of stirring up and assisting with arms and annnunitioii
the different tribes of Indians against us." To sutli cuin-
l)laints (jrrenville had given as emphatic a denial nf eoninlicitv
on the part of the government as ever Hammond had iIdik-.
and he authorized Jay to assure the President that ■■ no instnit-
tions to stinutlate or promote hostilities by the Indians hi'.vc
been sent to the king's officers in Canada."
The negotiations for the giving up of the posts seem to ]\iivc
gone on without impetliment, except as to the date foi' tlie liiial
surrender. The victory of AVayne had, before the negotia
tions closed, rendered the (piestion of a barrier territory nw^a-
tory. The actions of Simcoe, aimed at the accomplishnient et
such a reservation, had of late increased in daring. At tlir
end of August, Washington had liad occasion to bring a rash
deed of that British agent to the attei'.tion of Jay.
During the sunnner. Colonel Williamsoji, who, as trustee ol
Sir William Pulteney, managed a large landed projterty in
New York, which liad l)een bought of Kobert Morris in April.
1702, on the l)orders of Lake Ontario, had begun a settlenifiit
at Sodus Bay, forty miles west of Oswego. On Angnnt 1*!.
Lieutenant Sheaffe, sent by Simcoe's orders, had a])peari(l in
the harbor and demand«'d the abandonment of the place. Tin
party, on retiring, is said to have carried off some tlour, and
Ndti. — Tlie opposite map of tlie OenesHee country and the Niagara road i» (rotu Sainufl Ltwi* a
" State of New York," in Carey's American Atlas, Philadelpliia, 1795.
'4
att to 11 am-
|)p()U»'iits. ill
ot' (irt'iivillc
roll! iiu'itiiu4
ilirccti'tl hiiii
ut tliL! ii>u:il
;lish tn rlu'ir
1(1 loll^' lircll
neiit. '• Hk'
[vid, •• having
course a('(|uit
sli aj^'t'iits are
I aininimititiii
r<) sufh loin-
ot' coiiiplifity
lUtl hail tloiir.
t •' no iiistnif-
Iiulians luivc
seoin to have
:c for tlic liniil
the nej^otia-
;(MTitory nn!j;a-
inplisluiH'iit of
Iviiio;. At tli»'
l)ring a i"'^''
as trnstoe of
|1 pro]>t'i'ty ill
j.rris in Aiiril.
Ii a sfttk'iiiHii
n Au.sjnst 1''.
ll a])l»<':ii''(l ill
|u' |tla('<'- 1"'
lome Hour, iunl
I {romSaiiui'l U*" ■
1)
4 ii \
iii
u
II
1 ' i
i
1
1
1
1
. J^,
I
U
■
"2
!
><!/
,
Hi"
i:
in
1 :-i-
V
476
JAY'S TREATY.
"Williamson made preparations to resist in case of furtinT
demands.
The ground assumed by Simeoe was that, while tlu- luncitia-
tors in London were at work, the Americans should not liave
advanced their occupancy. When Washington heard of Sini-
coe's movement, he looked upon it as the first denial liv tlic
British of American rights to their own territory bcvond the
jiirisdiction of the posts, and wrote to Jay that he considered it
" the most open and daring act of the British agents in Amer-
ica." This served to bring Jay to this i)art of the negotiation
with more nerve, perhai)s, than he assumed on any other point,
though his critics later blamed him for not pressing a claim of
indemnity for the twelve years of the posts' detention. ,Iav
doubtless saw the difficulty in this last particular, as Hamilton
did in defending him, for it would have inevitably opened the
question of the first infraction of the treaty of 1782, and in
duced a course of mutual crimination, a procedure surely to In
avoided if an amicable ending was to be reached. .lay had
stood for June 1, 1795, as the date of surrender: but (iieii-
ville could not be brought to any nearer date than on or before
June 1, 179G. The interval was certainly not long, if the mer-
chants were to be allowed time to close up their business and
withdraw their merchandise, widely scattered, and we have seen
what a number of stations the North West Company had
planted in the American territory. It was certainly not too
long a time if there was any justice in the claim, which the fat-
tors at Montreal had always made, that five years were neces-
sary to bring their business to an end. There were politieal
considerations, also, in giving the Indians an interval to pt
familiar with the prospect of a change, as conducing to an easier
transfer when the time came.
The delay, however, afforded a text for other aniinadveisioiis
of the opponents of the treaty. It was said that the interval
was sufficient for England to get loose from continental cor.ijili-
cations, and, these over, she woidd be in no better mood to i:ive
the posts up than she was in 1783. The posts not beinu dis-
tinctly named was another point of complaint, nor was then'
any definite explanation of what tei'ritorial jurisdiction the iti>st-
carried with them, and in case of further complieation> the
whole barrier question might again arise. But these were <'on-
TTF
;he negotla-
[d iK^t have
ml of Sim-
'uial liy the
bt'voud the
;ousi(h'r<'(l it
ts in Anu'V-
negotiatiiiu
other point,
;• a ehiim of
eiitiou. .lay
as llaiiiiltdii
ly opeiunl the
1782, auil iu-
B surely to ln'
ed. .lay had
r; Imt (ireii-
1 on or before
10-, if the mer-
Lnsiness and
we have seen
\)nii>any had
ainly not too
Iwhich the fae-
s \vert' ncees-
were politieal
Interval to uet
ho- to an easier
|ninia(lver>ion-
it the interval
luental conipli-
mood to ;^ive
hot boln^ dis-
liov was iheiv
>tion the pt>st>
Iplications tli<'
liese wen' <'""•
WASniXr;TOX A\D THE TREATY
All
tinu'encies like any other easy to .•trise with treaties ne<;otiated
in had faith, and hardly to be guarded against. The grants
ahout Detroit, which the Hritish had made. .lay had agreel to
recognize : but he demanded and gained from Grenville the
ahsolute freedom for the Americans to ()ccui)y in the interim
any lands not clearly within the survey of the post, and that,
in effect, no such interference as that of Simeoe at Sodus Bay
should again happen. There was also a provision for allowing
residents in and about the posts to transfer their allegiance
to the United States, if they desired to become, in this way,
American citizens. This did not escape cavil, and it was
pointed out that the Constitution provided for an " uniform
rule of naturalization."
The sections of the treaty, which have now been examined,
related closely to western interests and the j)ossible application
of tlu'in in the near f utin-e. They w^re but ])art of the consid-
erations now brought under the attention of Washington, while
he was determining his course of approval or disapjn'oval. lie
soon became the centre of observation. From all sides remon-
strances and petitions to affect his decision came in upon him.
He told his friends that he had never before encountered so
trying a crisis, nor one in which there was " more to be appre-
litMiih'd.''
While his decision was jiending, Washington retired for an
interval of calm to Mount Vernon. Here he was followed by
the insatiable corresj)ondent. In a letter which he wrote at
Monnt Vernon, he gives an index of his feelings, showing that
while there was that in the treaty to quest on, intemperate jndg-
iiUMits found too much to criticise.
Meanwhile, in Boston, the merchants were finning with pas-
sion at the thousht of such a treaty : but it was not long before
!t heeanie knov.u that Gore and Cabot were making headway
in jiroducing a revulsion of sentiment. It was reported that
•'ay had been hung in effigy in Philadelphia. In Virginia
there was almost a revolution, and there was talk of taking
the treaty-making power from the Senate and giving it to the
l"'o]ile. Leading Virginians were accountable for such incon-
liarisui. Monroe could speak of the pusillanimity of Jay.
Madison could assert that the *' dearest interests of our com-
\s
^\^'U
■■ W
i
(
:
"I ' '
478
J A Y'S THE A TV
■f'i
J '
merce and the most sacred dictates of national honor "" liad
been sacrificed to an English connection. .lert'erson lulicvt'd
that if the treaty Uecame a law, it was a British triiuni)li, ;iiitl
it could be endured only by a people ini])rcssed l)y the i)eis(iii!il
merits of the President. The lej>isl;iture of Kentucky ino.
n«)unced it unconstitutional. In South Carolina, Hutletl"f iv-
j)eiited the wild clamor.
The fact was. that the way in which the treaty was i-oiiaiilcd
had for the moment become the supreme test of party steadi-
ness. The re})ublieans <;athered in oi)i)(>siti()n to it everv ele-
ment of dislike for Knj;land, and every faction of adniiicrs of
the French. The debtor class, looking- to relief in a war with
England, naturally swung to their side, and they gave a vin-
Icnce, cohesion, and stubbornness to their cause in the Smitli
which it did not have in the North.
Jefferson, in a letter to Ebeling of (Jiittingen, intended to
affect that author's judgment in his intended book on the
United States, sought to show that the republicans were not
only the great mass of the people, and landholders and laborers
to a man. but that their aggregated wealth surpassed tliat nf
the federalists. Thomas Cooper, a new sojourner in the ('(luii-
ti'y, wrote to a friend in England: "The con-duct of your court
has certainly given strength to the anti-federal i)arty, aiiioiii,^
whom may now be ranked the majority of the |>e<)]de and ilic
majority of the House of Kepresentatives," and he pntl)alily
refiecti'd the belief of ardent republicans.
flett'erson, as the leader <»f the op])onents of the treaty. iVaivd
more than anything (dse the ability and influence of llaniilton.
and urged Madison to enter the lists against him. Haiiiiltdii. as
the recognized champion of the treaty, made, ])erhaps. tlie iiin^t
effective of his a])peals for the treaty under the name of " Ca-
millus.*" Wherever his argiunonts found lodgment, the bclict
orew and was strengthened that the rejecting of the ti'eat\
meant drifting into a war with England and a dtday in -^it-
tling the national account with Spain, since she was ]ilccl\. in
tliat event, to seek an alliance with (ireat Britain. At a later
day, Hamilton spoke less temperately, and not so ])ubliel\. wlieii
he called the o[)])osition " the mere ebullition of ignorance, ot
])rejudicc, and of faction,"' and he might well have said so ot tlie
aspersions of Callender, which, there was indeed nuich reason
THl-: THE A TV A r PROVED.
479
to bi^Hevo, were pron.i)to(l, if not l)y the solicitation, at least Ity
tlif eountrnaneo of Jefferson aiid Madison, huleeil, the eonntiy
was ill a bellicose mood, and there was little prospect of calmer
cimiicils. " The exasperation a<j;ainst England is great," said
Jxdi'hefoncanlt-Lianconrt, who was lookinj;' on : '• it spreads
tliroui^h all ranks in society. In my opinion, Jays negotiation
will hardly be able to smother the glowing spark." William
I'riest, another traveler, said, "■ A war with England at this
time would be very poj)nlar."'
These were the burning feelings that prevailed when AVasli-
iiiL;tt)n, on August 11, returned to Philadelphia, and three days
later discussed with his advisers the 0(mrse to be taken. It
had, ])erhaps, become more dilKcult now to reach a prudent
(Iftermination than it had been at an earlier stage. There were
two develo})ments that urged action in different directions.
One was an order of the Hiitish government to capture all neu-
tral vessels carrying provisions to P'ranee. The other was the
liritish intercei)tion of a dispatch from Fauchet, which had been
transmitted to the American government. By this, which was
fill' a while kei)t from Kandolph's knowledge, it looked as if
that secretary, who was the only one of the cabinet attached
to the French interests, had been making applications of at
least a questionable character to the French envoy for loans
to certain debtors to England, so as to affect their conduct.
It was the discovery of this seemingly treacherous conduct of
one of his advisers that largely influenced the I'rcsidcnt to
a ))roinpt adhesion to the treaty. On August 14. the cabinet
advised him to api>rove the treaty, and on the 18th, Washing-
ton signed it. and secured the connter-signature of Kandolph,
as secretary of state, before the latter was confronted witli the
evidence of his dealings with the French envoy. The signing
of the treaty and the ex])osure of Randolph were (diargcd by
Jefferson, and have been assigned by hiter vindicators of Kan-
(l(d|)h to an impulse of servility in the President's mind, as widl
a-; to the strengthening of his ])rejudiccs by the intrigues of
Pickering and AVolcott. who were making the most of ))alpa-
hle indiscretions of Kandolph. On August 20. instructions
\\\'vr sent to John Quincy Adams, then at the Hague, to i)ro-
cecd to London and exchange ratifications, if the Ih-itish would
aeeipt — as they did — the Senate's amendment, lie was to
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JAY'S TREATY.
! i
VI
, r
insist, also, on the withdrawal of the offensive provision order,
hilt was not to push his ol))eetion8 to a degree that would en-
danger the treaty. Everything went well, and on Oetolx r liM
the ratiHcations were exchanged, and on February 2l>, IT'.til.
proclamation was made of the treaty's binding force.
Two days later, Washington notified Congress, and it u;is
left to the House of Representatives to make the ncci'ssaiv
appropriations of money to carry the treaty into effect. Tlio
President was congratulating himself that there had hicn a
great change in public sentiment in favor of the treaty duiiiii;
the last two months, when suchlenly an oj)position on the i)art of
a faction in the House, threatening to become a majority, dcvel-
oped itself, not altogether unexpectedly, howe :er. It assumed
the grouiul that, as coordinate with the President and Senate in
making treaties, tlu-ough its constitutional power to witliliold
appropriations at its pleasure, the House had a right to block a
treaty by inaction when it disapproved its provisions. There
was clearly an occasion in this seeming conflict in the constitu-
tion for a precedent, and the House seemed for a while likely to
establish (me, to have the force of a judicial decision, if that were
possible. Jett'erson had before this given his supjjort to this
recalcitrant party. To bring the matter to an issue, the House
voted to re(]uest the President to transmit to it all the pa))ers
relating to the treaty. The President, advising with his cabi-
net, resolved to sustain his prerogative and refused the r('(|uest.
While Washington had the vote of the House under considera-
tion, Pickering, on March 25, as secretary of war, and thr()ui;li
the military 'ommittee of the House, submitted a plan for jiio-
viding a fore j to occupy the jmsts e(pial to that of the Britisli
garrisons then holding them, in order that the Indians nii<;ht
not take any advantage of the transftn*. The temjjer of the
House seemed likely to '-puder any such provision unnecessary,
and before long it was known that Dorchester had ceased his
l)reparations for evacuating, jiending the uncertain fate of the
treaty.
The House accordingly became the centre of interest. ;uul
here, at last, the question of peace or war was to be de('i(h'il.
The friends of the treaty set seriously to work, and felt the luu-
den which was upon them. They had a good deal to hel)) them
in tlie obvious and close connection between Jay's treaty and that
m
on ovdtT,
voulil vu-
1\K IT'.m;.
1(1 it \v:is
nt't't'ssary
ect. riif
,(1 bt-eii :i
ity during'
;he part nf
lity, cU'vcl-
[ Senate in
Nvithhtilil
to block a
ns. Tli'Tc
10 constitu-
ile likely to
if that were
)ovt to this
the House
the ])aitei's
th his eal ti-
the retpiest.
V eonsidera-
lul through
Ian for pi'»-
the r.ritisli
ians niij;i>t
per of the
nnecessary,
ceased his
fate of the
jiterest. ami
I be deeideil.
lolt the luir-
hell> theiu
Ivty and tliat
IISIIER AMES.
481
wlileh liiul been made with Spain for the opening of the Mis-
sissipi)i, later to be considered. The two treaties nnist stand
or fall together. This feeling began to show itstdf beyontl
till' nionntains. (iallatin, whose connection with the whiskey
ivliellion in western Pennsylvania had been e(|nivoeal, to say
the least, now, as representing the regenerated western spirit,
showed a moderation which did nuieh to restore contidence anil
place him in the forefront of his party. The great trinnij)!!,
however, was won by Fisher Ames, a Massachnsetts feileralist,
in a speech before the Ilonse on April 28, whcvse effect is kept
alive even to-day among the grandchildren and great-grand-
children of those who Iieard it, and witnessed its effi'ct throngh-
out the land. Kochefoncanlt-Lianconrt, who saw the eontem-
jMtrary influence of the speech, said : " It is, by men of his i)arty
from one end of the continent to the other, extolled as a piece
of eloquence, which Demosthenes or Cicero would have found
it (lifKcult to eijual,*' in taking a "dexterous advantage" of the
attending circumstances.
AVhen Ames took the floor, he felt with others that the oppo-
nents of the treaty were sure to carry their measure by a major-
ity of two or three certainly, and perhai)s by one of four or five.
How he turned defeat into a victory, some extracts from his
speech will show, bxit they will of course lack his im])assione(l
voice, his finished elocution, and the tenderness which came of
his ])alpable feebleness, nerving itself to a duty, at the risk of
his life. It will be remembered that as an eastei'n man he had
heen thought to share that indifference towards the west which
was often charged upon New England.
'• Will it be whispered that the treaty has made me a new
champion for the protection of the frontiers ? It is known that
my voice, as well as my vote, has been uniformly given for the
ideas I have expressed. Protection is the right of the f rontiei's ;
it is our dutv to give it.
The westei'n inhabitants are not
a silent and uncom]>laining sacrifice. The voice of humanity
issues froni the shades of the wilderness. It exclaims that while
one hand is held up to reject the treaty, the otlnn' gras])s a
tomahawk. ... I retort especially to the convictions of the
western gentlemen, whether, sui)posing no posts and no treaty,
the settlers will remain in security. . . . Xo, sir, it will not b(>
peace, but a sword ; it will be no better than a lure to draw
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48-2
JAY'S rilEATY.
victims Nvitliiu tlu' reach of the tomahawk. ... If I cuuld liud
words for my emotions, I would swell my voice to such a note
of remonstrance, it shoulil rea(di every log house lievmid the
mountains. . . , \\'ake from your false security. Von ;iic a
father, — the Itlood of your sons shall fatten your cointidds.
You are a mother, — the warwhooi) shall waken the sliip of
the cradli!."
"The refusal of the })osts, inevitahle if you reject the ticatv,
is a measure too decisive in its nature to he neutral in its cdn.
He(|uences. From great causes we are to look foi- great el"t't(t>.
Tht^ price of western lands will fall. Settlers will not cliuosc
their hahitations on a tield of battle. . . . \'ast ti-acts of wild
hinds will almost cease to he ])roj)erty. This loss will fall u]miii
a fund expressly devoted to sink the national d(d»t."
" The treaty alarm is ])urely one a(hlrcssed to the iniaL;iiia-
tion and j)rejudices. Objections thiit ])rocee(l upon eridr in
fact or cah'ulation may be traced and exposed. Hut sticli as
are drawn from the imagination, or addressed to it. cln(h' dcliiii-
tion and return to domineer over the mind. . . . ( )n a (|iit'stii)ii
of shame and honor, reason is sometimes useless and worse. I
feel the decision in my ])ulse ; if it throws no light upon the
brain, it kindles a fire at the heart."
Ames spoke in a c(tnnnittee of the whole, and the body at
once adjourned to avoid the immeiliate effect of the speech.
which seemed to be overwlndming, though the cool ndicaisal (if
some of its warmer passages fails of nuudi effect now. Later.
after the feelings w^re (piieted, the committee were ;( tie, Imt
the vote of the chairman sent it to the House, where, on A [nil
30. the House gave the majority that Ames had despaiivd i>i
ac(piiring in a vote of 51 to 41>. The contest was ovei'. and
early in May the appropriation bill became a law.
mil
]':^\
ill
V.
On May 10, 1T0(», ^VrcIIenry, the secretary of war. sent
Captain Lewis to make arrangements with Dorchester for the
transfer of the ])osts, and on May 27 "Wilkinson, now eeni-
manding at Fort (Jreeneville, asked of the commander at I'e-
troit the day when the American forces could enter that tnun.
At the end of May, orders were issued to the British cnni-
mandants to evacuate the posts : but Lewis, now in (^nehec.
representing that the American troops were not yet ready toi
THE POSTS KVACCAl'i:/).
483
tilt' occupation. Porclicstcr ii'j'rced to wait their coiniuy, and on
June I and 2 JHsucd orders accord inj;l_v. A tt'W weeks later
(.Iidy }>)i that <;ovcrnor, wh(» liad lieeii so Ion;;- an actor in
American history, endiarked for Kni;hin(l. and was succt-eded
tliicc (hiys later by Lieiitenant-( ieiieral Kuhert I'rescolt.
The liritisli had ah-eady rednced their <;arrisons to a j^iiard.
On finlyll, I7i«l, Fort Miami was hanth'd over to ('oh)ncl
Ilaintraniciv. On the same (hiy, Captain Moses I'ortcr entei-ed
Ditroit, and found it ali'cady evacuated. Some one liad (illcd
till' well at the fort with stones, and had done (»ther damage.
Simon (»irtv is known to hav«( stayed behind, aftci- the British
had crossed the river, and just in time to avoid the Ameri«'ans
lie rushed his horso into tin; stream, and swam to the other
side. Porter was so poorly supplied that, to maintain himself
till succored, he was obliged to borrow provisions from the
Ilritish beyond the river.
Oswego was left on the I'jth. The American troojys under
Captain danu's Brutf, bound for Xiaj^ai-a, were delayed on the
way, and when that fort was turned over, on Auyust 11, nearly
all the British garrison liad left. It was not till October that
Major Burbeck with a party, sent from Detroit, reached Macki-
nac, where a British ofKcer and twenty men pulh'd down tlie
last English tlag on American territory, U'ayne, in .lune,
had been ordered to supeivise the several surrenders. In Xo-
vciuber, when all was done, and he could congratulate himself
on the natural setpiel of the Fallen Timbers, he left Detroit for
I'rescprisle. When he reached there, he was ju-ostrate with an
a^niiizing attatdv of gout, and on Decond»er If) he died at that
post : and James Wilkinson — of all men — succeeded to his
coMunanding station.
The deteruiination of the I 'ritisli government to surrender the
posts had struck deeply into the heart of Simcoe. We learn of
his " displeasure," of his vindictive plotting with the Indians,
and of his tud)ri(lled passion, "which overleajx'd all bounds
of prudence and decency,"" in the talks which Kochefoucault-
liiaiicourt re])orts having had with the governor, not long after,
when that traveler visited Canada. lie disclosed to that visitor
his Jiopes of regaining some of the i)restige which Jay's treaty
had taken from Canada by develoi)ing a }irofital)le corn trade,
ami by opening a route for the fur traders from Ontario to
im
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484
./AYS TllEATY
LiiUc Iliirnii, iivoidiiii;- that l»y LaUf Kri«', ami (livi'rtiii;^ ti;i,l,.
tiom tin; I'liitt'd Stut«'H. 1I»' was coiitidciit that the (itiii-.tr
(\nmty must |»t»iir i>iit its pioihiec to thi- sea Ity way of tlif >t.
Lawrciiff. lie IcoUt'd forwanl to an int'vituldc war witli tin-
Aint>ri(;ans, aiul di-eanu'tl of :i naval station at Chathiim mi ilir
Thames. Koi'tiinatt'ly. his heated tenner was fotdctl l»y n ^\■^s\l
<»f Dorcht'sttM-'s sohnvr sensi".
CllAPTKK XXII.
WAYXE8 TKEATY AND THK NKW XOKTIIWKST.
175»4-17'.t7.
^l^
I ''
\\"k lu'ed now to look back. It set'iiu'd lor a \vlii!t' in the
iiiitmnn of 17!>4 as if Wayiu' and his army nii^Iit liavt' to takt-
part in the nnwclronu' task of ([nellinj;; civil coninnttion in wt'.st-
tiii Pennsylvania. Had he liccn called to it, his work of |>aci-
tication hcyond the Ohio ini«;ht have been scrionsly i-etarded.
The fiindin<; i)olicv of Hamilton had necessitated leirisl.ition
to support it, and, in 17!ti. a tax had been inijmsed on whiskey.
(Vrtain concessions (]ni«'ted the opposition to snch a tax. which
iiplieared in Virj^inia and Noi-th Carolina, bnt the popnlation
lit" Pennsylvania beyonil the monntains, ccnti-inj;' aliont Pitts-
liiirn'. which had noM begnn rapidly to <^row, were not t«) be
>atistied by anythinj; short of an absolute exemption. Their
>iiiltlus jifraiii, as (iallatin set forth for them in a manifesto, in
view (»f their remote situation, only became transjxtrtable at a
jMotit when it ha I passed the still : and a tax whicdi was l;iid on
tlii'Ui, and did n(»t burden equally the seaboard, was an unjust
line. These views, as Fisher Ames sai<l, " had tainted a vast
extent of country beside Pennsylvania."
All organized revolt bejifan at Redstone on the Mouongahela,
inJidy, 1791, when, at a conference of distillers, the jjopulace
was excited, and olficeis sent to collect the tax were hustled
and seized. When this was known, the jioverinnent found a
-troiii;" feeliuLT developed elsewhere in sn))j)ort of law. '* The
wild men of the back country," wrote Wolcott, "will not have
perseverance to oppose the steady, uniform pressure of law, and
must tiually submit."
This over-mountain ])opulation was a ragjied one, and had
"•me passionate bloiul in it. Wolcott, referring t(» a jjrejion-
ileranee of Irish and Scotch-Irish among them, said : " It is a
>lie('iinen of what we are to expect from European emigrants."
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486 WAYNE'S TREATY AND THE NEW NORTHWEST.
AVe luive not yet got over such feelings. The leaders, iu^ti-
gateil l)y the rancorous language which they heard, and i)L'rli;ii);s
somewhat alarmed at the determined support which the i;MV-
ernment was receiving on the seaboard, sent agents to Ivun.
tucky to secure supi)ort. It was said that their emissaries were
dispatched to Canada for like purposes, and spies aniung tliciii
reported that there were Englishnnni among their leaders. Tlicv
were known to rob the mails in order to secure intorinatiou.
They might reasonably expect that dispatches would be soiit to
Wayne touching their actions, and warning him of possihilities.
In his cabinet Washington first experienced the discpiii'tiidc of
liandolph and his lack of trust, when that member of it urged
him to inactivity. Hamilton, on the contrary, counseled ])roin])t
and uncompromising force, During it all, (iovernor Mifflin
was timid. In the sunnner of 1794, while the government was
anxiously waiting news from Wayne and Jay, disturbing rcjiorts
were continually coming from over the mountains. At inter-
vals of seven weeks (August 7 and September 25), AVashington
issued two proclamations, warning the rioters of the conse-
quences of their folly. Meanwhile he was collecting nulitia
from Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. In
October, the President himself joined the camj) at Carlisle.
and arrangements were made for entering the insurgent conn-
try through the mountain passes. General Collot, who a little
later went over the ground, with his French feelings in sym-
pathy with any disturbance that could make America turn to
Frar.ce, criticised the indecision of tlie insurgent chiefs, in that
they neglected the opportunity of blocking the progress of tlie
federal army by preoccupation of the defiles. But time had
given a chance for passions to cool, and Washington, at the
head of the approaching troops, disturbed the eipianiinity of
tlie defiant hordes, and they sent a deputation to mak<' terms.
The President was struck with their subdued bearing, and the
entl came. Mtn-gan was left for the winter with a body of two
thousand five hundred men to be ready for any revival of the
rebellious spirit, and Washington returned to his official duties
to be prepared for other trials in the spring, when Jay's treaty
darkened the atmosphere once more.
It is "' curious commentary on the heated politics of the time,
when we find Fauchet believing, with how much of Kandolph's
;:r>»v
viT
A TRUCE.
487
insuvp;eiit cnui-
l)U<)t, Nvlio a little
Ifeelings in sym-
L\iuovica turn to
[ut chiefs, in tliat
th a body oi two
au'u Jay's treaty
llitics of the time,
countenance we may never know, that the government had
instigated the revolt ij divert the attacks which were making
ou it, and when Washington himself saw in the rebellion " the
first formidable fruit of the democratic societies, brought forth
too })vev»aturely for their own views, which may contribute to
the overthrow of them." Whatever the ease, the timely sup-
pression of the trouble left AVayne at Greuneville at liberty to
devote himself to the pacification which li, was his mission to
accomplish.
The opening of 1795 showed a disposition on the part of an
increasing number of the northwest Indians to sue r jr peace ;
but in Philadelphia the hope of a permanent se^^^iement was
not so sanguine. Pickering felt, with many others, that the
disturbance in western Pennsylvania was rather quieted than
.juelled, and that there was no certainty as yet in the outcome
of Jay's mission. Its failure meant war at no distant day. So
he urged the maintenance of strong advanced posts in the In-
dian country, to be ready for any disastrous turn of affairs.
Later news from Wayne was mor'i assuring. By February 11,
he had come to a preliminary agreeiiient with the Shawnees,
Dehiwares, and Miamis, and on the 22d he issued a proclama-
tion announcing a cessation of hostilities. Wayne, buoyed by
his satisfaction, neglected a duty in not communicating the fact
of such a proclamation to St. Clair, who was still the civil gov-
ernor of the northwest. That otfieial only heard of it near
the end of April, in a letter 'from Pickering, and he properly
made complaint to the President.
Although there was a truce, there was still uncertainty, and
further })acification was jeopardized by the incursions which
some Kentuckians made across the river, throwing the Indians
into a suspicious frame of mind. The less sanguine doubted if
more than half the great body of the Indians were weaned
from war, especially if they I'ould l)e made to feel by the Eng-
lish agents that they would be helped in further resistance.
The English, however, were themselves luieasy. and the French
ill Detroit were exciting the ai)prehensions of Sinicoe, and were
known to be urging the Indians to peace. Already their trad-
ers wi^re sending supplies to Wayne, and rumors of the comi)le-
tion of a treaty in London, with the surrender of the posts
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488 irjl'.VZi'i' TL'EATY AM) THE XEW XOllTinVKST.
assured, were raising in French circles an expectation of luinv
accessions to their numbers from France itself. In March
Simcoe had written to Portland that Wayne threatened to iilnce
a garrison in Sandusky. This again added to Simcoes alarm
as hazardhig British su])remacy on the lakes. Braut and
McKee were actively at work to counteract French inHiu-nce
with the Indians ; and Brant was later to feel that nothing
could prevent Wayne concluding a peace. V>\ June. Waviie
felt that the only impediment to a treaty was the continued in-
cursions of the lawless Kentuckians, and aj)pealed to St. Clair
to prevent them. Parties of red men had now begun to assem-
ble round his camp, and he gave them his first talk on the IGth.
By the middle of July, the concourse was large enough for
formal proceedings. On the 20th, he read to them tin- treaty
of Fort Ilarnuir, and found that some of the remoter tribes had
never heard of it. Little Turtle made a declaration bir the
^liamis about the territory which they claimed. He said that.
beginning at Detroit, their boiuidary line stretched to the head
of the Scioto, followed down that river and the Ohio to tlie
Wabash, and pursuing this last stream, extended to the Chi-
cago portage. — an area embracing the westerly half <>f Ohio,
nearly all of Indiana, and the lower Michigan ])eiiinsuhi.
Wayne, in reply, thought that other tribes than the Mianiis
had rights in this territory, and said that the United States
were prepared to ])ay for such part of it as should be surren-
dered by the treaty. We may now follow the daily ])r()gres.s
of the negotiation : —
Jiih/ 23. At the end of the day Wayne gave them sonic
liquor, but warned them '' to keep their heads clear to attend to
vhat I shall say to-morrow."
July 24. Wayne told them that the " fifteen fires,"' as tliev
called the Union of States, had j)aid twice for land, oww at
Fort ^Iclntosh ten years ago, and again at Fort Ilarmar six years
since. He also told them that he asked for certain reservations
for posts farther west than the main cession. He read Jay s
treaty to them, showing how the Americans were soon t<t take
possession of the lake ])osts. He told them they might rest to-
morrow and have a double allowance of liquor because tlit'|
hatchet was buried, and on the following day he would let theiii|
know what he demanded for bounds. 1;
mm
rwj\
']vi:sr.
m oi l:u';4o
In Maivh,
eil t») ]>lace
H)e's alarm
Brant ami
h iuHiuMu'i'
lat nutlunj;
lue. Wayne
onthuu'd in-
to St. Clair
un to assi'in-
ou the l*>ti>.
I'uoun'h ior
>ni the tri'Uty
,er tribos lunl
atiou tor the
He saicl tliat.
.(1 to the head
! Ohio to the
a tt> the Chi-
half of Ohio,
•an peninsula,
n the Miiuiiis
Jniteil States
(1 be surreu-
laily progress
;e them some
av to attend to
fires," as they
land, unee iit
unnar six years
in reservations
He read .luy"s
V soon to taUe
iuis;-ht rest to-
because
\\v
would let them
THE TREATY MADE.
489
Tulij 27. Wa}ne read his propo.sed treaty and eniunerated
the remote reservations which he wanted, merely '' to connect
the settlements and the i)eople of the Unitetl States " by roads
which the Americans could travel. He described these distant
j)(ists as not intended to annoy the Indians, but simply to fur-
nish convenient trading places ; and he explained that they
is.
C V /
»<»
c
OTior-eSS
'8
LcnCdi$
^*»6 tTrvI ¥/*" ?t^f.
i''l"m'l Wliittli'sey's plan of tlie divisionary prants in Oliln. from tlip Wiflern Reseni' Jfis-
iivl Surifly's Tnicl, Xu. Ill (,1SS4).]
»ero all in the main such areas as the Indians had conveyed to
the Fi-ench, who in turn, in 1703, had surrendered them to the
English, and by the English they were, in 1782, confirmed to
the United States.
•/;//// 28. There were numerous Indian comments upon
^\ ayne's propositions.
•/"/// 2!\ The Sandusky Indians presented a written memo-
h\
;!i
i
400 WAYNE'S TREATY AND THE NEW NORTJIWEST.
! i
\l ,
r fi
rial, asking that what was conceded to the Indians \n'vz\\X be
granted in severalty to the different tribes. This was followed
by some uneasy harangues on the part oi tlie Indians in (liscnii-
tent at Wayne's demand for the remote reservations.
Juhj 30. Wayne declined the proposition of the Saiulnskv
tribe, and then addressed himself particularly to the Miiiuiis,
who alone had objected to his main line, as interfering with
their hunting-grounds. Wayne firmly stood by his expressed
demand, and told them they could hunt where they pleased,
" as long as they demeaned themselves peaceably." Aftci- some
further exidanations, he read the treaty again, and ])ut the
question: "Do you approve these articles?" All answered
one by one, " Yes," — Ottawas. Pottawattamies, Wyandots,
Delawares, Shawnees, Miamis, Chippewas, Kickapoos, Weas,
and the Eel River tribe.
The conference now broke up " to eat, drink, and rejoice.'
antl to reassemble when the necessary copies of the treaty were
engrossed.
On August 3, the tribes again assembled. Wayne once more
read his commission, giving him power to treat with them, and
went over the treaty iov the last time. He then handed a jiarcli-
ment copy to the Wyandots, to be kept for the wliole, and a
paper copy to each tribe. The next day the presents Avere dis-
tributed, — #20,000 worth of goods, with a promise of an annu-
ity of '19,500. As a last word he told them they were children.
and no longer brothers.
The line which had been agreed u])on, and whicli Ludlow
later marked, gave the whites some 25,000 square miles of ter-
ritory east and south of it, and between it and the Ohio, It
began at a point on the latter river opposite the month of tlie
Kentucky, and ran northerly, so as to include a long core at
the southeast corner of Indiana, to Fort Recovery. Ih'ie it
turned east and was extended to the upper Muskingum, whence
it followed the portage and the Cayahoga to Lake Erie. Tlie
reservations west of this line were sixteen in number, and meas-
ured each a few miles square. Those which were wrung from
tlie Indians with most difficulty were that at Fort Wayne and
that at the jjortage of the Maumee and Wabash near by. These
parcels of land were the beginning of cessions whieli Iialf a
century later drove the Miamis beyond the Mississipju. A
iwiisr.
luiiiht l)t'
IS tuUowt'd
s in (lisc'on-
i Saiuhisky
he Mi;u\iis,
rferini;' with
is expressed
[ley |)lease(l,
After some
and put till'
^11 answered
, Wyiuulots,
upoos,
W
eas,
and rejoice."
le treaty were
yne onco move
ith tlieni. and
mdt'd a pareh-
U. wliolo, and a
ents were dis-
of an amiu-
were children.
which Ludlow
8 miles of ter-
the Oliio. It
mouth of tlu'
a lon<; !i«»i''' '^^
.■ery. ' H^'^'e '^
wlu'ni'f
1 iiieas-
ingum
ke Eric,
^iber. an*
y.Q wi'UU!.
from
t Wavue aii>i
hv.
Til'
liear
w
Llississiiipi-
hich luiH
THE IXDIAX WAR AT AX EXD.
491
leservation at the mouth of the Chicago Kiver was six miles
s(piare, *' where a fort formerly stood." jirobahly a trading-post
of the French, and where now stands the eity of Chieago, which
was begun the next year by a St. Domingo negro, Jean ]?ap-
tiste Pont an Sable, who built a hut on the spot. The grant
which Virginia had made to (Jeorge Kogers Clark, ojijuisite
Louisville, was also reserved. Some of these detached cessions
were at later dates included in larger grants, made by other
treaties. The recognition by the United States of the Indian
property in the st)il. even though practically salable to the
States under something like compulsion, was ])erhaps some re-
loiupense to the tribes for the English transfer to the Americans
of the right of preemption, by the treaty of 1783, without the
toucurrenee of the original owners ; but the Indians on their
part were now re(piired to recognize this right as lodged in the
Aun'rieans only.
A distribution of commemorative 'licdals was made on Au-
,'iist 8, and on August 10, when the last conference was held,
it was found there were 1.130 Indians present. A band of
Clierokees settled on the upper waters of the Scioto had kept
aloof. When, however, Wayne sent them a sunnnons, they
obeyed it, and promised to move back to their own country',
«(iutli of the Ohio.
Tidings of these events were dis])atched to St. Clair, and at
I iiu'innati, (m August "25, 1795, he made proclamation that the
Indian war was over.
The only drawback to Wayne's content was the fear that the
turmoil in the House of Kepresentatives over the treaty of Jay
iiiiiilit end in its practical rejection, and on Sejitember 15 he
«iote to Pickering that if the posts were not re})ossessed. as the
London treaty ])rovided. it '■ would have a ]iowerful effect ujxm
ill' Indian mind." (^f4the tn-aty which Wayne had effected,
\\asliington said that"" the adjustment of the terms and the
sitistactitm of the Indians were deemed an object no less of the
liiilicy than of the liberality of the United States," — a i>roposi-
Ji'iii. it must be observed, that McKee severely cpiestioned, when
III' insisted that Wayne had made ])rovisions in articles that
«t'ie not communicated to the Indians. The source of this
NiiTF.. — The map on the followinjf pases is •' A Map of the Xortliwestern Territory." in .led-
•liah Miiore's The Aiiiericnti ('niiersnt fifnpraphi/, p. ru^. Bostiin, .Iniie. ITilC), "The ilntteil
NU»rc« lire the reservations made by the Indians iu 179o, and ceded to the United States."
mi
y ^ . •'
l^i
,
»;(■
i %-n
I
I I
It
J
w
'»'l
n
• I'll
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iff
KfS'-
rA B
'>^».
J
^
^^i
iJ A^ \r
*7
r
SI
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i 'ti
if 'J 4
' 1
1
i
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i
WilLfli
t^i
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] ll}'
Hi ,.;
m
tif
494 WAYXE'S TREATY AM) THE NEW NOUTinVKisT.
iillt'gation (liiiiinislies its (.'luinees oi trutli.
'riu'i'e was one outcome of tlie ti'ciity, in
wliich some reckless Americans joined, not
less (lisci'e(litiil)le than the action charged
by MeKee, could this charge have heen
])roved. Certain Micliigan trihes, known
to be aggrii'ved at the result, were cajoled
by some Canadian merchants to make for
u sui)posal)le half a million (U)llars the
transfer of some twenty million acies in the
lower Michigan i)eninsida. It was the ])art
of tiie American sharers in the plot, led
by one Kobert Kandall of Philadelphia, to
obtain Congressional saiu;tion by bribing
mend)ers with the ])romise of a due })ro})or-
tion in the jd under. Kandall's effrontery
and the testimony of William Smith of
South Carolina, who had been a]>])roached
late in 1705, led to his arrest, and for his
attempted bribery the speaker rei)rimanded
him, and the i)roject droj>i)ed.
In December, 1795, Washington, on meet-
ing Congress, advised them of the treaty as
securing " a durable trantpiillity." It had
indeed put an end to forty years of warfare;
in the valley of the Ohio, in which it had
been reckoned that 5,000 whites had bee"
either killed or ca])tured. For three years
past, if Hamilton's figures can be taken,
these wars had cost a million a year.
What had been cliarged specifically to the
Indian de])artment foi- five years had va-
ried annually from #13,000 to #27,000. At
the conclusion of AVayne's treaty, the United
States had bound itself to pay to the Six
Nations, Chickasaws, Cherokees, Creeks,
and tlie northwestern tribes, an aggregate
yearly sum of #23.520, which attending charges would rnisc to
#30,000. These ex])enses were irritating to those who had not
experienced the evils of the frontier life ; but they bore a small
r ■!■ ' Mr
nTvTTJr
ii\
jv:wM
]vi:sT.
NORTH WEST TERHITUl: Y.
40.")
^'^'^-^JA
|r^
rPt?» '.t-
jV:ifM \ mm TORY
l.^V./ri*
biild raisi' to
l)oir :i siiKill
jriii^ map is from Jost-iih Scott's L'liiliil Siiilis dnzcttecr, Philadelphia, IT'.C).]
proportion to the #7,000,000, wliii'li \v;ts now tlic animal expense
"f luaintaininji; the federal government. It was said that eaeli
.>"TK. — The map on tlio following papos Is from Riifus I'utiiam's map of Ohio, and sh(j«s tlip
^^istiru Keserve and the reservations under Wayne's treaty.
li
V
{ ■■
\ 'f
II
.
' , ' I
«f
H
hii
in',*.
Ui^
^^
TTiiiiii ~
u « » i'
\ \
' ■ n
i ;H
»:■
11'
498 ir.iiA7i'.s ■nH'iATY AND Till.: m:w sunriiw i:st.
citizen piiid towiii'ds this j;iv:iti'r sum, y>r;' miiihu lnit our tit'il
(tf tilt! liunU'ii iiiiposfd nil cvt'i'y Kuro|)t';iii siil)jt't't.
