USA > California > California gold book : first nugget, its discovery and discoverers, and some of the results proceeding therefrom > Part 2
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red with the blood of their victims, and their horse trappings decorated with the scalps of murdered settlers. These were not all mere rumors. Too well the pioneer knew that the tales were based upon terrible blood-curdling tragedies, and that the horrid fate was one which might confront him and his loved ones. Scarcely a day went by that some passer did not tell of emigrant trains attacked-with a loss of one or more of their members. These tales of cruel massa- cres could not fail to terrify every settler on the fron- tier, but they seemed to discompose Peter L. Wimmer less than any of his neighbors. All day long he would perform labor in his fields as faithfully and unconcerned as though he were surrounded by all the protecting influences of the highest civilization. He had sought the frontier advisedly, and knowing thoroughly every form of danger that would threaten his peace. He was determined not to lay aside his duty whatever might betide. His evenings were spent in his little cabin with wife and children. He possessed a fine voice and a splendid ear for music. With a retentive memory, his repertoire of domestic songs and pleasing tunes was unusually extensive. Till bed-time he could make the home circle as happy and contented as though there were not a barbarous Indian anywhere between the distant seas. So the evenings were rendered ten-fold dearer by the cheerful notes of Peter, as he sung hymns and love ditties to Polly and the children, and it mattered not how often they may have heard them, they were always as heartily applauded as if they were brand new.
Thus lived Peter and Polly Wimmer from 1831 to 1836. The latch-string of their cabin door was always
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in easy reach of the weary wayfarer and a warm welcome was given to the traveler, no matter whence he came. The sterling characteristics of Wimmer fitted him for leader, and to that place he was pushed by the unan- imous voice of every one engaged with him in any enterprise, whether of danger or for the amusement and improvement of his fellow pioneers. The home on the Illinois river had prospered, and a considerable com- munity had settled in the vicinity of the Wimmer homestead. They were courageous, as successful pioneers must of necessity be. All were hopeful, and the realities in regard to that now populous section have not much surpassed the prophecies of every one of the early settlers. They knew that progress was inevitable, and that eventually the prairies must become as thickly populated as any State in the East, or any place in the old world. Still the coming of increasing numbers of home hunters was the signal for most of the first set- tlers to "move on," and they struck out for a section containing more room. They were not as greedy for riches as for adventure, and followed on toward the setting sun. It is doubtful whether any of the early settlers dreamed of the possibilities which attended the growth of Chicago, or the great prosperity which would be achieved by those who remained in the State. Nevertheless, they did know that the lands west of them would be claimed by some one at an early date, and that it was honorable to be esteemed a hardy pioneer. So the stay in a new settlement was seldom more than a halt, and the restless and expectant fever kept their faces turned toward the west.
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CHAPTER III.
A BLOODLESS VICTORY.
The equable temper, kindness of heart, upright con- scientiousness, moral characteristics, great personal courage and absolute self-possession, of Peter L. Wim- mer exactly fitted him for a safe and conservative leader. These qualities more than neutralized his lack of "book- learning." In fact, book-learning was at a discount on the frontiers. The languages in use were the English, pretty well dove-tailed with provincialisms, and the Indian dialect. A knowledge of these were vitally necessary, and Wimmer possessed the gift of quickly picking up an understanding of the Indian talk, as well as a very thorough knowledge of his intentions, which almost seemed to be intuitive. But throughout his entire life, the great abhorrence in which Wimmer held any degree of cruelty caused him to reach results by strategy, rather than by open warfare. Nevertheless, he was always prepared for the latter should peaceful measures fail.
In 1832 the Indians on the Kankakee river were in a very discontented state. They seemed to have for- gotten the decisive defeats sustained in their battles with the forces under Gen. Harrison a few years before, and on every occasion they protested against the inva- sion of their prairie hunting grounds by the whites. Incursions against the settlers were frequent, and the losses of horses and cattle an every day occurrence. Sometimes an unguarded settler was killed, and his mutilated body left where it fell. These occurrences terrorized the pioneers without inclining them to re -.
