USA > Iowa > Report of the organization and first reunion of the Tri-State Old Settlers' Association of Illinois, Missouri and Iowa, 1884 > Part 24
USA > Illinois > Report of the organization and first reunion of the Tri-State Old Settlers' Association of Illinois, Missouri and Iowa, 1884 > Part 24
USA > Missouri > Report of the organization and first reunion of the Tri-State Old Settlers' Association of Illinois, Missouri and Iowa, 1884 > Part 24
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In these dispensations, we recognize the work of the GREAT FATHER, Who doeth all things well, to Where will
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we bow, in humble submission, and Whose blessing we now desire to be invoked on this meeting.
. I introduce my well-known and time honored friend, Rev. Wm. Salter of Burlington:
Our Father which art in Heaven, we come to Thee with the voice of thanksgiving, and praise and bless Thy name for the fair land that Thou hast given to us for our country and our home. We thank Thee for these tri-common- wealths, that during the last three-score years and ten, within the life-time of some of Thy servants here present, Thou hast called into life and being. We thank Thee that Thou hast made. these commonwealths great and prosper -. ous. The heaven, even the heavens are the Lord's ; but the carth Thou hast given to the children of men. Thou hast called Thy sons from far. Thou hast said to this people, that they should subdue the wilderness ; that they should plant it with fields, with gardens and orchards, that they should build villages and cities, and add fresh stores to the wealth and glory and civilization of the world.
We thank Thee for our free institutions of government; that the voice of the people is heard in the choice of the rulers of the land; that the evils and wrongs incident to human life and to human society are subject to correction and removal; that none have any to blame but themselves, if peace and plenty, security and happiness are not their lot. () Thou from whom all blessings flow, enrich these States more and more with wisdom and virtue. Smile upon the homes of the people. May love and affection, may purity and fidelity dwell under every roof. Visit our schools and seminaries of learning with Thy continued favor. May every child be taught knowledge and obedi- ence, and be trained to useful industry and an honest life. Impart equity and fair dealing to the exchanges of com- merce and trade. May farmers, and merchants, and manu- facturers, and agents of transportation alike, observe the golden rule, and do unto others as they would that others should do unto them. Let it please Thee, O Lord, that impartial justice preside in every court of law. May the general welfare be the sedulous aim of those who are called to serve in halls of legislation. May the temples of religion be the pillars of moral order in every community, and all our people live soberly, righteously and
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godly in this present world. Bless the Governors, the Judges and the magistrates of these commonwealths. May they sustain the dignity of their offices, and protect the honor, and advance the fame of these States.
O Lord, God of our Fathers, we commend to Thee our common country. One hundred years ago Thou wast with Washington, Franklin, and their associates, in the conven- tion called to frame our Constitution as a Nation. Thou gavest to their deliberations more than mortal wisdom. We acknowledge the Divine hand in the stupendous fabric of a government of the people, for the people, by the people, · spreading from ocean to ocean, blessing more than sixty millions of people. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who only docth wondrous works, and blessed be His glorious Name forever.
We commend to Thy Fatherly goodness the pioneer settlers of these States who still survive in the realms of time. Be pleased to impart serenity and peace to the evening of their days ; may they be cheered with Christian faith and hope, and be gathered at last with those who have served their generation by the will of God, to whom our merciful Savior shall say, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you."
The Lord bless the officers and speakers of this Festival Day, and may all that is said and done be to the glory of God and the honor, prosperity and renown of these common- wealths. The Lord lift up his countenance upon us, and be gracious unto us, and give us peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
At the close of the prayer Judge Johnstone said : 1 am directed by the Executive Committee to announce the President of the Day. It would seem that. the gentleman selected for the presiding officer of the day can certainly need no introduction from anyone. He has been a resident of the Mississippi Valley for more than fifty years. As a prosperous and successful merchant he was well known to the commercial men of Iowa, Missouri and Illinois. He has presided over the legislative councils of this State, he has filled the highest executive office in Iowa, and he is now the representative of this Congressional District. In addition, he has more strong personal friends and fewer enemies than
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any man in the State. I introduce as President of the Day Hon. John H. Gear:
Mr. President and Members of this Tri-State Associa- tion : To me is delegated by the courtesy of this society, the pleasant duty of presiding over your meeting this year. A man must be singularly constituted if he did not appreci -- ate the compliment of presiding at this peculiar gathering. Peculiar by the fact that here to-day meet the people of three great commonwealths, whose inhabitants, speaking the same language, kindred in blood, kindred in their insti- tutions-a people who stood together in the hour of the nation's peril, as they stand together here to-day to enjoy their victories of "peace, which are more renowned than those of war."
