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Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit an un seul clichA. 11 est filmA A partKr de I'angia supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite. et de haut an bas, en prenant le nombre d'Imagas nAcessaire. Les diegrammes suivants illustrant la mAthode. rata > elure. 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 THE €almml Jijstffrg 0f WmttmtB, UNDER TUB FRENCH, BRITISH AND AMERICAN GOVERNMENTS, FROM ITS FIRST SETTLEMENT DOWN TO THE TERRITORIAL ADMINISTRATION Off GENERAL WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, BEING AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BY JUDaE TL,JSJW, BEFORE THE VINCENNES HISTORICAL AND ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY, FEBBUABY 22D, 1839, WITH ADDITIONAL NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. -*♦»- i ' \ VINCENNES: HARVEY, MASON «Sj Co. 1858. 4 ; 1 ■ LETTER OF DEDICATION. Hox. Lewis Cass: — Thirtv-five years siiicc, in the month of June, 1822, \vc made our first acqiuiintance at "The Post" — ^you on your exploring expedition to the head waters of the ]Mississippi — I then a young- man, jubt commencing my professional career in the new 8tate of Indiana. What changes have been effected since that pe- riod, in and along the Valleys, formed by the streams you navigated, and flowing into the "Father of Waters," whose fountain head you Avere probably the first white man to visit? Leaving Detroit in your birch canoe — ascending the Maumee — crossing the portage and descending the Wabash and Ohio, yf^u entered the Mississippi and pushed your frail \ bark to the sources of that great river. How few were the resources of the immense inland coast, • I along which you voyaged at the time mentioned? Wluiu wealth, population and power, are now to t j 1)0 found along its borders. The most sanguine ; | among us, though we have lived to witness the ; { alteration, would have been deemed insane to have predicted it, or anything like it for a half century past. What it will be in another half century, neither you or I will l)e permitted to witness. Our fervent prayers should be, that the same Provi- dence that has hitherto watched over and protected us, may continue its guardianship, and preserve us and those who are to come after us, the same pros- perous, happy, and above all, united people. Aside from my high regard for you personally, I dedicate this small volume of the incidents con- nected with the colonial history of "Post Vincen- nes " to yoUy because you yourself have for the great- ? : !! i ■ •ii ' I ! 1' RUE^ IV DEDICATION. er portion of yoiir long and active life been inti- mately associated with the rise and progi-ess of the North-Western Territory. To ym, whose early life and mature years have been devoted to the ad- vancement and prosperity of the " Great West," of which for so many years "The Post " was the cen- tre, and around which, as a nucleus, four of the great States of the Union have clustered. With great regard, Your obedient servant, JOHN LAW. Vincennes, Feb. 24, 1868. PREFACE. The great interest which has been taken in the Colonial History of "Post Vixcexnes" and its intimate connection with the Colonial History of the whole North- Western Territory, in addition to the fact, that the whole edition of the "address" delivered before the "Vincennes Historical and Antiquarian Society" in 1839, amounting to two thousand copies, has long since been exhausted, has induced the author, at the earnest solicitation of others, to issue another edition with notes and illus- trations, which it was impossible to combine with the address — but which are interesting as still furth- er elucidating, the subject matter of the address itself. These memorials of the early settlement of the North-Western Territory, it is due to ourselves and those who come after us, to preserve if possi- ble. The field is a large one, and what is more, rich and productive in incidents of the most inter- esting character. I have but gleaned a few con- nected with the early settlement of "The Post " so called *?par excellence," as the rallying point of an Empire, extending from the Lakes to the Ohio, from the Miami to the Mississippi — and now con- taining within its borders the four great States of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. I know of no portion of our country richer in his- torical incident. For surely a town which is one of the oldest on the Continent— one for the possession of which, the greatest nations of the earth have contended — France, England, and the United States. One located upon the beautiful stream which flows before it, the " Ouabache." A river known and noted on the maps of the West long be- fore the Ohio was known in the geography of the Mis. VI I'Kr.FAf'K. sippi Vall(\v. A y'ivdv which hr nearly a century bore upon its waters tlie bateaux of the thi*ee great powers above mentioned, bringing their armed war- riors to occupy, and it* possible, to preserve it. One which has seen within its garrison the jNIousque- taire of Louis XV, the grenadier of George the III, the riHemen of Clark, and the regular troops of Harmar, St. Clair, and Harrison — one al)ovo which has floated the " Fleur de Lys," the "Cross of St. George" and the glorious "Stars and Stripes " of our beloved country — is surely worthy of at least a passing notice by those who are now reaping the rich fruits of a conquest, made under the most ad- verse and trying circumstances, and with a skill and bravery not unsurpassed in the most glorious triumphs of the revolution. The reader need not be informed that I refer to the conquest of "Post VixcEXNEs," and the capture of Hamilton and his troops, on the memorable 24th of February 1779, by General George Rogers Clark. To him, in my opinion, considering the results of that conquest, the vast addition of Territory acquired by it, and the incalculable advantages to the people who now occupy it, and to the country at large, the United States are more indebted than to any other General of the Revolution — Washington alone excepted. In conclusion I would say to you who inhabit the Territory thus acquired, by the valor and sufferings of Clark and his gallant followers, nearly eighty years since, if I should impress upon your minds and those of your children, who are to succeed you, the debt of gratitude which you owe to these brave men, long since gathered to their fathers, I shall not have labored for nought or written in vain. JOHN LAW. VixcENNES, Feb. 24th, 1858. CONTENTS. ADDRESS DEFOKE THE HISTORICAL SUCIETV. TIkj Early Sottl(, without a more particular notice of him and his visit, seeing this was the first "labor of love" ever undertaken in our ancient Borough.. It seenrLs, the moving impulse which led this "her- ald of the cross" to the shores of the Wabash, an. impidse which drew many of his brethren into the western wilderness, was the conversion of a tribe of Indians now extinct, but probably a branch of the Miamis — as he says they spoke that language — and called "Mascoutins," who had their village near the Fort; and who, from their sti*ong attach- ment to the superstitions of their medicine men, were very little disposed to hear " the true faith," as delivered by the Reverend Father. Resolving in his own mind the best method of overcoming their unbelief in the true church, he concluded to have a sort of Owen and Campbell debate, a public iliscussion with their principal medicine men, in the presence of the nation. But let us hear the fath- er's own account of the matter. "The way I took," says the Father, " was to confound, in the presenct; of the whole tribe, one of these charlatans, whose 'Manitou,' or Great Spirit which he worshipped, was the 'buffalo.' After leading him on insensibly to the avowal, that it was not the buffalo that be- : ( 14 ADRUE.S8. I worshipped, Imt the 'Manitou/ or Spirit of the buf- falo, whicli was under tlie earth, and which anima- tod all buffaloes, wli\ h heals the sick, rnd has all ])()wer; I asked him if other beasts, the bear for instance, and wKwh some of his nation worshipped, was not equally inhabited by a Manitou, which was under the earth? "Without doubt," said the Grand Medicine. "If this is so," said the Missionary, "men ought to have a Manitou who inhabits them." "Nothing more certain," said the Medicine man ; — "ought not that to convince you," said the Father, pushing his argument, "that you are not very reas- onable? For if man upon the earth is the master of all animals; if he kills them, if he eats them; does it not follow that the Manitou which inhabits him, nmst necessarily have a mastery over all other Manitous? Why then do you not invoke him, in- stead of the Manitou of the bear and the buffalo, when you are sick? " " This reasoning " says the father, "disconcerted the charlatan." But like much other good logic in the world, I am. sorry to add, in his own words, "this was all the effect it produced." A severe malady broke out in the village. The Indians, says the father, gathered around the fort^ for the purpose of making a great sacrifice to their Manitou. They slew thirty or forty dogs, hoisted them on poles, and forming a procession, danced and sang around the fort. Finding their own efforts unable to stop the pestilence, they appealed again to the Missionary, to stay the destroying an- gel, who was carrying them off daily. But it seems, ADDRESS. 15 neither the " Manitou" of the French or of the In- dian was able to arrest the plague. For, says the father, "notwithstanding all my attention, more than half the village perished." How long Father Merniet remained here, we are unable to say. We find he returned to Kaskaskia, and ultimately died there. His place, no doubt, was supplied by the labors of another; but by whom and when, is un- known. The records of the Catholic church here make no mention of a missionary, until the year 1749, when Father Meurin came here; and from that time, until the present, there has been a reg- ular succession of the priesthood. From the period to which I alluded, and for the term of nearly half a century, there would be but little to notice in the progress of this settlement, even if we had the materials of its rise and progress t() operate on. Isolated as it was, there were no events either in its political or social character, which would afford much interest. There was prob- ably a succession of priests and commandants, who governed the little world around them, with infinite power and authority ; from whose decrees spiritual or temporal, there was no appeal, and none desired. ''No colony can long remain separated from its ])arent stock until it exhibits a peculiar, and dis- tinct character. Climate, situation, and country, although not exclusively the agents in forming the character, must nevertheless be admitted to have great influence." The character of the society was a mixture of military and civil; more however, of the former, than the latter. The white portion of le ADDRESS. m %m m H *■-',( li m in M tUill the population was, it must be remembered, essen- tially French. In this remote country there were few objects to urge to enterprizo. Beggary was un- known. The necessaries of life were easily pro- cured; ruco beer," which have been inculcated by them U) their French neighbors, have much improved their social and moral condition. If happiness in this world consists, and it does so in a great degree, in freedom from care, the population of our village were the happiest of the human family; all their desires fulfilled. But the race is nearly extinct; tiiey have become amalgamated with another peo- ple; their habits, manners, opinions, nay language *S«e VoU & 18 ADDRESS. $: ;i ,:-?li I'il , itself, is changing; and in a few years, the tall, manly, arrowy form of the descendant of St. Louis — mild, peaceful, and always i)olite — ^with his blanket capotey the blue kerchief round his head, and san- daled feet, will— as some of us have seen them in our younger days, wending their way on Sundays in their untired and unironed cart, to the old wood- on chapel of St. Francis Xavier, with smiling faces, and, as I believe, with sincere devotion — be seen "no more forever." A new generation, a new race, a new people have encroached upon their posses- sions; and the laws of civilization, as sure as tho laws of nature, will force them to yield to the man- ners, habits, customs, dress and language, of their more powerful neighbors. AVh ether by the change? their physical or moral condition is bettered, is a question that might be well mooted. For my own part, I doubt it. I believe they were a happier, better, and more moral people before their connect tion with the Americans, than since; and that the change of government, has been productive of no good to their social condition. An evidence of their attachment to the old state of things, is the fact, also noticed by Volney, "that the first thing they demanded on their cession to the United States, was a military commandant." I have before remarked, that from the advent of Father Mermet as missionary here, in the year 1710 or '11, for nearly half a century, there were no important events connected with the history of our "Post," but a continued succession of commandant* and missionaries. I should, however, fail in a very t T^Vi ADDRESS. 19 important part of our history, were I not to notice, during that period, the commander after whom our town is named. Francois Morgan de Vinsenne ( " Vinsmne,^^ for so he spelled his name,) was an offi- cer in the service of the King of France, and serv- ing in Canada probably as early as 1720, in the regiment "de Carignan." At any rate, as we are informed, he was engaged in some service with an- other officer on the Lakes towards Sault St. Marie, for the Governor of Canada, M. de Vaudriel, in 1725. At what time he took possession here, is not exactly known ; probably somewhere about the year 1732. There is nothing on our records to show, but an act of sale made by him and Madame Vinsenne, the daughter of Monsieur Philip Long- prie of Kaskaskia, and recorded there. The act of sale, dated 5th January, 1735, styles him "an offi- DRESS. in: "w- 'M one of a i*eceipt for- 100 pistoles, received ftom hi» father-in-law, on his marriage. From all these proofs, I think it evident that he was here previous to 1733, and left with his command, on an expedi- tion against the Chicasaws, in 1736„ by orders from his superior officer at New Orieans, "Monsieur d'Artagette," commandant for the King in Illinois, and in which expedition, according to ^^Charle- vou,'' M. St. Vinsenne was killed. But as the facts are not generally known, I quote his words among the last of his volume: "We have just received verv had news from Louisiana, and our war with the Chickasaw s. The French have been defeated ; among the slain is 'Monsieur de Vinsenne,* who ceased not until his last breath to exhort the men to behave worthy of their religion and their coun- try." Thus perished this hero and gallant officer,, after whom our town is named. We may well be jn'oud of its origin. On looking aj; the register of the Catholic churchy it will be found, that the change of name fi'om Vinsenne to Vincennes, its present appellation, was made as early as 1749.. Why or wherefore, I do not know. I wish the original or- thography had been observed, and the name spelled after its founder^ with the s instead of the t, as it should be. The war between France and England, which broke out about 1754, deprived the former of all her possessions in this country; Canada was added to Great Britain, and Louisiana, as before remarked,, to Spain. The English, anxious to acquir«! posses- sion of the country, soon after the peace of 1763i 1 }\ n Ti '" ADDB£SS. 31 took possession of it The subsequent events will introduce the American population on the stage of action ; and a brief but accurate history of the events which have occurred since, will close my notice of it. The inhabitants occupying* the Post, seem to have but little considered or regarded the change. Their old laws, customs, manners, and habits, were continued ; and, as remarked by one who was pres- t3nt, "the change of government would have hardly been khown." The difficulties, however, between tlie mother country, and her colonies, were about to produce a change, w^hich has been felt to the present day among the ancient inhabitants of the "Post." I refer to the capture of it by Gen. George Rogers (Mark, February 23, 1779 — sixty years from the day after the one, which we are now commemorating. Of this expedition, of its results, of its importance, of the merits of those engaged in it, of their l)ra ve- ry, of their skill, of their prudence, of their success, a volume would not more than suffice for the details. Suffice it to say, that in my opinion — and I have accurately and critically weighed and examined all the results produced by any contests in which we were engaged during the revolutionary war^— that ff)r bravery, for hardships endured, for skill and consummate tact and prudence on the part of the (•ommander, obedience, discipline and love of coun- try on the part of his followers ; for the immense l)enefits acquired, and signal advantages obtained by it for the whole Union, it was second to no enter- prise undertaken during that struggle ; I might add, second to no undertaking in ancient or modern war- • ii iK' 22 ADDRESS. iP it n' fare. The whole credit of this conquest belongs to two men — Gen. George Rogers Clark, and Col. Francis Vigo. And when wo consider that by it the whole territory now covered by the three great States of Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan, was added to the Union, and so adnnitted to be by the commis- sioners on the part of Great Britain, at the prelim- inaries for the settlement of the treaty of peace in 1783; and but for this very conquest the boundaries of our territories west, would have been thb Ohio, instead of the Mississippi, and so acknowledged and admitted both by our own, and the British commissioners at that conference — a territory em- bracing, as I have before remarked, upwards of iwd million of people, the human mind is lost in the contemplation of its eifects ; and we can but wonder that a force of one hundred and seventy men, the whole number of Clark's troops, should, by this sin- gle action, have produced such important results. That they did so, all history attests ; that they did so, our very assembly here this day proves. "It was on the 10th day of December, 1777, that Col. Clark opened the plan of the Illinois campaign, against the British interests in this quarter, to the celebrated Patrick Henry, then Governor of Vir- ginia." It is unnecessary now to go into all the (causes which led to the adoption of a western campaign as suggested by General, then Col. Clarke Suffice it to say, that it was not without doubt as to its success, and great difficulty in preparing the material for the enterprise, that it was undertaken. Virginia herself, from whom the aid was demanded, ^p ADDRESS. 23 and assistance in men and money was expected, was in the most critical period of her revolutionary struggle; her finances exhausted, her sons drawn from the cultivation of the soil, and from all the avocations of civil life — for the most part in the field, battling for freedom — it is not to be wondered at, "that the counsels which advised so distant an expedition should have been listened to with doubt, and adopted with caution." Fortunately for the country they were not unheeded. Gov. Henry, en- couraged by the advice of some of Virginia's most prominent and patriotic sons, yielded to the solicit- ations of Clark; and, on the 2d of Januaiy, 1778, he received two sets of instructions — "one public, directing him to proceed to Kentucky for its de- fence; the other, secret, ordering an attack on the British Post at Kaskaskia," — and with the instruc- tions, twelve hundred pounds in depreciated currency^ as his military chest for conquering an empire. On the 24th of June, 1778, and during a total eclipse of the sun — a sad foreboding, as the party thought ? of their future success, but which ultimately proved "the sun of Austcrlitz," — this patriotic band of four companies, under the command of Caj^tains Montr gomery. Helm, Bowman, and Harrod, crossed the falls of the Ohio, on their apparently "forlorn ex- pedition." It is a well known matter of history, "that during the commencement of our revolutionary struggle, the heart-rending scenes and wide-spread ravagea of our Indian foes on the Western frontier, were caused principally by the ammunition, arms, and !' M k abdhess. >^iii clothing supplied at the British military stations of Detroit, Vinccnnes, and Kaskaskia, then garrisoned by British troops." To divert the attention of the enemy from our own frontier, and to occupy them in the defence of their own positions, it was neces- sary to carry war into their own dominions. The active mind of Clark saw that, by doing this, a diversion would be created in our favor. " His first intention was to march directly to Vincennes ; but on revicAving his troops, the paucity of the number, and the want of all the material necessary for the attack of a fortified town, induced him to abandon this object, and to prosecute the one originally con- templated by his instructions — ^the capture of Kas- kaskia." It forms no part of the plan of this address to enter into the details of that expedition. Suffice it to say, that it was eminently successful, without the loss of a single man ; and that, on the 4th of July, 1778, Kaskaskia yielded to the suprem- acy of American enterprise and valor, and with Cahokia, surrendered to the American arms. It must be recollected, that previous to this event, ft treaty of peace had been concluded between France and the United States. The intelligence of it had been communicated to Clark, on his descent down the Ohio. The effect of this treat)/ had a won- derful influence upon the subsequent events of the campaign. Among the individuals at Kaskaskia, at the time of its capture, was M. Gibault,* the Ro- man Catholic priest, at Vincennes. The capture of Vincennes, as Clark himself admits, "had never *S«e Note C. ADDRESS. 25 been out of his mind from the first moment he un- dertook the expedition westward." His success at Kaskaskia served only to inspire a wish for the accomplishment of the long desired achievement. Affairs being regulated at Kaskaskia, he sent for M. Gibault, and explained to him his views. This patriotic individual, who subsequently received the ])ublic thanks of Virginia for his services, and whose attachment for the American cause is well known, readily and cheerfully sustained him. Dispatched by Clark, to sound the French population here, over whom he had great influence, he, on his arrival, assembled them in the church, explained the object of his mission, the alliance with France, and the negotiations with which he was entrusted. He had no sooner finished, than the population m manse took the oath of allegiance to the Commonwealth of Virginia. A commandant was elected, and the American flag displayed over the fort — much to the astonishment of their Indian neigh))ors, who for the first time saw the glorious stars and stripes, instead of the Cross of St. George, unfurled to that breeze in which it has so often since waved triumphantly, ' M. Gibault, returned to Kaskaskia with the grat- ifying intelligence of the perfect success of his mis- sion; not less, it may be presumed, to the astonish- ment of Clark, than to his gratification. Cai)tain Helm was appointed commandant "and Agent for the Indian affairs in the department of the Wa- bash," and repaired to the "Post," at which it was the intention of Clark to place a strong garrison, on the arrival of the reinforcements expected from ■ :l 20 ADDRU8. ■M i, li' ' I; l! i Virginia. These rcinforpoments never arrived ; and A new and important leaf in the chapter of our his- tory is about to be unfolded, and another individual, no less celebrated, and to u^ equally dear with the conqueror, and whose name will go down to pos- terity with his, in the history of our place, and, on the same bright page which records the valor of the oommander, is to bo introduced to your notice. It was on the first of August, 1778, that M« (ribault returned to Kaskaskia with the intelli- gence of the submission of the French inhabitants here, to the American government, and of the cir- cumstances above detailed. It was well known that Governor Abbot, the commander here, at the time of Clark's expedition to the Illinois, had gone to Detroit on business; and that no great time would elapse before reinforcements would be sent from that post to Vincennes. Clark could not, even had he desired it, detailed any of his own command to garrison the place. Helm was here, a com- mandant in name simply, without a single solditT under his command. From the first of August, when M. Gibault returned, until the 29th of Jan- uary, 1779, Clark had not received a single commu- nication from Vincennes. How he obtained it, and the consequences resulting from the communicar tion, it is now my purpose briefly to unfold. Francis Vigo, better known to us under the mil- itary title of Col. Francis Vigo, a rank which he held during the terintorial government, was born in Mondovi, in the kingdom of Sardinia, in the year 1747. He left his parents and guardians at a very mi AODREU. 