USA > Illinois > Vermilion County > History of Vermilion County, Illinois, Volume One > Part 3
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Participation of the Indians of the Vermilion river in this peace conference has been proven by the finding of a medal, identified as one suspended to one of the wampum belts, in the old Kickapoo Indian burying ground near the mouth of the Middle Fork of the Vermilion River, four miles west of Danville in April, 1855.
This medal, a thin plate of silver, was hand engraved, the coat of arms of the United States appearing on one side and on the other, an illustration depicting an Indian, having cast away his tomahawk, offering the pipe of peace to a white man. In the background was to be seen a white man plowing. It bore the date, "1792."
In the same grave was found another medal, obviously of British origin, of pure silver and struck with a die. It weighed nearly four ounces. On one side appeared the coat of arms of Great Britain and the other the bust of George III.
This medal has been identified by the custodian of medals in the British museum, London, England, as hav- ing been struck from a die made either in 1786 or 1787, many of which had been presented to the Indians.
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Kesis, a Kickapoo chief, who was one of the Indian leaders at the Vincennes meeting, stated in his speech at the conference that his village was a day's walk below Ouitanon, and this is believed to have meant the mixed Kickapoo and Pottawatomie village at the mouth of the Vermilion River.
The same Indians also occupied "Old Kickapoo Town," within a short distance of the burying ground where the medals were found, this village not having been abandoned until 1819, and it is believed probable that the medals were taken from the grave of Kesis.
The finding of the British medal and the establishment of its date of issuance also brings to light the interesting fact that following Clark's successful treaty with the In- dians at Cahokia in 1783, the British continued to work among the Indians inciting them to hostilities against the colonists and probably being responsible for the warlike attitude that finally led to the Treaty of Vincennes in 1792.
The Treaty of Vincennes, however, was not ratified by the United States senate because of objection to the fourth article, which recognized the right of the Indians "to their lands, as being theirs and theirs only," although this article was almost literally in the words of the instructions given General Putnam by the Secretary of War.
This led to negotiations for a second treaty in which the Indians refused to take part unless their British allies were invited to participate.
The British invaded the Ohio country and started build- ing a fort on the Maumee river, and General Wayne promptly moved his forces from Fort Greenville, won a decisive victory over the Indians and destroyed villages and fields the whole length of the Maumee and the Au Glaize.
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Several military posts held by the English within American territory were surrendered early in 1796, and General Wayne took possession of them in the name of the United States.
Before the surrender of the British posts, the defeated Indians met with General Wayne in 1795 at Fort Green- ville and signed a treaty, which curtailed their lands and in which the Indians for the first time acknowledged them- selves as the children of a new father, "The Fifteen Fires," as they called the United States.
Peace was followed by a tide of immigration which in 1800 poured into the territory of Ohio and led to the sep- aration of part of its lands and the creation of the new Indiana territory. Chillicothe was the seat of government for Ohio and Vincennes of the Indiana territory.
Ohio became a state in 1802 and Michigan was sep- arated from it and made a part of the Indiana territory, of which General William Henry Harrison, then a delegate in congress for the old Northwest territory, and in later years to become the ninth president of the United States, was appointed governor.
General Harrison had served with Governor St. Clair, who preceded General Wayne and also served as an aide- de-camp with Wayne. He understood conditions in this part of the country and was personally acquainted with practically all the Indian chiefs.
He dealt squarely with the Indians, but recognizing the onward tide of western immigration, he gradually cur- tailed their land holdings and constantly stood between the white settlers and the red men. Early settlers of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan, called him the "Father of the west."
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Early in 1806 a new thorn in the side of the white set- tlers appeared in the person of Tecumseh, a Shawnee In- dian of marked ability, who conceived the idea of an Indian confederacy, similar to that formed by the vanquished Pontiac years before, and which would stop the westward flow of white settlers and retain for the Indians their lands.
Tecumseh possessed great ability and he did his ad- vance work through his brother, known as "The Prophet," who claimed to have been deputized by the Great Spirit to restore the Indians to their former standing. He worked upon the superstitious side of the Indians, promising them immunity from bullets and harm if they would become his followers.
This conspiracy was first started at Greenville, Ohio, and two years later, in 1808, the Prophet and his adher- ents moved to a point on the Wabash River, near the mouth of the Tippecanoe, building a village on a tract of land he claimed had been granted them by the Pottawatomies and the Kickapoos, but which in reality was owned by the Miamis.
