USA > Illinois > Ford County > Historical Atlas of Ford County Illinois > Part 2
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Declining to discuss the comparative merits of the various theories as to the formation of the prairies, the doctor "refers the reader to the very able chapter on the subject by Prof. Lesque- reux, whose thorough acquaintance, both with fossil and recent botany, and the general laws which govern the distribution of the ancient as well as the recent flora, entitles his opinion to our most profound consideration."
rolling prairies and those of these bottoms along the rivers as well, are all the result of the same cause, and form one whole, indivis- ible system."
In speaking of the scarcity of timber in the eastern part of our State, Beckwith says: " Taking the line of the Wabash Rail- way, which crosses Illinois in its greatest breadth, and beginning in Indiana, where the railway leaves the timber, west of the Wa- bash near Marshfield, the prairie extends to Quincy, a distance of more than 250 miles, and its continuity the entire way is only broken by four strips of timber along four streams running at right angles with the route of the railway, and all of the timber at the crossing of these streams, if put together, would not aggre- gate fifteen miles against the 250 miles of prairie. Taking & north and south direction and parallel with the drainage of the rivers, one could start near Ashley, on the Illinois Central Railway, in Washington County, and going northward nearly on an air line, keeping on the divide between the Kaskas- kis and Little Wabash, the Sangamon and the Vermillion, the Iroquois and the Vermillion of the Illinois, crossing the latter stream between the mouths of the Fox and Du Page, and travel through to the State of Wisconsin, a distance of nearly 800 miles, without encountering five miles of timber during the whole journey.
Thus we may in a measure realize the extent of this vast meadow, generally termed the "Grand Prairie," but mere figures of distances fail to give an adequate idea of its magnitude.
Many an old settler with this picture of Central Illinois in his memory, as he once viewed it with only occasional cabins along the timber lines, can well remark the amazing rapidity with which this great tract of country has been peopled and improved.
In those days of the past, extravagant stories of men and animals wildly fleeing before the devouring prairie fires were told, and since then have been woven in frontier tales with great effect. These stories are generally overstated, for a frontiersman well knew that when the fire was advancing more or less rapidly, socording as the wind was strong or light, he had only to start a fire in the prairie grass at the lee side of his position, and as the newly started fire burned its way along the ground he had only to pass out upon the "burnt district" in safety. As the settlers began to carve out their new homes, the great danger from these fires was to their fences where the tall grass grew, or to their stacks of hay and grain where protection had failed to be provided by plowing a few furrows about these gatherings from the harvest fields. Still there was something grand and even terrible in a prairie fire, and especially at night, when the writer has seen the landscape made brilliant by these great illumina- tions. Before the " grand prairies " of Illinois were upturned by the steel clipper and the white man's coming was yet unan- nounced did the Indian have full sway, and wild game in abund- ance furnished his table with decidedly rich fare.
Prairie is a French word meaning a meadow, and was the name applied by the early French explorers to the great fertile, treeless plains of North America which lie between Ohio on the cast and the arid plains on the west. The Indians very properly called the prairies Mas-ko-tia, or the place of fire, and those tribes who lived and hunted almost exclusively upon the prairies were known among their red brethren as Mas-kou-tes, rendered by the French Maskoutines, or people of the fire or prairie country.
THE ABORIGINES.
It is clearly demonstrated by the numerous and well-anthen- ticated accounts of antiquities found in various parts of this county that a people civilised, and considerably cultivated, at least as compared with the Indian, occupied this great land be- fore its possession by the red man of later history, but their " day and generation " lie buried in the deepest obscurity.
Nature, at the time of the discovery of America by Columbus in 1492, had asserted her original dominion over the land; the forests were in their full luxuriance, the growth of many centuries ; and nothing remained to point out who and what they were who once lived and loved, labored and died on the continent of America.
This race with an unwritten history is known as the Mound- Builders. The remains of the works of this people form the most interesting class of antiquities discovered in the United States.
These mounds consist of what once apparently were villages, altars, temples, idols, cemeteries, monuments, camps, fortifica- tions, pleasure grounds, etc.
