Cahokia records, 1778-1790, Part 3

Author: Alvord, Clarence Walworth, 1868-1928
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 856

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1 The evidence for this is found in the Letter-Book of George Morgan and the Kas. Rec .; see also Moses, Court of Inquiry, Chi. Hist. Soc's Col., iv.

2 N. Y. State Library Bulletin No. 58, Cal. of Council Minutes, letter of General Gage, March 29, 1769.

3 See Alden, New Governments west of the Alleghanies before 1780.

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purchase of land near the French villages, of which George Morgan was the representative in the Illinois. Although several strips of land were bought, nothing of any moment was accom- plished by this company.1 However, another known as the Illi- nois Land Company, most of the members of which were Phila- delphians, acquired in 1773 through its representative, William Murray, two large tracts, one situated on the Illinois River and the other south of Kaskaskia on the Ohio. Two years later, the Wabash Land Company, the members of which lived for the most part in Maryland, purchased through its representative, the Kaskaskian Louis Viviat, an associate of Murray, two tracts on the Wabash, one above and the other below Vincennes. Since both purchases were made from the Indians and contrary to the Edict of 1763, they were not allowed by the British govern- ment and were annulled by General Gage.2 When the American Revolution broke out, most of the purchasers sided with the colonists and looked to the success of their cause to further the enterprise in the West.

Although there was at times considerable complaint against the British commandants by the merchants and land-traders, these were generally favored more than the French inhabitants or the Canadians, until the passage of the Quebec Act in 1774, which united the Illinois territory with the province of Quebec and annulled any special favors and privileges which the merchants from the East may have enjoyed. This act and the canceling of the land purchases, which proved the intention of the British government to carry out the principles enunciated in the Edict of 1763, were discouraging to the enterprises of the repre-

1 The purchases of several pieces of land and the grants of others by Colonel Wilkins, commandant, were recorded in the record-book of the district. (Kas. Rec.) The agreement creating the land company is in the library of the Hist. Soc. of Pennsylvania. The original members were William Franklin, Sir William Johnson, George Croghan, John Baynton, Samuel Wharton, George Morgan, Joseph Wharton, Joseph Wharton, Jr., John Hughes, and Joseph Galloway. The firm of Baynton, Wharton & Morgan received a concession of a large tract of land in the American Bottom from Colonel Wilkins in 1769. This claim passed into the hands of John Edgar, was confirmed by Governor St. Clair, but was rejected by the land commissioners of the U.S. Amer. State Pap., Pub. Lands, ii., 206.

2 The best account of the Illinois and the Wabash Land companies is contained in a pamphlet published in Philadelphia in 1796 with the title, Account of the Proceedings of the Illinois and Ouabache Land companies. Other memorials were printed in later years, some of which may be found in Amer. State Pap., Pub. Lands, vols. i and ii, the longest in vol. ii., 108 et seq. For the later history of the two companies see post p. lxx .

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sentatives of the Eastern colonies, and from that date their number in the Illinois began to decline and trade turned back to the older channels. The next men of English speech to compete with the Spanish and French merchants for this western trade were representatives of the new British Canadian houses which sprang up after Canada was ceded to Great Britain. When it is remembered that the persons back of this attempt to capture for the East the trade of the old Northwest and to exploit that territory through their colonizing schemes were some of the most important merchants and professional men in the seaboard colonies, one cause of the opposition among the Easterners to the Quebec Act is easily understood.1

The entrance of the American colonists into the Illinois had two results, one immediate and the other more remote. The trade had brought into the French villages several men of English speech, who for one cause or another determined to remain; and their presence made possible continual correspondence between the West and the colonial revolutionists; and at the same time they prepared the minds of the French to receive any company of American soldiers who might undertake the conquest of the country. The second result was apparent only later. The men who had been foiled in their attempt to secure the trade of the old Northwest and to acquire its land for colonization were not willing to accept the decision of the Quebec Act as final, and were prepared to renew the attempt at the first opportunity with the chance of greater success.

Rocheblave had been appointed agent for the British a year after the outbreak of the American Revolution, and from the first he had trouble with the Americans who remained in the villages and who generally sympathized with the cause of independence.

