History of Kane County, Ill. Volume I, Part 4

Author: Joslyn, R. Waite (Rodolphus Waite), b. 1866
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago : The Pioneer Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1292

USA > Illinois > Kane County > History of Kane County, Ill. Volume I > Part 4

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"The journey, it may easily be imagined, was not a pleasant one. For a road the travelers had but the army trail left by Scott's troops during the Black Hawk war, some time before. Part of the way the gentlemen rode and part of it they walked, but at length they reached the banks of the Fox, where St. Charles now stands, forded it near the present bridge in that town, and in a very short time afterward were hospitably received in Mr. Ferson's log cabin. A very few moments after their reception they were kneeling on the floor of the aforesaid cabin, eating off a trunk, in lieu of a table, some excellent venison steaks, and drinking coffee with a relish that invested the Rio with qualities unknown to the connoisseurs who delicately discussed the excellencies of a better kind.

"After a needed repose, Messrs. Gifford and Duryea took their journey down the river, and soon arrived at the present site of Geneva. This short journey absolutely entranced them with the beauty of the country through which they passed. Still following the river and an Indian trail, they walked to the spot where Aurora now stands, and here they found a man digging bowlders in the midst of a solitude that would have charmed a hermit. In reply to a question, the delver said he was digging stones for a prospective dam. The news was quite welcome to the travelers, as foreshadowing civil- ization, and with the feeling that they were not altogether in a desert, they pursued their journey to where Yorkville now stands. From this place they proceeded to Indian creek, Somonauk and Blackberry, and at last rested at the cabin of a man named Hollenbeck. Mr. Duryea had now become tired of the West. but seeing the patriarchal comforts by which Hollenbeck was sur- rounded ; seeing him as a Pasha of many corn fields, surrounded by game of every kind, and living ostensibly in the happy condition that is exemplified by the expression,

"'My right there is none to dispute.'

he concluded to 'make a claim,' and did so. Mr. Gifford did the same, and the twain returned homeward, parting at Buffalo.

"From Buffalo Mr. Gifford at once proceeded to the home of his brother. Mr. James T. Gifford, in Yates county, where he was received with extreme gratification, as during his sojourn in the West his father and other members of his family were unaware of his whereabouts. Mr. James T. Gifford at once commenced asking him about the West. and soon the conversation led to a description of the Fox river country. Maps were produced, and a full account of its beauties was poured forth by Hezekiah. It was agreed that the latter should visit his father's family in Oneida county, and some acquaintances in Chenango county, among them a young lady who might possibly be going to Illinois before long; that James T. would endeavor to sell his property as soon as possible : and arrangements were made that the brothers should emi- grate to the West, and share in the toils and benefits incident to its settlement.

".A short interval passed. Hezekiah was married : James T. sold out, and was ready for the start; a lumber wagon was provided and filled with tools ; a double team was procured, and the advance made. The young men drove

KANE COUNTY HISTORY

all the way to Chicago, at every step leaving civilization further and further behind until, on the 24th of March, 1835. they reached the wished-for hamlet by the lake. Here, learning that the place then called Milwaukee Bay was a magnificent site for a settlement, they left their wagon at Chicago and rode to that point, in company with a man named Goodwin. On the way they did not meet a living soul, and being scantily provided with edibles, were necessi- tated to divide even their few biscuits with their horses. At length, arriving at Milwaukee, they procured food and corn, but soon discovered that people from Chicago had claimed all the land in the vicinity, and then came back the old thought, 'let us go to the Fox river.'

"Accordingly they took up the line of march, sending their horses back to Chicago by Mr. Goodwin, he being desirous of returning thither without delay. An abortive attempt to cross the country from Milwaukee was now succeeded by partly retracing their steps to the neighborhood of the present city of Racine, where they met a half-breed trader, named Jock Jumbeau, who invited them to rest a few days. Jock, who had been a trapper, told the Giffords that he knew the country well, and that by taking the trail from his cabin they could reach the waters of the Fox river in half a day. He also said they would very possibly find settlers on its banks. This was agreeable information ; and a negro boy, who acted as cook, page, etc., etc., to Jock, having prepared the brothers some cakes, they struck into the woods and were soon on their way.