It was not long IjuIoil- it lifcaiiic a[)|»iin'nt that tht- tiamniil-
lity which Washington h)okf(l for was having its cft'cct. Tin.
luign of civil content may have been irUsomc to a few, who. as
one of them told Collot, sought the more distant \Vest in oiilir
to escape *' the plague of justice and law:" hut it gave allure-
nu'ut to others, and the immigration into the valley so increased
tiiat, duiing 17D')-I>t), the |)opulation of the northwest was
thought to have risen to ahout linOOO.
The first settlement of any extent which the voyager ilnwu
the Ohio found on the north l)anlv was still that at Marietta.
fJedediah Morse, the preacher at Charlestown, Massachusetts,
who at this time was Hnding sales foi* repeated editions of liis
(i(r.vttvvi\ speaks of the town's s])acious streets, rimiiiui; at
right angles, and itn thousand house-lots, each 100 liy 11(1 feet.
Collot speaks of the surrouiuling landscape as "the most aj^rce-
able imaginahle," with its stately trees, the tulijj-trce and tlic
magnolia and the clind)ing honeysuckle. lie says the popiila
tion consists of five or six Inuidred New Kngland families and
a few French who had straggled fiom CJallipolis.
The same observer, going thence to this last-named '' wretched
abode " of his cimntrynu'n, found 140 peoi)le there, the " wreelc
of the Scioto Con-pany." Congress, in some atone, 'eiit of
others' wrong-doing, '"ul niade them a grant of .seven acres to
each fannly : but the ic ' "as so bad and unhealthy that Collnt
says it did not support tUi. To make further amends, in
1700 Congress added 250 acres more to each family, and located
the grants near the Little Scioto.
In the country bordering on the Miami River, Cincinnati liad
grown to have 300 famiilts, and, beside its log cabins, there were
some fifteen frame })ousos, (Vdlot thought the futurt! of New-
port, the handet across tie river, was better assured than tliat
of (Miu'innati. Symr.u-s had c(dlectcd some families at the
\orth PuMid, and i)arties had gone up the (h'eat Miami tilty
miles, and settled Daytcm. In all his disquietudes, St. C'laii'
had found nothing so perplexing as the issuing by the hind
companies of divers warrants covering the same territoiv. and
he charged the doings principally ui)ou the irregularities et
Syrames and Putnam, as managers of their speculative asso( ia-
nvicsT.
t one Hull
f triiu"|nil-
rtVct. Til.'
I'W, \sli". as
st in uidtr
.-avt' alliui'-
SO ilUTt'IlScil
.•thwo^l \va>
ivati't'i' ilnwn
at Marietta,
assat'liiist'tts,
itious tit lii^
, nmiiiny; at
l.y *.»») I'trt.
i most a;iVL'e-
trce aiitl tlie
( thf iHtpiila-
t'luniru''^ and
led " wirti'lu'd
the " Nvit'ilv
itOUO. U'Ut (tt
seven aevos to
ly that Collot
anuMitls, in
, and lofati'il
iiu'innati luul
US. tluTi! wen"
itnrc .)f ^'t■w•
(.,1 tlian tiiiit
inilii's at tlu'
t ^lianii tifty
ch'S, St. <."!!"'•
by tlu' lan<l
tevritoi y, and
:e;j,'uhu'ities of
ilative associa-
ii
n
ll
a. a
s
fl
-J
i I'
s f
% '3
u S
-I
|3
;i
i
''Im^ ^
•li .
I!
'5-
>
500 If .1 }'iVii'i' TREATY AND THE NEW NORTHWEST.
:■. '''■\i
lit
;r
l' I
;■ r-
tion. It WHS a further disturbance of his sense of justi(!e that,
liaving" been the occasion of these disputes, '^ these gentlcniLu
are allowed to sit in judjj^uient upon them " in their courts.
Upon the quieting of the country by the treaty of Gri'ene-
ville, the Scotch-Irish from the Pennsylvania counties aloui;- the
New York line and from the west ranges had come into tlic
valley in large numbers. A colony of Swiss settled at the iiioutli
of the Great Scioto. Associates from Kentucky and \'ii^iiiia
had gone farther up that river. One Farley, a Presbyterian
minister from Bourbon County in Kentucky, had gone in ITOo
up the stream with a party, and had a brush with some wuikUt-
ing Shawnees and Senecas, whom Wayne had not succeeilcd
in drawing to Greeneville. Farley, finding the country to liis
liking, returned in 1796, and on April 1 built the first cahin
at Chillicothe.
Wayne's treaty line had thrown all east of the Cayahoga into
the hands of the whites for settlement. This opened the east-
erly jiart of that northern section of the State of Ohio claimod
by Connecticut, and knowii as the Western Keserve. West of
the Cayahoga line, Connecticut, as early as November, 1792,
had set aside a large tract, known as the Firelands, to be devoted
in due time to recompense the 1,870 claimants who had suf-
fered from the British i-aids in Connecticut during the Kevohi-
tion. Wayne's treaty, by tli-owing this tract into the Indian
reservation, had put off the occupation of it.
A year later, Connecticut tried to sell the remaining ])arts of
tliis property, but purchasers were not found till after Wayne's
treaty had been made, when, in September, 1795, a number of
Connecticut people, associating themselves, but without l('i;al
incorporation, as the Connecticut Land Company, b(; ight the
entire area, paying for it by a return mortgage for 'fl, 200. 000.
— a sum the basis of the school fund in that State tt)-ihty.
The principal agent in the enterprise was Oliver Phel})s, who
eight years before had been engaged with Gorham in a siniihir
speculation in Genesee lands, — selling theni to Kobert Morris
in 1790, and Morris represented #108,000 of this new invest-
ment. Six townships five miles s(]uare were at once sold to jiay
the cost of surveying, v/hich was begun the same year. 1 Ids
plotting of townships was a departure from the i)lan of six iiiih's
scpuire, which had already been established in the contiguous
1^^
RTIIWEST.
)f justice that,
ese geutltMiK'u
311' courts,
aty of Gni'iie-
nties alonj; tliu
come into tlie
il at tlu' mouth
y aiul VirL;iniii
a Presbyterian
1 jrone in ITU")
h some wiuuh'r-
iiot sucL'L't'dt'd
2 country to his
the first cahiii
e Cayahoga into
ipened the east-
of Ohio chiimetl
^erve. AVest nf
[ovember, 1792,
(Is, to be clevnttil
ts who had suf-
inff the Kevohi-
into the bulian
luaining parts of
after Wayne's
db, a number of
.it without h'^al
•any, bcight the
for .*1,200.(>00.
lat State to-(hi.v.
iver Phelps, who
am in a simihiv
Kobert Morris
this new invest-
once sold to pay
ime year. '1 his
phin of six niiU'S
1 the contiguous
•a "
i. u
— c«
U 3
1- 5
t- 3D
a. H I
T. z ''^
3 ~" 3
- r >
— 5 5
s a; =
w .i i: J
1 ^J«
^ * L-
" ^ ^
1 C 2
ac - -
4 j:;
^ J i
! 5 »
1 ■ 1
i
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' !
1 '
1 5^
"Is
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H.'il,
111 ' ■ r I"' i
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if!
Cl
502 WAYXE'S TREATY AM> THE XEW NORTIIWEST.
Seven Ranges, and wliieh became the rule. The proprietoiN luf
stated in some aecounts to have been 35, and in others 4.S in
nuud>ev, representing in the aggregate 400 shares at #3,000 cinli.
Kach I'leniher of the comjjany drew iiis ])roportion hy lot imd
held in severalty. The survey, when eoniplcted, showed less
than 3,000,000 aeres, when earlier, depending on an iniju rtVct
knowledge of the shore line of the lake, they had suj)posed tlicv
were bargaining for a third mon;, so that what they reckonud
as costing 30 cents an acre was really purchased at 40 cents.
The (piestion of jurisdiction was still n abeyance. It was
for a while uncertain if the company could not in due time make
their territory a State of the Union. Coiigress took the luatttr
under consideration in January, 171)0, but sus])ended action to
171*8, the region in tlie mean while being included by St. Clair
in the counties laid out to the south of it. Movements now
j)roeeeded whicli were ended in 1800 by the United States
giving a title of the territory to Connecticut, reserving the juris-
diction, and that State transferred the title to the company.
A party of fifty ])ioneers, re})resenting the company, left
Connecticut in ^lay, 171K3. Their leader was !Moses Cleave-
land, a militia general of good repute, who was black ('noiii;li
in visage and sturdy enough in figure to seem of a ditit't'ii'iit
stock from his Yankee followers. He led them by way of
Fort Stanwix and A\'ood Creek to Lake Ontario, and avoided
the fort at Oswego, still held by the British. Keaching I5iitVali).
the party bargained with Brant and Kt'd Jacket for the Indian
title to the land beyond for ■'12.500 in merchandise. On .Inly
4, they were at Connenut Creek, which, in recognition of the
d;'.y, they named Port Independence, and made merry '• with
several ])ails of grog." From this })oint they sent out surv< yors
to determine the 41" of latitude, their southern line, and to
establisli the meridian which was the western b(mnd of Peiui-
sylvania, from which their township ranges were to coniit.
Next, passing on by the lake, the ])arty ke})t on the lookout tor
the mouth of the Cayahoga, on the eastern side of whicli. ami
within Wayne's treaty limits, they were intending to found a
town. One day they discovered a sharp opening into the land.
with a sand-bar and s])reading water beyond. They passed tlie
obstruction and, rowing along some marshes. f«,und a sj)ot where
the Indians had evidently been accustomed to beach thoir canoes,
nt survt vors
THE OHIO ROUTE.
VM
503
[This is a Kpctioii oi ;i '• Xtw am] Correct Map iif tlit' rioviiiccs of New York, Nrw Kiifflaiid
aii.l Caiiaila," in The Atin'ricitii lin^rttii'i-. \ol. ii.. I.oniloii, ITi'.?. It hIiows the route from tliedliio
tlir(iii(;li CayalioRa [Canaliovue ] to SainliisUy. tlieiice iiy water to l>etroit [ Kort roiitdiartraiii].
Tlie I'urveJ ilotted line, crossiin; Lake Krie, i« tlip western tioniiclarv of I'ennsylvania. as elainn'il
aiiJ nmniug pariiilel to tl:e oonrse of the '.>elawnre, it8 eastern hoinuhiry.]
Iteut'atli a siiiidbank t'Ij;lit fcot liiiili. Asccndinu; this declivity,
they foiuu! a ].laiu. luorc or less wooded, stretchiiio- away inland
forfuc. ,(* three miles, to what had been, in geolonie times, the
II
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.if
ii
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504 WAYXE'S TREATY AND THE NEW NUllTIIWEST.
slielving edge of the lake. There had been in the n('ii;hli()v.
hood at some earlier (hiy a few temporary huts, ereeted liy whitf
travelers, for the spot had formed one of the stations in tin-
route between Pittsburg and Detroit. It was now, as was rofk-
oiiL'd, the twelfth township, counting from the IVnnsylviiiiia
line, and in the seventh range above the 41°, — the site ot the
future C^leveland. Here, about the 1st of October, ITlUl. the
new settlement took shape under the surveyor's stakes, witli
homestead lots on the lake, ten-aere lots fartlier back, and farms
of a hundred acres still more distant, — the latter on the line
in part of what is now the world-famous Kuelid Avenue. The
town grew slowly, for the saiul-bh)eked river had proved mala-
rious, and we may mark the stages of future development in the
abandonment, in 1805, of tlie other bank of tlie river by tlio
Indians, anil the opening of the Ohio Canal in 1827.
There is ii /" '^ ubt that the delay in determining tlu; ((iics-
tion of jurisilii. had much to do with discouraging scttlr-
ment. While tiiu matter was still pending, Winthro]* Sar-
gent, who su})po.sed that St. Clair was absent, and that iie was
acting-governor, had, in August, 1796, set nj) AVayne County,
to include that portion of the Keserve west of the Cayalie-ja.
togetlier with the ]Michigan peninsula, but the right to fedeial
supervision was denied. AgJiin, in July, 1797, St. Clair liiiii-
s(df included the eastern section in JefiPerson County, with
similar j)r()tests fnmi the occupants to such an assumption of
territorial jurisdiction. The title of the United States was
assured, as we have seen, in 1800.
The report which Ilan.ilton had made on July 20, 1T'J<I. on
a ])lan for disposing of the western lands, was little considoied
at the time, but now that the treaty of Greeneville had cpneted
the west, it was again brought up in Congress. Tiieie was at
first some contention upon the provisions of the new bill. and. as
one of the members of Congress wrote, its fate (lei)ended on the
reconciling''* crude schemes and local views." By the exertions
of Gallatin and otliers, an act was finally passed, on May li^.
1790, providing for the surveying of townships six miles s(|uait'.
and the selling of lands in sections. It was largely based on
the act of 1785. Hamilton had advised putting the jnicc at
a dollar an acre ; but the act put the price at two dollars, and
7H7:;.S7'.
i noighlxtr-
L'd l>v wliitc
Ions in the
IS was I'ock-
ennsylvania
e site itt the
T, IT'.t*!. the
stakes, with
k, and tanus
V on tlie line
veiine. 1 lie
n'ovod niahi-
pnu'nt in tlie
vivei" l)y the
J.
in<i tlu! ([ues-
raj^ini; settle-
'intlu'o)) Sar-
l that he was
ayne County,
die Cayaho<;a.
.o-ht to federal
t. Claii' him-
/onnty. with
issuniption <
Stati's w;
f
IS
•20, ITOO. on
tie considered
e had (inieted
There was at
w liill.and.as
H'nded on tlie
SALES OF PUBLIC LANDS.
505
soni^ht to nifiki' some reeoini)ense to poorer people by allowinj^
;i system of eredit. The sales, however, were small, ami within
a year less than •'3<5,OUO was received into the public treasury,
J\Ot :?£/i/tIT07t Y
Itn. . W.frrm PhilaJ^
A I „. i mi l iiMj nni I f
The luiupxeil ma)) is; from Josepli Scott's Vuitnl SI'ilrx (luzrtleer, riiilaijelpliia, t"05, ■
-^ilitst of such books.]
tlie
and for forty years the exi)enses of maintaining the system
['xoeeded the returns. The same act of 170(5 created the office
'i Sm'veyor-General, and the a])])ointnu'nt fell, in October, to
Kiifiis Putnam. Tnere had been a tract set aside for ])ayinj;"
the hounties for military service in the Kevolution. This lay
I'etween the Seioto and the Seven Ranges, south of ^Vay"'3's
mm
\^
1
ft
I i
m-
I 1
.'i!(
I ■?
■(I t 1
50G ir.n'A7iVS' treaty axd the new NoitTinvi-sr.
treaty line and north of a line running- in al)ont the latitiulc
of the city of Cohunhus. This was one of the re<'i()ii> now
surveyed.
The i)reparini5 of these western hinds for sale and settle-
ment had kej)t alive the in-ojeet of connecting the coast with the
Ohio valley, which, under Washington's influence, had taken
their earlier shajjc in the years following the close of tJie Ivevo-
lutionary AVar. Kufns King wrote to (jrouverncnr ^I >nis. in
September, 1792 : " You hear of companies formed and foimin"
in all the States for the imijrovement of our inland navioalicm.
and thus the most distant lands will become almost as vahuiLh-
as those nearest to our markets." Ilamiltcm said, in IT'.t"). that
"to maintain connection between the Atlantic and the western
country is the knotty i)oint in our affairs, as well as a ])iiniaiv
object of our policy."
For some years, a project of connecting the Hudson and tlie
lakes had been the subject of discussion, and had elicited suiidi v
l)amphlets. In March, 1792, a canal company had been ineor-
jxn-ated with this in view. The retention of the posts Ikk' iejit
the project in abeyance, and when Cleavcland, in 17!t."), liad
taken the route by Fort Stanwix to reach Ontario, he had fol-
lowed what ])romised, it was then thought, to be the course (if
such a connection. The route this way was from New ^Ork hy
boat to Albany, by road to Schenectady, by boat to Ttica and
Oswego (except the jwrtage at Fort Stanwix) : then tluecdays
on Lake Ontario, a portage at Niagara, two days on Lake Lrio
to Presqu'Isle, portage to Le Boeuf, and the boat to rittsliur<;'.
The distance thus computed was eight hundred and niucty-om'
miles, and more than twenty-two days were taken ; while land
cai'riage from Philadelphia, three hundred miles, took eighteen
or twenty days ; but a hnndredweight of mercdiandisc could l)e
carried a little (dieaper from New York. The Hudson nnitt'.
however, had the disadvantage of being somewhat obstriictetl
from July to October, when the stream j were low.
Nearly all the travel so far, however, had been by tlu' over-
moimtain route from Philadelphia and Baltimore. It took
forty days, sometimes increased to sixty days, for a wagon to
go from either of these places to Pittsburg and return. Pitts-
burg was now a town of about one hundred and fifty lunisos.
brick and wood, and after Wayne's treaty had opened the way
'■f it ' ' ''! \l' < i ■ It
1l?^ 'liU.ill
lludsou route.
HECKE WELDER'S MAP.
aOl
--^N
[Tlie almve map is from a MS. map by Hcckewpldt'r (ITW), reprndurpil in tlip Wf^lern Rexervf.
Uisturiidl Sorii'ly's Truvt, Sn. lit (ls^4). It hliDws the region iiortli of I'lttsourg ami tlie paths.]
to an increased ])()pnlation down the Ohio valley, it Lpoan to
lose the characteristics of a frontier town, as the edi^e of the
wilderness was pushed forward.
The only tnrn])ike in the country was a macadam road that
i't't lMuladel])hiaand extended to Lancaster, a distance of sixty-
Mx miles, and once a week a star;;e i)assed over this and on to
I Harrisburg on the Susquehanna, as the main route in Penn.syl-
% ';i '
{f\%
■'■■ ' ■
m
./ ■'■'J/ i'
• *!
r)08 ir.iriV/iW rUEATY AND THE NEW NORTHWEST.
viiiiia to the mountain passes. While the distaiict; from Phila-
delphia to rittsburj^' in an air line was two hundred and scvciitv
miles, the road extended it to three hundred and fourteen.
For some years the route west by the Potonuie had Ihmii
improved by progressive eanalizing of that river. Tiic land
earriage from Fort Cuud)erland, whieh had been f(U" some tiii,c
about fifty miles, on to Redstone, was likely soon to lie rcchiccd
to twenty miles. Further u]) the Potomai', from tiie mouth of
Savage River, there was a trail to Cheat River, which pfoplc
talked of reducing to seventeen miles. " Produce from tln'
Ohio," said Wausey, an English traveler at this time, '" can lie
sent elieai)er to Alexandria than Fuglish goods can bedelivcnd
in London from Northampton." The fur dealers said that
Alexandria was four hundred miles nearer the Indian wilds
than any other shipping port on the Atlantic. The route from
Baltinujre to the Ohio was increased from two hundred and
twenty-four miles as the bird flies to two hundred and seventy-
five l)y the course followed. In 179G, Collot made some com-
putati<ms of the cost of carrying P^uropean i)roduets up the
Mississippi as comjjared with the Potonme and other over-
mountain routes. He foi d that it cost 30 i)er cent, more in
charges and thirty-five days more in time by the land route t(t
the middle west ; and if St. Louis was the objective port.
the excess was 43 per cent, in cost. From New Orleans to tlie
mouth of the Ohio was one thousand two hundred miles, and
boats carrying twenty-five tons and managed by twenty men
C(msumed ninety days in the round trij). It required ten days
more, if St. Louis >vas the goal. Putting it another way, Collot
says that goods can be conveyed from Philadelphia to Kentucky
at a cost of 33 per cent, on the value of the goods, and from
New Orleans to Illinois at a charge of only 4 to 4.^, per cent.
On the Ohio there was an almost incessant procession of flat-
boats passing down w^ith merchandise. In 1700, a thousand
such craft })assed Marietta. Every month a passenger lioat
left Pittsburg for Cincinnati. Its cabins were bullet ])roof, and
six single-pounder guns were trailed over its gunwales.
In 1794, while Pickering was acti.ig as Postmaster-Cieneial.
Rufus Putnam arranged with him for a regular mail servi( ii
the Ohio, The post-bags were carried by hoi semen every
Note. — The opposite map of routes west from Alexandria and Lancaster (Philadelphia) is from
a map in La Rocliefoucault-Liancourt's Travels, London, 1799.
\l
!!'vi
•HWEST.
l'i<im Pliila-
aiul sfvi'iity
iirtetni.
IC luitl Itct'll
•. Th.- land
or sonic tiiin'
i) be I'cdiK'cil
;he mouth of
,vliich [H'oplc
i-e from the
me, " fan In-
I be ilcliveu'il
irs said that
Indian wilds
he route from
hundred and
and seventy-
de some eom-
)duets up the
1 other over-
cent, more in
h\nd route to
|bjeetive port,
ii'leans to the
■d miles, and
twenty men
lired ten (hiys
er way, ("oUot
:\ to Kentucky
)ds, and from
I per cent,
■ession of Hiit-
}, a tiiousand
issenp,'er Itoat
niet l)roof, and
lah's.
lister-(iencral
ail service uii
1 semen every
IriiiladelpliiaiUfr.im
iij
ii M
' ,i n
M
\^^
r;
510 n.iyXE'S TREATY AM) THE NEW .\OliTII\VEST.
fortnight, from Pittsburg to Wia't'ling, whicii was now ;i inun
of twelve or fifteen frame and log liouses, protected l>y a small
stocliaded fort. Here tlie mail was transferred to a boat, ami.
after stopping at Marietta and (Jallipolis, the craft i)ass((| on
to Limestone. This liver port, wliicli liad long been used, was
a handet built on a Ingb and uneven bank at tlie foot of a >.iii-
siderable hill. Its harljor was the moutl> of a small (reek,
where a few Kentucky boats were usually lying, and were oira-
sionally liroken uj) to furnish the plank for more houses. Krom
Limestone the poucdies were carried inland to the Kentucky
settlements. In 1797, an overland route to Limestone was
opened from Wheeling by Kbenezer Zane, in j)ayment for six
hundred and forty acres of hind which Congress had granted
him north of the Ohio.
The mail boat, which was a vessel twenty-four feet long,
manned by a steersnnin and four oarsmen, next passed on to
Cincinnati. These boats, like the passenger ones, were armed
against Indian attacks, but there was little or no interruption
by savage mai'auders after 1794. It took six days to run from
Wheeling to Cincinnati, being an average of sixty miles a day ;
twice as much time was consumed in returning.
The western country was at this time entered at three dif-
ferent points, for the Niagara route had hardly become u
connnercial one, and since Pickering i)acitied tlu^ Six Nations
at Canandaigua, in Novend)er, 1794, there had been obstatdcs
to its occupancy. These three portals were the sources respec-
tively of the Ohio (Alleghany and Monongahela), Kanawha,
and Tennessee. The routes converging u])on these springs
were seven in nund)er. Two of them united at l'ittsl)urL;.
One of these, starting fvom l*iiiladelphia, struck l)y difl'ciciit
portages the Alleghany Kiver, wliicli was a stream clearer and
a little nnu'e rapid than the Monongahela, and its euncnt in-
creased from two and a half miles an hour to four or live,
according to the state of tlie water. The other route, wliicli
ended at Pittsburg, h'ft Baltimore or Alexandria and passed
from the Potomac to the Monongahela. It was an attractive
route. The river had firm banks, and was topped with a variety
of trees, — buttonwood. hickory, oak walnut, sugar-majtlc. and
beech, — all growing to large sizes for their kind. "Wluiwer
M I Hi
f
uul <,a'iinteil
urct's r»'si)ec-
1)V (liftViviit
cuvvt'iit 111-
routt'. wliu'
liu attractive
THE \vi:sTi:ns norrKs.
611
the liills fell ba 'k from thi' stream, it was fiiii<;('(l l»y fertile
Itnttoms. From Fort C'umUerland bv wajjron to lirowiisvillo
wad eight • miles, ;iiul the earryiiig distance was mueh less by
Union
I'lTTsr.nu; and wheeling.
[Frnm !i "Gciipral Jla]) of the Course of tho Oliio from its Source to its Junctiou with the Mis-
sissippi," in Collet's .!//((,«.]
portages to the branches of tlie Mononi^ahela. KochefoN. ;i ilt-
Lianeoiirt says : " Being situated neai-er the rivers \ oiigliio-
gi'iiy and jMoeongahel []\Ionongahela], Baltimore possesses a
part of the trade of the back country, if Pennsylvania supplies
most of the stores."
The other routes from Viruinia were to the head of CJreen-
^hU
n
■ (I
.ii
n
.Olli UM>'A7i".S' TREATY ASD TIIK SEW SURrnWEST.
n
m
I
:M •
'♦' I,
l)!'i('i' Kivcr iind so down tli»' Kanawhii to the Oliio; jm,!
throii;^li Ciiiuhcrlaiid (iap, l)y tlic Wildenu'ss Kuad. :is nooni'
tracked it in 1775, using so iinich skill in avoiding; the sviitor-
t'ourst'M that tho niodt'iu engineers hav«' }iiit the railioaij over
inueh the same eourse. In 171).), the Virginia Assend)lv passed
*' uii aet opeiung a wagon road to C"inid)«'rland (iap," aiuinijiii-
ating .£"2,000 to eonstru«'t a way suitable for wagons eairviuM
loads of one ton ; and in the sunnner of ITlt"), large trains of
emigrants were passing this way.
The Virginia road to Knoxville passed the same way, witlioiit
turiMug to the right at the llolston settlements as the Kentucky
way did, au'l so went on to Nashville. This road was joined
by another from North Carolina ; and at the P'rench liioad
Kiver, it was united witli still another road from South ('um-
lina. The Georgia road left Augusta and fell into this route
from South CiU'olina.
,1
It'
I !)f
!ti.
\\\
'¥:
\ w
1\\K\ ai)i)lieation cf artificial power to the ])ropulsion of boats
was still a constant dream. Morse, in bis Gazetteer^ thought it
jH'obable that " steandioats would be found of infinite service
in all our extensive river navigation." In 1702, Earl Stanhope.
in l^nglaml, had contrived a diu-k's foot paddle, shuttoig ,vith
the forward motion and oi)ening with the return, ar \i had
driven it by steam. In the autunni of the same year sbee
at Providence, in Rhode Island, moved a boat three or four
nules an hour <m the same ])rin<dple, calling the motors goose
feet. Robert Fulton sought to substitute the simpler di|)pin^
paddle. Two years later (1794), Sanuiel Morey, a New Ibiiiip-
shire man, who had been ex})erimenting since 1700, niovctl a
boat with a stern wheel five miles an hour, from Ilartfonl to
N(!W York, and in June, 1797, he j)ropelled a side-whcd hn.it
on the Delaware. Fitch, the earlier mover in this problem, who
had gone, as we have seen, to England, liad now i-cturiied to
America, a believer in the screw propeller. Its })riiu'iple liiid
first been proposed by the mathematician Daniel Bernoulli in
1752, and it is described by David Bushnell in a letter to Jeffer-
son in 1787, showing how a subnuirine boat worked by a screw
had been earlier used by him in an attempt to l)low wy, a Hiit-
NoTE. — TliR oppu.^'tP mjip from Morse's J'liirer.fdJ Oenpnipfii/. Bnatoii, ITOli, kIiowh tlii- iiuKip-
tioii tlieii jirevailiiig of the interlocking waters o*' tlie Clieaaiieaka, Lake Ontario, and tlie Olii".
I
WEST.
iliii) : iiiiil
as nudiif
tlu' Wiltfl-
ll'iiail n\(l'
l)ly )»;iNsc(l
a|»liriipri-
. I'linyiiij;'
trains t»f
ly, witliout
Keiitufliv
^•M joiiifd
icli I'niClll
mitli ("aro-
I this route
on of l)(»ats
', tliouglit it
nite service
•1 Staiilioiu'.
.ntt'ng with
[IT
e had
11
Sllft^
f.
Iree or i'»ur
lotors <;i»(>S('
[h'r (lipi'iiij;'
cw llaiiil)-
1*0, inovod a
ilartforil to
-wht'i'l l)t>.it
olileni, who
•('turned to
liuciple liad
licrnttu
ler
Hi in
to Jei'+'er-
1)V a si'rt'W
up
\\v\t-
lihoWH the ('"111 ip-
, and tlif Olii".
'I
:f
->
.1
III
;i
i
A
■1
n
'I;
in
i i
514 WAYNE'S TREATY AND THE NEW NORTHWEST.
isli tifty-guii ship in Sew York havbor. This side .)f tl-.c stiaui
n ivigation i)rol)leiu had already engaged the iittentiun of ^^';^lt
Franklin, Pancton, and others. In 179(3, Fitch tried a screw
propeller in a yawl, on a fresh-water pond in New York city
near where Ciinal Street now is. Moving to Kentucky, wc
find him still experimenting witli a model boat, three feet loiio.
on a creek near Bardstown. Here he died in 1790, and lie is
buried by the scene of his last efforts, near the banks of the
Oliio. In 1708, Stevens was engaged, with the sympathy of
Chancellor Livingston, Nicholas T. Koosevelt, and Isanibanl
Brunei (the last an exiled French royalist and later famous
in engineei'ing work), in experimenting on steam ])ro])ulsion ((ii
the Passaic Kivei'. lie used a boat of thirty tons, and drew
water from the bottom of the boat aiul expelled it astern. In
this, and in the use of elli])tical paddles, his efforts failed of
success. So the ?entui\y went out, with the dream of ( 'nth-r
and Morse still unfulfilled.
I \\
CIIAPTEK XXIII.
'-- ■ : iU]
'.' i
THE UXHEST OK TIIK SOUTHWEST.
17i)l-171)4.
:V
The year 1791 was one of lu'sitaiicy in the sout Invest. Con-
<;ress, in February, had admitted Kentucky to the L nion, b\it
her actual entrance was set for June of the next year. Ver-
mont was almost innnediately received, to adjust the balance of
>'()rth and South.
Zachary Cox liad, in 1785. bcLnin a settlement at the Muscle
Slioals of the Tennessee Kiver ( in noithern Ahd)ama ). and eailv
ill 1791, Sevier and others of the ejected Krauklmites, under
the authority of the Tennessee Company, made ready to occupy
the coimtry just south of tlie shoals, where (ieoi'<^ia, December
21. 1789, had made that body a p-ant of 3,500.000 acres. Ku-
iiiors of their purpose stirri.'d the Cherolv«H'S, and there was
(hinger of a general Iniliiin outbreak. Knox early protested
against the daring independence of tlie Tcnnesseeans, and the
President warned them of the risks they ran. He told tliem
that the federal government could not and wouhl not protect
them against the angry Indians. Nevertheless, the com])any
advertised for settlers. The President now ap])ealed to the
Attorney-(ieneral to devise some remedy against such flagrant
acts, for every new ii-i-itation of the southwestern tribes was
snie to extend to tlieir S])anish neighbors, with whom the gov-
ernment was still trying to settle tlie momentous cpiestion of the
Mississi])])i.
The convention of Xootka had relieved Spain of iuunediate
apprehension of a war v ith Kngland, and Miro ^a^ gettisig
tired of the un])roductive Kentucky intrigue. The fe.u'ral gov-
oinment was loatli to stir the slumbering embers. AVhile it
had no ])urpose to prt^ss the vexed question to a nu)ture. it was
hut too conscious how any moment migiit awake the Spanish
passions. In ]\Iarch, 1791, Jefferson wrote to Carmichael I'l
iiip
! 1 ' '4 .
lA^^
•I '
■it T :
'i ' !
I
<
f I'V
J:, i'
ll.
rf*H'
"tI'T-; -ft- ■■'
516
THE UXIiESr OF THE SOrTIIWEST.
^Madrid that at any tiuu; such an " accident," as the sriznrc of
American boats on the Mississippi, niij;ht " }nit furthef ])aik'v
heyond our jK)\vcr."" lie at the same time thought to cahii the
Kentucky discontent by writinj;' to Innes that the government
only awaited an op[)ortunity to bring- the >i»anisli negotiations
to a point. ^ I can assure you of the most determined zeal of
our chief magistrate," he said. '* The nail will be driven as
far as it will go jieaceably, and furtlier, the moment that eiicuni-
stances become favorable." On May '^0, ITUl, Innes wrote
back to Jefferson that such assurances " have in a great meas-
ure silenced our com")laints."
It was at the same time a (juestion how far France could be
de]HMided upon to exert her influence on the Spanisli ministers.
Lafayette had assured Washington (June 0) that "France
will do everything in her j)ower to bring S])ain to reason, but
will have ;; difticult and probably unsucc(>ssful task." Kvents
in France, however, were moving too rapidly.
On flidy 2, 1791, Governor Blount, who had already been
authorized (August 11, 1700) to act, met tiie Cherokee chiefs
on the Ilolston at White's Fort. Over five lunidred families
had of late years settled on lands guaranteed to the Cherokees
by til'.' trericy of Hopewell, and the purpose of the ni'w treatv.
which Blount hoped to make, was to bring these families witliin
the jurisdiction of the whites. There was the usual dilatorv
diidomaey before the Indians finally consented to ]dace them-
selves under the protection of the United States. They agreed
to allow the whites free use of the road across their territorv to
the more distant settlements, and ])roniised that travelers upon
it should not be molested, and that no harm should come to
any one navigating the Tennessee. By the bounds that were
determined along a winding and disjointed line, which was the
source of later trouble, and which I^llicott was ordered to trace.
the Cherokees abandoned nuudi of the Lmd which tiie whites
iiad usurped, The treaty, in fact, confirmed the whites in tlie
possession of all the Tennessee country, except a tract lying
between the Ilolston and the Ciunbcrland. and other regions
lying either in thi' southeast or towards the Mississippi. In
XoTE. — Tlio oppoRitP •' Map of tin' Tomiassee ^jovfrnnii'iit by (ieiil. n Smith ami ntlit'rs," U
in Cmi-t/s Anirriinn .\lhif, Pliilailelpliia. IT'.Ci. It shows tlie mail I'onnHctiiij; Knoxvilli- u-iiiin:
west with Nashville ami soiiiR east with the Holstoii eettleiiieiits. The iveiitiu'ky road is tlie
dotted line w liioh oiosses the Clinch River going north.
i.ii;
:i >l!!'l
solziiro of
:ier pulley
) calm tin-
DVl'VlUlU'llt
igotlatious
ed zeal of
(Irivoii as
lat ciivuiii-
nu's wroto
;i'eat uu'as-
e I'oiild 1)0
1 uiiiiistcis.
t " Fraiifi'
reason, luit
."' K vents
ready been
•okee chiefs
•ed families
e Cherokees
new treaty,
lilies within
nal ililatoi'y
place them-
liey a;.ireetl
territory to
[velers npon
Hd come to
that were
•h w:is the
I'ed to tra
ee
tue w
hites
liites in the
tract l\inu
llier re^'ioiiH
.ippi.
h
Ih ami ntliers," ia
Kiiiixvilli- 1;
111- i:"iin,'
cky ro;ul is tl'"^
1
^ I
518
>,
m
Hr i
111
'; 1 -ll: .
THE UXREST OF THE SOUTH WEST
the antunin Congress ratifieil the treaty. Spanish intri-iu's.
aimed to unite the southwestern tribes as a barrier a^-ainst the
Aujerieans, prevented a like aceei)tance on the part of all the
seetions of the Cherokee tribes, and the more western settle-
ments soon, as we shall see, suffered from savage mai-aiidcrs.
On the spot where Blount had made the treatv he veix soon
laid out a town for his capital, and bearing in remembrance the
secretary of war. it was named Knoxville. It was suiveveil
in sixty-four lots, priced at #800 each. In the autuiiui. tln'
Kno.vvillv GaxMv was started (November 5), which did i^dod
service, at a little later day, in cherishing loyalty and keeiiintr
the Tennessee settlers jjroof against the Jacobin fever.
Of the conditions at this time along the Mississip])i and in
Florida, we fortunately have the imi)ressions of an intellj^em
traveler, riohu Pope, who, in 1791, recorded his observations.
as he descended the river in a beat whose crew — to sjiow the
diversity of life on the river — was made up of '* one Irishman,
one Ansj)acher, one Kentuckian, one person born at sea, one
Virginian, and one Weh'hman."
At New Madrid the Spanish commander complained that the
governor at New Orleans did not sufficiently support him : and
to Pope his "excellent train of artillery"' appeared to lie the
chief defense which he had. It was doubtful if, at this time, the
entire Sjianish force between the (iulf and St. Louis, and at a
post on the Missouri. nund)ered more than two or three thou-
sand men. As he drew near Natchez, Pope found the' country
" prettv thicklv inhabited bv Virijinians, Candinians, (Jeor-
gians. and some few stragglers from the Eastern States." On
the Bayou Pierre, an inlet from the river, thirty miles in leni,tli
and twenty wide, he found a population ^ eom])osed generally
of people who hat'e moved and still cor.tinue to move in elevated
stations." He describes Natchez as having about a hundred
houses. The fort commands the river a mile up and two miles
down, but on its " back part it is pregiuible to a dozen men."'
Going on board the barge of Gayoso, the governor of the town.
he was regaled " with delicious wines."' He speaks of Uayoso's
*' majestic deportment, softvued by manners the most engaging
and polite." Below Natchez he saw the "seat " of Mr. Kllis. a
Virginian, near which lay three large tobacco-boats unlauiu lied.
After this, " slight, airy, whitewashed buildings become more
McGILLIVRAY.
519
coininon on the eastern side, and are in c^eneral occnpied by
j)t ople from the United States," Then eanie *' country seats,"
'• l)eauteoiis farms, and elegant buildings."
At New Orleans, now a town of less than six thousand in-
liiil)itanis, Po})e found that jjrivate adventurers from New York,
Philadelphia, and Baltimore were carrying on a toleral)le trade,
iiiid coidd undersell the natives, while making a hundred per
cent, profit. Passing on to Pensacola, he says : " The upjier
and lower Creek nation trade at this ])lace, where they are uni-
fnrudy imposed upon by a Mr. Panton, who has monopolized
tlifir tru'le. The poor Indians barter their deer skins at four-
teen pence sterling ])er })ound for salt at nine shillings sterling
jn'i- bushel. Panton is ])art owner of the salt works on the
island of Providence, and has brought the salt to Pensacola in
his own bottoms at the average expense of about three pence
per bushel. I think his goods at ^lobile, Pensacola, and St.
Marks are usually vended at al)out tive hundred per cent, on
tlu'ir prime cost."
From Pensacola. l^ope, in the early summer of 1791, went
inland to visit McCrillivray, at his house on the C'ousee Hiver^
five miles above its junction with the Tallapoosa, where together
tlit'v form the Alabama. This half-breed chieftain had an ujiper
plantation, six miles higher up the stream. Here the traveler
found him superintending the erection of a log house with dor-
nuT windows, on the spot where McCJillivray's father, a Scotch
trader, had lived amid his apple-trees, whicdi were still stand-
ing. Pope describes this tall, spare, erect man, with his large
(lark eyes, sunk beneath overhanging brows, as showing signs
of •' a dissipation which niarkcd his juvenile days and sapped
a constitution originally delicate and feeble. lie possesses an
atticism of diction, aided l)v a libeial education, a great finid
of wit and huny >r, meliorated by a perfei't good nature aiul polite-
ness." Po})e describes his host's table as aft'<u'ding a generous
diet, with wines and other ardent j)irits. He possessed, as
otiier visitors showed, some fifty or sixty negro slaves, three
hundred cattle, and a large stotdc of horses and lesser animals.
Mc(iillivray always pi'otestcd that he did all he could to
make his tribesmen carry out the treaty whicli he had made in
New York, but that he failed by the intrigues of the Spaniards
annviig his countrymen. '• This perpetual dictator," as Pope
If
t
iiil 1^
520
THE UMiEST OF THE SOUTHWEST.
:' I)
' :' .1
i'-t'lii'
culls him, "who in time of war sulMlelegjites a numlxTof chief.
tains for the direction of all military operations," soon pusses
out of our story, for, to anticij)ate a little, he contracted a fever
at Mobile, where he was c(msulting' with these same intriouino-
Spanish, and died at Pensacola, on February 17, llWA. and
was bxuied in the garden of that William Panton who, witli
McGillivray's own connivance, had unmercifully bleil his fel-
low-tribesmen.
The year (1791) closed with a change in the control at Xew
Orleans. Miro had left, and on Decend)er 30 he was sueeeeded
by Carondelet, who had been transferred from the governorslii])
of San Salvador, in Guatemala. It was not long before the inev-
itable and irrei)ressible intrigue of the Spanish nature begim to
show its(df in the influence which Carond(>let exerted on those
of the Chercdiees who were discontented with the recent treaty,
Ke])orts were conung to Bh)unt of intended inroads upon the
Cumberland settlements, and he cautioned Robertson to be on
his guard, and to prevent any provocations on the ])art of the
whites. The federal government, meanwhile, tried, by ineieas-
ing their subsidy from -11,000 to 111,500, to appease the recid-
citrant Cherokees by a su])plementary treaty at Philadelpliia
in February, whither an Indian delegation had gone. The sav-
ages were well received by Ktiox, and the President wrote to the
governor of South Carolina, where there had been some dis-
content manifested at the enforced ujoderation of the fedeial
government, that he looked for good results among the otlier
southern Indians from this conciliatory reception of the Chero-
kees. It was deemed in Philadelphia a fortunate occurrence
that these southern tribesmen were so acceptably engaged in
that city when news of St. Clair's defeat was received there, for
otherwise the ill tidings might have aroused the Indians ah)ng
the southern border. Although the Cherokees had returned in
a friendly mood, and Blount had been led to hope for ].eace,
there was still small confidence in the Cumberland region that
the amicable humor of the Indians would last long, after the
discouraging tidings from the Ohio country were given time to
])roduce an effect. Accordingly, R<d)ertson was urged by the
settlers to prepare for the worst. In IVIay, 1792, though I)loinit
had confidence "in the black paint s})rinkled with flour" whidi
the Cherokees wore in token of good, intention, the governor
lio o'ovt'iiior
BOWLES AND McGILLIVRAV.