27 ^rly age, and enlisted in a Spanish regiment as u private soldier. The regiment was ordered to the Havana, and a detachment of it subsequently to Xew Orleans, then a Spanish post, and which de- tachment Col. Vigo accompanied. At what time, and under what circumstances he left the army, i» not actually known. It is believed, that his atten- tion to his duties, his natural intelligence, and high- minded and honorable deportment, gained him the esteem and contidence of his commander; and that he received his discharge without any application on his own part. We find that shortly after his discharge — and probably by the aid of the same j)owerful friend who had obtained it — he was su|)- plied with goods, and engaged in the Indian trade on the Arkansas and its tributaries; and that a few years after, he made a settlement at St. Louis, also a Spanish post, and was connected in the clos- est relations of friendship an to the garrison, yieldeil, on condition that C.0I. Vigo would sign an article "not to do any act tluring the war injurious to th(^ British interests." This he absolutely and positively refused. The matter was finally adjusted, on an agrcen»ent en- tered into on the part t>f CoL Vigo, "not to do any thing injurious to the British inten;sts on kin way to St. Louis." The agreement was signed, and til© next day he departed in a pirogue down the Wabash and the Ohio, and uj) the Mississippi with two voyagers accompanying him. Col. Vigo faith- fully and religiously kept the very lettefi' of his bond. Qu hi8 wan ^ ^^'- ^^^ ^^ ^^ nothing injurious in i>li»i:J 30 ADORB03. I: if,: if': i 1" 11 m ♦ho slightest degree to British interests. But he had no sooner set his foot ok^ shore there, and chang- their abiding place — our own lovely valley — ^that its conquest and subsequent attachment to the Union, was as much owing to the councils and services of Vigo, as to the bravery and enterprise of Clark. It was on the 5th of February, 1779, that a Spar- tan band of one hundred and seventy men, headed by as gallant a leader as ever led men to battle, crossed the Kaskaskia river, on their march to this place. The incidents of this campaign, their perils, their sufferings, their constancy, their courage, their success, would be incredible, were they not matters of history. In my opinion, as I have before re- marked, no campaign either in ancient or modern warfare — taking into consideration the force em- ployed, the want of material, the country passed ADDRESS. 31 sed over, the destitution of even the necessaries of life, the object to be accomplished, and the glorious re- sults flowing from it, is to be compared to it. And what is even yet more astonishing, is the foct, that a battle which decided the fate of an empire, a cam- paign which added to our possessions a count rv more than equal in extent to the United kingdoms of Great Britain, Scotland, and Ireland, has scarcely even a page of our revolutionary annals devoted to its details, or making even honorable mention of the brave and gallant men who so nobly and suc- cessfully conducted it. Time would fail me, and your patience would l>e perhaps exhausted, were I to follow step by step, and day by day, this small, but brave, devoted, par triotic and chivalrous corps, through the wilderness from Kaskaskia to this place. It would be but a repetition of daily suiferings, of fatigue, of peril, of constancy, of perseverance, and of hope. Day after day, without provisions, wading in ice and water to their necks, through the over-flowed bottoms of the Wabash, carrying their rifles above their heads, their gallant chief taking the lead, foremost in difli- culty and in danger, did these patriotic soldiers struggle on, taint, weary, cold and starving, until the prize was in view, and their object was accom- plished, f Look around you, my friends, and see what this portion of our beloved Union is now! Look ahead, and tell me, if you can, what it is to be a half century hence, supposing the improvements to progress as they have the last twenty years — and the advancement will bo geometrical — and then go ivi ADDRESS. I ;ir.f I l)ack with me sixty years since, this very day, and learn from an actor in the scene— one holding com- mand, and from whose unpublished journal I make tlie extract, what the country was, and the difficul- ties and dangers, the perils and sufferings those endured for you, and yours; and should you, or those who are to come after you, to the latest gen- eration forget them, "may your right hands forget their cunning." "February 22nd, 1779. Col. Clark* encouraged his men, which gave them great spirits. Marched oTi in the water; tliose that were weak and famished from so much fatigue, went in the canoes. We came three miles farther to some sugar camps, where we stayed all night. Heard the evening and morn- ing guns at the Fort. No provisions yet. The Lord help us. "23d. Set off to cross a plain called Horse Shoe Plain, about four miles long, all covered with water hreast high. Here we expected some of our brave jnen must certainly perish, the water having frozo: "Without food, tHMiumbcd with c«ld, up to their wuLits iu wutt'r eovered with broken ice, tho cnMi coraposing Clark's tvoops at one time mutinied, refusing to march. All the persuasions of Clark bad no effect upon the half starved and half frozen soldiers. In one of the companies was a small boy wha acted aa drummer. In the samw company was a sergeaut, standing six feet two inches ia his stockings, stout, athletic, and devoted to Clurk. Finding that his eloquence had no effect upon the men, in persuading them to continue their linv of march, Clark mounted the little drammer on the shoulders of tho stalwart sergeant, and gave orders to him to plunge into the half fri^zen water. He did so, the little drammer beating the charge front liisMofty perch, while Clark, with sword in hand, followed them, giv- ing the command as he threw asJde tho floating ice — " FORWARD ! '* Klated and amused with the scene, the men promptly obeyed, holdine their rifles above their heads, and in spite of all ob«tiM)leSt veaehed the high land beyond them, safely. 1 ADDOISS. as , <»• m the night, and so long fasting. Having no other resource but wading this lake of frozen water^ we plunged in with courage, Col. Clark beingi first.* We took care to have boats by, to take those who were weak and benumbed with the cold into them. Never were men so animated with the thought of avenging the ravages done to their back settle- ments, as this small army was. About one o'clock we came in sight of the town. We halted on a amall iiill of dry land, cdled ."Warren's Island," where we took a prisoner hunting ducks, who in- formed us that no person suspected our eoming in tliat season of the year. CoL Clark wrote a letter by him to the inhabitants, as follows : " To the inhabitants of Post Vincennes — "Gentlemen: Being now within two miles of your village with my army, determined to take your Fort this nighty and not being willing to sur- j)rize you, I take this method of requesting such of you as are true citizens, and willing to enjoy the liberty I bring you, to remain still in your houses. And those, if anv there are. that are friends to the King, will instantly repair to the Fort, and join the Hair-Buyer General, and fight like men. And if any such as do not go to the Fort shall be discov- ered afterwards, they may depend on severe pun- ishment. On the contrary, those who are true friends to liberty, will b© well treated. "G. R. CLARK." In order to gjve effect to this letter, by having it communicated to the French inhabitants, the army t. •SmMoUC. 31 ADDRESS. 'I ■ '11/ m encamped until about sun down, when they com* menced their march, wading in water breast high, to the rising ground on which the town is situated^ One poi < 1'" ^ of the army marched directly up along where the ee is now raised, and came in by the steam-mill ; while another party under Lieut. Brad- ley, deployed from the main body, and came in by the present Princeton road. An entrenchment waa thrown up in front of the Fort, and the battle com- menced from the British side by the discharge, though without effect, of their cannon, and the re- turn on our side of rifle shot, the only arms which the Americans possessed. On the morning of the 24th, about 9 o'clock, Col. Clark sent in a flag of truce, with a letter to the British commander, during which time there was a cessation of hostili- ties, and the men were provided with a breaktast, the Jirst meal which they had had since the 18^/^ ,s7.r days before. The letter of Clark is so characteristic of the man, so laconic, and, under such trying cir- cumstances, shows so much tact, self-possession and tirmness, that I will read it: "Sir: In order to save yourself from the impend- itig storm that now threaten** you, I order you immediately to surrender yourself, with all your t!farrison, stores, &c., <&c.; tor if I am obliged to storm, you may depend on sucli treatment as is justly due a murderer. Beware of destroying stores of any kind, or any papers or letters that are in your possession, or hurting one house in town, for by Heavens, if you do, there shall be no mercy shown you. "0. R. CLARK. " "To Gov. Hamilton." ADDRESS. 35 Since the days of Charles the Xllth, of Sweden, 1 doubt whether ever such a cartel, under such cir- cumstances was sent to an antagonist. Prudence, as Clai'k well knew, would indeed be a "rascally virtue" on such an occasion. Hemmed in on one side by ice and water, with a fortified post bristling with artillery in front, with one hundred and sev- enty soldiers — part Americans, part Creoles, with* out food, worn out, and armed only with rifles, it was, as Clark knew, only by acting the victor in- stead of the vanquished, (as was the real state of tlie case, if Hamilton had only known the fact) that he could hope to succeed. He acted wisely and he acted bravely; any other course, and he would have been a prisoner instead of a conqueror. The very reply of Hamilton to this singular epistle shows he was already quailing: "Gov. Hamilton begs leave to acquaint Col. ('lark, that he and his garrison are not disposed to //e awed into any action unworthy British subjects." The battle was renewed ; the skill of our western riflemen, celebrated even in our days, wounded sev- eral of the men ih the Fort through the port-hcles, the only place where a shot could be made eflective. C'lark, w^ith the skill of a. practiced commander, must have seen and felt from the answer returned to his communication, that another message would soon be delivered to him from the same quarter, and he was not long in receiving \L The flag of truce brought him as follows: "Gov. Hamilton i)ropose3 to Col. Clark a truce for three days, during which time he promises that tl 36 address; I - there shall be no defensive work carried on in the- garrison, on condition that Col. Clark will observe on his part a like cessation of offensive work ; that is, he wishes to confer with Col. Clark, as soon a» can be, and promises that whatever may pass be- tween them two, and another person mutually- agreed on to be present, shall remain secret until matters be finished; as he wishes, that wliatever the- result of the conferon<^ may be, it may tend to the honor and credit of each party. If Col. Clark makes a difficulty of coming into the Fort, Lieut. Gov.. Hamilton will speak with him by the gate. 24th Feb'y, '79. HENRY HAMILTON." If Gov. Hamilton had known tlie man he was. dealing with, he would have found, ere this, that be would have made light of any difficulties "in coming into the Fort; " and if not already convinced of the daring of the toe he was contending with, one would, have supposed Clark's answer would have set him right: "Col. Clark's compliments to Gov. Hamilton, and' begs leave to say, that he Avill not agree to any terms, other than Mr. Hamilton swh'endering liirmelf and garrison prisoners at discretion. "If Mr. Hamilton wants to talk with Col. Clark, he will meet him at the church with Capt. Helm J' Laconic enough, surely, and easily understood ; and so it was. For in less than one hour after* wards, Clark dictated himself the following Vinxa^ which were accepted, a meeting having taiien plac* at the church: ^Ist. Lieut. Got. Hamilton agrees to deliver i:|.-:i ADDRESS. ST to Col, €lark, *^Fart Sackville" as it is at present, with all its stores, &c. 2d. The garrison are to deliver themselves as l^risoners of war, and march out with their arms and ««coutrcments. 3d. The garrison to be delivered up to-morrow at ten o'clock. 4th. Three days time to be allowed the garri- son to settle their accounts with the inhabitants and traders. 6th. The officers of the garrison to be allowed their necessary baggage., &c. Signed at Post St. Vincents, this 24th of Feb- ruary, 1779. Agreed for the following reasons: 1st. The remoteness from succor. 2d. The state and quantity of provisions. 3d. The unammiff/ of the officers and men in its expediency. 4th. The honorable terms nllowed; and lastly, the conlidenee in a generous enemy. HENRY HAMILTON, Lieut. Gov. and Superinfendent. It was on the twenty-fifth day of February, 1779, about ten o'clock in the forenoon, that the British troops marched out, and the Americans entered that Fort, acquired with tlie tact, skill, judgment, bravery, peril, and suffi3ring, which I have so briefly attempted to describe. The British ensign was hauled down, and the American flag waved above its ramparts ; that flag, " Within whose folds . Are wrapped, the trvjasurea of our hearts, Where e'er its waving sheet is fanned, , « By hreezes of the sea, or land." ] \ t| I r. 38 ADDRESS. • •i; I: Time would not permit me, my friends, to dwell on the important results growing out of this con- quest to our common country. A volume would he required to delineate fully, all the advantages which have been derived from it to that Union, a portion of which we now constitute. Calculate, if you can, the revenue which the government already has, and will continue to derive from its public domahi within the territory thus acquired. Bounded by tlie Lakes and the Miami on one side, and the Ohio and the Mississippi on the other, embracing thrw large States, witli a poi)ulation now of upwards of two millions, with a representation of six Senators in one branch of our National Councils, and eleven llepresentatives in the other; and which, within the last half century, was represented by a single Del- egate, but, in the next half century to come, will have fifty Representatives ; mild in its climate, rich in its soil, yielding in the abundance, variety, and excellence of its products, perhaps, a greater quan- tity than the same space of territory in the civilized world ; inhabited, and to be inhabited by a race of industrious, hard working, intelligent, high-minded, and patriotic people, attached to the institutions of their country; lovers of order, liberty and law; republicans in precepts and in practice; trained from their earliest infancy to revere and to ven- erate, to love knd to idolize the Constitution adopted by their fathers, for the government of themselves and their posterity;— calculate, if yoi* can) the in- crease within this territory, of just such a popular tion as I have described, "within sixty years to come ADDRESS. 39 —-its wealth, its influence, its power, its improve- ments, morally and socially — and when your minds are wearied in the immensity of the speculation, ask yourselves to whom all these blessings are to he attributed; and whether national gratitude, in the fullness of national wealth and prosperity, can find treasures enough to repay those gallant men, and those who aided them in their glorious struggle, which I have attempted feebly to describe. But T am warned by the time which I have already occu- pied, that this address should close — not that tin; subject is exhausted, or can be. No other, that I can conceive of, presents a finer field for the his- torian; and the few incidents whi(;h have been gathered here and there, "few and far between," in relation to our early history, but stimulates tx» fur- ther enquiry. A brief notice of the principal events which have occurred since the capture by Gen. Clark, and I shall close this long, and, I fear from the nature of the subject, to you on this occasion, uninteresting address. The first object to be obtained, after the fall of the Post, and the consequent change resulting from it, was the establishment of a civil government. Col. Clark returned to Kaskaskia, leaving Capt. Helm in command, both as civil and military com- mandant. The result of the campaign was made known as early as possible to the government of Virginia, and Col. Todd was sent out as the gov- ernor and commandant, by the Executive Council there. How long he remained, I do not know; probably long enough to form a provisional govern* ii 40 ADDRESS. '!. Jill: yi ment; for we find that he delegated his power to M. Legras, as Lieut. Governor, and proceeded to Kaskaskia. I have had no opportunity of ascer- taining from tlie records in Virginia, the continua- tion or names of the Governors after Todd, until the transfer of the territory to the United States, and the territorial government then formed under the act of Congress, The act of the Virginia Legislature, transferring the North- Western Territory to the United States, ])assed on the 20th of December, 1783, and the Delegates on the part of Virginia, Thomas Jeffer- son, Samuel Hardy, Arthur Lee, and James Mad- ison, by their deed of cession, conveyed, on tlie first of March, 1784, "all the right, title, and interest of the State of Virginia in the country acquired north- west of the river Ohio, to the United States." And in 1787, the celebrated ordinance for its government was passed by Congress; an ordinance, which in its t much whether all subsequent legislation has been enabled to frame a code superior to that of the old territorial code. Gen. Ilarmar, then commanding in tho west, was appointed civil Governor and superintendent of In- dian affairs. He was here in 1787, and I believe, had charge of our civil affairs by himself or deputy, until 1790, when Gen. St. Clair was a]>p()intcd, and took command. He came here in 1791, and went to Kaskaskia, from whence he mado a long report to the Sccrebxrv of State in relation to the situation of atlairs hero. Some of his suggestions, consider- ing our present advanced state of imju-ovement, are singular enough. "He recommends the establish- ment of a printing press in the Western Territory," and gives as a reason, "that as tlie laws are not binding upon the people until a]>]iroved by Con- gress, there is- no way of giving publicity to them, but by having them read in the courts." " ]3ut few people," says he, "understand them, and even the magistrates who carry them into execution are per- fect strangers to them." There seems, however, to have been no great difficulty after all. The French I ii ADDRIM. f f complained that as the County Court was comiwsed of live justices, three of whom were Americans, and but two Frenchmen, whereas, the French popula- tion was treble that of the Americans, and there was occasionally a little leaning by their Honors, on the American side of the bench, towards thei' countrymen; and, as none of the American g(; epnors assigned to keep the peace, understood French, there was some difficulty in making their (rause fully understood. But there were no mobs, no tarring and feathering of the Judges, no pulling down the court-house. If the law was not well understood by these . modern Ivlansfields, they de- cided the case, ^'ex eqito ef hono^'' according to equity and good conscience ; and, in nine cases out of ten, no doubt, did more complete justice to all parties, than with a row of "gentlemen learned in the law'' before them, to (;onfuse them with their sophistry, or perplex them with a quibble. In 1800, Congress ])assed the act dividing the In- diana territory, from what was called the territory north-west of the river Ohio, and in 1801, Gen. William Henry Harrison was appointed Governor. There were at this period, but three settlements in the whole of this immense territory. The one at the Falls, called "Clark^s Grant," the one here, and the one on the Mississippi between Cahokia and Kaskaskia; the whole population of which did not exceed five thousand souls. It does not fall within the limits which I had assigned to this discourse, to trace our progress farther. The history of the town, the seat of government of the territory until IDDRESS. 43 1816, is the history of Indiana during that period: but the facts connected with it are familiar to you all. Suffice it to say, that our progress since liax been onward, and will continue to be, should we be true to ourselves and to the interests committed to our hands. Members of the "Vincennes Historical and An- tiquarian Society" and citizens of Vincennes, I have finished the task assigned me on this occasion — not by any means in the manner it should be, or, in- deed, in the manner I propose to finish it hereafter, if I have leisure. I have thrown together a few of the leading inci- dents of our history, fitted only to bo woven intc> an address on the present occasion. The historinu of our ancient borough, must gather for his work more materials than I have been furnished with, to d(» full justice to his subject. He should search tlie archives of other countries — of France, of England, the colonial records of Canada, and the revolution- ary ones of Virginia; in fine, devote to it more time, labor and research, than I have been enabled to do, in order to make it the work it should be. The history of this Post has been the history of the Western country. It has been the stake for which nations have played; the prize for which princes have contended — France, England, Virginia, and the States have, in turn, held it in subjection — ^have governed it with their laws, and regulated it with their codes, civil and military. Our position has been an important one, while our history, but little known, has been more full of stirring incident, of ii T lit 111 liii' "Mk ABDRESS. revolution, of bloodshed, and of battle, than the his- tory of any town on the continent. One hundred and thirty years since, we have seen it occupied a« A post in the wilderness, forming one link in tJie <»hain by ^.hicli France attempted to hold her pos- Hi^ssions in this country. Fnty years after, we have seen it yielding to British dominion and subject to IJritish power. The war of the revolution, and the .severing of those ties which bound us to our parent state, wrested it also from its conquerors. The braver> of Clark, and that of his compatriots in arms, formed a new era in its eventful career. It became the emporium of an empire — the seat of government of a territory now composing three large States. The history of our tov/n, since the division of the territory, is familiar to you all. But even since then it has not been without its interest. The same stern devotion to country, the same love ■of liberty, the same valor and patriotism, has been displayed in modern times by its citizens, which gave to it an eclat in times gone by. The battle lield of Tijjpecanoe was fertilized by the blood of our brethren. And more daring, brave, and chiv- alrous and patriotic men never gathered under their 45ouutry's banner, than rallied in its defence on that eventful field, from the town in which we are now assembled. And am I right in saying, thai the same spirit «till exists here? That should our country again make its call "to arms," that here, in the very cra- dle of liberty, oil this side of the AUeghanies, the a[tirit which animated Clark and his followers, has r^ i V ADDRESS. 45 %cen handed down to those whom I address ; and that if occasion offered, you would emulate them in the privations they underwent, the sufferiuju's they endured, and the glory they acq,uired? Am 1 riglit in saying this? Fellow-citizens, I know that I am ri()ht. The response to this question in the affirm- nti\ e, is answered by every breath that heaves from the bosoms of those who he. me. It is ans\\ered by the silent homage which you yourselves, on this occasion, have paid to bravery and patriotism, such as [ have delineated. Young men of this assembly, this feeling must bt^ kept alive — you must neither forget your origin or your destiny. Many of us will soon pass off the .*tage of action \- — •' The eterrml sm-go Of time and tide rolls on, nud boars ufar Our bubbles; and the old burstr new emerge, Lash'd from the foam of ages ; while the grave* Of empires heavo but like some passing waves.'*' G-ciueration after generation will succeed us. But kt it be ever impressed on your minds, and the minds of those who come after you to the latest posterity, that the same wisdom and valor which Airijuired the "Post," must always sustain^, jjrofeci and defend iL NOTES. I 'M .1 . : I i : ,1 i, 'ii'-i ^'oTi-: A. Since the delivery of the foregoing address, I havo read Article I J, in the January number of the North American Bevieu\ being a review of the "Life of Father Marquette," by Jared Sparks — "Library of American Biography, Vol. 10th." The original work of Mr. Sparks, the "Life of Father Mar- quette," contained in the 10th volume of his Amer- ican Biograi)hy, I have never seen. The reviewer, however, in the article referred to, has, I conceive, made a sad mistake in relation to the "labor of love" of Father Mermet to the "Mas- coutens," a tribe of Indians now extinct, or, what is more probable, amalgamated with other tribes, and hence have lost their original appellation. The " Mascoutens" were a branch of the " Miamis" — vMe Mr. Gallatin's letter published in the " Transactions of the American Historical and Antiquarian So- <^iety;" they never lived on the Ohio, but occupied the country along Lake Michigan, and down the river Wabash. In page 90 of the article referred to, the reviewer says: "An attempt was also made to build up a settlement at the point where the Ohio and the Mississippi join, at all times, a favorite spot among the planners of towns, and at this moment. NOTES. 47 if we mistake not, in the process of being made a town. The first who tried this spot was Sieur Juchereau, a Canadian gentleman, assisted by Father Mennetj who was to christianize the Mascmitens^ of whom a large flock was soon gathered." The re- « viewer then goes on to describe ttie modus operandi by which Father Meiimet syllogistically undertook to confound the high priests of this deluded band, and gives an account of his conference with their prin- cipal medicine men, very similar to that given in tlie preceding address. Now the only matter in relation to which we differ is the venue. I assert tliat the conference and "theological discussion" took place on the banks of the Wabash, and not *'at the confluence of the Ohio .uul Mississippi;" and that it happened at the "Pust,"' or tiie ''0 Poste,^^ (contraction for the French word "a?