"Reaching the river they walked down stream for miles, but encountered no signs of human life. Anxious to explore the west bank, they were pre- vented by the depth of the stream, until when quite fatigued, they met a lone Pottawattomie in a canoe, who ferried them across, but could give them no information of settlers or settlement. Now the explorers found themselves with a broad and deep river between them, and, as they feared, all white men, but still they walked on. Night overtook them, and they camped without supper. Next morning they were up betimes and, still marching southward, but no settlers were yet to be seen, and being without a compass, they dared not leave the bank of the river for fear of getting lost. Creeks were waded through that chilled them to the very bone, but yet, hungry, wet and tired, they kept on. At length, when they had been forty-eight hours without food, they thought they descried something that seemed like a 'claim mark,' and stopped to examine it. The examination did not prove satisfactory, and again they pushed southward. After journeying for some hours, Mr. Hezekiah Gifford saw through the trees a little edifice called a 'punshon,' or hut, then much in use among Indians and settlers. He approached it, calling to his brother to follow. On reaching it they hallooed, but no response came, and then, raising one of the planks, looked in, hoping to find some human being in the habitation. But, instead of white settlers, or even Indians, the famishing men only saw squatted in all the majesty of repose, decked with his blankets and innumerable little evidences of high rank, a dead Pottawattomie chief, taking the sleep that knows no waking. The body was in a sitting posture, and but little decomposed, and was a terrible evidence to the travelers that they were further than ever from civilization and succor. And now, dis-

KANE COUNTY HISTORY

couraged and weakened by privation, the journey was resumed ; night came on, and the wayfarers having lighted a fire, lay down to sleep. Rain fell during the night, and getting up to replenish the fire, wild animals became frightened and went crashing and howling through the woods. In the morning they started once more, and after a long time, the stream now called the Nippersink, in McHenry county, was reached. Here they had to wade up to their waists and hold their clothes over their heads to keep them dry. The mud, too, at the bottom of the creek almost engulfed them, and, long after that day, the Messrs. Gifford laughingly remarked that the creek alluded to might be called the Nip-or-sink with increased propriety. But now, at length, they were, althoughi unconscious of the fact, drawing near relief. They had walked at this time to the bend in the river above the present village of Algonquin, and stopping to survey the situation, they descried afar off a figure moving. Their pace was quickened, and they soon came to a white man, who was splitting rails. On being questioned, this man said that he worked for Samuel Gillan, who owned a cabin near by. Mr. James T. Gifford, absolutely overburdened with joy, cried out, 'Oh! now we'll have a good meal!' Mr. Gillan and his wife kindly received the travelers, heard their story of suffering and travel, and soon placed before them a meal of corn dodgers and coffee. A good night's rest was afterward taken, a hearty breakfast eaten : a few miles further passed, and the ground on which Elgin now stands was reached."

CHAPTER IV.

WHAT THE PIONEERS FOUND.

When the first settlers upon the lands of Kane county came here, they found a territory very much different from what now presents itself. To the east, Fox river ran in a winding path from Dundee to Aurora, its waters uninterrupted by any bridge or dam, and everywhere wider than at present. The encroachments of the cities on its banks have at some points filled half the channel. Along its shores were abundant groves of oak and other trees yet common, but at most points now much thinned out. From Aurora northeast- ward, on the east side of the river, a veritable forest of thick wood extended to where Batavia now stands and two or three miles back from the river, known as the "Big woods." On the west side of the river from Batavia north of South Elgin another smaller wood existed, known as the "Little woods." North of this, the banks of the Fox were thick with trees, but the growth did not reach far from the river. In the back districts, wood and prairie, hill and valley alternated throughout the territory now covered by the county boundaries. About one-fourth was wood land. From the higher ridge of land extending from Hampshire to Burlington, creeks and streams ran east to the Fox river and west to the Rock river. The land was, and is, largely black soil with some clay. and sand and gravel.

KANE COUNTY HISTORY

The peculiarity of the district as distinguished from the eastern land, to which the newcomers had been accustomed, was the large extent of prairie land. The eastern country is a land of hills and forest. There the farmer cut the trees, and plowing in between the unremoved stumps, raised his crops. But the open prairie, necessitating no clearing, was a new fact which it required many years for pioneers to understand and cultivate. The prairie land was everywhere covered with a tall, rank, tough, native grass, often growing ten or fifteen feet high over miles of prairie land. For centuries it had grown and accumulated and thickened until it was with difficulty that a horse could make its way through some parts of it. This the pioneers found and for years left undisturbed, thinking it unfit for cultivation.

Great prairie fires would at times sweep over this grass, leaving a desolate, blackened waste behind. The general soil at the roots of the prairie grasses was wet and swampy, which fact discouraged the farmer. It was with great difficulty a plow was run through the tangled tough roots, it requiring several yoke of oxen to turn the sod. The cultivation of years, and the constant cropping of the grass by cattle, has entirely changed the nature of the plant life of the soil and rendered its cultivation easy.