521
yielded to Rol)erts()irs jippreluMisions, ;ind ordered out two
companies of militia to protect the frontiers, but with injunctions
not to cross the Indian frontiers. In the same month, Robert-
son himself was wounded by jjrowling savages while at work
on his farm, and the danger seemed serious. Some of these
iiiarauders were Delawares from beyond the Mississipi)i, and
when Robertson complained of them to the commander at New
Madrid, he was told that the Spanish authorities could not be
rt'S])onsible for vagrant savages of the Si)anish jurisdiction, if
they went beyond their reach.
Matter.s, to those who wore in the secret, were, at the same
time, far from satisfactory for the Spanish governor. The inHu-
enee of Bowles, as a rival among the tribes of McCiillivray, was,
to the mind of Carondelet, dangerous enough for him to arrest
his sway by treachery. That renegade was accordingly invited
to New Orleans, only to be a})prehended and sent a prisoner
to Spain. If McGillivray, in whose loyalty Carondelet had
confidence, had thus got rid of an enemy, he was too conscious
of his own waning ascendency among his people not to seize
eagerly an op])ortunity, which the Si)anish governor offered
him, of leadership in a new confederation of the Indians. With
characteristic dui)licitv, he was, at the same moment, flattering
Blount with a i)romise of leading two thousand Creeks to a
conference with American agents.
As the summer went on, James Seagrove, the Indian agent
of the government, made clear to the authorities at Philadel-
jtliia what he called the "simplicity and treachery'" of McGilli-
vr: y, and was in turn instructed to countermine that chieftain's
iiifl,;ence with the Creeks. The complicity of the Spanish in
all this was everywhere believed among the whites, and it was
a (piestion if the Spanish governor should not be told tlf't this
intriguing with the Creek leader could not be )'.»ngcr borne.
At Mobile, whose defense Carondelet thought of more impor-
tance than that of Pensacola, the Spaniards held Fort Charlotte,
and there was another armed station at Pensacola. Their mili-
tary occupation exten..ed up the Tond)ig' ee, and near their
Fort Stephen, on tiiat river, a body of F gHsh-s])eaking settlers
were engaged in raising indigo. These constituted the outpost
of Spanish influence, and not a .vhite man was permanently
settled between them and the Cumberland refrlon. Here roamed
u
^s
il
j
I,'
7
111
m
;'■!•
ij-.j
fi'^f
522
77//-; i'XRKST OF THK SOUTHWEST,
th«'i Cret'kH, and in the early suiuiner of ITD'J, it was known
that Spanish emissaries were passing- among" tiiese Indian^ ;iii,l
incitinsr thtun aj-ainst tiie Americans, rendering it difficidt t'oi'
Ellieott to make Miiy progress in running the treaty line of the
previous year. There were also re[)orts of Spanisli tniders
THE CHIPKASAW COt'XTRY.
[From a Clmrt of the Soiirct's of the Mohilr nii-l Ihr I'irrr Yn^nn. The Bnnr River is a brinrli
of till" Teimes.sci'. Tlip letter D stands for " eiirryiiiK-l>li"'e three miles only in lengtli to jnin the
Tennessee i\nil Xlobili! Rivers.'']
trafticking on American soil. These stories reaoliing Philadel-
phia, .lefferson, in Sejiteniber, 1702, urged Washington to
authorize counter movements on Spanish soil.
The Spanish posts at Natchez and at Chickasaw BlulV had
no such protection from harrier trihes. for the C'hiekasaws were
more ov less friendly with the Cumberland ])"ople. who wimc
likely, as the Spaniards felt, to attack those ])osts. I'^Mids
were arising- between the Chickasaws and the Creeks, and. in
case of a S])anish war, it seemed likely those tribes would hf on
different sides, With this in view, the S})anish governor liad.
on A'^ay, 14, 1702, brought together representatives of the
Till-: KKSTUCKY COSVESTloS.
623
River is a hnw\\
1 liMigtli to join tJR'
livt'Viior had
soiitlu'Vii Indians, to bring- abont, if ])()ssiblc', an alliance with
tht'Ui, so as to make them breast the American ailvanees. When
these inimical steps were bronght to the attention of the Span-
ish agent in Phihidelphia, \w told .leflerson that the conditions
naturally arose from the disputes of jurisdiction, and from the
niiibrage which the Indians generally felt because some had put
;liemselves under American protection.
Ahnost sinudtaneous with this Spanish treaty, Hlount had
once more met the Cherokees. Little Turtle, their spokesman,
exja'cssed dissatisfaction because the line whicli KUicott was
running was going to cut off their hunting-grounds. In the
conference, no farther inununity was jnade certain than that
Blount and Pickens^and their party, descending the river to
Nashville to hold a conference witii the Chickasaws and Choc-
taws, would not be molested. By September, 1702, it was
feared that war had not been prevented, and Blount was re;idy
to let Kobertsou forestall an attack from the Cherokee towns
by marching against thou, when it was learned the hostile pur-
pose was dro])ped. This professed forbearance was ai)parently
a ruse to disarm the settlers, for, on Septend)er 30, six hundred
Cliickamaugas and Creeks dashed u])(m nuchanan's Station,
and brought war to the settlers' doors. For all tl»is, Blount
reciuired Robertson to maintain the defensive, and to wait for
Congress to declare a war. The brigadier-general of the east-
ern posts, Sevier, had little faith in defensive war, and when
Blount ordered out the AVatauga militia to ])rotect Kllicott, —
who was so far favoring the Indians as to leave sor.Te of their
villages on tlie Indian side which the treaty line ]»1 uhmI with
the whites, — there was likelihood of a general war, if Sevier's
(lash prevailed.
While the Tennessee region was suffering this uncertainty,
the movement in Kentucky for Statehood liad resulted, in April,
l"n'2, in a convention at Danville, to fi-anie a constitution.
This was the tenth coining together of the ])eo])le in their long
striving after autonomy, in which they had shown a m i;ke(l
steadiness in the face of excitement. Though so near the end.
tlie soberer memb(>rs found still some ground for alarm, and
Iniies ex]U'essed the r doubts when lu* declared some inieasi-
ness at the disposition shown to put the work of constructing
1
i»!
I'
i«
1
n
1 ,
;i J I ,
■ 1
i
s -J"
Triarai-^d frr 7mZi\- r .1,^
JhtUs/ie^ Fd' •'; ;;<'i .h\ J D
1 I
1''
1
•fncJTL Xirp^yrvpt^ ,
'rtt, PiiindMv, LcnJon
T.Cumler Sriilp
1'^
y} U 'J
i'
"M ','J
'i;
] i
1
f '
il
1 '
, / 1
1 . f.
W^'
.r2i»
THE llMthST OF Till-: SULTHW EST.
r' ii
\\
u »
1 1'
,;f
fc !
V ;,! .'
tliL'ir fiuulaiiiciitiil l:iw too exi'lusivrly into tlic hands of "plain,
honest farnit'is." The draft picsented to the eonvention was
the work of (ieorj^e Xieliohis, the icpiesentative of tlie newer
come'' i, rather than of tlie ohler h aih-rs of the territoi'v. Tlie
instrunu'nt foUowed on broad lines the Federal C'onstitiitinn,
but made the principle -of government a little more deinoer.iiii'.
It gave manhood sutfragi', but gave no recognition of pnMic
education. Though allowing the possibility of emancipation, it
saved slavery i)y deidaring '• all men, when they f(jrm a sucinl
compact, etpial." This constitution was ratified in May, and
Isaac Shelby was made the first governor.
Kentucky, "more extravagantly described than any other
j)art of the United States," as one observer said, was c«tnnnnnlv
thougiit at this time to contain ])erhaj)s seventy thousand wiiito,
and, when the blacks were included, the over-contident caijied
the population nuudi higher. In the boastful talk about fori mg
the Mississippi, it was not infrequently held that theic were
thirty thousand men in the new State capable of beaiing anus.
There is no doubt that tlie S])anish stood in di'cad of some
ebullition of passion which would hurl a larue forci; against
their settlements on the Mississip])i, and the Kerituckians were
s]K)ken of, in connection with the (\nnberland st'ttlers. as "rest-
less, ])o<)r, ambitious, and capable of the most daring ent( •
prises," and Carondelet was fearful of their ultimate atteiii])!s
to cross the Mississii)pi. In Kentucky, more than in Tennessee,
the })oi)ulation was being teujpered by the arrival of some gentle
Virginian stock among them, and was passing out of tlie in-
choate roughness of a jnonecr condition, though, up to a very
recent tinu% Coo])er, the traveler, was probably right in saying
that no ])art of Kentucky, excejit a few miles round Lexingtun.
was ])er<octly safe from Indian raids. The victory of \\'ayiie
was rai/idly having its effect, in rendering tho Wildei-ness Koad
safe without a mounted guard, and little was beginning to he
heard of assaults on the armed packet-boats of the Ohio.
It was estimated that the emigration from the settled ])er-
ti<ms of the States east of the mountains to the west was lie-
come from forty to fifty thousand a year: but Kentucky w;is
not getting now the share of it which she formerly did. llif
Note. — Tlie oppoHitc iimp, following; Kliliii Barker's larpe nmp of Kentucky, is fruni C'li'ii's
Americnn Allii.i, riiiliuielpliiii. IT'.t."). and shows the roiiJ coimectious of Frankfort, Danville, ami
Lexington with the 01. io and Cumberland rivers.
m
( " plain,
it'nm was
lu' nt'Wtr
(IT. rill'
istltlltinli.
•luorvatic.
of jmlil'u'
illation, it
n a social
May, ami
jiiiy otliiT
coiniiiouly
mill wliiti's,
I'lit can'ii'tl
lovit forriu};'
tlll'lf Wl'Vl!
;\rln;4 iUiiis.
ail of sonit'
)!•(•(! a<;ainst
ickiaiis wire
vs. as " iTst-
u'iiiij rntf.-
ti' atti'iii])ls
1 'l\'iim'sst'o,
some ^rntli'
of tlu' iii-
ip to a viTV
it in savin;,'
Lcxinii'ton,
of ^Vayn^
Icriu'ss Koail
mini;" to lie
hio.
Isettloil ]inl'-
I'ost was lif-
■titiu'ky w:is
,aiii. 'I'l"'
I in frniii r.ii';/'s
l)vt, Uaiiville, ;vi"l
.Port
ti I ';
11
jt
ll
/!
' »f:^;
I i
'[, ui,
!i^
ii
111
528
Till-: rXRHST OF THE SOUTHWEST.
ll^.|l'*
;/..
i'--S t'
coufusiouof luiul titles through overlapping' grants and sliit'tli'ss
ni('or(lin<^ was tloing nuich to repel the thrifty fanner. Lai<;er
bodies of emigrants went by the northern routes and sto])!)!^!
in the (Jenesee country, where perhaps tlie eliniate was not so
Inviting", but the soil was nearly as rieh, and there were bi'ttcr
means of taking produce to nuirkot. The opposition of New
York laws to aliens holding hinds was working, however, some
detriment to settlement within its borders. Tiie enterprise of
Pennsylvania in opening roads and canals, and bringing luw
regions in the valley of the Susquelianna into occupancy, was
another im])ediment to Kentui-ky's increase. The treaty of
(irei'neville in (juieting the nortliwest was, moreover, l)ring!iig
the region north of tlie Ohio irito direct rivalry.
Kentucky, nevertheless, still had great advantages in rich and
enduring soil. Everywhere the winter rotted the autunnrs
leaves, and in the spring there was clean turf beneath the
trees. A Kentucky farmer, with ])erhaps pardonable warintli,
told William Priest that he was obliged to plant his land six
or seven years with hemp or tobacco before it was sutHcicntly
poor to bear wheat. Grass grew with a surprising rankness.
Clover grazed the horses'' knees as they galloped through a sea
of blossoms. Oaks, locusts, and beeches spread to enormous
sizes. AVhere the trees would shade his crops, tlic fanner
<'leared his gnmnd, which meant that he cut the trunks two
feet above the soil, and grubbed out what was lietwecn the
mutilated boles. If a seaboard farmer traversed the country,
they ])ointed out land that would yield one Imndred l)usht'ls of
corn to the acn', and evei-ywhere the crop was from Hfry to
eighty, or tln-ee times what the New Englander had been used
to. Crevi'CdMir said that " a hundi-ed familit>s barely existing
in some i)arts of Scotland will hei-e in six years cause an an-
nual exi)ortation of ten thousand bushels of wheat." Again.
scrutinizing the comp(nient ])arts of the ])opulatit)n, he says :
'•• Out of twelve families of emigrants of each country, gent r-
ally seven vScotch will succeed, nine Gfrman. and four Iti>h.
Tlui Scotch are frugal and laborious, but their wives cannot
work so hard as (ierman women. "^I'lie Irish love to drink
and to ([uarrel, and soon take to the gmi, which is the niiii of
everything."
The lawless profligacy of the border, which the Irisli liad
f
•.. (
• »'
tau
„P" " \
I shiftl.-ss
1 stoinicil
vas nut so
ere bi'ttei-
111 ot" New
ever, soiuc
tev\)i'isL' ot
iioinu' iH'W
pauf\ . was
treaty of
V, V)iiiii;ing
ill vit'h ami
(> autiuiui s
lenoatli the
l)le warmtli,
lis land six
suffifieutly
isr vanUuess.
u'i)u;j;'li a sea
:() enonnons
the fanixT
truiil
two
llu'twi'cn til'
It hi' f.
lunti'V,
(I huslifl> of
iDin titty ti
tl been UM
\
111
Iv
■xistiiiu
;mse an aii-
■it.
1)1).
A'.
am.
h
111! try.
I four
Ivive
says :
OTIU'I'-
'lii>h.
unot
I'a
IVf
to ilvniK
the luiu <>
lri>^h li;itl
BORDER LIFE.
529
(lone so much to maintain, and that assimihition of traits which
entangles the evils ot tlie savage with the vices of the white,
was now beginnin<;- in Keiitucky to disappear. The rogue who
stole horses and altered ear-clips <>f the cattle and sheep was
less often seen in the town. The bankrupt fron; the s- aboard
was sooner sus})ected, and was the less likely to gather the idlers
at the trading-stores. The hunter, with his t(n'n moccasins and
dingy leggings, his shirt blood-stained, and his coon-skin cap
[This 111,!]), from Henry Toiilmin's PfsiTi/tlion nf Kii\liirl:ii. 17'.V2, shrsvs tlie counties of Kpn»
tmly at that ti ic naiiiely : Ka = Fayette ; Hd — Unurlinii i Ma — Mailis.m ; Me " :.Mer<'er ;
Je zr Jefferson ; Ne=: Nelson; Li :— Lini'uln. Tlie tovvn> are ; 1. I.exiiiulon ; 'J, iMiiiMesiiorimKli ;
\\ St. Aseph ; 4, Louisville; 5, Harrodslnui;. Tlie Chenikee I{iver. the nimlern Teiniessee, ia
(leMTiheil as " uaviKahle '.N«l miles." ami the upper part uf it (Vf) is ealleil '' Tenasee river, ii
braneh of the Cheroltee.'']
ragged and greasy, still came to the settlement for his ])owder
and salt, and enticed Michael and l*at t<» the frontiers : but his
visits were le*; fretjuent. and he did not linger to make i)art of
a life which had grown away from him. The storokeejx'i', ham-
pered by barter, gave the tone to the c<mimunity. while he
devised the cutting of Spanish dollars into triangular eighths
to supply the need of small tdiange. The Ri'V. flohn Hurt, of
Lexington, told Wansey that Iveiitii(d\y was the jdace to make
fnitimes in trade. He instt'.iiced two men who started there
with less than £"200 a])iece, and by keeping store, they were
now ( IT'.H ) worth i:30.()0»>. They were Scoteh-Iri:di. one might
assume, and that race had just planted some new seed in the
founding of IMouiit College close by Knoxville, now the Uni-
m
Q '■■ ."
'.uMlili
ill; ;.
)n
h,.
i i )
H '
1 1.;
y \
1'J
i»J
i|
lilt:
530
THE LWREST OF THE SOUTHWEST.
versity of Tennessee, in the conntiy lying to the south of Ken.
tueky and sharing- most of its cJiaracteristies. Both rcions
were animated by one controlling impulse in their claims upou
the free navigation of the Mississippi.
On Deceniher G, 1791, the Spanish minister intimated to
Jefferson that the autliorities at Madrid were ready to treat
for the settlement of their disputes. iSliort, at the lla'-uc. was
directed to join Carmichael in Madrid. On January 2"). \~[)t,
Jefferson informed the Spanish minister that the conunissioncis
had been appointed, and on March 18 their instructions aciv
ready for transmission. The trend of Jefferson's argument in
these directions was that Spain, in the treaty of .January 20.
1783, had agreed to restore without compensation all north of
31° of latitude, — the line of earlier charters, proclamations, and
treaties, — and that the United States, by the Treaty of Inde-
pendence, received the rights of England north of that })arall(d.
and that the bounds of the secret clause of the latter trcatv
were not api)licable because P^ngland had not obtained Florida,
as might have been the case, in the treaty with Si)ain. As to
the navigation of the Mississippi, that had been conceded by
Si)ain to England in tlie treaty of 1703, and the United States
had succeeded to the rights of (ireat J^ritain. Further, the rii;lit
to use the mouth of a river belonged by the law of nature and
of nations to the country holding the upper waters, and this
right was not complete without a port of deposit. A right.
Jeff'erson contendi'd, was not to be confounded with a grant
made to the most favored nation, and stood independent of any
agreement. If Spain asked any compensation for tlie coikcs-
sion. the commissioners were instructed to offset such a (h'lnand
by a claim of danuiges for nine years of exclusion from tliu
river.
There was in the councils of the President not a little disa-
c'reement as to what concessions it might be well in the cud to
make, as was to be expected where Jefferson and liamilton
were in the circle of advisers. Hamilton was more urgent than
his rival for delaying a war with S])ain, though he saw. as all
did, that a conflict was inevitable in the end, unless the jxiint
could be caii'ied by negotiation. lie urged an alliance with
England as likely to ward off' an outbreak, and thought it I'oiiM
i,:j
®
m-
OPP OSIXG PAR TI?:S.
531
I ol" Kciu
iius \\\M\\
inuittd tt»
V to treat
iaa,'ui'. was
•2."). \'\yi
inissiiiiu'vs
•tioiis wt'i'o
[•(;ium.'Ut in
[imuiry 20,
ill north of
liitions, and
ity of IniU'-
lat |)iirallt'l,
utter treaty
leil Flovidu,
)ain. As to
i-ont'eded liy
Stat('s
nited
tl
lev
le rii
vl.t
I
nature am
3rs, and this
It. A I'ig^'f"
ith a i;rant
luU'ut of any
tlu' eonces-
•h a deiuiuid
Ion from the
a 11
tth
(lisa-
to
In
on
in the eiH
1 llamiU
n'ovnt than
U
;i\v. :v^ ''
th<> 1
illlanee
rht it
10
nit
Wltll
nW
•ouu
he made for England's advantage by rectifying the northwest
houndary line in a way to throw some povtions of the npj)er
Missi.ssii)i)i within British territory. This aeeorded with de-
mands whielx Knghind luul often hinted at, and made later in the
negotiation with Jay, as serving to make the provisions of the
treaty of 1782 intelligibh', inasmuch as a right to navigate the
Mississippi, as that treaty gav«>, with no access to it, was unintel-
ligible. Jefferson firndy ol)jected to the alienation of any part
of the territory of the United States on any conditions. Ham-
ilton claimed that exigencies might easily sanction it. The (jues-
t! >> naturally aroused the antii)athies of the two antagonistic
factions into whitdi the American pcojde were raj)idly dividing,
and Randolph, as a sympathizer with the French, ftdl readily in
with the views of Jefferson, while Knox sided with Hamilton.
In New England, at th.is time, it would donhtless have been found
on a jioll that a withdrawal from the Union was more in favor
tlian an alliance with France against Kngland : and Timothy
Dwight, the })residcut of Yale C(dlege, was so confident in this
sentiment that he snp])osed that ninety-nine New l^nglanders
out of a hundred held it. AVashingtou carried a steady hand,
and, though nuich iiudincd to take part with Hamilton against
Jefferson, he tohl his cabinet that an English alliance for tliis
end, giving the Hritish a foothold on the Mississi}»pi, was a
remedy worse than the disease.
The year 1793 br<mght new disturlting (dements into jday.
News of the execution of Louis XVI. on Jaiuuiry 21 had
reached New Orleans only to arouse in the French Creoles their
latent republican sympatliics. Tliis alarnxed Carond(det, and lie
began strengthening the outworks of the ci'.y. and laying out
st'hemes for an extended defense of the province. The Frcmdi
sympathi/ers were (dos(dy in touch with the agitation already'
manifest among flic Kentucdvv discontents, and there were
rumors of a ])rojected di-scent of an armed flotilla directed to
unseat the S])anish authorities. It was known on the seaboard
that h'tters were ])assing to Tom Paine, now a member of the
National Assembly in Paris : and two jiersons whom we have
iilnady encountered were supposed to be movers in these mis-
I'liievons schemes against Spain. One was Or. O'Falloii, not
suppressi'd by the failure of his Natchez projects. The other
\\\
li '
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1 ■-'
1 ,
iil
M
Ml
Itir
532
r//E UXREST OF THE SOUTHWEST.
W'iri George Rogers Clark, seeking with his shattered enel•^\ to
emerge from what a contemporary observer calk-d " a })rot'(iuii(l
shimber for upwards of four years." JeftVison some time
before had written to Innes that ''no man alive rated (lark
higher than I did, and would again were he to become once
more what I knew him."
In view of these reports, already circulating, the President's
cabinet, (m March 10, determined on issuing a })roclani:iti()n
against any such warlik(> demonstration towards Spain, and
Wayne was instructed to throw troops into Fort Massac, so as
to intercept any armed invaders of Spanish territory. ^N'hilo
the President's advisers were considering if the French Ivcvo-
lution had annulled the obligations of the United States to
PVance under the treaty of l''V8, Genet, the new minister
of the French Kepublic, armed with three hundred blank com-
missions, as was reported, arrived on Ai)ril 8, 1793. at C'liavles-
ton, on board a French frigate, l^efore he left C:uolina. he
began issuing his oonnnissions to cruisers against the enemies
of France. Philadelphia newspapers of April contained hotli
the Pr.'sident's ])roclamation and notices of Genet's arrivinn' in
that city. FJaring May, 1793, that arrogant visitor was issninj;
other commissions and enjoying the excitement and j.iijilation
with which his coming had been hailed. Jefferson grew waini
in speaking of *• the old s])irit of 1770, rekindling. The news-
pa]jers from Boston to Charleston," he said, " prove this, and
even the monocrat ])apers are obliged to publish the most furi-
ous philippics against E^ngland." Jefferson, again m a lettei' to
Monroe, .fune 4, assorts the people : " The old Tories joined hy
our mendiants, who trade on British ca])ital, and the idle rieli,
are with the kings, All other descriptions with the Frcnc li."
Madison, writing to Jefferson of tlie President's proclamation,
"unconstitutional" and "pusillanimous," as the latter l)eli('Vt'd
it, said : " It is mortifying that the President should Inive any-
thing to ai)i)rehend. trom the success of liberty in anotluT coun-
try, since he (^wes his preeminence to the success of it in liis
owi:." 1"ie President d;.-iregarded the aspersions aiul found
comforo in Hamilton's counsels.
Genet was so(m planning to give coherency to t]ie i»assions,
already seething beyond the mountains, imder the iuHuence of
the iuHammatorv discussions of the Jacobin clubs, which Kieiich
MICHiaAN AXI> THE I'ACII'IC.
.533
V was issuing;
adlierents had been foriniii}^. A Frenehuian, soJDiivuing in
lMiila<lel])liia, beeanic his willing' tool. Andre Michanx. a man
of seientifie attainments, had before this been selected by the
Ameriean Philoso})hieal Society to explore the valley of the
Missonri in order to find a sluu't and convenient passage to
the Pacific. " It would seem by the nia[)s,'' as his proposed
instructions read, '' as if tlu' river called Oregon interlocked
with the Missouri for a considerable distance ; '' and in popular
(•oncei)tion, as evinced by ]\b»rse"s (uotji'dplnj of 1794. the two
rivers were not kept asunder by any mountain ridge. Michaux
was directed after reaching the Pacific to return by the same or
some other route, a: to avoid, both in going and returning,
the Si)anish settlements. The Si)anish had always jealously
guarded their trade in the Missouri valley, but had so far only
])artially succeeded in keeping the British out, and the next
year, Carondelet was complaining that tlie London fur eom-
|)anies operating in this region were making a hundred per
cent, profit. It was, nevertiieless, a sul)ject of complaint by
Dorchester that English traders were interfered with even when
a hundred miles and more away from Spanish ])osts.
This unfruitful i)roject of the Philosoj)hical Society fell in
opportunely with the interest in westward searcii, wliich was
now engaging the attention of geographers. Vanccmver had
gone to the Pacific, in 1791, with instructions looking to his
sailing east, perhaps as far as the Lake of the AVoods, by a
su])j)osable jiassage, which might in some way be found to con-
nect with the Atlantic. In April, 1792. he had reached the
northwest coast. On May 11. ensuing, C^iptain dray in the
Boston ship " Cohunbia," following Vancouver's tiack, had
found what the latter missed, and had entered tind ascended,
for some twenty miles, a great river which he named after his
sliip. It was in part, by virtue of this ex])loration, that the
United States ultimately assiuncd jurisdiction over this river's
course for seven hundred and fifty-two miles, till by the treaty
of lS4t), tlie upi>er three hundred miU's was given over to Hrit-
NciTE. - Till' map on tli<! followiiiK two papcs is from tlii' Spanish Arcliivcs, jirnciiii'il lij Mr.
Cluri'iicpW. Unwell, anil Kivi'ii to Haivaiil ('ollct;i' Library. It is a sectiiiii of an /'/'(( Tn/iniiiitiicii
'If Ins Allri.i ill! Mi.sxisi/ii y del Missaiiii, Afio ile ITS.'i, witli corrections to 1704. Tin- Itritisli ami
Spaiiisli Hags show utations of those peoples, and the dotted lines are the Kin;lish trading rontcH.
The small sipiares are trading station.s. The triangular ones are nomadic tril)es ; the round sjints
are fixed tribes. It shows the Spanish notions regarding the connection of Lake Superior, Lake
of till- Woods, Lake Winnipeg, and Hudson's Bay.
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"51
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530
TllhJ UXIIEST OF THE SOUTllWEST.
ish control. The tributaries of the Cohuiiliia add six hiindi; ,|
additional miles to its navigable waters. Some three hiindicd
and fifty thousand square miles of its valley sends its dr;iiiiii"o
ultimately to the sea, beyond where Vaneouver saw the forliid-
ding surf whieh kept him from entering the river, and enoiiuli
of this vast area lies south of the 40' of latitude to niakc :i lif.
teenth ])art of the total area of the present United States.
This territory was a factor in American civilization Jiardiv eoin-
prehended, when Miehaux was eontemphitiny an effort to rearh
that rej>i()n overland.
The Spaniards, under Galiano and Valdez. had already, in
17i>2, abandoned the search for a passage from the Puciiic
through North America ; and it was left for an Englisli advtii-
turer, Alexander Mackenzie, to be the first to traverse this
great valley from the inland side. In fJune. 1798, Macki'ii/ie
was at the ci-own of the Rockies, known as IVace River pass.
He here hit u])on the first easily traversable loute over the
mountains, north of that at the headwaters of the (Jila, and he
had been the first white man to stand where the waters jiarted
for the Atlantic and for the Pacific. On July 22, 170;}, he cut
his name on a rock overhanging the sea, in latitude r)3 21' in
British Columbia. Thus within ten years from the time wlicn
England, by the treaty of Paris (1782-83 ), confined herself to
the north of the (treat Lakes, her flag had been carried to the
Pacific.
AVhile this English pioneer was thus apjirotudiing the sea.
]\Ii(diaux, his would-be rival, had abandoned the role of an ex-
plorer for that of a ])()litical intriguer. Falling under the inthi-
ence of Genet, he had lent himself to the Jacobin schemes, ami
to further their western plans, (ienet had asked fleffcrsdii to
recognize AUchaux as a consul of France to reside in Kenturl<y.
This project failing, tlie French nunister devised for liis iirw
ally, still preserving the appearance of a scientific wanderer, a
direct mission to the western pco])le. On Jidy '), he sliowcil
to the secretary of state the instructions under which it wa^
proposed that Miehaux should act. There was no conccalimiit
in this document, and it was luddushingly declared that Miclianx
was to raise from tlu' Kentuckians a force to attack New ( )i -
leans, and was also to send an address to the French in C"anai!;i
to rise and throw ofi' the British yoke. There was some resci\ •■
I f, '
TIIK IXTllKiUES OF MICIIAL'X.
537
ill the fiU't that the jn-opdst'd invading- force was to renih'/.vons
licvond tlie Mississippi, and outside of .icrican jurisdiction,
;iiid in this Jefferson recognized a prudent provision. lie was
iiieautions enough, however, to give Michanx credentials to
(iovernor Siielby, and others were obtained for presentation to
(lark and Wilkinson.
1 ^r h
ling the sea.
i)le (if an I'X-
^'Ipaychei \
UIVKK OK THK WKST.
[A sfctiDii of •• All exact map of Nortli America,'' in William Russell's /[ixtnrii of .\)i)fn'cn, vol.
ii. \<. iml, Loiiiloii, 17TS. It connects Lake Wiuniiieft aii<l tlie Lake of the Wooils with Lake
S i|ii'i'i(ir.]
Michaiix's journal of his western ])rogress, giving for the
iimst j)art his seientilie ohservations. has been edited by Charles
S. Sargent iji the Procccd'iiKis of the American Philoso])hieal
Society (1889). It gives something that the l)otanist finds of
use, but the historian gets in the record only stray glimpses
I't' this agent*;-, real business.
The movement had all the effrontery which went with Genet's
acts. This emissary told AVansey, the traveler, at a later day,
. ■'' ( ■
irt
ii
i38
THE US REST OF THE SOUTH WEST.
M
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'1
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that all he did was not l)i'yoml what thost' wluj coimiiission.il
him, Roland and lirissot, exput'ted him to do, and this was to
the end of end)roiling, if possible, the United States in u s\,ii'
with England and Spain, (ienet fui'thev openly |)roposL'(l u>
.leflerson that he conld depend on two leaders in Kentiickv tu
mareh an army of liI)erators to New Orleans, ;ind one of tlifse
was George Rogers Clark, who in the previous Kelnuary liad
written to CJenet, offering his serviees. It is said that the
agents of Genet, who carried west the eommissions under wliiili
Clark was to act, were accredited l)y U'tters from .Inlui rnown.
who had been involved in Wilkinson's eai'lier sehenu's. Tlnsi'
leaders had asked (ienet for an advanet; (»f £'-],()()0, but that
minister did not lind it convenient to furnish such a siun. Tiic
grand aim of all was to set up Louisiana as an indejtendenl ally
of both the United States and France.
There is no need to follow Michaux's itinerary very clnscK.
On August 14, he left l*ittsburg, and on the 24th he ninannl
over the misery of a snudl remnant of his countiymeu reniaiii-
ing at (iallii)olis ; and at Limestone he left the river for the
interior settlements.
Just at this time, the Spanish agent in Philadeljihia gave the
President information of the ])ro])osed ex])edition of Clark, and
Jefferson was instructed to warn Shelby to be on his guanl :
but the Kentucky govci'nor was either timorous or a sympa-
thi/er, and he replied that he knew nothing of any such c.\-
])edition. In Se])tember, Michaux was at Lexington and at
Danville, and had various conf(>rences with those to whom lie
had taken letters. On the 17th, lie saw Clark at Louisville.
who professed to believe that the scdiemt' had been abandoned,
it was so long since he had heard anything. The failure to for-
ward the money which ha<l been asked may have had something
to do with Clark's ignorance, and with his ])icturing the dit'tieiil-
ties in the })ath. Then' were bettei- ])rospects when, in Octoliei.
some money was received, and the blank commissions came to
hand. On October 0, Michaux had returned to Danville. His
j<mrnal is now provokingly meagre ; but Colonel George Xielio-
las advanced a jdan of having a French fleet first sei/»' llie
mouth of the Mississippi, and this force having declared the
country French, the Americans were to be invited to deiceiid
the river, fighting their way if it became necessary.
iiiissiomtl
iiis was to
in a war
ojujHed to
Mitiifky to
le of tlii'>o
iniaiy liad
I that thf
idcr whicli
hii r>r(i\vn.
es. Tliof
), l)Ut that
sum. lln'
loiitU'iit ally
.•t'vy olosrly.
lie liioaiitil
neii ri'iiiain-
iver t'of tlio
ihia i;':»vt' tlic
f Clark, an.l
his in'naiil '.
1' a syuipa-
nv such fx-
■ ton and at
to wh<»n\ hf
Louisvillf.
i\)audoiu'd.
iiilui'C ti) for-
d sou\fthin,i;
the dit'ticul-
iu OctohiT.
,ns caint' to
uvilW. Hi^
■ovj^f Xi»'h">-
st si'i/.t' th*'
liH'laiH'd tht'
to de!-:ci'iid
(LA UK'S I'liOJECT.
.•)80
The federal <^oveiiniieiit was now (Oetoher) so fur alarmed
that .Jeffei'soii wrote to the Itaekwurd Shelhy, direetiiin' him to
use military foree if the courts were powerless to stop the jiro-
ct'ediugs, and St. Clair was at the sanu' time ordered to hold
some militia in readiness. On November (». .FetVerson repeated
ills injunetions to Shelby, and asked him to remember that the
j;()vernnu'iit could best settle the Mississippi (juestion by ne-
j;otiations then L;<>ino' ,,11. On the next day, St. Clair wrote to
Shell a letter, whitdi was probably to reach him in advance
of the other, tellin«^ him of tins <;atheriiig of French ot'tieers at
tlie falls of the Ohio, and urginj;' him to act pr(»mptly.
Meanwhile riunors of the Jacobins* intentions were reachintr
Carondelet in an exaggerated form. His alarm increasing, on
.Tanuary 2. 1794, the S))anish governor dispatched a letter to
Sinicoe, giving that Hritish commander at Detroit the extrava-
gant stories which had reached Xe- Orleans. Carondelet in-
formed Inm that a million dollars had been raised for the ex]>e-
(lition under Clark, who had undertaken to raise live thousand
men for the enterprise. He jtointed out how it woidd be for
the interest of England that Sjiain should secure a foothold in
tlic Illinois country. Simcoe later (A])ril 11) replied that,
wliile he agreed with the views of Carondelet, there was no
chance for his coiiperation, since. Indeed, with Wayne ])repar-
ing for an advance, the Canadian governor had eiujugh to
occupy him.
Three weeks before; Carondeh-t had written this anxious let-
ter. Michaux, returning from the west through the Ilolston
country, had reached Philadelphia ( Decendier 12, lTi>o ), and
ill a month's time he was conferring with Brown and On-. Ken-
tucky members of the House, '" on the dis])osition of the federal
government and the execution of (ieneral Clark's jdan." This
was on January 12, 1794. On the 24th, Michaux sent *400
to Clark, — so ]iitiful the contrast witli (^aroinlelet"s supposed
sinus, — and wrote letters to his Kentucky friends. Jicfoie
tliese missives reached Clark and his friends, this American
"general of the legion of the French Re])ublic "' had valiantly
im])lished in T/ic Ci-iitiinl of fhc y<n-fli West, a ])aper printed
iit Cincinnati, on January 25, his pro])osals foi- raising trooi)s.
— two thousand were talked of, — ]iromising eacli on(! thou-
sand acres of land, two thousand if they served a year, and
I-
V
\f\
. : ; ,
' 1 ■!
. . :' t .[1
"ir
540
ruE iMiEsT uF riiic sorriiwEsT.
hi
tlirt'c tlioiisiind if for two yt'iirs. 'I'licy were ulso HHsun-d of ;i
<liit! sIkii'c of all lawful pliiudfr. It was iimlcrstooil that ,lir
<;(;iun'al wan "athcriii;;- tlatljoat.s at tho falls for a jiihilaiit vnv-
ag«! down tlif Mississippi.
Jefferson, who more and more had found iuniself outside ih,>
President's eoidldenee, had at the ojiiuiing of the \ear wiih-
drawn from his advisers to <;ive |)la(;e to another repulijicun.
I{and(d|»h. TIk; novernnient, after all its efforts to check this
western movement, had felt sensibly the weakness of Shdliv,
whoso elevation had not induced to render him consei-vative.
'I'he letters of the Kentucky <>()vernor to Handolph contiiiiinl
to he (!onehed in the lan,t;uaj;e of evasion. Instead of nivino
adhesion to the recpiests of the novei-nn;":'.l, he j)referred td
discuss the uncpiestionahle rights of the west to tlu^ naviiiatiun
of the Mississii)pi. lie went on repeatin<;- the tales of Spanish
instigaticm of the Indians, which went without saying;': luit he
sliowed no i)atienee with the <>()vernment's efforts to accoinpjish
hy peaceful diplomacy the results which he wished for.
The animosity in Kentucky i, gainst the n'ovei-nmcnt was
inch'cd undisguised, and Shell)y"s course, with the suppoit of
po])ular sentiment, was in contrast with the assi(hiity of Uloiiut
in Tennessee, who supported Kohertson in eheckinj;' all symp-
toms of reaction. In Kentucky, every action of the adminis-
tration was scrutinized for a symptom of inimical predis|)()sitioii,
and there was eixxl oround, it was thou<;ht, for apprehension.
when, in Api-il, 1794, it was announced that Jay, an enemy nf
western interests, had been seleeted for the mission lo Kiiu-
land.
As the sprinj;- |)ro<>'ressed, there was an incroasinii- anxii'ty in
government circles. Wolcott believed that an ex])editioii hud
alrea<ly started, [setters from St. Clair confirmed the stories
of the excited condition in Kentucky. Il<^ repeated to the sec-
retary of stat(\ the rumors which he liad heard of a French fleet
to eoi'tpcrate, — doubtless the s])reading' of Nicholas's \ ie\v>.
lie wrote of letters to Clark from the eastern Jacobins jiassii,.;
through the liands of a certain "Monsieur ^Nlicheau" at Lcxiul;-
ton, and that *2.000 liad been sent to Clark.
St. Clair, during these days, was often wi'iting to AVasliin^tnii
of the precai'ious conditicm of the western country, lie tlioiiL^ht
that the British were intriguing with certain Kentuckiaus to
).
i, :
(iicsET A.\n I'M finer.
r>41
\ii'ftl i)f :i
I Uiat ,li<'
jillUlt v..y-
TUtsitlr the
vcnr witli-
chcfli this
i.f Slirll.>,
msrvviit'ivc.
I coiitiinii'il
(I of uiviii;;;-
ivct't'i'i't'tl to
• iiivviiiatiiiii
i of Spanish
inu," '. ^">^ '"'
jU'conn)lisli
For.
rmucnt was
> anj))>ort nt
by of l)lo\int
in- all syiiiii-
thu adminis-
■fdisjiositioii.
pj)r('licn>i(>ii.
an t'ui'iny of
ion n» Kii.U-
Lo' anxii'ty in
|)r(lition liad
il thr storifs
[,1 to the s.c-
Krcnrh tlrct
iolas"s views.
|)l)ins passii.;^
1" at T.cxiivi-
Washi Hilton
He tliiHi;iht
Intm'Uiaus to
forcH' tliiit n'j;ion into a Si)aiiiNli war ; liiit ho was at the saiiu- tiiiio
confidfnt that if the riiiti'il StatL's and Spain drifted into a I'on-
tiit't, Kn^^land woidtl he found on the side of Spain, as C'aron-
(k'h't and Sinicof had pidposed. S|>ain, hu conttMuhMl, had j^ood
icason to tiendtlf for the Mexican mint's, and ( 'aroiuhdet was
iir;;inj; the l)ettei' fortifying;' of the line of the Mississippi. It was
certain, in St. Chiir's view, that ('anduhdet and some h-aders
of opinion in Kentucky were in aettord. Moi';;an, in St. (lair's
judoineiit, *' possessed a vei-y j;reat (h'yrce lioth of activity and
insinuation, and is not nnudi restrained hy principle," and was
depended upon hy ('ai'on(hdet to \nvc end^rants over tiie Mis-
sissippi. In another of his U-tters, St. Chiir I'cpresents that
Mori;an's "exertions are turned to Kentucky, where there are
a very <«reat number of peoph' who have bi-en (lisa])p<»inted in
(thtaininj:;- kind, and ;ire ready to go to any pkice wlieic it can
he easily obtained. Many will make the experiuuMit. If it
('ontinui>s to be one of their maxims to ])i'event the fr<'c navi<;a-
tion of the Mississippi, the situation [New Madrid] directly
<)|)posite the mouth of the Ohio seems not to be ill (diosen with
a view to it. The Spanisli eonunanders on the Mississippi an;
also assiduously endeavorinj;' to induce the ancient Fren<'h in-
habitants to abandon their country, and they have sueeeeded w itli
m'cat numbers." St. Clair recomnu'iids, as a corrective of this,
that the government should sell its lands on tlu; Mississippi and
the Illinois at low piices.