/,") or, ]>ar excellence, "The Post Vincennes." And 1 be- lieve 1 prove it from two circumstances; the ont' referred to, to-wit: the "Mascoutens" were a branrli of the Miamis, and inhabited the country watered by the Wabash; they never occupied any portion of the country bordering on the Ohio. If the object of the good Father was, (as Father Marest states it was — and we both derive our account of the mattei* from him,) the conversion of the "Mascoutens," he would go where they dwelt, which was on the Wa- bash, and not on the Ohio; and if Father Mermot WHS with the Sieur Juchereau at the mouth of th<3 Ohio, it is hardly credible, that the "Mascoutens" would "gather in a large flock from a distance of upwards of two hundred miles, from the banks of w- 4a NOTESv !i;r the Wabash, to the confluence of the Ohio and the Mississippi, for the mere sake of a public discussion on "mooted points of theology," between their *• Medicine Men" and Father Mermet. They might follow the chase of their enemies that distance, but I doubt much, whether they would travel that far,, to learn whether tlie "Manitoji" of the Frenchman or the ''Manitou of the Mascouten" was the one to lie worshipped. In the second place, the French Imd no settlement on the Ohia in the early part of the 18th century — by a settlement I moan a fixed establishment, a gar- rison, a town. Sieur Juchereau, for aught I know, may have had a trading house there, but there was no regular French, establishment;, and, according to J^^atlier Marest, it was to such an establishment al- ready garrisoned — "a Fort," that Father Mermet went with the primary object of accomplishing the conversion of the "Mascoutens" to the true faith.. 1 quote from the original letter of Father Marest to- Father Germon, volume 6th, page 333 of the ''/.f/- tret} Ed'tfiantes et Curieuses," dated Kaskaskia, No- vember Dth, 171L.. ''Les Francok itoient Uahli un Fort sur lefleuve 'OuABACHE,.' ih demanderent un lu'mouaire; et k Fere Mermet leiirfut envoy e.. Ce Fere crut devoir travailler a la conversion des Mascot, tens qui avoient fait un village sur les lords duineme fleuve — c^est wm nation Indians qui entend la langue Illvnoisey Now I have mentioned the fact, and given the reasons why the Ohio was called "Ouabache" by the same Father, and by others, a reason, as it ap^ i NOTES. 49 pears to me perfectly satisfactory. And as the French settled Vincennes, and established a Fort there early in the 18th century; and as the "Mas- coutens" were located on that stream, and not on the Ohio, and being a branch of the Miamis, and a portion of the Algonquin race, of course supposed to understand the ^^Illinoise" I think it conclusive that the "local" of Father Mermet's labors was the '•Post" or "Fort" at Vincennes, and not the site at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi, where Sieur Juchereau may, or may not, have made a set- tlement. At any rate, until some further evidence is produced, I shall, as I have done in the text, claim the honor of Father Mermet's first visit for "Post VvMeivnes^ Note B. It was a very difficult matter to induce the French inhabitants at Kaskaskia, after Clark's arrival there and capture of the place, to take the "Continental paper," which Clark and his soldiers had brought along with them; and it was not until after Col. Vigo went there and gave his guaranty for its re- demption, that they would genera^y receive it. Peltries and piastres were the only cun'ency known to these simple and unsophisticated Frenchmen. They could neither read nor write, and Col. Vigo had great difficulty in explaining the operations of this new financial arrangement to them. " Their commandants never made money," was the only reply to the Colonel's explanations of the policy of the "Old Dominion" in these issues. But notwith- 4 50 NOTES. lii 1-1 ' standing the Colonel's guaranty, the paper was not in good credit, and ultimately became very much depreciated. The Colonel had a trading establish- ment at Kaskaskia after Clark's arrival. Coffee was one dollar per pound. The poor Frenchman coming to purchase, was asked "what kind of pay- ment he intended to make for it? " '■^Banlenr,^'' said he. And when it is recollected that it took about twenty continental dollars to purchase a silver dol- lar's worth of coffee, and that the French word ^^douleur" signifies "grief," or "pain," perhajis no word, either in the French or English languages, expressed the idea more correctly, than "f/ow7ci/r" for "continental dollars." At any rate, it was truly ^Uloulmr^^ to the Colonel ; for he never received a sinffle dollar in exchange for the large amount he had taken in order to sustain Clark's credit. The above anecdote I had from the Colonel's own lips. 9 »! t Mi! ■' J'i,' if Note C. I am indebted, and much indebted, to my friend Prof. Bliss, of Louisville, Kentucky, for the letters of Gen. Clark, and the extract from Major Bow- man's journa^l^f the capture of Vincennes, now for the first time published. I cannot but again repeat, what I have in the address so pointedly remarked, how little is known of the campaign of 1778, 1779, and the capture of Kaskaskia and Vincennes by Clark and his gallant followers. With the excej)- tion of a short notice of this in "Marshall's Lite of Washington," and the more extended one of But- ler in his "History of Kentucky," a modern work, NOTES. 61 the incidents of that campaign are hardly noticed. Yet it was, as it regards its ultimate effects to the Union, decidedly the most brilliant and useful, of any undertaking during the revolutionary war. — Clark by that campaign added a territory em- bracing three of the finest States in the Union, to the Confederacy, to-wit: Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan; a territory, which, but for this very con- quest, must now have been subject to British do- minion, unless like Louisiana, it had since been acquired by purchase. For the only pretence of title which our commissioners, in the negotiations which resulted in the treaty of peace in 1783, set up to this immense territory, was "the capture of it by Clark, and the possession of it by the Americans at the date of the conference." The argument of "«/"/ possidetis''^ prevailed; and the mind would be lost in the calculation of dollars and cents, to' Siay nothing of the other matters " which constitnta a State," — men "who kiiow their rights" inhabiting it, and which the government has gained from the contest — as to what will be the wealth and population of this same North- Western Territory a half century hence. Most of the facts connected with the capture of Kaskaskia are derived from "Butler's History of Kentucky," a new edition of which has lately been published. It is a very useful and valuable work, and contains more incidents connected with western history, particularly the campaign of Clark in Illi- nois in 1778-'9, than any other work heretofore pub- lished. '^•-- - '■•'^ ■ - ■■ "'^^'"- (''■'-■■' -■ ••' ' Since the first publication of this address, my T 'ii M M. >'i 'I ■•',1 ■' r % 111 :'4 '4 M % 52 NOTES. friend, Professor Bliss, was killed in a rencounter at Louisville. Of the circumstances attending his death, I am not sufficiently informed ta give the particulars, nor would it be at this late period proper for me to do so, even were it in my power to detail them. All who knew him will admit that a more amiable, intelligent, and high minded man never existed, and none whose death, under the circumstances attending it, was ever more lamented. '''• Requiescat mpace." At the time of his death he was preparing for publication the "Life of General George Rogers Clark," and had been for several years acquiring the materials to enable him to do so. It is much to be regretted that in the dispen- sations of Proyidence, he was not spared to finish the work. I knew no man more capable of such an undertaking; and I have no doubt had he lived, we should have been furnished with a life of General Clark, which not only would have done justice to that great man, but have been highly creditable to the author. What became of the materials which he had with great labor collected for the undertak- ing, I do not know. If in the hands of his friends,, they should be carefully preserved for the use v.f some future historian. The life of ''General Clark" would be a national worky and it is to be hoped that some western Preseott or Bancroft will, ere the ma- terials are lost, get hold of them and furnish u& with one of the mo»t interesting volumes that has ever been printed. J Vnow of no work that would be more eagerly sought for in the west — the field of his patriotiam, enterprise, and valor. 1 m APPENDIX. I i: FATHER GIBAULT. ■SERVICES TO CLARK AND HIS PATRIOTISM BUT POORLY COMPENSATED. Pierre Gibault, Parish Priest at Vincennes, and occasionally performing his apostolie duties on the Mississippi, was at Kaskaskia in 1778-9, when Gen. Clark captured that place. The services he ren- dered Clark in that campaign, which were acknowl- ijdged by a resolution of the Legislature of Virginia, in 1780 — ^his patriotism, his sacrifices, his courage and love of liberty, require of me a fuller notice of this good man and pure patriot, than I have been •enabled to give in the published address. Father Gibault was a Jesuit missionary to the Illinois at an early period, and had the curacy of the parish at Kaskaskia when Clark took possession of that post; and no man has paid a more sincere tribute to the services rendered by Father Gibault to the American cause, than Clark himself. It was a matter of deep importance, especially after the arrest of Rochblave, the commandant at Kaskaskia, for Clark to conciliate, if possible, the ancient in- habitants residing at Kaskaskia, This he effectu- &1 APPENDIX. liHi: m^i ii! M lis* ' ■ , f: ally did through the agency of Father Gibault. Through his influence, not only were the French population of Kaskaskia induced to supply the troops with provisions and other necessaries, but to receiA'^e the depreciated continental paper currency of Virginia at par, for all supplies thus furnished, Vigo adding his guaranty for its redemption, and receiving it doHar for dollar, not only from the sol- diers, but from the inhabitants, until it became en- tirely worthless. Father Gibault, but especially Vigo, had on hand at the close of the campaign, more than twenty thousand dollars of this worth- less trash, (the only funds, however, which Clark had in his military chest,) and not one dollar of which was ever redeemed, either for Vigo or Father Gibault, who, for this worthless trash, disposed "of all his cattle, and the tithes of his parish- oners," in order to sustain Clark and his troops, without which aid they must have surrendered, surrounded as they were, by the Indian allies of the British, and deprived of all resources but those fur- nished by the French inhabitants, through the per- suasion of Vigo and Father Gibault. But more than thif,. Through the influence of these men, when Clark left Kaskaskia for the purpose of cap- turing Hamilton and his men at post Vincennes, a company of fifty young Frenchmen was raised at Kaskaskia, who joined Clark's troops, under the command of Captain Charlevoix, who shared in all the perils and honors of that glorious campaign, which ended in the capture of the Post, and the sur- render of Hamilton, an event more important in its FATHER OIBAULT. 65 totiseqiiences than any other occurring during our revolutionary struggle. It was entirely through the means of Father Gibault that Hamilton released Col. Vigo, when «ent by Clark to ascertain the true situation of affairs at Vincennes. He was captured by the In- dians and taken to "Fort Sackville," where he was kept a prisoner on parole for many weeks, and re- leased, entirely by the interference of Father Gi- bault, and the declaration of the French inhabitants at Vincennes, who, with their priest at their head, after service on the Sabbath, marched to the fort and informed Hamilton "they would refuse all sup- plies to the garrison unless Vigo was released." Of that release, and the important effect of Vigo's information to Clark on his return to Kaskaskia, in reference to the cp,pture of the Post by Hamilton, I have already spoken. Next to Clark and Vigo, the United States are indebted more to Father Gibault for the accession of tho States, comprised in what Avas the original North-Western Territory, than to any other man. The following memorial from this excellent man, to Gen. St. Clair, then Governor of the North- Western Territory, dated "Kahokia, May 1, 1790," so true, so delicate, so modest, so unassuming, so free from self-laudation, so perfectly characteristic of this good father, deserves publica- tion in connection with the facts above described, in reference to his services to the Government, in the most trying jjeriod of its colonial history: "Kahokia, May 1st, 1790. The undersigned, memorialist, has the honor to APPENDIX. « ■ iS ,11 I i »■*■■ represent to your excellency, that from the moment of the conquest of the Illinois country, by CoL George Rogers Clark, he has not been backward in venturing his life, on the many occasions in which he found that his presence was useful, and at all times sacrificing his property, which he gave for the support of the troops, at the same price that he could have received in Spanish milled dollars, and for which, however, he has received only paper doU Uirs, (continental currency,) of which he has had no information since he sent them, addressed to the Commissioner of Congress, who required a state- ment of the depreciation of them at the Belle Riviere, (Ohio river) in 1783, with an express promise in reply, that particular attention should be paid to his account, because it was well known to be in no wise exaggerated. In reality, he parted with his tithes and his beasts, only to set an example to his par- ishoners, who began to perceive that it was in- tended to pillage them and abandon them after- wards, which really took place. The want of seven thousand eight hundred livres, (or upwards of $1,- 600 our cuiTency,) of the non-payment of which the American notes has deprived him the use, has obliged him to sell two good slaves, who would now be the support of his old age, and for the want of whom, he now finds himself dependent on the public, who, although well served, are very rarely led to jkeep their promises, except that part who, em- ploying their time in such service, are supported by the secular power, that is to say, by the civil govr ^ument. FATHER OIBAULT. 67 The love of country and of liberty has also led your memorialist to reject all the advantages oifered him by the Spanish government; and he endeav- ored by every means in his power, by exertions and exhortations, and by letters to the principal inhab- itants, to retain every person in the dominion of the United States in expectation of better times, and giving them to understand that our lives and prop- erty having been employed twelve years in the aggrandizement and preservation of the United States, would at last receive an acknowledgment, and be compensated by the enlightened and upright ministers, who sooner or later would come to exam- ine into, and relieve us from our situation. We begin to see the accomplishment of these hopes, under the happy government of your excellency, and as your memorialist has every reason to be- lieve, from proofs which would bo too long to ex- plain here, you are one of the number who have been the most forward, in risking their lifes and for- tunes for their country. He also hopes that his demand will be listened to favorably. It is this: The missionaries, like lords, have at all times possessed two tracts of land near this village; one three acres in front, which produces but little hay, three-quarters being useless by a great morass; the other of two acres in front, which may be cultivated, and which the me- morialist will have cultivated with care, and pro- poses to have a dwelling erected on it, with a yard and orchard, in case his claim is accepted. Your excellency may think, perhaps, that this might in- w rm 58 APPENDIX. * m If: '■ *> Si ■ 'id t ^'^ jure some of the inhabitants, but it will not. It would be difficult to hire them to cause an enclosure to be made of the size of these tracts, so much land have they more than they cultivate. May it please your excellency then, to grant them to your memo- rialist as belonging to the domain of the United States, and give him a concession, to be enjoyed in full propriety in his private name, and not as mis- sionary and priest, to pass to his successor; other- wise, the memorialist will not accept it. It ii. for the services he has already rendered, and those which he still hopes to render, as far as circumstances may offer, and he may be capable, and particularly on the bounty with which you re- lieve those who stand in need of assistance, that he founds his demand. In hopes of being soon of the number of those who praise heaven for your fortu- nate arrival in this country, and who desire your prosperity in everything, your memorialist has the honor of being, with the most profound respect, Your excellency's most obedient and most humble servant. "P. GIBAUI.T, Priest " To li is excellency, Arthur St. Clair, Major General of the Army cf the United States, and Governor of the Territory possessed by the United States, north-west of the river Ohio, d-c, d^c." Whether "a concession to be enjoyed in full pro- priety" by the venerated father, "in his private name, and not as missionary and priest, of the two acres in front of the village of Kahokia," on which he proposed to have "a dwelling erected, with a gar- W' i FATHER GIBAULT. 59 den and orchard on it," was ever made, I do not know; if there was, there is no record of it. Gov* St. Clair, in his report to Mr. Jefferson, Secretary of State, in 1791, makes the following remarks in relation to this memorial : " jS'o. 24 is the request of ^Mr. Gibault, for a small piece of land that has long been in the occupation of the priests at Kahokia, having been assigned them by the French, but he wishes to possess it in propriety, and it is true that he was very useful to Gen. Clark upon many occasions, and has suffered very heavy losses. I believe no injury would be done to any one by his request being granted, but it was not for me to give away the lands of the Uni- ted States." In the concessions made by Winthrop Sargent, at the "town at post Vincenncs," while acting as Crovernor in place of Gen. St. Clair, I find the fol- lowing concession made in July, 1790: "Rev. Peter Gibault, a lot about fourteen toises, one side to Mr. I^Iillet, another to Mr. Vaudrey, ami to two streets." Rather an indefinite description of the boundaries ; but the "ambitious city" of 1856, I presume in 1790, had neither a Mayor, or City Engineer, to run out the good father's lines. Judging from the description of the concessions as then made, it would be somewhat troublesome in these modern times, to find them. A few examples may not be uninter- esting, as evidencing the loose mode in which sur- veys of town lots were made nearly seventy years since, at the "0 Post:" "TAe widow of Peter Grrimare — ^A house and lot, 60 APPEKOIZ. S •■I' i'S..; the boundaries not expressed^ but to be surveyed Agreably UiposaessUm, not wterfermg vMh the streets." ^^For the CAmtcA— Four arpents front upon the Wabash, by the usual depth; a lot where the church stands, about twenty toises, for the church or Mr. Antoine Gamelin." ^^Liike Decker — ^A lot twenty-five toises by fifty- one, side to Sullivan, and three sides to streets; a tract of two acres in front by forty deep, on river dv, Ch% one side to Martin. This tract is said to have been by French concession, but none has been l)roduced. His house is built thereon." ^^ Robert Buntin—A. house and lot in Vincennes, front to the Wabash, back to the Indian fields^ one side by Maonaman, on the other hy Francis the Cats- paw, about one acre in length each way." Among the numerous concessions made to T%o, we find the following: "Three pieces of land in the old Indian village, sold by Montour and other chiefs to Spring and Busseron, in May, 1786." "Five pieces of land formerly held by the Kettle Carrier, sold by Quiquilaquia, the grand son of Ket- tle Carrier, with the approbation of Montour and the other chiefs." "Five pieces of land in the old Piankeshaw town at Vincennes, sold by Montour." ^^ Henry Vandei'burgh — A piece of land, twelve arpents more or less, a part of sundry fields, for- merly the lands of the Fiankeshaws, lying at the east of the VILLAGE. A piece of land containing two fields joining each other, on the old .Indian village. m HAMILTON. 61 sixty toises on one side, forty on the other, bounded in front by the street where Du Beta lives, and on the rear partly by the fields of AUebomane, and partly by that of Nisbrache, part of Samuel Brad- ley's land on one side, and on the other the field of Saspacona and Nez du Carlin, sold by Nez du Car- lin to Pierre Gamelin." It would be very difficult for a surveyor, with chain and compass at the present tinier to run out these ancient boundaries. 1 II. HAMILTON. r HIS IMPRISONMENT AND CAREER AFTER HIS CAPTURE BY CLARI. At the surrender of Burgoyne, in 1777, about four thousand British troops fell prisoners of war, into the hands of the Americans. By the capitulation^ tiiey were to remain prisoners in the hands of the Americans until arrangements were made between tiic mother country and ours^ in relation to ex- changes of prisoners. They were first ordered to I^oston, where they remained about a year, and were then ordered to Charlottesville, in Virginia, near to Montieello, for greater security. They ar* rived there in January, 1779, and aside from the liardships of a long journey by land, in the midst of winter, to their destination, they found themselves with barracks unfinished, with a great insufficiency 62 APPENDIX. m ^^r of provisions, and with but a jjoor prospect of siip- ))lies. Great alarm was excited among the inhab- itants by this accession to their jiopulation, and great fears were entertained lest a famine should be created, this portion of Virginia then being but ])oorly supplied with bread, and other articles of necessity for its own use. Through the influence of Jefferson, then at Monticello, and his appeals to the planters, all their wants were fully supplied. J^ot only this, but he personally engaged in pro- viding barracks for the men and quarters for the oflftcers. It is true they were the enemies of his country, but they were human beings, and in his judgment, as much entitled to those kindly offices due to his fellow-men in distress, and prisoners of war, as those of his countrymen would be, united though they were, by the strong ties of national alliance and affection. No means were left un- tried by this great and good man, to render the situation of these captives as comfortable as circum- stances would allow. Aided by the philanthropy of his fellow citizens, to whom he made more than one appeal, and by the humane and generous dis- position of the commissary, his entreaties were crowned with success. The barracks were com- fortably fitted up, and a plentiful supply of provis- ions furnished the prisoners. All this had hardly been effected, when Governor Henry, who had been invested by Congress with certain discretionary powers over these ^''convention troops,^^ (as they Were called,) alledging the inability of the State to supply them, determined to remove them from Charlottes- HAMILTON. 63 ville. This intelligence produced the greatest re- gret and disappointment among the prisoners. — They complained against the inhumanity of the order, charged the government with a want of good faith, and gave evident symptoms of a mutiny. The citizens of Charlottesville strongly disapproved of the measure, and received the proposition with regret and disapprobation. Mr. Jefferson coincided with them, and addressed a long and elaborate let- ter to Gov. Henry, suggesting that such an act would be indicative of bad faith and "a character of unsteadiness and imbecility, and, what was worse, of cruelty in the councils of the nation." In con- formity with these views, the proposition was aban- doned, and the prisoners permitted to remain at Charlottesville The effect of this conduct of Mr. Jefferson, his universal kindness to the men, and his uniform amenity and courtesy to the officers, endeared all to him ; so that when exchanged, both men and officers, on taking leave at Charlottes- ville, addressed him verbally and by letters, ex- pressing their gratitude and good feeling, and bidding him an affectionate adieu. Speaking of Mr. Jefferson's conduct on that occasion, a French historian narrating the circumstances, beautifully says: "Surely, this innocent and bloodless con- quest over the minds of men, whose swords had been originally hired to the oppressors of America, was in itself scarcely less glorious, though in its effects less extensively beneficial, than the splendid train of victories which had disarmed their hands." I mention these circumstances in order to draw a n 1 64 APPENDEC. ill .' 'h» J.)'