Nuts of many kinds were found here native: walnuts, butternuts and hickory nuts being abundant ; and hazelnut bushes everywhere among the trees. Maple trees furnished syrup and sugar. Wild raspberries, gooseberries, straw- berries and blackberries were common; and in the swamps and low places mushrooms were plentiful. The writer has personally gathered all these varieties in the woods of the county within twenty-five years, but most of the trees have been cut down or have died out. Little wild product now grows.

Game of many varieties, most of which have now disappeared, were found throughout the country and adjacent territory and was hunted by the pioneers for food and sport. Deer herded in the wood in large numbers. Old settlers yet living tell of seeing fifty to a hundred in a herd in Plato and Burlington townships. It was a matter of small effort to go out on any morning in the '50s and return with venison for breakfast. The increasing population, how- ever, soon destroyed or drove them away, and by 1860 it was a rare event to hunt deer with success. Wild cats were numerous in the wood and preyed on the settlers' chickens. The last were killed within twenty-five years. The lynx was also found in the woodlands until after the war. Wild pigeons came in flocks so numerous as to obscure the sunlight as they flew southward to their feeding grounds. Many a pigeon dinner was enjoyed by the early residents. It is told that in those days a hunter could sit beneath a dead tree and shoot scores of pigeons as they alighted on the bare limbs to rest. The sandhill crane, a bird not seen in this locality by many of this generation, was numerous in the early days. They built huge conical nests of grass and weeds in inaccessible swamps. They stood over four feet high when mature, and their flesh is said to have been of excellent flavor. They were much hunted but difficult to bag. They would alight generally on a high knoll where the surrounding country would be visible. Wild duck and geese in large variety and in very great numbers compared to present meager flights were to be seen every fall and spring. Without decoy or other device for attracting them a

KANE COUNTY HISTORY

hunter sitting in a hidden spot could in an afternoon bring down more birds than he could carry home. Quail by the thousand were found in the brush and field everywhere, but were largely destroyed by the trap and gun years ago. The fear of their extinction necessitated laws for their protection and they are again becoming more numerous and so tame, because not hunted, as to feed in the open field or barnyard. The crow was also present when the pioneers came and is still very numerous, doing now the same depredations he did then, and as wary of hunters and as destructive. Hunters from the settlements would camp out and destroy quail by the thousand. Robins and the smaller birds yet numerous were here when the first settler appeared. Wolves were also plentiful and a continued burden to the white man, who was under the need of at all times protecting his stock and chicken yard against them. It was no unusual thing in the '4os for the men of the county to meet for a wolf hunt. A large number would form a circle many miles in circum- ference, some with horns and tin pans to raise the wolves and other animals by the noise. In the circle were men on horseback and afoot. All gradually narrowed in on the circle, shooting what came in sight and driving them toward the center. Many wolves were killed, but more of other kinds of game. Trapping and poison were also resorted to to rid the country of wolves, but they were so cunning that until a late day they continued to harass the farmer, and even now an occasional wolf is seen in an outlying district.

Many interesting stories are also told of the deer hunts of those days. During the winter of 1842 the snow was unusually deep and travel was made more difficult by a hard crust that formed on the surface of the snow after a thaw. The deer's sharp hoofs would cut through the crust, rendering their progress slow and making them easy prey for the dogs and the hunters. Many came to the farm yards for food and were shot down by the farmers.

Fish, too, were found in an abundance now undreamed of. Through the years the seine, hook and spear of an ever increasing population of Waltonians have depleted the fish supply until a few carp, perch, bullheads, with now and then a bass or pickerel of moderate proportions are the only reward of a day's fishing. Then, according to the stories of old residents (before the modern "fish story was needed to give length and number to a catch") the river teemed with fish of many choice varieties, such as bass, pickerel and pike, to secure which required none of the modern fly hooks and casting lines.

For building purposes and fuel the thick wood of high oaks furnished ample supply and were drawn upon as though inexhaustible. Now the original growth has disappeared and throughout the county only second growth timber is to be had. Limestone quarries were found along the Fox river from Aurora to Elgin and much used for buildings.

But aside from these bounties from nature, free for the taking to supply the immediate wants of the settlers while the seed they had sown on their rough plowed land was growing, neighbors were found in the Indians who were encamped along the rivers and creeks. If not the best company, they were at least welcome associates. Of these natives Samuel McCarty, who came to Aurora in 1834, is reported as having written as follows. "It was not a wild, desolate, unpopulated region, for we had plenty of neighbors in

NORTH END OF STOLPS ISLAND AND WEST AURORA IN 1852.