Were the Mound.Builders the ancestors of the Indians or who were they ? What were their customs? Whence came they?
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FORD COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
What is their history ? The oblivion which has closed over them is complete, and only conjecture can be given in answer to these questions.
Mr. Breckenridge, who examined the antiquities of the West- ern country in 1817, says : "The great number and extremely large size of some of them may be regarded as furnishing, with other circumstances, evidences of their antiquity. I have some- times been induced to think that the period when they were con- structed there was a population here as numerous as that which once animated the borders of the Nile or Euphrates or of Mexico. The most numerous, as well as considerable, of these remains are found in precisely those parts of the country where the traces of a numerous population might be looked for, namely, from the mouth of the Ohio on the east side of the Mississippi to the Illinois River, and on the west from the St. Francis to the Missouri. I am per- fectly satisfied that cities similar to those of ancient Mexico, of several hundred thousand souls, have existed in this country."
To describe these Mound-Builders is now impossible. We only know that the red men, who occupied this country when the French, English and Spanish came to visit the land and trade for peltries, had not even a tradition of them.
It is generally conceded that whatever the uses of these mounds-whether for homes for the living or burial places for the dead-these voiceless landmarks of the silent past were built, and the race who built them disappeared from the face of the earth, ages before the Indians occupied the land, but their date must probably remain as a sealed volume of history. The names of their mighty chieftains, their deeds of valor, their marches with faith- ful followers to a
-"Gory bed, Or to glorious victory,"
have not been preserved by the historian and tradition is silent.
THE INDIANS.
The opinion prevails that the inhabitants of North America who followed the Mound-Builders were those who reared the great cities, the ruins of which are found in Central America. It is undoubtedly true that this people was far more civilized and advanced in arts than were the Mound-Builders. If we are to judge of these cities by their ruins of broken columns, fallen arches and crumbling walls of temples, palaces and pyramids, which in some places for miles bestrew the ground, they must have been cities of great extent, magnificent and very populous. Then to consider the time required to bring them to their present ruined condition we must conclude that the date of their building was far in the past.
The Indians, believed to be the third race inhabiting North America, are distinct in every particular from the former two. Their origin is also enveloped in mystery. Neither had they any traditions respecting their predecessors. They knew absolutely nothing about them consequently they must have been successors of a race which had entirely passed away before the Indian made his appearance on this continent. There are several widely dif- ferent opinions expressed at length in the various histories of the North American Indian as to their origin, but as already stated, mystery surrounds their beginning as a race, and the opinions expressed are largely a matter of speculation. A quite common supposition well expressed in Chapman's History is that " they are a derivative race, and sprang from one or more of the ancient peoples of Asia.
`In the absence of all authentic history, and when even tradi- tion is wanting, any attempt to point out the particular location of their origin must prove unsatisfactory. Though the exact place of origin may never be known, yet the striking coincidence of physical organization between the Oriental type of mankind and the Indians point unmistakably to some part of Asia as the place whence they emigrated, which was originally peopled to & great extent by the Children of Shem. In this connection, it has been claimed that a meeting of the Europeans, Indians and Afri- cans on the continent of America, is the fulfillment of a prophesy as recorded in Genesis, ix, 27 : " God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem ; and Canaan shall be his servant." Assuming the theory to be true that the Indian tribes are of Shemitic origin, they were met on this continent in the fifteenth century by the Japhethic race, after the two stocks had passed around the globe by directly different routes. A few years afterward the Hamatic branch of the human family were brought from the coast of Africa.
During the occupancy of the continent by the three distinct races, the children of Japheth have grown and prospered, while the called and not voluntary sons of Ham have endured a servi- tude in the wider stretching valleys of the tents of Shem."
Ridpath, in his History of the United States, says : "The origin of the North American Indian is involved in complete obscurity. That they are one of the older races of mankind can not be doubted. But at what date or by what route they came to the Western Continent is an unsolved problem. The notion that the Indians are the descendants of the Israelites is absurd. That half-civilized tribes wandering from beyond the Euphrates, should reach North America, surpasses human credulity."