Overboard.
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treat. They had come to stay, and felt sure they were but the advance guard of a vast population.
In the early fall of 1832, signs which were startlingly significant to Wimmer, convinced him that the savages were preparing for a general massacre of the settlers on the Illinois river. The disappearance of grazing stock was more frequent. Small bands of strange In- dians were seen in the vicinity of the settlements. Canoes, with two or three red men to each, were known to pass down the Kankakee into the Illinois river. Those Indians met by white men were surly and in- solent. It was learned that a camp was forming on the river bank just below the mouth of the Kankakee, and but a few miles from the Wimmer cabin. At that time the settlement contained over a dozen families, besides Peter, Polly and their four children. It was determined by the white men in council that something must be done at once, and Wimmer recommended that the I+ "ans be met and decisively conquered before great numbers had time to assemble at what appeared to be a preconcerted rendezvous. Ten brave men an- nounced their readiness to follow Wimmer in defense of their wives and little ones. It was settled that all the women and children should be left at Wimmer's cabin, and the men, properly armed, should descend the river in large canoes, and capture the camp of the Indians during the night. This plan was arried into effect Each of the eleven men was armed with a reliable gun. and knife, with the effective use of which every one was familiar, and three or four of the party were also provided with the old-time cavalry or horse pistol.
It was a clear night in September, 1832, when Wim- mer and his small command got ready for their cam-
k:
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paign against merciless savages. Their boats were prepared, and all the members of the settlement were assembled to see them embark. Only those who have been through such scenes can form any idea of the fear and solicitude with which the wives gave the parting kiss to their husbands, or the earnestness of the prayers which ascended to heaven for their safe return. No one dared hope that all would come back alive and unwounded. Each wife feared that she might be doomed to widowhood. And the prayers and tears continued all that night through.
Finally the men were off. They proposed to reach the Indian camp at the hour when it was known they were in the embrace of deepest sleep-about three o'clock in the morning. As the speed of the current would take them to the point they wished to reach previous to that time, there was no need to use the paddles except to guide the course of the canoes, and the passage was as silent as the grave. Occasionally the passing canoes would be scented or espied by some deer that had come to the river to drink, and it would bound away in affright. A few times slumbering birds were scared from their perch. Besides these insignifi- cant noises, there was nothing to disturb a stillness which could be felt by every one of the crew. All the discussion that was necessary had already taken place. Every man knew that failure meant a horrible death to the loved ones whose hope was in their strong arms and brave hearts. The vital necessity for success had braced every heart to its utmost tension.
Arrived at the mouth of the Kankakee, the canoes were silently guided to the bank. Hidden under the overhanging limbs four Indian canoes were found.
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As these would not carry more than three each, the party could very correctly estimate the number of savages they would have to overcome, the squaws hav- ing gone to the rendezvous by land. There could not be more than twelve, and possibly only eight. The first move was to cut loose the cances, and push them out into the current of the Illinois river, then to secure their own canoes so that they could be used for crossing the river should retreat become necessary. Now for the attack. As soon as the top of the bank was reached, the silent party discovered the smolder- ing embers of the Indian camp-fire not more than a hundred yards away. The braves had selected a slight depression or little cove, for their camping place. Post- ing his men where they would command the camp, Wimmer went forward to reconnoiter. This was a most perilous duty, because it was scarcely possible that the invariable guard would not be found awake and alert. Crawling forward as noiselessly as any snake or savage, he soon discovered that eight soundly sleeping Indians, painted as if for war, laid alongside of the camp-fire, and the guard had succumbed to the somnolent influences of the silent night, and unsus- picious of danger, was sleeping as soundly as any of those he was trusted to protect. It took Wimmer but a few moments to collect all the arms the braves had placed within easy reach when they lay down to rest. Loaded with these he crawled back to his anxious com- rades, and advised them of the number and condition of those they had to contend with. The arms he had brought were safely hidden away, and then all returned to the camp-fire, where a struggle was anticipated which was not without great danger, even though the stalwart braves were disarmed.