KANE COUNTY HISTORY

the redmen, who had occupied and enjoyed these beautiful prairies and rivers for many and many a year before this, and the village of the head war chief of the Pottawattomie nation was but little over a mile north of us. On the west side of the river, on the bluff opposite Mr. Tanner's stone farm house and a little north, was the Indian burying ground, a part of which is now occupied by the Catholics for the same purpose. The village and vicinity contained from three hundred to five hundred Indians and we had many visits from them. Quite a commercial trade sprang up between us. especially swapping bread and tobacco for fish, of which we soon found that they had much the largest supply, although we could give but one slice for a large fish weighing from three to five pounds, and then at times they would have several in their canoes to take back. The treaty with our government for the purchase of their reservation had been ratified, I think, about one year previous, and consequently they were peaceable and friendly.

"The old chief, Waubonsie, was a large and powerful man, six feet four inches, weighing about two hundred pounds and as straight as-an Indian. The most of their village was composed of movable or temporary wigwams, as the tribe was a wandering and unsettled people. They spent their summers here on Fox river but would emigrate to the south to spend the winter on the Illinois and Kankakee, returning in the spring. The old chief's wigwam, being the capitol of the tribe, was built very substantially, apparently to stand for centuries, the posts and frames being of red cedar. The 'palace' was built with a good deal of mechanical skill, although the mortises through the posts for the girders were chopped with their tomahawks, but in much better style than we would think possible with such a tool. The building, I think, was about twenty feet wide by thirty feet long. It was built by setting the posts firmly in the ground, forming four bents, with girders overhead and ridge pole. The principal rafter and cross-bearers were very ingeniously put together to gain strength to withstand the heavy gales of the prairie. There was a hall about eight or ten feet wide running through the building with a door at each end. Each side there were girders about one and one-half feet from the ground and on these were small poles. On them was placed wide bark taken from the basswood tree, which formed their mattresses or spring beds. These were covered with skins of the animals they had slain, such as wolves, lynx. wildcats and deer. Thus were formed their beds, with government blankets or buffalo skins for covering. They built their fire in the center of the hall and would gather in a circle around it to hold their war councils. The outside of this capitol was covered with the bark of the linn or basswood tree, taken from the standing trees, fitted to the sides and roof of the building very nice and tight. It was fastened by cutting three-cornered holes through the bark and tying to the cross rafters with the inside bark of young basswood trees. The rafters and all of the cross rafters were small straight poles, with the bark all peeled off, which made them appear neat and comely.

"The ladies of honor were quite fond of ornaments and jewelry, generally consisting of nicely worked and ornamented moccasins. The ornaments con- sisted of the dew-claw or small hoof of the deer, which was a beautiful shining black. These were strung so that they had the appearance of small bells.

KANE COUNTY HISTORY

They admired leather fringe and tassels. The principal garment was a skirt, formed of a piece of blue broadcloth, just as it was cut from the piece, about two yards long. They ran a small cord in the fold (being of double width), wrapped it around their waist and fastened with the cord. This made a very nice rig, nearly the same size at the top and bottom, but not quite as much pull-back as the present style ( 1875). The upper garment, or waist, was made of dark blue calico, fashioned very much like a man's plain shirt, without a collar, and reached a little below the waist. The upper classes ornamented this garment considerably, generally with silver brooches. I have seen two rows of these set so closely that they would nearly touch each other; one row around the neck, the other near the shoulder, coming together at the front. The brooches were of solid silver, the smaller about the size of a silver half- dollar, the others a little larger than the old-fashioned silver dollar. They were a little convex, with an engraved border on the outer edge and pins to fasten them. I think I have seen from forty to fifty on one person; also as many as ten to twelve brass wristlets on one arm, covering the wrist for about two inches. The bonnet, when any was worn, consisted of a man's old- fashioned fur hat, with a silver band from one to two inches wide around the hat. and a few hawk or eagle feathers tucked under the band. The hair, braided, hung down the back, with a large bunch of feathers at the end. Over their shoulders, and sometimes over the head, they wore a large Mackinaw blanket. This comprised a first-class style of costume.