No doubt all of us, having in our school days read the stories of Indian wars, were under the impression that the various tribes peopled this country quite densely, so that wherever the pioneer might travel in this newly discovered land, the red man with bow and arrow, tomahawk and scalping knife, glared upon him from every thicket and stealthily glided through the tall grasses of the prairie watching the white man's course.
But it is the opinion of the best authorities that when Amer-
ica was discovered in 1492, the whole continent was thinly pop- ulated, as compared with the present time, by roving bands or tribes of Indians.
In some few regions, a considerable degree of civilization and skill in agriculture had been attained as in Mexico and Peru.
The number of Indians in this country, when permanent settlements began to be made, is not known, but probably amounted in all the vast territory, as estimated by well informed writers, to only a few millions-perhaps two or three.
As almost every one knows, these were called Indians by the Europenns from the erroneous idea of Columbus, and the men of that age, that there was only one continent ; and that they had reached the eastern shore of Asia when America was discovered.
The whole region comprising our country was in the possession of a great number of these tribes. They divided the country be- tween them in an indefinite way. war and hunting being their chief occupations. They, generally speaking, attempted a very little cultivation of the soil.
The settlements of the Indians were as indefinite and movable as their boundaries, and they attached very little value to land. Territory was acquired from them partly by force and partly by purchase.
These last were usually made for a nominal sum and with little comprehension, on their part, of the importance and future effects of its alienation. Historians have classified the Indian families or nations as follows :
1. The Esquimaux, inhabiting the country from Labrador to Alaska. The name means the eaters of raw meat.
2. The Algonquins, who occupied the country extending from Nova Scotia south to the James River, thence west to the mouth of the Ohio, and from thence northward along the east side of the Mississippi and on to Lake Winnipeg, excepting that portion which was occupied by the Huron-Iroquois, as here- after described.
8. The Huron-Iroquois, a powerful nation, occupied & tract of country within that of the Algonquins. Their borders extended over the country reaching from Georgian Bay and Lake Huron to Lakes Erie and Ontario, south of those lakes to the valley of the Upper Ohio, and eastward to the River Sorel.
4. The Appalachians inhabited that portion of the country south of the Algonquins, and east of the Mississippi.
5. The Dakotas, called by the French Sioux, occupied a dis- trict of country west of the Mississippi and north of the Missouri and Platte Rivers.
6. The Shoshonees, occupying the country south and west of the Dakotas. It will be understood that these nations were again divided into many tribes each, speaking different dialects of the common language, by which the main group was distinguished. As a general rule, Indians, when asked their name, gave the term Men or Real Men. Each tribe had a name, generally that of the animal or object which was the totem of the tribe. By referring to the foregoing description of the territory occupied by the Al- gonquins, it will be observed that our State was, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, under the jurisdiction of that nation. The Algonquin tribes occupying the western part of the country thus allotted to this nation, were the several tribes of the Illinois and Miami confederacies, the Pottawatomies, the Kickapoos and scattered bands of Shawnees and Delawares.
THE ILLINOIS.
From the accounts, the Illinois seems to have laid claim to quite an extensive tract of country, the castern boundary thereof being the ridge that divides the waters that flow into the Wabash above the bead-waters of Saline Creek, from those flowing into the Illinois River, the northern limit being a line from the mouth of the Des Plaines River westward beyond the Mississippi. On the north, the Illinois for a long time contested their boundary line with the Chippeways, Winnebagoes, Sacs and Foxes. After- ward, the Sacs, Foxes and Kickapoos, assisted by the Pottawat- omies, became the successful invaders of the land of the Illinois. On the east came the Miamis, who in language and manners much resembled the Illinois, with whom they originally bore a close affinity.
Gen. Harrison stated that " the Illinois confederacy was com- posed of five tribes-the Kaskaskias, Cahokias, Peorians, Michi- ganians and the Temarois."