. . ii. , ill ill parallel between the conduct of our people, and those of the British on similar occasions during the war of the Revolution, when the Americans fell into their hands. Through the whole course of that contest, whenever the fortune of war placed our people in their power, their treatment to them was savage in the extreme, and unprecedented in the history of civilized nations. On our side, the treat- ment of British prisoners was uniformly marked with moderation, and kind, good feeling. We were, like our foes, children from a common stock, of the same blood, speaking the same language. When they yielded to our arms — became prisoners of war — we supplied them on all occasions with the neo- essaries of life, such as our fathers themselves were accustomed to, with comfortable quarters. We per- mitted them to live in American families, on their parole to range at large, to labor for themselves* hold and enjoy property, participating in the ben- efits of society while sharing none of its burdens. To their officers captured ours were always hospita- ble, always courteous. If any one doubts this, let him read the letters of Gen. Phillips, Baron Rud- i.sel, and others, who surrendered themselves pris- oners with Burgoyne's army, after their exchange, addressed to the officers of the continental army, expressive of their lasting attachment and grati- tude, and bidding them an affectionate adieu. — While on the other hand, is it *iot a matter of history, that British officers, civil and military* throughout the whole war, had pursued a most sav* age and relentless course towards all who fell into I i ? HAMILTON. 65 their hands — ^that they loaded with irons all Amer- ican officers and soldiers captured by them, making no distinction between them, as they acknowledged none, all were rebels — ^that they consigned them to prison-ships, crowded gaols, and loathsome dun- geons, often without food, or when supplied, with quantities that were small, unsound and loathsome — that the wounded were uncared for and unat- tended, the sick unprovided for — that our men were transported beyond seas, or compelled by brute force to take arms against their countrymen, and by a refinement in cruelty unknown to the cannibals of New Zealand, to become the murderers of their brethren? All these things were known and felt then. History has recorded in bloody pages the Briton's wrath, the Briton's malice, and murder of our countrymen. Mr. Jeflferson, than whom no one who took part in our revolutionary contest knew better the con- trast between the conduct of the two belligerents than he did, and from personal observation, was elected Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in June, 1779. The executive of that great State, elected by the unanimous vote of her people to take the helm, in the most critical situation of her affairs, had no sooner taken possession of the executive chair, than "he felt himself impelled by a sense of public justice, to substitute a system of vigorous retaliation." In the language of his own impres- sive order, "he felt called on by that justice we owe to those fighting the battles of our country, to deal out miseries to their enemies, measure for measure, 6 I ,il. 66 APPENDIX. and to distress the feelings of mankind by exhibit* ing to them spectacles of severe retaliation, where he had long and vainly endeavored to introduce an emulation in kindness." Singular enough, the "fortune of war" and the conquest of Clark had placed in his hands some of those very individuals, who having distinguished themselves above their fellows in the practice of the most atrocious cruelties; who had whetted the scalp- ing knife of the Indian, who, in this remotest west, had planned and plotted the massacre of the fron- tiersman, "and fattened their cornfields" with the blood of their wives and children, and who, more cruel than the savages whom they had incited to murder and rapine, were on this account proper sub- jects on which to begin the ^''ork of retaliation. Henry Hamilton, whose capture by Clark at "Post Vincennes," on the 24th of February, 1779, is briefly noted with its attending circumstances, in the ad- di'ess to which this note is appended, and who for some years before his surprise of that Post, and the capture of Helms, had acted as Lieutenant and Governor of the British possessions at Detroit under Sir Geo. Carleton; Phillip Dejean, Justice of the Peace for Detroit, and William Lamothe, Captain of Volunteers, taken prisoners of war by Clark, had been sent under guard by him to Williamsburgh early in June, 1779. Proclamations — under his mon handf offering a specific sum for every American acalp brought into the camp, either by hia own iaroops, or his allies, the Indians, and from this fieuit denominated the "Haib-Buyeb General" bj W'.Jl'' HAMILTON. 67 Clark in his proclamation to tho French inhabi- tants of Vineennes — as well as the concurrent tes- timony of many unprejudiced witnesses, all prove Governor Hamilton a remorseless destroyer of not only men, but of innocent and unoffending women and children. A cruel, heartless and savage mon- ster, instead of an open and honorable enemy. He not only excited the savage to perpetrate their ac- customed atrocities upon the citizens of the United 8tates, but with a blood-thirsty barbarity of which history in modern times gives but few examples, he exhibited such an eagerness and ingenuity in plan- ning these murderous forays, as evidenced, that the hunting and scalping of this human game harmon- ized with his own peculiar and savage instincts. While he gave a standing premium for scalps, he offered no reward for prisoners, so that his Indian allies, after forcing their prisoners to carry their plunder into the neighborhood of the Fort, butch- ered their captives, and carried their scalps to the Governor, who welcomed their return and success with a salvo of cannon, and an abundant supply of " fire-water." Even the few Americans who were spared by these blood-hounds, were doomed by Ham- ilton to a series of lingering and complicated tor- tures, worse even than those inflicted by his savage allies, and ending finally in their death. Dejean and Lamothe were, as it is well known, the ready instruments of Hamilton's vengeance. The former acting in the double capacity of judge and jailor to the tyrant; the other as a commander of the vol- unteer scalping parties of Indians and whites, spar- 'I 1! IT tJ8 APPENDIX. It lit M x'liM ;V4 ing neither age nor sex, but devoting all to indiscrim- inate slaughter, and by his own example stimulat- ing the barbarian ferocity and cruelty of his savage «;«mpeers. (See Jefferson's works, vol. 1st, appen- dix A.) I have myself been ii med by some of the ^^ ancient inhabitants'^ of the Post, long since gath- ered to their fathers, but who were old enough at the time of Clark's capture of the Post, to recol- lect the circumstances attending it, that after the surrender, the English flag was kept flying, and that from the large stores of clothing on hand, Clark vhether their surrender was by capitulation or by discretion — ^were, by all the rules of war, j^ria- HAMILTON. 71 oners, and liable to the same treatment— except, only so far as they were protected by the express terms of capitulation. In the surrender of Hamil- ton, no such exception was made — ^the terms of it are set forth in the address, to which these notes are appended. In signing his capitulation, Hamilton had set out a flourish of reasons, it is true: "Re- moteness of succor — the state of his prisoners — un- animitij of his officers and men, in advising a sur- render;" and last, but not least, "the honwahk terms allowed, and his confidence in a generous en- emy." What these honorable terms were, the reader will ascertain readily, by reading the address in which they are set out. They were simply those granted in case of an unconditional surrender. No exceptions whatever were made, and Mr. Jefferson continued in the belief that the capitulation did not exempt Hamilton and his associates from confine- ment. In a national point of mew, however, his conduct, it was feared, might be questioned, and his high sense of propriety induced him to submit the question to the Commander-in-Chief. Gen. Wash- ington approved of his conduct, but with his great prudence, having some doubts as to the real bearing and extent of the terms of the capitulation, and having a sacred respect for the laws and usages of nations, he recommended to Mr. Jefferson a relax- ation of the severities imposed on the captives. After a fair trial of the effect of the proceeding in ameliorating the condition of the American prison- ers, then in the hands of our enemies, a serious warning would be given to the British Government 111; :),' nn APPENDIX. i'£mi 3 ;?)». i by the act in question, Virginia would hare it in her power to repeat it. Reformation might be pro- duced, and then the necessity of individual chas- tisement for na^io?ial barbarities removed. This advice of the "Father of his Country." accorded well with the better dictates of Mr. Jefferson's heart, and without compromising the right, he issued a second order of council, mitigating the severity of the first. A parole was drawn up and tendered to Hamilton and his fellow-prisoners. It required them to ^'^ inoffensive in word and deed. To this they objected, insisting on abusing the Reb- els as much as they pleased verhally. They were remanded to their prison ; but with their irons re- moved. Dejean and Lamothe soon after subscribed the parole, but Hamilton remained obstinate ; but upon being informed by General Phillips, who had been exchanged, that his further confinement would be entirely gratuitmis, he finally with great reluc- timce yielded. These stern but necessary meas- ures, had the desired effect in time. At first the British threatened retaliation in the severest mode. They issued a proclamation "That no oftieers of the? Virginia line should be exchanged, until Hamilton's affair should be settled satisfactorily." Wiien this was received, Mr. Jefferson at once ordered all ex- change of British prisoner's to be stopped, with a determination expressed, to use them as pledges for the safety of the American prisoners in the hands of the enemy. The practical applicp.tion, however, of such a k^son had its effect upon the enemy dur- ing the subsequent progress of the war. British HAMILTON. 73 pretension was finally forced to yield to the cries of their own countrymen, and the admonitions of ex- perience. What ultimately became of this trio of distinguished officials, I have never been able to ascertain. It is more than probable that before the close of the war, they were exchanged for much better men. They probably all three returned to Canada — Hamilton it is certain did. He was at Quebec after the peace in 1783, as Lieut. Governor, disposing of American property, without a shadow of right to do so, to British subjects, as late as the year 1785. For in the examination of the claims to lots granted at Detroit, made by the United States Commissioners in 1806, we find among their entries the following: "QuEBECK, Sept. 9th, 1785. Whereas, Matthew Elliot has for some time occu- pied a certain lot, lying near the dock yard at Detroit, by the water-side, this is to signify to all whom it may concern, that if any person has pretensions to the aforesaid lot, they are to produce the titles; oth^ erwise, the said Matthew Elliot is to hold peaceable possession thereof, until further orders. Given under my hand, and seal at arms, at the Castle of St. Louis. HENRY HAMILTON, (American State papers, vol. 1 p. 256.) Now, this authority of Gov. Hamilton to Matr thew Elliot, (given under his ^^ seal-at-armsj at the Castle of St. Louis,'') to hold possession of American soil, "until further orders," is decidedly rich, and perfectly characteristic of Henry Hamilton, the .. fj 1 It .1 74 APPENDIX. '* Hair-Buyer General' ' . For it will be remembered by all readers of history, that two years before the date of that grant his master, the King of Great Britain, relinquished by the treaty of peace in 1783, "all claims to the government, property, and terri- torial rights of the United States to the people there- of y^^ and in this grant was conceded all the "terri- torial rights of Great Britain to Detroit as well as the whole of Michigan." There is no doubt that in his hatred of every thing American, he died gam; but when or where, we are ignorant. The tacts above stated are derived from Rayner's Life of Mr. -Jeiferson — a work extremely rare, but the best life of Jefferson extant. III. TECUMSEH. We should fail in our duty as historian of the "Old Post," if we omitted to notice an individual who has played an important part in the history of the North- Western Territory, especially in the cam- paign of 181 2-' 13, on our North- Western frontiers. The reader will at once understand that the indi- vidual alluded to, is the one whose name heads this article. For all those qualities which elevate man far above his race; for talent, tact, skill, bravery as a warrior ; for high-minded, honorable and chival- rous bearing as a man; in fine, for all those ole- \ APPENDIX. 76 ments of greatness which place him a long way above his fellows in savage life, the name and fame of Tecumseh will go down to posterity in the West, as one of the most celebrated of the Aborigines of this continent. As one who on this side of the Al- leghanies at least, had no equal among the tribes who dwelt in the country watered by the Mississippi and its confluents. Such was the opinion of those who knew him when he died, and such is now, I believe, the opinion of the majority of the four or five million of inhabitants who people the region occupied by the tribes, which once acknowledged his supremacy. The tribe to which he belonged was the Shaw- N(E. The tradition of the nation held, that they originally came from the Gulf of Mexico; that they wended their way up the Mississippi and the Ohio, and settled at or near the present site of Shawnee' tmvn^ from whence they removed to the Upper Wabash. Be this as it may, they were found on the Wabash early in the eighteenth century, when the French took possession of the country, and were known and esteemed as the ^^ bravest of the brave.^^ This triba has uniformly been the bitter enemies of the white man, and in every contest with our people have shown a skill and strategy that made them a most dangerous foe. In everj battle-lield in the !N orth- Western Territory, pre- vious to and during the war of eighteen hundred and twelve, the Shawnoes wjere found in the ranks of our enemies. From the attack on Fort Harri- son, then garrisoned with the troops under the com- w 76 APPENDIX. Ifp^ m. mand of Captain Taylor, subsequently the hero of "Palo Alto andRessaca de laPalma," and President of the United States, down to the battle of Tippe- canoe in 1811, where General Harrison commanded the American forces; at Fort Meigs; at the River Raisin; in line, in every engagement where the American and British troops, met in hostile array the war-whoop of the Shawnoe was heard above the din of the battle-field, and his unerring rifle carried the message of death to many of the bra- vest of our countrymen. Of the early history of this warrior, of course, but little can be known. Related as he was to the "Prophet," the head chief of the Shaw noes, and possessing the skill and brav- ery which all acknowledge, his tact and talent, added to his position in the tribe, must have early given him power and influence with them, such as no other chieftain ever possessed over the children of the forest. At what period of his life he made his first appearance at Vincennes, is also unknown. Most probably from boyhood he had been accus- tomed to visit it, inasmuch as the tribes dwelling on the Wabash were in the constant habit of going there, either for the sale of their property, or the more important purpose of holding a Council. Vin- cennes in the early part of the present century, being the place where treaties were made and Councils held, with all the nations of Indians dwell- ing between the Lakes and the Ohio. A brother of the ^^ Prophet," who had an immense influence, spir- itual and temporal, with the Indians not only of his own tribe, the Shawnoes, but with the other tribes (1 TECUMSEH. 77 residing on the waters of the Upper Wabash. Who, like the founder of Mormonism, not only held direct (jommimication with the "Great Spirit," but whose oracles, like those of the Sybils, were held by the untutored son of the forest as worthy of all cre- flence, he must from this circumstance alone, have held a high position in his tribe. It is, however, doubtful whether Tecumseh himself was gulled by the charlatanry of his brother. His own natural good sense must have taught him, however, that whatever his own private opinion might have been on this subject, policy would seem to require that lie should not divulge it. Well instructed in Indian character, he knew full well tYifit fanaticism was one of the strongest impulses to reckless bravery and daring. For if the follower of Mahomet, wound- ed and dying on the battle-field, in defence of his country and his faith, believed he went to the full enjoyment of "Houries and Sherbert" in the seventh lieaven of the Mahomedan creed, the no less in- fatuated Shawnee would seek danger and death in liis contest with the "pale face," with the firm belief that his departure from this world would usher him at once into the hunting grounds of the next. Born to command himself, he used all appliances that would stimukte the courage and nerve the valor of his followers. Always in the front rank of battle himself with his enemies, the whites, his followers blindly folhtwed his lead, and as his war-cry rang rkar above the din and noise of the battle-field, the Sha mjd ii*rriors as they rushed on to victory, or the ^ave. rallied ii round him — "foemen worthy of TT 78 APPENDIX. the steel" of the most gallant soldier that ever en- tered the lists in defence of his altar or his home. The "Battle of the Thames," in which he fell fighting single-handed^ with the gallant leader of one of the most distinguished corps of that bloody field, and to whose pistol shot, if all history of that hard- fought fight and glorious victory is to be credited, he owed his death, and ended his career, bears wit- ness to his skill and courage. It is not, however, with his acts for good or evil elsewhere, that I pro- pose to speak of him. It is only of the incidents connected with his life while residing in the /rt(Z/«wa Territory^ and possessing even then a control and in- fluence over his own tribe, and the tribes that sur- rounded it, which no Prophet, Warrior or Priest ever held on this continent, over the aborigines of the country, from the time of Phillip of Karragan- sett, down to that of the most distinguished of the Indian Chieftains of our time, that I propose to speak. It is well known to those who have paid the slightest attention to our colonial history in the early part of the present century, that it was the ardent wish, the deep-seated thought and burning desire of Tecumseh, to sever the tribes whom he could influence, (who then held possession of all the country from the old boundary line, about twen- ty miles above Vincennes, to Lake Michigan,) from any connexion with the whites — then commencing the first settlement of the country, and but few in number. His object was, and openly and boldly avowed, to form a confederacy of the Indian tribes, TECUMSEH. 79 not only north, but south; not only of the Shaw- noes, the Miamies and the Pottawatomies of the Wabash and the Illinois; but the Creeks, Chero- kees and Chickasaws of the Mississippi. To make an alliance with every tribe from Lake Erie to the Gulf of Mexico; a league offensive and defensive as against the whites, and to expel from the country- all who dwelt on the north-west side of the river Ohio, or who were residents on the south-side of the same river below the mouth of the Cumberland. The principle with which he started out, was one which would have great weight with the native tribes of th3 country, and one which, whatever we may say to the contrary, carried with it a gi'eat semblance of right and justice, so far, at least, as Indians were concerned. The principle was this: that the "Great Spirit" had created the distinction between the "palefaces" and the "aborigines" of the country, with a view of keeping them apart as two distinct races. To the Indians he had given the Great West. Here he had established their hunting grounds: the mountain and the valley — the hill and the prairie — ^the forest and the rivers were theirs. He had furnished the forest and the prairie with the Buffalo, the Deer and the Elk for their sustenance; their skins for their robes; their flesh for their food; the waters of the rivers and lakes he had abundantly stocked with fish. The Indians never were, and never would be fitted for agriculture. They were warriors and hunters. When game was scarce they hunted one another. That from tlie day of Nimrod to the present, such H Mf ^ J ;■ ■^ll": i H§ mw i?l^' :- Vfe ^ ;^ .*.> TECUHSEH. liad been the destiny of the "red man." The con- sequence must be that there could be no fraterniza- tion, no affiliation with the white man. That when lie came here he was an interloper, a trespasser on their rights, an intruder on their soil, and must be expelled. That, as the necessary resul t of all this, they must drive him off fi'om their hunting grounds, which he had seized unlawfully and unjustly, and was cultivating for himself and those who were to come after him. That it was a death-struggle be- tween the white man and the red, and that now while the whites were sparse in population, weak in num- bers, and wanting in strength, was the time to strike the blow, and if possible, exterminate the race, who already were encroaching upon the Indian territory, where if a foot-hold was ever obtained, it would be difficult to remove them. How far the views of Tecumseh were right, let the history of the West for the last half century answer. Their progress, like that of the buifalo, has been westward. The waters of the Pacific will alone stay their march, and the last war-whoop of the Indian on this conti- nent, as he makes his final struggle with his impla- cable foe, the white man, will mingle with the roar of the ocean, as it rolls its breakers upon the rocks and head-lands, which form the last barrier to the further progress of either race towards the setting sun. A fitting requiem for the last of a people who once lorded it, fi'om the St. Lawrence to the Colum- bia, from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico. Another principle which he advocated, and which at least has some plausibility, was thii ((. TW TECUMSEH. 81 Great Spirit had given the Indians all their lands in common, to be held by them as such, and not by the various tribes who had settled on portions of it- claiming it as their own. That they were mere squat- ters, having no ^^pre-emption riylit^^ but holding even that, on which they lived as mere "tenants in com- mon" with all the other tribes. That this mere possession gave them no title to convey the land without the consent of all. That no single tribe had the right to sell, that the power to sell was not invest- ed in their Chjef\ but must be the act of the War* riors, in council assembled of all the tribes, as the land belonged to all — no portion of it to any single tribe. Hence, in all the councils which he held with the whites, he uniformly refused, as did his tribe, until after his death, to acknowledge the validity of any treaty made between the Indians and the Gov- ernment, utterly denying the power of one or more tribes of Indians to convey the land they occupied without the consent of all. In the Spring of 1810, General Harrison being Governor of the north-western Territory, and resid- ing at Vinccnnes — the seat of Government — had learned from various quarters that Tecumseh had been visiting the different Indian tribes, scattered along the Valleys of the Wabash and Illinois, with a view of forming an alliance and making common cause against the whites, and that there was great probability that his mission had been successful. Aware, as he was, that if this was the case, and that if the combination had been formed, such as was rep- resented, the settlements in the southern portion of 82 APPENDIX. Indiana and Illinois were in great danger; that Vincennes itself would be the first object of attack, and that, with the handfull of troops in the Terri- tory, a successful resistance might not be made; and not probably fully aware of the extent of the or- ganization attempted by Tecumseh, and desirous of avoiding, if he could, the necessity of a call to arms, he sent a message to him, then residing at the "Pro- phet*s Town," inviting him to a council to be held at Vincennes at as early a period as possible, for the purpose of talking over and amicably settling all difficulties which might exist between the whites and the Shawnoes. It was not until the month of Au- gust, of the same year, that Tecumseh, accompanied by about seventy of his warriors, made his appear- ance. They encamped on the banks of the Wabash just above the town, and Tecumseh gave notice to the General that, in pursuance of his invitation, he had come to hold a talk " with him and his braves." The succeeding day was appointed for the meetings The Governor made all suitable preparations for it. The officers of the territory and the leading citizens of the town were invited to be present, while a portion of a CO mpany of militia was detailed as guard — ^fully armed and equipped for any emergency. Notice had been sent to Tecumseh previous to the meeting, that it was expected that himself and only a portion of his principal warriors, would bo present at the coun- cil. The council was held in the open lawn before the Governor's house, in a grove of trees which then surrounded it. But two of these, I regret to say, are now remaining. At the time appointed, Tecumseh TECUMSEH. as and some fifteen or twenty of his warriors made their appearance. With a firm and elastic step, and with a proud and somewhat defiant look, he advanc- ed to the place where the Governor and those who had been invited to attend the conference were sit. ting. This place had been fenced in, with a view of preventing the crowd from encroaching upon the council during its deliberations. As 1 stopped for. ward he seemed to scan the preparationo which had been made for his reception, particularly the military part of it, with an eye of suspicion— by no means, however, with fear As he came in front of the dais, an elevated ] ion of the place upon which the r )vernor and ^ u )fficers of the Territory were seateu tho Govonn^riuvited him, through his inter- preter, to come forward and take a scat with him and his counsellor [)remising the invitation by say- ing: "That it was thr' wish of their 'Gueat Fath- er,' the President of the United States, that he should do so." The Chief paused ** )r a moment, as the words were uttered and the sentence finish- ed, and raising his tall form to its greatest height, surveyed the troops and the crowd around him. Then with his keen eyes fixed upon the Gover- nor for a single moment, and turning them to the sky above, with his sinewy arm pointing towards the heaven, and with a tone and manner indicative of supreme contempt, for ihQ paternity assigned himy said in a voice whose clarion tones were heard throughout the whole assembly: ^''My Fatkeri'-^The sun is my father— -the earth is my mother — and on her bosom I will recline." irvj> Ql. o>^.v^. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) &^ t^ 4^ n ^iii^ lilll.O ^Bii^ I 1.1 11.25 1.4 1^ WSSm !>.6 6" - 7] ^: '^V-^ o/« Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WKT MAIN STMIT WfBSTiR,N.Y. 145W (716) •72-4503 '^ V V ^\ i 84 APPENDIX. tm % 1 ip IN. II: ^; m Having finished, he stretchd himself with his war- riors on the green sward. The effect, it is said, was electrical, and for some moments there was a per- fect silence. The Governor, throu^^h the interpreter, then in- formed him, "that he had understood he had com- plaints to make, and redress to ask for certain wrongs which he^ Tecuniseh, supposed had been done his tribe, as well as the others ; that he felt disposed to listen to the one, and make satisfaction for the other, if it was proper he should do so. That in all his intercourse and negotiations with the Indians, he had endeavored to act justly and hon- orably with them, and believed he had done so, and had heard of no complaint of his conduct until he learned that Tecumseh was endeavoring to create dis- satisfaction towards the Government, not only among the Shawnoes, but among the other tribes dwelling on the Wabash and Illinois; and had, in so doing, produced a great deal of mischief and trouble between them and the whites, by averring that the tribes, whose land the Government had lately purchased, had no right to sell, nor their chiefs any authority to convey. That he, the Gov- ernor, had invited him to attend the Council, with a view of learning from his own lips, whether there was any truth in the reports which he had heard, and to learn from himself whether he, or his tribe, had any cause of complaint against the whites; and if so, as a man and a warrior, openly and boldly to avow it. That as between himself and as great a warrior as Te- cumseh, ^here should be no concealments-all should TECUMSEH. 85 be done by them under a clear sky^ and in an open, path, and with these feelings on his own part, he was glad to meet him in council." Tecumseh arose as soon as the Governor had finished. Those who knew him speak of him as one of the most splendid specimens of his tribe— celebrated for their physical propor- tions and fine forms, even among the nations who surrounded them. Tall, athletic and manly, dig- nified, but graceful, he seemed the beau ideal of an Indian Chieftain. In a voice, at first low, but with all its indistinctness, musical, he commenced his reply. As he warmed with his subject his clear tones might be heard, as if "trumpet-tongued," to the utmost limits of the assembled crowd who gath- ered around him. The most perfect silence prevail- ed, except when the warriors who surrounded him, gave their gutferal assent to some eloquent recital of the red man's wrong, and the white man's injustice. Well instructed in the traditions of his tribe, fully acquainted with their history, the councils, trea- ties, and battles of the two races for half a cen- tury, he recapitulated the wrongs of the "red man" from the massacre of the "Moravian Indians," dur- ing the revolutionary war, down to the period he had met the Governor in Council. He told him "he did not know how he could ever again be the friend of the white man." In reference to the public do- main, he asserted "that the 'Great Spirit* had given all the country from the Miami to the Missis- sippi, from the Lakes to the Ohio, as a common pro- petty to all the tribes that dwelt within those bor- ders, and that the land could not^ and shmld not be 1- i t. ■ l.f 86 APPENDIX. :«':■ fe' ' ml sold without the consent of all. That all the tribes on the continent formed but one nation. That if the United States would not give up the lands they had bought of the Miamis, the Delawares, the Pottowat- omies, and other tribes, that those united with him were determined to fall on those tribes and annihi- late them. That they were determined to have no more Chiefs, but in future to be governed by their warriors. That unless a stop was put to the further encroachment of the whites, the fate of the Indians was sealed. They had been driven from the banks of the Delaware across the Alleghanies, and their possessions on the Wabash and the Illinois were now to be taken from them — that in a few years they would not have ground enough to bury their warriors on this side of the "Father of Waters." That all would perish — all their possessions taken from them by fraud, or force, unless they stopped the progress of the white man further westward. That it must tea war of races in whi(h ere cr the other must perish. That their tribes had been driv- en towards the setting sun, like a galloping horse, ("Ne-kat-a-cush-e Ka-top-o-lin-tc") That for himself and his warriors, he had determined to re- sist all further aggressions of the whites, and that with his consent, or that of the Shaw noes, they should never acquire another foot of land." To those who have never heard the Shawnee language, I may here remark, it is the most musical and eu- phonious of all the Indian languages of the West. When spoken rapidly by a fluent speaker, it sounds more like the scanning of Greek and Latin verse, m I TECUMSBH. 87 than any thing else I can compare it to. The effect of this address, of which I have simply given the outlines, and which occupied an hour in the deliv- ery, may be readily imagined. William Henry Harrison was as brave a man as ever lived. All who knew him will acknowledge his courage, moral and physical, but he was wholly unprepared for such a speech as this. There was a coolness, an independence, a defiance in the whole manner and matter of the Chieftain's speech which astonished even him. He knew Tecumseh well. He had learned to appreciate his high qualities as a man and a warrior. He knew his power, his skill? his energy, his bravery. He knew his influence* not only over his own tribe, but over those which dwelt on the waters of the Wabash and the Illinois. He knew he was no braggart — ^that what he said he meant — what he promised he intended to perform. He was fully aware that he was a foe not to be treat- ed lightly — ^an enemy to be conciliated, not scorned — one to be met with kindness, not contempt. There was a stillness throughout the assembly when Tecumseh had done speaking, which was painful. Kot a whisper was to be heard — all eyes were turned from the speaker to the Governor. The unwarrant- ed and unwarrantable pretensions of the Chief, and the bold and defiant tone in which he had announc- ed them, staggered even him. It was some mo- ments before he arose. Addressing Tecumseh, who had taken his seat with his warriors, he said : " That the charges of bad faith made against our Govern- ment, and the assertion that injustice had been done n i ■! mp: \'!.'t ^ 88 APPENDIX. the Indians in any treaty ever made, or any council ever held with them by the United States, had no tbundation in fact. That in all their dealings with the red men, they had ever been governed by the strictest rules of right and justice. That while other civilized nations had treated them with con- tumely and contempt, ours had always acted in good faith with them. That so far as he individually was concerned, he could say in the presence of the "Great Spirit " who was watching over their deliberations, that his conduct, even with the most insignificant tribe, had been marked with kindness, and all his acts governed by honor, integrity and fair dealing. That he had uniformly been the friend of the red man, and that it was the first time in his life that his motives had been questioned, or his actions im- peached. It was the first time in his life that he had ever heard such unfounded claims put forth, as Te- cumseh had set up, by any Chief, or any Indian, having the least regard for truth, or the slightest knowledge of the intercourse between the Indian and the white man, from the time this continent was first discovered." What the Governor had said thus far had been interpreted by Barron, the inter- preter, to the Shawnoes ; and he was about interpre- ting it to the Miamis and Pottowatomies, who form- ed part of the cavalcade, when Tecumseh with his warriors sprang to their feet, brandishing their war- clubs and tomahawks. " Tell him," said Tecumseh, addressing the interpreter in Shawnee, "he lies!" Barron who had, as all subordinates (especially in the Indian Department have,) a great reverence and TECUMSEH. 89 respect for the "powers that be," had commenced interpreting the language of Teciimseh to the Gov- ernor, but not exactly in the terms made use of, when Tecumseh who, although understanding but little English, perceived from his embarrassment and awkwardness, that he was not giving his words, interrupted him and again addressed him in Shaw- nee, said: "No, no; tell him he lies." The gut- teral assent of his party showed they coincided with their Chief's opinion. General Gibson, Secretary of the Territory, who understood Shawnee, had not been an inattentive spectator of the scene, and understanding the import of the language made use of, and from the excited state of Tecumseh and his party, was apprehensive of violence, made a signal to the troops in attendance to shoulder their arms, and advance. They did so. The speech of Tecum- seh was literally interpreted to the Governor. He directed Barron to sav to him, "^e 7vould hold no farther council with him" and the meeting broke up. One can hardly imagine a more exciting scene — one which would be a finer subject for an " Historical Painting" to adorn the rotunda of the Capitol, around which not a single picture, commemorative of Western history is to be found. On the succeed- ing day, Tecumseh requested another interview with the Governor, which was granted, on condition, that he should make an apology to the Governor for his language the day before. This he made through the interpreter. Measures for defence and protec- tion were however taken, lest there should be another outbreak. Two companies of militia were 90 APPKNDIX. 'i h ordered from the country, and the one in town added to them, while the Governor and his friends went into council fully armed and prepared for any con- tingency. The conduct of Tecumseh upon this occa- sion was entirely diiferent from that of the day be- fore. Firm and intrepid, showing not the slightest fear or alarm, surrounded as he was with a mili- tary force, quadrupeling his own, he preserved the utmost composure and equanimity. No one could have discerned from his looks, although he must have fully understood the object of calling in the troops, that he was in the slighest degree discon- certed. He was cautious in his bearing, dignified in his manner, and no one from observing him would for a moment have supposed he was the principal actor in the thrilling scene of the previous day. In the interval between the sessions of the first and second council, Tecumseh had told Barron, the interpreter, "that he had been informed by the whites^ that the people of the territory were almost equally divided, half in favor of Tecumseh and the other adhering to the Governor." The same state- ment he made in council. He said "that two Amer- icans had made him a visit, one in the course of the preceding winter, the other lately, and informed him that Governor ilarrison had purchased land from the Indians without any authority from the Government, and that one-half ot the people of the territory were opposed to the purchase. He also told the Governor, that he Harrison, had but two years more to remain in office, and that if he^ Te- cumseh could prevail upon the Indians who sold m TECUMSEH. n the lands, not to receive their annuities for that time, that when the Governor was displaced, as he would bey and a good man appointed as his successor, he would restore to the Indians all the lands purchas- ed from them." After Tecumseh had concluded his speech, a Wyandot, a Kickapoo, a Pattawato- mie, an Ottowa, and a Winnebago Chief, severally spoke, and declared that their tribes had entered into the "Shawn(e Confederacy," and would sui> port the principles laid down by Tecumseh, whom they had appointed their leader. At the conclusion of the council, the Governor informed Tecumseh "that he would immediately transmit his speech to the President, and as soon as his answer was received, would send it to him ; but as a person had been appointed to run the boundary line of the new purchase, he wished to know wheth- er there would be any danger in his proceeding to run the line." Tecumseh replied "that he and his allies were determined that the old boundary line should continue, and that if the whites crossed it, it would be at their peril." The Governor replied, "that since Tecumseh had been thus candid in stat- ing his determination, he would be equally so with him. The President, he was convinced, would never allow that the lands on the Wabash, were the property of any other tribes than those who had oc- cupied them, and lived on them since the white peo- ple tirst came to America. And as the title to the lands lately purchased, was derived from those tribes by fair purchase, he might rest assured tliat the right of the United States would be supported by the sword" ^iir 92 APPENDIX. m ;; I i- ' ■ ft :. f " So BE IT," was the stern and haughty reply of the "Shawnee Chieftain," as he and his braves took leave of the Governor and wended their way in In- dian file to their camping ground. And thus ended the last conference on earth between the chivalrous and gallant Tecumseh, the Shawnee Chief, and he who, since the period alluded to, has ruled the des- tinies of the nation as its Chief Magistrate. The bones of the first lie bleaching on the battle-field of the Thames — those of the last are deposited in the mausoleum that covers them, on the banks of the Ohio. Each struggled for the mastery of their race. Each, no doubt, equally honest and patriotic in their purposes. The weak yielded to the strong — the defenceless to the powerful, and the hunting- ground of the Shawnee, not only on the Wabash, but the Kansas, (where the small remnant of their tribe has been expatriated.) is giving place to the field of the husbandman — their tomahawks convert- ed into plough-shares, and in a few years more the race will be extinct. Such is the inevitable destiny of the red man on this continent. Tribe after tribe, nation after nation, are passing away. So that in a few years their very name and existence will be unknown. And while the pseitdo philan- thropist busies himself with the wrongs, real or sup- posed, of the negro, he has not a tear to shed over the utter and entire destruction of a race, to whose kindness and hospitality to his ancestors, he owes his very existence as an American citizen. Will- iam Penn says "no Quaker blood ever soiled the tomahawk of an Indian." How much better for TECUMSEH. 93 the Indian and the white-man, would it have been if the whole Anglo-Saxon race had been Quakers^ Truly, as a nation, we shall have a sad reckoning in the court of Heaven for the injustice done to the red man — ^whatever it may be for our conduct to- wards the black one. As soon as the council had ended, Tecumseh em- barked in his birch canoe, with four of his braves, for the mission he had long contemplated, to the tribes of the south and south-west, with a view, if possible, to form a confederation and an alliance, of- fensive and defensive, between the north-western and south-western Indians, with a view of driving the whites out of the North- Western Territory, and preserving intact the whole region of country lying between the Lakes and the Ohio, the Miami and the Mississippi, from the settlements of their heredi- tary foes. It is very doubtful whether at this period, Gov- ernor Harrison was aware of the object of his visit. At any rate, whether he was or not, no efforts were made to detain him. Descending the Wabash, the Ohio and the Mississippi, he visited every tribe on the south-side of the two last rivers. The Choc- taws, Cherokees, Chickasaws, and extended his visit to the Creeks, then occupying the country embraced in the present States of Mississippi and Alabama, and around the Gulf of Mexico. With all these tribes he held councils, and in fervent and eloquent terms, described the white-man's wrong and the red man's injuries. Enforcing, as far as he could among the respective tribes he visited, the more TIT- 94 APPENDIX. modern, national sentiment that in "union alone was their strength." His motto, like that of our fathers' during the revolutionary struggle, as evi- denced in the Colonial papers of that day, which have been preserved to the present time, was a dis- jointed snake with the words, "Join or Die." His ar- gument, that the tribes of this continent, although speaking different languages, werehui one people, cre- ated by the Great Spirit, with different habits, feel- ings, opinions, social and religious, from the whites, who were their hereditary enemies, and who, in the first settlement of the country, having been treated with kindness and hospitality by the Aborigines, had repaid these acts of friendship by the destruction of every tribe among which they had been located east of the AUeghanios. That in the north-west, under the pretence of purchasing from various tribes, who had no right to dispose of the national territory of the Indians, which was the common property of all the tribes on the continent, they were dispossessing them of their property by fraud and force, and would soon drive them from their hunting grounds, beyond the "Father of Waters," and ultimately into the Pa- cific. That the system of robbery cmmittedon their brethren on the north-side of the Ohio would be extended south of that river, and that the tribes who dwelt there, the Choctaws, Cherokees, Chick- asaws and Creeks, would be driven from their pos- sessions, and that but a few years would roll round until they would not have a foot of ground to hunt on or cultivate, from the mouth of the Cumberland to the Belize. The history of the last half century will TECUMSEH. 95 answer how far these predictions have been verified in the action of the white man towards the red one, whenever the selfishness or greed of the one was to be satisfied by tlie spoil of the other. Before Tecumseh left the Prophet's town at the mouth of the Tippecanoe river, on his excursion to the south and south-west, he had in different inter- views with his brothers enforced upon him the ab- solute necessity of preserving peace with the whites, until his arrangements were completed for a con- federacy of the tribes dwelling on both sides of the Ohio river, and with those dwelling on the Missis- sippi. He had in various conversations laid before him the propriety and benefits to be gained from such an alliance, and the immense power and influ- ence to be derived from such a confederation in any future contest with the whites. That no blow should be struck against the settlements in Indiana and Illinois, until the means were provided by the Indian "wwp (Cetaty^^ to ensure their extermina- tion, or at least, to force them out of the coun^'^y they occupied, and drive them beyond the Ohio. The Prophet promised that in his absence no warlike measure should be undertaken, and that while strengthening his forces and enlisting the oth- er tribes on the Wabash into his service in the com- mon cause, he would preserve amicable relations with the whites, and by deception and chicanery, those potent weapons of Indian warfare, lull any suspicions that Governor Harrison might have in reference to the peaceable intentions of the tribes over whom the Prophet had so great an influence. ;■.! 86 APPENDIX. f}9 f : That no act should be done in the absence of Te- cumseh, calculated to disturb the friendly relations between the tribes residing on the Wabash and the Government of the United States. No act done — no expedition undertaken, until Tecumseh carried out his plan by a union of the tribes north and south, for the common purpose of avenging their wrongs and expelling their enemies, the whites, from that portion of the territory in which they had commenced the work of settlement and civilization. Believing that the Prophet would fully carry out his views uncier the pledges made him, Tecumseh felt no disposition to return until his plans were fully matured, and the co-operation of the southern tribes in this work of the expatriation of the white race from the valleys of the Wabash and Illinois secured. It will be recollected that he left Vin- cennes after his interview with Harrison, in the month of August, eighteen hundred and eleven. In the meantime, the latter through the traders Lnd others, who were acting as his spies in the Indian country had been apprised, that movements were making among the northern tribes, that boded no good to the settlements in the southern portion of the territory. Frequent councils had been held by them, and frequent visits made by their chiefs to the Prophet's town, at the mouth of the Tippeca- noe. There could be no doubt that some plan was concocting, and none more likely than that a de- scent was to be made at an early pe7.iod upon Vin- cennes, and the settlements around it, with a view to their destruction, and the massacre of their in- TECUHSEH. 97 the even. Lnd idian were d no on of dby 3fs to peca- was I de- Vin- view ir in- habitants. So strongly impressed was Governor Harrison with this belief, that he immediately made preparations to march with his troops, consisting of about eight hundred men, including the 4th United States regiment, under the command of the gallant Miller, to the Prophet's town to compel them to make a peace, which should be permanent^ or to chastize them. The battle of Tippecanoe, fought on the seventh day of November, eighteen hundred and eleven, and the important results flow- ing from it to the whole north-western territory, form some of the brightest pages of Western his- tory, and need not be recapitulated. Suffice it to say, that the defeat of the Prophet and his party frustrated the "coalition" — ^the results of which were looked to with such interest by Tecumseh — and de- stroyed the grand idea for which he so long and ably struggled, the confederacy of the Indians of the continent against their implacable foe, the white man. What the consequences of such an union might have been, it is fortunate for our race that we have no means of determining. He who holds in the hollow of his hand the destinies of men and of nations, for his own wise purposes gave us the vic- toi'y, as he had done to our fathers forty years be- fore, in the long and arduous struggle for our inde- pendence. ! • . Tecumseh was in the south, engaged in the miss- ioi* which took him there, when the battle of Tip- pecanoe was fought. His chagrin, disappointment, and anger, when he returned and learned what had been done ia his absence, are said to have been 7 '*rf: m ■>', ■' 98 APPENDIX. ¥ ovenvhel ruing. Ho accused his brother of dupli- city tand cowartlico, and it is said by those who know him, never forgave him to the day of his death. He remained but a short time with his tribe, and on the breaking out of the war with Grjat Britain, in eighteen hundred and twelve, joined Proctor at Maiden, with a party of his war- riors, and as in life, so in death, was found the bravo and noble, but implacable foe of the white race, when at the river liaisin, in a contest with his old enemies he found a warrior's rest and a warrior's grave — battling bravely with his foes, for what ho no doubt honestly believed were the rights of his people, against the aggression of those who had most cruelly and unjustly wronged them. Peace to his ashes. I cannot conclude this brief and unsatisfactory note, in reference to one of the most distinguishe m- '' f~ t iis';^ r.i \ [ >* if.'r iu { ..i-. ■/'■."'..'.• . IV. ' I : ; . I ' ' > ! •■• PUBLIC LANDS. TIIR niPPOPITION. 8KTTLRMBNT, AKD ALLOTMFNT OF TUB PCPLIC LAfMJll TIIK "0M> VTNCKNNKS LAND LIdTUlCT," U.NOKU TUX VIIKNCU, lUiOLISH AND A»IERICAN (iRANTS. The disposition, allotment and settlement of the public lands, within what is called the "Vinccnncs Land District," is so intimately connected with the history of the town itself, is so peculiar and anoma- lous, that a brief description of it will not be without interest. A volume would hardly suffice to notice the subject in all its details. Subjects as the citi- zens of the "Post" have been to the three greatest powers of the world, exclusive of the colonial de- pendence on Virginia, France, England and the United States, each of whom have had military possession of the place, and each of whom have re- gulated its civil government within the last hundred years, it may readily be supposed that its titles, and its laws, have been as variant as the codes of these three great nations, to each of whom in turn they have owed allegiance. Their titles have been regulated as well by the '' Contmne du Parisy^ the "Customs of Paris," as the Common Law of Eng- land, and the Statutes of the United States. Each have made grants to the "ancient inhabitants," and under titles derived from each of the great empires above named, they have, for the most part, held PUBLIC LANDS. 