USA > Illinois > Piatt County > History of Piatt County; together with a brief history of Illinois from the discovery of the upper Mississippi to the present time > Part 3
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SACS AND FOXES.
These tribes originally lived on the banks of the St. Lawrence river; but hostile tribes drove them westward, and they fought their way separately to the vicinity of Green Bay. Here, for mutual pro- tection, these tribes made an alliance which has never been broken. The Jesuit Allouez found them near Green Bay as early as 1669 or
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1672. He was at first received by them withi contempt, but with Jesuitic patience he labored and finally succeeded in gaining their confidence and friendship. When Marquette, several years afterward, passed through this region he beheld with joy the cross whichi had been erected at Allouez's instigation.
The combined tribes continued their warlike machinations whenl they moved to northern Illinois, and while residing there formed alliances with other nations, and for years harassed the Illinois Indians on their river and ultimately helped to drive this tribe soutli- ward. They warred frequently against the French, and aided the British against the Americans as late as 1812. They' made several cessions of land to the United States, and in 1830 that cession was made which led to the Black Hawk war. After this war these tribes went to their lands in Iowa. They were afterward removed to the Indian Territory. From the year 1825 to that of 1850 these tribes had suffered a decrease in numbers of some 3,000 souls.
THE KICKAPOOS.
In 1672* Allouez found the Kickapoos on the Milwaukee river. In 1763 they were situated in the country around the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. They afterward moved farther sonth ; and still later, at the time of the first settlements in Piatt county they lived in the vicinity of the Sangamon river, and had a village on Kickapoo creek, at Elkhart Grove, and at several places in eastern Illinois.
It is said that the Kickapoos were somewhat more civilized than the surrounding tribes ; but be that as it may, in warfare, at least, they were barbarous. They were very bitter in their hatred of the Illinois Indians, and for near a century did their share in helping to extermi- nate that powerful tribe. The Kickapoos reaped their coveted reward, for they afterward occupied a portion of the coveted Illinois hunting- grounds. They gained possession of this ground shortly after the war which followed Pontiac's death, and were not content to let the Illinois Indians alone after their retreat to the southern part of the state. The Kickapoos, in general, had a deep feeling of animosity toward the whites. They, in connection with several other tribes, did so much damage by murdering and stealing during the war of 1812 that Gov. Edwards was necessitated to suppress them by military force.
* Bancroft.
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
After their submission annuities were granted them. Some emigrated to Mexico, where they still showed their hatred to the whites by mak- ing inroads over the border.
THE POTTAWATOMIES.
The French found this tribe lying just east of the southern part of Lake Michigan, and the Jesuits founded a mission among these Indians on the St. Joseph river. The Iroquois had been instrumental in driv- ing this tribe westward. A portion located as above mentioned, while some went farther north.
These Indians were ferocious, and long had strong hatred toward the English and Americans. They were friendly toward the French and assisted them in some of their battles. In Pontiac's war they were strongly allied to him. They were merciless, and often disguised their evil intentions under the garb of friendship. By thus doing they massacred almost the entire garrison of a military post on the St. Joseph river. These Indians, in conjunction with parts of the Ottawa and Chippewa tribes, were very ferocious and vindictive in the wars which marked the advancement of the whites toward the west. In the destruction of life they were the most daring, cruel and fiendish. Pontiac did well when he gained them as co-workers in his great satanic scheme of cruelty and bloodshed.
In 1812, under British influence, the Pottawatomies enacted at Fort Dearborn* one of the most merciless crimes that human beings have ever perpetrated. Fort Dearborn was built and garrisoned in 1804. The traders who canie from time to time to this place managed to keep up a friendly feeling with the Indians. In 1812, during the English and American war, word was sent for the garrison at this fort to evacuate. Captain Heald, commander of the garrison, made known, in council with the Indians the intended evacuation. Signs of hostility were observed among the Indians, but all fears were mostly quieted upon the arrival of Captain Wells with some Miami Indians from Fort Wayne. Early on the morning of August 15-the fatal day-Mr. Kinzie, one of the principal traders at the post, received word from a friendly Indian that mischief was on foot. At nine o'clock the party, escorted by Captain Wells and 500 Pottawatomies, left the fort to the sound of martial music. Notwithstanding the Pottawatomies had pledged their honor to see the party safe to Fort Wayne, before they were beyond the present limits of Chicago these treacherous fiends
* Now Chicago.