It was the custom of the aborigine, when about to die, to prepare himself for his visit to the happy hunting grounds of his people, to call his friends around him and recount to them the achievements of his life.
Like them, you . are gathered here to-day on the banks of this mighty river, linking the present with the past, to renew your carly friendships, begun "lang syne" ; to shake hands one with another, perchance for the last time before you take up the line of march for your "happy hunting grounds." Let me, therefore, briefly call your attention to the early history of the country, which is the home of those present here to-day-a history, the pages of which you have written line by line ; a history that marks the resplendent sweep of progress, which has been made by both our Nation and States, all of which you, the pioneers, have seen and largely contributed to.
At the time of the discovery of the American continent, the Latin races had more of the spirit of adventure than their Teuton or Scandinavian neighbors. They were the chief navigators of the world ; and the argosies of Venice and the fleets of Genoa were on all the known seas. Portu- gal, too, feeling its way along the coast of Africa, had just doubled the cape of Good Hope, and soon reached India. Spain, with a more sordid ambition, was beginning to be heartily interested in the new countries and their fabled treasures of gold and silver. France, aroused by the tidings of her neighbors' discoveries, was alike fired with a zeal for
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travel and discovery, and her people aimed at something beyond the aggrandizement of the mother country.
It is fortunate for our land that they, rather than their southern neighbors, became masters, by discovery, of a large part of North America. Jacques Cartier, the first French explorer to enter the American wilds, laid claim, in 1534, in the name of France, to all that portion of the conti- nent north of the great lakes.
While the fame of the discovery of the mighty river, which flows at our feet, and which was so appropriately named by, the aborgines, the Mississippi, or the "Father of Waters," is justly due to the Spanish cavalier De Soto, yet it is the enterprise of John Talon, who was the "intendant of justice" in the French colony, that we are indebted for our first definite knowledge that we have for it.
History says that John Talon was an ambitious man, that "his views for the aggrandizement of the colony were great and just. Having heard through the Indians that a great river existed west of the great lakes, which, many thought, ran south to the Gulf of Mexico, while others were of the opinion that its course was southwest to the Pacific, determined carly in 1673, to send Joliet as an envoy and Marquette as a missionary to discover it.
These men, the one an immediate representative of the government, and the other an humble Jesuit monk, were both inspired with the desire to carry out the wishes of their chief : the one to find and report on his discoveries : the other to convert the heathen, which has always been a leading characteristic of the Catholic church. Encouraged, as I have said, by Talon, they undertook their long and toil- some journey in search of the "great river."
In a birchen canoe they toiled their way through the lakes up the Fox and down the "Ouisconsin," until on the 17th day of June, 1673, they were rewarded for their labor by the grand discovery they made of this river, on whose banks we stand to-day. To a tribe of Indians (possibly the Masscoutens) who tried to dissuade them from their perilous trip, Marquette said : "My friend (Joliet) is an envoy of France to discover new country, and I am an ambassador of God to enlighten them with the truths of the Gospel." Tradition tells us that they landed near this spot and that Marquette, or "Black Gown," as he was named, preached to
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a tribe of Indians. As Joliet's dairy of the voyage was lost, it is impossible to tell how far down the river they went, but in all probability not below the mouth of the Arkansas. Returning home their discovery was made public.