107 possession, and theso have at diiferent times been confirmed by the authority of the United States. It was peculiarly right and appropriate that this should have been done, and although no doubt many claims were allowed which were not strictly legitimate, yet their long possession, previous occu- pancy, and prior rights — oven though no written grant or concession could he shown — made it tho duty of the Government, after the cession of Vir- ginia, to give to these people, where it could possibly be done, a title which from that time would bo un- questioned. There being no public records here, whenever grants and concessions were made, (for not one in one hundred could probably read or write,) they passed by deliver//, and possession of their land or lot was at least prima facie evidence of their title. The boundaries of these concessions were not very accurate or well defined ; and the honest and unsuspecting Frenchman took about the quan- tity which he deemed conceded by the terms of the grant, which generally was so many "toises" or "arpents," "more or less." There was no action of ejectment known among these primitive settlers, and if the land of his neighbor was encroached ujton, the line v\'as settled by the arbitrement of their neighbors, or the "order of the commandant," whose decree in the premises was a finality, from which there was no appeal. Even the original con- cessions themselves, made by the French and Brit- ish commandants, were generally made upon small scraps of paper, which it was customary, if placed anywhere, to deposit in the "notary's otfice." He 108 APPENDIX. ;!»; kept no record, but committed the most important documents to loose sheets, which in the changes of government, and in tlie lapse of time, came into the hands of those who fraudulently destroyed them, or thinking them of no consequence, lost or Liade way with them. By the law which governed these titles, the "Customs of Paris," they were considered "a family inheritance," and often descended to women and children. In one instance during the government of "Monsieur St. Ange," who was commandant at the "Post in 1774," a royal notary ran off with all the public papers in his possession. And in the office of Mr. Le Grand, who was notary from 1776 to 1778, Gov. Sargent, who was acting Governor in 1790, (Gen. St. Clair being absent,) states in his letter to General Washington, of the date, Vincenncs, Knox county, July 31st, 1790, *' that the records have been so falsified, and there is such gross fraud and forgery as to invalidate all evidence and information, which I might otherwise have acquired from the papers." ' ' In addition to these granls and concessions to the "ancient inhabitants of che Post," there was a grant by one of the French commandants, while the country was under the dominion of Louis the 15th, of one hundred and fifty acres adjoining the vil- lage," (being that portion of the town laying between what is now Busseron street and the railroad depot, extending out into the prairie,) to the ** PiankasAaio Indians''^^ tribe now, I believe, nearly extinct, but then claiming to bring five hundred warriors into the field. This tract was held by the Indians, PUBLIC LANDS. 109 occupied by their wigwams, and by them cultivated and improved until about the year 1786, when they removed to the upper Wabash, and gave, or sold their respective interests as they moved off, to their neighbors, the French. Congress subsequently confirmed their titles. See Act, March 3d, 1791. Subsequent to the capture of the "Post" by Clark, sometime in the year 1779, Col. John Todd was sent out here as Governor and Commandant, by the Executive and Legislative Council of Vir- ginia, clothed with a "brief authority," for he re- mained hero but a short time, passing on to Kas- kaskia and appointing Mr. Lo Gras, Lieut. Gov- ernor in his place. During his sojourn, however, ho played "some fantastic tricks," and assumed prerogatives in refer- ence to the public lands, by no means to be derived from his gubernatorial powers, as the representa- tive of Virginia, in this newly acquired territory. Notwithstanding, Virginia by act of legislation had expressly declared, before ho was appointed, "that the lands north-west of the Ohio were expressly ex- empted from location, and no person should be allowed pre-emption, or any benefit whatever from settling the same," and the Governor was directed " to issue his proclamation forbidding all persona from settling on them, and in case of disobedience, to make use of force to remove them." As early as 1787, Congress passed the following resolution : ., "Besolved, That the Secretary of War direct the commanding olficer of the troops of the United States, on the Ohio, to take immediate and efficient 110 APPENDIX. 1^^ P If i wn !'i:-^ i measures for dispossessing a body of men, who have, in a lawless and unauthorizod manner, taken posses- sion of "Pos< Si. Vincen%^' in defiance of the pro- clamation and authority of the United States,, and that he employ the whole, or such part of the force under his command, as he shall judge necessary to effect the object." Todd went to Kaskaskia in 1779, where he issued his proclamation descriptive of the fertility and beauty of the "Valley of the Wabash," and strong- ly intimating that "authority was meant to be im- plied" — if not expressly given — ^to the Governor by Virginia, to make grants of land. That the Executive authority under Virginia in the north- western territory, had the same right to make con- cessions of land as was claimed bv the French and British commandantB. Mr. Le Gras, his substi- tute at the "Post," seems to have had fewer scru- ples upon the subject of the right than his superior, Governor Todd. Not only did he exercise the pow- er of disposing of the public domain, but he dele- gated it to the County Court, composed of four judges, organized under the act of Virginia, and who held their sessions at Vincennes. They did a wholesale business in the way of disposing of the domain — not only to others, but to themselves — not only by the "arpent," but by "leagues." The way it is stated to have been done is this: Three of the four judges were left on the bench, while one ro* tired. The court then made a grant of so many ^*' leagues" of land to their absent colleague, which was entered of record — ^he returned as soon as the PUBLIC LA.ND3. Ill grant was recorded, and another of these "ermined" gentlemen left the bench, while the Chief Justice and the other Judges made a similar grant to their absent friend. After the grant was made and duly recorded, he returned — the third departed, and a similar record was made for his benefit; and so with the fourth. In this wholesale transfer of the pub- lic land, if continued, Virginia would have had but a small donation to make her sister States of the confed- eracy, when she gave up the empire she held in the north-western territory "for the common benefit." Governor Sargent complainsof their wholesale plun- der of the public domain, in his letter to General Washington in 1790, and among the documents ac- companying that letter, is the answer of the Judges to his enquiry, "by what right these concessions were made," and is as follows: "To the Honorable Winthrop Sargent, Esquire, Secretary in and for the Territory of the United States, north-west of the river Ohio, and vested with all powers of Governor and Commander-in- Chief: Sir: — As you have given orders to the Magis- trates who formerly composed the Court of the Dis- trict of Vincennes, under the jurisdiction of Virgin- ia, to give you their reasons for having taken upon them to grant concessions for the lands within the district, in obedience thereto, we beg leave to inform you that their principal reason is, that since the es- tablishment of the country, the Commandants have always appeared to be vested with powers to give lands. Their founder, Mr. Vincennes, began to 112 aff£n:)ix. r m ■ji' ■;■ w give concessions, and all his successors have given lands and lots. Mr. Lc Gras was appointed com* mandantof "Post Vincennes" by the Lieutenant of the county and commander-in-chief, John Todd, who wtis in the year 1779 sent by the State of Vir- ginia for to regulate the government of the country^ and who substituted Mr. Le Gras with his power. In his absence, Mr. Le Gras, who was then com- mandant, assumed that he had in quality of com- mandant, authority to give lands according to the ancient usages of other commanders, and he verbally informed the court of "Post Vincennes" that when th^ would judge it proper to give lands or lots to those who should come into the country to settle, or otherwise, they might do it, and that he gave them permission so to do. These are the reasons that we acted on, and if we have done more than we ought, it was on account of the little knowledge which wo had of public affairs. . ;i; • • We are with great respect^ .,* -< Your honors most obedient, And very humble servants, F. BOSSERON, . L. E. DELINE, , , , , PIERRE GAMELIN, ,/.'... > PIERRE QUEREZ, M his mark. Post Vincennes, July 3d, 1790. ., • - ,,» i . ;* Whether his honor, "Pierre Querez," made "his mark" with his pen or his sword^ as the sturdy Ba- rons did, who wrenched the charter from King John, history gives no intimation. It is however but fair to presume that as one of the '* Justices of PUBLIC LANDS. 113 the quorum" established at ''the Post'' in 1790 by "John Todd of Virginia," who was "'sent for to re- gulate the government^'' that it was with his pen. One thing, however, is very certain, "the school- master was notabroad" much at the "Post" in 1790, or ''Judge Querez" would have given us a specimen of his chirography, and which, as a faithful annal- ist, I regret to say, I believe he was unable to do. As an impartial historian, however, of the actings and doings of the "Post" seventy years since, I feel it my duty to state, that the land operations of the '^Honorable Pierre Querez,^' as one of the Judges of the "Court of Common Pleas for the counties of Vincennes and Illinois," have made their "mark" as well upon the Records of the Land Office, as those of the Court of which he was an honorable mem- ber. I find that in the Report of the Commission- ers for "examining claims to land in the district of Vincennes, in pursuance of the act of Congress of March 4tli, 1804," in a schedule of "cases not cm- braced by any act of Congress," and rejected, is to be found the following claims: "Thomas Flower claims an undivided third part of an undivided fourth part of a grant made by the Court to "Pierre Querez," father, and Pierre Querez, son, of a tract of land beginning at theRiver Marie, to White Riv- er, and ahoiht ten leagues deep, excluding from said grant any land that may have been granted, as as- signee of Pierre Querez, father." "The heirs of Isaac Decker, assignee of Pierre Querez, father^ claim two thousand acres, part of the preceding grant." lU APPENDIX. m m !::P .1: :';' ^'Jonathan Furcell, assignee of Pierre Querez, claims ^i;0 thousand acres of the same grant." '^Thomas Flower, assignee of Pierre Querez, claims twinin thousand acres of the same grant." "Thomas Flower claims an uncertain quantity of the same grant." It is but justice to "Judge Querez" to say, that he was not alone of the Honorable Court to whom the whole country, to which the Indian title had been extinguished, was parceled out. Judge Gamelin seems to have come in for a fair share. For in the same document, I find among the rejected claims: "Thomas Flower, as assignee of Pieire (■amelin^ (AsAins forty-one thousand acres" "Jonathan Purcell, assignee of Pierre Gardelin and Nicholas FerroitfClaimQ twenty-seven tlunisand acres" Truly, if there had been a confirmation of these magnificent grants, the office of Judge would have been much more valuable and lucrative than it is in this hard-working and poorly-paid era, if we take our judiciary as an example. These immense and unauthorized grants gave a great deal of trouble to the Government in the early settlement of Indiana, and for many years after. For as late as 1802, we find Gen. Harrison, under date of June 19th of that year, being then Gover- nor of the Territory, writing to Mr. Madison, Secre- tary of State, as follows: ViNCENNEs, June 19th, 1802. Sir— The circumstances mentioned in this letter I have considered of sufficient importance to be communicated to the President. The Court est. .b- lishcd at this place, under the authority of the State PUBUC LANDS. 116 of of Virginia^ in the year 1780, (as I before have done myself the honor to inform you,) assumed to ihem,' selves the right of granting land to every applicant. Having exercised this power for some time, without opposition, they began to conclude that their right over the land was supreme^ and that they could, with as much propriety, grant to themselves as to others. Accordingly, an arrangement was made, by which the whole country to which the Indian title was sup- posed to be extinguished, was divided between the members of the Court, and orders to that eifect en- tered on the Journal— each member absenting himself from the Court on the day that the order, was to be made in his favor, so that it might appear to be the act of his fellows only. The tract thus disposed of extends on the Wabash River, twenty-four leagues from "Point Coupe," to the mouth of White River, and forty leagues into the country west, and thirty east from the Wa- bash, excluding only the land immediately surround- ing the town, which had before been granted to the amount of twenty or thirty thousand acres. "The authors of this ridiculous transaction soon found that no advantage could bo derived from it, as they could find no purchasers ; and I belive that the idea of holding any part of the land, was, by the greater part of them, abandoned a few years ago. However, the claim was discovered, and a part of it purchased by some of those speculators who infest our country, and, through these people, a number of others in different parts of the United States have become concerned, some of whom are actually pre- 116 APFENMX. paring to make settlements on the land the ensuing^ spring. Indeed, I should not bo surprised to see- jive hundred families settling under these titles in the course of a year. The price at which this land is sold enables any body to become a purchaser — one thomand acres being frequently sold for an in- different horse or gun. And as a formal deed is made reciting the grant of the Court, (made as pre- tended under the authority of Virginia,) many igr norant people have been induced to part with their little all to obtain^ this ideal property ; and they will no doubt endeavor to strengthen their claim as- soon as they discover the deception, by an actual settlement. The extent of these speculations was. unknown to me until lately. I am now informed that a number of persons are in the habit of repair- ing to this place (Vincennes,) whore they purchase two or three hundred thoifsand acres of this claim, for which they^et a deed properly authenticated and re- corded, and then disperse themselves over the Uni- ted States to cheat the ignorant and credulous.. In some measure to check this practice, I have forbid- den the Recorder and Prothonotary of this county from recording or authenticating any of these pa- pers — ^having determined that the official seals of the Territory shall not be prostituted to a purpose so base as that of assisting an infamous fraud. I have the honor to be, &c., WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. To the Hon. James Madison, Secretary of State. No confirmation of the grants made by this "Hon- orable Courf^ was ever made by the Government ; PUfiiLIC LiLVDS. 117 ftiid as the sums paid, "an indifferent horse or a ri- fle gun," for "two or three hundred thousand acres of land," were trifling for the original purchasers, no great loss was suiferedby them; the purchasers wwdfer them may have "suftered some." Land speculations ill these more modern tin^s are not quite as cheap or extensive, except in cases of railroad grants. I append here a copy of a "Court Grant" made by "Le Grand," Clerk of the Court, in French, from the old records of the Land Oflfice in 1785, as a cu- riosity : Savant le pouvoirs donnes a Mons'rs Les Magis- trals de la Coiir de St. Vincennes, par le Snr. Joan Todd, Colonel et Grand Juge civil pour Les Etats Unis, (Signer John Todd, Colonel and Civil Grand Justice of the United States.) La sus ditte Cour, apres avoir examine et murement delibere qu'il est de neccssite essenticlle, que La Ville (the City of Vincennes) et la campagne, soist etablie par des ha- bitants, pour le soutien et commerce du pais du Conte Des Illinois et St Vincenne, et voyant le grand quantite des terres incultes, et qui n'ont jamais ete etablie, ni concede, par aucune personne, et en vertu de les pouvoirs. La Snr. Le Gras, Col- onel Commandant et President pe la sus ditto Cour, a respondre une requette et signee, on il est ordonne, a moy Gabriel Le Grand, griffier de la Cour, de ^onjjeder et accorder Henry Coupraiter (his name WAS Henry Cooprider,) une terre de quatre cent ar- penten circumference, size et situ6e a I'^st du Marais de la ville, du cliemaine du fort, aparent Bornee a Jean Coupraiter; ^t des autres cot'O^s, an 118 APPENDIX. i4^ m 111 m .A terre non conced6e, pour ^njuir le dit Henry Cou- praiter ses heirs. Et ayant causee en pleinne pro- priety possessions et jouissance; comme bien a lui appartenant, en ce soumettant au reglement qui en seront fait par la puissance a ce siijet, et a etablir dans I'an et jour, et e'tenir feu et lieu. Donn6 au dit Coupraiter, pour lui servir et valloir, ce que de raison. Ce six Juin, 1786. LE GRAND, Greffier, de la Cour. En registre du Gref de la ville St. Vincenne, au folio 308. That is to say in the King's English : That the Court, knowing the power given to them by "SiGNOR John Todd, Colonel and Civil Grand Justice of the United States," after having ex- amined and duly deliberated on the absolute neces- sity, not only to the "City of Vincennes," but to the whole countr}'^, that the lands hereabouts should be settled, for the supply and commerce of the "County of Illinois and Vincennfs," and see- ing the great quantity of land uncultivated, which has never been settled nor granted to any one — ^the Court, by virtue of the powers given to them, the Signor Le Gras, Colonel Commandant, and President of said Court, has responded favorably to the writ- ten request of "Henry Coupraiter," and directed me, "Gabriel Le Grand, Clerk of the Court," to grant and accord to said Coupraiter four hundred arpents of landi bounded^ &c. He, the said "Henry Couprai- ter submitting to all regulations made between a ric PUBLIC LANDS. 119 All which is duly enrolled in the Records of Vin- cennes, folio 308, and was exhibited before the Board of Commissioners, as appears by their re- cord, March 26th, 1804. **Signor John Todd, Colonel and Civil Grand Jus- tice of the United States," who, seventy-two years since, was "Tetrach of these Provinces," now con- stituting the great States of Indiana and Illinois, and whose word was law (and for aught I know gospel too,) to the simple-minded Frenchmen here and at Kaskaskia, who gave away townships of land on a mere written request; and "Signor Le Grras, Colonel Commandant and President of the Court," and the more humble but not less useful "Le Grand, Clerk," where are they? Echo answers — where? Long since gathered to their fathers — their name and fame unknown, except in the musty archives of the Vincennes Land Office. What would they say if, by the same great power that created and de- stroyed them, they were permitted to revisit the scenes of their past labors — were .again to become denizens of earth — and witness the changes that have here taken place — were to stand upon the banks of the "Oubache" and view the population, wealth and enterprise of the Anglo-Saxon race along its borders — to see the towns which have risen as if by magic — ^the cultivated farms, the manufactories, the churches, colleges and schools? — to see in the place of the bark canoe of the Indian paddling along its clear waters, the steamboat loaded with our rich products destined for the sunny South, and bounding over its surface as if it had the vitality and speed of 120 APPENDIX. the racer? Suppose they stood again upon the "/»>• dian Fields" then the location of the Piankishaw Village^ and extending their vision but a short dis- tance, saw the steam locomotive, with its long train of passenger and freight cars, trailing like some huge anaconda across the commons, black with smoke and wreathed with steam, shrieking with its whistle and sounding afar off, giving out a screech compared with which the war-whoop of a thousand Indian warriors would be insignificant and unheard! Suppose again "Signor John Todd, Colonel and Grand Justice of the United States," wished to communicate with Patrick Henry, Governor of Vir- ginia, or with Mr. Jefferson, and to inform them of his arrival here , should seek out some "courier du bois," some half breed, to traverse what he thought was still the wilderness between Post Vincennes and Richmond — should be told that if he would walk a square, the message would be sent and an answer be returned in thirty mmutcs. Would not "the Grand Judge of the United States's" hair stand on end and his voice cleave to his jaws, as all these marvels of the nineteenth century developed themselves to his own and the muddled understandings of his compa- nions, "Signor Le Gras, Colonel Commandant at Post St. Vincennes," and ^'Gabriel Le Grand, Greffier de la Cour," at the same place, in the year of our Lord, 1787? Such have been the changes, such the wonders, in but little over half a century. What will they be in half a century more? Let those chro- nicjle them who succeed us. .,, ,m^j;.., I'l ■.;..f.,. .r ^*^,-\^--'. 't.V, T>7> PUBLIC LANDS. 121 At a very early period, under the confederation, the right of the settlers at "JPost Vincennes" to their lots and lands became a subject of considera- tion by Congress. In the month of August, 1788, on the report of a committee consisting of Messrs. Williamson, Dane, Clark, Tucker and Baldwin, to whom was referred the report of a former commit- tee respecting the inhabitants of Vincennes, the fol- lowing resolution was adopted: Resolved^ That measures be taken for confirming in their posses- sions and titles, the French and Canadian inhabi- tants and other settlers at " Post St. Vincennes," (this title of '^St. Vincennes" is used in all the old acts of Congress, where the town is mentioned; though it was never understood by the * 'ancient in- habitants" that "Captain Fruncais Morgan de Vin- senne," its founder, was enrolled upon the calender of Saints,) who, on or before the year 1783, had set- tled there and had professed themselves citizens of the United States, or any of them,, and for laying off to them the several tracts which they rightfully claim, and which may have been allotted to them accord- ing to the laws and usages of the Government un- der which they have respectively scttleil." At the same time, and on report of the same committee, instructions were given to Gen. St. Clair, then Gover- nor of the North- Western Territory, and then on the Mississippi endeavoring "to extinguish the titles of any of the Indians to the east side of the Mississip- pi above the mouth of the Ohio," to take "Post St. Vincennes" on his route back, and pursue such mea- sures as were directed under the resolution above 122 APPENDIX. In>' m (■^^ ■-.Ifi ■ I .■(■ 'i' I mentioned, for confirming the titles of the inhabi- tants. So far from being enabled to treat with the Indians for their lands on the east side of the Mis- sissippi above the Ohio, the Indians manifested a belligerent disposition, and actually made an attack upon the settlement near Kahokia while the Gover- nor was there, utterly refusing to meet in Council with him, oither there or at Vincennes, which latter town was proposed as the place for holding their de- liberations. War seemed inevitable ; and the de- fenceless settlements at Kahokia, Kaskaskia, and Vincennes seemed destined for destruction. Gov- ernor St. Clair, therefore, without carrying out the instructions contained in the resolution above reci- ted, left the Illinois country and hastened to the headquarters of Gener;] Harmar, commanding the troops in the Western Department, having his head- quarters at what is now the city of Cincinnati, to concert with him a plan of an expedition against the Indians in the North- Western Territory, "which, if approved by the President, might disconcert the In- dians, and place the settlements in safety." Before leavmg the Illinois, Gov. St. Clair committed the execution of the resolutions of Congress to Mr. Se- cretary Sargent, then at Vincennes, upon whom the powers of Governor devolved in the absence of Ge- neral St. Clair, who proceeded at once "to lay off to the ancient inhabitants of the Post the several tracts which they rightfully claimed, and which may have been allotted to them according to "the laws and usages of the Governments, French and English, under which they respectively claimed." He says PUBLIC LANDS. 