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made a terrible attack upon the whites, sparing neither men, women nor children. The American troops fought bravely, and until over half were killed, before a surrender was made. The Indians soon had control of the wagons and baggage, and the helpless were massacred without mercy. The mnost fearful of all these dread deeds was that performed by a single young savage who climbed into a wagon and with his tomahawk dispatched twelve innocent children. Captain Wells, then a prisoner, upon witnessing this scene, exclaimed : " If this be your game, I can kill too," and he started toward the Potta- watomie camp. But he soon became a prisoner again, and although some friendly chiefs tried to save him, a Pottawatomie rode up in the rear and killed him by a single blow. This man's heart was cut to pieces and distributed among the Indians for a token of bravery. Wells street in Chicago perpetuates the name of this brave man. During all this terrible scene Mr. Kinzie's family were guarded by friendly Indians near the fort. The prisoners taken by the Indians were widely distributed to various tribes in Illinois and Wisconsin. The majority were ransomed at Detroit the next year, while some were detained a year longer.
The Pottawatomies also took part in the outbreak against the Illinois Indians, and were benefited by the removal of the latter from their cher- ished land. They were finally removed from Illinois. They found their way to the Indian Territory, and in 1850 the Pottawatomies only numbered about 1500 persons.
SIIABBONA.
Shabbona was a peace chief of the Pottawatomies, and was born near the Maumee river, in Ohio, in 1775 .* His commanding physical structure, as well as the noble attributes of his mind, caused him to be respected by Indian as well as by white man. He was a companion of Tecumseh in the war of 1812, and was fighting by his side when the great brave fell, in 1813, at the battle of the Thames. Upon the death of his wife's father he became a chief of the Pottawatomies. After the war of 1812 he was always a friend of the Americans. The whites owe this Indian an everlasting debt of gratitude for the prompt action in favor of the whites taken by him during the Black Hawk trouble. Black Hawk endeavored to gain Shabbona's assistance in his war, telling him, as an argument, that if they united their tribes they would be in numbers as the trees of the forest. Shabbona replied, "Yes,
* Lecture before the Chicago Historical Society, by Mr. Wm. Hickling.
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
and the army of the palefaces you will have to encounter will be as numerous as the leaves on those trees." After finding that war must come Shabbona traveled night and day that he might save the frontier white settlers. Had the white settlers of Indian Creek heeded Shabbona's. ' words of warning, that fearful massacre might have been averted. Many of the people of La Salle county owed the preservation of their lives to this old peace Indian. For the services rendered by Shabbona to the whites the government reserved a portion of land at Shabbona's Grove, in what is now De Kalb county, and presented him with a pension of $200.
When his tribe moved to the Pottawatomie reservation, west of the Mississippi, Shabbona went also, but he, with his family, returned to his individual reservation. He again went west, but after one of his sons was killed he returned to Illinois, in 1855. Supposing that. Shabbona had deserted his reservation, some speculators sold his land during his absence. Upon his return Shabbona was hurt by this act, and sorrowfully said, "Shabbona has nothing now." The citizens of Ottawa raised by subscription a sufficient amount of money to pur- chase twenty acres of land in Grundy county, upon which Shabbona. and his family lived until his death, in 1859. His wife, who weighed 400 pounds, was drowned in Mazon creek, six years after her hus- band's death.
Let those who would ruthlessly push the Indians to the very verge of our continent pause and remember Shabbona. His life shows what nobleness there can be in the Indian's character. He is a striking example of the people who hate their enemies and love their friends. with all their soul. It may be said of him, however, that while his friendship was of the strongest, his hatred was not so bitter nor so- lasting as that of some of his people.
ILLINOIS IN PONTIAC'S CONSPIRACY.
Pontiac was born in 1712. His native tribe has long been a mat- ter of controversy, as several tribes have claimed him. The most favorable opinion at present, however, is that he belongs to the Sac tribe. He closely resembled these Indians, and it was the first to answer his call against the whites. It is well known that he was a chief of the Ottawas, but that probably was because of their being greater warriors.
