USA > Illinois > Cass County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Cass County, Volume II > Part 3
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tioned as growing upon the nplands. Many acres of these lands have of late years been dennded of the greater part of the timber, it having been cut and floated to the rivers in times of high water, and then rafted to the port- able saw mills. Really the best of board timber has been taken ont of Cass County and black walnut is becoming very scarce.
PICTURESQUE SCENERY.
The topography of the county presents some attractive and picturesqne scenery. Emerging from the timber and stepping out npon any of the bare points of the tall rugged bluffs that border the Sangamon Valley on the south an entrancing scene of rare beanty greets the vision. Extending from as far east as the sight will carry for miles westward to the Illinois River, and following the winding conrse of the Sanga- mon River spread ont from river to blnff the wonderfully productive Sangamon bottom lands ; while far beyond enveloped in an atmosphere of pearly greys and distant blues are the receding hills and jagged bluffs along the western banks of the Illinois. Singularly beantiful in its prim- itive state, it is a hundred fold more beantiful under cultivation, especially at the time of wheat harvest when this expansive garden is tesse- lated with the great fields of golden grain, square miles of dark green corn, the ripening clover and oat fields blending their more deli- cate coloring, and over all is cast the shimmer- ing light of a cloudless summer day.
The beantiful, undulating prairies, stretching for iniles and bordered on the northwest by a splendid growth of magnificent timber, was nn- usually attractive to the eye of the traveler and early settler, and makes the words of a writer speaking of a visit of the poet Bryant to Illi- nois, as applicable to Cass County as to any part of the great Prairie State.
"To anyone who possessed a scrap of poetic fire in his nature, Illinois offered one attrac- tion that never failed to inspire a song of tribute to those far-reaching stretches of ver- dure set with myriad gems of wild flowers in spring ; waving in blue green, sinnous billows beneath a fervent summer sky; writhing and roaring in the clutch of an antumn prairie fire ; or lying cold and white under the pitiless light of the winter moon, silent except for the quiver- ing howl of some prowling wolf.
"These are the gardens of the desert; these The nnshorn fields, boundless and beautiful, For which the speech of England has no name- The Prairie.
"I behold them for the first,
And my heart swells, while the dilated sight Takes in the encircling vastness."
Thns sung William Cullen Bryant after his first visit to Illinois prairies. In the earlier days of travel in Illinois, there was necessarily much stage-coaching which gave the traveler an opportunity of enjoying the beanties of nature, always providing the condition of the roads left him in a proper frame of mind to do so, and that the valley of the Sangamon in its early summer garment of leaf and flower must have been a rarely beantifnl sight, is evidenced by Bryant's little poem,
THE PAINTED CUP.
"The fresh savannas of the Sangamon, Here rise in gentle swells, and the long grass Is mixed with rustling hazels; scarlet tnfts Are glowing in the green, like flakes of fire. The wanderers of the prairie know them well, And call that flower, the Painted Cnp."
WATER COURSES.
As is but natural the most beautiful scenery is along the water courses. In the northwestern part of what is now Champaign Connty, near the line which separates it from Ford County, and about seventy miles north and east of the geographical center of Illinois, rises a small stream. Its course is from there on extremely varied ; it running in every direction that might be indicated by the magnetic needle, yet ever bearing westward. It is the crookedest stream in all Illinois, and runs a course of nearly 240 miles to reach its terminns, where it pours its wandering waters into the Illinois River ; when if it had had no other purpose in life than to reach a certain goal, it might have saved a dis- tance of 100 miles or more. This stream is the far famed Sangamon River, and like famed per- sonages it must be permitted to do some things as it sees fit without question or criticism. No more fertile region may be found upon the earth than is traversed by the Sangamon River,
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
From a photograph taken at Beardstown, Illinois, in August, 1858. The negative was by Felix Kesler. The weather was warm and Mr. Lincoln wore a linen coat.
THOMAS BEARD
Founder of Beardstown. From an old oil por- trait now hanging in the City Hall at Beardstown.
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stretching for miles upon either side of its banks is the Sangamo Country.
SANGAMO COUNTRY.
