USA > Iowa > Des Moines County > The history of Des Moines county, Iowa, containing a history of the country, its cities, towns, &c., a biographical directory of citizens, war record of its volunteers > Part 1
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1800
F627
Glass
Book
14H6
THE
HISTORY
1994
OF
DES MOINES COUNTY,
IOWA,
CONTAINING
A Bistory of the County, its Cities, Gowns, I++
A Biographical Directory of Citizens, War Record of its Vol- unteers in the late Rebellion, General and Local Statistics, Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men, His- tory of the Northwest, History of Iowa, Map of Des Moines County, Constitution of the United States, Miscellaneous Matters, &c.
ILLUSTRATED.
CHICAGO : WESTERN HISTORICAL COMPANY, 1879.
PREFACE.
I "N the preparation of a work of this character, the writer labors under peculiar embarrassments, which arise from the fact that the lapse of time has not mellowed harsh colors and softened bold lines in the panorama of events. While the newness of the region herein described enables us to secure many valuable bits of history which would be lost in the current of time, the presence of the chief participators in the occurrences which constitute the history of this county, acts as a constant check to a free presentment of incidents and a full expression of opinions.
Many things have been left unsaid which might have been inserted here, and for no other reason than that the writer felt the delicacy of his position. When men are dead, volumes can be written concerning them-and with impunity : for then the writer cannot be accused of mercenary motives, nor can the subject of eulogy be calumniated by jealous minds. We have refrained from saying that which may truthfully be said of the distinguished men of this county, because we feel that the time for such words has not yet come. We have endeavored to condense in the form of one volume the scattered fragments of fact which have floated about so long. Some will say the work is well per- formed, while others will condemn it. The future generations, however, will surely say that this work is a valuable one.
MARCH, 1879.
THE PUBLISHERS.
CONTENTS.
HISTORY NORTHWEST AND STATE OF IOWA.
PAGE.
ITistory Northwest Territory ...... 19
Geographical Position ... 19
Early Explorations. 20
Discovery of the Ohio .. 33
English Explorations and Set- tlements 35
American Settlements. 60
Division of the Northwest Ter- ritory. 66
Tecumseh and the War of 1812 70
Black Hawk and the Black Hawk War .. 74
Other Indian Troubles ...
79
Present Condition of the North- west 86
Chicago. 95
Illinois 257
Indiana 259
Iowa ...
260
Michigan
263
Wisconsin
264
Minnesota
266
Nebraska 267
History of Iowa :
Geographical Situation 109
Topography. 109
Drainage System.
.110
PAGE.
History of Iowa :
Rivers. 111
Lakes
118
Springs
119
Prairies
120
Geology
120
Climatology
137
Discovery and Occupation 139
Territory 147
Indians .... 147
Pike's Expedition 151
Indian Wars.
152
Public Schools
218
Black Hawk War .157
Indian Purchase, Reserves and Treaties ... 159
Spanish Grants 163
IIalf-Breed Tract ..
Early Settlements.
164
166
Territorial History.
173
Boundary Question
177
State Organization 181
Growth and Progress. 185
Agricultural College and Farm.186
State University ..
187
State Historical Society.
193
Penitentiaries.
194
Agricultural Statistics.
320
ABSTRACT OF IOWA STATE LAWS.
PAGE.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Adoption of Children .. 303
Forms:
Chattel Mortgage .314
Limitation of Actions.
.297
Confession of Judgment. 306 Landlord and Tenant .. .. 304
Lease 312 Married Women 298
Capital Punishment 298
Mortgages .. .310
Notice to Quit 309
Notes .. 306,313
Orders.
,306
Damages from Trespass. 300
Exemptions from Execution 298
Estrays 299
Forms: Articles of Agreement .307 Fences 300
Bills of Sale 308
Bond for Deed. 315
Intoxicating Liquors ... .317
Wolf Scalps
.300
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE.
A Pioneer Dwelling. 61
Breaking Prairie ... 63
Tecumseh, the Shawanoe Chieftain 69
Indians Attacking a Stockade ...... 72
Black Hawk, the Sac Chieftain ..... 75 Chicago in 1833 .. 95
Old Fort Dearborn, 1830 ..
98
Present Site Lake Street Bridge, Chicago, 1833. 98
Irognois Chief 34
Pontiac, the Ottawa Chieftain. 43
Indians Attacking Frontiersmen .. 56
HIunting Prairie Wolves ....