Duvinn' the preceding' sunnner, (Jenet's doinn's had become so
liii;hdianded in every way, both in his aims at the west and in
similar but abortive efforts to attatdv Florida from the side of
(icornia and South Car ^ina, — -where ])robably there was some
]io])ular enthusiasm for the venture, — that even dcfferson. then
in the cabinet, had seen the necessity of ncttinti' i-id of his jjcsti-
ient intiuence. So, on August 15, 17*.>-), he had written to Morris
in I'aris, to demand that tin; French Kejniblic should recall
its minister. On the ari'ival of Fauchet, as (ienet's sueces.>-oi'.
t'le western exju'ditiou was countermanded, and on March '2\K
ITIU, h'andolidi wrote to the Kentucky authorities, saying', "'rhe
present minister of the French Hepublic has publicly disavowed
and recalled the commissions which have been L^ranted." In
tlie fear that the Jacobin threats in the west would involve the
country in a war with Sjjain, a bill had before this been intro-
:/
9 ■
11 '
I
*
I
[■! 1;
: i f '
1-1 ^ . '/
542
THE L'XRESr </F THE SOUTHWEST.
duced into Congress, calling for the raising of "25,000 iiicn f,,]-
Tie .ieft'nso oi" the southwc-i, but on Faucdiet'sr disavowal of
i'urtlrn' incitements, the bill had been withdrawn It was soon
however, clear that the passioni.te appeals at the west would
take some time to lose tlieir effect, and the government hear,!
with some alarm that subserij)tions were still pledged in Lt \-
ington for money, and that the President's i)roehimation was in
many })lai'es suppressed. On May 24. when a convention j>atli-
ered at I^exington, the Jacobin fever still ran high, and ic was
iielped by the tone of the h'cntucki/ Gindtc. \\\ Juiio, Con-
gress made it punishable by fine and imprisonment for a citizm
to engage in any hostile enterj)rise against a foreign state, a
])rovision soon to be further enforced in Jay's treaty. "When
the Jacobins spoke of it now as aimed at the French syni])a-
tbizers. they were not pleased to be told that it had been also
a i)r()vision of the treaty with France in 1778.
A com]>arison of the views of Hamilton and Randolph at
this time shows how the two antagonistic parties of the cabinet
were brought into })retty eh)S'^ conjunction in their ai)i)i'('lK'ii-
sions. Hamilton wrote to Jay, in May, 17it4, that the navi-
gation of the Mississippi, if secured, will be "an inliuitelv
strong link of union between the western country and the At-
lantic States. As its preservation will depend on the naval
resources of the Atlantic States, the western country cannot Init
feel that this essential interest depends on its remaining tirndy
united with tlieni.' Kandolph's letter was addressed to Jefl'er-
son. in August : "The people of Kentucky, either contenuiing
or ignorant of the conse<piences, are restrained from hostility
by a ])ack-threiul. They demand a conclusion of tlie negotia-
tion, or a categorical answer from Sjjain. . . . AVhat if the gov-
ernment of Kentticky should force us either to suj)p(»rt tluin in
their hostilities against S])ain, or to liisavowand renounce tlieiii.
^Var nt this moment with S])ain would not be war with Siiniii
alo.ie. riie lopping off of Kentucky from the Union is dreiul-
ful to fontem]date. even if it should not attach itself to some
other [)ower. " There was indeed a strong a])prehension that
England might succeed in entangling the Kentuckians. Sini-
coe nas soon to write to the Lords of Trade (September 1 ) :
'• It is genei-ally uiulerstood that above half the inhabitants ot
Ki'utucUv and the western waters are already inclined to a con-
BRnnraawMM
THE CHEKKS.
543
nun fur
vowal of
,vas soon,
st NVOllltl
ut licanl
I in Lix-
)n Avas in
tiou p,!ltll-
nd ic \va>
uno, Ctiu-
!• a citi/''n
;n state, a
A\ syni])a-
been also
unlolpli at
the cabinet
• api)relien-
: the navi-
i infinitely
nil the At-
the naval
cannot but
iin<i; firmly
\ to .leii'ei'-
onteninini;-
n hostility
le nej^otia-
if the j^ov-
)vt theiii in
uiice tlieui.
,vith Siiain
n is (lrea<l-
If to sonu'
Mision that
lans. Sini-
leniber 1 ) :
(bitaiit> ot
(1 to a eou-
nection with (Jreat Britain." Thurston, a Kentucky observer,
had just before written to Washington that a powerful faction
was scheming to place that country under British protection.
With these suppressed niuvnuuings threati-ning to become
open shouts in the autumn of 171>-i. we need, before })assin<;- on
to the fulfillments of 1795, to turn back to the spring of 171>8,
and watch other ominous signs, which made these two years in
the southwest exceptionally '^rying in their precarious i-ondi-
tions, since there was no (juestion, in which the relations of
Spain and the United States were involved, that «lid not inti-
mately concern the danger of an Indian war. The fetleral gov-
ernment could never \)v safely un})repii".d. AVlien it was de-
tei'mined in ^lay, l'J'93, to reinforci; tin federal troops in this
endangered region, the government possessed abundant evidence
of the complicity of Carondelet in the unrest of the Creeks, aiid
it is now known that he was strenuously urging his government
to let him band all the Indians in the interests of Sj)ain. Jef-
ferson sent the })roofs of Carondelet's intrigues with the tribes
to Carniichatd at Madrid. The better to learn exactly what
was going on in New Orleans, where branches of American
commercial houses were become not uncommon, Jefferson was,
in May, 1793, h.oking "for ini intelligent and prudent T'.Ktive "'
to reside in that eity. while, uu'ler cover of business, he could
get o})portunities to sjjy upon the intentions of Carondelet. In
.lune, the government had learned that 1.500 men had been sent
from Spain to Louisiana, and that Spanish posts on the u])])('r
Mississi[)]ti had been strengtlu-ned. A few days later (June 'I'-V),
lie wrote to Madison of the "• inevitableness of a war with the
Creeks, and the probaln "ty — I might say certainty — of a war
with Spain."" St)me Ohio traders, who ha<l gone dov.n tlu;
Mississip|)i in their flatboats. and had returned to riiiladtdphia
by water, were at the same time interrogated by Knox foi- iii
formation, and at the close of tlie month. Jefferson was in pos-
session of new evidence of Spanish instigation of the Creeks,
wliicli he transmitted to Carmichael. Later on, thi' admniisti a-
tion was m'ged by Geoi'gians and Carolinians to authori/-e the
mobilizing of fo'U' or five thousand militia under (lenei-al
Pickens to attack the Creeks in the autumn. The government
hesitated for fear of pr()V)king a Spanish and perhaps an ''^ng-
f ^5-
I .,
k. : a.
m
o
U
THE LWREST OF THE SOUTHWEST.
lish war ; and upon the project of sending a secret agent to iLc
CluK'taws to induce them to join the Chickusaws against tht;
Creeks, and so distract the hitter, the cabinet was divided.
Meanwhile Kobertson was furnishing arms to the Chickasaws.
and wlien Carondelet remonstrated with tlie governnicnt at
Phihidelpliia, the tie in the cabinet vote enabled them to dcnv
rendering any aid, and to assert that their iuHuence wa> fur
peace.
In eastern Tennessee there was less restraint. Every issue
of the h'lio.i'riUc Giacftc clamored for a war of exterminatidu
against the Creeks. Some of that tribe crossing the river in
Septend)er, Sevier mustered his militia, and drove them back
by a midnight attack, and, following them to their villages.
burned them, and laid waste their fields. This was Sevier's
last Indian caini>aign, and it brought peace to the iMJidcrs of
east Tennessee. The invasion of the Indian teiritory had been
in defiance of the orders from l^hiladelphia : but Andrew dael<-
son, three years later, then a new representative from Teimacs-
see, succeeded in getting the general government to reinil)urse
the local authorities for the cost of it.
Washington, in addressing Congress at the end of tlie year
171*8. told them that tlie Chiekamaugas were still uneasy, and
doubted if anything like a steady ])eace coidd be maintained
witli the southwestern trilies till there was some system of
organized trade with them arranged, to ])revent tlie provoca-
tions to which they were at present sidijected. lie added, in
another speech, that if the Creeks weie to lie stistained by the
S))anish in their (daims to bound on tlu^ Cumberland, and if
the authorities at New Orleans persisted in a right to arbi-
trate between the United States and the Indians inhabiting
American territory, it was clear that an issue nuist come with
Si)ain. lie informed Congress that he had sent a messenger to
^ladrid to learn how far the governinent at ^Madrid sustained
Carondelet in these })r'teiisions.
I
ti-
A review of the next year, 1704, shows us pretty nmeh the
same troid)lesome condititms on this southwestern bor<ler. Tlie
chief jierplexity was in the fact that the irresponsible front iii—
Note. — The oppnsito "Map of tlip Tennnsspp governiiieiit, Uy Onnl. 11. Siiiitli niid I'tln rs." i-
from r<nv//'.« Aiufri^mi Altas. Phil.iclelpliin, \~'X\. It sliows .lie Iiulinii towns cm tlie 'r('iim'>MH.
mill vlicir ri'liitioii to N.islivilU' aiul the Cunilwrland Hettleineiits. f'f. tlii' map in KcM'» i"" '•
icin Atliis, New York, IT'.Mi.
iigent to tlie
against the
vtis divided.
Cliiekasaw.s,
."oninioiit ;it
em to dciiv
nee wu.-, tor
Every issue
:teriiiiii;iti(»u
tlic i-ivcr ill
tlioin icielv
eir villages,
vas Seviei''s
Itordt'i's of
n had het'ii
iidi'ew dack-
■om T.'liriies-
3 reiiid)uise
of tlic year
luu'asy, and
maintained
! system (tf
lie pi'ovoea-
e added, in
ined liy the
and, and if
>l«t to ai'l)i-
inliabitinn'
; eome with
lossenu'er to
il sustained
y mneli the
)l'der. The
e fi'ontiei--
tli find ntlii r>." i>
111 tlio Tciiii.>>-i ".
11 ill Kcid's .i'.")-
n '
!• i !■
(' 'I I,
h i (
'!! II
1
i
¥
i
-1
\
'■?-
I
1
'■ \l
1 :'
1 !
('' '
;■
l>
54G
THE IWnEST or THE SOUTHWEST.
'I
J
.!?
men caused niufli of the iiiischief. La Kochc'foiu'aiilt-Li.u!-
court, who, a little later, went through this country, found it
''allowed on all sides that the whites are in the wrouf inin'
times out of five." Unfairness in traffic had driven the Indian
trade largely from the Georgian border to Pensaeola, and the
lawlessness of the horderers in inciting th<> enmity of miuic
thirty-five thousand Indians, now supposed to be the coml)iiicd
numbers of tiie Creeks, Cherokees, and Choctaws, threw a serion-,
responsibility upon the Americans, whatever uiay have been {lie
complicity of the Spaniards. These thirty-five thousand In-
dians were said to be able to show twelve thousand wanioi-;.
old and youiigv and the mastery of the Creeks was indicated liv
their furnishing' neaily half of this ligliting force.
The conditions wliich generally ])revailed were that the (In r-
oke *s were the general rovers now plundering on tiie boi(lt't> of
Carol!"", and (iteorgia, now on the north against the Cuudierland
settleis. under the lead usually of the local Chickauiaugas, (u
joining in condiined ojisets on the Chickasaws. The Cr-eks I'v
tlxdr numbers strengthened almost every assault. The CIkh-
taws, nearer the 8[ianish, at New Orleans, did not so often
a))pear, except by theii- strolling bucks, liack of it all was, as
the Americans Itelieved, and doubtless with right, the influcnc'
of Carondelet and his agents. It was said. perha])s in exaggera-
tion, that the Spanish largesses j)aid to these tribes were souh
thing like i^oo-OOO a year, a sum nearly the equal of the revenue
of Louisiana. The Indian confederatifui was broken by tin-
friendliness <»f the Chickasaws for the white.~.. and it was Carou-
delet's constant aim to rend this somewhat fitful alliance.
While this was the obstacle in t])e way of the Spanisli gov-
ernor, the neatest representative of the American goveriunent.
Blount, at Knoxvilh', was (piite as much tried to carry out the
instructions of the secretary of war to prevent unauthdrizid
attacks and ictaliative inr»)ads by the American settlers. In
thi« spring of 1714. it a])pearod to the territorial asMuddy at
Knoxvilli! that sucdi restraint was no longer judicious, and tin v
petitioned tlu* general government foi'open \\ar with theCn i k>.
( )n .hnu' o. Kufus King reported in Congress a bill for an offen-
sive cam])aign against the Creeks and Cherokees. Instead "f
action ui)on it. Kn<tx very soon entertained a deputation of
Cherokees at Philadtdphia. and reopened the (piestion of tin
rs ■ i
r v. i I
■M^Mtw w.»-m\\maimmmMmaM*-^ ^•*^n«>^4EMai
. M
ORR\S EXPEDITION.
541
( V
ult-Li;iii-
fouinl it
oiil;; iiiui'
le Indiitii
, and thf
of MllUl'
coinbiiH'il
11 Ht'iiiiii-^
U:i!lll(l in-
I wai-riors.
iliciitoil liy
; the riuv-
l)or(lt'\> ol
luubfrlainl
niau;;;is, oi'
Civfks Vy
The CIkh--
)t st> often
; all was, as
K' iufluciuo
n oxa,um'i"i-
weiv s<»iiii'-
tlie iTVrinu'
Ikl'U \iY tll<'
was rniou-
aiun'.
lanisli ,u<>v-
ov^'vn^U'llt.
WW out tlif
naiithtiri/.*'!
ettk'vs. Ill
asM'inlily i>i
,is. and tiny
tlu'Cn'k^-
or an otTfi'-
Instcail "f
jintat'u.ii of
tioii of til'-
I'
I-
f:
Ixmiularies wliieh had been oslablishcd by the treaty of .July
-, 1791. Tliey eoiuplaiiied that the line, as marked, was as
crooked as Blount's heart, and insisted ui)on a stfai<j,ht one
which woidd ?iave sac»'iiieetl sundry white scttlenicnts. The old
line was left, however, to lie anttnded u few yvars later, and, as
a jH^aec oftcriiio, Knox agreed to add ^hOiOOO worth of <;o<)(|s
annually to the hu'i^ess the Cherokees iiad already received.
In September. 1794, the federal tidvernment not aetiuL>-
^roniptly in giving permissi»ni for an active eami)aign. Hobcrt-
sou ordered Major Oir to march with live hundred mounted
Keutui'lcy and Tennessee militia against the lov/er Cherokee
towns. A small hod} of federal troops, v.ho wore ranging in
the momitaius, joined the expe<Ution„ Orr leil Nashville on
Sei)ten.l.er 7, and, guided l>y a young man who had been a
prisoner among the (,'hiekaniaugas, lie took a circuitous nioun-
taiu path, and on the loth, swooped down upon two Indian
villages in succession, and killed seventy of their defenders,
liaving oidy two of liis own n>en nojinded. l»loiint and the
federal governnient complain of the disobedience of orders, but
the Nickajack ex])edition — as it was called — was too ne<'essary
to be made a subject of serious t'omjihiint. Tlie Indians soon
sued for peace, and as iri the case of Sevier's expedition, IJob-
ertson's prompt action brought ])eace to the frontiers in that
part of the tes-ritory. and in ii similar way, as in Sevier's ease,
the insubordination was later vindicati'd by C'ongiessionai a]>-
ju'oval. On Dei'cndier 8, ^\ ashington informed ( 'ongress that
hoth C'reeks and Cherokees had contirined existing treaties, and
had restored jtrisoners and pi'operty. He added that the eon-
tiniuuiee of peace was iiaxardcfl by the constant ami wanton mur-
ders of tiiix smen comiMstted aloi / the (Tcoroian frontiers. Ed-
iiiund Pendleton shortlx' afu-rwards ( Decend»er oO. 1794) drew
tlie IVesident's attt ntion t» .lie imjiolicy of the hirgess system,
and no doubt s]»ok( the rnith wlien he -Mid : "The old eounsel-
i>r< •!■ the IndisMis will profess to be at peace, and ••••ntinue
ive their aumii+v, while their young men continue their
ilepredations, and the others will say they cannot restrain
them." The gift systeiw, tmdoubtedly. .as \\ ashington saw. had
this objection : ])nt the I'lesident couid »«»t bring inmself to
i'elieve that the tribes «lid not in justice «i»*mund some reconi-
]iense for the injury which had bee^n done them.
:iii.
-'; V
M
\^S^
CIIAPTKR XXIV.
riNCKXEY's THKATV AND rilK KKMICKY INTRIGUE.
I7i)r)-i7<»(j.
Ai.'iiiorciii when JeftV'i'son k-ft the circle of tlie President's
julviaers jit the <)i)enin<;' of 1704, the movement of the fedcial
govi'i'iiment for ;i treaty with Spain on the hai-is of a free navi-
gation of the ]\lississii)])i had taken sha]>e htoUinj^' to tlie an-
pointment of a special commissioner to Madiiik it was not till
the following- antumn tliat the clioice of snch an agent was si ri-
ously ('onsi(k,'re(k and then it was Patrii-k Henry who was (he
sek'(;tion <tf the Presich'nt. Henry refnsed the trnst on account
of his ]»recarions healtli, and it was not till November "24 tliiit
this preliminary motion was effected l)v the transfcieiicc of
Thomas Piiu-kney, then in Lenihui, to the court of Maihid.
This done, AVashington hastened in Deci'mher. 17!>4. to allav
the continued irritation of Kentucky by writing to Inncs that
the initiatory steps for a treaty with Si)ain had been niadc.
On February 15, 1795, Randolph instiiu'tcd Mdiiroc, then in
Paris, " to seize any favorable monu'iit "' to bring the ^Slissis-
sipjti (piestion to an issue. Pefore ^lonroe could have received
these injunctions, Tom Paine, in the convention, tried to secnre
the help of France by })roposing that the freedom of tliat liver
should be made a conditi(»u of peace
beti
ween France and >]):uu
IS.
The treaty made by ffay, however, was too offensive to France
to make her re])rescntatives anxious to abet any interests <if the
Ameiican lic])ublic. They were, moreover, aggrieved at being.
as thev thouii'lit. rather cavalierly treated in not being earlv iii-
(■11
formed of the ])rovisions of the Jay treaty. It was nine er t
months after the rumors of its conditions reached them lieieir.
in tlie autumn of 1795, the American ])apers brought them tin'
full text of the treaty.
While thus, in the ai)pointment of Pinckney, the negeti;i-
tions were fairly inaugurated in Europe, the old question of ilic
THE YAZOO C.-L'AXTS.
-,40
GUE.
*r('si(l<'iit"s
he t'edi'ial
fri't' navi-
to till' ap-
i'us imt till
it was siTi-
ho was the
1)11 aci'ouiit
l)t'r 24 that
st'oiriUH! lit"
)f Madrid.
)4, tt> allay
luiK's that
nH-n made.
roc, tluMi ill
till" Missis-
ve ix'i'i'ivcd
d to seciu'e
f that river
and Siiaiii.
ic to FraiH'O
j.^^sts <>t" tlu'
d at iH'iii-;'.
JO' favly iii-
llilU' tM' ttu
loni ln't'nrc.
it thfiii thr
[he m'i;«>tia-
Istiou of iIk'
Yazoo j^rants was revived in a way tluvateiiing new coniiilications
with Spain by foivstalling the deeisions of the negotiators, .vll
ctt'orts of holders under earlier grants to ett'eet some eonn)roinise
hy eonsolidation had failed, and the whole matter, in tlu' autnmn
of 17*J4, had seemed doomed to oblivion. Jiut as matters now
stood, there were four claimants somehow to be reconeiled before
these Yazoo projects could be put on a satisfactory basis, Spain
still (dainu'd to latitude J52 30', and lier cdaim, it was suiijiosed,
would In) ])ressed with I'liudviiey. The federal governnitnit 'on-
teiided that the treaty of 17H2 liad given it tlu' right to this
contested region, and this right had been in jiart strengthened
through the cession by South Carolina, in 1787, of that long,
narrow stri]) lying betw'ecn the extension of the northern boiiiul-
arv of Georii'ia and the south line of Tennessee, unless indeed
that strip had been included already in the " territory south of
the Ohio." Against this cdaim of the I'^nitcd States (xeorgia
had I'csted her case on tlie royal commission to Governor
Wiiglit, and the feileral rejection of her cession of the country
in 1788. Counting upon her rights as (Tcorgia understood
them, her legislature had, in I)ec'einber, 1794, regranted some
thirty million acres for •■f'.')00,000, at a ])rice of alumt l.l ci'uts
an acre, to the four companies which had been the earlier recij)-
ieiits of the region, ami this bill, amended in some resj)ects to
suit the governors views, became by his signature a law on
January 7, 1795. Thus jiassed to the ccmtrol of these com-
panies a large part of the j)resent States < f Alabama and
Mississip{)i. These com[)anies under their iww names were the
I pper Mississij)j)i Company, which received a region in the
northwest extending twenty-five mih's south of the Tennessee
boundary : the Tennessee Company, which obtained mui-h the
sauie area as was given to it in 1789; the ( Jeorgia ^Vlississijijji
Company, which covered tlie southwestern region extending from
81^ 18' to 32 40' north latitude: and the (ieorgia Couijiauy,
the lai'u'est of all, w hicdi received seventeen million aci'cs IviiiLi"
between 82 40' and 34 , but east of the Tombigbec River, its
southern line running u]>on the -Ust paralhd. Its extension east
and west vas from the Alabama liiver to the Mississip])!. It
was soon discovered that every vote but out; in the legislature
which had made these imperial grants came from members in
uiu' or another of the companies, and cries of coiruption were
1
I
II I
't
i
11
i I
4' 1
I
^liJi'p
it: !
ms
"'■if
550
PINCKNEY'S THE A TV.
vjiiscd in all (luiirters of the State. It tunicd out also that
many federal and state ofHeials were eoniplieated in the busi-
ness. The terms of the grant made the lands free from taxa-
tion, and when settled they were to be entitled to representa-
tion in the legislature. That the governor had not vetoed the
aet was thought to have been due rather to his eoiuiilacciicv
than to any pecuniary connection of his own with tlic nicasint'.
There was a hope that a constitutional convention which was
.sunnnoned for the following May would Ite al)le to right the
wrong: but the same interest which had swerved the legisla-
ture from rectitude prevailed there, and the question was rele-
gated to the next Icgislatui'c, where there was not the same
chance that the grantees could be ])rotecte<l. General Jaiiies
Jackson, who was in tiic federal senate, resigned his station tu
be elected to the coining legislature, and he carried a reseiml-
ing act through that body : but ultimately all innocent jnu'clias-
ers from the companies were duly protected.
Such a scandal further invalidating titles of lands still in dis-
pute with Spain was an unfortunate conjunction at this stage
of the negotiation at Madrid, and it is not jierhaps surj)rising
that Carondelet, on the Spanish side, sought further to ari-est
an amicable settlement. He had already made some show, by
ceasing to incite the Indians, in accpiiescing in the diplomatic
movement : but in the uncertainty attending the negotiations, he
had determined to secure the long-sought vantage-ground in Ken-
tucky which Spain had always desired. He was not unmind-
ful of the chance that the Kentuckians in their restlessness
might yield either to France or England, and was not (juite sure
Avhioh event Spain should most distrust. The Jacobins in the
United States had already begun to l)lay upon the ])atri()tie
imi)ulses of their compatriots in Louisiana, and he had found
handbills urging them to rise against their Spanish o])j)rcss()rs
circulating in New Orleans. These same incendiary a])i)oals
contrasted the servile condition of the French Creoles with the
freedom in Kentucky, and warned the French Louisianians to
expect an armed flotilla to aid them in their revolt.
New Orleans at this time was not well ])re])ared to withstand
a vigorous assault. Collot, a French military observer, whom
we have already encountered, and who was arrested later liy
Carondelet, described its forts as diminutive and badly placed
ilso th;il
tlu' l)U>i-
oiii taxa-
[)vesi'iit:i-
(toed till-
Hdaci'iii'V
lufasiUT.
k'liich was
ri^ht the
lie legisla-
was vi'lc-
tlu' sauif
ml tJ allies
station to
a vcsciiul-
it piivchas-
stlU in ilis-
this sta;j;e
i sui'l)i'isiiis;-
n" to iirrcst
»(' show, liy
diplomatic
)tiations. ln'
UIK
liii
LlMl-
l()t unmuHl-
ivstlossiit'ss
t (luitf suiv
)l)ins in tiR-
he ])ati'ioti('
I found
IKU
liiv
n)ressoi'f
appeals
tU tilt
lies wi
lisianians to
1
witlistaiu
"vvor, whom
Ld later hy
LOriSIAXA.
551
iiac
Uy v\
iceo
.1
to ward off an attack from without, t]ioii<j;h they mi«;ht ])rov<.' to
he sufHeieiit to (piell a revolt. Tliis last had ])robably been the
<;overnor"s jjurpose in jilaeiny them. Five Inindi'ed men, .sword
in hand, eould earry any one of them, as Collot claimed, and
the guns of each eould be turned, when eaptui-ed, upon the
others. Non(! of them eould hold more than a hundred and
tlfty defiMiders. The seaward defenses of the town were better.
Fort I'hupiemines, eighteen miles froni the mouth of the Missis-
sippi, was indeed settling on the piles on which it was built :
but its ])ai'apet was eighteen feet thick and lined with bri(d<.
It had twenty-four guns, and could house tiiiee hundred men,
though only a hundred were now in it. The land within range
of its guns was not practicable for any [jrotection to the be-
siegers, and the river at this })oint was twelve to fourteen hun-
dred yards wide.
The })rovince of Louisiana was just beginning to show signs
of a commercial future, and if the money v/hich was s])ent on
largesses to the Indians could be turned to internal improve-
ments, this business ])rogress could be easily develojied. The
culture of indigo had, owing to a blight, been largidy aban-
doned, but a more im])ortant industry was just develojiing
in the reintroduction of the sugar-cane. An Illinois Creole,
I'^tienne de i^ore, on his plantation six miles above New Orleans,
had shown such a success in its growth that in a few years the
])roducts increased to five million pounds of sugar, two hundred
thousand gallons of rum, and two hundred and fifty thousand
gallons of molasses. Almost coincident with this new agricul-
tural develo])ment, Eli Whitney, by the invention of the cotton-
gin, which under the law of A])ril 10. 1790, he had i)atented
on March 4, 1704, had caused the exportation of cotton to ad-
vance enormously, from two lumdred thousand pounds in 171>1
to eighteen million ])oun(ls in 1800. Collot, who had not found
the Whitney invention in operation in 171)o, said that the seeds
were still separated by a coarse mill, which breaks the fibre and
diminishes its value a (juarter, but he adds. "■ A better machine
has been introduced into the Ignited States, which is no doubt
susceptible of greater perfection, and the cotton has already re-
sumed its old price.""
The west, to be pros])erous, shared with Louisiana the neces-
sity of putting an end both to the endless nuirauding of the
k
Ml
\ '\
ii'
652
rixcKNin's TiiEA rv.
.< I :'■
Jnv >■
U rM
■'I;
m
Iii(li:iiis and to the iiucertjiinty of tlu* civil <;oveinnu'nt. The
Iiuliiin (|iu!.stioii hail prjictically now comt! to a composition i.t
the feud existing- ])ct\vct'n the Chickasaws and the ("ivtk>.
Both Robertson and the Spanish conimaiuU'r at Natchez ex-
erted thi-niselvt'S as niediatois, and in the eaily sunmiev of IT'.K"),
these two tribes came to an agreement wiiich, l)anini;- the diit-
bursts of some irrepressibh' bncks on eacli si(U', quieti'd the
Indian country. News of Wayne's victory in tiie north served
to Increase the disinclination to war, and after some niuiulis
there was, for the first time in a ionn' pt-riod, substantial peace
in the southwest, and in October, IT*.*'), Washington ('(Mij-ratii-
lated Hamilton on the prevalence of "■ })L;ice fiom one end uf
oui' frontiers to the other."
This condition relieved the peo[)le of Tennessee from the
necessity of the military escort to which they had been acciis-
tonied in attendin*;' tlieir conventions, and a disposition to pre-
pare for entering' the Union beconnui;' manifest, lilount ordered
a special cession of tlu^ territorial assenddy for .June 'J!', IT'.'"),
to consider the ipiestion of Statehood. A census was ordered
to see if the sixty thousand persons, counting' free ])eo])le and
" three fifths of all others,"' — the United States Constitution
had j;iveu them the j)hrase, — necessary, under the precedence
of the ordinance of 1787, to ])ass from a territoi'ial condition,
could be made out. If not, it was a (piestion whether a lesser
nundter would warrant their taking;' iiutiatoiy steps in the same
direction. The count showed a jxtpulation of seventy-seven
thousand two hundred and sixty-three, while tlu; vote for State-
hood had been six thousand five hundred and four with two
thousand five hundred and sixty-two in the negative, the lattei'
mostly in nnddle Tennessee. So Blount issued a call for a
constitutional convention to meet on January 11, 17!><). th()UL;li
it was problematical if by that time the Spanish negotiations
would have decided the (pu'stion of the Mississip])i. The pros-
pect had induced new currents of emigration from the east ;
a new road had been cut over the Cumberland ]Mountains, and
in the autumn of the ])revious year thirty or forty wagons went
over it to establish new homes. A traveler that way in ITiHl
reports that between Nashville and Knoxville he met: one
hundred aiul seventy-five wagons, and seventeen or eighteen
hundrecl bathorses, carrying emigrants and their projierty to
the Cumberland settlements.
I
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KENTCCK Y IXTIUdCKS.
>53
sititMi lit
r\w/. r\-
oi IT'.t."..
tlu' oiit-
ioU'il till-
•th surv.'tl
If iiKinllo
tiiil \nw('
,IH' t'U'l "I
; from tlu'
;um to piv-
lut ovtlfictl
lo -2'.', IT'.'"',
wus (>ni*'vt'<l
peo^tU' :>inl
Coustitut\i>u
lition.
eoec
pi-
ll COH
h('V !l
in tlu- siuiit'
.vi'uty-scvon
[tr for Stivte-
witli two
the lattfV
U for a
thouii'li
kur
la t'a
noo-otiiition^
lui
Til.' i>v
tl
os-
le i'
list
luntains. aiu
I
Wl'
lit
ri%
Iwaiiou^
jwrtV ill
llie met one
olitoeii
ov fi
pro\iev
tv to
C"ai'(»ii(U'lt't"rt hopes for sonir lU'W tlistnictioiis, wliicli minlit
tend to the Spanisli intiTt'st, ivstod not on tlwso. .st:il)lef coin-
nmnitics of tlu- C'linihcrland, hnt on the more lestless setth'-
nu'nts on the Kcntnclcv. In June, 179'), that Spitnisli j;()V('riior
iuhlressed a K'tter to .lndj;(' Sclcistian, at I'rankfort, ottV'iinj^'
to send (V)lor.('l (iayoso to New Madrid, to niiet ih(»Ne wlioni
Si'l)astian might send there to disenss the (jMestion of th*' Mis-
sissippi, — an effort necessarily Hnbversivc of the jtoliiy which
the two jj;'overnnients had now entered npon at Ma(hid ( f com-
ing to a conchision hy agreement on this vexed ([iiestion. Later,
and Itcfore h(! had received the letter of .lune, Seltastian was
again ajtprised of the intention of (iayoso to he in New Madrid
in Oetoher. That the meeting was hehl of course eon. promises
Sebastian and Iiis friends, as representatives of the United
States, to an ecpial degree with Uaronihdet. Even if, as the
Americans professed, they entered npon these private negotia-
tions for business interests only, the mattei- was none tlu; h'ss
one for the fedci'al government to manag*;.
(xayoso went north from Natchez with other ostensible ob-
jects than to deal with the renegades whom he sought. lie
stopped at the Chickasaw Bluffs and bargained with the Indian
owners for a tract of land along the liver. six miles long and
from a half mile to a mile broad, and on this he built and gar-
risoned a fort. When (ieneral Wayne heard of this occupa-
tion of American soil, he demanded an ex])lanation, and (Jayoso
answered from " On board the Vigilant before New Madrid,
2nd October, 1705," that he had a right to treat with an inde-
pendent tiibcN and cited an agreement of the United States
with the Chickasaws as to their bounds. lie accom])anied this
with protestations of friendship. A few days before, he had
written to St. (lair, then at Kaskaskia, asking for a conference
to further the reeij)rocal interests of the two countries. From
New ^NFadrid. after thus trying to blind St. Clair, he sent
Thomas Power — an Irishman, s])eaking Fnmeh, Spanish, and
Kiiglish, naturalized in Spain, who professed to be a wander-
ing naturalist — to o])en intercourse with Sebastian and his
friends. This done, Power ]iassed on to Cincinnati, and saw
Wilkinson, then at Fort Washington, and wearing the Ameri-
ciiu unifcn-m. This renegade American general now wrote to
Carondelet, recommending that the Spanish governor should
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PINCKNE Y 'S TREA TV.
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resume his shipments up the river in order to restore confi.
tlence ; that he should fortify the mouth of the Ohio agjiinst
any possible English inroad ; that he should establish a l);iiik
in Kentucky with American directors ; and that he sliould cin-
ploy George Kogers Clark and his foUowers in the Spanish
service. It will be recollected that the French Republic li;ul
no further use of Clark and his soldiers of fortune. Sebastian
went to New Madrid, but was not able to come to any agree-
ment on the commercial ventures, which were to be a })ait of
their plot, and he invited Judge Innes and William Munay
to take pjirt in the discussion. Being unable to agree witlj
Gayoso, this official and S bastian, in October, left New Madrid
and proceeded to New Orleans, to lay the problems before
Carondelet, reaching there in January, 170G. Before their
conferences were over, news reached New Orleans of the con-
clusion of a treaty with Spain : and the intriguers were forced
to resort to other schemes. As these were in contravention
of the treaty which had alarmed them, it is necessary now to
follow the events which led to that pacification, and the conehi-
sions which were reached, perfidious though they were on the
part of S})ain.
On De- >mber 8, 1795, the President had said to Congress
that they might ho])e for a speedy conclusion of a satisfactory
treaty with Spain, and before the terms of it were known, they
were accurately prefigured to the public.
Pinckney had reached Madrid on June 28, 1795, but it was
not till August 10 — such were the obstacles and ])revarioa-
tions usually inherent in Spanish diplomacy — that the Amer-
ican commissioner was allowed to lay his proposititms before
the Prince of Peace, who had been ai)pointed to deal with him.
Tliis grandee then submitted the im})ossibility of going for-
ward, as he had not yet received any answer to the ])roposition
which he had sent to the United States, to sell the right to
navigate the Mississippi for a considerat'on, if the American
Rei)»ddic would guarantee the Sp.anish territorial possessions on
its banks. Pinckney reidied that his countrymen would ne\er
purchase a right, and that it was out of the (juestion for them tii
make such a guarantee. lie then rehearsed the old arguments.
Sjiain had never questioned the provisions of the treaty of 1782
at the time she made with England the general treaty of Janu-
miSm
THE TREATY SIGNED.
555
to Cougvoss
satisfactory
known, they
avy 20, 1783, and nothing but the bounds of 1782 could over
satisfy the United States, as the same bounds had satisfied
England in 1703, with the provision of a fiee navigation of the
Mississippi from source to mouth, as inherent now as then.
The summer dragged on with little or no progress, and in
October, disgusted and chagrined, Pinckney demanded his pass-
ports. The work upon which no })rogress had been nnule in four
months was now suddenly done in three days, and the treaty
was signed on October 27, 1795. The next day Pinckney wrote
to his own government that the threatening relations of Eng-
land and the United States had obstructed the negotiations as
well as the peaceful attitude of (Ireat Britain towards Spain.
The text of the treaty arrived in Philadelphia on February
22, 179G, and the Senate promptly ratified it.
The bounds by the Mississippi and on Florida were exactly
what the Americans had claimed under the treaty of independ-
ence. Spain made no provision for rendering valid the grants
she had made north of 31°, and they were left to the decision
of the United States. It was provided that a joint commission
should meet at Natchez, six months after ratification, to run the
lines.
The navigation of the Mississippi, from source to mouth,
was fully assured for both parties. Pinckney sought to save a
conflict with Jay's treaty by inserting that, beside the two con-
tracting powers, '' others, by st)ecial convention," coidd enjoy
the same right. Spain insisted that the grant to England in
the Jay treaty of right to navigate tiie ^Iississip]>i was of no
avail, as the United States only derived such a right by the
l)resent treaty.
The port of Xcw Orleans was established for throe years as
a place of deposit, with no duties chargeable, and after that
int«'rval the same or other place of de])osit should be allowed.
lioth ])arties agreed to restvMin the Indians on either side of
the dividing line, and to use force if necessary. It was on the
pretense that Spain did not impede an invasion of Georgia by
the Seminoles, in 1815, that Monroe ordered Andrew Jackson
at that time to i)ursue them over the Spanish line.
Spain agreed to evacuate all ))orts held by her (m American
territory within six months, and the United States were ^)ut
under similar obligations, if conditions reipiired it.
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55G
PINCKNE Y '5 TREA T Y.
Katifications of this treaty of San Lorenzo el real were
exchanged on April 2(3, 1790, and on Angnst 2 it was dulv
proclaimed.
So decisive an abandonin*^ it of her old policy by Spain, as
this treaty evinced, naturally raised the question of the sincerity
of the Spanish government. Pinckney and Hamilton th<>uj;lit
that the sudden change in the Spanish tenii)er came from an
api)rehension that the United States and England, as a result
of Jay's treaty, were preparing for a joint declaration of war
against France- and Spain. Such a fear may have prevailed in
the French council, and Spain and the French Directory were
now in close contact. It was said that the Spanish king yielded
reluctantly, and had no real intention of carrying the treaty out,
if circumstances and delays could help him to retain the Sj)ani.sli
posts on the Mississippi. It was known that Gayoso later
boasted that the treaty would never be put in force, and Caron-
delet acted, both in his subsequent conduct and in the projxtsi-
tions he forwarded by Sebastian to Kentucky, — as we shall
see, — as if he was of like belief. It was also believed that
Spain hoped to pacify the United States while she dallied with
the provisions of the treaty long enough to ])rofit from a neu-
tral territory being inter])osed between Louisiana and a British
attack. Talleyrand saw nothing but misfortune in Si)ain's
abandonment of the east bank of the Mississippi, and looked
in the end for a countervail to France in the cession of Florida
and Louisiana.
I ,
Washington, when the treaty had been carried through the
Senate, expressed the hope that it wouhl prove "• soothing to
the inhabitants of the western waters, who were beginning to
grow restive and clamoi'ous." He little knew that Judge Innes.
in wliom he had confided all along to quiet the discontent, was
deep in the nefarious i)lot of Sebastian, — the former being a
circuit judge of the United States, and the other the chief justice
of Kentucky. The infamous Sebastian engaged to give liis ser-
vices to Spain, to subserve her interests and subvert those of his
own country, for a yearly pension of 82,000, and he received
the stipend regularly.
After thus debasing himself, Sebastian, accompanied by
Power, in the spring of 1790, sailed from New Orleans for
■aaii
WILKIXSON AXD SEBASTIAN.
woro
, duly
ain, !»;^
iicevity
•oiii ;u\
of war
iiUeil in
)i'y were
• yic'W*'*!
[iixty o\it,
SpiVuisU
3SO latfV
ul Cavou-
; pvo\)«>si-
we sliail
^eved that
aiied with
am a lu'"-
a British
It Spain's
nd looUt'*!
of riovitla
livoush the
loothinj:; t*)
joinninfi to
uloe Innt's.
mtent. Nvas
Ipv boin'j; a
[hief justice
^ive his s«^^'-
those of his
L veceiv»'*l
Philadelphia, and thence passed westward with the f«)llowing
propositions from Carondelet: To prej)are Kentucky for a
revolution, and to give them money to organize the project,
♦flOO,000 will be sent to Kentucky. When independence is
declared, Fort Massac shall he occupied by Spanish troops, and
•tlOO,000 shall be applied in snpjxjrting the garrison. The
northern bounds of Spanish territory are to be a line running
west from the mouth of the Yazoo Kiver to the Tombigbee,
while all north of such a line shall, «'xcei>t the reservation
recently fortified at the Chickasaw Bluff, belong to the revolted
State, which shall enter into a defensive alliance with Spain.
The new treaty of San Lorenzo shall not be observed ; but the
new State shall enjoy the navigation of the Mississippi. Ten
thimsand dollars were to be sent in sugar barrels np the river
to Wilkinson, now the general-in-chief of the American army I
Power was obliged to return to New Orleans with the report
that the Spanish treaty had indisposed the Kentucky intriguers
to further machinations. Wilkinson, however, was not forgot-
ten, and if we are to believe a vindicator of that faithless per-
sonage, this money in sugar barrels was only his return from a
tobacco venture. The specie was sent by two messengers. One
got safely through. The other was murdered by his own boat-
men, but neither Wilkinson nor Judge Tunes thought ii prudent
to bring the felons to justice, and they were hurried off beyond
the Mississi])pi.
The late John Mason Brown of L()uisville, in an elaborate
attempt to vindicate his grandfather, John lirown, the Ken-
tucky senator, from comjdicity in these vSpanish consj)iracies, sat-
isfied himself that he successfully defended Innes and all
except Wilkinson and Sebastian fi'om the charges of baseness.
"Lifted," he says, " to its last analysis, the story shows that
certainly there were not more than two conspirators, Wilkinsoii
and Sebastian. It does not seem that they communicated.
They were base money-takers, both of them, but they made no
])roselytes. nor tried to." It is to be hojied that this explana-
tion is true, but evidence is against it.
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111
CHAPTER XXV.
THE UNITED STATES COMPLETED.
179G-1798.
f
!■■ >
*f I
Si'AiX hiul, indeed, during the course of 1796, entered uihui
51 sy-iteni of delay very cliaraeteristie of her national humor,
in earrying out the provisions of the treaty of San Lorenzo:
but its ratification (April, 179G) had jjosiponed, if it had not
averted, danger from that (puirter. But in the place of one
dis(piietude had come another. French arrogance, which had
received a temporary check by the suppression of Clark's exjx'-
dition and by the futility of Carondelet's ulterior plans, made
evident early in the year, was again asserting itself. With the
uncertain drift of dij)loniacy and through the wafting of pas-
sions, the federal government was never quite sure that the i)ro-
visions of Jay's treaty might not at any time become an obstacle
to the continuance of the enforced and somewhat dishearten in <;
truce with Englaiul which, in April, was finally to be made
operative. The public grew calmer because it was not informed :
and such events as the new treaty with Algiers, entered into
just before the treaty with Spain, seemed to the casual observer
indicative of a new success in Eurojiean relations. In Febru-
ary, 1790, Congress congratulated Washington on his birthday,
with more warmth because it was generally felt that he was
entering very shortly upon his last j'car in office. The Presi-
dent himself was taking a more roseate view of public affairs
than seemed warranted, and in March, 179G, he was writing t(»
a friend : " If the people have not abundant cause to rejoice at
the ha])piness they enjoy, I know of no country that has. We
have settled all our disputes, and are at peace with all nations.'"