1 For a discussion of the Quebec Act see Coffin, The Province of Quebec and the Early American Revolution. The decreased number of Americans from the eastern colonies is proved by a careful study of the names appearing in the records. Some of the more impor- tant men are known to have left. Morgan left before 1774, probably in 1770, but his firm still continued to conduct business in the Illinois until about 1774. William Murray left the country in 1776; James Rumsey must have left shortly before. The Canadian mer- chants began to appear in 1777, at least that is the date of the first appearance of a repre- sentative of any of the new Scotch firms of Canada which in time controlled the western fur- trade. After the close of the American Revolution they came in great numbers. See post p. cxlvii .; J. Bte. Perrault's Narrative, in Schoolcraft, Indian Antiquities, pt. 3.

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It is difficult to decide to-day where justice lay in the con- - stant disputes between the two parties, for the endless recrimi- nations which they hurled at each other were surcharged with personal hatred and irreconcilable hostility.

The first cause of dispute grew out of the trade with the Indians. Every government in the West has been forced sooner or later to attempt to regulate the sale of liquor to the natives, since one of the chief dangers to the small frontier community comes from in- toxicated savages. Since Rocheblave was without authority, he was obliged to use other means than prohibition to regulate this dangerous trade; and no better method could have been devised than that he used. In a community practically without govern- ment like that of the Illinois, public opinion alone could be called into play to prevent an evil which endangered the lives of all alike. One of the first acts of Rocheblave was to call an assembly of the inhabitants on April 17, 1776, to discuss among other matters, all questions concerning their relations with the Indians. It was decided that, since some savages made war on the English and some on the French and since both realized that they were under one government and were all brothers and must hold together, the assembly of the inhabitants should regulate the trade with the savages from time to time. The people also agreed on their honor not to give to the Indians any intoxicating liquor, and to assemble under arms when the commandant gave the signal. At the same assembly it was determined that, if any one refused to pay just debts, the inhabitants would give their assis- tance to the government to enforce such payment. The agree- ment was signed by all the prominent Frenchmen of the villages, but by only one Englishman, Daniel Murray.1 Later this agree- ment was made the subject of reproach against Rocheblave by one of the English merchants, Bentley, who was most bitterly opposed to the acting commandant. If Rocheblave's charges are to be believed, Bentley and his associates were the chief offen- ders in the sale of liquor to the Indians.2

1 Kas. Rec. Court Record, p. 82.

2 Bentley made similar charges against Rocheblave and accused him of injus- tice and tyranny. Rocheblave presented his case before a court, composed of the militia

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It was not the liquor traffic, however, which caused the greatest difficulties between the British agent, and the English-speaking inhabitants of the Illinois. On account of the war for indepen- dence carried on by the seaboard colonies against the mother country, the western territory became the center of many activi- ties directed against England, of which Rocheblave kept him- self well informed, but against which he was able to do little on account of the apathy of the British government. Across the river lay the Spanish posts, which, since the appointment of Galvez as governor of Spanish Louisiana, had become the seat of intrigues against England ; for the Spanish officials of America were rather quicker in perceiving the advantages which might be gained by Spain from the rupture between England and her colonies than was the home government, and they committed many overt acts against England before actual war was declared by Spain. From St. Louis and New Orleans the Americans re- ceived very substantial aid. At the latter city was Oliver Pol- lock, who was the American agent and was on the best of terms with the governor. From Fort Pitt boats were sent to New Orleans for supplies of all kinds and these boats were even har- bored in St. Louis, opposite the British Illinois.1

The English-speaking merchants of Kaskaskia participated in these acts against England and maintained their intercourse with the eastern leaders in spite of the watchfulness of Rocheblave. Bentley and others traded almost openly with the rebels. When William Linn went to New Orleans to obtain powder and other supplies for the Americans, Bentley met him on the Ohio River and sold him powder. It was also known that he sent a boat to Kentucky for the same purpose.2 The chief representative

captains of Kaskaskia, Prairie du Rocher and St. Philippe, which heard evidence on all the charges brought against the acting commandant by Bentley and acquitted him on every count. The known duplicity of Bentley at a later period makes his testimony more than doubtful. Kas. Rec. Court Record, fol. 100 et seq .; Mich. Pio. and Hist. Col. xix., 324; Ill. Hist. Col., i., 295.

1 Winsor, The Westward Movement, 108; Gayarre, Hist. of Louisiana, iii., 109; Roche- blave to Hamilton, May 8, 1777, enclosed in Can. Archives, Q., 14, p. 51; Rocheblave to Haldimand, November 9, 1780, Ibid, B., 122, p. 545; letter of Rocheblave, February 28, 1778, Ibid, Q., 15, p. 196; Mason, Rocheblave Papers, in Chi. Hist. Soc.'s Collection, iv., 389, 393, 402, 407; Morgan to George Clymer, March 2, 1778, Papers of Old Cong., xv., 317.