As far back as 200 years the Sangamo Coun- try was known for its beauty of location. Its very name signifies "Land of Plenty." Its rolling prairies and its beautiful, stately forest trees that bordered its sparkling streams, made it indeed a happy hunting ground for the prim- itive natives. No wonder they fought to keep it from the intruding whites, and wept in yield- ing it to the inevitable, advancing civilization. At the close of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century, when the white men first began to inspect this region and report their discoveries, the news spread even as far as France, Germany and England. In the older states and colonies of this hemisphere the fame of the Sangamo Country was stirring the souls of that peculiar and distinctive type of pioneer American citizen, the frontierman, the advance guard of the American nation. Soon settlers' cabins began to appear along the banks of streams and the edge of the timber bordering the prairies.
ORIGIN OF NAME.
The Indians, long before the white men saw the Sangamo Country, were well aware of its fertility and the richness of its products. The origin and exact meaning of the word Sangamon are not absolutely and definitely known, but from a perusal of the writings of those who have given the matter some thought, such as Governor Reynolds, and John G. Henderson of Scott County, and other early writers of Illinois, it is evident that the word is of Indian origin and belongs to the language of the Pottawat- omie tribe, who spoke a dialect of the Algon- quin tongue. In that language the word, spelled "Sangamien," means the country where there is plenty to eat. Father Charlevoix, who passed down the Illinois River in 1771, mentions the river as the "Saquimont," and as the "t" is silent, it is pronounced "Sa-qui-mon." Hender- son, in his early history of Scott County, says : "The Indian word. was probably 'Sau-kie-min,' from 'auki,' earth, and 'min,' good," and it is highly probable that this is the correct deriva- tion of the word. There are two other sources
from which the word might possibly have been derived, namely, "Saukie," from the tribe of that name, and "ong," a termination signifying place. By the use of a connective consonant, which was often done, we would have "Saukie-mong," or "River of the Sauks." Or it might have been derived from "Sagie," a lake, and "mong," a loon, which would be rendered "Loon Lake River." The etymology first given is the most probable. Certain it is that at a very early date this river bore the name Sangemont and was pronounced Sangamon. Many early travelers who necessarily used the streams as the only highways by which they could reach the inte- rior of the country, mention the Sangamon as among the smaller navigable waters they en- countered in the Illinois country. This river is worthy of its place on the scroll of fame, and it is there never to be erased, along with the famous rivers of the old world ; the Ganges and Euphrates, the Tiber and the Po, the Seine and the Thames, the storied and legendary Rhine, and the overflowing Nile; for upon its borders and fertile fields in the valleys and prairies ad- jacent, irrigated by its waters and those of smaller tributaries, there are produced thou- sands upon thousands of bushels of wheat, corn, oats and other cereals that furnish food for the millions of inhabitants of the great common- wealth of Illinois. Upon its banks and nearby sites, beautifully situated, are builded flourish- ing cities and towns and peaceful villages, peopled by as noble a race of men as ever trod the streets of the most imperial cities of the old world. Nor will it ever be forgotten that it was upon the banks of this stream, in a primi- tive village, every vestige of which has long since disappeared from the face of the earth, the most noted character of modern times, Abraham Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, spent the earlier days of his life; and whose body now lies under a magnificent monument in the capital city of the state, overlooking the placid waters of this humble, but justly famous stream, the Sangamon River.
This river by its natural course and situation was evidently destined to become a county boundary line, and did so in a very early day after Illinois became a state. After working westward past the third principal meridian un- til it reached the center of range S, west, it then became the northern boundary line of Cass County. From there on it runs in its extremely
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crooked course until it reaches the Illinois River. The Illinois River, which forms the western boundary of Cass County, Menard County being on the east, and Morgan County ou the south, with Indian and Prairie creeks, form a very fine natural drainage, and the soil is correspond- ingly fertile, and well adapted for agricultural purposes.