This was true, but the prospect of a continuance of peace was
not flattering. Pickering, at about the same moment, was ])re-
maturely planning for the garrisoning of Natchez, and ])re]>ar-
ing to meet a new outbreak of the Creeks, between the enmitv
n^
Th:^\\KSSEE.
559
•vl liuinov,
it luul not
ace of oiu-
which h;u\
lavk's exiH-
phuis, uKule
With the
ting <>t P'*^'
bhat the ino-
k an ohstixcl*'
isheurteninii
,o he ma»h'
ot inf ornieA :
entered into
iual ohsevvi'v
\n Fehru-
his \)ivthaay.
tiuit he was
The Tvesi-
nxiblic affairs
.^s Nvvitins to
to vev'i<''^ ^^
irathas. ^Ve
all nations,
of peace wn>^
aent, was pve-
;, and \n-e\YM-
■n the enmity
of whom ami the retention of the Spanish posts he had not far
to reach for reasons.
Early in tlie year, the nearest white neiglihors of that tribe
had made a notabU: movement in their convention at Knoxville
on Jannary 11, 1790. Com})letin<^ its business on February G, it
had annoiuieed to the worhl a constitution, based on that of
North Carolina, but more reimblican, as .lefferson said, than any
before framed, though in some jjarticulars respecting the taxa-
tion of lands it has been held to be too favorable to the rich.
It had been made without any enabling act of Congress, and
in defiance of the right of Congress to order the census which
pi'cceded it, and to determine whether the territory shoidd be
made an autonomy within the Union or without it. It had cre-
ated a new State, ready for union, if Congress wanted it, but a
new State in any event. The convention liad had someremai-k-
able men in it. Blount, wlio had sat in the federal convention of
1787, presided over it, and he was destined to be its senator in
Congress. James Robertson had been called to the cliair when-
ever the convention resolved itself into a committee of the whole.
Andrew Jackson was there, soon to ride eight hundred miles
on horseback to Philadel])hia, and to claim a seat in the State's
behalf in the national Iloust; of Re])resentatives. He was better
known now than when he looked on and saw the escape of
Sevier from his enemies at the backwoods court-house. Tipton,
one of those enemies, was now here, his associate in the conven-
tion ; but Sevier was not there, though destined in a few weeks
to be their chosen governor, and. later still, to be turned to by
Washington's successor as a brigadier in the quasi war with
France. The constitution gave and legalized the name of
Tennessee to the incii)ient commonwealth. By Blount's agency
the vexed and perennial ((i.estion of the Mississippi, which was
so near its settlement, was fornndated as a fundamental law :
"An equal ])articipation of the free navigation of the Missis-
sippi is one of the inherent rights of the citizens of this State ;
it cannot, therefore, be conceded to any prince, potentate, ])ower,
j)erson or persons whatever."
By the end of March, 179G, the State had assend)led its first
legislature, and by it the new constitution was forwarded to
tlie ^resident, who on Ajiril 8 laid it before Congress. A
month of hesitancy passed. The federalists, led by Rufus King,
V
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5G0
THE UNITED STATES COMPLETED.
\i I ;
rallied against its aeci'ijtancc. They saw in it a trick to secuic
another electoral vote for Jefferson in the coming count. ( )iii'
of this party wrote : " The i)eoi)le of that country have cashificd
the temporary government, and self-created tliemsclves into u
State. One of their s])nriou8 senators has arrived, and has
claimed his seat. No <lonl)t this is one twig of the electionct-r-
ing cabal for Mr. Jefferson." Aaron linrr, who had been in
the Senate since 1701. led the j)arty of advocates, and led tluin
successfully. The bill f-or the admission of the new State caiiu!
to a vote on May C, but liurr's margin of victory was narrow.
The President kept the (piesti<m in doubt for .some weeks, but
finally a])pi-oved the act on June 1.
Another fateful question came, in the same early months of
1790, to an issue. Tlie legislature of Georgia, which was to
wipe out the Yazoo scandal, convened in January, and a strong
])arty in favor of canceling the vicious grants developed itself.
Meanwhile, the corporate specidators had in many cjises sold
their rights under the thre«atened grants, and those of the Up]»er
IVIississippi Comi)any were transferred to a comj)any in South
Carolina. The other companies sent agents to New England,
and many ])rominent men invested in their shares, and Boston
alone is said to have i)laced |!2,000,000 in this way. With the
prospect of trouble from innocent purchasers, or from others not
so guileless, the legislature, on February 13, passed a rescind-
ing act, accomj)anying their decision with proofs of the corrup-
tion and evidences of the unconstitutionality of the slaughtered
grants. To give the end something of meh)dramatic effect, the
old act was ])ublicly burned, the fire being ignited by a burning-
glass, in the effort to link the deprecation of heaven with that
of the vindicators of justice. It is not necessary now to trace
out the sequel. Jackson, the champion of the vindicators, says
that he was " fired at in the ])apers, abused in the coffee-houses,
arid furnished a target for all the Yazoo scrip-holders, — l)ut
[he added] I have the people yet with me." His leaclershij)
led him into duels, and in one of them he was finally killed in
180G. Meanwhile, the new ])urchasers organized for i)rosecut-
ing their claims, and when Georgia finally ceded the territory
to the United States, in 1802, the justice of their demands was
left to the determination of Congress.
lU'
AJ>ET AM) THE WEST.
501
months of
U'U WHS to
u\ a stvon<,'
oped itsi'lf.
J cases sold
{ the Uppi'v
iiy in Soutli
w England,
, and Boston
With the
in others not
(1 a reschiil-
the corrup-
shiughtered
M' effect, the
Ly a bnvning-
len with that
now to trace
locators, says
offee-houses,
dders, — hut
lis leadership
ally killed in
for proseent-
ithe territory
demands was
It was in the spiing of 1790 that Adet, now the French
minister in Pluladelphia, entered actively upon his scheme of
wresting the western country from the Union, lie selected for
his agents to traverse that region two Frenchmen : one, ( Jen-
eral Victor C'ollot, who is descriltcd, in the instructions for his
apju'clunision, as heing six feet tall, forty years of age, and s}ieak-
ing Knglish very well. The other — Warin, or Warren, as
the same instructions name him — is descrihed as over six feet
high, thirty years old, lately a sub-«'nginet'r in the American
service, and speal'Mig Englisii tolerably. Tiie ex|)enses of the
mission of these spies were to be borne by the French govern-
ment. They were to observe the military posts and make gen-
eral observations on the cimntry, which Collot's journal has
preserved for us. They were to select a sj)ot for a military
depot, and to make a list of influential persons whom they
encountered. They were to sound the peojde on an alliance
with France, and to point out how natural it would be for those
beyond the mountains to seek a French connection. They were
also told to express a i)reference for the election of Jeffi'rson to
the presidency, and this was natural. It was the belief that
(lallatin, whose career in the whiskey insurrection had not been
forgotten, had taken a map by Ilutchins and mark«'d out a
route for these emissaries, even if he had not suggested the
movement to Adet. The whole project was a part of the
resentment of France at the day treaty, which wa.s held to have
annulled the treaty of 1778. It was supposed to be in the
interest of annexing Louisiana to France, and to give her this
larger domination in the Mississij)j)i valley, — a scheme that
ralleyrand, e(pial to any depth of infamy, had, as we have seen,
foi'undated.
In May, Mclienry, now in the cabinet, informed St. (lair
of the departure of these spies, and h(tj)ed he would discover
ground for seizing their ])apers. About the same time, the
repid)lican faction were credited witli an attempt, ostensibly for
economy's sake, to abolish the major-generalship of the army,
but really with the purpose of getting rid of Wayne and put-
ting Wilkinson as the senior brigadier at the head of the army,
as a more manageable person than Wayne. The death of the
latter before the end of the year brought Wilkinson to the toj)
more naturally, and the French faction doubtless knew him to
be ae purchasable by France as by Spain.
H
I;
II
M "
502
THE I'MTia) STATES COMPLETE I).
\i:
\i I
The French govenimeiit, in Maicli, 171H), lijul h)(lj;»Ml with
Monroe, in I'aris, their coniphiints of th»' .lay treaty ; and wlun
the tidings of the House's action, on April 80, in sustaininj;' tlic
treaty, reached France, the authorities of the seapmts hci;aii a
series of aggressions and ciiiuUiinnations of American vessels.
liy Octoher, the exasperated Directory were (h'terniincd on
more offensive measures. Monroe advised the; h'aders that a
war witli the United Stati's wouhl throw the Americans into
the arms of Knghmd, and set hack the cause of liheity. This
minister lieard in August that Franci! was phmning a treaty
with Spain, hy which L(uiisiana and Fh>ri(hi wouhl he suncii-
dered to French iuHuence, and Canada was to he attacked, so
as t(» surround the United States with alien iut«'rests. Moiirdc
questioned the government, which promi)tly denied it.
Meanwhile, Adet's spies were working in the west. Collot.
in Kentucky, had faHen in with Judgt' Hreckenridge, and was
endeavoring to convince him how a French alliance could with-
stand the authority of the United States. Passing on hy tlic
route which had heen marked out for him, Uollot made ohscr-
vation of the portage hetween the Wahash and Maumee, where
wagons were regularly conveying passengers, and saw how it
" ought to he f(U"tified, if the northwestern States ever make a
schism." Descending the Ohio, he stopped at Fort Massac,
and found it occupied hy a hundred men, and eight twelve-
pounders mounted in its four hastions. The channel, heing mi
the opposite side of the river, showed him how it could lie
])assed in the night. Caught making sketches, the eonniiandcr,
(^i])tain Pike, arrested him, and he was only allowed to jjroceed
hy having an officer in com])any as long as he ke])t on AmiMicaii
soil. Passing nj) to the Illinois settlements, where he liad
hoped to discover the French eager for his counsels, he was clia-
grined to find that the ])eople had no cpialities of the French
hut courage. Collot, Michaux, and Volney give a \mhw account
of these dejienerate Frencdi. "They live and look like sav-
ages," says one. " Their thrifty American ncighhors had got
the upper hand of them," says a second. Collot even says
they had forgotten the succession of the calendar; that tiny
stnhhcu'nly adhered to old customs : that they did not recog-
nize their ])rivations: that they were huried in superstitious
ignorance, and lived th'; lives of indolent drunkards.
\VA snixr; Toys . i /> i •/( '/i.
rm
"(l with
1(1 wlun
iliij; tlic
l)fj;iin a
s that a
aiis iiitt)
y. Tills
a tn-aty
I' siurt'ii-
acU«'tl. •■><»
MolU'Of
. (\.ll..t.
>, and w:>s
ouM witli-
on l>y tlu'
latlo ohscr-
nee, wlu'ic
aw how it
|irev makt' a
t Massai',
ht twelvo-
1, lu'hiu; on
I'oultl ho
uninaiuh'V,
to ])VOt'tn'(l
ij Anu'vii'an
e lu' had
e was cha-
hi' Fri'iich
or aci'ount
like sav-
rs had !;<'t
even says
that thry
not ircoti-
Ixpeistitiovis
At St. Loni«, C'ollot learned thait hoth Caroiulelet an<l l*ick-
erin<( l»ad onh-red his arrent. so that he was safe on neither
si<h' of the river. An American jndjjje at Kaskaskin, he said,
had '• spicad the most idh^ and injurious tah's respeetinj; the
Freneh nation, and partieuhirly respeetinj^f myself.""
St. Louis struek hini as eominandiniii^ in ])osition the Missis-
sippi and the route to the Paeifie by tiie Missouri, "with more
facility, more safety, and with more economy for trade and
navij;ation than any other given point in North America." Of
its six hundred ])o])nlation, two hundred were aide to hear arms,
and all were French. They wen*, in the main, hajtpy laborers,
less degenerate than those he had seen in the Illinois i-egion.
and among them were ])rosperons merchants. 'Flu; foi-t had
been strengthened at the time of (Jenet's pnnxtsed raid, and the
garrisim of seventeen men now in it was ordered to retreat, if
necessary, to New Madrid.
Looking to a French irruj)tion on the mines of Santa F«', he
found that it was practicable for two converging forces to fall
u])on tlu ni. One would ascend the Great Osage bi-anch of the
Missouri, and the other the Arkansas. The valhiy where Santa
Fe was situated wouM bring the two armies near together, the
one sixty miles and the other a hundred miles and more from
the coveted goal.
While Collot was thus marking out the lines of a Fi-emdi
invasion of the ]Mississi))])i valley, Washington, in his farew(dl
.address (Se])tend)er 17, 179G ), was uttering a sober warning to
the western intriguers. The east finds, he says, and will still
more find, in the west, " a valuable vent for the conunodities
which it brings from abroad, or manufactures at home," while
the west will obtain from the east "the supplies i'c«piisite to its
growth and conifort. ... It owes the secure enjoyment of in-
disptmsable outlets fen* its own produc^tions to the Atlantic side
of the Union. . . . Any other tenure by which the west can
hold this advantage, either ))y its own strength or by connections
with a foreign power, must be ])re('arious. . . . The inhaliitants
of our western country have seen in the treaty with S])ain. and
in the nniversal satisfaction at that event, a decisive proof how
unfounded were the susj)ieions propagated among them of a
policy in the general government and in the Atlantic States
unfriendly to their interests in regard to the Mississi])]ii." He
I
6G4
rill': rsiTich statics complicticik
*■.-
urges them to be tlcuf to sulvisers who \v«>ulcl comuict them with
aliens.
As the iiiitmiin iulvanced, the rehitions between Spain ami
Knghmd, whieh had long been strained, and whieh had so iiiiich
induced the treat}' of San Lorenzo, grew more and more inita-
l)le. A year or so before, .Jefferson had written to Morris in
London to intimate to the British government that a balanrc uf
|iower was as neeessary in Amei-iea as in Europe, and anydis-
turbanee of it by Knghmd's seizing Louisiana in eas«' of a nip.
turo with S[)ain wouhl cause extreme uneasiness in America.
It was a common rtnnor at this time that an expedition froni
Montreal would be started against Louisiana, if the Spiinish
should venture on a war. Collot heard of it on the Mississippi
as to consist of two thousand British regulars, fifteen hundred
militia, and a body of Indians, and he had given (iay(»so warn-
ing of it at Natchex, During the summer, an Knglish spy
had been examining the Ohio Kiver, and it was a <iuestion if
Kngland would respect American territory in ease of a deternii-
nation to attack Louisiana. St. Clair wrote from Pittsburg,
on Scptendscr 0, iibout this emissary: "Connolly has left tin;
country, after making, it is isaid, an accurate survey of the
Ohio, and sounding its depths in a number of jdaces. He was
stopi)ed at Massae and his ]);ipers examined by the conunand-
ing officer," and at the sanie time there were rejjorts of Englisji
agents in Tennessee and Kentucky organizing military foj'ces.
War was declared by Spain against Kngland on October 7.
and not long after the declaration was received in London. Port-
land wrote to Simcoe (October 24) to imiuire what could lie
depended upon in Kentucrky and the west. The current ques-
tions now became eomi)licated. Would England, with or with-
out the sympathy of the L^nited States, make a descent of the
Mississippi uiuui New Orleans ? Would the S])anish, with or
without the aid of the French, ascend the Mississijipi, make
another attem^jt to wrest the west from the Union, and dasli
upon Canada? The last country was full of rumors of Freneli
intentions, and Governor Prescott, in October, 1790, issued a
warning proclamation. The possession hy this time of the lako
posts surrendered under the Jay treaty, which was the cause
of this French animosity, put the United States in a position
to n>sist either expedition, northward or southward, if it should
seem best.
M .11
KL L K '0 77' .1 A7> CA It OSDKl E 7'.
565
cm
with
mill ami
so \\\\w\\
)iv inita-
^lonis i\\
lalaniT of
il any 'li">-
of a ni\i-
Anu'vii-a.
ition i'l'tm
it> Sl)iini>l>
MiHsissivi'i
•u hun»li»tl
lyoso wiun-
In^lisli si.y
ijucstittu if
{ 11 tlctiMUii-
1 Pittsltnv;^,
has left till!
rvi'V f*f ^"''
,ea. He was
III' coininauil-
s of En^Vish
avy fovci's.
In ()i'tolH'V T.
,ou(lon. l*»>vt-
iiat ('(Hil*^ ^*
uiveut (lui's-
^vith or ^vitl^
^.Hcont of tht'
iiish, with or
issipvU 1"!^^^''
[on, aiul ila^^h
ivs of 'Freiu'li
pO, issutnl a
|u! of the lalif'
as the t'aiisf
hi a position
I if it shoiil'l
The inuii('(liat»' cfTt'ct upon the riiitcd States of this Anj^h)-
Spaiiish war was the excuse wliicli l'arou(h'let found iu it to
(U'lay the surrcnih'i' of Natchez and the other Mississippi posts,
and to hh)cli the ))urpose of Andrew Kllicott, who had l)ecn
(h'sij^nated liy the I'resiih'Ut as the Auieriean coinutissioner f<U'
running;- the lines (h'teiiuined hy tlie treaty of San Loreu/o.
Kllicott liad h'ft Phihnhlphia (»n Septeniher KJ, ITIMI. and near
t'.ie end of Oetoher, he einharked all his stores and waj;;ons on
the Ohio. It was a low state of tin? river, and when he turned
into the Mississipi)i, on l)ecend)er 18, he found himself sur-
rounded hy tloatinjij ic«'. lie did n(»t be^in li!s fii'tln'r descent
till .Fanuary 21, 17(*T, when a detachment of An; -i .i-an troops
accompanied his Hotilla. At New Madrid, hefoic iis crund)lin<;
fort, he was st()i)ped and shown a letter from C irontlelct direit-
inii' the conunandant to detain him till the foiU were evjicuate«l,
which couh' not he <lonc, as his excuse was, till tin' river had
risen, ^ii .vent on. At Chickasaw RlufH' their wns the same
)«'liteness and the same wide-eyed wonder when the treaty of
San Lorenzo was mentioned. There were armed •{•alleys hover-
ing- ahout in a rather iiupiisitive way. At Walnut Hills a can-
non-shot sto))|)cd them, and he found the same politeness and
if;norance. On Fehruary '22, 171*7. he met a messmycr from
(layoso, who commanded at Natchez, sa\iii<;' that the cvacuaticui
had heeii delayed hy the want of suitable vessels. The Span-
ish <;overnor advised him to leave his armament behind, if he
])roi)<)sed to come on to Natchez. Kllicott went on without his
troops and reached Natchez on the 24th. Knterinj; ujion a con-
ference, he finally seemed a ])i"omise to be«;in the survey on
March 10: and he sent forward a notice of his arrival to (^i-
rondelet. Gavoso asked him to pull tlown the Anu'rican tlaLi:
flyin<{ over his camp, but he refused.
On March 1,1707. C'arondelet arrived. lie presented a new
excuse for not evacnatinn the posts. It was not clear in his
mind whether he should surrender the forts as they wen*, or
should dismantle them first, and he must submit the ipicstion
to the authorities in Madrid.
There was in Natchez, with its hundred vavie<iated wooden
houses, a mixed population of about four thousand, divi»lcd in
symjiathies, — a Spanish party, an Enj^lish party, and an Amer-
it-an one. The Spanish party was really insignificant. The
|i;
56C
THE IJNITKD STATES COMPLETED.
ii
I ,1
Ml:
m
ill .; '<i'i
Englisli party was radt' ui> of original Hritish r.ettk'rs, who lunl
berii joiiu'd by Tories from the States during the Kevohitiiui.
The American i)arty was mainly i)eople whom the States for
one reason or another had ejected from their communitii's. In
the district about the town there may have been ten thousiind
souls, caj)able with the town of furnishing two thousand miliiiii
foot, and two hundred dragoons.
It ai)pearing that (Jayoso was strengthening the fort and iv-
mounting guns, Kllicott had offers of volunteers, coming fidiii
among tlu' nine tenths of the peo})le who were rejoicing in the
})rospf;et of relief from Spanish rule. While Ellicott hesitated
about assuming any military control, he was determined to
send up the river for his troops. It was not best to let tlic
Si)anish eonunander get too strong a hold upon the post. Tliere
was no neighboring height from which a cannonade c(ml(l dis-
possess him of the post, and New Orleans, a hundred leagues
away, was within reach for succor. Gayoso objected to haviii"'
the American troops at hand, but Ellicott was tirm, only tliat
he was willing they should bivouac a few miles up from the
town. Lieutenant Poi)e, who was in command of the escort,
had been strengthening it by enlistments u)) the river, as he
could Hud willinji" Americans in the neiuhborhootl of Fort ^las-
sac, where he had stojiped. He had had orders from Wayne
not to move forward till he had tidings of the evacuation : but
EUicott's demand was j)resning, and he descended the river,
reaching the neighborhood of Natchez on Ai)ril 24. ITl'T.
It was now ai>i)arent that Sj)anish agents were wv)rking upon
the Chickasaws and Choctaws to secure their aid in what looked
like a struggle for })ossession ; but Ellicott was \^ wary as his
o])ponent, and courted the (^hoctaws till he feit sure of their
neutrality. At this point th-nv was a new reason given by the
Spaniards — not ott'ered before — for delay, which was that
n»'ws had been received of a contemplated British descent of
tlu' river, and they nnist be met before they reached New Or-
leans. Gayoso in fact had first heard of this intended British
attack from (\»llot, when he ])assed down the river the pre-
vious year. At that time, Collot had a marvelous tale to re-
hearse. One Ohisholm — an P]nglishman, whom one shall soon
know somethiui'' about — was raising a force in Tennessee.
which, with the aid of the Creeks and Cherokees ami fifteen
WILKiysOX AND POWER.
;)0(
■in!;- i" t^>''
,t hesitiitod
■vmiiu'd to
I to let tlu-
ost. Thi-'vc
i; I'DUIA tVlS-
vetl li'iigiu's
.a to luivinjj;
m, only tl>:vt
\ip f ron\ tht'
{ tlio escort,
river, as lie
of Fort ^las-
fvom Waynt"
.('nation ; ^ait
[vA the river.
. ITVtT.
[vovkinji- "V^"
li Nvhat looked
\^ wary as liis
sure of tluMr
oiveii ^'y ti'*'
luoh was tluU
isli ileseent of
Ihea New Or-
ienilea Uritisli
iver the pvc-
i)i:s tale to re-
inie shall soon
liu Teunesse*'.
>es ana fifteen
hundred Tories :it N;itehez, was to attack the Spanisli, while
the Ih'itish from Cantuhi, in company with Ih-ant and his Indi-
ans, were to descend the Mississippi. It was now jnst ahont the
time when, as CoUot then said, the American nivaders wouhl
he gathering' at Knoxville, wliere they had the countenance of
the (jovernor of Tennessee.
The Spanish surveyor arriving at this juncture, and the sur-
veying party having no necessity of witnessing the Anglo-
Spanish conflict, F211icott thought there was a chance to begin
his work. (Jayoso, wlio was now strengthening his works at
Walnut Hills, thought otherwise, antl notified Kllicott, on May
11, that the survey nuist be put off; and this decision was con-
tirmed by a proclamation which Carondelet himself issued oi;
May 24. Kllicott jjrotested, and enr(dlments»)f the townspeople
began as if serious business was intended. A fortnight later,
on June 7, 1707, a connnittce of the citizens assumed control of
the town, all parties agreeing to be peaceable. (Jayoso accpu-
esced, since he couhl not do otherwise, and exhorted the popu-
lace to keep (pact till the ditfercnccs could be settled. This
revolutionary tribunal was disjdaced in a few days by another
appointeil by (iayoso at Kllicott's dictation, and (\irondelet
contirmed the choice. This was one of the last acts of (^mm-
delet, for he was soon on his way to Quito to assume another
charge, and (Jayoso ruled in his place, receiving his commission
on .Inly 20, 1707.
This departing, short, fat, choleric, but good-lnnnored gov-
ernor was not to know the failure of anotlu'r of V\\ wily plans.
lie had, in May, 1707, once more sent his old enussary, Thomas
Power, to Wilkinson, to ask him to ket'p back any additional
American force, because he intended to hold Xatche/ till the
liritish danger was passed, and he could hcai- from Madrid.
Power was also to let t)u' old Kentucky discontents understand
that Spain had no infention of observing the San Lorenzo
treaty, and that if they would swing that State away from the
Uni(m, Spain was ready to make the most favorable terms with
them. It was the old stoi-y. ICentucky constancy to Spanish
interest was to he tested very shortly in an attack on Fort Mas-
sac. The time, however, had passed for even a show of assent,
and when Power reached Detroit, where Wilkinson was, that
general made a.' appearance of arresting him, and hurried him
'
668
THE UNITED STATES COMPLETED.
If »•
•li I
out of daiigiT. This was in September, 1797 ; in the follow-
ing January, l*ower was back in New Orleans reporting' his
failure to Gayoso.
While Power and Wilkinson, conscious that the end of Span-
ish machinations in the west had come, were talking over at
Detroit the failure of their hopes, Ellieott, at Natchez, was
receiving (Septend)er, 17W7) from his government the disclos-
ure of another jilan, to link the turbulent west with British
aid in an attempt to wrest New Orleans and the adjacent re-
gions from the hands of Spain. This intelligence was aceoni-
panied by tiie announcement that Jilount, now^ a senator from
Tennessee, and shown to be a prime mover in this treasonaltle
scheme, had been expelled the previous July by his associates
in Congress, with but a single dissentient voice, and had hur-
ried away from Philadelphia to esca})e further condemnation.
Ellieott, on the receipt of this news, threw a new responsibility
upon his committee of safety at Natchez, when he left it to its
vigilance to detect and thwart any lingering treason in connec-
tion with the same plot, which might exist in that neighbor-
liood, of which, as we have seen, CoUot had heard a vague
rumor the previous year.
This dying spasm of western discontent needs to be eluci-
dated. Blount had ])robably numerous accomplices. They have
been reckoned at about thirty, u])on whom more or less sus))i-
eion rested. They included a certain schemei-, one Dr. Ko-
niayne. Colonel Orr of Tennessee, Colonel Whitely of Ken-
tucky, and a dubious personage, named Chisholm. On A])ril
21, 1797, Bh)unt had written to Carey, the official interpreter
of the Cherokees, in a way which showed that the southern In-
dians were to be used in an attack on New Orleans, while a
British fleet ascended the Mississi])pi, and a force of f(mr thou-
sand frontiersmen, directed by Bhmnt and aided by Coh)nfl
Anthony Ilutchins. a hot-headed officer of the English service.
who was somewhat popidar in the Natchez country, were to
descend that river.
After the plan was known, there was a diversity of opinion
as to the end the ])lot was intended to subserve. Some, as one
said, sup})osed the real object was to alarm the Spaniards, and
when the intriguers had created serious apprehension in tlic
Spanish mind, the movers were to offer their services to arrest
FRENCH INTRIGUES.
569
a a vague
le
iutevpvi-tei
toutlwvu In-
line,
by ColoiH'l
•Usli service.
vy.
of opinitm
oiue, as oiu'
.miavas. ai>*^
iisiou in tl'.f
•es to ancs'
or oppose the progress of the phui, aiul place the Spanish
authorities under such obligations as to reap inunense advan-
tages to themselves. The truth was probably more a))})arent,
for the project was most likely intended to forestall a i)lot of
Franee to seeure possessicm of Florida and Louisiana, which
Talleyrand had urged as an offset to the effects of Jay's treatv.
A transfer of the trans-Mississippi region to France was hehl
to be inimical to the interests of the land s])ecidators of the
west, who thought, by placing that region under the trnstee-
shi}) of Fngland, to enhance the rei'iprocal advantages of an
independent state, holding both banks of the Mississippi. It
had for a long time been suspected that Franee was negotiating
with 8i)ain to renew her old hold on the Mississippi. As early
as November, 1790, Oliver Wolcott felt convinced that the
transfer had been secretly effected '' with the object of having
an inttuenee over the western country," Kufus King, in Lon-
don, was growing to think that the persistent grasp of Spain on
the river ])osts was an indication that this had taken place.
Listim, the British minister in Philadelphia, writing to Gov-
ernor Prescott of Canada, warned him that France was not to
be content with Louisiana, but was longing also for her old
dominion over the country north of the Great Lakes. He be-
lieved that Adet had sent thither a skidking emissai-y, who was
passing luuler the name of Burns, and was seeking to excite
the Canadians to revolt. The dread of this in Canada grew so
before the year closed that it was feared that Lower and U])per
Canada would be assailed, on the one hand from Vermont and
on the other from the west, where Collot was nund)ering the
western Indians and thought to instigate them to the attack.
Kumor laid out a broad ]>lan of attack. A French fleet was to
ascend the St. Lawrence in .Inly, 1797, while the dacobins were
to muster the invading force along tlu' American frontier. In
March, Liston found everything dark. '■ Tli" damned French
rogues," he wrote, " are playing the <levil with this country, as
they have done witli all the worltl : but when tilings are at the
worst, they nuist mend. "
Just before this. Pickering had written (February, 17*.t7 ) to
Kufus King tliat the ciiange in sovereignty ovt - Louisiana
would be fraught with danger to the United States. The elec-
tion of Jt)hn Adams to the presidency the previous November
I 1
; 1 ,
f M
hi
|:l!!
570
THE UNITED STATES COMPLETED.
'ill
(1796) and the defeat of Jefferson, the friend of France, in
s[)ite of Adet's warning that a republican defeat woidd estrange
his country, had moved the French Directory to action meant,
as Barlow reported, '' to be little short of a declaration of war."'
In the spring of 1797, it was known that the Directory had
ordered Pinckney away from Paris. Hamilton wrote back to
King, on April 8, that " it portends too much a final ruptuie
as the only alternative to an ignominious submission." Adct
at this time, leaving for France, said there would lie no war,
but the federalists believed he only intt'uded to prevent tJic
Americans preparing for a conflict. Fisher Ames was urging
a bold front. Robert Goodloe Harper, in a pamphht, was
going over the story of the past insincerity of France, and feli-
citously divining her treachery in the days of the Americari lir-
volution, in the way that abiuidant evidence, divulged in later
days, has established it. As the summei' began, Pickering was
impressed with the French intentions, and on June 27, 171*7,
he wrote to King: "We are not without apprehension thiit
France means to regain Louisiana and to renew the ancient
})lan of her monarch, of circumscril)ing and encircling what now
constitute the xVtlantic States,*' — tins reinforcing the view of
Harper. The French view was exactly expressed by Roclicfou-
cault-Lianeourt, when he said that " the possession of Louisi-
ana by the Fi'ench would set bounds to the childish avarice of
the Americans, who wish to grasp at everything."
It was this [)revailing belief, going back to the previous
autumn (1796), that had aroused Blount to the o])])ortunity
which he desired to make of advantage to the west. His move-
ments and those of his associates, even before he wrote his
letter in A})ril to Carey, had been brought to the notice of
Yrujo, the Sj>anish minister, and he had directed to it the atten-
tion of Pick., .ing. He added evidences, not only of a pun)ose
to attack New Orleans, but of a plan to invade Florida from
(Jeorgia, while another force from Canada fell upon St. Louis
and New Madrid.
The situation all around was perjdexing for the administra-
tion. S|)ain was pursuing a dubious course on the Mississippi.
There were Franco-western designs on Canada. There were
Anglo-western aims at New Orleans.
Liston, the British minister, when appealed to, acknowledged
Mil'
BLOUNTS ISTIilGUE.
571
ce, u»
ueant,
war. '
•y bail
ack to
•uptiuo
AcU't
IK) war,
ent tUo
. uvji,iii:^
let, was
111(1 ffli-
icaii U<'-
iii latt'f
ring was
i7, ITl^T,
iion that
3 aiK'ieut
rtliat now
le vu'W of
llochcfoii-
)f liouisi-
ivavu'i' o
f
pr
pvions
t unity
Nvi
lis uiove-
ote bi^^
notice of
I tlie atteii-
\\ piivixist'
ri«la fr«'in
St. Louis
Llniini
4ra-
[ississipvi-
llONV
lediitnl
that ho hail been approached l)y irresponsilde persons in rej^ard
to a British attack on Xew Orleans ; but he said he had thrown
discredit on it, and had referred the i)roi)osition, with his disaj)-
proval, to his government. The ministry's resjionse not coming,
one John Chisliohn, a Scotch adventurer, who has been already
referred to, and who had conferred with Liston, liad been, in
March, 1797, sent to London by that minister, who had not
only paid the fellow's passage-money, but had also, it was later
believed, given him two sets of letters. One set was to accredit
liim on account of this nefarious business, and was j)repared
to be thrown overboard in case of necessity ; and tlie other set
coneerned some ostensible mercantile transactions. King, in
London, was warned to keep watch on Chisholm, and he soon
rej)orted that he was leading a scamhdous life, and that the
British government for a while i)aid his i)etty obligations, but
that later he was thrown into jail for debt, (irenville, liow-
ever, jn'otested to King that the ministry had promptly rejected
the whole ])roposition.
Meanwhile, Blount's letter, and his t'xpulsion from the Senate
in July, had set everybody in America wondering how wide-
s])read the defection was. Between the revelation of the \Aot
and the final act of the Senate, Wolcott, on July 4, 1797, had
written : " Our western frontiers are threatened with a new In-
dian war. French and Sjianish emissaries swarm though the
country. There is reason to believe that a western or ultra-
montane republic is meditated. ... It is certain that overtures
have been made to the British government for sup])ort, and
there is every reason to believe, short of positive jiroof, that
similar overtures have been made to Spain and France. The
British will not now su])])ort the ])roject."" The opj)osite ])ar-
ties, now i only balanc«'d, as the election of Adams by a bare
majority showed, and bitterer than ever against each otln-r,
scanned eagerly the names which were hinted at as associated
with Blount. The federalists were rejoiced to find them all
Jacobins. Boudinot expressed their opinions : '•' All who have
been mentioned as conct'rned in the business are violent Jaco-
bins, professed enemies to Oreat Britain, and who have Ik'cu
continual advocates for the P^-ench, and always vociferating a
Ibitish faction. . . . AVe are not withont fear that this may 1k^
a scheme of the democrats and Frenchified Americans to ruin
f
I'i l!
11!
572
THE UNITED STATES COMPLETED.
F' 1
f
< . ji .
i ill
England in the American oi)inion, and give the Spaniards an
excuse to break their treaty with us."
It is always unsafe to be determinate on diplomatic myste-
ries, nor is there evidence that what llawkeswortii rejueseiitcd
to King at a later day as the j)urpose of the liritish ministry
was closely connected with this Blount imdertakiiig. I Us lord-
ship said that the ministry had indeed considered a project of
seizing Louisiana, and might perhai)s have used the British
army then in Egy])t for the object. Their i)urpose, he j)ro-
fessed, was not so nnich acquisition of tei-ritory as to find in the
success of the expedition a ground for securing other advan-
tages at the i)eace. Colonel Tnnnbull, who was at this time in
England, wrote to urge the United States' seizing Louisiana
and Florida, and emancipating ^Mexico, lie at the same time
expressed the opinion that the federal govenunent might count
on the English luivy to blockade on the Gulf, while the Ameri-
cans did the work by land.
After the Jilount plot had been discovered, the sununcr
passed in Philadelphia with as nuich imcertainty as before.
Pickering and Yrujo ke])t up their correspondence, and finally,
in August, the Spanish minister wrote what Jay called " a fac-
tious and indecent letter," which led Pickering to say that only
a change in the Spanish humor could restore confidencfe and lead
the United States to forget the past. The old sus})icion still
])revailed, and the procrastinating policy of Gayoso with Elli-
cott was held to be only a putting off to allow France to assert
a sovereignty in Louisiana, which it was })resumed she had
already acquired. In November, 1797, King, in Loudon, re-
ported to Pickering that the Prince of Peace had lately declared
that the Directory of France had demanded Louisiana, and
that the ccmrt of Spain found " itself no longisr in a condition
to refuse." This was what Hamilton declared " plundering at
discreticm."
The news was indeed jn'emature, for the ti'eaty of San Ildc -
fonso was three years off, and fortunately there was an interval
left in which Spain could redeem her honor with the United
States, and lead America, in Pickering's phrase, to forget tlie
past. Tn November, Col'^nel Grandprie, who, under orders
from Madrid, had arrived in Novendier in Natchez, to take c(iiii
maud, was ignored by the committee, and when, in Decend ><':•.
W
I
I
THE MISSISSIPPI Ti: It HI TORY.
573
ids II n
luysto-
isontt'd
uuistvy
is lovtl-
British
lu; \n()-
(\ in tiie
• lulvan-
tiine in
(Ouisiana
me time
iht connt
e Amt'vi-
sunmu'i'
[S \)et'<)n'.
1(1 finally,
;(l " a fao-
tliat only
and lead
ion still
ith KUi-
to assi'vt
slu> bad
)ndon, vo-
y declared
iiiua. and
condition
idering at
Sun ll'l''-
iH interval
lie
Unit
I'll
Iforg-et the
llor ord.rs
tal^
(> ('(1111-
)eee
nih
1797, fresh United States troops, under Captain Guyon, joined
Ellieott at Natehez, it was a waining- to Gayoso that he couhl
not overh)ok. Events now moved vapidly, as they usually do
when Si)anish obstinacy gives way to fear. In Januar}', 1798,
Gayoso issued orders for the evacuation of Natchez, AValnut
Hills, and the other posts north of 31". Ellieott was notified
on January 10. After the usual Spanish torpidity, finally, on
Mareh 30, under the eover of the night, and leaving everything
uninjured, the S])anish troops filed out, and the next morning
the Amerieau Hag was run uj). The Spanish troops retired
downstream, and there was no [)laee hut Baton liouge left for
Gayoso to niake a stand against an up-river apj)roaeh. This
plaee was but thirty nules above Iberville Kiver, which bounded
New Orleans inland on the north.
The American Kepublic was now, after fifteen years' waiting,
in possession of the territory in the southwest awarded to it by
the Treaty of Indeiiendence. AVe have seen tnat it had waited
thirteen years in the north to get contr(d of the lake posts.
Congress at once (April, 1798) set up the Mississij)])i Terri-
tory, covering the territory so long in dis})ute, and Winthrop
Sargent, turning over the secretaryship of the northwest ter-
ritory to Wiriam Henry Harrison, was sent to organize the
government. He arrived at Natchez on August G. Three
weeks later (August 20), Wilk'.ison, as general of the Ameri-
can army, and bearing in his b tsom the secrets that made his
pronuneuce a blot both on hiniself and his government, arrived
at Natchez with a little army of occupation. ^Meanwhile, Elli-
eott had left, on April 9, to begin his survey, and for two years
was engaged in the work.
So ends the story of the rounding out of the territorial in-
tegvity of the Kei)ublic, as Franklin. Adams, and Jay had
secured it in 1782, against the mischievous indirection of her
enemies, French, Spanish, and British.
With a country completed in it+^ bounds, the American
character needed a cori'csponding rounding of its ti'aits. Jay,
in a letter to Trumbull. October 27, 1797, had divined its
necessities : " As to politics, we are in a better state than we
were : but we are n^^ yet in a sound state. 1 think that nation
is not in a sound state whose ])arties are excited by (d)jects
674
THE UXITEI) STATES COMPLETED.
<■(!
interesting only to a foreign power. T wish to see our j)eo]»l(>
more Aniericjinized, if I niiiy use that expression ; until wt-
feel and aet as an independent nation, we shall always sufi't r
from foreign influenee."' Hamilton wrote to King in a similnr
8})irit : " The eonduet of Franee " — and he might have added of
S2)ain and Jiritain — "has been a very ])owerful medicine for the
])olitieal diseases of the country. 1 think the connuunity im-
proves in soundness.*"
Not long before this, Tench Coxe, of Philadelidiia, made ;i
survey of the condition to which the United States had attained :
" The jmblie debt is smaller in jn'oiHirtion to the present wealth
and population than the public debt of any other civilized
nation. The United States, including the operations of the
individual States, have sunk a much greater ])roporti(m of the
public debt in the last ten years than any nation in the world.
The expenses of the government are very nuich less in propor-
tion to wealth and numbers than those of any nation in Eu-
rope." The United States, with its rightful i)roportions se-
cured, w IS now fairly started on an independent career.
«
Mr ;|
*I #' '-ft !' -i >'
ir |)('0|»K'
until wi'
lys suffer
a siiiiilar
added of
lU'for tlic
unity iiii-
, made ii
attained :
nt wealth
civilized
IS of the
m of the
he world.
II propor-
in in En-
rtions se-
r.
IJVDEX.
I M
INDEX.
*»
Ahhott, at Vinoeniies. 11-'; at Detroit.
l-'7.
AhiiiL'diiii, lucsiiytcrv, '-^-S.
Adimi, KolM'it, <il.
AdatiiM, .liihii, anil tin- Transylvania
niovcnu'nt, t)T ; ^'<>in^ abi'oail, liiit; in
Paris, 1'H;1; liis intlnt'ncc on tlie treaty
(I7.v_'), 'JilS; (III tht' (late of till' treat y
(ITS'.'), iM'.t; his iircdictions, •_'•_•(;; in
London demands the |iosts, '-Ml ; on
tin" loyalists, '2i'.\; sees Mraiit. l!7.'l ;
j>raise of the British Constitntion, '-'"S ;
Ditrilti, 40S; elected President. .'rflM.
Adams. .1. t^., at The llajriie. 471».
Adet, arrives, M'*\ ; intriH:ues at the West,
.Mil ; retnrns to Kriince, .'>7(i.
Alamance, battle. 7M.
Alexiindria (\'a.). as a port for the West,
■J4S ; western rontes from, map, '_'4!l ;
Washint^ton's estimate. L'.'it) ; commis-
sioners iit. '_'.■)(>.
Ali'.niiidn'd duzi-tti'. ;>7().
Aliiianions, :\\. Wl. 1(11.
.Mletihany Mountain routes. 410.
Alleifhany iJiver. ."Ml.
Allen, Andrew. tKi.
American, as a designation, il.