2 In the court appointed by Rocheblave to investigate charges against himself made by Bentley, several Americans and Frenchmen, who were lukewarm in their support of the

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of the American cause in the West was George Morgan, who in 1776 was appointed agent under the commissioners for Indian affairs in the middle department and made his headquarters at Fort Pitt.1 His intimate knowledge of the West and his many friends among the French and Indians made his selection a wise one; and he was able to make some opposition to the activities of Hamilton, the lieutenant-governor of Detroit. Morgan main- tained his relations with his agents in Kaskaskia, Winston and Kennedy, and with other correspondents at Detroit and elsewhere.2 In a letter written in July, 1776, he says: "I am now here on Public Business for the United Colonies. I want to know the exact situation of affairs at the Illinois & what Quantity of flour & beef you could furnish a company or two of men with at Kas- kaskia the 25th of next December. This I will depend on you for by the return of Silver Heels who ought to be at Pittsburg as early in September as possible as there is a great treaty to be held in that month with all the western Nations. If one of you could come along with him it may be much to your advantage, but you should be very secret with respect to your Business." There follows an order for horses and the letter ends with a repetition of his request that one of the partners meet him in Pittsburg.3 It is difficult to determine whether the letter is more than a busi- ness letter or not. The company of men may refer to some commercial enterprise that was contemplated; but Congress had determined in the previous April to send an expedition against Detroit and there may have been in the writer's plans a similar one against the Illinois.4

commandant, testified concerning the intercourse between the East and the Illinois. (Kas. Rec., Court Record) Bentley's defense may be found in the documents from the Handimand Collections printed in Mich. Pio. and Hist. Col. xix., 321 et seq. and Ill. Hist. Col., i., 295 et seq. For Linn's expedition see Hall, Romance of the West.

1 Winsor, Westward Movement, 90.

2 In a letter from Rocheblave to Hamilton, May 8, 1777, occurs the following: "It has occurred to me to tell you that the spy, named Elliot, whom you have had arrested at De- troit, was the bearer of a letter from George Morgan, commissioner for Congress and general director of the undertakings which are made from Fort Pitt against here, to Richard Winston, a very zealous partisan of the same cause." (Letter enclosed in Can. Archives, Q., vol. 14, p. 74. See also letter quoted below.) There are scattered references to Morgan in the Kas. Rec. Very late in my investigations I learned that there were three letter-books of George Morgan in the Carnegie library of Pittsburg, Pa. I made every effort to have search made in them for material, which would throw light on Morgan's activities in the West. Through the fault of no one, but rather on account of the shortness of the time, I was unsuccessful.

3 Can. Archives, B., 185, pt. 2, p. 549.

4 Journal of Cont. Cong., Lib. of Cong. ed., iv., 318.

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INTRODUCTION

Whatever Morgan's plans may have been, there can be no doubt about the belief of the English-speaking traders in the Illinois; for they were expecting that he would soon bring about such an expedition. They talked of this openly among themselves and spoke of the power of the colonies to the French, to whom they pointed out the advantages of a change of alliance. When William Murray left Kaskaskia in the year 1776, he instructed his brother Daniel to furnish any American troops, who might come, with the supplies they should need; and later he sent word from New Orleans by Colonel George Gibson, to the same effect; instructions which Daniel carried out, when George Rogers Clark arrived in 1778. On June 7, 1778, Richard Mc- Carty of Cahokia wrote to John Askins of Michillimackinac: "It is said that Morgan was to be here with 600 men last winter, but very likely he has something else to do."1

In the midst of these intrigues Rocheblave was not strong enough to do more than to memorialize the government at Quebec. Even when he had proved against Bentley the charge of selling goods to the colonies, he did not dare to arrest him in Kas- kaskia,2 for although at the beginning of his administration he had been able to unite all the French in his support, there had developed two parties, one of which showed signs of opposing him. The American merchants had not lived so many years in the villages of the Illinois without making friends among the French, nor were the latter wholly without longings for liberty and aspirations for greater independence. It was only eight years before this that they had commissioned their friend and neighbor, Daniel Bloüin, to present to the British government their wishes for a civil establishment to replace the military tyranny from which they suffered.3 That movement had caused excited discussions

1 Kas. Rec., Court Record, fol. 100 ct scq; Murray's instructions to his brother may be found in a memorial by Daniel Murray, Va. State Papers, ii., 675; McCarty's letter in Can. Archives, B., 97, vol. i., p. 6.