There are several tributaries to the Sanga- mon and Illinois rivers that assist greatly iu both irrigating and draining the land. In the east and northeast parts of the county are Cleary's Creek and Middle Creek, and a little farther west are Panther and Job's creeks, all of which rise in the prairie and running quietly for a distance, enter the timber lands aud then cut through the bluffs, or follow the washings of the valley's in the bluffs by former flood periods, and then dowu through alluvial soil in the bottom laud, and empty into the Sanga- mon River. Clear Creek, Lost Creek, Prairie Creek, Mud Creek and Indian Creek all flow towards the west and run through a slightly undulating country until they reach the valley of the Illinois. They have no high bluffs to evade, but find their hindrance to au early voyage to their goal in the sand ridges in the Illinois bottom. Indian Creek does not wholly belong to Cass County, a large part of it being in Morgan County. It enters Cass County in section 31, township 17 north, range 11 west, just south of the village of Arenzville, and runs iu a northwesterly direction to section 14, towu- ship 17, rauge 13, where it empties into the Illinois River. None of the above named streams except the Illinois, though carrying an abundance of water, are uavigable. The legislature of Illinois, in 1822, declared the Sangamou River to be a navigable stream as far as the third principal meridian, east of Springfield, which forms the eastern boundary of Sangamon County, but it was easier to float a bill through the legislature than a steamboat up the Sangamon River. Although one small steamer did get as far as Springfield at one time. it experienced such difficulty in getting out, that the experiment was never repeated. In fact the vessel had to back down stream for a long way, not being able to turn around.
However, much interest was manifested by the citizens of Springfield, and of Beardstown, and intermediate points. The Sangamon Journal published at Springfield, in the issue dated January 26, 1832, announced that "Virand A. Bogue will navigate the Sangamon River if he cau find a suitable boat." In the same journal under date of February 16, 1832, appeared an article copied from the Cincinnati Gazette, or more properly an advertisement in the said Gazette of the 19th of that month.
"The splendid upper cabin steamer, Talisman, J. M. Polley, master, will leave Portland, Spring- field, ou the Sangamon River, and all intermedi- ate points and landiugs, Beardstown, Naples, St. Louis, . Louisville, on Thursday, February 2nd."
This was the same steamer that went up the river and could not turn around. From the tone of the advertisement it was certainly ex- pected that the vessel would make a successful voyage from Springfield to Cincinnati. It would. ' have beeu a fortunate thiug if it could have done so for the inhabitants and hundreds of emigrants pouring into the Sangamon couutry, as there were no other modes of travel at that time than ou foot, horseback or in a "prairie schooner." It is said that when the steamer left Beards- town, a large number of citizens accompanied it until they were satisfied that the voyage would be successful. So hopeful were the people of the ultimate success of the uavigation of the Sangamon that a corporation was formed to dig a canal from a point on the Sangamou east of Beardstown, directly to the city and thus save from fifteen to twenty miles travel by the future passenger and freight vessels. The im- provement of this stream was advocated by Abraham Lincoln as a part of his platform, When he made his first cauvass for the legisla- ture, in 1832. Indeed this was not all a chimer- ical scheme, for, by the expenditure of a rea- sonable amount of money, the Sangamon might have been made navigable for small transports for a long distance up stream, if not entirely to Springfield, and have been of great service to the farmers along the route for shipping their produce to market.
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CHAPTER II.
BIRDS AND ANIMALS.
SONG BIRDS-WINTER BIRDS-WATER FOWL-GAME LAWS-ALMOST EXTINCT SPECIES-WILD ANIMALS -FEW REMAINING.
SONG BIRDS.
Many song birds are to be found in Cass County during the year. The great diversity of its typographical structure furnishes a large variety of birds with nesting and feeding places. The wide, expansive prairies, the forests in the uplands, the dense underbrush and tangle ot vines along the creeks and rivulets, the broad grassy bottom lands, and tall timber along the miles of river banks, are inviting places for the summer homes of a great number of birds as will be seen by the following list of summer birds found here. We have the mourning dove, black and yellow bill cuckoo, a number of varieties of the woodpecker, flicker, night hawk, king bird, several species of the fly catchers, wood pewee, phoebe bird, bobolink, red-winged black bird, cow bird, grackle or crow black bird, orchard oriole, Baltimore oriole, blue jay, a large variety of sparrows, among which is the very early, beautiful singing song sparrow, the rose breasted grossbeak, Indigo bird, scarlet tanager, the warblers in great numbers and varieties, the several species of vireos, the wrens, the wood thrushes, whose songs are con- sidered the most beautiful of all the thrushes, the hermit and several other thrushes, the meadow lark, prairie horned lark, chickadee, chewink or ground robin, the common robin, gold finch, cardinal, shrike, cat bird and a few mocking birds, a variety of swallows, and whip- poorwill and blue bird. Along the rivers and larger creeks are to be seen numerous king- fishers. A number of these, though they are properly classified as migratory birds, remain with us the entire season, such as the cardinal grossbeak, the blue jay, the flicker or yellow- hammer, and even the robin will not infrequently be found winter residents. The robin is com- monly supposed to be the harbinger of spring,
but it is not always a true harbinger, and those persons who so frequently claim the distinc- tion of having seen the "first robin," are not perhaps aware that the robin they have seen is one that preferred to linger in some sheltered place in the north where it has found sufficient food to maintain it, rather than make a long journey and return again.