123 in the report he made to the President, "That a petition has been presented by the inhabitants of Vincennes, praying for a confirmation of the land held by them as Commons, containing about »ive thousand acres, which had been about thirtij years under fence, which was intended to keep their cattle within its boundaries and out of their wheat fields. For (says he,) contrary to the usage of farmers gen- erally, the cattle are enclosed and tlie cuUivatcd lands are left at largeV Such was the indifference of these primitive inhabitants in reference to their titlos, that although they claimed this land under a grant of one of their Commandants a half a century before, they had not a scrap of paper to evidence their right to it. Congress, however, on the recommendation of Col. Sargent, subsequently confirmed their title, and the property has since been divided and sold out. "I have (says he) another petition, signed by one hundred atii thirty-one Canadian, Frenoh and Amer- ican inhabitants, all enrolled in tha militia, set- ting forth that many of them were heads of families, in 1783," "that they were willing to perform an extraordinary share of military duty, anu soliciting Congress to make them a donation of lands." "In justice to the peti- tioners (says Col. Sargent) I deem it incumbent on me to observe, that the commanding officer of the regular troops here, has been obliged, in some in- stances, to demand their services for convoys of pro- visions up the Wabash river, and from the weakness of t he garrison and the present difficulties of commu- nication with other posts and the Ohio, that he may 124 APPENDIX. have frequent occasion for their aid, which I have no doubt will be yielded at all times with the great- est cheerfulness." By an act of Congress, approved March 3d, 1791, fxnir hundred acres of land was giv- en to "each of those persons who, in 1783, were heads of families at Vincennes, or in the Illinois country on the Mississippi, and who, since that time, have removed from one of said places to the other ; and the Governor of the Territory north-west of the Ohio was directed to lay the same out for them , either at Vincennes or in the Illinois country, as they shall severally elect." These are what p.re now styled "Donation Tracts." Never were a set cf men more justly entitled to this grantthan the old French settlers at Vincennes and on the Mississippi. Whether as subjects of the "Grand Monarque," or of George the 2d and George the 3d — as colonists under Virginia or citizens of the United States — they had been ioyal and patriotic. The change of Government seems to have made no great difference in their habits or manners; and as to their political opinions, isolated as they were from the rest of the world, a change of rulers troubled them but little. The revolutions of empires went ^on without any knowledge of theirs, until it was made known to them by a personal acquaint- ance with the French mousguetaire, the English gre- nadier, the American rifleman, or the United States' regular. Submissive and obedient, they yielded to the powers that were, made no complaint, offered no resistance, cultivated their common fields, sang, danced, smoked their pipes, were regular at the PUBLIC LANDS. 126 morning matin and evening vespers, content to take this world as it went, and satisfied with the next if no worse than this. No people, perhaps, on the face of the globe were more contented or happy But a new generation has arisen, and the progress of "Young America," it is to be feared, is likely, ere this century is ended, to spoil their ancient posses- sions and overturn the land-marks, which once marked the resting place of these "sons of St. Louis" — once extending from the Lakes to the Mis- sissippi, through the rich valleys of the Wabash and the Illinois. In addition to the grant of four hundred acres of land made by Congress "to the heads of families at Vincennes in 1783," another grant was made by the act above referred to, "of a tract of land, not exceed- ing one hundred acres, to each person who had not obtained any donation of land from the United States, and who, on i\io first cJaj/ of August, one thou- sand seven hundred and ninety/, was enrolled in the militia at Vincennes or the Illinois country ,.and had done militia duty. (See note in Appendix.) The several grants thus made are embraced in three claims: 1st. Donations to heads of families, who WLTO here in 1783. 2dly, ISurret/s under grants or concessions made by the former Trench and Eng- lish commandants. 3dly, Locations under wliat were called militia rights, and which have been confirmed by Congress. I cannot close this long note without introducing one more extract from the letter of Col. Sargent, Secretary of the Territory, and acting Go>'- ernor, to Gen. Washington, then President of the 126 APPENDIX. I 1 1 4U United States, of the date of July 31st, 1790, as evi> dence, if any were waiting, of the patriotism of the citizens of the "Post," the sacrifices they had made, the losses they had incurred on behalf of the United States, 9101^ one dollar of which has been ^ aid. I do not speak of the depreciated currency which they received in the continental paper of Virginia, brought out by Clark and his troops, the only mo- ney he had in his military chest, to conquer an em- pire defended by some of the best troops in theEng- lis service during the Revolution, and which misera- ble trash, to this day unredeemed and worthless, was received dollar for dollar at par by the French inha- bitants at Vincennes and Kaskaskia for supplies, without which Clark could not have held the coun- try a week; but of those advances, in "Piastres," silver dollars^ made by Vigo and others, including Father Gibault, and without which advances in stiver^ Clark could never have marched from Kas- kaskia to Vincennes, conquered the place, and made Hamilton and his troops prisoners, adding by that conquest, and that alone, live great States to our Confederacy. Yet of the sum of nearly nine thou- sand dollars in specie furnished Clark in the cam- paign in the Illinois, in 1778-9, and for which Clark gave him bills on the "agent of Virginia," that came back protested "for want of funds," Vigo nor his heirs to this day has never got a dollar, cither from Virginia or the United States. So with the good priest, "Father Gibault," who, with the same view of aiding Clark and benefitting the American cause, advanced him seven thousand eight hundred PUBUC LANDS. 137 Ivures, French money— «qual to fifUm himdred and sixty dollars of ours — "who parted with his tithes and beasts only to set an example to his parishion- ers" to make equal sacrifices for the American cause; and who, for the want of this very money, (see his letter to Gen. St. Clair, Note 1,) " had to sell two good slaves, who would have been the support of his old age, and for want of whom he was dependent on the public." This good man and pure patriot, or his heirs or descendants,, never, to this day, have received for these advances one dime, cither from Virginia, who received the bene- fit of these advances, or the United States, who acquired the territory "without fee or reward;" and who, from the sale of it, has placed untold millions in her treasury. I will conclude this long note by a short extract from the concluding part of Gov. Sargent's letter to Gen. Washington, from "^''incenncs, of the date Jul}' 31st, 1790: "Before I close this letter. Sir, I must take the liberty of representing to Congress, by desire of the citizens of this countv, and a matter which I hum- bly conceive they should be informed of, that there are, not only at this place, but in the several villa- ges upon the Mississippi, considerable claims for supplies before and since 1783, which no person as yet has been authorized to attend to, and which is very injurious to the interests and feelings of men, who seem to have been exposed to a variety of dis- tresses and impositions by characters pretending to have acted under the orders of the Government. — The people of Vincennes have requested me to make known their sentiments of fidelity and attach- 128 APPENDIX. :m i-: ment to the United States, and the satisfaction they feel in being received into their protection, which I beg leave to communicate in their own words, by the copy of an address presented to me on the 23d instant." True to theii bits and instincts, these "children of St. Louis" were transferred from one Govern- ment to another — to Great Britain, to Virginia, to the United States — ^without a murmur and without a thought of the future. The records of the Land Office here show, that after cession of the country by France to Great Britain, in 1763, they took the oath of al- legiance before "Rumsey, Sub-Lieutenant of his Majesty's 42d regiment, and Judge Advocate of the Province of Illinois, in 1708," sent out here, as he himself asserts on the record, "with power and au- thority to examine the land titles of the Province of Illinois, and administer the oath of allegiance to its inhabitants." To Helms, £=ent here bv Clark in 1778. To Hamilton, who captured Helms, and retook the place in December of the same year. To (nark in 1779. To Harmar, Jilt. Clair and Sar- geant, on behalf of the United States. In the short space of twenty years, what changes were effected in the political condition of the inhabitants of the "Post!" We have no parallel on the continent. Al- ways brave, always obedient, always loyal, the idea of resistence "to the powers that be" never entered the head of the "ancient inhabitant.' He smoked his pipe, looked at the change with indifference, and acknowledged the power and authority of his "com- mandant," whether he was a Sub-Lieutenant of liis TEBRITORIAL ACQUISITION. i2d Majesty's 42d regiment, a Captain of Virginia Ri- flemen, or a Commander-in-Chief of the United States troops for the Western Department. "2W le meme chose'^ was the ready reply, as he took the oath, kissed the book, shrugged his shoulders, and gave an additional whiff from his pipe. Happy^ thrice happy people, in whose brains the treasona- ble doctrines of secession or nuUifioation never en- tered. V. TERRITORIAL ACaUISITION. TDK BXTRNSTON OF OUR TF.RRITORIA f. LIMITS TO TUB MtSSTSSIPPI AT TIIB TUBATY OP PRAOK IN 17(3— 0AII9K» OPRKATINQ TO PttODCOB THAT SX- TBH3I0N— KREX^nON OF F0RT3 ItY OLARK-SUftVEYS. The foresight of Mr. Jefferson, even during the most arduous struggles of the Revolution, had recog- nized with the eye of the statesman, the future of that vast region of country lying between the Miami and the Mississippi, the Lakes and the Ohio, deno- minated the "North-Western Territory," then the property of Virginia, ceded by her to the United States, and now comprising the four great States of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. Not- withstanding the trials and difficulties which sur- rounded him— notwithstanding the cares and trou- bles attendant upon his office as Governor of Vir- ginia, during the most trying times of the Revolu- tion, and at a time when not only the 9oil of his 130 APPENDIX. iK *■ , :!"^t''i native State was in possession of the foe, but the seat of Government was migratory, as the British troops advanced or retreated — though he himself was a fugitive from Monticello, which had been taken possession of by Tarleton and his troops, he never lost sight of the great western empire, above described, which, thanks to the bravery of Clark and his gallant followers, had, by the conquest of Vincennes, become the property of Virginia. It was in the year 1779, after the capture of Hamilton, and when Clark had returned to Williamsburgli, then the seat of government of the "Ancient Do- minion," that strong hopes were entertained of peace between the Mother Country and the Colo- nies, through the mediation of Spain; and Con- gress, in settling the basis upon which a treaty, if effected, was to be made, established the uti possidetis as the only terms on which a satisfactory arrange- ment could be made. The object of Mr. Jefferson was to secure, by actual possession, the immense Western Territory claimed by Virginia, to its ut- most limits, extending to the east side of the Mis- sissippi, He therefore "engaged a scientific corps to proceed under au escort to the Mississippi, and ascertain, by celestial observations, the point on that river intersected by the latitude thirty-six degrees thirty minutes, (36 deg. 30 min.,) the southern limit of the State, and to measure its distance to the Ohio." General Clark, fresh from the field of his victory— the emptor of Hamilton, and the "Post," which had secured this immense Territory to his native State— was selected by Mr. Jefferson to con- TERRITORIAL ACQUISITION. 131 duct the military operations in that quarter. The selection was a fit and appropriate one; no better could have been made. He was instructed, as soon as the southern line on the Mississippi should be ascer- tained, "to select a strong position near that pointy to establish there a fort and garrison; thence to ex- tend his conquests northward to the Lakes, erecting forts at different points, which might serve as mon- uments of actual possession, besides affording pro- tection to that portion of the country." Under these orders, Fort Jefferson^ in compliment to the founder of the enterprise, was erected and garrisoned on the Mississippi, a few miles above the southern limit. The result of these operations — of this expedition of Clark — was the addition, to the chartered limits of Virginia, of that immense region known as the "Xorth- Western Territory," and comprehending the {States above mentioned. At the treaty of peace with Great Britain, in 1783, the only pretence of claim set up by our Commissioners to this vast em- pire, was the conquest of it by Clark, and the estab- lishment of the forts and garrisons to the Lakes by himself and trooj^s, "serving as the monuments of our possession," and, carrying out the rule of ''^uti lyossi- detis,^' was adopted as the basis of our negotiations. The British Commissioners had to yield to evidences so apparent of our use and occupation, and the Mis- sissippi became our boundary on the west and the Lakes on the north, through the wisdom of Jeffer- son and the valor and enterprise of Clark. But where now are these monuments of title? — these emblems of our power?— these land-marks of 132 APPENDIX. ^1, pi M III lit our posseasiona nearly seventy years since? Eclio answers— where? Their very foundations are re- moved. The tall grass of the prairie grows over their dilapidated bastions. The plough-share of the husbandman has furrowed their parade grounds; and the hardy pioneer of the west has long since preempted the localities upon which they stood. More than one generation of the "Sons of the West," who have occupied these fields, have been gathered to their fathers; while they, as well as their present descendants, have been for the most part ignorant of the valor by which they were won, or the patriotism and wisdom which secured them« The names of Jefierson and Clark should have been household words in every log cabin, between the Miami and the "Father of Waters," and tho pre- sent owners of these countless acres should never forget the memory of those, by wliose courage and peril this immense empire was added to the Union. To no State but Virginia is the West indebted for this priceless treasure. It is her child; and cold he the tongue and palsied the arm that would not speak our gratitude for her princely gift, or atrike a bloto, if required, in defence of her honor and her rights. I very much doubt whether any other State in the old Confederacy, would, under the circum- stances, have made such a donation "for the com- mon benefit." VI. lA BALM'S DEFEAT. The expedition of La Balm, undertaken in the year 1780, from the "Illinois Country," against De» troit, then a military post, and occupied by the British, I have nerer seen noticed in any work con- nected with the early history of the North-West, except a short notice of it in Mr. Dillon's first vol* nmo of the History of Indiana, where ho briefly describes the fact^ and mentions the defeat of his party. As a portion of the troops engaged in that expedition were raised at the "Post," and many of its "ancient inhabitants" were killed by the Indians, at the battle fought with them by La Balm, near the present site of Port Wayne, I have thought all the information to be derived from the old records of the Land Office here, in regard to it, may not be uninteresting. It is to be regretted that a more par- ticular account of the expedition cannot be furnish- ed. Of the few parties who were engaged in it and made their escape, none now survive; and we have no record of it but what appears from the deposi- tions taken to prove the actual settlement of parties resident here before the year 1783, and claiming the donation given to the "heads of families" at Vin- cennes previous to that year, of four hundred acres of land, as provided for by the act of Congress, ^ 134 APPENDIX. rf'j p k > \m M Ml ti / lift \m In looking over the old records of the Land Office, I find that among other testimony taken before the Commissioners appointed to investigate land claims, in the year 1805, is the following deposition taken in the case of "Antonie Rembault's Heirs," claim- ing a donation tract in right of their ancestor: " Francis Langeiidoc being sworn, deposeth and saith, That Antoine Rembault was here at Vin- cennes when the Americans took the country; that he was a single man, and lived with his father, until his father left Vincennes. After the departure of his father, which was before the Americans took the country, he lived with his brothers in the house left by their father; that he was killed in the expedition of La Balm against Detroit; i\i2ii the children lived altogether in their father's house before Rembault went on La Balm's expedition." ^''Francis Viao, being sworn in the same case, de- poseth as to the time when Helms and Clark came to Vincennes, and when La Balm carried his ex- pedition against Detroit, says, That Captain Helms took Vincennes in June or July, 1778, that Ilamil- ton took Capt. Helms, and retook Vincennes, about the 22d of February, 1779; that La Balm started on his expedition against Detroit about the begin- ning of August, 1780, from the Illinois; that depo- nent has been informed and believes, that La Balm was defeated in September of that year, near where Fort Wayne now stands." The expedition of La Balm against Detroit was organized at the "Illinois," probably at Kaskaskia or Cahokia, where he enlisted about fifty men, and LA balm's defeat. 136 de- marched to Vincennes for more recruits. What number he gathered here is unknown. It is pro- bable his whole force amounted to about one hundred men. The troops marched to the present site of Fort Wayne, where they seized the goods of the British traders, who had establishments there, deal- ing with the Indians for peltries. It is probable that this was the origin of the attack made upon them by the Miamis at their encampment on the Biver Abolte, a small stream emptying into the Wabash above Fort Wayne. The whole party, but with few exceptions, were massacred There are a number of cases on the old records, where the claim- ants, in seeking a grant of land to which they were entitled in right of their ancestors as "Heads of Fami- lies in Vincennes," previous to the year 1783, state in their memorials, and make proof, that those un- der whom they claim "were killed in the expedition of La Balm against Detroit." The "Post," judging from the records, must have met with a serious loss in the number of its inhabitants, by La Balm's defeat. Great, however, as the loss was, it affords another proof of the loyalty and devotion of the "ancient inhabitants" to their lately adopted Gov- ernment, and their zeal and patriotism on every occasion where they could in any way benefit the Americans in their struggle for independence. r\ I y 'i'.. .' VII. /til i llr-i* llflS^ ANCIENT GRANT. The following is the oldest written grant of land to be found among the papers and grants in th* Vincennes Land Office. I copy from the origi- nal: "Nous, St. Louis Ange, Capitaine et Comman- dant pour le lioy, au poste Yincenne, avons con- cede a Marie Joseph Richard, veuve, une terro de sept arpent de faces, sur cinquanl de profondeur, situe au bas du petit roche, tenant des deux cote a desterres non concede, la presente et en reconnois- sance des bons services, qu'il a rendu, a sa Majeste^ en servan d'interprete au Sauvage, pour le detach- ment de Monsieur Aubry, venant des Illinois pour lo Detroit, lui ayant concede pour son utilite; et avons signe au poste, le quinzieme Juin, mille scptc cent cinquante neuf. ST. ANGE." Which, translated, is as follows: "Wc, Louis St. Ange, Captain and Commandant for the King at Post Vincennes, have granted to Marie Joseph Richard, widow, a tract of land, seven arpents front and fifty arpcnts deep, situated below the Little Rock, bounded on two sides by land not granted. The present is in remembrance of the good services which he (her husband) has rendered his Majesty in serving as Indian interpreter for the "WESTERN SUN," 137 detachment of Monsieur Aubry coming from the Illinois, and destined for Detroit, granted as her own. Signed at the Post, the 16th of June, 1769," Ninetynaeven years since! a VIII. WESTERN SUN. 9> TBI rinST PAI'KR PUINTED IN INDIANA TElJRlTrtnY— 'Iir. KDllOK— ANB rilK UIVFICUIiTIES ATTKNDINU ITa JuM'AULlMlMKM. A work professing to bo a history of the settle- ment and early history of Vincennes would be very imperfect indeed, did it not give at least a passing notice of the first newspaper press established in the place; and especially would it be an unpardonable omission, when that event is almost co-eval with the advent to the place of the Anglo-Saxon race. The establishment of a newspaper in a place is an im- portant era in its history. The press in modern times has become the great conduit through which intelligence is generally disseminated among the masses. It brings communities in close contact with each other, and tends in an eminent degree to enlighten, refine and elevate the character of the masses generally. Sometime in the year 1803, my old friend, Elihu Stout, at that time a citizen of Kentucky, determined to emigrate to the Indiana Territory, and commence the publication of a news- P: 138 APPENDIX. il',> ii mi paper at Vincenncs, at that time the capitol of the Territory. The entire Territory was then a wilder- ness, with no roads or other avenues of communica- tion, and the greatest difficulties and dangers had to be encountered in traveling from one part of the Territory to another. The settlements were few and far between, and almost the entire Territory was yet in the possession of the Indians. It was at that time an undertaking of no easy performance? and any individual, to be successful in it, must com- bine in an eminent degree the qualities of firmness and perseverance. Fortunately, Mr. Stout possess- ed these qualities, and was not deterred on ac- count of the difficulties in his way; and no sooner had he determined upon the enterprise than he com- menced preparations for executing it. For this pur- pose, about the last of March, 1804, he purchased a press and type in Frankfort, Kentucky, and these, with a small amount of printing material, were shipped on the Kentucky i iver in a small craft for Vincennes. Mr. S. immediately set out on horse- back, and reached Vincennes on the 4th of April, 1804, and 'J)rocured a room for the reception of the type and press, which did not arrive until sometime in June, having been transported all the way by water on boats propelled by hand. As soon as they arrived, however, Mr. Stout commenced prepara- tions for issuing a paper, which was called th« "In- diana Gazette," and on the 4th day of July, 1804, the first number of that paper was issued, and its publication continued with all possible regularity for about eighteen months, when its publication was "western sun." 139 suspended, on account of an accident by fire, until other materials could be procured. These were procured, as soon as circumstances would permit, from Kentucky, and the publication of the paper was resumed, its name being changed to that of the "Western Sun." This wa? the first newspaper established in the Indiana Territory, now compris- ing the four great States of i.idiana, Illinois, Mi- chigan and Wisconsin, and the second in all that district of country known as the "Territory north- west of the Ohio." Its publication was regularly continued bv Mr. Stout until the month of Novem- ber, 1845j when he was appointed post-master at this place, and sold out his press and closed his labors as an editor. The publication of the paper for many years was continued under many and great disadvantages. The Territory was very sparsely settled, and a large majority of the inhabitants of this place were French, who could not read, and as- sisted in no way to support the paper. All his printing materials had to be transported from Georgetown, Kentucky, that being the nearest point where they could be procured. And there being no public conveyances at the time, he was com- pelled to provide means for transporting them him- self. And for many years he was compelled to transport all his printing materials on horse-back, taking with him three horses, one for riding and two for packing. But notwithstanding these difliculties Mr. Stout continued the regular publication of his paper for upwards of forty years. He has in his possession regular files of his paper, bound in vol- 140 APPENDIX. I uines, which contain much interesting and valuable information. I am happy to say that the venerable editor, the "Nestor" of the Western press, is still alive, respected and beloved, and holding the office of Recorder of Deeds, an office conferred on him by the almost unanimous vote of his fellow-citizens< Long may he live to retain it. Mil m r i. IX. CATHOLIC CHURCH. Hi '11 \m THR CATirou*! ciirnrn at vincknnks— its kari.y kstabmsiimknt anj> I'KOGKI 8S-irs INKI.IiKNCK Ol'ON 'J UK INDIAN TltlliKS ALUNG TIIK VAL- LBV vV TUB WABAMI. It is not beyond the memory of the " oldest in- habitant" of the Post — indeed it is within the recol- lection of all who dwelt here forty years since — that fronting on Water, and running back on Church street, towards the present cathedral, there was a phiin building, with a rough exterior, built of up- right posts, "chunked and daubed," to use an arch- itectural expression, purely western, with a rough coat of cement on the outside; in width about twenty feet; in length about sixty; one story high, with a small bellfry, and an equally small bell, now used at the more elegant and symmetrical building- one for architectural design and beauty not exceed- ed in the State-^the Cathedral; and which yet CATHOLIC CHURCH. 