268
BIOGRAPHICAL TOWNSHIP DIRECTORY.
PAGE.
Augusta
703
Flint River.
68G
Pleasant Grove. 706
Benton. 711
Franklin .677
Union .681
Burlington City ..
617
Inron 724
Jackson 727
Yellow Springs. .718
LITHOGRAPHIC PORTRAITS.
PAGE
Barlydt, T. W.
....
... 35% Harper, William.
525
Newman, T. W 389
* Barker, Charles I
.. 42: "Leonard, David
.491
'Purdy, Iliram 559
· Gear, John H ... 321 -Leonard, H.
593 ^Seymour, Wolcutt .457
Deaf and Dumb Institution ..... 199 Soldiers' Orphans' Homes .... 199 State Normal School. 201
Asylum for Feeble Minded Children .. 201
Reform School .202
Fish Hatching Establishment .. 203 Public Lands 201
Political Record. -223
War Record
229
Infantry 233
Cavalry. 244
Artillery.
247
Miscellaneous. 248
Promotions from Iowa Reg- iments. 249
Number Casualties-Officers.250
Number Casualties-Enlist-
ed Men .
.252
Number Volunteers
254
Population ..
.255
Roads and Bridges 302 Surveyors and Surveys .. 303
Quit Claim Deed
Receipts 306
Wills and Codicils Warranty Deed .. 314
309 | Support of Poor
303
Taxes. .205
Wills and Estates 293
Interest. 293 Weights and Measures .305
Bills of Purchase. 306 Jurisdiction of Courts. .297
PAGE.
PAGE.
Mouth of the Mississippi. 21 Source of the Mississippi 21 Wild Prairie. 23
Great Iron Bridge of C., R. I. & P.
R. R., Crossing the Mississippi at Davenport, Iowa .. 91
Big Eagle
Captain Jack, the Modoc Chieftain 83 Kinzie House .. 85
A Representative Pioneer. 86 Ruins of Chicago .. 104 View of the City of Chicago 106
Lincoln Monument. 87
A Pioneer School House. 88 A Prairie Storm. 59
Jurors 297
Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes .. 293
Commercial Terms. 305
Marks and Brands 300
Mechanics' Liens. 301
Charitable, Scientific and Religious Associations 316
Descent 293
.315 Suggestions to Persons Purchasing Books by Subscription. 319
Pioneers' First Winter 94
PAGE.
Washington 713
Burlington Township. 674
Danville 695
PAGE.
History of Iowa: PAGE.
Insane IIospitals. 195
College for the Blind .. 197
PAGE.
PAGE. |
La Salle Landing . on the Shore of Green Bay 25 Buffalo Hunt 27 Trapping 29 Hunting 32
CONTENTS.
HISTORY OF DES MOINES COUNTY.
PAGE.
Indian Occupancy. .323
Keokuk .326 Educational. 410
Black Hawk 337
Wapello and Others.
.348
Scene on the Border
.354
Sacs and Foxes
.360
Maj. Beach's Indian Papers. .. 362
Trading-Posts 364
Physical Geography .. 368
Settlement of the County.
.369
Introductory
369
Original Settlers' Claims 373 tion 432
First Mills 376
How " Claims " Were Made .. .... 377
llow Pioneers Lived. .379
Organization. 384 Burlington .. 468
tłovernment, 1833 .384
Re-organizing the Law in '34 .. 385
Wisconsin Territory .. 386 Belmont Legislature .. 386
Wisconsin Judiciary.
.. 386
Tempoary Seat of Govern- ment 386
First Road West of the River .. 387
Subdivision of Old Des Moines .. 387 First State-house. 392
Temporary Quarters
.393
Re-establishment of Des Moines County
.397
Early Courts 398
First Ferry 399
First Divorce Case. .399
First Petit Jury ..
399
First Murder Trial
400
New Bench
400
Court under Wisconsin Terri- tory .. 400
First Steam Ferry .401 Court under Towa Territory .... 401
Judges, Clerks, Attorneys and
Hotels .480 Execution of the Hodge Bros .. 480 1845 .481 Sheriffs .401
Directory, 1856. 482 Circuit Court ... .401
Commissioners' Court. .. 402
Townships Organized. .402
County Court
.. 403
Supervisor System. .. 403 Probate Records .404
.404
Des Moines County Legislators.405
Constitutional Conventions ..... 405
State Legislatures. .406
Official Roster.
.. 406
Population, 1836 to 1875 ..