Soon after their return, Talon went back to France .. Talon was succeeded in authority by Louis de Ibuaae (afterwards Baron de Frontenae) who sent Robert LaSalle to discover the mouth of the great river. LaSalle was an enterprising, ambitious man. To him is conceded the honor of having built the first vessel, the Griffen, which sailed on the great lakes.
LaSalle went down the Illinois river, and in January, 1630, having entered Peoria lake, he built a fort about eight miles from the site of the present city of Peoria, which he called "Creve Cœur" (in English Broken Heart) because of the many discouragements he had encountered on his journey.
From thence proceeding down the river with Hennepin and another, they entered the Mississippi March 8, 1680, the second party of explorers to gaze on the "great river."
With LaSalle's consent, Hennepin called the river the St. Louis, and the country on its west bank Louisiana. Fortunately the Indian name of the river maintained itself against this ovation as well as against others which proposed to call it "Colbert" after the great French statesman of that name. Hennepin turned northward, discovering the Falls of St. Anthony, to which he gave the name of his patron saint.
Meantime LaSalle had returned to the French settle- ments to make additional preparations for his great discov- cry, and he had to go back yet again before he was finally ready. All preparations being made, on the 6th of Feb- ruary, 1682, he came out of the Illinois into the Mississippi and set sail one week later. On the 6th of March he took possession of the country of the Arkansas in the name of the king of France. On the 6th day of April he discovered the outlets of the Mississippi and took possession of them on the 9th, and the fort he established at the mouth he called New Orleans.
Thus by the courage, enterprise and perseverance (which was so common at that time) of Joliet, Marquette and La
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Salle, a vast empire was added to the French possessions in North America.
At an early date, the French established forts and trad- ing posts along the great lakes and in the newly discovered territory of Louisiana, as a defense not only against the Indians, but also against the English with whom they had constant wars. By the treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, France ceded to Great Britain all of the northern portions of the continent claimed by her except the valley of the St. Law- rence and Louisiana, although the territory cast of the Mississippi remained disputed territory until 1763. During the seven years' war, which subsequently raged between France and England, the latter triumphed. In that war the English troops, composed largely of New England and New York colonists, gained a series of brilliant and signal vic- tories. At Quebec, Frontenac, Detroit, Fort du Quesne, and many other places, the lillies of France, went down before the "red cross of England." At the close of the war at the treaty of Paris in 1763, France ceded to England all the Canadas and all of the territories cast of the Mississippi save and except "New Orleans."
We, as Americans, can take just pride that in the wars to which I have alluded, our ancestors bore their part bravely, and that the vast territory gained as the result of the wars was mainly due to their valor ; what we gained by the sword, we again showed our ability to hold by the sword, by the result of the war of the Revolution.
In 1765, Captain Sterling, of the Royal Highlanders, took possession of that part of the Illinois country which had been now finally given up by France. During the war of the Revolution after General George Rogers Clark's conquest of the British posts on the Mississippi, the legislature of Virginia constituted the people in their neighborhood, and all the citizens of Virginia west of the Ohio, into a county called Illinois county. This organization continued by limitation only some three or four years.
By a second treaty made between France and Spain, November 3, 1762, the former ceded to the latter New Orleans and all that portion of the country claimed by France under the name of Louisiana, but for some reason Spain did not take possession of it until 1769.
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Soon after the close of the Revolution the tide of emi- gration set into the west and south. To the northwest territory, which had by an act of congress been dedicated to freedom forever, came the hardy sons of New England and Pennsylvania.
To the "dark and bloody. ground" of Kentucky and the country south of it, went the sons of Virginia, Maryland and the Carolinas. These hardy emigrants conquered a peace from the Indians, and at once began to open and develop the country. As the production of soil increased beyond their own wants, there came to them the necessity of a market for their surplus.