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But, in the meantime, the active mind of Wimmer had conceived a plan for terrorizing the braves which is without parallel in all history. He directed his men to crawl to positions where they would completely sur- round the sleeping braves ; to have their weapons in readiness, but not to fire on an Indian until he gave the command. Then he crept to the position he desired, and laying his gun on his lap, in a steady voice, com- menced singing :
"Heaven's delight is human kindness To the traveler on his weary way," etc.
The first notes aroused the savages as completely as would the firing of a park of artillery, and every Indian grabbed for the weapon he was sure was in reach of his hand. Their consternation was beyond description at finding their weapons gone, and themselves at the mercy of an armed band of resolute men, and the ones, too, whom they had done so much to injure in the recent past. But what made their flesh creep with supersti- tious horror was the placid and unconcerned demeanor of Wimmer, who continued his song. The Indians stood paralyzed. When Wimmer had concluded his concert, he motioned the awed audience to be seated, and they obeyed without a dissenting gesture. Then he recounted to them the helpless condition they were in, and claimed that it was by the consent, and with the assistance of the Great Spirit. He told them of the depredations they had been committing-thefts and murders-upon a people who desired to live in peace with them, and do them good. These outrages must stop. The settlers would no longer put up with theft and murder. If the chief would now agree to return the stolen stock ; to commit no more depredations, and
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to assist the settlers should other roving bands threaten them with attack, then peace would then and there be agreed upon, and the arms and canoes would be returned to them, and they would be suffered to depart in peace. The squaws, encamped only a hundred yards distant, had been awakened, and commenced a horrible howling when they found their husbands prisoners in the hands of armed white men. The chief soon silenced these, and without hesitation agreed to every suggestion made by Peter. The great pipe was lighted, and after one whiff the chief passed it on to Peter, and from him it went the rounds of every one of the contracting parties. The inspiration which had come to Peter had enabled him to obtain a bloodless victory over a dangerous band of Indians, and to prove to them that he believed other Indians than dead Indians could be good Indians. After peace was ratified, the canoes, which had floated but a short distance, were brought back, and, with the arms, were returned to the Indians. The chief asked the privilege of escorting the " great singer " and his men back to the settlement, and the return soon com- menced.
Wimmer and the chief were seated in one of the Indian canoes, and took the advance. All the others followed. All night long the anxious watchers at the settlement had kept up their supplications, making fre- quent trips to the bank of the river, and peering away into the darkness in the direction their protectors had gone. At daylight all assembled on the bank and watched and waited. Sometime after sun up, Polly saw a strange canoe turn a bend in the river, and that a painted warrior occupied it with her husband. The worst was feared, and a wail went up when they felt
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certain that those of their husbands not killed were returning as prisoners of the savages, who, they felt sure, would proceed to massacre them all. Peter signaled that all was well, and the reaction upon the wrought-up wives and children was almost painful. But when all had arrived at the landing, and the results of the trip were made known, the shouting and rejoic- ing was never surpassed by the same number in the great State of Illinois since its first settlement. And it is a fact that the people of this settlement were never more disturbed by hostile Indians. Peter and Polly remained here in peace and security, and much beloved, until 1836, when they removed to Missouri, as they had been urged to do by Captain Harlan.
CHAPTER IV.
PINING FOR THE INDIAN WAR-WHOOP.
Captain George W. Harlan, whose ancestor came to Pennsylvania with, and as a friend of Sir William Penn, commanded a company during the later years of the terrible Indian wars on the Western frontiers. He did gallant service in the army commanded by General William Henry Harrison. Indeed, his whole life had been spent in fighting Indians, until the close of active hostilities with England in 1812-13, lost him his occu- pation. With the conclusion of peace he settled with his family in Henry county, Indiana, and for several years his relations and friends hoped his days would be spent there. But in a few years the Indian and buffalo had departed for the wilds of the West, put- ting the Mississippi and Missouri rivers between
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them and civilization, and bear, elk, deer and other game was becoming exceedingly scarce com- pared with the vast numbers in the country when he first took up his abode in it. In fact, after 1832 he never was thrilled by a war-whoop, and in a whole year not half a dozen strolling braves would be near his home. He began to suffer with depressing loneli- ness, and to pine for the dangerous and exciting adven- tures which had given such stimulating zest to his earlier manhood.