.. 407
PAGE.
Statistical .408
City Charter. .495
Re-incorporation .496
A City of the First Class ........ 496 Abandonment of the Charter .. 496 Extension of City Limits. .497
City Seal
498
Official Roster of the City .498
Fire Department. 504
Police Department ... 508
Police Court
509
City Buildings.
509
Sewerage.
509
Water Company 509
Gas Company.
517
City Street Railways 517
Railroads
620
Bridge.
522
Marine.
523
Levee
524
Stock-Yards. 524
Express Companies
.527
Telegraph
527
Post Office.
.527
Board of Trade
.531
Banks.
532
Corporated Companies 532
Schools
534
University 539
Private Schools .542
Public Library .5.13
Religious
545
Y. M. C. A .578
Societies, etc.
579
Benevolent Societies.
.586
Medical Society .587
Born a Metropolis.
479
Military Companies.
.587
Business Men of AuldLang Syne479
Professional Men ..
.480
Cemeteries.
589
Agricultural Society ,589
Poor-Farm.
590
Pioneer Society
590
Opportunities
.. 590
Towns and Post Offices.
591
Augusta. .59%
Danville.
597
Middletown
.605
607
Kossuth.
609
Healthfulness 489 Northfield. 612
Government Survey 193
First Corporation. 494
First Records .. .494
Original Boundaries.
494
Kingston
615
Pleasant Grove
615
DES MOINES COUNTY VOLUNTEERS.
Infantry :
PAGE. | Infantry. PAGE.
Thirty-seventh .459
Thirty-ninth. .459
Forty-first.
460
Forty-fifth
460
Forty-eighth 461 Artillery :
Fifteenth 453 Cavalry:
Sixteenth .453
Seventeenth 153
Twenty-fifth 453
Thirtieth. 456
MISCELLANEOUS.
PAGE.
' Map of Des Moines County. ...... Front. | Surveyor's Measure 288
Constitution of United States. .. 269 Vote for President, Governor and
Practical Rules for Every-Day Use .. 284
United States Government Land
.287
Population of the United States ..... 291
PAGE.
PAGE.
Population of Fifty Principal Cities
of the United States .291 Population and Area of the United States. 292
Miscellaneous Table .289
Names of the States of the Union
and their Significations ........ 290 Measure
First 461
Second .462
Third
463
Fourth
463
Cavalry.
PAGR.
Fifth.
464
Seventh 464
Eighth.
465
Ninth 465
First Battery Artillery. 465
Fourth Battery Artillery .465
Engineer Regiment of the West ....... 465
Miscellaneous
466
First 449
Sixth 450
Seventh 451
Eleventh 451
Fourteenth
.132
First General Directory .483
Early Legislation. .487
Locating Seat of Justice. .488
Enterprise of the People .488
Location of the City. 489
474
Early Newspaper Items.
.474
Burlington, 1839
478
July 4, 1839.
478 1
Proposed Change of Name 479
437
War History.
447
Roster .449
Simpson S. White. .468
First Claim and Cabin 468
First Ferry-boat. 469
Second Band of Pioneers .469
Jefferson Davis.
.469
Morton MI. M'Carver. 470
First Stores 471
First Tavern 472
First Doctors. 473
First Marriage. 473
Original Plat.
473
Name Burlington 473
First School 473
First Birth.
Senatorial Successions 425
Miller-Thompson Contested Elec-
Burlington Guzette 413
Burlington Hawk-Eye. 416
German Journalism 421
412
Press
Introductory 412
Shok-ko-kon .. .365 Other Papers .. .422
The Name Hawk-Eye. 4:25
State Boundary Difficulty
Original Officers.
495
Burlington
PAGE.
Linton 613
Dodgeville 614
Sperry ..
614
Population of the Principal Coun- tries in the World. 292
How to Keep Accounts .. 288 Interest Table .289 Congressmen. 283
Mediapolis
Musical Bands
588
1848
.481
Marriage Records.
County Buildings .412
MAP OF DES MOINES COUNTY
IOWA. LOUISA
COUNTY
1
R.IIII W.
RIIW.
AR.II W.