WINTER BIRDS.
The cardinal is a permanent resident and may be heard any bright morning in winter, singing a beautiful song in the top of some tall tree where it delights to perch. The blue jay, the most beautiful plumaged of all our familiar birds, may be seen at any time in winter, flit- ting about its usual haunts, although rather quietly. It is not nearly as noisy then as in the good old summer-time.
WATER FOWL.
Cass County, with its numerous small lakes along the Sangamon and Illinois rivers, has al- ways been a great feeding place for water fowl, including ducks, geese, brants, herons, cranes and many smaller birds not of the varieties sought for food. Before the sloughs and ponds were tiled and drained from the prairies, large flocks ot geese and ducks came annually to teed upon the grain in adjoining fields. Hundreds were killed daily for the market and table by hunters and sportsmen. So great became the slaughter that it aroused the interest of many persons who feared that these birds would be exterminated. Influence was brought to bear upon the legislature, and a very effective game law, with subsequent modi- fications, has been in force for a number of years. Recently the federal government has taken up the matter of conservation of game, and congress has passed laws protecting the breeding of water fowl. A great part of the submerged lands which it is believed could not profitably be reclaimed, have been purchased by wealthy persons, and hunting clubs have been organized, many being incorporated. These hold- ings of large game preserves have not been very popular with local hunters and fishermen, and the practice has given rise to a great deal of litigation, but numerous decisions of the supreme court have settled many of the mooted
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questions, and at the present time people inter- ested, are working in general harmony for the preservation of birds, fish and other game.
ALMOST EXTINCT SPECIES.
Pheasants, grouse and prairie chickens were found by the pioneers in all parts of Cass County, and continued to breed here as long as there were open prairies and shelter, and their feeding and nesting places were unmolested. It is doubtful if they will ever be propagated in great numbers again, even with the protection of the game laws, and the assistance of the game wardens of the state, who have, for sev- eral years, been distributing game birds to such points as are deemed best for breeding and propagating the various species that are the delight of the sportsman for hunting, and the epicure for the table. Wild turkeys were also found in great numbers until recent years. They are now almost if not entirely extinct in Cass County. The loss of the sport of hunting and fishing, and of the wild game which sup- plied the larder with necessary food in earlier days, is but the result of the ever changing con- ditions of advancing civilization, and we must all yield to the inevitable.
WILD ANIMALS.
Over the prairies of Cass County and through its timber and bottom lands once roamed count- less numbers of buffalo, roebuck, fallow deer. hind and stag. Bears, panthers. wild cats. big prairie wolves and the grey timber wolves. foxes. raccoons, opossums, numerous varieties of squirrels, including the fox and grey, otters, beavers, muskrats, minks, weasels, skunks, rab- bits, moles, ground hogs, ground squirrels and gophers, were also to be found. Many of these which once supplied with food the larder of the early settler, have disappeared. There still remains evidence of the former existence of great herds of buffalo, but they passed over the Mississippi River and disappeared from their carly haunts long before the Indian dis- posed of his last foot of land and moved on west- ward. The deer have not been seen in a wild state in Cass County for many years, nor have any of the fiercer animals of prey. The wolf and fox in small numbers may yet be found, but it is a rare occurrence for any of the present
generation to see a fox or wolf skulking through the prairies or forests. Rabbits and squirrels are yet found in great abundance. The game law of the state has for a number of years protected the squirrel. Muskrats, skunks and minks are yet to be found and trapped, in fur season, but they are not caught in any great numbers. Coon hunting and fox hunting were favorite pastimes for the men in earlier times, and they have not altogether fallen into disuse, for there are those whose blood can yet be quickened and stirred by the baying of the fox hound, though the latter is almost as scarce and infrequently seen as the fox itself.