2 Bentley was arrested at Michillimackinac and carried to Quebec, where he was kept in confinement until his escape in 1780, when he returned to Illinois to take his revenge, as the later narrative will tell. See post, p. cxlv. The more important papers in regard to the ar- rest of Bentley have been published in the Mich. Pioncer and Hist. Col., xix., 321 et seq. His intercourse with the Kentuckians is further proved by the fact that Clark made efforts to have Bentley exchanged, Clark to Lernoult, March 16, 1779, Ill. Hist. Col., i., 415.

8 Mason, Chapters from Illinois Hist., 281. Much new material on this event has been discovered, which will be made known in time.

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in the villages at the time, and most of the French could recall the principles, without doubt largely inspired by the Eastern traders among them, for which they had then struggled.

It is true that these same villagers later told Clark that they had not understood the cause for which the colonies were fighting. But this was given as an excuse for not having joined the American cause earlier, for they certainly were not so ignorant nor so art- less as they chose to appear to the leader of an army of backwoods- men. Many had seen the broadsides sent by the Americans to Canada. Their intercourse through trade with Kentucky and Fort Pitt had brought the knowledge to others, and such men as Winston, Kennedy, and the Murrays had been preaching the joys of independence for years. Many of the French were also warm friends and admirers of that enthusiast for the American cause, George Morgan. It is, therefore, not strange that many gave Rocheblave a half-hearted support, although they were not ready to come out openly on the side of the American agents.1 Among these more or less disaffected Frenchmen must be counted some of the most important men of the communities, such as Father Gibault, the Charlevilles, the Bauvais, Bienvenus, Lafont, Duplasy and Janis of Kaskaskia, and J. Bte. Barbau, who controlled Prairie du Rocher. How Rocheblave was regarded at Cahokia is not known. The captains of militia, Joseph Cesirre and François Trottier, had not chosen to participate in the court, which the acting commandant called to clear himself of the charges made by Bentley ; but this may have been due to hindrances rather than choice. The men composing this party were among the most intelligent of the villagers; they had all given their support to the demand for the civil government from the British in 1770, and among them were the officers of the militia, as Duplasy, Janis, and Barbau.

1 The above analysis of the conditions in Illinois in the year 1778 is based upon hints from many sources and events which followed the arrival of George Rogers Clark, so that it is impossible to refer to any one document or group of documents as proof. The statement of the French to Clark in regard to their ignorance of the cause of the struggle is in Clark's letter to Mason and his Memoir, English, Conquest of the Northwest, i., 417 and 480. In the Memoir, (p. 475) Clark intimates that he found some of the French inclined to the American cause. Cerré, of whom I speak below, is one of the men who claims not to have had the opportunity to understand the cause for which the Americans struggled, but no one can read the letter written him by Monforton on Sept. 22, 1778, without believing that Cerré's

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INTRODUCTION

The mass of the habitants were probably on the side of the government.1 Illiterate and unintelligent, they were willing to accept conditions as they found them without attempting to bring about a change; and, besides, obedience to the constituted authorities was part of their nature. There were, however, sev- eral of the richest and most prominent Frenchmen upon whom the acting commandant could count, whose loyalty to the British cause and Rocheblave was far stronger than the attachment of their opponents to the opposition. Among these were Gabriel Cerré, Louis Viviat, and Nicolas Lachance of Kaskaskia. Viviat should, perhaps, not be counted at this time, for he died in the fall of 1777; but up to the 'time of his death, he was one of the most important traders of the region and had been in partnership with William Murray. He was the member of the Wabash Land Company who acted as the agent in the purchase of its claim. He had, however, severed his connection with Murray just pre- vious to his death, because of the acts of Daniel Murray, who was particularly lawless. Throughout the prosecution of Bentley by Rocheblave, Viviat had given the latter his support.2 Of La- chance little at this time is known except that he was accounted a friend of Rocheblave.3 Unquestionably the most important member of the government party was Gabriel Cerré. He was forty-four years old and had been in Kaskaskia since 1755. Through his personal wealth and commercial connections, he exercised an influence over the villagers second only to that of the commandant, with whom he was on terms of intimacy. It is quite possible that his trading interests brought him into oppo-

correspondent gave him credit for an intelligent understanding of the claims of the two parties. (Can. Archives, B., 122, p. 161.) Daniel Murray in writing to Bentley on May 25, 1777, gives the following proof of the existence of parties among the French: "As to your being complained of already to General Carleton you need not dread that, for since your departure Rocheblave drew out a complaint against you and wanted all the principal Inhabitants to sign it which they all absolutely refused to do, particularly the Charlevilles, Bienvenue, Lafont, Plassey, Janist, etc., no doubt but your friends Viviat Cerré Lachance might have done it but they are too few to countenance it when so many refused to do it." (Mich. Pio. and Hist. Col., xix., 417.) Scattered through the Court Record, Kas. Rec. are other indica- tions of party divisions.