RIW
-
Cooked
2
4
5
3
0
4
3
LINTON
NORTHFIELD
7
8
10
11
12
7
8
DRAIN Nº3
LOUGH
TR2N
HURONS
18
14
18
17
16
.15
75
7,00€
13
18
TI HURON
A
20
WASHINGTON I
YELLOW
SPRINGS
U RON
27
30
29
7
30
-
FAR
31
32
3
36
36
3
प्रेड
HIOSANNIW
R. R
6
KINGSTON
PLEASANT GROVE
0
8
0
SPERRY
STATIONS
I.7IN
PLEASAN
GROVE !!
10
15
DODGEVILLE
WOJACKSO
22
19
LATTY STATION 20
FRY
31
$2
34
1:35
1
MEDIAPOLIS
KOSSUTHT
DOLE
AKE
30
29
BRADIE
CAKE
-
3
2
a
N
CE
17
RIVER
SOUTH FLINT
ENTY
SLOUCH
NOLONTANE
- -
1
mosLavega R.O.
79
In
DRAIN NOF.
COUNTY
CEDAR RAPIDS
1
In
1
HE
GO
4
2
ot
DANVILLE
RIVE
T.70 N.
DANVILLE CENTERT
21
22
KNE
9
27
26
. 22
8
27
Long
MIDDLETOWN
34
.25
36
31
3,2
33
34
PARRIES
R.V.W.
R
6
4
8
V
16
T.69 N.
AUGUSTA
NCY AR.
SKUNK
KY
20
-
PAT TERSON ISTATION
33
.36
.31
RIVER
T.68 N.
ladISSISSIN
HENDERSON
QUINCY
ESLAND
LEE
COUNTY
CHICAGO BURLINGTON QUINCY
SIONELle ANVISEDIE
RRURLANG DON
-
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION.
When the Northwestern Territory was ceded to the United States by Virginia in 1784, it embraced only the territory lying between the Ohio and the Mississippi Rivers, and north to the northern limits of the United States. It coincided with the area now embraced in the States of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and that portion of Minnesota lying on the east side of the Mississippi River. The United States itself at that period extended no farther west than the Mississippi River ; but by the purchase of Louisiana in 1803, the western boundary of the United States was extended to the Rocky Mountains and the Northern Pacific Ocean. The new territory thus added to the National domain, and subsequently opened to settlement, has been called the "New Northwest," in contradistinction from the old "Northwestern Territory."
In comparison with the old Northwest this is a territory of vast magnitude. It includes an area of 1,887,850 square miles ; being greater in extent than the united areas of all the Middle and Southern States, including Texas. Out of this magnificent territory have been erected eleven sovereign States and eight Territories, with an aggregate popula- tion, at the present time, of 13,000,000 inhabitants, or nearly one third of the entire population of the United States.
Its lakes are fresh-water seas, and the larger rivers of the continent flow for a thousand miles through its rich alluvial valleys and far- stretching prairies, more acres of which are arable and productive of the highest percentage of the cereals than of any other area of like extent on the globe.
For the last twenty years the increase of population in the North- west has been about as three to one in any other portion of the United States.
(19)
20
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
EARLY EXPLORATIONS.
In the year 1541, DeSoto first saw the Great West in the New World. He, however, penetrated no farther north than the 35th parallel of latitude. The expedition resulted in his death and that of more than half his army, the remainder of whom found their way to Cuba, thence to Spain, in a famished and demoralized condition. DeSoto founded no settlements, produced no results, and left no traces, unless it were that he awakened the hostility of the red man against the white man, and disheartened such as might desire to follow up the career of discovery for better purposes. The French nation were eager and ready to seize upon any news from this extensive domain, and were the first to profit by DeSoto's defeat. Yet it was more than a century before any adventurer took advantage of these discoveries.
In 1616, four years before the pilgrims " moored their bark on the wild New England shore," Le Caron, a French Franciscan, had pene- trated through the Iroquois and Wyandots (Hurons) to the streams which run into Lake Huron ; and in 1634, two Jesuit missionaries founded the first mission among the lake tribes. It was just one hundred years from the discovery of the Mississippi by DeSoto (1541) until the Canadian envoys met the savage nations of the Northwest at the Falls of St. Mary, below the outlet of Lake Superior. This visit led to no permanent result ; yet it was not until 1659 that any of the adventurous fur traders attempted to spend a Winter in the frozen wilds about the great lakes, nor was it until 1660 that a station was established upon their borders by Mesnard, who perished in the woods a few months after. In 1665, Claude Allouez built the earliest lasting habitation of the white man among the Indians of the Northwest. In 1668, Claude Dablon and James Marquette founded the mission of Sault Ste. Marie at the Falls of St. Mary, and two years afterward, Nicholas Perrot, as agent for M. Talon, Governor Gen- eral of Canada, explored Lake Illinois (Michigan) as far south as the present City of Chicago, and invited the Indian nations to meet him at a grand council at Sault Ste. Marie the following Spring, where they were taken under the protection of the king, and formal possession was taken of the Northwest. This same year Marquette established a mission at Point St. Ignatius, where was founded the old town of Michillimackinac.