CHAPTER III.
INDIAN HISTORY.
INDIAN OWNERSHIP-EARLY TROUBLES WITH THE INDIANS-INDIANS IN CASS COUNTY-THE WIN- NEBAGO WAR -- THE BLACK HAWK WAR-ABRA- HAM LINCOLN ELECTED CAPTAIN OF THE SALEM COMPANY-CLOSE OF THE LAST INDIAN WAR IN THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
INDIAN OWNERSHIP.
In the light of present day American ideas of civilization and brotherhood of man, it is easily recognized that the original owners of all the lands of the present United States met with unfair treatment at the hands of their white conquerors. At the time, however, when the various Indian treaties were made, it was im- possible for the government to look upon the Red Man as equal to his white brother. Indian atrocities had so inflamed those in authority that it was finally deemed wisest and most ex- pedient, by the leading men of the country, to segregate the Indians, separate them from the white settlers. The Indians were nomadic, rov- ing about, with no settled place of location. In their hands the lands lay practically fallow. Except for scanty crops to keep them alive, they did no farming, and their development was of little moment.
m. & altre,
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
With the advent of the white man into any section of the country, came instant improve- ment. He felled the forest, tilled the land, built mills, erected schoolhouses and churches, and in time gathered about his own claim others until a settlement of some size was formed. In bringing about these changes, it was but natural that there should be a clash between the original owners and those who had might on their side. The Indians, brooding upon what they con- sidered their wrongs, retaliated, sometimes in shocking manner, and their various outbreaks only resulted in harsher measures for their restraint on the part of the government.
EARLY TROUBLES WITH INDIANS.
Most of the early settlers encountered trouble with the Indians who had not yet given up full titles to their lands, but the permanent settle- ments in present Cass County, which later were developed into villages and cities, made their best and most rapid progress after the settle- ment by the government with the remaining Indians, and they were removed to reservations west of the Mississippi River. Temporary treaties had been made with the various tribes but they were unsatisfactory and indefinite in results. Prior to the organization of the state in 1818, the general government issued an order addressed to William Clark, Indian superintend- ent at St. Louis, Mo., and to Governor Ninian Edwards, territorial governor of the Illinois territory, as follows :
"Department of War, Nov. 1, 1817. "Gentlemen :-
"I have the honor to enclose you a commis- sion, for the purpose of treating with the Illi- nois, the Kickapoos, the Pottawattomies and other tribes of Indians within the Illinois terri- tory. The object of this negotiation is to obtain a cession from the tribes who may have a claim to it, of all that tract of land which lies between the most northeastern point of boundary of the lands deeded by the Kaskaskias in August, 1803, the Sangamon and Illinois rivers; and which tract of land completely divided the set- tled parts of the Illinois territory from that part which lies between the Illinois and Missis- sippi rivers, and which has been lately sur- veyed for the purpose of satisfying the mili- tary land bounties, a circumstance which makes
the acquisition of this tract of country peculiarly desirable.
"If either of the tribes who have claim to the land is desirous of exchanging their claim for lands on the west of the Mississippi River, you are authorized to -make the exchange, and your extensive knowledge of the country will enable you to designate that part of it where it would be most desirable to locate the lands given as an equivalent. To other tribes who may not wish to remove, you will allow such annuity, for a fixed period, as you may deem an adequate compensation for the relinquish- ment of their respective claims. To enable you to give the usual presents on such occasions, you are authorized to draw on this department for $6,000.
"The contractor will furnish, on the request of either of you, the rations that may be neces- sary for the supply of the Indians while at- tending the treaty. Your compensation will be at the rate of eight dollars per day for the time actually engaged in treating with the In- dians ; and that of the secretary whom you are authorized to appoint, will be at the rate of five dollars per day.
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