1 Clark in his Memoir says that the majority of the inhabitants were friendly to Cerré, the leader of the British party. English, Conquest of the Northwest, i ., 485.

2 Kas. Rec., Court Record. See also supra, p. xxx.

3 See supra, p. xxxvi., note I.

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sition to the Americans and that self interest bound him to the British side.1

Rocheblave never deceived himself in regard to the weakness of his position, and several times urged upon Governor Carleton · the appointment of a commandant and the sending to the Illinois of British troops, a recommendation which proves his interest in the cause he upheld and his own disinterestedness. His letters are full of such expressions as these: "I await with the greatest impatience the orders of your excellency, or rather I beg of you to give them to some other person, a native Englishman, in order to escape the too common jealousies of some, who having merely the name, and whose affections are all for the Americans, are seeking to thwart all my efforts, intriguing with our neighbors and poisoning with the venom of their hearts the purest intentions. . All the alarms I have sought to give will be only too well realized. We are upon the eve of seeing here a numerous band of brigands who will establish a chain of communications which will not be easy to break, once formed. If by the schemes of the Spanish the Natchez are conquered, there will be established an armed force in this country. You have no time to lose to prevent this misfortune. If militia can be counted for anything at present a person of discretion with troops would attract more adherents than would be believed. Inclination is in spite of abandonment and distress, still for the government, but it is more than time to revive their drooping courage or all will be lost here."2 The British government planned at one time to relieve him and appointed, in 1777, Matthew Johnson lieutenant-governor of the Illinois; but for some reason he never went to his post,3 and Rocheblave was compelled to face the event concerning which he had given so frequent warnings, and to learn that the party of his opponents was stronger in a crisis than his own.

1 For an account of Cerré, see p. xx., note 2.

2 Rocheblave to Carleton, July 4, 1778, translated in Mason, Rocheblave Papers, Chi. Hist. Soc.'s. Collections, iv., 416.

3 Can. Archives, B., vol. 46, p. 95. From Murray's letter to Bentley, May 25, 1777, it is learned that the new governor was expected at Kaskaskia, Mich. Pio. and Hist. Cal., xix., 417.

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INTRODUCTION

The American attack on the villages of the Illinois did not come about in the way that the inhabitants and Rocheblave had anticipated. They had been led to look for an expedition sent by the united colonies and directed by George Morgan against the whole line of posts extending from Detroit to Kaskaskia; but what actually occurred was that one of the revolting states, Vir- ginia, sent an isolated detachment under a pioneer of Kentucky to revenge the British and Indian attacks on her frontiers.1 The immediate occasion of this expedition was the rapid colonization of Kentucky during the last four years, and the danger to the new settlements from the detachments of Indians sent by Lieutenant Governor Hamilton of Detroit. To the Kentuckians the whole territory north of the Ohio River appeared the breeding ground of these Indian incursions into their territory. The con- ception of an attack upon the Illinois was due to the genius of one man, George Rogers Clark, who clearly perceived that the holding of Kentucky depended on checking the British power to the north. He laid his plan before the governor and council of Virginia, by whom it was approved.2 He then proceeded to raise his troops, keeping the destination of the expedition as secret as possible. Had he taken into consultation George Morgan or some of the men associated with him, he could easily have put himself into communication with the American party in the Illinois. On account of this silence he never fully under- stood the conditions existing in the French villages. He had pre- ferred to work by himself and had collected his own information. In 1777 he had sent two spies, S. More and B. Linn, to Kaskaskia to investigate the situation. They remained in the villages some time, giving themselves out as hunters; but they failed to get into communication with the leaders of the opposition to Rocheblave, because Clark'had not informed even his spies of his

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Cahokia records, 1778-1790, Part 3

Author: Alvord, Clarence Walworth, 1868-1928 Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages: 856

Author: Alvord, Clarence Walworth, 1868-1928
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 856