During M. Talon's explorations and Marquette's residence at St. Ignatius, they learned of a great river away to the west, and fancied -as all others did then-that upon its fertile banks whole tribes of God's children resided, to whom the sound of the Gospel had never come. Filled with a wish to go and preach to them, and in compliance with a
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
SOURCE OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
BRIGHAM
MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
21
22
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
request of M. Talon, who earnestly desired to extend the domain of his king, and to ascertain whether the river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico or the Pacific Ocean, Marquette with Joliet, as commander of the expe- dition, prepared for the undertaking.
On the 13th of May, 1673, the explorers, accompanied by five assist- ant French Canadians, set out from Mackinaw on their daring voyage of discovery. The Indians, who gathered to witness their departure, were astonished at the boldness of the undertaking, and endeavored to dissuade them from their purpose by representing the tribes on the Mississippi as exceedingly savage and cruel, and the river itself as full of all sorts of frightful monsters ready to swallow them and their canoes together. But, nothing daunted by these terrific descriptions, Marquette told them he was willing not only to encounter all the perils of the unknown region they were about to explore, but to lay down his life in a cause in which the salvation of souls was involved ; and having prayed together they separated. Coasting along the northern shore of Lake Michigan, the adventurers entered Green Bay, and passed thence up the Fox River and Lake Winnebago to a village of the Miamis and Kickapoos. Here Mar- quette was delighted to find a beautiful cross planted in the middle of the town ornamented with white skins, red girdles and bows and arrows, which these good people had offered to the Great Manitou, or God, to thank him for the pity he had bestowed on them during the Winter in giving them an abundant " chase." This was the farthest outpost to which Dablon and Allouez had extended their missionary labors the year previous. Here Marquette drank mineral waters and was instructed in the secret of a root which cures the bite of the venomous rattlesnake. He assembled the chiefs and old men of the village, and, pointing to Joliet, said : " My friend is an envoy of France, to discover new coun- tries, and I am an, ambassador from God to enlighten them with the truths of the Gospel." Two Miami guides were here furnished to conduct them to the Wisconsin River, and they set out from the Indian village on the 10th of June, amidst a great crowd of natives who had assembled to witness their departure into a region where no white man had ever yet ventured. The guides, having conducted them across the portage,
returned. The explorers launched their canoes upon the Wisconsin, which they descended to the Mississippi and proceeded down its unknown waters. What emotions must have swelled their breasts as they struck out into the broadening current and became conscious that they were now upon the bosom of the Father of Waters. The mystery was about to be lifted from the long-sought river. The scenery in that locality is beautiful, and on that delightful seventeenth of June must have been clad in all its primeval loveliness as it had been adorned by the hand of
23
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
Nature. Drifting rapidly, it is said that the bold bluffs on either hand "reminded them of the castled shores of their own beautiful rivers of France." By-and-by, as they drifted along, great herds of buffalo appeared on the banks. On going to the heads of the valley they could see a country of the greatest beauty and fertility, apparently destitute of inhab- itants yet presenting the appearance of extensive manors, under the fas- tidious cultivation of lordly proprietors.
THE WILD PRAIRIE.
On June 25, they went ashore and found some fresh traces of men upon the sand, and a path which led to the prairie. The men remained in the boat, and Marquette and Joliet followed the path till they discovered a village on the banks of a river, and two other villages on a hill, within a half league of the first, inhabited by Indians. They were received most hospitably by these natives, who had never before seen a white person. After remaining a few days they re-embarked and descended the river to about latitude 33°, where they found a village of the Arkansas, and being satisfied that the river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, turned their course
24
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
up the river, and ascending the stream to the mouth of the Illinois, rowed up that stream to its source, and procured guides from that point to the lakes. "Nowhere on this journey," says Marquette, "did we see such grounds, meadows, woods, stags, buffaloes, deer, wildcats, bustards. swans, ducks, parroquets, and even beavers, as on the Illinois River." The party, without loss or injury, reached Green Bay in September, and reported their discovery-one of the most important of the age, but of which no record was preserved save Marquette's, Joliet losing his by the upsetting of his canoe on his way to Quebec. Afterward Marquette returned to the Illinois Indians by their request, and ministered to them until 1675. On the 18th of May, in that year, as he was passing the mouth of a stream-going with his boatmen up Lake Michigan-he asked to land at its mouth and celebrate Mass. Leaving his men with the canoe, he retired a short distance and began his devotions. As much time passed and he did not return, his men went in search of him, and found him upon his knees, dead. He had peacefully passed away while at prayer. He was buried at this spot. Charlevoix, who visited the place fifty years after, found the waters had retreated from the grave, leaving the beloved missionary to repose in peace. The river has since been called Marquette.