The comity of nations, which to-day permits free egress and ingress to a nation situated on a river, the mouth of which is in possession of another, was however not so well defined as it is now, hence it came that there was constant friction between the American and those who owned the mouth of this river. By the treaty of St. Ildefonso, made October 1, 1800, Spain retroceded New Orleans and Louis- iana to France. This cession in view of the fact that France, at that time under Napoleon, was almost at the zenith of her glory, gave great uneasiness to the American people, so much that even war with that power was openly discussed. An eminent writer of the day said "there is one single spot, the possession of which is our natural and habitual enemy, New Orleans, through which the product of our territory must pass to market, and from its fertility it will ere long yield more than half of our whole produce and contain more than half of our inhabitants." And again, "France, placing herself in that door, assumes to us the attitude of defiance." Spain might have retained it quietly for years ; her pacific disposition, her feeble state would induce her to increase our faculties there, so that her possession of the place would be hardly felt by us, and it would not, perhaps, be very long before some circumstances might arise which might make the cession of it to us the price of something of more value to her. Not so can it be in the hands of France. These circumstances render it impossible that France and the United States can continue long friends when they meet in so irritable a position. The moment France takes possession, * we must marry ourselves to the British fleet and nation." I have quoted at
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length to show what was the feeling existing among the American statesmen of that day on the question of France again becoming the owner of Louisiana and New Orleans.
But political events in Europe were rapidly combining to prevent the results feared by him from whom I have quoted. All Europe was convulsed by the wars incurred by the ambition of Napoleon. He was ambitious, unscru- pulous and a great military leader. He was also devotedly infatuated with the idea of building up France to be the great military power of the world, and at the same time he was intensely desirous to extend her colonial possessions in · all directions. Yet he knew, and none knew better that England was the mistress of the ocean.
Learning that a British fleet was being fitted out for the Mexican gulf, he saw intuitively that he could not hold Louisiana, and he also knew the feeling which existed in the minds of many of the American people for the acquisi- tion of this territory. He therefore at once instructed his minister "Marbais" to treat with the Americans for its sale. The representatives of the American government had been instructed to negotiate for New Orleans only, and when they were told that France would sell the whole of her possessions in America they were surprised. But knowing how im- portant it was to the United States they did not hesitate a moment, but assuming the responsibility, they at once closed the transaction, and on April 30, 1805, the treaty ceding New Orleans and Louisiana to the United States was signed. This treaty was ratified by our government at Washington in October in the same year. On the ratifica- tion the United States ahthorities took possession and the "tri-color" of France, which at that time was the emblem of her national sovereignty, forever gave way to the stars and stripes.
In this connection, it is of interest to know that Spain in retroceding Louisiana to France, inserted a secret clause reserving to herself the right to repurchase this country in case that France should at any time allow it to pass out of her hands. Spain gave her consent to our purchase in 1804. The day the treaty was signed two conventions were held by the representatives of the French and United States governments.
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The first convention provided that we were to pay France sixty millions of francs (equal to eleven and a quarter millions of dollars) and the second provided that France was to pay a sum not exceeding four millions of dollars in payment of certain claims due to our people by France for supplies and_damages growing out of embargoes,. more familiar known to us as the "French spoliation claims."
Napoleon rejoiced at the effect that this treaty would have on England; he said : "From this day the United States take their place among the powers of the first rank." Mr. Livingston, one of the United States commission, said in regard to it "equally advantageous to both parties, to the two contracting parties ; it will change vast solitudes into flourishing districts." The prophecy of the former was from a soldier's standpoint, and that of the latter was the judg- ment of a patriotic far-sighted statesman. A peculiar clause of this treaty is that France ceded all this vast territory "as fully as, and in the same manner as it had been acquired by the French republic." In fact, it seems to have been a quit claim deed. Another clause provides that the inhabitants should be admitted "to all the rights, immunities and advantages of a citizen of the United States, and were to be protected in the enjoyment of their liberty, prosperity and religion."
Not a word was said about boundaries. Indeed, so little was known about this country that I doubt if the French government knew just what and how much it was ceding. Certain it is, that our own government did not know how how much territory they were buying, and the first definite knowledge of its vast extent and character, was made known by the Lewis and Clark expedition, which started across the continent in 1803 and made its report in 1806.
The country ceded by France for the pitiful sum of eleven and a quarter million dollars, is about six times the size of France itself, embracing within its limits over eleven hundred thousand square miles.