Pontiac was first known as an ally of the French. After the fall of Quebec, in 1759, the long war between France and England was at an
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end, and Pontiac was too politic to adhere to the cause of the van- quished, so he made friends with the English upon their taking pos- session of the French posts. It was when Maj. Robert Rogers was sent to take possession of the frontier French posts that the great Pontiac appeared first upon the scene. After passing Fort Niagara the major landed at the farthest point west the English troops had been. Soon after their landing Indians made their appearance, evi- dently to design the purpose of the whites. 'Twas then that Rogers first saw Pontiac, who addressed the whites in rather an arrogant style and seemed disposed to prevent their continuance to Detroit. But the next morning the sagacious, politic Pontiac reappeared, offered the peace pipe and designated his desire to live in peace with the English. The party proceeded, and, owing to Pontiac's influence among the hostile tribes, reached Detroit safely. The French commander was evidently incensed at the appearance of Rogers, but nevertheless the French garrison filed out of the fort, laid down their arms and gave place to the English. The Indians who witnessed the transfer could not understand how a few English could take the place of the French garrison. When all was explained to them their opinion of the English began to be exalted, but still they could not understand why the lives of the conquered French were not taken .~ Pontiac expected all the deference from the English that the French had been wont to pay lıim, and the English not bestowing this deference, had not been long in the possession of the country ere an awful cloud began to hover in their horizon. The Indians, instigated somewhat by the French, be- gan to nourish a silent, fearful hate of the English. Pontiac's mind had not been inactive while these feelings were being aroused among the other Indians. He began to realize what English supremacy meant, and he resolved to resist with an awful strength their advance- inent, and if possible to "drive the red* dogs into the sea."
By his own power, and with the assistance of the French, Pontiac became the leader of at least fifteen Indian nations. His messengers had been sent near and far until a mighty war cloud was close upon the unsuspecting English.
Pontiac's plot was to attack all the English posts on the same day and, after gaining possession, to kill all the English-men, women and children. Illinois, being still under the French flag, was the rendezvous" for both French and Indians, and the origin of the great scheme might be traced there., The principal scene of action, however, was . east
* Referring to the red coats of the English.
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of Illinois, up and about Detroit. Although the plot came near being discovered, the great day soon arrived.
Through artifice nine British posts were captured. In some cases the garrison was completely surprised. Again the officers were secured while the Indians were pretending to transact business with them. A squaw betrayed the officer at Maumee by enlisting his sympathies with a dying man outside the fort. At Michillimackinac-opposite the present Mackinaw Strait-the Indians played a game of ball in honor of the king's birthday, and the officers and soldiers of the garrison were artfully tempted to witness the scene, some even engaged in betting for the winners. The ball was finally artfully tossed over the pickets of the fort, and the reckless tumultuous crowd followed it. Then came the terrible war-whoop, and before the Englishi could scarcely think the fort was in the hands of the Indians.
The formidable Detroit post had been left for Pontiac to gain the glory of its victory. But he was to reap disappointment. A pretty Ojibwa maiden who was attached to Gladwyn, the commander of the fort, went to take him some moccasins and revealed Pontiac's intricate plot for the morrow. Accordingly Gladwyn was ready when Pontiac came for a council meeting the next day. Pontiac's deep-laid plot was foiled and he made many professions of good will toward the English. The following day, amidst throngs of his swarthy followers, Pontiac approached the fort, and, upon finding it. barred, asked the cause of his exclusion. He was told that "he might euter, but his rabble must remain without." With his entire being expressive of unutterable disappointment and rage the foiled warrior turned and strode alone to the river, and started with defiant speed to the village of the Ottawas. Quickly were the revengeful, exasperated feelings of the leader inter- preted, and soon from off the surrounding plains scores of yelping satanic beings arose and begun preparations for their direful work of carnage and bloodshed. The war-dance was heard that night, and ere dawn the fort was attacked by the savage multitude. The Indians expected to take the fort by a single blow, but failing in this, they, although scarce of food, began preparations for a protracted siege. Indians arrived daily from the west. The besiegement was conducted for a period of eight months. This persistency on the part of the Indians is without parallel in all Indian history.