It is authoritatively stated that the Algonquin language, as spoken by the Ojibways, was regarded as the court language, 80 that when a person fell among & strange tribe, whose language he did not understand, if he spoke this language, they were bound, as a general rule, to furnish some one who could commu- nicate with him in that language. It was through this language that Marquette spoke with all the tribes, and so it was with all the early French travelers. Of the thirty eight States of the Union, eighteen have Indian names, viz .: Massachusetts, Con- necticut, Alabama, Tennessee, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, Illi- nois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Mississippi, Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, Oregon, the most of these being derived from great rivers or other waters.
The first accounts we have of the Illinois are given by the Jesuit missionaries. In the " Relations " for the year 1655, it is stated that the Illinois are neighbors of the Winnebagocs ; and again, the following year it was reported " that the Illinois na- tion dwell more than sixty leagues from here, and beyond a great river, which, as near as can be conjectured, flows into the sea toward Virginia. These people are wurlike. They use the bow. rarely the gun, and never the canoe." At this time, the Illinois and Miamis were living west of the Mississippi, the reference be-
ing to this river. While the Illinois were, like their brethren, of a roving nature, yet not so much as other tribes.
Their favorite portions of the State seemed to be along the Illinois River, and on the Mississippi from the Kaskaskis to where Cairo now stands. Beckwith, in describing them, says : In form they were tall and lithe. They were noted for their swiftness of foot. They wore moccasins prepared from buffalo hides, and a small covering extending from the waist to the knee. The rest of the body was entirely nude.
The art of hunting not only supplied the Indian with food, but, like that of war, was a means of gratifying his love of dis- tinction.
The male children were early taught the use of bow and ar- row. They were as carefully trained in hunting and Indian warfare as are the boys and girls of our time in the elements of reading, writing and arithmetic.
The dwellings were simple and rude in character. A pleas- ant spot was selected by the river or near a spring, and here they raised their groups of wigwams, constructed chiefly of the bark of trees. The skins of animals served for beds and wearing ap- parel. Depending principally on the chase for subsistence, yet this being necessarily somewhat uncertain, they were led to culti- vate small patches of corn.
Commerce or an interchange of articles being most unknown, every family did everything necessary within itself to provide food and comfort.
When disputes or dissensions arose, cach Indian relied upon himself to adjust the difficulty. Blood for blood was the rule, and the relations of the slain man were bound to obtain bloody re- venge. The result of this was bitter feuds and wars of extermi- nation.
War was the Indian's glory and delight-not war after the civilized rule, but war where individual skill, endurance, gallantry and cruelty were the prime requisites. During the intervals of his more exciting pursuits, the Indian employed his time in deco- rating his person with all the refinement of paint and feathers, and in the manufacture of his arms and of canoes.
The main drudgery and labor of Indian communities fell upon the women. They planted, tended and gathered the crops, made mats and baskets, carried the burdens on the march-in fact they were but little better than slaves to the " braves."
The ares of the country originally claimed by the Illinois was reduced by wars with their neighbors. The Sioux forced them eastward, and the four tribes already named encroached upon them from the north, and war parties from the Iroquois from the east rapidly lessened their numbers.
The Illinois confederacy was in a decline when they first came in contact with the French, of which mention is hereafter made.
The misfortunes of the Illinois drew them so kindly to the the priests, the coureurs des bois and soldiers, that the friendship between the two races never abated.
The fatal dissolution of the Illinois rapidly proceeded, and their territory was largely appropriated by the Sacs, Foxes, Kick- apoos and Pottawatomies.
By successive treaties, their remaining lands in this State were ceded to the United States, and they were removed west. of the Mississippi. In 1872, there remained of them but forty souls -men, women and children all told.
Thus has disappeared the people who at one time occupied the larger part of Illinois and portions of Iowa and Missouri. In the year 1. 84 their single village at La Salle's colony could mus- ter 1,200 fighting men. When they were prosperous, at one time they nearly exterminated the Winnebagoes, and their war parties penetrated the country of the Huron-Iroquois as far as the Mohawk and Genesee.