It is perhaps little known that this magnificent Louisiana territory was actually granted by Louis XIV of France, to one Crosat, he to have all the commerce of the country, and all the profits accruing from the mines and minerals he should discover, reserving one-fifth of the gold and silver to the king. As we see it now it was the most munificent
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grant by far ever made to a subject. But Crosat thought only of the precious metals, for which he searched. Failing in such quest, he thought the country not worth possessing, and in 1717, five years after he received the grant, he relinquished it to the crown. A few years later the duke of Orleans, as regent of France, granted the possession to John Law's famous Mississippi company. That remarkable man had better ideas of the resources of the country than the former grantee, making those resources largely the basis of his stupendous system of credits. The most extravagant accounts of the country were circulated throughout Europe, and as one writer says, "The Mississippi became the center of all men's wishes, hopes and expectations." This com- pany's operations resembled those of what we call "boomers" to-day. Its shares sold at fabulous prices, as real estate often does in paper towns and sometimes in quite preten- tious cities, with no improvements or developments to justify such prices. When its brief day was run the grant was again relinquished. It is impossible now to estimate what a momentous effect would have been produced had either of these grants been retained by their guarantees. If · acknowledged to anything like their formidable proportions, how vastly different would have been the fate of this sunset empire of ours ! I have called your attention to the anxiety of the people of the west for the acquisition of New Orleans as an outlet. There was more ground for this anxiety than is to-day realized. Bonaparte did not get Louisiana from Spain for the purpose of giving her to America. Quite the contrary. His design appears to have been to put a check to Anglo-American ambition on the western continent. It was contemplated to colonize Frenchmen there under milit- ary auspices. This seemed to be a part of the scheme, which he appears to have actually entertained, to make himself a universal ruler.
An incident happening at this time served to intensify the popular feeling. When Louisiana was surrendered to France, the Spanish governor proclaimed the port of New Orleans closed as a place of deposit for merchandise ; and he also forbade foreign commerce to use that port unless carried on by Spanish subjects in Spanish vessels ; utterly disregarding a treaty reservation in favor of Americans secured during Washington's administration. The product
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of more than one-fourth of the republic was thus deprived of its natural outlet. This action aroused intense feeling throughout the country. Hamilton advanced his plan of seizing New Orleans, and all the country cast of the Missis- sippi. President Jefferson said in a letter that the agitation of the public mind was extreme. Public meetings were held throughout the west, at which expression was given to the incensed feelings of the people.
About the same time, word came of an address presented to the first consul of France, in which the glories of a prospective French empire in the new world were artfully depicted so as to flatter the vanity of that despotic ruler. It said : "Fancy in its happiest mood cannot combine all the felicities of nature and society in a more absolute degree, than will be actually combined when the valley of the Mississippi shall be placed under the auspices of France. The Nile flows in a torrid climate, through a long and narrow valley. Does this river bestow riches worthy of the greatest effort of the nation to bestow them, and shall the greater Nile of the western hemisphere be neglected ? A Nile whose inundations diffuse the fertility of Egypt twenty leagues from its shore, which occupies a valley wider than from the Duna to the Rhine, which flows among the most beautiful dales, and under benignant seasons ; and which is skirted by a civilized world and kindred nation on one side, and on the other by extensive regions, over which the tide of growing population may spread itself without hindrance or danger. The prosperity of the French colony will demand the exclusive navigation of the river. The Master of the Mississippi will be pleased so as to control, in most · effectual manner, the internal waves of faction. He holds in his hands the bread of the settlements westward of the hills. He may disperse or hold at his pleasure. See we not the mighty influence that this power will give us over the councils of the States. The address continued, "when war becomes the topic of discourse, well may they deprecate a quarrel with France. They will turn their eyes to the calamities of St. Domingo-an example is before their eyes of a servile war. The only aliens and enemies within their borders are not the blacks. We shall find in the Indian tribes an army permanently cautioned in the most conven- ient stations-a terrible militia more destructive while
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