While Marquette and his companions were pursuing their labors in the West, two men, differing widely from him and each other, were pre- paring to follow in his footsteps and perfect the discoveries so well begun by him. These were Robert de La Salle and Louis Hennepin.
After La Salle's return from the discovery of the Ohio River (see the narrative elsewhere), he established himself again among the French trading posts in Canada. Here he mused long upon the pet project of those ages-a short way to China and the East, and was busily planning an expedition up the great lakes, and so across the continent to the Pacific, when Marquette returned from the Mississippi. At once the vigorous mind of LaSalle received from his and his companions' stories the idea that by fol- lowing the Great River northward, or by turning up some of the numerous western tributaries, the object could easily be gained. He applied to Frontenac, Governor General of Canada, and laid before him the plan, dim but gigantic. Frontenac entered warmly into his plans. and saw that LaSalle's idea to connect the great lakes by a chain of forts with the Gulf of Mexico would bind the country so wonderfully together, give un- measured power to France, and glory to himself, under whose adminis- tration he earnestly hoped all would be realized.
LaSalle now repaired to France, laid his plans before the King, who warmly approved of them, and made him a Chevalier. He also received from all the noblemen the warmest wishes for his success. The Chev-
25
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
alier returned to Canada, and busily entered upon his work. He at once rebuilt Fort Frontenac and constructed the first ship to sail on these fresh-water seas. On the 7th of August, 1679, having been joined by Hennepin, he began his voyage in the Griffin up Lake Erie. He passed over this lake, through the straits beyond, up Lake St. Clair and into Huron. In this lake they encountered heavy storms. They were some time at Michillimackinac, where LaSalle founded a fort, and passed on to Green Bay, the " Baie des Puans " of the French, where he found a large quantity of furs collected for him. He loaded the Griffin with these, and placing her under the care of a pilot and fourteen sailors,
LA SALLE LANDING ON THE SHORE OF GREEN BAY.
started her on her return voyage. The vessel was never afterward heard of. He remained about these parts until early in the Winter, when, hear- ing nothing from the Griffin, he collected all the men-thirty working men and three monks-and started again upon his great undertaking.
By a short portage they passed to the Illinois or Kankakee, called by the Indians, "Theakeke," wolf, because of the tribes of Indians called by that name, commonly known as the Mahingans, dwelling there. The French pronounced it Kiakiki, which became corrupted to Kankakee. "Falling down the said river by easy journeys, the better to observe the country," about the last of December they reached a village of the Illi- nois Indians, containing some five hundred cabins, but at that moment
26
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
no inhabitants. The Seur de LaSalle being in want of some breadstuffs, took advantage of the absence of the Indians to help himself to a suffi- ciency of maize, large quantities of which .he found concealed in holes under the wigwams. This village was situated near the present village of Utica in LaSalle County, Illinois. The corn being securely stored, the voyagers again betook themselves to the stream, and toward evening, on the 4th day of January, 1680, they came into a lake which must have been the lake of Peoria. This was called by the Indians Pim-i-te-wi, that is, a place where there are many fat beasts. Here the natives were met with in large numbers, but they were gentle and kind, and having spent some time with them, LaSalle determined to erect another fort in that place, for he had heard rumors that some of the adjoining tribes were trying to disturb the good feeling which existed, and some of his men were disposed to complain, owing to the hardships and perils of the travel. He called this fort " Crevecœur " (broken-heart), a name expressive of the very natural sorrow and anxiety which the pretty certain loss of his ship, Griffin, and his consequent impoverishment, the danger of hostility on the part of the Indians, and of mutiny among his own men, might well cause him. His fears were not entirely groundless. At one time poison was placed in his food, but fortunately was discovered.
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