American .\iiti-slavery Society. -Hit.
American Hottoni. _.'> ; map. '-'7.
.\mirirnn i inziltiir, .'!!.. "ilC!.
Ainiriritn Mililiirii I'lickit Alias, '-'14.
American Philosophical Society, and
western discovery. ."(:>.'!.
Aniiricdii l'i(i)it'n\ 'JM.'!.
Ames, i'isher, his speech on tlie Jay
treaty, 4.H1.
Anian, Straits of, 104, •-•:«.
Arniida, Connt d', l.'il ; his views of the
western '' 't of the I'nited States,
-'"■
Armstronir, Knsifjii, 'J7(>.
Arnold, lieiiedict, his treason, 1S4 ; on
the .lames River. !'.•<».
Assiniboils River, 104.
Aubry, (irovernor. at New Oilcans. 'X\.
Aiinnsta (Ga.). 0; Indian trejities at,
:i'-'7.
Awandoe Creek. 20.
Ilancroft. Dr. Edward, in Paris, 147, 15.').
Jiancroft. (Jeorfre. 1(11,
Ranks, Sir .lose|)li. "_';'.!•.
IJarker. Klihu. map of Kentucky. .">L'(i.
Harlow. .Joel, afifent for the Scioto Com-
pany. Ml; his map. .'Ul-:>i;i; and the
Scioto C*oinpany, 402.
Rathiii-st. Lord. 4H.
Raton Rini^'e. lo!t. .■>7:i ; taken by Galvez,
1 (!•_'.
Rayap)iilas. 100.
Rean, William. 44. 77.
Reatty. Chiirh's. 4:!.
Reanlieii. in .Xineriea. .'>4.
lieanmarchais, 14(1, 147, l.")"_'.
Reaver, a Delaware, K!.
Reaver Creek, '-M.S. JiC.
Reck, L. K.. (idziltfir, _'."(. 17-'.
Reckwith, Major, :'.!t4.
Relpre, 4'-'l ; position of, -'07.
Rernard, Francis, 4.
Rernoiilli, Daniel. .'>12.
RIand, Colonel, his ordinanee for a WPRt-
ern State. ■-'44.
Rledsoe's Lick. l'.':!.
Rleiiiierha.sset's Island. 'J'.Hi.
RIoomer. Captain, |(>'-'.
Rloiint, William, made K-overnor. .'?"<>;
seeks conference with the Clierokees,
."iKi, ."i2;> ; in the Tennessee Convention,
iViO; expelle(l from l'. S. Senate for
intrifjne, .">(W ; his trea.sonable jilot,
."iCS.
Rlount Colletfe, .VJO.
Rlue Licks, battle. '-'(U.
Rieiiville, in Paris. ;'>4.
Rij; Rellies i tribe). 4(i-S.
I'.iu' Rottoin. 4_'l.
P.iiiKham, William, •-'•J7.
Rird, Cajitain Henry, i:!0; his raid, 17.").
Roard of Trjide, and the western move-
ment. 44.
Ronne, (Jnrtf des Tretze Etals I'nis,2W,
•-•11.
Ronvouliiir. 14.". 140.
Rocnie. Daniel, character. 44; i)ortrait,
4."); hfe by Filson. 44 ; tri'es \Vest. 77,
.SO; (rives warninti' of Dimniore war,
■SI; caiitnred. I'-'^i ; escapes. I'J.i; de-
fends IJooiiesboroiijjli, lL':>; helps Fil-
son, :s:ii,
Roonesboron^h. founded. X2; plan, s;!;
attacked. Ill ; def< nded. I 'J:;.
Ror(^. Ktienne de. ."i."il.
Roston. sentiment on the .lay treaty, 477.
Rostonnais. 1 1:'>, 14'_'.
Rotetonrt. Lord. .">0.
R(ui<linot. Elias. -'27. 2:;o. 2.'!7.
Ronndaries. natural nrsita astronomical,
2(iO. 2(12.
Boundaries of the United States, out-
lined by Coiiffress. 100, KlU ; left to the
decision of France, 200 ; effect of events
o
78
IXDEX.
,1 ■'
iilMin, 'J<i:i ; iiiHiii>ii('i> of F'.n^'liinil upon,
•-'ll'i; ilM tixi'tl, •_'««•, L'lH ; l,y till- St.
Croix. I'lS; altci'iiiitivi* liin-M for the
iiorthfi'ii limits, '-'ID: rt'ctilicatioiis
Iio|mmI for by tliii liritiHli, '.'i*i.
HoiKni.'t, 7. ;M\'j!t;(.
How.-ii. ciiin-iiccW.. r.;i.i.
ISriwIt's. Williuiii Aii^iiHtiiH, .'!H4 ;arr»'sti'(l
liy r.iroiidi'li't. ,".'.'!.
liowiiiaii, Coloiit-I John. Ill, I'.'O ; riiid-
iuK. I.W.
Miiclitiiiaii'H Station, attiu-kt'<l, .VJU,
Mii»fal<t (liisoiii, '.'".I."., :('_'.s. 4(11.
liiill, Coloiifl, of (it'orKia, if-'.
ISiillitt, Captain TlioinaH, T)!).
iinilock, (ioviM'Uor. !•'_'.
liradforil, iloliu, ;>.'i7.
Uradnti't't't. (it-ncral John, and tht' Ca-
nadiuuH, o ; bar(;ainH fur Indian lands,
(ill.
lirant. Just-pli. raiding, 11*4; woid<l at-
tack Fort I'itt, 204; fc.'lini,^! at tin-
peace (ITH,!). '_'.'i7 ; hisdisaflVcti 271 ;
in Kn^land. '_'7:i ; in council at Niagara.
27^1 ; <lejected, 274 ; sends an appeal to
Contfress, 27t>; on the sitnation, '.M ;
withdraws fi'oni the Kort Ilarniar
Cimiicil. .!(»!• ; and the St. Clair cani-
Iiai^n. 424; his activity. 4:mi ; on tho
*res(|u'Isle cpu'stion. 4.17; in Phila-
delphia, 442; with the Miainis. 447;
confers with the American commis-
sioners. 44S.
Hrehin, Captain. I'W.
iSroilhead. Colonel, sent to the frontier.
124 ; then t(t Wyominj; refjion, 124 ;
joins Mcintosh. 124 ; succeeds Mcin-
tosh. i:V.i: raids alont; the Alletfhany.
140; hopiu),' to attack Detroit, 140,
177 ; relations with (J. H. Clark, 17<>;
at Pittsburg', 177; to cooperate with
Clark, I'.M ; trouble with (libson, 1!».'5;
retires fnnn Fort Pitt, VXk
Brissot, ,1. P., on the Scioto Coiui)any,
402; portrait, 40;{ ; Commerce oJ\lmer-
icd, 4o:!.
Prown, tiacol), ?!•.
IJrown, .John, ."ilW ; his conference with
(iardo(|ui, .'{(L' ; in the Kentucky Con-
vention, .■>(!'.•.
Brown, .John Mason, in defence of John
Brown, 5r)7.
Brownsville. 2.">4.
Bruff. Captain .lames, 4K;?.
lirunel. Isand)ard, .")14.
Bryant's Station, 204.
Burbeck, Major, at Mackinac, -iW.
Buifjoyne. ciiptured. ll."(. 117.
Burfjoyne's Convention troojts. 12li, 141.
Burke. Kdnnind. and the westward
movement. 4S ; and Xew York, fio ;
Freurli Uu-ohihiin, 400.
Burnabv. in Vir^rinia, 11.
Burnett's Hill. 20.
Burnham. Major. John. 404.
Burr. Aaron, advocates the admission of
Tennessee, ."itiO.
Bury, Viscount, (!.
Buslinell, David, 514.
Butler. (lenernl Kichard. (Ki. !KI. '.'.'i(i,
2ii'S; and the militia of Pi-nnsvlvania.
4 IS; under St. Clair. 42H.
Butler's iiauKfrs, 12H.
Cahokia. 2r.. 120; Clark at. 174.
Caldwell. Captain, 204.
Callender. his malice. 47M.
CalvA 172.
Camden. (iat*'s's defeat. IHl.
Cameron. Indian iiKeut. 7!l; banding; tiie
Southern tribes. HO ; amouK the South-
ern tribes, IIMI,
Campbell, Colonel Arthur, 'M4.
Campbell, Colonel William, woidd l)uild
a fort on the Tennessee, 17.H.
Campbell, (leneral, sent to Pensacolii,
U**; captmi'd at Pensacola, IHO.
Campbell. .Major, at Fort Miami, 4.VI.
Cana<la, F^'ench in, i>''>; proportion of
Kn^lish and Freiu'h in, O.'t ; the French
IKipnIation asks to have the "old
lounds of Cana<la'' restored, tit;
threatened by Lafayette, l.'p'l; to be
admitted to the Confederation at her'
own i>leasnre, 107; disc(uitented with
the treaty (17S2), 21<i; her nn-rchiints
disconcerted at the treaty (17.H2i. 210.
2;i7; her trade, 21!t, 2".7 ; French in-
tritfues in. ."iiiS.
CaMajoharie. 'J.M.
Cannon, the first used i itdian warfare,
Carey, Amerlrau Atliis, .'WJ, 474, ,")!(),
r.2(!, .".44.
Carleton, Sir (iuy, at ()uebec, 2;t, (>;i;
pies to Kn^dand. li.'! ; deprived of tlio
char},'e of the upper lakes. 127; with-
drawintftroojis from the Atlanticcuast,
240.
Carmichael in Madrid. \X\.
Carolina traders. 1>.
Carondelet succeeds Min'), ."i2o , his in-
tri>;ues in Kentucky, 'd' ; their failure,
."i.')7 ; delays Kllicott, .">li."i ; retires, ")<i7.
Carroll, Charles. 7").
Carver. .Jonathan, on the American Bot-
tom, 2."); his career, lol ; j)ortrait. lO'J ;
at the site of St. Paid. 102; his maps,
l(i;!-lO,"i; his Hnjiposed provinces, lo.!;
returns East, 104; Tnirels, 10.'), 214;
map from his Travels, 215.
Cataraipii, 242.
Catawba country. 10.
Catawba Iliver. ~!.
Catawbius. SS ; join the North Carolinians
aK-'iinst the Cherokees. o;>.
Cavahof,'a Hiver, 255 ; its character, 2!l.i.
Ceioron, 120.
Centiml nf the North West, 5;i0.
Charles III. (Si»ainl. 150.
Charleston (S. (".). to be iittacked. SO; a
rising of the Indians to be simnltaiie-
ons. Mil ; it fails. 02 ; surrendered, liW;
attacked (17.H()), ISl.
Charleston (V.l.), 5<l.
Cliastellux, Chevalier de, 251.
Chatham. L(>rd, and the nse of Indians
in war, 127.
ryDEX.
ru9
iHylvtiiiU.
umlint,' til"
tlicNmth-
4.
I'ciisai'oln.
ami. -!.■''•'• ^.
iDixirtioii ft
Oil- Fiviiili
I, the '■'.''''
stori'il, <'>^ ;
l.V.t; to 1»'
liitioii at b»M'
iiteiiti'il NVitli
,.r iiii'iiliaiitH
• Fienth i»-
,.liaii waifiire.
;WJ, 474. •"'l''.
uelun-. •^:<. ''i^;
....viv.Ml (.» tlu!
Atliiiitii'i'""***'
i-^{\ , his in-
tlu'iv failmj.
let ires. .'••>'•
Anii'iifHU Ui>t-
iioitiiiit. i»>-;
iu2; liis i»i'VS.
provinrfH. lo^j ;
IrWs, 1U.\ ••il-*-.
;ir..
ovtli rarolinians
s'oi'.avacter. •^'.«-
,,s(, ,-,:«>.
/attacU.Ml S'.>;a
ti> 1)1' siiiiultane-
iuiemlei'«il' 13H ;
e,
'irA.
e use
of Iii(lif»»>s
<'lifat HivtT. '.'.'i**.
Clicat KiviT roiitf. '.'"iJ.
Clii'i-okcf Kiver ('rciiiifHHHH Uivei'i, l(t,
•_'o.
Cli)'riikM«>H, .'>4<i ; ami li'iHiiiiiis, 1); int-t't
(]iiv)>rn<)r Tryim. I"; war witli tlit-
norllifi'ii ti'ihi'H, 1 1 ; invade Illinois, '.')!:
liia|i of tlifii- coiiiiti'V. '>l ; tlicii' claims
favort'd, .V> ; oii|iohi'iI by !"'i'aiikiiii, .'>•>;
l4'asi* land to tin- W'ataii^'a sitltlfiui'iit,
7'.i; treaty with llfiidi'iHon, s." ; make
laixl i-essHHis, S^ ; leady for war. M';
tiieir Hettlcments. '.)'_'; their miml)ei'H.
!*■-', asj ; attaeked hy the wliites, !i_' ;
hroii^ht to a peace. !•;( ; cede lands, \>'> ;
Uoi)ertson amon^', 14)1; their claim to
the Kenlncky region invented, hi? ;
risinvf ( ITS'" are defeated. I7H; active
(I7sli. !!•■_' ; thi'ir forays n|>on tlieTeii-
iiessHc and Cnmherland settlements.
;is|, .'t.S'_' ; relations with the anthori-
ties. ;tH-.' ; on the Scioto. I'.tl ; at I'liila-
ilelphia, .■)'_'(> ."(47 ; attacked hv Orr,
.■.47.
ChiciiRo, 'i<>4, 4!>l ; Amerieiiii settlers at,
•-•KH.
Ciiickamaiik'as. 'X\4, 'W2 : rncalcitrant.
'M; settle lower down the Tennessee,
!••( : attacked, I'M; attack Donulson's
flotilla. I7!».
Chickasaws, SH, ;W2 ; invade Illinois. •_')! ;
trihe. ;MI; map of their country, ;>!,
;Vi'J ; favor the. Americans. .">4(i ; luuke
peace with the ■ 'reeks. .VrJ.
Chi' ,<ithe. settled, ."•<!<•.
Chiiilcothe (Indian villa^'ui, I7i>.
("hippewa Kiver, 104.
ChiopewiiN. their country, ;!!•; on the
Ohio, 4:1
Chisholm. .John, rumoi's about, .'>ti(i, .'Mi? ;
sent to London, ."»71.
("hiswell mines. Id.
Choctaws, !l, "JH, :'A). ItSii ; map of their
country, ."U ; their bucks, .">4t).
Choiseul, 4 ; and Kni;land, ;>4 ; rejoiced
at the American revolt, ;>t).
<''hristian, Colonel William. !•:!.
Cincinnati, Clarkat itssite. 17ii ; founded,
;!1."( ; seat of government for thu coun-
try, 401 ; jMipulation, 4ilS.
Circ(Mirt, on the treaty (17»'J), 'i'i.'J.
Clare. Lord. 40.
(;iark, Daniel, ISl.
Clark, (reor>;e Ko'jfers. his cont|Uest of
Illinois. ■_' ; with Cres.ip, (ili; liuilds
Fort Fincastle, 7'-', in Kentucky, Ilti;
sent to \Villiamsl)urjf, 1H>; sends spies
to the Illinois, 117; a^ain at Williams-
burt,', 117; his instructions, 117; de-
scends the ( )hio, 1 IK ; his face. 1 IS ; his
land march. IIH; captures Kaskaskia.
nil, r.",t; p)es to Cahokia. 1_'0; aided
by Vifjo. l-'l ; and by Pollock. I'.'l ;
attacks Vincennes. l.'i."{. l.Ti ; leaves
Helm in command, l^ri; at Kaskas-
kia, l.'Ui; sends dispatches, l.'Ki; aban-
dons plan of attacking Detroit, 1:{7;
disappointed, 141 ; his men promised
lands, 141 ; at the falls of the Ohio,
I tl ; bin letters. 141 ; liis memoirs, 1 41 ;
stru^'Klin^' to maintain himself in the
Illinois country, It'!; Iiis ex|H-ndiiureH,
14.1; Pollock's aid, 14:i; bounty hinds
for his soldiers, 'sti; builds Fort .lef-
ferson, 171; ai ( aluikia. watt'liin^; M.
Louis. 171; iMUKiuk' with a Kentuckv
force. I7."i; relations with t 'olouel Mrod-
head. I7)i ; at tlie ( tliio Falls. 177 ; com-
mandiui; in Kentucky. \~'<; his aims
il7Sli. I'MI; aidiin; Sieuben, UK); his
instructions 1 December, 17H0I, nil;
moves down tile ( )hio, I'.KS ; inactive at
the fall < I'.U , his hold 011 the Illinois
ciimiliy. I'.Ci ; his coiiipiest abandoned
by CoiiK'iess. '.'01 ; at tlie falls, Jo;! ; in-
vades the Miami country. '-'(M ; etfect
of his con(|uest on the peace il7.S'Ji,
■JI.'S; cost to \'ir(;inia of (lis <'<in<|uesl,
-17; Indian conimissioner, '.'IIH; leads
Keiitlickiaus across the ( tliio, •_'7."i ; robs
Npanish inei'ciiaiits, '_'7.'i ; bis ^'raiit on
the Ohio, :i:'.'.'; attacks the Waiiasli
tribes. -U."! ; seizes th>' stock of a ."Span-
ish tr.'ider at X'iiicenues. ;U7 ; to coni-
inaiid on tlie Mississippi, :i7'S ; with thu
Flench faction, .">;!'_', ."i^W.
'lark. William, 4.Vi.
'leaveiaiid, .Moses, ."lO'J.
'level.iiid, '.'114 ; settled, ."iin.'.
'liiich Hiver, s|.
'liiiton, (lovernor. '_'"_*!'.
'olden, on New Kni;land, 4.
'dies, (lovernor, -S\).
Collot, Victor, •liiurui'ii li> Sorlh Atinr-
ira, ."lO- man from his Atlas, 'JiM ;
Jounial in S'l'ttli Ann rim. 414; ar-
rested, .Vil ; iutri^ues at the West,
."il'^O.
Colonies. Ku(;lisli views of, 41.
Columbia Iviver. I04 ; its existence sus-
iiected by the .Spanish. '.MS; discovered
by ;i llostoii ship. '.'.'>!•, .'«!i'J. ."i."k>.
(^iilitniliiiin MiK/iniiif.'dtWK l'.'.'4.
Committee of Secret Correspondence,
^ 14.-..
(\in(!sto)i'a wajjons. '2\M'>.
Confederation, weakness of the. ISH,
Coiifedei'jition, Articlesof. Ili7 ; delays ill
a'ioptin^'. ItiO. 170.
C'.njrress. deceived as to F'rench and
.Spanish aims. Hi4 ; sends, lay to Spain,
liil ; (jraiits western l;iiids as liouulies,
liis ; tirm on the Mississippi (|iiestion,
is.'.; weakeninir. 1S4. Ins; aud the
laiiil cessions, ISti; discn"!its X'iif^inia's
claims, '.'IMI; supine before the. Span-
isli demand, "JlKi; awakes to the situ.a-
tion and votes to yield nothiiiK-. '-Ol ;
iittirms the succession of the confeder-
ated .States to the territorial rij^hts of
the several colonies. '.'0."i ; seeks to have
the States tiuitcl.aim their western
lands. 207 ; becomes jiowerless after
the war, ■-'"-'K ; demands the jiosts. 'SM ;
petitiiMied for survey of Ohio lands for
soldiei-s. "-'44 ; ])roliibits occupation of
Indian lands. '.M'l : accepts land ces-
sions without inquiry into title, 24t> ;
\k
580
INDEX.
m
If i
"■'i (■
considei-s the Vii't^iiia proposal, -4<i ;
oi)po.se(l to settlements or uiisiirve^ecl
lands, '-'71 ; raises troops in New Knu-
land, 1174 ; itstinaneial obligations, I'SL' ;
establishes valne of the Anieriean dol-
lar. '_'!••_' ; in collapse, .'544. See t'onti-
nental ('onf;"ess.
Connecticut, dispute with Pennsylvania,
I."-'; settlers at Natchez I'roni, lli>;
otters a ([nalified cession ol' western
lands, lS(i ; her western lands, '_'(i4 ;
dispute with Pennsylvania, L'(i4 ;^ cedes
her western lands, 'JtI4 ; her Western
Keserve,2ti4 ; reservation in Ohio, oOO ;
Firelands, "IHI.
Connecticut Land Company, olH).
Connolly, 1 >r. (Colonel) John, o'J ; and Vii--
(,'inia's dispute with Pemisylvania, (i.") ;
at Pittsburtr. arousintr the Indians, S."( ;
' his varied movements, S(> ; his i)lan»
of seizinfif Pittsburf;', Sii ; captured,
NJ; intritjninfj:, .'!()S ; an informer, .'Uw ;
soundinjT the Ohict, "KU.
ConiKU'. James, ."i.')S.
Continental Contrress, .action on the Que-
bec Hill, 7.") ; address to Canadians, V5 ;
sends commission to Canada. 7."i ; ad-
dress to Entrlish synipathizei's, 7") ;
creates three Indian dejjartments, S.j.
Continental money, depreciation of, Iti.S,
iss.
Conway, Monciire D., 187.
Cook, Captain James, his voyajje, 238 ;
his journals, '_'.'W ; accounts of his voy-
age, ;i!Mt.
Cooper, Thomas, 478,
Copper ore, '.V2'.i.
Corn title of lands, 4!t.
Corni)lanter, the JSeneca chief, and Wa-sh-
iiiKton, 4'_'4, 4.'{4 ; at the council of the
Miamis, 443.
Cornstalk, a Shawnee chief, at Point
Plea-sant, 73 ; wavering, 114 ; mur-
dered. 11 4.
Cornwallis, L(!rd. his plans, 138 ; surren-
dei-s, 188, 1202, 2(»3.
Coshocton, lil2.
Cowai., John, .")!•.
Cox, Zachary, .")1."),
Coxe. Tench. .■)74.
Cral) Orchard. !•<).
Crait.'. .Majiu-. 'JOl.
(^raiK, N. H., (Hilcii 'rime, 107.
Cramalii'. in Canada, (i3,
Crawford, .lolin, 271.
Ciiwford, William, 148; sent West by
Washington, 43 ; on the Yougliio-
ghenv. ."ill; sent to the Dinwiddle grant,
53 ; at Fort Pitt, 110; killed, 2(14.
Creeks, 30, ,38'J ; map of their coimtry.
31. 3S,". ; in the Hi'volutiim. ,S8 ; unite
with Cherokees in land cessions. 8S ;
their savagery, 88 : aid the (Georgians,
!'2: and the North Carolina govern-
ment. 328; in the Oconee war, 3;>();
war with, imminent, ."i44 ; attacked by
Sevier. •"'44 ; numbers. ."i4li.
Cresnp, Colonel Michael, buys Indian
lands, 4'; on the Monongahela, 50;
a leader. (10; accused of cruelty, 72;
goes to Boston. Ni.
Cr^vecoMir. Lettra d'uu CuUivntmr, ilii ;
mai)s from. tKi. 07, 2."(8, 'J.V.I, 2!»3-i.'li:. ';
Voycujf dans hi haute Peuxylrunic, map
from, 2!l<l ;!0l.
Croghan, (xeorge, sent to England, 8; ;it
Fort Pitt. i:!. 44 ; at Fort Stanwix, 15 ;
on Indian trade, 23 ; mediator wilji
the Indians, 5;! ; to warn the Indians of
a new colony on the Ohio, 57 ; agent (if
the Walpole Company, (io ; trying to
support the Indians, 01 ; living on the
Alleghany, 72.
Crows (the Indian tribe), 4<i8,
Crow's Station. lt!l.
Cruzat, 3'_'0.
Cumberljmd district, 143 ; Robertson ar-
rives in. 143; population (1780), l.Sd;
found to be within the North Carolina
lines. ISO; articles of association, Iso;
perils from Indian raids. 180; Kobert-
.son the leader of, 180 ; made a county.
180; population (178;!), 328; its isola-
tion. 334.
Cnmberland Gap. !t!l. .328.
Cumberland Itoad. 2.52.
Cutler, Manasseb, his character, 281 ; ap-
jilies to Congress for land, 282 ; stands
for the prohibition of slavery, 2S3 ;
h'agwes with Duer. 202; favoi-s St.
Clair, 202 ; and the Ohio associates,
3!0 ; his <iuestionable conduct, 311;
his description of the Ohio country.
.314 ; on the future steamboat, 317.
D'Abbadie, Governor, .34.
Dane, Nathan, 281 ; on the passage of
the Ordinance (1787), 28;!; on the obli-
gations of contr.'icts, 200.
Danville, W, 328 ; conventions at, 3.31 ;
political club, 35.3.
Dartmouth, Lord, 70.
Dayton (O.), 408.
De (rrasse. defeated. 212.
De Kalb. sent fnmi France, .34 ; embiirks
for America, 151.
De Peyster, at Mackinac, 127 ; to aid
Il.amilton, 130; his character, 130;
anxious. i:i7; at Detroit. 142,2.37; to
dislodge Americans at Chicago, 203.
Deane. Silas, in Paris. 147; commis-
sioner, 1.50; his i)lan of a westtni
State, 1.50.
Debts, collection of. under the tre.aty
(178'_'l. im])e(led, 220 ; interest on them,
230; date of i>rohibitory laws. 241.
Delaware, accepts Articles of Confeder-
ation, 170.
Delawares, send messenger south. !I0 ;
friendly. 1 12 ; divided interests, 124 ;
disart'ected. 12S ; divided. 132; sus-
ix'cted. 130 ; jieace party, 177 ; exciting
suspiciini. 102.
I >ennian. M.ithias. 315,
1 )"Estaing. Count, his proclamation, 13,s ;
in .\merican watei's. 1.58.
Detroit. 175 ; described. S7 ; its strategic
1 importance, 112; naval force at. 128;
INDEX.
681
elty, 71\
itmr, t'iti ;
•^'.K'.-'J'.ir. ;
anic, luap
uiwix, l"i ;
iator with
ludiiinsiil'
tiyiiit; to
nut; on till)
jliertson av-
(ITSO). !«••;
rth Carolina
•iatiou, l^^';
SO; Ko\)eit-
de a county,
>8 ; its isola-
eter.2Sl;ap-
, 'iS'J ; stai\ils
davery, -^''''^
; favors ^t.
li'o associatfs,
;>oiu\uet, 'ill;
Dhio coutttry.
uboat, :H7.
he passage of
OH the olili-
itioiis at, :i'''l ;
B, ;U ; etnljarks
li'. VI' ; to aid
tiarai'ter, l^^";
U. 1-1-i, -•^" ■- *"
"liuNW>, 'io:;.
147 ; comiiii*^-
(if a westt-iu
Ider the treaty
Iterostonthein,
i laws. -41
Is of Couteder-
icer soMth.!«>;
I uiterestK, i--t .
Ih'd. i:'-i; .«P-
,' 177 ; excitiuK
iclanmtion,!'^^;
|S.
,^7 ; Us Htratetrie
ll force at. 12S ;
anxiety at Vi"; its prarrisoii. 140; re-
inforced, 141 ; I)e Peyster in com-
mand, 14'-'; t;arrison at, 17(1; still
threatened, 177, I'.Ht, lltS; its posses-
sion demanded, '_'.">4.
Dickinson, John, 7. , presents articles of
confederation, H>7.
Dickson. Colonel. Ki'J.
Diiiwiddie, (xovernor, 8, 47.
Donelsoii, Colonel, {joes to Nashville,
17!».
)oniol, 14.-.. '."_':!.
Doolittle, Amos, ■MV.i.
Dorchester. Lord, at Quebec. 27t>; told
not to Jissist the Indians openly, 'J7(i ;
iiis western intriffues. •'<tu. ;>7.> ; and
St. Clair's canipaitjn, 4 '_'.■> ; his injudi-
cious speecli, 4.")4 ; returns to Enjjland,
4s;t.
Douffhty, rai)tain, 272.
Doutrhty, Major, 27;".
Douglass, Ephraini, 2;)(i.
Drake, Sir Francis, 104.
Duane, James, 2.jH.
Duck Kiver, :u;i.
Duer, (Jol. William, relations to Manas-
seh Cutler, 2i»2, ;Ul ; liis failure, i:?"..
Dunlap Station, 421.
Dunmore, Lord, ojjposed to the Walpole
(jrant. 4!t ; his creature, Connolly, 52 ;
tfoes west, .")7 ; his western ^jrants, ,■)!•;
takes Fort Pitt, (m ; issues a procla-
mation (April 21), 1774). (HI; Delawares
and Shawnees aroused, (iH; on the
HockhockinjT. 7;i ; makes treaty, 74 ;
Tory syinpathies, 74 ; and Henderson's
Transylvania. 84 ; arousing slav 'S and
Indiius. S,") ; driven on hoard a f rifjate.
Ho ; liis plan to seize the northwest,
87 ; and the western Tories-, Hi ; pro-
poses to settle the loyalints on the
Mississippi, 24'2.
Duim. Mdi) of North America, 214,
Diirrand. 17;?.
Dutchman's Point, 2'M.
Dwifjht, Timothy, .■■U.
Eaton's Station, i'l.
Ehelinfr, 47.S.
Education, and the Ordinance U7H7), 28,"},
2S<t.
EUicott, Andrew, 2()(! ; to run tlie hounds
of Louisiana, .-)li"> ; descer,ds the Mis-
sissippi, ."Mm ; inter^ iew with Carond"-
let, .">•>."> ; hriufjs down his troojis, .■|t>ii.
Elliot, Matthew, tur'is traitor. US ; mid-
in^r. 17.-); breaks up the Moravians at
(Tuadenhiittcn, 10.").
Emitjratiou west. .-)(>.
Eutrland. her di'ht from the Amciican
war. (i; her misjudiinient in Ijriiiiiiniv
on the war. 144; effect of the Ficncli
.alliance upon. I."i4 ; acts of conciliation
in Parli.'iment. l.-)4 ; her navy. l.'iS ; ;iiid
the peace il7S'Ji. 210. 21:! ; cost of the
war. 220, •J2.-) ; its losses. 22.") ; her tem-
l)er suspected. 22i), 227 ; her traders in
the Ivockies. 2.'!0 ; s\ii)plyinir Indians
with powder, 275 ; her iiitriKues in
Kentucky. :i7.">. .-t)5 ; war witli Spain,
English Colonies. |)opulation, (> ; pro-
spennis, li; cond)ining, 7.
Erie Triangle, 2iH>.
Ettwein. IJishop, .")().
Kvans and Pownall's Map, ■V.K
Evans and (libsou ,i Map, 100,
Evan.-,. .1/ /(/(//(- Colo,:i'>!!. 251.
Ex}ti(Ut-nry of stcuriiuj ■..„• American
C'vloiiie.i, 25.
Fallen Timbei-s. battle, 4.-)!>.
Faiichet, .succeeds (tenet, .541.
Fiiit ralist. The. 27.S.
Ff— ,iO. Gazette of the United States. 4((H.
Fergiis.son, defeated at King's Mountain,
ISl,
Filson, John, on Boone, 44 ; surveyor,
I>15: killed, old; in Kentucky, .'(iU ;
his maj). ^i^il.
Finlay. .John. 4(),
Fish ('reek, !)S.
Fitch. John, mnr of the northwest, ">21,
;>22 ; relati'iis with Franklin. .'i24 ;
ridicided, ;>.5 ; his steamboat, 512.
Fitzniaurice, Lord Edniond, Life ofShel-
Iniriie. '2'2'.i.
Florida, Indians of, ;!7 ; Luzerne urges
an attack ujjon, 1(14 ; Spain's desire
for, 1.S4 ; restored to Spam, 222. iSee
West Floriihi.
Florida Blanca, Count, made minister,
151 ; offei-s mediation, l.")4,
Floyd, John. (il.
Fort Adams. 4.-)().
Fort Armstrong. W.\
Fort Bute at Mancbac, captured, 1(')2.
Fort Charlotte. .SO, 181, 521.
Fort Chartres, 2(>.
Fort Defiance, 4.-)().
( Fort Fincastle. 72.
Fort F'iimev. 272.
F.U't (iage."2(i, ll.i.
Fort (tower, 72.
Fort Harmar, 20.! ; view of. 203 ; site,
200. :!(M), ;io;(, ccnmcil at, 30,S.
Fort Henry, 72. 112, l.iO; attacked, 114,
104. 204.
Fort Jefferson. 174, 178, 428.
Fort Laurens. 125, l.'!2, i;i8 ; abandoned,
i:!0.
Fort Lawrence. 2(10.
Fort Ligonier. 130.
Fort Mcintosh, b'lilt, 125 ; repaired,
2(iS : view. 2()0.
F'ort Massac. 25. .5(12.
Fort Miami. .'IS. 4.55.
Fort .Moultrie, attacked. 07.
Fort Nelson. 104.
Fort Niagara, view. 440.
Fort ( )ni.itanon. .">s.
Foit P.iiimnre iNatcbez'i. 1(12. ISO.
Fort l'lai|Ui'mines. 551,
Fort Pitt. Iiidi;ins meet Croghanat. Tl;
Crawford in command. 110; critical
situation under Hrodhi>ad. 102.
Fori liandolpb. 112. 115. 1:12 ; aban-
doned, l.iO.
582
INDEX.
h\ \
Fort Hi'covery, 4")").
F(.rt Itosiilit;, Kt'.
Fort Iiull('(l)j:t,'. '.14.
Fort Sackvillc. I;i4.
Fort St. ,Iost'i)li. .lit.
Fort Sclinvler. L'.'il.
Fort Staiiwix, '.'(iS; treaty (ITtJH), 1"), !H;,
■Jiis ; iiiai) of the property line, 15 ;
site, lit.
Fort St("i)li<Mi. ."iL'l.
F'orl 'roiiibifjhec, IW.
F(jrt Wii.sliiiit,'-toii i(.'iiiciiinivti), built, ;?l(i.
Fort Waviic. 4()0.
Fox. ('. .}., jisHails the treaty (17S2i, I'O'.l ;
i-oalitioii with North. '_''J4.
Foxes (the lixliaii tribe!, U:!. 12(».
France, and a tfreater France, 1 ; liatred
of En;rlan(l, 1(1" ; alliance with tiie
United States. IIS; plots to lure the
Americans to a collapse, 140 ; treaty of
alliance witli, Vu'i; lier navy. l.'iS ; to
concur in any peace movements, l"i!l;
treaty with Spain (ITTIH. l(i(>; not enti-
tled to American }j:ratitude, l(i.">; abet-
ting,' Spain on the .Mississippi tpiestion.
I'So ; intrigues on the ^lississippi. 'M'l ;
her su])|)osed desire for the Mississippi
valley. ."Mi'.t ; threatening^ war, .")7(>.
Frankfort (Ky.), site. ."i7. •■>.")(!.
Franklin, IJenjamin. warns the En^flish
government, 7; in London, 14; his
barrier colonies. '_'"J ; favors an Illinois
colony. ;W ; opposes Hillsborough. 41 ;
the Walpoie Company. 47 ; on canaliz-
ing^ rivers. .VJ ; his answer to Hillsbor-
ough. .")."> ; disputes Virtirinia's western
claims, .")."> ; on western lawlessness, ."ili ;
urfifes repeal of the (Quebec Hill, 7'i ;
the head of the Committee of Secret
Correspondence. 14."> ; sent to Europe,
l")(i; influence in Paris. l"il : hears of
Burnfoyne's surrender. l.VJ; sole com-
missioner, ir>.S ; discredits the Vir-
ginia Charter clain's. 1(17 ; drafts Act
of Confederation. 1(>7 ; deceived by
Verf^ennes, 1S4 ; his character, '-'OH ;
his action on the treaty (17.S"_'), '_'()S;
distrusts loyalists, 217 ; could he iiave
secured Canada to the United States
at the peace (17S"_')'.' '-'17; relations
with Hartley. 'I'l'l ; fears a renewal of
the war, 1.'"_'7 ; thinks the evils follow-
\n\^ the war unduly ma^rnitied, "-''JS ;
Sending Fi-lons to . 1 wirlni. "J.'iO ; on the
British del)ts, ■_';!(•; and the loyalists.
24'_' ; offers f^ratuity to Fitch. :i"_'4 ; re-
turns from Europe. :)4'_'.
Franklin, State of, betfiimiiifrs of, :>41.
.'U'-' ; Frankland, an alternative name,
■'i4.'> ; unrest in, :'•.">((; the collapse, •■>."p4.
Franklin, William, governor of New
Jersey, 7, 1.") ; favors an Illinois col-
(uiy, ;w,
Fraser, Lieutenant, L'S.
Freiu'h, the, their intrigue witli the In-
dians, H ; contrasted with the English
in relations with the Indians, S ; rivals
of tile English in trade with the In-
dians, 23.
French Lick, 14;!.
P'reneau, \(ilii>n<il Gazette, 408.
Frobisher, -JIM I, li:;.",.
Frontier settlements. 'Jd.
Fulton, Kobert, (i, ."il'.' ; and the "Cler-
mont." .'IL'.'!.
Fur trade, the, in Canada suffers from
the treaty (17S'Ji. 220 ; interfered with
by Americans, 2;r> ; in London, 2.'<7 ;
on the lakes, 24i) ; and the lake posts,
41(i; in the West, 4(17,
Fur traders on the Mississippi, 2',t.
(Jage, (jeneral, and the Canadians, .">,
I 2.') ; and the western fur trade, 2S ; the
I Illinois colony, .'W ; retires, (>(•; and
: the French on tlie Waba.sh, 7(1; in
! Boston, Sd ; wishing to seize New
I Orleans, U)S.
(ialianoand Vald(5z, '>'M>.
i (iallatin, Albert, 451 ; liis western lands,
25(> ; supposed complicity with Adet,
5(;i.
Gallipolis, 404, 4;V! : position of, 21K); a
" wretched abode,"' 4'.l\ 5.i,S.
(ralphinton. ^U.'!.
(ialvez, Bernardo de, at Natchez, 142;
at New Orleans, 14!l : issues proclama-
tion, 157 ; attacks the English posts,
1()2 ; extends Louisiana, KJ.'l; .attacks
Mobile, LSI ; takes Peiisacola. IS'.I ; his
I)ortrait given to Congress, 222.
Gardoqui, Diego de, confronts Jay on
the Mississijipi (luestion. is;! ; arrives
in America, ;!1S' relations with Fitch,
;V24 ; arrives in I*hihideli)hia, ;i;)7 ; in-
triguing at the West, ;r>;i ; and Mir(5,
;)5() ; seeks to implicate Sevier, ;)()0.
Gates, (leneral, defeated at Canulen, ISl.
(rautier. marauding, b'io.
Gayoso. his deportment, 51H ; intriguing
in Kentucky, .55;! ; ^nvernorof Louisi-
ana, 5(i7; ordei-s evacuation of Natchez,
57;i.
Genesee country, 52S ; rights of Massa-
ch'iset s in, 2(i4 ; mai), 4'.H.».
Gene' , his democratic clubs, 45;? ; jirrives
in imerica, 5;!2 : would induce a war
wi'h England and .Spain, 038 ; deposed,
54 i.
George. Lieutenant. 157.
Georgia, Indian cessions in, 9 ; dis])utes
with the federal government, ;)7(>;
mai '>77.
(leorgia co'iip.iny, ;>77.
Gi5rard, lu Bhiladel])hia, 155; to pre])are
Congress to yield to Spanish wishes,
155; urges on Congress the projiriety
of the Spanish demands, 1.5!l.
Germain, instructs Hamilton to make
raids. Ill ; favors mara\uling i)arties.
12(i; liis plan for a campaign on the
Mississippi. 142; his i)lan to maintain
line of cmiimunications between Can-
ada and F'lori<la. 171.
Germans, in Kentucky, r)29.
Gerrv. Elbridge, 2(i!t.
(iibault. 120.
Gibraltar, to be acquired by Spain, 15!t.
¥'(■
INDEX.
583
■,408.
lul the " Cler-
ji suffers t'nmi
intert'tred wit_h
1 Ijoiulim, 'I'-''' ;
the hike posts,
suipi.
•JO.
. ('aiiJidiaus, '),
,r tiiid.', -^^ ; the
etiies. IW; ii'V^
Viibii-sh, 7<i;
to seize
, m
New
is western hinds,
icity with A(h't,
sition of, -'•"•; ii
It Niitfhez, 142 ;
issues i)roehuuii-
le Ens;lish posts,
na, Iti:'-; :ittack»
iusaeohi, !«'.• ; his
Stress, -'■!■-■
confronts .lay on
ion. is:!; arrives
iitions with Fiteli,
idelpliia. •"",■-")"
;{.->:?; and Mu'O,
iW Sevier. :>•)>'•
(lat Camden, ISl.
,t, ,")1S ; intriKumH
iveruor of Louisi-
latiou of Natchez,
ri^dits of Massa-
ip. 4'.»',t.
thihs. 4.-.;? ; arrives
juld induce a war
tun, .^W ; deposed.
Ins in. <.t : disputes
government. :mIi;
|i. l.V); to prepare
1) Spanlsli wishes.
less the propriety
lids. 1.-.'.'.
limiltou to make
laraiidiuK parties.
Icainpaitrn on the
Iphm to maintain
|ms between Can-
.729.
iid by Spain, 15!'.
Gibson. Captain (reorpe, 147.
Gibson, Colonel Jolin. 1'_'4; at F'ort Lau-
rens. 12.'i. l.'W; noes West with his re^'i-
luent, !!•! ; succeeds Urodhead at VovX
Pitt, l'.l."i.
Girty. (ieorjre. 1!)4.
Giity. .Simon, Tli, S.'t. 271 ; suspected. 114 ;
turns tr.titor. I'JS ; leading' Indians.
l.'iN ; amoii); the Wyandots, I'.l'J; his
temper at the dose of the war. '_'.'>7 ;
and llarmar's campaitni, 4-1 : at the
Miami Council, 44."i. 4."i(i ; aftei' Wayne's
victory, 4(iO; leaves Detroit. 4S;!.
(iirtys, the, raidin}', 17.").
(Jnadeuhiitten, broken up, lil.").
Gooch, tfovernor of \'irginia. W\.
(ior(U)u, Captain Marry. '_'.').