THE POTTAWATOMIES.
The country of the Miamis, as has already been stated, ex- tended west to the water-shed between the Illinois and Wabash Rivers, forming the eastern boundary of the Illinois tribes. To the north of the Miamis were the Pottawatomies, who were steadily encroaching upon the territory of the Miamis.
The Miamis held their own until they had obtained possession of firearms, but the Illinois could not withstand their foes so long.
In regard to the Pottawatomies, it is stated in an official let- ter to the Secretary of War, March 22, 1814: "So long ago as 1795, at the treaty of Greenville, the Puttawatomies notified the Miamis that they intended to settle upon the Wabash. They made no pretensions to the country, and the only excuse for the intended aggression was that they were tired of eating fish and wanted meat." And they did come. They established villages upon the north and west bank of the Wabash and its tributaries flowing in from that side of the stream above the Vermilion.
They, with the Sacs, Foxcs and Kickapoos, drove the Illinois into the villages about Kaskaskis and divided the conquered ter- ritory among themselves, the Sacs and Foxes choosing that part to the north and west of the Illinois River. It is said that by the other tribes they were called squatters, who justly claimed that the Pottawatomies never had any land of ther own and were only intruders. They were, however, foremost at all treaties and were clamorous for the lion's share of presents and annuities, par- ticularly where the price given was for other's lands rather than their own. They also had villages upon the Illinois and Kanka- kee Rivers.
After the Kickapoos and Pottawatomies had established them- selves in the Valley of the Wabash, it was mutually agreed be- tween them and the Miamis that the river should be the dividing
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line, the two first-named tribes to occupy the west side of the stream.
The Pottawatomies and Kickapoos were among the last to leave their possessions in Illinois and Indiana, and it was the peo- ple of these tribes with whom the settlers of this section of the country came principally in contact. They ceased hostilities at the close of the war of 1812. The Pottawatomies owned extens- ive tracts of land on the Wabash, also on the Tippecanoe and other western tributaries of the Wabash, and elsewhere in North- western Indiana, Eastern Illinois and Southern Michigan. The greater part of these reservations were retroceded to the United States, in exchange either for annuities or lands west of the Mississippi. As has already been noted, the Indians became greatly attached to the French. The writer well remembers, when a boy, of several times visiting an Indian reservation on the Des Plaines River, in Cook County, three miles from his father's house. This was occupied by s band of Pottawatomies, whose chief was Alexander Robinson, the son of a Canadian voyageur and a Pottawatomie woman.
His place was generally lively with Indians in the declining glories of their latter days. Groups of blanketed squaws, with their papooses slung on their backs, and an equal number of braves, bedaubed with paint and ornamented with feathers, hung around his home in listless dalliance. During the summer season their numbers were increased by visiting braves and their families from other reservations.
Being half Indian and having a wife of the same race, he was shut out from civilized society generally, but his character for integrity and his reputation for excellence in those qualifications which make up the model citizen were widely published. When his tribe was removed, after carefully weighing the matter, he chose civilized life, considering this for his children's best good. He continued to live on the reservation and became a farmer, esteemed by all who knew him.
The final emigration of the Pottawatomies from the Wabash took place in the summer of 1838, and in 1846 the various bands of this great tribe were united west of the Mississippi, except a few scattered bands like the one mentioned, who remained long after the departure of their brethren.
In 1863, the tribe numbered 2,274 men, women and children, which was an alarming decrease from the census of 1854, owing no doubt largely to two reasons-the return of many to their former home east of the Mississippi, and many of the younger men going west to the buffalo grounds.
The Pottawatomies attested their fidelity to the Government by the volunteering of seventy-five of their young men in the war of 1861.
THE KICKAPOOS.
The Kickapoos, when first met by the whites, inhabited the State of Wisconsin, but with the Sacs and Foxes gradually moved southward until they came in contact with the Illinois. Then uniting with the Pottawatomies in a warfare upon the Miamis and Illinois, they steadily drove these two tribes from a great portion of the territory occupied by them.
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