141 rings out the "angelus" as it had done for the last hundred years, calling the descendants of those who worshipped here forty years since, to the daily reli- gious duties prescribed by their ancient church. The building I have described— placed in the cemetery where the various mortuary memorials, which piety and affection had dedicated to those who had gone before them, headed with the symbol of their faith, and for the most part of wood, the inscriptions from moss and time almost illegible — was the ancient church of "St. Francis Xavier." When built, and by whom, it is impossible, at this late period, to deter- mine. There can be little doubt, hcvcver, that it was erected under the auspioos of the Rev- erend Father, who accompanied lae French troops here in the early part of the eighteenth century, and was, without doubt, the only church used here for Catholic worship until the foundations of the new edifice, which has superseded it, were laid, and that building prepared for worship Around that primitive church on Sundays and Fast days might be seen the patriarch of his flock, with blanket capot — a blue cotton handkerchief around his head, with a pipe in his mouth, and with his family seated in chairs, in his untired cart, which had never known the use of iron, drawn by a Canadian pony, and conveying his generation, as his fathers before him had done theirs^ to the wor- ship of the same God, and in the same manner, and alter the same creed as their ancestors, for centuries before, had worshipped in "La Belle France," from whose shores they had been transplanted to those :i 142 APPENDIX. i Hi:; l! P K n K''' of the St. Lawrence. If perfect and sincere belief in the creed they professed, an ardent and sincere devotion to that Church, a strict observance of all the rites and ceremonies prescribed by that church, the regular attendance on its ministrations, a faith in its teachings and doctrines that knew no change constitute the Christian — and without these no man can be one — the French population at Vin- cennes were a religious people during the last cen- tury, whatever may be their condition now. It is true that the services of morning mass being over, they sought recreation and pleasure wherever they could find it, and sometimes in a mode which, to the Puritan notions of a J^ew England man, might not seem strictly in accordance with his conception of the observance of the Sabbath. In all the private relations of life they were uj)- right, honorable and honest. Hospitable to an extent probably unknown among people of a differ- ent origin, they bid you welcome to their habita- tions, and were always glad to make you their guest. For many years after the Americans had taken possession of the country, there were no tav- erns, and "the stranger within their gates" was as much domiciled among them during his stay, as if he had been one of the family. It is to bo regretted that the history of this small chapel, dedicated to "St. Francis Xavier," its pa- tron saint, has not been preserved in the archives of that church now remaining. They open only as late as April 21st, 1749. That before that time, the chapel had been used for worship, and aside I CATHOLIC CHURCH. 143 from its regular services, births, baptisms and deaths had been noted on its records, and memoranda kept, there can be no doubt; for as early as 1712, at least, Father Mermet had been sent here as mis- sionary, and had the celebrated discussion with the Indian medicine man, as noted in the address, and from the first settlement in the Valley of the Wa- bash by the French, there had been a missionary here, as well as at "Ouiatanon," at the mouth of the Wea, just below the present site of Lafayette. I myself have seen, many years since, a manuscript in Indian and French, of the ritual and prayers of the Catholic church, made by the Jesuits at Ouia- tanon, and a conversational dictionary in the same language (the Miami), made at a very early period, while stationed among the Indians on the upper Wabash, and both in good preservation. What became of them I never have learned. They were preserved in the library of the church at this place. The settlement at Ouiatanon was broken up — the troops came here, while a portion of the inhabitants returned to Canada, and part came to Vincennes. It is a singular fact, but no less true, and highly creditable to the zeal, the learning, and the piety of the priests here, that the modest and impretending log chapel, which I have attempted to describe, sent out from its altar four of the Bishops of the American Catholic Church. They were "Benedict Joseph Flaget, Bishop of Bardstown and Louisville; "Arch Bishop Blanc, of New Orleans; "Jean Jean, his colleague here in the church in 144 APPENDIX. V'. hi w dl'l it 1818, and appointed Bishop of New Orleans, but declined the appointment; i "Bishop Chabrat, Coadjutor Bishop of Bardstown and Louisville." In addition to these, two of the priests who have officiated at the cathedral, have been raised to the high honor of Bishops : "La 'Hailandiere, Bishop of Vincennes; "Martin, Bishop of Nachitoches, Louisiana." So that sic dignitaries of the Catholic church of tho United States, holding high rank and character, have officiated as priests at Post Vincennes, and tliree out of that number commenced their clerical career here. It would bo an interesting sketch, if we had the facts, to trace the history of the church of St. Francis Xavier, from tho commencement of the settlement of the "Post," down to the present time, but we are unable to do so. We have no records, and few legends. It is now I think a matter of history, that the Jesuit missionary, Mermet, who officiated at Kaskaskia, in the latter part of the seventeenth century, and the commencement of the eighteenth, was here before tho year 1712, accompanying the Sieur Juchereau, a Canadian officer, who came from the French posts on the Mississippi, to establish a military post here. It is fairly to be presumed that " Father Senat, " who accompanied " Vin- Benne," in the expedition against the Chickasaw Indians, in 1736, in which engagement he was taken prisoner, and burnt at the stake, although he might CATHQJ^Ip CHURCH. 145 have escaped, (preferring to remain and solace and assist the prisoners,) officiated here previous to the departure of the troops on that expedition; but this is but mere ponjecture.' The first entry on the church recorcis here, is dated April 21st, 1749. There is neithei* title page nor introduction. The first entry is the certificate of marriage between "Julien Trattier, of Montreal, Canada, and Josette Marie, the daughter of a Frenchman and an Indian woman." The only baptisms recorded during the year, are those of the Indian adults. One of the first deaths was Madam Trattier, aged eighteen years, whose marriage we have above rocorded. She was but a short time a bride, having been buried in December, 1750, in the church, under her pew, on the "Gospel side" — ^so says the record. The resi- dent priest was "Father Sebastian Louis Meurin." All certificates except those of deaths are sigiied by "M. de St. Ange, Lieutenant of Marines arid Com- mandant for the King, at Post Vincennes." Father Meurin left in 1753. His last official act was the burial of " the wife of a Corporal in the garrison, March, 1753." He was succeeded by "Father Louis Vivier." His first recorded act is a marriage. May 20th, 1753. On the 24th of the same month he buried "Pierre Leonardy, Lieutenant of the gar- rison." His last record is dated August 28th, 1756. The number of baptisms and marriages is small, but increasing. Half of them are of "Hed or Indian Slaves" belonging to the Commandant and to the inhabitants. It was a number of years after the y m i 1^ m ? If ?-? «|-^ t46 AFPENDIX. departure of tHe Jesuits, who had officiated as priests until about the year 1760, that another priest visited Vincennes. During the interregnum, one "Philibert," Notary Public, administered bap- tism as a layman, privately, and duly recorded the names of those to whom he administered the rile, on the register. In February, 1770, »M. Gibault, Vicar GTeneral of the Bishop of Quebec, for Illinois and the adjoin- ing counties," made his first visit to Vincennes. In March he returned* to Kaskaskia, the usual place of his residence, but f6r several years continued to pay occasionar visits to the Post. He was for a time the only priest in Indiana, " His zeal and energy were wonderful, his labors almost surpassing belief." "We have in a former part of this work devoted several pages to the exertions of this great and good man. We find from -the records of the church, that in July, 1778, he was at Vincennes, exerting himself successfully in inducing the French inhabitants to declare in favor of the United States, against Great Britain. In the wooden chapel of " St. Francis Xavier," which we have before de- scribed, (ard which, if for no other reason should be made historical,) he administered to them the oath of allegiance to the United States, in the most sol- emn manner. Being from Canada, he was an English sufyjed, and risked everything in taking part with the Americans. He conciliated the Indian tribes, and rendered them friendly to the Ameri- cans. Nor can there oe a doubt that the efforts of this good friend, with the aid of Vigo, and the CA.THOLIC CHURCH. 147 bravery and skill of Clark, acquired the whole of the North-Western Territory, as a rich appanage to that which the United States already held. "It is a remarkable fact, (says Bishop Spaulding in his life of Bishop Flaget, one of the early pioneers of the church at Yincennes, and to whose work I am greatly indebted for its chronological history,) and highly creditable to the French settlers, and indica- tive of the humanizing influence of the Catholic religion, that during the period of which we are speaking, there is not found among the numerous deaths recorded, a single instance of a murder com.' mitted by an Indian ! Nor is there in the register any intimation of hostile feelings entertained by even one of the tribes against the whites." In July, 1779, M. Gibault again visited Vincennes, then in possession of the Americans. He remained three weeks, discharging the duties of his office. Five years elapsed without a visit from a priest, when M. Gibault reappeared' in 1784, accompanied by the Rev. M. Payet. In May, 1786, M. Gibault estab- lished himself at the "Post," as the resident pastor. He remained here until October, 1789, when he finally left Vincennes, having probably been recall- ed to Canada by the Bishop of Quebec. A layman, Pierre Mallet, acted as " guardian of the church," having been thus appointed by M. Gibault, until the arrival of M. Flaget, in 1792. In 1793, the small-pox raged with great violence. In that year there were no less than seventy-six deaths among the parishioners, and M. Flaget, exhausted with his "labors of love" among the people, nearly fell a vie- I "M 148 APPENDIX. m m I n p ¥ tim to the pestilence. M. Iflaget remained hero nearly two years, when he was recalled to Balti- more by his sui^eriors. No man was ever more beloved by his parishioners than this excellent naan and most exemplary priest. The "ancient inhabit- ants " speak of him to this day, with unqualified love and admiration. So entirely devoted were the people of Vincennes to him, that when he took his final leave of them, to spare their feelings, he took his departure as if going to Kaskaskia. Nor was it until his escort returned, that the people learned that he had probu]bl> luft them forever. M. Rivet .succeeded him as priest, and remained here until liis death, in 1804. There appears to have been no regularly stationed priest here for a period of about two vears. Those who officiated here were here but a short time, and were attached to the missions in the Illinois, or to the diocese of Kentucky. M. Flaget, (•orsecrated "Bishop of Bardstown," revisited Vin- cennes in 1814, much to the joy of those of his old {)arishioners who were living; and again in 1819, in 1823, and 1832, which was his last visit, to meet Bishop llosati, with a view of recommending some tit person to the head of the See of Vincennes. Their choice fell upon that most excellent man, and learned aid pious prelate, Dr. Simon Brute, of iilmot+sville, Maryland. The first Bishop of Vin- cennes, Bishop Flaget, died at Louisville, in the month of February, 1850, full of years, ripe in ec. clesiastical honors, and universally beloved by all \\'ho knew him. The small chapel of "St. Francis Xavier" has been turned into a cathedral — the CATHOLIC CHURCH. 14^ parish, which in the last half century had not even a settled priest, but depended on the ministrations of those who occasionally came here from abroad, has become the head of a diocese. While such has been the progress of the church, that even this, within the last year, has been divided ; and instead of the single priest, who once distributed the mes- sages of love and peace to a few poor Frenchmen, Indiana has now two diocesan Bishops, probably sixty priests, one hundred and twenty churches or chapels, and a Catholic population of not less than eighty thousand inhabitants. Truly, the small wood- en chapel of "St. Francis Xavier," has been the "Alma Mater" of the Catholic church in Indiana. It is an historical fact, whatever we Protestants may say to the contrary, that the influence of the Catholic priests, particularly the Jesuits in the eighteenth century, over the tribes which sur- rounded them, and for whose conversion to Chris- tianity they labored with unceasing devotion and energy, was much greater than those of any other religious denomination that ever ministered to their spiritual wants; this is peculiarly the case with those tribes dwelling in that portion of the North- Western Territory, out of which has been created the «tate of Indiana. No class of men ever endured greater sufferings, or made greater sacrifices for the cause they were engaged in. From the time when Marquette discovered the Mississippi, in 1673, until the suspension of the order of Jesuits, in 1773, a century after, these followers of the cross were f 'instant in season and out of season," in their efforts 160 AFPEWDUL 11 m ^. to convert the Indian tribes dwelling between the Lakes and the Ohio— the Miami and the Missis- sippi. Even those who were temporarily assigned to duty at the French villages on the Wabash and Mississippi, viewed the conversion of the Indian as the chief object of their missions in the West, and inscribed upon the registers of the church the great fact, that while ministering to the wants of others of their flock, the great purpose which called them here was to convert, if possible, the savage^ to the adoration of the only tnae God. Hence, Father Rivet, one of the most zealous and laborious of the order, inscribed upon the records of the church here, that he was "missionary appointed for the savages, exercising the ministry, /or fAe moment, in the parish of 'St. Francis Xavier.'" And the same register shows the baptism and marriage of many Indiana of the different tribes residing along the Wabash — the Pottawotomies, Miamies, Shaw- nees, Piankeshaws, and Weas — while performing his parochial duties at this place. This success was wonderful. Out of one village, composed of six hundred Indians, all of them were baptized, with the exception of five or six. They had to adopt the migratory habits of the Indians — they followed them to their hunting grounds, "lifted up their tabernacles in the wilderness," and adminis- tered the ordinances of the church to these sons of the forest, whenever and wherever an opportunity might oifer. But it was not only toil, hunger, cold, that these missionaries of the Cross were called upon to endure, but many, very many were toma- \ CATHOLIC CHUBCH. 151 hawked, or what was far worse, burnt at the stake, with a cruelty and malignity which only the savage could feel or perpetrata It is recorded of one of these followers of Loyala, that after having been tied to the stake, and prepared for the sacrifice, at the suggestion of one ef the chiefs he was taken down, and both his hands cut off at the wrist, with a view, as was said, of preventing him from per- forming the offices of ihe church. The mangled flesh was seared with a burning brand, and the good man left in the midst of his tortures, to re- cover as he could. Strange to say, ihe did recwer, and having been ransomed from the tribe, returned to France. When he presented a memorial to the head of the church to allow him, mutilated as he was, to perform high mass, the answer from the Pope was as eloquent as it was affecting: ** Indignum esaet. Cbristi martyrum, Non bibere, Christi sanguinemi" The gifts of potentates and powers, the resolu- tions of senates, and the decrees of academies and colleges, to the most meritorious of military, civil, or scientific men, fall far short of the pathos and gratitude expressed in this short answer to the prayer of the petitioner. The history of these men shows that neither danger nor death deterred them for a moment in carrying out the great object of tlieir life, the conversion of the Indian tribes spread along the borders of our Northern Lakes, and along Hihe valleys of the Wabash and Illinois. No sooner was it understood that their predecessors had per- ished, either at the stake or by the scalping-knife 162 APPENDIX; /. i of the Indian, than new recruits offei-ed their ser- vices to fill their places. In fact, if we believe the statements of these men, which have come down to us, and there can be no doubt of their truth, a mis- sion among these barbarous tribes, was a "labor of love" to these heralds of the Cross. Starting from Quebec, long before a white man had ever visited the great West, they traversed our Northern Lakes, established missionary stations along its borders, crossed the portage between the Fox and the Wis- consin, descended the Mississippi, established chap- els at Pcoriu, then called St. Louis, at Cahokia, Prairie du Roche and Kaskaskia, at St. Joseph, Ouiatanon, and Vincennes. In fine, wherever be- tween the Lakes and the Ohio, a chapel could be erected, at whose altar the Indian could be brought to worship, they set it up, and gathered around it every member of the tribe who was freed from the influence and charlatanery of their " medicine men." That their success was great, the love and devotion of that portion of them, small in number, which exist at this date, to the ^^Rohes Noir,^^ afibrds abundant evidence. And there are but few of the chiefs of those tribes, who once lorded it along the valleys of the Illinois and the Wabash, now transferred to their new hunting gi'ounds bevond rhe Mississippi, but what wear the symbol of tiieir Savior's suffering around their necks, to them a proud memorial of their conversion to the Chris- tian faith. It is not for me to say, what were the influences which gave to these intelligent and well educated men, such an influence with the tribes CATHOLIC CHURCH. 153 j> among Which they lived, such a control over their conduct, that so eifectually disarmed their ani- mosity to the white man, and removed their preju- dices to a very great degree against our race. But that it was so in a degree far superior to that of any other Christian sect, so far as the Indian race is concerned, is, I think, proved by all experience, in the various missions established among the tribes. The French have almost always succeeded in con- ciliating them, while the Anglo-Saxon has made but little progress in claiming their confidence or their affection. It may be that the manners of the two races may have something to do with it — the one always affable, always polite, always courteous —the other more a matter-of-fact man, and with but few of those qualifications which, on first ac- quaintance, give him credit, and induce the stranger to place his trust in him. It may be that the reli- gious forms and ceremonies of the Catholic and Protestant churches, have had their influences in leading the Indian to adopt the creed of the first, instead of the latter. It may be, that that love of gain, so inherent in the one race and not in the other, has had the effect to direct the attention of one, to things temporal, to the neglect of things spiritual. For whatever may be said of the Indian race, they are as quick to discern the motives of men as their neighbors, the whites. A century and a half since there dwelt in the now State of Maine, along the Canadian borders, a large tribe of Indians called the " Abnakis." The Jesuits had established missions among them. The English and French If m 164 APPENDIX. li m \& Ut m were at war— one of the villages of the "Abnakis" had been attacked by the English, and the chapel erected in it burnt. Peace having been concluded, and Boston being nearer to the settlements of the tribe than Quebec, the Indians deputized some of the principal men of the nation to go to Boston, for the purpose of engaging workmen to rebuild the church, promising to pay them for their labors. The Governor received the chiefs with great demon- strations of friendship, and treated them with great hospitality. At a council, he addressed them as follows: "My children, I desire above all things to re-establish your church, and will do much more for you than the French Governor, whom you call your *Pather.' It belongs properly to him to rebuild it, inasmuch as in one sense he was the cause of its destruction. In inducing jou to make war against the English, what could I do but defend myself; while on the contrary, he, after persuading you to assist him in the war against us, deserted you. I will do much better by you than he eve* did, for I will not only provide you with laborers for the ejec- tion of your church, but will pay them myself, and defray all the lexpenses of its construction. But it is no more than right, that being an Englishman, if I rebuild your church, I should also provide you with an English pastor^ to take care of your •church, and to instruct you in . your religion. I will send you one, with whom you will be much pleased, and you can send back to Quebec the French Pastor, who is now at your village." -fir,/ ., ; ^•^{; "Your language astonishes me," said the deputy CATHOLIC CHUBCH. 155 of the savages, " and I wonder at the proposition you have made us. Listen: When you came here, for you have known us long before the Governor of Canada became acquainted with our people, neither those who preceded you, nor your ministers, ever spoke to us of prayer, or the Great Spirit. They looked at our peltries, at our beaver skins, and our elk skins ; and it was of them alone they took a thought — ^it was these only that they sought with eagerness. I could not furnish them in sufficient abundance; and when I furnished them a large quantity, I vf&s their jfreat friend^ their ^ood brother ^ and all that. On the other hand, my canoe one day going astray, I lost my way, and waiwleTing for a long time uncertain which course to pursue, I found myself eventually in the neighborhood of Quebec, and in a largo village of the Algonquins, whom the "EobesNoir" were teaching. I had merely landed, when a Jesuit came to see me, I was loaded with peltries. The Jesuit scarcely deign- ed to look at them. He spoke to me of the Great Spirit, of Paradise, of Hell, and of Prayer, as the only means of getting to Heaven. I heard him with pleasure, and enjoyed his conversation so much, that I remained at the village for some time to listen to him. In fact, the prayer pleased me so much^ that I employed him to instruct me. I ask- ed to be baptised. I received baptism. At last I returned to my own country. I narrated whst had happened to me. Every one envied my good for- tune. All wished to partieifuite in it, and were desirous of seeking out the Black Robe immedi- 1'^^ 156 APPENDIX. \ lV:h Wi ately, and demanding baptism. Such has been the conduct of the French towards us. If you had seen lis first, and spoken to us concerning prayers, We should have had the misfortune to pray as you English do, for we should not have had the capacity to discern whether we prayed right or not. So I shall stick to the French prayers. It suits me well, and I will adhere to it until the world is burnt and destroyed. Keep your workmen, your money, and vour minister. I psk for neither." ^ - < .. ■ MoBAL. — In striving for the conversion of the Indian, it is better to talk with him about prayers i\\^n peltries. ' - > i ^ w . . u . i ' ' .t ■; i\ i"\ ■■■■' :i ^ 1,1 .1; ■'• : I*. .lit'!, I fi'> .•* • , > i-f . .- ;i. ■ ■J , \.'r.\\s'Mi'n \ ; y'' ,-"■ ;;■ n' .rr iii •;: ■1 > ' ( / - . .' I ' • ; ■ • I : '. •• ( ■.,.?■' f-r^^ inri >f |, .:;/, ;,,'5t \ • ; • ._> -'v;,! : . • j •>'iv ■ • 1 ;;; ,f! ;,: •:»':^;-" -.Ji v{ <>\ UuJ^l -/ ':'■ -'bc)!;Lf!:i 0'f*/'I 7hi^(l. ■ ilt hm 'UQiA^r--. ^n 1 if ) .1.. 'i. Al r iif ' ;■ i ifiif! ■' JJit WWBPIPP" X. LIST OF BFPBCTIVB MEN BBLONGING TO CAPT. PIERRE OA&IEUN'S COMMAS t AT POST VINOENNES, JULY 4TH, 1790. 1 Christopher Wyant, Ensign, 2 Peter Thorn, Sergeant, 3 Frederick Mehl, do, 4 Jeremiah Mays, do, 5 Richard Johnson, Cadet, 6 Robert Johnson, 7 Joseph Cloud, 8 Daniel Pea, 9 John Loc, 10 Godfrey Peters, 11 John Murphy, 12 John Laferty, 13 Frederick Barger, 14 George Barger, 15 Peter Barger, 16 Frederick Midler, 17 Benj.Beckes, 18 Robert Day, 19 Edward Shoebrook, 20 John Westfall, 21 Edward Johnson, 22 Joshua Harbin, 23 John Robbins, 24 John Martin, 26 Abraham Westfall, 26 James Watts, 27 Thomas Jordan, 28 William Smith, 29 Daniel Smith, 30 James Johnson, 31 Ezekiel Holiday, 32 Michael Thorne, 33 Solomon Thorne, 34 Daniel Thorne, 35 Charles Thorne, 36 Christian Barkman, 37 Abraham Barkman, 38 John Rice Jones, 39 Patrick Simpson, 40 John Wilmore, 41 Frederick Lindsy, 42 Mathew Dibbons, 43 Hugh Demsey, 44 JohnCulbert, 45 Robert Garavert, 46 Isaac Carpenter.