"The government had ratified the treaty with the Indians and bought out their reservation, which included part of Aurora. the whole of the Big Woods, and some prairie lying west of the river. They agreed to go west of the 'Great Father of Waters,' and in the spring or fall (I do not recollect which) of 1836 the government moved them beyond Council Bluffs, west of the Missouri river, to a large reservation, where they remained until a few years past. About two years after they had been moved west, the old chief came back to view his familiar hunting grounds. He called on me and took a dish of succotash and after he had eaten a tremendous meal, across the table patted me on the shoulder and exclaimed, pointing to the table, 'Good! good! Also, to myself, saying, 'Good shemokeman!' That was the last I ever saw of Waubonsie, the war chief of the Pottawattomie nation."

Another Indian village had long existed on the site of what is now Dundee. They were a remnant of the Pottawattomies under Chief Nickoway and were related to those north of Aurora. They occupied about five acres of land on the east side of the river and engaged in a crude cultivation of the soil. Their village was on land now in the village of Dundee. They are described as a lazy lot by the first settlers, with whom they bartered vegetables and trinkets for tobacco, salt, etc., and begged or helped themselves to what they could not get by exchange. They also brought fish, game and honey to the settlers. Rum and tobacco were their chief desires. Jesse Oatman, who arrived at Dundee about 1835, is reported to have described this village as being about eighty rods below the brickyard and comprised six huts or wig- wams containing about twenty-five Indians. He visited the chief in his tepee and was royally received. The squaw wife was at the time preparing a sand-

KANE COUNTY HISTORY

hill crane for a meal. She picked out a few of the larger feathers and then placed the bird, after due dressing, it is presumed, into an earthen kettle filled with beans and water, to boil over a fire of coals.

The Indians who lived along the Fox River valley and in DeKalb county along the Kishwaukee river were mostly of the Pottawattomie tribe, which was a branch of the Algonquins. They were associated with the Sacs and Fox members of the same general confederation. These tribes occupied hunt- ing grounds in Michigan and northern Illinois, from which they had in the centuries before driven other tribes, their villages being chiefly along Lake Michigan and the Illinois and Fox rivers. They ceded their lands to the United States September 27, 1833, but were not removed west until 1836. The early settlers who traded with them reported them to have been quiet and inoffensive and not so bad as the white men, who sold them whisky and imposed upon them in trade. An interesting story is told of such a transac- tion happening in what is now DeKalb county, then a part of Kane county, which doubtless was duplicated many times along the Fox. "A half Yankee- fied Frenchman, who will be called Peter, had made a claim on the east side of the Kishwaukee, near where Dr. Harrington now resides, and had engaged a half-civilized Indian boy called Shaw-ne-neese, who had lived some three or four years with the late Hon. James Walker, of Walker's Grove, now Plain- field, in Will county, to drive his breaking team. Now, as ill luck would have it, or 'somehownother,' it came into their heads that for just about one barrel of 'good-ne-tosh' each on their return to Walker's Grove might astonish the settlers with a nice Indian pony. The temptation to play on the 'Anglo- Saxon' was too strong. Shaw-na-neese, who had a mother, sisters, etc., living in the Big Woods, near where Aurora now stands, was supposed to be well acquainted with the Indians and could talk either English or Indian. So off goes Peter for the whisky, never once 'tinking' of the foolish settler, who for fun set a fire on the prairie that burnt up his own stacks. In due time the barrel of good-ne-tosh was regularly set up in the cabin of the settler, and 'where the carcass is there will the eagles be gathered together.' Shaw-na- neese talks, Indian talk-ponies plenty-good-ne-tosh plenty-so much pony so much good-ne-tosh. Yes. Humph! The doping begins; the che- mo-ko-man adding 'Kishwaukee' at the bung by night to supply the deficit made by the faucet by day until there was a normal certainty of perfecting the contract as to measurement. After the barrel was pretty much delivered of its contents and the sharpshooters began to hint that it was time for them 'to walk up,' that is, if they could, to the captain's office and settle, the Indians being really drunk or appearing to be, began to grumble about Peter cheating them, selling no good good-ne-tosh, etc. Explanation was attempted, but the thing could not be explained, expostulation was used, but in vain. 'You cheat poor Indian,' and they grew madder and madder. Peter and his comrades began to have fear for their personal safety. There were no white men near, and if there had been they could not have expected that they would be sustained in such an enterprise, when all of a sudden the terrific warwhoop burst from the whole group, and drawing their long knives they rushed upon the liquor dealers like so many fiends from the pit. Just at this moment an old Indian

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History of Kane County, Ill. Volume I, Part 4

Author: Joslyn, R. Waite (Rodolphus Waite), b. 1866 Publication date: 1908 Publisher: Chicago : The Pioneer Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1292

Author: Joslyn, R. Waite (Rodolphus Waite), b. 1866
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago : The Pioneer Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1292