This is but an instance of the several years of bloody war begun by Pontiac. Destruction of life and property did not cease in the forts. The borders of the frontier states were the scenes of multitudes of Indian atrocities too frightful to relate.
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INDIANS IN ILLINOIS.
After a time a portion of the Indians began to retire from the contest, and not long afterward the plans of Pontiac received a terrible blow. The French in Illinois had long been the secret allies of Pontiac, who had been artfully kept in the dark in regard to the English power in Illinois. A letter was sent to the commander of the principal French post in Illinois, instructing him to make known to Pontiac the full extent of the treaty between the English and French. Pontiac, upon the receipt of this news was enraged, and in company with some of his most faithful countrymen, started for the Maumee country, hoping to excite the Indians sufficiently to renew hostilities in the spring. In 1764 Pontiac, with some 400 warriors, began intercessions with the tribes in Illinois. It was at this time that Pontiac had to use threats to enlist the aid of the Illinois tribe.
By this time Gen. Gage was convinced that as long as Illinois remained virtually in the hands of the French, it would be impossible for the Indians not to expect the assistance of the French, and he there- fore determined to send out a sufficient force to terminate the war. Accordingly George Croghan, a western trader, was sent with Lieut. Frazer toward the west, through Ohio. The result of this visit was a conference held in Detroit, where Pontiac had begun his satanic scheme. At this conference Pontiac not only accepted the King of England as his father. but he promised to go to Oswego the following spring and enter into a treaty with Sir Wm. Johnson. Soon after this conference, ere the winter snows had fallen, Capt. Stirling led a regi- ment down the Ohio and to Fort Chartres, where the English colors took the place of the old French flag.
Pontiac did not forget his promise to Croghan, and when the peaceful spring glided gently in he started for Oswego. And there, for the last time before the representatives of Englishi sovereignty, Pontiac concluded his speech with, "I promise to keep this covenant as long as I live." From the council meeting he, with sad heart, turned westward, and for three years lived with his family in the gloom of the forest.
In 1767 the last scene in the drama of Pontiac's life was enacted. A disturbance occurred in Illinois among some French traders and some of the Illinois Indians, not far from St. Louis. Pontiac soon appeared at the place, and not long after his arrival repaired to St. Louis to see an old French friend who commanded the Spanish gar- rison. While there he moved about with great dignity in the full French uniform which Montcalm had presented him. He was received
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
quite cordially, and when Pontiac heard of an Indian social gathering at Cahokia his French friends, fearing English design, tried to prevent his going. Pontiac, however, in his usual fearless manner, boldly set forth, and was soon under the influence of liquor in the midst of the surging, drunken throng.
An English trader in the village, looking with distrust on Pontiac, resolved to work his destruction. Accordingly a Kaskaskia Indian was bribed with a barrel of whisky to slay the white man's foe. Pontiac. after participating for a time in the drunken pleasures, started for the neighboring woods, singing his medicine songs the while. In this case he was not safe within the mystic spell of his magic songs, for the lurking Illinois Indian drew near and treacherously sunk his tomahawk into Pontiac's brain. Thus perished the greatest Indian warrior that history has portrayed.
With their usual impulsiveness his friends sought to take immedi- ate vengeance on the murderer, but the Illinois Indians protected their brother and Pontiac's followers were driven off. The Sacs, Foxes, Pottawatomies, Ottawas, and other tribes who had answered to Pontiac's command in time of war, combined in their mighty efforts to wreak vengeance on the Illinois tribe. Whole villages were destroyed, and the grassy plains of Illinois stained with Indian blood.
Pontiac's body was procured by the French commander and buried with warlike honors near the fort of St. Louis. "Neither mound nor tablet marks the burial-place of Pontiac. For a mausoleum, a city has risen above the great hero, and the race whom he hated with such burning rancor trample with unceasing footsteps over his forgotten grave."*
WINNEBAGO AND BLACK HAWK WARS.