About this time news came from some old acquaint- ances who had made the commencement of a settle- ment just west of the Missouri river, and where the city of Lexington now is. They told of a genial climate, boundless pastures, treeless plains, the most fertile soil, excellent water, and just as much room for spreading out as the most ambitious pioneer could reasonably desire. The fair picture captured the fancy of Captain Harlan, and he commenced preparations for changing his abode, undeterred, but rather incited thereto, by the known and unknown dangers and obstacles he was told must be encountered on the long and toilsome journey. The facilities for communication with his daughter Polly, since her removal to Michigan, had been of the worst. A letter to or from her was a rarity. Yet he managed to acquaint Peter Wimmer with his intention to remove to Missouri, and to urge him and Polly to join him there. Needless to say Polly frantically favored the reunion. The unchangeable affec- tion existing between members of pioneer families has been remarked by every one as especially emphasizing the truism that " blood is thicker than water." Wim- mer sold his homestead and journeyed west, arriving
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at the Missouri settlement almost simultaneously with his father-in-law, Captain Harlan. This was in 1837, and, as nearly all the land was subject to entry, he was not long in selecting a promising homestead, and it was done with the feeling paramount that, please God, here he would end his days. That "man proposes and God disposes" was as true then as it is now and ever has been.
A fact strikingly apparent to every one acquainted with the early settlement of this country was the pos- session by every pioneer of two supreme governing sentiments-love of country and belief in God. In de- fense of these all were ready to yield up everything- life included. They may have been illiterate, but all acknowledged the greatness and goodness of Jehovah -God everywhere. Not one in one thousand of those who laid the foundations of these mighty States, who fashioned the giants of the forest into hospitable homes, ever doubted the illimitable power of God, or questioned the absolute dependence of every living soul upon His omnipotent decrees. A detail of the customs of one pioneer settlement will fairly describe the course pursued by the builders of every new com- munity between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. All made haste to bend the reverent knee in earnest sup- , plication and thankfulness to the King of kings.
From the nature of things it was impossible for a handful of unsheltered settlers to at once erect a house of worship; but with one mind, male and female, they began a search for the most beautiful and picturesque spot in the neighborhood, and always convenient to a spring or stream of pure water. There rough seats were provided and an arbor erected, under which they
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Harlan's Band.
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might join in praise and devotion when the weather was mild. They were not bigoted or sectarian. Every one was granted the widest latitude, and a visiting minister of the Gospel was heartily welcomed by all without inquiry as to his denominational predilections. When the weather was bad, should a preacher come into the settlement, some pioneer's cabin became a temporary church. Many eloquent and comforting sermons have we heard preached in the cramped limits of a frontier cabin, and every hearer honestly believed that " where two or three were gathered together in His name, there would He be in their midst," and with the same willingness and power to bless as though they were in the grandest temple ever erected in His honor.
We cannot doubt that God has directed and con- trolled the destinies of this favored land ever since Columbus discovered the soil. He has guided and prospered the people-a veritable protecting " cloud by day and pillar of fire by night "-to an extent never enjoyed by the children of Israel in their day of great- est strength and glory. We have Jegitimate authority for claiming to be specially "God's people," dwelling in "God's own country." Some honest, earnest, but unthinking persons have declared that God is not in the American Constitution. They are mistaken. If ever a document bore the unmistakable evidences of Divine inspiration it is the immortal deed securing to this people a " more perfect Union " than a "perpetual Union," and guaranteeing to every citizen the right to worship the Creator according to the dictates of his own conscience, forever secure from interference by any power on earth. God is there and the wisdom and
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strength, born of His blessed omnipotence, breathes forth from every line of the Sacred Charter. From ocean to ocean comprises one vast temple, dedicated to the acknowledgment and worship of the ever-living God, and those who do not feel this sacred fact in the intellectual atmosphere of every community sadly mis- conceive the hopes and aspirations of the American nation.