Gordon. Colonel (Jeorge. on the Ohio
country. i;i; at Fort Pitt. 14!l.
(iordon. Dr. William. 4i)4.
(lorilon, i\ev. WilJiiim, 72.
(4r;ifton. Duke of. 11.
(irand Portage. 22(1. 2.'.!t.
Grantham. J>oid, at Madrid. Kid.
Gratiot. Charles. i:i(i, 171.
Grayson, 2(il, 2ii2; on the Mississippi
(luestiou. MW.
(ireeubrier Kiver. 11.
Green Kiver, 4!l.
Greene, Nathanael, in the South. IHl,
DiS.
Greenville camp, 4.72.
Grenville. Lord, on the retention of Can-
ada. 217 ; and .lay. 4(14. 47(i.
Grimaldi. reconunends ),''rant of money to
the .\mericaus, 147 ; retires, l.")l.
Guadaloupe, J.
Guthrie, Geoiiruithy, 4(>8.
Ilaceta, 2.'i><.
llaldiniand. (Tcneral. urpes settlements
in the Mississippi. 2S ; in Pensacola.
;>1 ; views. 40 ; succeeds (lapre. (Kl ; dis-
turbed by Duimiore's acts. (1."); and the
Frencii (-n tlie Wabash. 7('; watcliiufi:
New Orle.'ins. IdS ; does not approve
Hamilton's advimce on Vincennes. 12(1;
relieved in maiandintj. 12S ; his anxie-
ties. i:W; reinforces Detroit. 141; in-
structed to iittack Xew Orleans. 1(11 ;
canalizes the St. Lawrence. 17(i; to
aid .'Sinclair's movements. 171 ; urfrint,'
raids. I'.Ki; inactive (17.S2). 2(>:! ; en-
deavors to make jjood th(! (Quebec Hill,
21(1: refuses to suri'eiuler posts. 2;l."p ;
rebuked by his [government. 241 : fears
an Indian war. 2-1.") ; and the disaf-
fected Iroi|nois. 271.
Hall. Col()n(,'l. sent to demand the posts.
2:!.").
Hall. .lames. Shetrhis. S:',.
Hall. LieMteiiaiit. 7(t.
Hamilton, Alexander, on western lands
as a source of revenue. 1S7 ; fearful of
tht^ (lanji'ers after the peace ( 17.S2i. 22.S ;
()liserr<itii»is mi ./<(//',s Tnat;/. 22M ; on
the carryinti- off of slaves by the JJrit-
isb. 2:«1 ; on the western In<Iian!«. 24;>;
supposed to favor monarchy, 277 ; on
a moneyed aristocracy, 2!H) ; and the
western lands, 4'l7, .")(i4; his op|)osi-
tion to .letferson, 4(l.S; advocates tiie
I .Jay treaty, 47S.
Hamilton. Colonel Heiny, at Detroit, .S7 ;
intri^^uinj; with the Indians. '.Ml, 111;
I oivani/intr raids. 111; his proclama-
\ tioii, 112; his plans (1777i. 112; con-
trols the Ohio valley. 112; would or-
ganize chasseui's at X'incennes, 112;
would attack New Orleans, llii; at-
tacks Vincennes. 12(1; his em|iloynielit
of hidians. 127; in chaise of the war
on the upi)er lakes. 127; at Detroit,
127; suspicions. 12.S; si'uds parties to
the Ohio, 12.S ; hears of Clark's suc-
cess, 12',t; sends me.ssenjjer to Stuart.
12'.t, i:il ; his larne plans. 12it; calls ou
De Peyster for aid. i:>«l; takes \'iu-
cenues, l-'il ; warns the I^panisli com-
mander at St. Louis. 1.'!; ; his plans.
l->'''> ; captured and sent to \''!i>,i!ii;i.
11' ) ; his official report, l.'l.") ; on parole.
1 :).").
Hamtranu'k. at Fort Ilarmar. 2!M) • on
the Wabash, 41'.>, 441 ; occupies Fort
Miami, 4.s;>.
Hand. General, at PittshurK-. 112; on
the defensive, 114, 11."); at Fort Pitt,
117; his " squaw campaiffu.'' 12.S.
Hardlabor (S. C), 1(».
Hariuar. General, in comm.and, 27(1 ; .at
Vincennes. 2!Ki; his campaign. 418.
Harper, Robert E., ")7(l.
Harrison, Benjamin, governor of Vir-
t^inia, 2.")1.
Harrison. Ueiiben, l.")().
Harrison. William Ilenrv, with Wavno,
4.")7 ; .secretary of the ^northwest Ter-
ritory, .")7.'!.
Hjirrod. James. 44, .'i.'il ; lays (uit a town,
(il ; at Harrodsburfr. .Sl.'s2.
Harrodsburfj:. .'12.S ; attacked. 111; con-
vention. 1 Ki.
Hart, Kev. .John. .")2!t.
Hartley, relations with Franklin, 222.
22.S,
Hay. Major, l.il.
Heckewelder. 441 ; would restrain the
Indiatis, 12.S ; liis maps, 2."i."), .")((7.
Helm. Leonard, sent to Xincennes, 12(1;
surrenders. i:!l ; released l)y Clark.
i:i4; left in conunand at N'inceimes.
1 :;.").
Henderson,
colony, .'^l
•h;iracter.
ills
bis
Colonel Iiicbai'd, and
; at l)(ionesl)oii)U[;ll, ■'^.'i ;
S4 ; opens land oHice. '.'7.
Henry. .Vlexander. 24. ."..S'.l.
Henry, Patrick, and western lands, (>1 ;
fj^overnoi' of Xir^-inia. lit; seeks to
open ti'.ide with Xew Orleans, l."i."i ;
f.ivois letaliatiiiu for the (le|ii)itatiou
of tile blacks, 2:12; ni'^rinj; amaltram.i-
tion of races, 2:i(i ; on the loyalists. 2t:i;
on X'irj^inia water-w.ays, 24.-> ; and the
western routes, 2.")7 ; iuid western
land jjrabbers, 27(1; on the Mississippi
(fuestion, :>1!( ; and Fitc'b's ste.imboat,
:i24 ; his confidence in the conf'edera-
584
INDEX.
>i*
I ■
11
' V
tion, 3")! ; disp^isted with Jay's Mis-
sissippi project, .■r)4 ; his despondency,
.'W(> ; refuses niissiun to Madrid, r)48.
Henry, William, '.\'1\.
Hillsborough, Lord, first t'olonial secre-
tary, 41 ; opposes the Walpole grant,
47 ; resigns, Ttl.
Hockhoeking River, valley, '2!t;i,
Holland Land Company, 2(14.
Holstou settlement, IIJ ; treaty, 375.
Hopewell, treaty of, JWIJ, ;}44.
Houniiis (La.), l()!i.
Houston, Samuel, and the Franklin con-
stitution, ;!4I!.
Howe, General Robert, 'I'l'l.
Hudson River, in a route to the West,
24.S ; canal to the lakes, .")tM).
Hudson's Bay, fur trade, 24.
Huntington, Countess of, 270.
Huntington, (leneral Jedediah, 2.'V), 244.
Hutc'hins, Colonel Anthony, seized by
Willing, l.^)(i, 1()2, IHit ; in Blount's plot,
.">(W.
Hntchins, Lieute.--int, 70.
Hutehins, Thonuw, Description of Vir-
aiiiia, Vi ; his map, Vi ; French trans-
lation, 17 ; map of the American
Bottom, 27 ; 'rojtoaraphical Descrip-
tion, 2.")1 ; Geograplier of the United
States, 2()(! ; dies, 21)7; and the Ohio
Company. 2.S2, .'i22 ; Fitch's map dedi-
cated to him, ;i2.'f.
Hutchinson, Tiiomas, 204.
Iberville River, 32 ; route from the Mis-
sissippi, KI8.
Illinois Company, 200, XA.
Illinois country, and the fur trade, 2.") ;
its tribes, 2(); projected colony, 38;
map, ;''••; favored by Shelburne, 4(t ;
colony opposed by the Board of Trade,
41 ; Clark's spies in, 117; concpiered by
the Americans, 120 ; made a county of
Virginia, 122 ; the French inhabitants,
Illinois liUnd Company, fiO.
Illinois River. 3i).
Imlav. (leorge, Toim/raphical Descrip-
tion, maj). 24S. '.MH. '
Indiana (colonyi, map of, 17 ; included in
the Ohio Company grant. 47.
Indiu'ia grant. lO'.l ; revived, '.Hi ; its char-
acter. 1(11) ; interest of Tom Paine in,
1S7 ; sustained. 200.
Indians, trade with. 7, 23. 2."). .">4(); trou-
bles witii whites. 7 ; adverse interests.
8 ; French and F.nglish treatment of,
H; jirmed by traders. 21 ; in tlie Revo-
lution. emi)loyed by both sides. 87 ;
priority of use. 87, 1211; number of
warriors ea.st of t))-.' ^lississippi, 88 ;
char.'icterized i'; liie Declaration of In-
dei)en(lence. !'l; A fighters. 17."); ca-
pricious, 1!C); to occupy a neutral ter-
ritiiry between the United States and
Spain, 212 ; irritated by the treatv
0782>, 22'.t. 23.-) ; ravaging {17S.3), :i;!<i ;
informed of the terms of the peace
(1782), 237 ; their wars following the
peace (1782), 237 ; losses of life and
property inflicted bv, 243; fear en-
croachments, 245 ; their land title.
only extinguished by government, 2(18 ;
insist on the Ohio line, 208 ; in council
at Niagara, 274 ; cost of subduing
them, 770 ; number of warrioi-s, :iO'J ;
responsibility of the English for their
hostility, 308 ; diverse policies of Con-
gress and the .States, .'508 ; numbers in
the South, .•{82, .-)40.
Innes, Henry, .'i02 ; in league with Sebiis-
tian, .-).")0.
Innes. Judge, 243.
Irish, in the West, 84 ; in Kentucky, .■)2',l.
Iron Banks, 174.
Iron Mountain, 77.
Irixinois, and Cherokees, ; favor the
English, 14 ; map of their country, 15;
their numbei's, 10; their allies, 10;
rival pretensions to Kentucky, 10, 'JO,
78 ; (iuy Johnson's map of their comi-
try, 18, I'.t ; encouraged by the French,
72; incensed at the treaty (17821.217,
220 ; lands sold (|784). 208.
Irvine, General William, 2.50 ; at F'jrt
Pitt, liXi ; on the western Indians, 243.
Jack, Colonel, 92.
Jackson, Andrew, his wife, 179; goes to
Tennessee, 300; in Congress, 544; in
the Tennessee Convention. .5,50.
Jackson. General James, and the Yazoo
frauds, 5,-)0 ; killed, 500.
Jacobin clubs, .5;i2.
James River and Potomac Canal Com-
pany, 254 ; Washington its President,
257.
James River route to the West, 252,
254.
Jay, John, on the (Quebec Bill, 75 ; sent
toSpain. 104 ; in^Iadri<l. 182 ; worried,
2("1 ; delivers his instructions, 2(11 ; re-
bukes the supineness of Congress, 202;
his inHnence on the treaty (1782), 208 ;
estimate of Vergennes, 223; apprehen-
sive of the future, 220 ; charges the
first infractions of the treaty (178i!i ()n
the Americans, 220 ; on Indian affairs.
272 ; on the monarchical fever, 278 ; on
the Slississippi (juestion, 318 ; hopeless.
320; treats with (lurdotiui. 3;i8 ; aided
by a committee. 347 ; cliief justice,
415 ; named as envoy to England, l(i:i ;
his instructions, 404 ; makes treaty,
400 ; passions aroused in America by
the treatv, 477, 478 ; treaty ratified,
480.
Jefferson, Thomas, would drive the In-
dians beyond tlie Mississipi)i. O.i ; am!
the Transylvania Colony. 07; would
attack Detroit. 100; ceases to be gov-
ernor of Virginia. 103 ; Moles, on Vir-
ginia. 214 ; iin infraction of the treaty
(1782). 228 ; encourages Ledyard. 23'.) ;
planning western .States. 244 ; on tlu'
bounds of Kentucky. 240; on the Po-
tomac as a water-way, 248 ; ou States
at the West, 257 ; his ordinance (1784'.
i J. 1
.i -Ji'
JJJ'll.
INDEX.
585
life and
; fear eii-
iiul titli'.
iieut, -^<^ ;
in I'onniil
Bub<lnin«
riors, :«».!;
I for their
,es of Coii-
iiunbei-s in
vith JSebiis-
itucky, ")■-!».
; favor the
conntry, \^y<
allies. H«;
icky, It;, '.i".
their eonn-
the French,
>'-*) ; at Fort
Indians, 24:5.
170 ; Roos to
ress, o4-l ; in
nd the Yazoo
c Canal ("om-
[its President,
West, •J-V.i,
Hill,
7."( ; sent
S-J ; worried,
ions, •3)1 ; re-
lUL'-ress, '-!"- ;
; ; apprehen-
charges the
.,;VtV (17S2IOU
Indian art airs,
fever. 27^ ; ""
IS ; hopeless.
„i, ;;:'„S ; aided
chief jnstiee,
Enj;hind. l'''' '.
lakes treaty,
11 Ameriea hv
•eaty ratified.
drive the In-
sippi. o;i ; and
V. '.'7 ; woiilii
Les to be Roy-
lyatca. ii» » "■■
liof the treaty
iLedyard. '^^ .
244 ; on the
4(1 ; on the l'»-
J4S ; on Stjites
Idinance U''^"''-
2."iH ; its n.inips of StatF.4, '2'tH ; plan for
a survey of the western territory, 'J(il ;
favors small States, lid'J ; rectantjular
survey, 'M'> ; on tiie nionarehical idea,
'27H ; on bhays's Rebellion, •_'7H ; favors
reliffious freedom, '2XH ; on the Mis.sis-
8ii)pi question, •'ilH ; his bounds of new
States as set fortli in the Ordinance
of 17H4, .'Uli ; his views of the West.
3"1 ; his oiipositiou to Hamilton, 40.S ;
on the St. Clair eamiiaigu, 422 ; nefroti-
ations with llannuond, 431, 4.>7, 441,
44() ; on the I'resqu'Ish) question, 4.'«) ;
and Ebeling-, 47" ; rii-jfues the ri(jht of
the United States to the Mississippi,
.•"lSO ; at variance with Hamilton, .")3(l;
resiffus from the President's cabinet,
.''.40.
Joluison, Guy, his map of the property
line, 1") ; at Fort Stanwix, l.") ; maj) of
Iroquois country, IH, lit ; at Niagara,
177 ; would attack Fort Pitt, L'd.i.
Johnson, Sir John, on the treaty (17SL'),
til7 ; his later conduct, '_'.'>7 ; and the
western Indians, 24."> ; in council at
Niajfara, '273 ; told by Lord Dorchester
to quiet the Indians, 27(1.
Johnson, Sir William, and the Indians,
K ; sends Croghan to England. H ; and
the property line, 14 ; at Fort Stanwix
(17()H), 15 ; on the Illinois country, 2.S;
Dunmore's war, (W, 72 ; his home,
,501.
Johnston, Governor, l*j!> ; at Pensacola,
32.
Jones, Jos'ph, IS,"), 2.31
Jones, Judge. Tory. r2i, 242.
Jouesborough (Tenn.), 334; convention,
3.3,-).
Jnan de la Fuca, Straits of, 2.">M.
Juniata Kiver, as a route to the West,
2.-)().
Kalm, 4.
Kanawha River, Indian boundary, 1(1,
14 ; its mouth the site of a proposed
capital, .^S ; navigalileness. 2.12.
Kaskiuskia, 2.1 ; captured. Hit.
Kelley, Walter. (1(1.
Kennedy. Patrick, 70.
Kenton. Simon. (11, 72.
Kentucky, destitute of Indians, 1(1 ; given
over to occupation by tlie Fort Stanwix
treaty. 17; events (17(17 1774i. 4:1;
country described. .IS, il'.l. ■>2'.> ; relieved
by thevictory at Point Pleasant. S] ;
set lip as a county of X'irginia. ".'S. 1 Ul ;
Iiopillatiou. HI. i7s, :i2l». 331. 3!tit. .VJd;
raided. 111; disturbed cniidition, 11(1;
great immigration, 13(1. 17(i. 17S, 270,
304, ■12S. .372. .12(1 ; new roads oi)eiied.
liKl; Hird'sraid. 17.1; salt springs, 17S;
counties, 17'S, .32S ; conditions of life.
11'.'; seeking Statehood, 24.1 ; Imlay's
niai), 24'.l; scrambles for land. 2(11;
sends force across tlie Oiiio. 271 ; law-
less attacks on the Indians, .'loi. .>(H1:
Spanish intrigues. 30(1 ; the movement
for autonomy, 3;10; Filson's map, .332 ;
mnvemeiits toward separation from
Virginia, ;U0 ; delays, 3,1,1. ;i.17: com-
inittee on making a State, 3<ll ; liritish
intrigue in, 3!I4, .142 ; antipathy to In-
dians, 421 ; volunteers under Wayne,
4.11; admitted to the Union, .11.1;
framing a constitution, .12.3 ; map, .124,
.12.1 ; Barker's map, ;127 ; Toiilmin's
map, .12s ; her soil, .12S; sympathy with
the French faction, .140; Carondelet's
intrigues, .I.K). .1,13, ,1.17; intrigues of
French agents, .1(12.
Kentucky Gazette, 3.17, .142,
Kentucky River, it!'.
Kickapoos, 2)1, 113; attacked, 422.
King, Rnfiis, and the ordinance (1784),
2)11 ; and the Phelps and (lorham pur-
chase, 2)14; and the rectangular sur-
veys, 2(17; on the Kentuekians, 274;
on the cost of the Indian war. 27)1 ; on
the ordinance (17S7i, 2S4, 2S,1 ; on the
Mississippi question, .31S ; opposes tiie
admission of Tennessee, .1,1'.' ; in Lon-
don, .171.
Kingsford, Dr. William, the Canadian
historian, 71.
King's Mountain, fight, 17S, ISl.
Kirkland, mi.ssionary to the Indian-s, 87 ;
and Hraiit, 4.'U.
Kitchin, T., map of Pennsylvania, .14,
.1.1 ; maps, loi.
Kittaimiug, 1.1, IS, 1.3!) ; ab.andoned,
114.
Knox, General, demands the posts, 2.3.1 ;
and Hariuar"s campaign, 41S ; plans a
^legionary system for the army, 434.
Knoxville. started, ;r)S ; founded, .IIS.
Knoxville Gazette, .US'.
La Ralme, Colonel, to surprise Detroit,
177.
La F'reni^re, .37.
La Rochefoucault - Liancourt, TraiH-ls,
.10s, .111.
Lafayette, his letter to the Canadians,
13S ; embarks for America. 1.11 ; would
invade Canada. 1.1!' : goes back to
Fiance, 1.1!' ; and the Mississippi (|ues-
tiou. 2.17, .31!' ; on the Spanish question,
337.
,;ifont. 120.
,akc Athal)ask;i. 3!H).
,ake ('haiitaii(|iia portage. 2.1)1.
aki' Mieliig.in. map, 4!'.
i.'ike Nepigon. 220.
• ike Nipissing. KIO, 218.
ake of the Woods, 214-21)1, 221.
ake ( )tsego. 2.11 .
like Pontrhaitr.iin. 10!'.
i.ike .Supeiior. tr.ide. 24. 23.1 ; filled with
isl.inds. 3ii. liHl. 221 ; Carver at. 104;
nia(is.221 ; vessels on. 240.
ake Winnipeg. 24. 104.
ake Winnipiscogee. 203.
anc.ister. treaty of, DDi.
,an(ls. Indian titles, 2)1.S.
,ane, Isaac. 2)1!'.
,anglade. at .St. .losejih. 13)); to attack
Kiuskaskia, 173 ; retreats, 174.
58G
INDEX.
m
■'f ■
• :l^
,:lt ' ^' ^
Liinsdowne, Lord, 277.
Le l{out;e. Carte ile l' Ami'rirjite, 501.
Le(lyiir(l. John, liis careei', '2'.'>H.
Lee, Arthur. 'Jl(|, '-'(W, litllt j in London,
14.") ; eoniniissioncr in Lurope, 150 ;
meets GriiHjildi. 151.
Lee, (jeneral Charles, at Charleston, '.tH.
Lee, Henry, of Virtjinia, lo'.l ; on the
Mississippi (luestion, :>l!l.
Lee, Richard Henry. '.'lO, 227. 2'.'!t, 'JUL' ;
on the western country, 1S2; on the
obligations of contract. "-".Ml; expects
western lands to sink the national
debt. lilHi.
Lee, William, 1.5:!, 'j:>7 ; in London, 75.
Leech, John, 127.
Lefige, Major, <iO.
Lernoult, IJS ; at Detroit., VM.
Lexington (Ky.), named on hearing of the
fisijht at Lexington. Mass., s:>,
Lexinj^ton {.M;ws.), i'mhi. 02.
Lewis, Andrew, 5I>; in the Dunniore
war, 72 ; tififht at Point Pleasant, 7.'i.
Lewis, .Samuel, map of the United
States, ;iSO, ;5,S1 ; Map of New York
State, 474, 475.
Liekiu}^ River, !•!•, .')15.
Liebert, PliiHp, 27.'i.
Limestone (now Maysville) (Ky.), !•!>,
:U5, :52.S. 510.
Lincoln, (ieneral Benjamin, secretary of
war, 2:i7 ; and the tendency to mon-
archy, 27M ; to treat with the Lidians,
447.
Linctot. Godefroy, 142.
Linn, Lieutenant, 147; ascends the Mis-
sissippi with powder, 14S.
Liston, British minister, 570.
Little Turtle, 420, 4:iO, }.5(;. 4S,S.
Livin^jston, rebukes the i)eace commis-
sioners. 210.
Lochry (Loufi;hrey), Colonel Archibald.
l!)4.'l!H).
Lofjan. Colonel Benjamin. .S2 ; raiding:
with Ci.ark. 170 ; and his militia, a.'il ;
r.'iids ui)on the Wabash, •■!45.
Loffan, John, the Indian, and the Dun-
more war, (W ; his famous speech, 74 ;
r.'iidinp, 175.
Lotjan's Fort, attacked. 111.
Lon^f. ]'i)!/a<Jis tniil 'J'rarels, 4)0.
Ijoiifx Island, battle, 147.
Louf,-- Lake. 220.
Loriuf^-, .lonathan Austin, 1.52.
Ijosantiville, ;>15.
Loskiel, I'nitid Hrcthren. 422.
Louis XV. iFrancei, dies, 144.
Louis XVL (Francel. accedes. 144 ;
ai,'rees to recofjnize American inde-
pendence, 1.5;'>, 5;)1.
Louisiana, anxiety of the Eufjlish to
coiKjuer it, ;>•'! ; chiinge of masters un-
der the secret treaty (17<m), 'X^ ; iiuder
Sjianish rule, 100; poi>ulation. ■'i71 ;
its condition. .551 ; Enpflish jiroject to
seize it, M\ ; threatened on all sides,
.570.
Louisville, 2.5H, ;U7 ; laid out, .59 ; lands
bought up, KM).
Loyalists. England hopes to settle them
iu the Ohio country, 217, 21.S ; Frank-
lin's distrust of them, 217 ; in tiie
treaty (17S2). 2.!2, 242; confiscations,
2;j;! ; American dislike of them, 2;!;> ;
recommendation of ('onjifress, 2:i4 ;
their cause coimected with the deten-
tion of the posts, 241 ; hastening to
Ontario, 241 ; exodus from the .States,
242 : Canadian homes ]>lanned for
them. 242 ; at Cataraqui, 242 ; their
numbers in Canada, 242 ; United Em-
pire Loyalists, 24;i.
Ludlow, Israel, in the Miami country,
.•il5.
Luzerne, reaches Boston, 1(>4 ; seeks
W.'ishington, 104; delighted at Ameri-
can degradation, 200; on the treaty
(17S2), 210.
Lyman, (ieneral Phineas, and settle-
ments along the Mississippi, 2H, 42 ; in
West Flori<la. 110.
Lyttleton, Lord, 70.
Mackenzie. Alexander, western explo-
rations, 5."i().
Mackenzie River, 2:5!).
Mackinac post, \'M ; its trade, 1,30 ; anx-
ieties at, i;!7, 142 ; De r* 'vster relieved
by .Sinclair, 142 ; as centre of fur trade,
220, 2;)5.
Madison, .Tames, draws up the case of
the United .States for .Spain, 1S4 ; on
Virginia's land claims, 207: would set
up Kentucky as a State, 207 ; on west-
ern routes, 251 ; on the Mississii)pi
questicni, 2.5(i.
Madrid, Pinckney negotiating a treaty
at, .5.54.
.Mahoning River, .5(i,
Manehac, 1.5(>, \'\ ; c iptured, 102.
Manchester (0.), 422.
Mandans, 4t)S.
Marietta, jiosition of, 291, 29.1, 297, .100,
:')()1, ;io:i ; the surrounding country. 2(19 ;
founded, 29tl ; its community, :!i>2 ;
view. :i(l5 ; origin of name, o05 ; Cam-
pus Martins, :107.
Marshall. Chief Justice, on western land
titles. 00.
Marshall, Colonel Thomas, approached
b.v Loi'il Dorcliester, :'>0S,
Marshall, Humpiirey, opposes Wilkin-
son, :)49.
Martin, .loseiJi, at Powell's Valley, 21.
.Martin's Station. 21, S2.
Miii'yland. and tlie sea-to-sea chartei'S,
9S ; olijects to paying Virgi'iia for
bounty l;inds, KW ; and \vo,;ifl set
western limits to seaboard States, lO.'^;
joins the confederation. 199.
M.ason. (Tei>rge. on Viiginia's western
claims, .55 ; and the Transylvania
Com])any, 9H ; symi)athy for Ken-
tucky, ilO : and the Indiana grant,
100 ; on the Virginia cession, 1S5 ; on
jeoi)ardizing the peace (17.S2I, 2:>2 ; on
the Virginia charter, 245 ; on the
western .States, 2H5 ; champion of reli-
INDEX.
58
ttle thfm
\ ; Friiiik-
■ ; in tilt)
ifisciitions,
lieiii, -jj;'' ;
•ess, -•>-l ■)
thi' (l«te»-
Btfiiint; to
the States,
liinue<l lor
•J4'J ; their
Jniteil Eni-
iiii country.
\M\ seeks
(I at Anievi-
ihe treaty
and aettle-
)i, US, 4-u ; i»
jstern expln
(le. 1:^0 ; anx-
vster relieved
i of fur trade,
n the case of
<,)ain, 1«4 ; on
;07; would set
\ -J)" ; on west-
le Mississippi
iitin},' a treaty
Ired, 1«2.
09:?, 207, l^O'X
Ucimntry.-«.''.J;
Vniunity, ■''*- ;
Le, -M'^ ; ^''""-
\\\ western land
las. approached
l',,",oses Wilkin-
jl's Valley, '.il-
[o-sea ehartew.
Ig Virpi-ua t'-r
|i.d wo.:ld set
lavd States, l'^^,
fcrinia's western
■r Transvlvaniii
iithv for Ken-
I Indiana prant,
Vessioit, isr. ; on
I 24.-) ; on the
Bianipion of reli-
gion and education, '2H'.t ; on the Mis-
sissinjii (juestion, .'!l!l ; suspicious of
tile Sortli, .'i.')!.
Mas.sacliusetts, her sea-to-sea charter,
2(i.'! ; i,oundary dispute with New
Ilanipsliii'e, 2(i-'i; with New York,
2li4; her western lands, 2(m ; cedes
them, 2li.-> ; Sliays's Itehellioii, 27S.
Massie, Nathaniel, 421.
Mauniee River, :>'.) ; rapid.s of the, 4.").").
Maurepas. 144, 14)i. l.")4.
Mayflower, harge. 2ilS, -IW.
Maysville (Ky.», W. Set- Limestone.
Mc.Vtee hrotliers, 'u ; at llarrodshurff,
SI : (HI Salt IJiver. S2.
McDonald, Major Angus, in the Dimmore
war, 72.
Mc(Tillivray, Alexander, his plots, ■">2'.t;
his trading: i)rotits, :14() ; and the Span-
ish aims, O.V2 ; attacks the Cumlierland
settlements, •>.")!• ; relations with Mir('»,
;>71, ;)7!i ; his treaty with Knox. .'WO,
IWri ; his home, IW^l ; as a lea(h'r, ;>S4 ;
in New York, .iS,"(; visited hy John
Pope, ."lilt; dies, .">2(i.
Mcllenry, Secretary of War. 4S2.
Mcintosh, (xeiieral I^achlan, succeeds
(jeneral Hand, 12:1 ; hopes to attack
Detroit, 124; huilds Fort Mcintosh,
12.-> ; huilds Fort Laurens, \-Tt \ relieved
of command, l.'iO.
McKee. Alexander, 271 ; suspected, 114 ;
turns traitor, 12.S; leading Shawnees,
17.i ; raiding, 1!I4 ; in the Ilarmar cam-
paign. 42(1.
McLean, (}eneral. 237.
McMurr.iy. William, ;!22.
Meigs, H. ,1., 'MTl.
Mercer. Colonel George, 47.
Miami country, .'>l.->.
Miamis, 1(!; in council, 442.
Miehaux. Andr^, a tool of Genet, .W5,
r);i7 ; sent west, .-).■>:> ; his revolutionary
plans countenanced hy .lefferson, .■).'i7 ;
his journal. TiM.
Michigan, plan to turn over its peninsula
to England, 4114.
Mifflin, (lovernor, and the whiskey ri-
ots, 4S(i.
Milhet, a New Orleans merchant, 34, .T).
Milwaukee, founded. 24n.
Mingo town. l-'>.
Mingoes, hostile, 124, i:><S ; on the .Scioto,
;«)2.
Ministerial line. 11.
Minnesota Iiiver lil4.
Mi(|uelon. 1.
Mirales. in Philadelphia. 1S4.
Mir/), at New Orleans, ;i2!i. :i4ii ; his plots
'Xi'l ; with Wilkinson, -itll ; jealous of
Gard()(iiii, :i(i(i ; dei)ending on MctJilli-
vray. •'ul ; leaves New Orleans. .■p2ii.
Mississipi)i ('()mi)any. ;>77 ; formed, 4ii.
Mississii)pi Itiver, :<4.S; hounding the
English Colonies, 2 ; forks, 2.") ; its fur
traders, 2il ; its commerce to he di-
verted through the Iherville, IV2 ;
English troojjs withdrawn. 'X'> ; Spanish
posts, O.J ; French traders on eastern
hank, :!<) ; the F'rench from N'incennes
trade ()n it. 70 ; its source, 1(H, 214,
221 ; its upper valley, 1(I2 ; supplies for
•Vmeiicaus cariied up, ll.'i; the Eng-
lish aiming to control it, 1(12; free
navig.ition of, 1S2 ; insisted on hy .lay,
1h;!; maj) of. 214: right to navigate.
21.-); iis a ehamiel of tr;ide, 24.S, .'>l(i,
.■!17; its opening a hurning i|uestion,
2.">(i. 2(i.'i ; Cri'veco'iir's map, 2.-i!t ; pro-
ject for surrendering it to Spain. ;!1S;
heginnings of steam navigation. '.'i-\ ;
Jay's wish to yield it to .Spain for
twenty-five ye;irs, .'!;!',l ; the weak side
of Louisiana. ;>71 ; as a hosindary. 471 ;
the .Spanish claim still a perplexitv,
.")l(i.
Mississipi)! Territory, .-|7.">.
Missouri Hiver, 4(>.S ; traders, .'tO.
Mitchell's map il7.Vii, used in the treaty
(17.H2I, 221 ; used in the ordinance
(17.S7), 2.S(i.
Mohile, attacked (17.S0), ISl ; Indian
conferences at, :>">(); population, ;!4(>;
trade of, ;!.S(t.
Mohawk Ikiver, lit; as a route to the
west, 24S.
Mohawk valley, 2(>4.
Monoiigahela Hiver. .■>(), 2.")0, ,")11; map, 17.
Monroe. James, urges the setting up of
ji western .State, 247 ; in the west. 2(12 ;
with the Indian commissioners. 272 ;
on a committee for an ordinance of the
northwest, 2.S1 ; Montgomery, Lieu-
tenant, 174.
Montour, !U.
Moravians in Pennsylvania, ."((i ; proving
spies. 111.-) ; settlements, map of, 422,
42;i.
Morey. Samu-d, ."12.
Morgan. Indian agent, !»() ; commanding
at Fort Pirf. 111.
Morgan, Colonel (Jeorge, seeking set-
tlers, 'M\S\ and western colonization,
.'>()<; ; connection with New Madrid,
:Wt.
Morris hrotliers. (id.
Mori'is. liohert. patron of Ledyard, 2.'!.S ;
the (leiiesei' purchase, 2(14 ; and New
York lands, 42."), 474, 4!)'.t ; lands in
Ohio. ."i(Ml.
Morris, (niuverneiir, l.-)S. l.VI ; on what
to yield to Si)ain and France. 2(il ; on
the western .States. 2S.-) ; and a com-
mercial treaty with England. :>l(i.
Morse. .Jedi'diah. Aiiiirictui (inii/rdplif/,
.'id;'., ."i!K!. 4'Jl. '>\-\ .iiKiriidii (i(tziitKi\
:'.77 ; on Marietta. 4'.ts.
" Monnd-huildei's." .12.'!; on the Muskin-
gum. '-".I'.l; reniai'is. :'>":i.
Munseys i.an Indian trilie'. J4(».
Murray. (Jeneral .I.iiiies, governor at
(^uehec. .">.
Murray. Williiini. i\\K
''uskingiim Iiiver, map, 17; its valley,
2.V., 2!t:i.
N.ashville. ;!:!4. a'.O ; site of. 44. 12.'!;
i town founded by IJohertson, 14;5 ; Hi-st
688
INDEX.
W'
'hi
ffi .»
iifimed XashborouRli, 170 ; its cniidi-
tiiHi, 411.
Natchez (Indians), :!'_'.
NatcliL'z (town), sun);lit by fntritives from
tllH East, Hit; Uritisli scttltTs, 110;
Tory suttlei-s, \'ii\ ; ('ontrnllcd i)y the
Knf;iisl), l.")7 ; capturfd i)y (ralvi'/., 171 ;
tlie si'ttlci's risi! on tile Spanish ^;aI•^i-
son. ISil; population, ;>4(); t'ortiticd,
'Mi; diisirilMHl, ."ilS; al'ter tho treaty
of San Lorcn/.o, "iti.").
Navarro, ;!.VJ, .Idl .
Neville, ("a)»lain Jolin. '.Kt.
New Kn^^'land, shiplmildiii^', 7.
New Jersey, accepts Articles of Confed-
eration. 171).
New .Fersi^y Company. .")(i4.
New Madrid. :!()<•. .'il's ; map. ".d") ; forti-
fied. .'!(■>() ; Mini's apprehensions. '■'>'{.
New Orleans, .'Uli ; desci'ihed, ."ill; Auhry
and lllloa, ;>."> ; risinn' ajjainst the Span-
iards, M ; O'Keilly conies. .">7 ; Pollock
in, IDS; coveted by the En},'lish. los ;
map of vicinity, liiil; Hamilton's iilan
to attack, ll.!; fire in. .'I'il ; open to
attack, .'171; tra<le. .">1!); defenses in-
creased, .").">1 ; defenses suited for intes-
tine troubles only, .ViO, ,"),")1 ; made port
of deposit, .V),").
New York, bounds, 4 ; and the (Jnebec
Bill, ().■) ; cedes her western lands, l.s."i,
lit'.*; her land cession accepted. '_'()."),
'_'()7 ; unhosi)itable to iinniij;-rants, .TJS.
Newburtch (.N. Y.), --'44.
Niagara, importance of, 112; its surrei\-
der to the Americans a trial to Ilal-
dimand, '-'Ki; couilitions (17'S:!), '2'-u ;
Indian councils at, 271. "ii':!; the falls
in Fitch's map, ;>'_':> ; road to. 47"), 4'.l'.l.
Nicholas, (leortfe, .'Ki'-'; and the Consti-
tution of Kentucky, r)li(i ; and the
French faction, ."i.'iS.
Nickajack expedition, ")47.
Noailles, in London, l.")4.
Nollicliucky lliver, 7!>.
Nootka Sound, L'ns ; .Spain and England
at, •'i!!'-.' : convention of, ;)!I7.
North, Lord. l.V-', l."i4.
North Bend lO.i. 4'.)S.
North Carolina movt^s her boinids west-
ward, ;>"_'7 ; her western settlenuMits,
;{'J8, ;i.'!4 : her cessions. ;<:>.") ; the act re-
pealed. .'!:>(! ; joins the Union, ;i7."> ; final
cession of her western lands, M7').
North West Company. L'L'O, liliit, :!S!I;
unites with rivals. 'J:!!l.
Northwest coast fur trade, .'iSit; rival
claimants, Il'.l'.'.
Northwestern territory, created. .')(H! ; its
fifovernnient, .'iOlJ; n)ap by Morae, 'M'A ;
its iiopulation and character, 4(H), 4!'H ;
its forts, 417. See Ordinance of 17.S7,
O'Fallon, Dr. James, ;i78; of the French
f.action, o.U.
O'Keilly. in New Orleans, .''7.
Oconee war, '.VM),
Ohio, the State of, map by Rufus Put-
najn, 495-497.
Ohio Company of Viwuia. H ; claims the
Indiana lauds. IS,
Ohio Company iWaliMile's). 47, (>•> ; en-
t,'ulfs the old Ohio Company, ."iii;
bounds extended and territory called
\'.indalia, ."i7.
Ohio Company of Massachusetts, formed,
'JSO; reticent < 11 the slavery iiiiestioi;,
•_'S1I; buys laud, 'JiK); extent of pur-
chase, -J'.M). 'JllJ; map of it. -JDl ; deter-
mines to settle on the Muskin);iiin,
L'DS ; ha'.iits of setMemeiit. .it)'.'; its
reputation compromised. .'UH; Bar-
low's map. ;tll; and the (iallipolis
scheme. 4l)(): and Dni'r's failure, 4:>ip.
Ohio countiy, .Moravians in, .")<> ; i)(,,)U-
lation iuereasint^. Ill) ; as :• part of
Canada. Hi) ; wanted for the loy ''>Ih,
'-'17; the S( veil li.in^'es, •_'ii7, :il I '. ;
uiiaiithoi'i/.ed settlements, •_'7i).
Ohio lliver. eilireiit. l:!; mjips. 17. 11'.),
■_'".K1. •Jl)7, :i"i'_' ; cost of traiispoitati<in
from it to the coast, 4S ; settlements at
the falls, IIS; eMiit^r.'iuts' boats. 17.'i;
bustle at the falls, '_'04 ; Hatboats on,
2!)S ; its course, ;>1 7 ; Filson's map, .'!;>'_';
navitration (jf, 4i;>; Indian forays, 417;
traffic on, ."lOS ; mail service, .">ll).
Ohio valley, richness of, I'J.
Ordinance of 17S4. "J.'iS ; amended to pre-
serve slavery, 'JlID; embodies a com-
pact with the old States, L'liU; Kind's
motion. '-'III.
Ordinance of 17S."i, '_'(il.
Ordinance of 17S7, reported, '-'HI ; amt.'iid-
ed. '_'S;;; passed, '-'S;> ; ("'edit of it,
where due'.' L'S4 ; its iiiHiieiice. L'S4 ; its
character, L'S."i ; sources of its jiro-
visions, '-'S,"i ; extent of territory co -
ered. -Sli ; as a coiiip;ict. '-'SlJ ; its
bouud.'iries based on Mitchell's map.
1!.S«;; the compact futile. 'JSii ; crcition
of .States imd> r, '-'S7 ; denies manhood
snfl'rane, 'JS7 ; its truatment of slavery,
'_'s7 ; of reli)j:ion and education, L'S',1 ; in
eH'ect, 'J!K).
Oref^on River, 104.
Oriskany, 11'-'.
Orr, Colonel. ."iliS.
Orr. M.-ijor. .attacks the Clierokees, .'"i47.
Oswald, the Ent;rlisli .'ifjreiit. 2i:<; on the
bounds of the treaty (17SL'), 'JIS.
Oswef^o, '2 Hi.
Otis. James. 4.
Ottawa lliver route. Iii7.
Ottawas. ll.'i; their confederacy. Hi; to
aveiig:e Pontiac's death, l.'li ; hostile,
l'J4.
Owesy, '-'<».
Pacific Ocean, route to. '2'^H.
Pajfe, jrovernor of Virginia, IK?.
Pag^s, French traveler. •_"_'. I'D.
Paine, Thonuis, H.T ; Public Good, 1S(!,
'-'4(1; his biographer, Conway, 187; on
the British debts, 2'.'A) ; and tlie aboli-
tion of slavery, '-'89 ; Rights of Man,
409 ; in Paris, 4ii.'i ; in the French Con-
vention, 548.
INDEX.
589
ihns tliH
IMI ; t'll-
y ciill«"<l
foniH'tl,
liu'stioi;,
of 1)111-
1 ; (Icti'l-
ikiiij;iiiii,
:'.(l'J; lis
10; liiii-
lJ:iHil)i'lis
„)•,., »:'••'.
ill; l>i.,iil-
lov '--'Xi
, :ui, ■•;
0.
,s. IT, 1.1'.',
siioitatic'ii
lcinfiits_iit
)()iits. 1""';
,tb. lilts (111,
iniai). •••'■;;[;
orays, 41";
, .-.10.
ided to pre-
ics a coiu-
;tW; Kind's
;S1 ; ameml-
•edit of it,
„ce. •J>U ; its
jof its pro-
lit ovv t'O"
■jsli ; its
I'lrs mail,
, ; cvcatiou
i i>iaiili<»'<l
of slavery,
t ion, •>'.»; in
.okees. r)4".
•>\:\\ on the
MS.
L.rai'V. 1'5 ■• t"
:i(i ; hostiU',
'.);5.
•IW.
Good, !«<',
way. IH' ; <;)'
nd the aboli-
ghts of 3/«''i
French Coii-
Palatin<>s, (il.