After the treaty of peace following the war of 1812, the Indians on the northwestern frontier remained in peace and friendship with the whites until 1827. The Winnebagoes, notwithstanding the fact that the Sacs and Foxes had, by the treaty of 1804, ceded to the whites the land between the Illinois and Wisconsin rivers, felt that they really owned land in the northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. A por- tion of this land was subsequently retroceded to several tribes; the Winnebagoes, however, not being mentioned in the treaty. The Indians, quarreling about the boundaries of their lands, caused the United States commissioners to make a new arrangement in 1825, ad- mitting that the Winnebagoes had a right to some of the land.
* Parkman.
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The miners began to work the lead mines near Galena despite the remonstrances of the Winnebagoes, who claimed the land thereabout. This greatly incensed these Indians, but when they attempted to pro- tect their property in the usual Indian manner they were promptly repulsed. More incensed than ever, some of the Winnebagoes started to get help and advice of some of their principal chiefs about Prairie du Chien. They also quite readily obtained the assistance of the Sioux, who had begun to feel hostile toward the whites on account of their having captured some Sioux Indians and having given them over to their Chippewa enemies. In July, 1827, some Winnebago Indians, having previously killed two white men, collected for plunder or mur- der around some boats bound for Fort Snelling, which had landed at their encampment above Prairie du Chien. The whites adroitly made the Indians drunk and were up the river out of reach ere the Indians realized what was being done. As the boats returned down the river the crew, anticipating an attack from the Indians at this same place, armed themselves. One of the boats succeeded in getting by in the night, but the other was attacked with all vengeance by the savages. Although the boat became grounded the crew succeeded in compelling the Indians to retire from the contest. A few only of the whites were killed, but so many were wounded that it was a difficult matter for the remaining men to reach Galena.
Upon hearing of this hostile attack the residents about Galena and the state officers took prompt action, and companies and regiments were soon ready for work. Before companies from the southern part of the state could reach the scene of action, Gen. Atkinson, with some regulars, and the Galena militia under Gen. Dodge, had, in the vicinity of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, compelled the savages to sue for peace. Several Indian chiefs were taken prisoner, among whom were Red Bird, of the Sioux tribe, and Black Hawk, of the Sac and Fox tribes. Red Bird died in prison, but Black Hawk, with several others, were acquitted in about a year afterward.
This sudden outbreak of the Indians struck terror to the whites living in the northern part of the state. A portion of the Pottawa- tomies contemplated joining the Winnebagoes against the whites, and according to Gurdon S. Hubbard, anticipated an attack on Fort Dear- born. Shabbona, the peace chief, communicated to the whites the Indians' intentions. These hostilities begun by the Winnebagoes were but a prelude to those begun, 1831, under Black Hawk.
Black Hawk was a chief of the Sacs, and was born in 1767 or 1768,
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
on the Rock river. He distinguished himself in early life as a brave. In all his difficulties with the Indians it is said that he never lost a battle. "He was distinguished for courage and for clemency to the vanquished. He was an Indian patriot, a kind husband and father, and was noted for his integrity in all his dealings with his tribe and with the Indian traders."* He was aid-de-camp to the great Tecumseh, and during the war of 1812 was in the service of the English. After the close of the trouble in 1812, Black Hawk, instead of making peace with the United States, still kept up his friendship with Canada, and accordingly cher- ished an implacable hate toward the Americans. He was gloomy and morose in disposition, and his annual visit to his favorite danglı- ter's grave on the Mississippi caused gloomy and melancholy feelings. He was thus led to look back on the supposed wrongs committed by the whites, and to lift the shadowy veil of the future and see his peo- ple gradually retiring from the hunting-grounds that had been theirs so long. He saw the dreaded whites taking entire possession of the broad rolling prairies ; he saw their "big canoes" gliding over the peaceful waters of the winding streams; he heard the woodman's ax making sad havoc among the noble trees of the grand old forest, and saw the white man's houses on the site of their old villages and over the graves of their dead. With such mingled thoughts of love, patriotism and revenge 'tis scarce a wonder that he sounded the war cry against the advancing enemy.
The Sacs and Foxes, however, had no right to the Rock River country, as it originally belonged to the Santeaux tribe before the incoming of these tribes from the north.
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