The members of the Harlan settlement in Missouri took an early opportunity to select and dedicate the loveliest and most romantic spot in the vicinity as a place of worship, and where the settlers might assem- ble whenever there was any question of general inter- est requiring consideration. It was close to a spring near the bank of the Missouri river, the waters of which have been dyed with Union and Confederate blood, as the soldiers under Colonel James A. Mulligan, of Illinois, on one side, and General Sterling Price, of Missouri, on the other, contested to the death for the exclusive right to its clear and sparkling water. Gal- lantly the handful of Illinois boys made the siege of Lexington memorable by their stubborn defense of the right to use the water of this historical spring, and as gallantly did the Confederate boys lay down life to obtain the coveted possession. Finally, the spring and camp passed to General Price by a surrender, but as a testimony of his high respect for the brave men with whom he had been contending, Colonel Mulligan and his entire command were permitted to go to their homes on parole-a course very seldom pursued to- ward defeated opponents by either side, in any war.
To return to the members of the Harlan settlement : A commodious arbor was constructed and covered with
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boughs of trees until it was impenetrable to light showers of rain. Timbers of considerable size were split in half, and one side of the slab was hewed smooth. These were arranged conveniently for seats. Then in front was erected a platform, with a rough but serviceable table for the accommodation of the preacher, or any one who should desire to address the assembled settlers. To repeat, this was but a crude Temple of the Most High, with its counterpart in every pioneer settlement in the land; but every fair Sunday it was filled with as devout an assemblage of worshipers as ever congregated in any city church.
The first one to occupy this sylvan pulpit was Dea- con William Smith, a divine from Virginia who had wandered to the far West bearing the banner of the Cross, and striving to do good to his fellows. He real- ized that times come to all, and to dwellers on the frontier more frequently than to others, when human syinpathies fail to give consolation, and the weary soul longs for Divine help. He was here to comfort the yearning mourners, and point the way to the Great Helper. His flock was widely separated, but he visited, advised with, and comforted as many as he could reach, and he exercised a marvelous influence in bringing together the persons through whom the first discovery of gold in California was accomplished. The readers of this true history will all agree that "God works in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform," and yet the seeming impossibility of inti- mately connecting actors so widely separated, and with apparently divergent interests, is brought about by means so natural and simple that one seems to feel that it would have been utterly impossible for the
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course of these lives to have led elsewhere or have resulted differently. So does the Ruler of worlds work out most all important events.
CHAPTER V.
ORIGIN OF THE "F. F. VS."
Martin Cloud was a tobacco planter in Franklin county, Virginia, and from 1820 to 1836 was con- sidered among the prosperous. He had a large planta- tion, and owned a considerable number of healthy and contented slaves, to whom he was a kind and indul- gent master. His family at that time consisted of a wife, two sons, one daughter, Elizabeth Jane, born June 18, 1820, and all the slaves might be included, because in many respects they were treated as affectionately as the other members of the household.
Martin Cloud was a man of strict integrity, conscien- tious in the performance of all the duties required of him as a citizen and a member of the Methodist church. He was charitable to those needing aid, and his well- known kindness of heart was sometimes taken advan- tage of by the unscrupulous. Strong in the knowledge that to benefit himself by a wrong was in no degree a temptation, he was loth to believe that others could practice deceit. In an evil hour, a man named John Risley, from the State of New Jersey, applied to him for the position of overseer. Risley was shrewd and unscrupulous. There used to be a saying that a man "Jersey born and Georgia bred would shave a face of clay," meaning that he possessed less principle than keenness. Risley was keen and politic. He claimed
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