I'anliaiiillf icfjion, IS,".
I'aiitoii, William. .■.I'.l.
Parsons, Sainiicl II., Indian connnis-
.sioiicr, 'Jilil, 'dTJ ; his cliaractcr. _'S| ;
aiiplics for land on li(>lialf of the ( >hio
( oiiipany, 'JS'J ; aiipi'oaclitMJ hy ISritisli
at;t'iils, .101; at Mariclla, .107; opens
coniiniinication with tin; IJritisli, ;i(i7.
Pt-acf Uivcr. '-'.is.
P.-ail liiv.i. ISl.
Pendleton. Kdinnnd. '>il.
Penii, Jjady Juliana. 'S'C.
Pennsylvania, a pioiirietary government,
(i; (lerman population, I- ; (^iiakeis,
\'2; aetive people, I'J ; dispute uitli
("onneetieul. '_''_', '_'(i4 ; i(Uite thi'oii^;h to
the West, '>- ; lieciuiiin^j prominent.
.-)"J ; 1i(Uindary disputes with X'ir^iuia,
.")L', tid; inipracticahle westei'n hoiiuds
in lier eliarter, 'i'-'>\ SeuUs map, .■!.">;
map hy T. Kitehin. .■>4 ; the C^uehec
JJill, ti."! ; her line revolt, ISS ; eomnier-
eial spirit, L'.^o ; eaiiali/.ation in. -'>i ;
western liu»! run, 'Jiili ; jiriee of land,
L'llS ; her enterprise in opening; her
unsettled country, .V_'S.
I'lniisi/lriniid diizilti'. iU.
Pensaeola, .'>0; JSou(|iiet in ('ominand,
'•'A) \ .lohnston there, .'!'-'; Iialdim,'tn<l
arrives. ;!'_' ; ("outjress ready to assist
Spain in its capture, |.")1 ; wanted l)y
Spain, l.V) ; coveted by Pollock, l.'.S;
reinforced, Kio ; Indiiui conference at,
.'WO; trade, :!4(i. .■>lit.
Perdido River. ISl.
Phelps and Gorliam luireliase, 'J(i4.
Phelps. Oliver. .■)00.
Philadelphia, commerce. 7; taken, ll.">;
routes from to the West, LViO ; post
from to the West. 410.
Phillil)eanx Island, J'Jl.
Pickeriiif;. Timothy, on the force neoe.s-
sary to tiarrison- the frontier after the
war, '_';iti ; ]ilaiinin}^ a western State,
'-'44; on astronomical Ixuindaries. L'lio ;
on the western movement, 'Jdl ; and
the rectan},nilar surveys, '_'('i7 ; opi)osed
to o])eniu},'' the lands to " lawless emi-
jrriints,'' 270; and the ,St. Clair cam-
IiaiKHi, 4'J'J ; confers with Red Jacket,
4-'iS; to treat witli the Indians, -!47.
Pickett, Aliihinmt. IS'.l.
Pierro. Sic Pourrt'', ("ai)tain.
I'iiickney, Thomas, j,>-oes to Kn}j:land,
4:11 ; sent to Madrid. "^S ; ne},n)tia-
tioiis at Madrid, .V(4 ; treaty signed,
Picpia, 17(>.
Pittman. Philip, on tlio Illinois Indians,
'27, :W),
Pittshni't;. laid out, \2. :!'JS ; view, 't\ ;
condition (1770), .VJ ; Indians infest it,
clainoriiifj for support, (il ; loiiK-itiide
of, (>.-) ; meetint,' at, to sustain the liev-
ohition, S;> ; to be taken by Connolly.
8t); federal in sympathy, '•_'!)(! ; boats
passiiifir, '2W ; condition, .■i<)4 ; trade at.
444 ; map, 444, 445 ; it.s condition
(17!H)), ,'>n<); rnads to and from. ;"07 .■,! 1 ;
ina|> of vicinity, ."i7o.
I'lltshiny (iiizi/h, '.'To. ."..■lO.
Pittsvlvania, proposed colonv. 4'.i,
Pliitt', Richard, i:iii.
Point Pleasant, I I'J ; battle,".'!; position
of, -Jill.
Pollock. Oliver, his career, los ; to aid
(J. R. Clark, 117; sends money to
Clark. 1_'I. I4">; becomes poor. PJI ;
at New Orleans, 14S ; plaimintr .'in
attack on Peiisacola, I4',l; appointed
comiiM'reial .'li^eiit, {.'lO ; complains of
liritisli de|)redalious, l.^ili; tiltiut; out
armed vessels, I.-|7 ; warniiij; Anieri-
caiis, l."(7 ; nruiu;; active lueasiires,
1"'7; aims to capture Pensjuola. l.-|S;
extent of his cl.iim on the I'uited
.States, |."iS ; joins (i.ilve/. in :in attack
on the Kunlish posts. III'-'; his ill hick,
pi:! ; sendiii); supplies to Todd and
Clark, 1S| ; lart,^' indebtedness of
Con^,'ress and \'irt;inia to. I'.IS ; insists
on the Americ.ins securing' a p(U't of
dejiosit in .'^p.inish territiu'y, '_'0:' ;
>;;ives Con^jress a jiortniit of (Jalve/,,
'J'J'J ; leaves New ( Irleans, il.'iti ; ini|)ris-
oned at ll.ivana. •'!•'!(!.
Pond. I'rier, and the (iraiid Portajfe,
'_"J1 ; claims to have discovered an ovei'-
land i)a.ssaK(^ to llie Pacific, .'!.S0, il'.K);
his mai), o'.IO, :!iM, 471; at Philadel-
lihia, 4.'!7,
Pontiac, killed, L'ti.
Poi»e. John, ."lis, .-)P.t.
Portages, between the Ohio and Lake
Erie, ■J4S, ;!l(i ; made highways, -'M,
L'sti.
Porter, Captain, moves, 4S;!.
Postal service, in the West, '-".Ki.
I'osts on the (Ire.it J^akes, detention of
by Kn^iland, '_''_".•; pecuniary loss to
the Americiins by the detention, -M ;
demanded by Contrress, '_M1; their
names, •J.'!4 ; new demand. '-''i.-i ; iiritish
^■ain by the detention. '_':!(!, '-Ml ; their
lilaiis of detention, ■_'.'!7 : Karris<uis,
JlO; New York demands the sur-
render, ■_'4I ; in a ruinous condition,
'_'7ti ; insuHiciently ^rarrisoned, '_'7(i ; to
lie retaken if the Americans captured
them, '-'77; the ]'"nf,'lish jjolicy one of
deliiy, ■J71I ; Washin^cton reoiiens the
(|uestion, .'!l(l.
Poti.-v. !V;ie, i.iO.
Pot<unac River, its imi)ortance, II;
portajre to the Ohio, oil, ."1:!; route to
the West. '.'.■.l, •_'.■>•-', --'.-H,
Pottawattaniies. '_'(!.
Pourri' iPiernii. Captain, ISS.
Powell's Valley. 'Jl, SI ; raided, !>I.
Power, Thonia.s, spy. .'m:!. .'"iii7.
Pownall. Crovernor. and tlie Ohio Com-
panv. 47.
Prairie du Cliien. 2J0.
Prescott, (General Robert, 4S:{.
Presipi'Isle, to lie occupied by Peun.syl-
vania troops, 4."it>.
Priest, William, 47'.i, .VJS.
590
INDEX.
n i<
3t . i^
m^
i I
Priiitiiiff-pn'SH, in Kentucky, :'«4i>.
I'riviitccrs. I.'il.
l'riu'laiiiiitii)n of 17l):i, .iiiil tin- tiviity
I17H2), •_"_'!, -^'S^.
Property linu, 4, 14, 17 ; as run, l!H ; not
iiI)provf(l, "JO.
I'liltt-ney, Sir Williaiu. 174.
Putnam, Itiifns, cxplorinjf tlic lower
iMi.ssisHippi, 11(1; pjan.s western homes
for (lisl)an(lu(l soldiers, ■_'44 ; ealls a
nieetiiitf of veterans, L'Sd ; foi'nis tlie
Oliio Company, "JSO ; liis record. L'SO ;
on the .Mnskin^'um valley. "JlMi ; leader
of the Oliio Company enterprise, '-'US,
'■'M ; abets Cntler's schemes, ;>11 ;
and the Mississippi (piestion. il'-'l ; and
tile (lallipolis project, 404 ; proposes
a line ofposts in Ohio, 4:i7 ; to serve
under Wayne, 4H ; treats with the
western Indians, 441; map of Ohio.
4!Hi, 4'.>7 ; his land warrants, 4'.i.S ; Sur-
veyor-General, alHi.
Quebec Hill. '_', ~> ; earlier jiurpost; of
extendiu),' to the Mississii)pi. 41; ac-
count of, (hi ; its |)urpose to hem in the
Americans, 70; passed, 71; views of
it, 7"i, Ui7; obscurely noticed in the
Declaration of Independence, I'l ;
Franklin ur^es its repeal, 7<i ; Ver-
gennes favors its bounds as jjermanent
ones for the United States, lil"-'.
Rainy Lake, '21.').
Randall, Robert, 4!I4.
Randolph, Reverly, to treat with the
Indians, 447.
Randolph, Edmund, 12'J7 ; on the Vir-
ginia land cessions, '2-Hi ; on the Mis-
Hissi])pi ([uestion, .'i|!l; relations with
Fanchet, 4(1:! ; opinions of the Hritish
ffovernnieut, 4(i."i ; the Fanchet dis-
patch. 47! I.
Rayneval, Gerard de, 14(!; and the
boundary (piestiou. L'lO ; sent to
London, 'Jl'J ; his object, -V2 ; on the
bounds of the United States, '-'IS.
Read. I). R., Life of Siiiiroc, 44S.
Red Jacket in Philadelphia. VM ; at the
council of the Miami confederates, 441',
44;;,
Red Lake, Jl.").
Redstone. 14. 117.
Red Stone Old Fort. .".O, 2.".4.
Hegulators. move West, 7.S.
Relif^ion. in the ordinance (17S7). '2K!).
Rhode Island, her tinancial vagaries,
■J7X ; joins the Union. .'>7.">.
Richmond. Duke of, L'l'.l.
Ritteuhouse. Dr., (i.").
Rivers, navigation of, in international
law, 1.S4.
Robertson, (^)lonel. .'!().
Robertson, James, with Boone. 4() ; at
Watauga, 7.S ; conducts its defense,
ill ; moves to the Cumberland valley.
14:>; settles Nashville, 17il; leader of
the (^imberland comnmnity, ISO ; re-
pulses the Chcrokees, HI4 ; relations
•with Min'). .'i.^ ; attacks tlie Creeks.
.'t.jS; ready to join the Spanish plot,
.■170; made brigadier-general, .■17(1 ; ex-
pects Cherokee raids, ."I'JO ; wounded,
•VJl ; in the Tennessee Convention. .Vi!i.
Rocheblave, l,"i(J, 'Jo:; ; at Fort (Jage, 1 1.'. ;
at Kaskaskia, IIS; sent to X'irginia,
llio,
liodney, defeats De (Jrasse, '1\~.
Rogers. David, killed. 140; on the Mis-
sissippi, l.Vi.
Rogers, .lolm. connoands a galley, \'S,\,
lingers. Major, at .Mackinac, J4.
Komans, ISernard, KNi.
Romayne, I )r., ."i(JS.
Ivoosevell. Nicholas T., .'(14.
Royal proclamation (17<i;ti. <!. 7. "_"_';
Washington's view of it. II ; anmdied,
Ki; not enforced, '_'l. 4'_'. (•(•; must not
be annulled. 41 ; its purpose, 14. 4S.
liumsey, ,)ames. his discovery. 2.")"-', Jil'l ;
controversv with Fitch. .')'_'.").
Iiiissell. William, Aiiiirliii, ."io(i.
IJuthevferd. (lener.'d, !•:!.
Rutledge, Kdwurd, on the Mississippi
(lUestion, ;U8,
Sacs and Foxes, 172; pronounce for the
Americans, 177.
St. Anthony. Falls of. :i2;!.
St. Clair. Arthur, president of Congress,
2S2 ; interprets the slavery clause of
the ordinance (17S7), 2SH ; and the
Northwest Territory, 2'.I2 ; his career,
■"0."> ; governor of the Northwest, ;!0."i ;
seeks to extinguish the Indian title,
;iO(i; prepares for an Indian war. .■io7 ;
m.-ikes treaty with the Six .Nations,
;50<t; on Williamson. ;!(')!i ; on the Ohio,
402; and the llarmar campaign. 41S;
his own campaign, 422 ; his instruc-
tions, 427; his defeat, 42!l ; resigns,
4;!4 ; declares the Indian war at an
end. 401 ; trying to thwart the French
faction. ."i;>0 ; his fears. .■■)41.
St. Francis River, 20.
St. Joseph, attacked by Spanish. 1H<».
St. Lawrence River, its idtimate source
unknown. 101 ; navigation of it denied
to the Americans. 21S.
St. Leger. 112 ; in Quebec. 241.
St. Louis, settled. 2.'i ; pojjulation. 2.i ;
Si)anish plots, ll.'l; threatened by Sin-
clair, 171; described, 17! ; plan, 172,
17:>; CoUot's opinion r>f, ,")(i;!.
St. Paul, citv. Carver's deed, 103.
St. Peter River. 104,
St. Pierre Island, 1.
Ste, Genevieve, 2.>.
San Ildefonso, treaty. .">72.
San Li(renzo. treaty. .').">.").
Sandusky, outpost of Detroit, 112.
Santa I'V-. mines accessible to attack. ."i(m.
Sargent. Charles S,. ,"i:i7.
Sargent, Winthrop. 202 ; adjutant of St.
Clair, 42H ; in the Mississippi Territory,
Saugrain, 2it!>.
Savannah, evacuated, 2U3.
INDI'JX.
691
iSciiito ("oiiiimny, 4(»'J ; its at^eiit Joel
liiirlow, iUl ; and iJiiur's failiin:,
■»;;.-..
Scioto Kivcr, iiia|i, liT ; IiiiliiiiiH on, !>()'_>,
Scoti'ii, ill Kfiitiifky, .■>'_".».
Sc'otcii-irisli, I'liaraftcr, l'_'; arriviiii; on
till' Dclawai-f, .">'_' ; in Dliiu, .idj ; iu tiiu
Northwest. ."((Kl.
Si'ott, (iciit'ial CiiarluH, niii|) of liiH mid
aiToHH the Oiiio, 'J lit; liis attaciton tliu
Waliasli tiilx'S.VJ'.'.
Scott. .loscpii, L'nitid Sliilis Uuzttteer,
A'Xi, ,'iii.">.
Scratj;),'iiis. llciiry, 41.
.^cull's map of I'i'iiiisylvania, i>'-K
ScaKravc. .lames. .VJl.
Sebastian, .JikIkc, traitor. ;i(i;i ; pensioned
liy Spain. :t.S.S ; and ("aroiidelet, .">.">'_';
jjoes with (iayoso to New ( )rleaiis, .V)4 ;
his infamy rewarded, ."i.")().
Setdey. J^J.riKinsiun of Eiujlautl, ').
Seiiecas, !;>!>.
Secpioyah, 7H.
Seven IJanges, the, 2(17, lUl, '-WW.
Sevier, John, in the Wataiif,'a settlement,
^i() ; holding;' tlie Cherokees in cheek,
'.Mi; at Kind's ^[ollntain. IHl ; at con-
vention of .lonesboro', .'i;i."> ; governor
of the Franklin rejfion. ;>41 ; his down-
fall. 'M'*) ; arrest and escape, IMiO ; made
brif^adier-Keiieral, llTii ; K»'fy to(}eorgia,
.">1.") ; attacks the Creeks, ."»44.
Sharp, (ireuville, l.">4.
Siiawnees, claim the Ohio country against
the Iro(iuois, 14; aroused, .JS ; their
warpath, (17; hostile, 1'_'4; on Bird's
raid, 17."i; in treaty, 272 ; attacked by
Kentuckians, 27(1; marauding, ;U0 ;
their uncertain friendship, .'>4.">.
Sliays's rebellion, 274. 27S, ;)44.
Sheaffe, Lieutenant, 474.
Sheffield, Lord, 277.
Slielby, Evan, in the Watauga settle-
ment, SO; attacks the Lidians, i:!(i,
i;i!); at Kind's Mountain, LSI ; and the
.State of Franklin, ;(."')4.
Shelby, Isaac. >,'overnor of Kentucky,
.')2(1 ; fails to thwart the French fac-
tion, .")4().
Shelburne, Lord, orders the i)roperty
line to be run, 14 ; and the peace (17X2),
212, 2i;i, 21(1, 222. 227.
Shepherd, Cnlonel David. 114. I'.t2.
Sinicoe. John (iraves, 42(1, 44(1. 447 ; his
distrust of the Americans. 44S ; his
hostile purpose, 4.")1 ; buihls fort at the
Manniee rapids, 4."),"> ; aiijirehensive of
Wayne's success, 4.')7 ; disturbed at it.
4(10. 4(11, 4SS ; sends expedition to .So-
dus Bay, 474 ; his p.assiouate cluifjrin.
4s;i.
Sinclair, at Mackinac, 142 ; to descend
the Mississippi, 142, 171.
Sioux Indians, ."lO, 104 ; sought by Sin-
clair, 171.
.Sioux country, 21.").
Six Nations. Sec Irocpioia.
.Slannhter at the falls of the Ohio. lid.
Slavery, Jefferson's purjiose for the West,
2.1H ; and the ordinance il7H7i. 2s:t,
2'S7 ; aiitl the phrase "all men aro
born free and etpiiil," 2S7 ; amont; the
Freiuli in Illinois, 2>iS ; "arly niove-
ineiils for abolishing' it. 2SS ; Ciitler'H
futile attempt to abolish it. 2S0.
.Slaves, trouble arising from their depor-
tation from New Vork at the evauuii-
tion. 2:11.
Smith. ChaileH. s;>.
.Smith, (ieiieral Itoburt, 1170.
Smith. James, on the Cumberland River,
44.
.Smith, I'rovost. (l.'i.
Smith, William, 4S4.
.Smyth. 7'/(/i't/.s, S(l; movenicnts with
(omiolly. H7.
.Sniythe. Colonel. 171.
.Sodus Bay, 474.
SoldieiM' certitic.'ites, depreciated, 2X2.
.South Carolina, bounds, lo ; cession of
western lauds. :>.'iS.
.South Carolina Company. :(77.
Southern tribes, the i|uestioii of boiiiuls,
10; distrust the I'jitilish. ;w ; played
U]Km by both English uiul Americans,
Hit.
.Spain, holds Louisiana, 10(1 ; plots at .St,
Louis, ll^i, joins France in planning
disaster to the AmericiMis. 147; hesi-
tating, l."i2; olfei-s to mediate, l."i4 ; her
position on the Mississippi, l.")7 ; her
navy, l.'iH ; to have Florida, l."iO ; urges
Congress to accept a long truce. l."i!l ;
threatens alliance with England. KiO;
ambitious, 1(10; must have (Jibraltar,
KK); treaty (177!l) with France KKI ; de-
clares war with England. 1(11. .1(14 ; in-
sists with Jay upon the control of the
Mississipi>i, 1S2 ; using France to this
end, 1H2; sends expedition to i)lace the
.Spanish Hag east of the Mississipi)i,
ISS, L'12 ; aims to secure tlm eastern
bank of the Mississipi)i, 212; denies
English right to navigate the Missis-
sippi, 21(1; gains Florida (17X2), 222;
contends it carried her territory to the
Yazoo, 222 ; explores on tht^ Pacific
coast, 2:>X ; \wv intrigues in Kentucky,
.'>0!t; her claims for the Mississipjti,
:ilX; lier covert action, 1127; views on
Anieric.an independence, .'127 ; enmity
towai'ds the Tliited States. .1:10 ; invites
settlers west of the Mississip])!. :!tltl;
her dii)lomacy. :1SX ; h^'r perfidious
policv. .V>() ; delays execution of the
Sail Loren/.o treaty, ."id.").
S|)arks. .lared. on \'ei'gennes, 2211.
Springfield (O.). 170.
Stami) Act. 2.
.StandfordiKy.t. 111.
.Stanboi)e. Earl, .'112.
Starved liock. 20.
State debts, assumption of. 40H.
.Steamboats. .")12; on the western rivei-s,
;il7. ;iix. ;v2o. :!2;!. 114.
Steuben, Baron, confronting Arnold, I'.KJ;
sent to demand |)osts. 2.'14.
Stevens, B. F., Facsimiles, 14."), 22;'.
592
INDEX.
'|!'i
Stolio, raptaiii, (i(».
JSliH'kluid^'c liidiaiis, ^7, l-tl.
Stiiniiiiiit. I, Dill, ill I'liris, l.'il, Ijit, 154.
.Stov.T, Miclia.'l. U.
.Siiacli.-y, ill I'aiis. JIS, •.M'.t.
.'^traits <it' .liiaii dc la Fiica. '.'.'IS.
>Stiiart, iloliii, au;i'iit aiiioiiK tin' Houtlit'l'll
ludiaiiH, !i. SM.
kSiiU'oik, Lord, and tlitt iisi- of iiidiaim in
war, r_'7.
Sii^ar caiii'. in Loiiisiana, 'I'd.
.Sullivan, (iciii>ral, '.) ; caiiipai^'ii against
till' lnM|iiiiis, liiH.
.Sullivan, .lulin, .'ItT.
Swiss, (Ml the (ircat St'iotn, ,"IH|.
.Sydney, instnicls llaldiiiiaiid tii liiild
till! posts, 'Jll; and tin; Indian war,
'J7(i.
(Syinnn's, .1. ('., at
Miami ciiiiiitrv, '•
Marietta. .'!iHi; in the
1 1 ; liis land warrants.
eliild born in, 77 ;
I ; invaded 1)V Iii-
Tallnyrand. '-'•-'.•t.
Taylor, Ilancuck, ■'>",).
'JVnncsscc. first wliitf
popiilariiin i I77)ii, li
dian allies of the liritisli. ill ; its set-
tlements, ITi ; <'oiistitiitioiial lie^innin^s
of the State, W'Xt, 'X'*\\ maps of, ."ilii,
.">17, ."i44, .■p4."i ; the t|nestion of .State-
liood, ,V)"J ; population M7!>,")), .'m2 ; con-
vention to ni.iku a State, .Vi'.f.
Tennessee ( 'ompany, ."{77 ; seeks to settle
in (ieoi'ffia, .")iri,
Tennessee l\iver, settlement at the ^jreat
ln'iid of, W'Xt. See Cherokee Uiver.
Thomas, Isjiae, WW.
Thomius, Jiieiitenant .Tohn, lin.
Tliompson, Captain Andrew, VM.
Thompson, Captain Williani. ."iS.
Thompson, 1 )avi(l, lii.s snrvey of the M»b
sissippi, 47"-'.
Thomson, Charles, '_'.")().
Tlmilow, 71.
Til^hman. .lames, tiii.
Toliy's Creek, '-'.".O.
Todd, C'lptain .lohii. ^'overnor of Illinois,
I'J'J ; in Iventneky, 177.
Todd, David, :!.■!! .
ToddiVr Co., hi;.
Toledo (().), '_'(;4.
Tomahawk claims, 4!>.
Tonieas, '_".».
Tories from New En(;land. on thb Mis-
sissip])i, 110; ;it Nateliez, l.'iti.
Toiilmin, Henry, I)isiri])tioii of Ken-
turkij. .V_'!t.
Transylvaii'.a set np. Sl' ; movement to-
wards its settlement. '.17 ; its proprie-
tors rei'ompeiised. US.
Treaties :
Antrnsta (Ga.), (177:{), HH.
Antjnsta (Ga.), (17s:!). .'V.^.
Fontuinehlean (t7S,"il. 1,S4.
Fort Finney (I7H,")), •J7l-'.
Fort Ilannar (17H<t). •IWW. .SIO.
Fort MeInto.sh (17H.-)), L'liS.
Fort .Stanwix (17(>H), Iti, 4:i, 208.
Fort Stanwix (1784), 207, :510.
Fnince and Spain il77'.*), 1(H).
Ilardl.ihor (17tiH;, ,Vi.
ilolston, :i7.'i.
Hopewell, :i4:i, .•144. :i7.-.
.I.iy's (171111. .1, 4(i.'> 4ti7.
Ijancaster. HMi.
l-oehaher (S. C.) (17(i8), .V., 78.
l'aris(17ii;i), 1, •-', •-".', H.l, 1(>7.
Talis, seeret (17ti.'ii, •-'U.
T.iris (I78'JI. '.'. 20.".; history of, •jo.s ;
made dellnitive, 22.1; infrai'tions of,
2'2.s, 240; raiitieatioii of the delini-
tive treaty, 2:>."i ; should .ids date
from the provisi. iial or the detini-
tive Ireatv'.' 2.i<i.
liyswii'k (li'l'.Ci. I.
San Ildefonso, .'(72.
San l.oreii/.o (17!i.1i, .'f. .").".
Svcamore Shoals ( 177."i), .S2.
\Vestphali,i (Klisi, 1,S4.
White's Fort. .'.Hi.
frent, William, I'.t.
"'revett r. Weedoli, .'Ml.
Vial by .jury, 2!M».
'riinian. C.iptain Alexander, 441.
'rumliull. Colonel .lohii, .'172.
'riiiiihuU, .liinathan, governor of Con-
neetieiit, 2(i4.
"ryoii. (governor of North Carolina, lo,
77 ; and the Cherokees, 10; and Triin-
sylvania, 84.
TiiKal..,. IJiver, !t2, WIT.
Tuii,'ot. lit).
Tuscarawas Kiver, 12.">.
Tuscarawas valley, ."d!.
Tnitper, Gmeral li Mijaniin, survei '\\\i in
the ( )hiocoiiiitrv. '2(i7, 280; eonfer.s Aitli
Knfus Putnam, 280.
Twitjhtwees, 1(>.
■'•loa. .\iitonio de, in New Orleans, .">:'>.
._ 'ted . States, jioimlation (17801, 1S2 ; ter-
rii. y secured 1 17821, '20!) ; no caii.se of
gratitude to France or Spain. '1'1'.\\ cost
of the Hevoliitionary ^\ ar. 2'2.''i ; dan-
gers after the jieace, '227 ; army neces-
sary. 2:Hi ; the office of (ieo^'rapher of.
'2(i(l; first reco},'iii/,ed hy the western
Tndians, '2(17, 27;> ; ex])eii(litures on the
Indian prolileiii, '2()8 ; Indian iiiireaii.
274 : departments, 274 ; stories of di.s-
integ-ration, 277 ; Hamilton sup()osed
to he the leader of ;i iiioiiarchical
Iiarty, 277 ; feder;il convention. 2.82,
2S4 ; the Constitution and the Missis-
si])pi (luestion. .'120 ; ])opiilatioii ( 1787i.
.'>."(! ; po|)iilati(Ui (17!H)). ;!!I8 ; valuation
(17'.Mli. ;;!I8; Kritish views of western
bounds. 4;i2. 470 ; her bound C()ni])leted,
.">7.'> : character of her people, .")74.
Unza},'a. at New Orleans. 148.
Upper Canada, created, 42t).
Van Braani's cliiim. (JO,
Vancouver, in the P.acific. .">.'W.
Vandalia, 248 ; colony, 'u ; jn'-iiit, KiO,
•200. '2(Hi.
Varnum, General J. M., at Marietta, 30.">,
30ti.
n.
7
im>j:x.
rm
of.
•JdS
r.
uliiilis 111
t
he (1
'Inn
I
arts
il;il<
1
l>u <l
'liiii
Viiii;:lian, ISfiijaiiiin, Mt-iit fo Kiiu'liiiMl
>)V .)iiy, '.'Ki; on the tii-aty ilT.SJi,
NVicndiyt', 1(»4.
\'t'iV'ini<',s, jii.s policy, '-'. I : his charac-
ti'i', III; plans to intrrvi'ni' in iht'
American wai', 1 1."> ; his insincerity,
I4."i; ui't;es ^'rant of ):ioney to Amer-
ica, I Iti ; i-efnsev ^'nns. l."il ; inllnen-
cinvr the kin>;, I.VJ ; ready for an Amer-
ican alliance, l.'iii; seeks to join Spain
in it, I.V), l,").S; his purpose, l.'iH ;
Hchenies to disunite the .States, Kil ;
otfended liy .lolni Adams, IS4 ; his
measures produce a revulsinn. -its :
delied liy tint |ieace connuissionerM,
-I)'.*: hoped to play into (he liainls of
KuKland. -\y< : on the hounds lived liy
the treaty (IVS'-'t, Jls ; desireil only
the indi'pendence of the I'nited .States,
not their prosperity, 'J'J.l.
Vermont, claims for .•idmission to the
I'uion. '.'il.'i ; ISrilish intrigue with,
L'iiS ; as a possilile new .State, liti'J; .ad-
niitted to the Union. .'>|.~i.
Vit^o. Franc^ois, joins Cl.irk, l-d; impov-
erished \>\ .idinj^ Clark. I'JI ; cap-
tured hy Hamilton's scouts, i:!.", , in-
forms Cl.'ii ^ of Hamilton's condition,
lli.'l; his claim on NirKinia, 'JIT ; a fur
trader, 11(1.
Viiicennes, French in the neiijhhorhood.
•JS, ;W; chant,'e to KuKlish law, H";
land.s of the French threatened liy the
l^uehec Itill. (i'.(; the French warned
to rennive from, (i'.( ; stockaded. Ii;>;
occupied liy Helm, l"J(( ; captured hy
Hamilton. |:!| ; captured liy Clark,
l.'li", i;>."i ; Helm in command. i:i."i ; dis-
content at. 'J7."i ; popidation, 'JT.'i ; Har-
inar at. •_'".H1.
\'irf,'inia. tide-wjiter ])eo]il(! and over-hill
people, 11; valley of. I'J ; .Scdtch-
Irish. r_' ; claims tint " Indiana "
country. !'.•; her teiritory curtailed liy
the Fort .Stanwix treaty. :-'(•; her west-
ern claims itrnored hy the Walpole
t;raiit. ."lO ; espouses the Chei'okee
claims ■•ii^'ainst the Irocpiois, .'id ; dis-
pute with I'eimsylvania over hounds,
,"iL'. 177. I'.Ki : curved western liounds
of I'enn.sylvania shown in map. .")4 ;
Friinkliii disputes her western claims,
;Vi ; (leorjre Nlason defends them. .Vi ;
lier charter claims, (nI ; the (Jneliec
Hil],t>."i; Dumnore. fjovernor, (i."i •, hold-
ing; the Ohio. ,S4 ; frontier to lii' at-
tiU'ked from the south, ss ; dellnes her
territorial rijjhts. ILS ; rejects private
purdia.ses of land, !>»< ; sets up Ken-
tucky as a county, '.i.S ; sends (J. H.
Clark west. 117 ; encouriip's him, !;>'_';
fjives him thanks. I.'!'.' : opposes the
.Spanish denwiJids, 1(14: her territoi'i.al
claims. Kid ; adoi)ts Constitution. i(',7 ;
sets up civil ^-overinnent in Illinois.
l(i!>; sets up land office, Ki'.' ; extends
her .southern iMUiudary to the Missis-
sippi, 174 ; warning New England,
I.S.'i ; lier priiposed res.sion of land north
j oftheOhio. |s."i; her territorial claims
itttacked liN 'I'oiu I'aine. I.st; ; map cif
I hounds. pi7 ; otters a cession. l!i.s ; ini-
iiedes action, I'.c.i; weakeuinu on tin-
Mississippi question. -(Ml; jealous iif
the N'erniout claims for .St.itehood,
'Jo.'i; v.ili(lit\ iif her lerridirial claim.
'_'(h; ; lannuane cif her ch.irtei' as to
litmnds. '-'IHI ; the principal idlendei' in
I infr.ictions of the tre,it\ il7.s'-'i. '-':!!,
•_':i'.' ; trea(menl of the liritish delits,
I '-M'J ; (ii'iirvje .Mason on her charter,
I L'4.'i ; incensed at Tom I'aine. 'J |(i ; ces-
j sion of her westein laiuls pidposed.
' U'ld; makes :i cession. -'17; cost of
j her ciiUipiest of the Noithwest, -47;
! Iiounly-lands, '2il ; her election, '-'47;
use of her riviMs .as routes to the west,
li4.S ; routes to Kentuck\. map. 'Jl!';
eaijer for an Imli.in wai'. '-'71; and the
Mississippi (|nesti(in. .">'_'(! ; and the
iiew Constitution, :>('il.
N'irninia Company, 'J77.
Voight. :i-'4.
Wiiliash Com|i.iny, '-'(Hi, :U\').
\V;iliash iiiver. ■'<'.*; descrihed, 40.
Waliash trilies, ii4."i.
Wahasha. 171.
W.ijker. Dr. (Colonell Tliomas. 1.'., Ki,
174 ; his (,'rant in Kentucky. '-'I.
W.alpole. Thomas, and western lands,
47. Si I ( )hio Company iWalpole'si.
\Vasliin;;ton. interest in western lands,
4:1, ."il; sends Ciawford west, 4.'l, ."id;
of the Mississippi Com|)any, 4(i ; the
Dinwiddle n;rants, 47. .'id. .'i.'> ; noes
west (I77di, .'id; at Fort I'itt. .V_' ; on
the Kanawh.i. .'I'J ; hnyinj; soldieis'
claims, .'i^i ; his western lands ociMijiied
hy others. .'i7 ; Dmnimre's allef,'ed
grants. .'iS ; his lanil surveyed and ad-
vertised, .'i.S, ,"ill ; his caution, ."id; Land
surveyed for him hy linltitt, ."id ; liuys
other claims, (id ; plaunintc to |ieo|)le
his lauds with enii^rraiits. (il ; at \'.il-
ley Forge. |'-'4 ; to sanction use of In-
dians, !-'7 ; restr.iiiis Mrodhead. 1 Id ;
defeated on l.oiig Isl.'ind, 147 ; at
Ilrandywine. |."i'-'; disapproves Laf.ay-
ette's plan for invading Canada. I'ld;
interview with I.ir/.erne. |(il; distrusts
the Confederation, ISS ; appeale<l to liy
Cl.irk and Hrodhead. ld_';at Vork-
towii. l!Ci; seiuls Irvine to Fort I'itt,
ld(l; favors westciii homes for the
.lislianded army. '-'44, l.'4.'i ; wmild lay
out two States. '_'4."i ; on the Virginia
w.iler-ivays, '_'4.S ; 011 western routes,
'-'."id. '-'."i(i ; their lu'cessity in h<ildingthe
west, '-'."id ; on the .Mohawk route, '-'."il ;
his western lands. 'J."il ; on the I'oto-
liiac route, 'i'll ; (in Kum.s' • ' -iiechani-
cal hoat, ■-'.'!'-' ; his map ■..' ti!" Potomac
divide, 'J."i'J, 'J.'.'! ; entertains cjininis-
sioners .at Mount Vernon. '-'."i(i ; on Lake
Erie portage. 'J."i(i ; <in the Mississippi
iiuestion, '_',")li ; President of the James
=saasi
594
INDEX.
%
h'*
\\
f
I
t i
V iti
I
h
Kiver and Potomac Canal Company,
257; objbCts to the ordinance (17H4),
2M ; favors " progressive seatintj: " in
the west, -tiO ; rehitions with Knmsey,
IVJ") ; favors the independence of Kei.-
tiicky, ;{;>1 ; receives dedication of Fil-
son's map, •V-i'2 ; views on the Spanish
(inestioii, JioH. o'O ; and tlie St. ("hiir
campaif^n, 4'_''_' ; criticises Knfns Pnt-
nam s i)hui for a line of posts, 4:)7 ; his
anxiety to maintain peace with Kn{f-
land, 4();5 ; considering the Jay treaty,
477 ; treatment of the whiskey riotere,
4H(i ; sympathizes with Hamilton in the
French (jnestion, "j.'ij ; congratulated
on his birthd/iy, 55H ; warns western
intriguers, '>(>'•'>.
Washington, city of, how its site was
determined, 4W.
Watauga Association, 'SM ; formed, 7!> ;
buys its land, S2.
Watauga Kiver, 77 ; early settlers, 44,
4(;.
Watauga settlement, 78 ; becomes Wash-
ington County, SO ; warned by Stuart,
!tl ; attacked, !>1 ; to be .annexed to
North Carolina, 'X> ; loyalists expelled,
!I7 ; sending out raiding parties, 12'2 ;
sends out Shelby, loO ; population,
:i41.
Waterford (O.), 421.
Wayne, Anthony, suggested as com-
mander at the West, 4.'f!» ; gathering his
forces, 451 ; his cavalry, 452 ; his ad-
vance, 457; his victory, 45S ; treilting
with the tribes, 4(11 ; dies, 4)S;{ ; his
final i„ccification of the tribes, 4S7 ;
formalities of his treaty, 4SH ; the line
est'il)Hshed, 4!K); cost of the war, 4;t4;
small reservations, 4',Mi.
Wedderljurn, VO.
West, rival nnites to. 248, .^Ki, ;il7;
movements to set up States, 257 ; im-
migration to, 270, 2!H), 2il8. :i02 ; at-
tractions advertised. 2S0 ; demands
slavery, 288 ; postal service, 2!M) ;
character of its people, ;i87 ; routes
thither, 508. 511.
West Florida, limits, 110 ; population,
110. See Floridn.
West Sylvania, 1K!._
Western hunts, diverse views of Vir-
ginia and Maryland inspecting them,
KiS ; treasury warrants, 178 ; occupants
seek to iviiikeaState, 17ii; New York's
claim. 185 , cessions of, 180 ; public do-
jnain in, 18(i, 208 ; the Eastern States
show their rights, lO.t; expected to
piiy the expevises of the wnr, 200 ;
France v/ould give them toSpain, 20ii ;
Congress establishes its sovereignty
over them, 24(1; reserved for stthliers"
bounties, 247, 2(il ; surveys advocated
by Jelferson, 201 ; eageri'ess for new
States, 202 ; land offif'e. 2(i2; rectangu-
lar survey, 2()(i ; becoming productive.
2!tO.
Western ports, arrangements for evacu-
ating, 482.
Western Reserve, 2(i4, 500; its extent,
205.
Western Reserve Historical Society,
Tracts, 2.-5. _
Westward emigration and the Indians,
;'.2!t.
Weymouth, Lord, 154.
Wharton, Francis, International Lair
Di'lie.st, 217.
Wharton, Samuel, 10; on the Kana-
wha, 2.52 ; in the Muskingum country.
2! 10.
Wheeling, 5(), 08, 510; attacked, 104.
Wheeling Creek, attack, 114.
Whipple, Commodore, 280.
Whiskey rebellion, 485.
White, Dr. James, Indian agent, 345.
White, James, ;<.58.
White Bear Lake, 214, 215.
White Eyes (Indian), 177, 2!«.
Whiteley, Colonel, 5<i8.
White's Fort, treaty, 510.
Whitney, Eli. cotton-gin, 551.
Whitworth, Rich.ird, KHi.
Wilderness Road, ill), 328 ; opened by
Boone, 82.
Wilkinson, James, map of his raid across
the Ohio, 240 ; his character, 'Xf.) ; his
plots, 340, ;{5.'{ ; confers with Gayoso,
355 ; seeks to reach Mir6. 355 ; at
Frankfm-t, 3,5() ; commercial plans
with Mir(5, 35() ; again in Kentucky,
358 ; traitorous conduct, ;5()3, 'MU ;
interview with Connolly, IMiH ; in the
Kentucky Convention, 309 ; seelis land
in the Yazoo, '.W.) ; representations to
Mir<5, .370 ; despt>nd('nt nnder defeat,
374, .388 ; joins O'Fallon, 378 ; his
liendish advice, 370 ; attacks the
Wabash tribes, 427 ; aroused at St.
Clair's defeat, 41^); brigadier under
Wayne, 440; estimated by Wa-shing-
tou, 444 ; succeeds Wayne, 483 ; his
intercourse with Carondelet, .553 ; re-
ceives money from Carondelet, 557 ;
and the French faction, 5(il ; saves
Power. .507 ; .at Natchez, 573.
Willet, Colouel, sent to McGillivray,
385 ; declines to serve under Wayne,,
440.
Williamscni, (^olonel Andrew, 474 ; his
campaign against the Cherokees, with
map, 04. 05.
Willi.amson. David, 204.
Willing, Captain .lamen, on the Missis-
sippi. 120. 1.5(:. 157.
Will's Creek, 2.54.
Winnebagoes. 20. 30.
Wisconsin Kiver, 3i>; i)ort.agc, '^9,
\V'itt, Simeon de, 204.
Wolcott. Oliver. 208 ; on the Gallipolis
scheme, 405; and the whiskey riots,
485.
Wood Creek, 251.
Wood Creek portage, 15, 10,
AVood Creek route, .501.
Wood. Colonel. 112.
Wood, .lames. 85.
Writ of habeas corpus, 290.
'.tional Lair
INDEX.
Writs of assistance, 4.
>\.ya.i(lots, unsteady, 124, 132; prowl-
nif,', 1;nS ; alaniied, 1!»2, '
W yiine. a,n,rul JJislori/ of >l,^ nriti\/,
Jt-mpire in Ajiuncu, 42, lui
V\ ythe, (Jeorge. syiupatliy forkentueky,
Yadkin River, 77.
Yim,o frraiits r,4<(; corruption in the
My'.''*:::!, "^'■l'"I"';« '•'^^PecH.g them!
J4y ; act rescinded, 5GU.
595
voyage on
i Yoder, Jacob, 204. .(".i- his
tJie JIissKssippi, ■■i2(i
^^oughiogheuy Hiver. 2.->(), 2.34
Zane family, r»>, (W, 2(14 r.ll
'^^ri;;'":' *^ ^^--i-- i" Pennsyl-
K7 ii'' ' '""^'-'ir, "■'^■■'f^'" ^"dians,
F f Vi' *"'"•'' ^'iljs'm, l.W; warns
I-ort Henry. 1!I4 ; a::d the St. Car
campaign, 424.
the MissLs-