The hand of the English traders was seen in this con- spiracy, silver medals continuing to be distributed among the leading chiefs, the Indians being taught that they still were the children of the English king.
Tecumseh had a strong ally in Blue Jacket, a great Shawnee warrior, and the two spread the doctrine that all the tribes must be combined to prevent the sale of land by a single tribe. They held that the treaty of Greenville was an admission that the lands were owned jointly by all the tribes and that the United States had no right to deal with a single tribe. They also urged the Indians to join the British in the event of war with the United States.
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The Indians visited Detroit once a year where the gov- ernment paid them an annuity. Where the United States gave an Indian a dollar, the British officials across the river at Sandwich would give them ten dollars, the result favor- ing Tecumseh's plans and arousing in the Indians an ambi- tion to wipe away the disgrace of their defeat by General Wayne.
In April, 1809, Tecumseh, through his brother, the Prophet, called upon the Indians "to take up the hatchet against the white people, to destroy the inhabitants of Vin- cennes and those on the Ohio, who lived as low down as its mouth and as high up as Cincinnati, telling them that the Great Spirit had ordered them to do this, and that their refusal would result in their own destruction."
Through traders and his own friends among the In- dians, General Harrison was kept fully informed of the progress of the Prophet's teachings and the progress of Tecumseh's plans.
Joseph Barron, interpreter for General Harrison, and the man who is responsible for the first efforts to develop the "Vermilion Salines," which he had visited first in 1801, was sent to the Prophet's town to try and convince them that it was hopeless to oppose the United States. There he met Tecumseh, who listened to his speech.
The mission was a failure, Tecumseh taking the stand that the lands belonged to all the Indians and not to any one tribe or individuals. However, following this stand, which today would be labeled as communism, the Indian leader agreed to meet General Harrison at Vincennes and on August 12, 1810, but this conference saw no relenting of Tecumseh's attitude, and from that date there was open warfare between the Indians and the whites.
AMOS WILLIAMS, SR.
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The hundreds of Indians living at the Prophet's town grew bolder and more insolent and the murders of white settlers finally aroused the government. General Harrison was ordered to march with a military force to the Prophet's town, but only to use force when all other methods failed.
Governor Harrison left Vincennes September 26, 1811, with a force of nine hundred men, composed of the Fourth United States Regulars, a body of militia and one hundred and thirty volunteer dragoons.
October 3, this force reached the old Wea village on the Wabash, which had been known by French traders as Terre Haute, where he began the erection of Fort Harrison, named after their leader at the request of the officers. This fort was completed October 28.
Meanwhile, messengers of peace dispatched to the Phophet's town were treated with insolence and the Shaw- nees, Winnebagoes, Pottawatomies and Kickapoos gathered there, refused to disperse. Depredations continued and on October 29, Governor Harrison moved up the Wabash, crossing Raccoon Creek at Armysburg, and ferrying his army over the Wabash at the mouth of the creek on boats sent up the river for that purpose.
The army camped November 2 two miles below the mouth of the Big Vermilion, and a mile below a blockhouse was erected, this being garrisoned with a sergeant and eight men. The boats were left in charge of this garrison.
November 3, the army crossed the Vermilion River and entered the prairies, the route passing just east of State Line and from there to Crow's Grove where the army went into camp for the night.
Governor Harrison hesitated to use the "pass' over Pine Creek, because of the danger of ambush, and finally
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his army crossed at a new point a few miles higher up, which is now known as "Harrison's Ford." The evening of November 5, the army camped within ten miles of the Prophet's town.
The sixth was spent in working the army over rough ground and in endeavoring to talk to the Indians who swarmed about the soldiers. The Indians declined to talk and took every opportunity to insult the soldiers.
Capt. T. Dubois, with an interpreter, was sent to the Prophet to make a last effort to bring about peace. The Indians refused to talk and tried to cut off the captain from the army.
Governor Harrison abandoned all hope of peace and gave the order for attack. Three Indians then approached and advised Governor Harrison that the Prophet wished to avoid hostilities and had already sent messengers with pacific messages, these messengers having sought the gov- ernor on the wrong side of the river.
Hostilities were suspended until the morrow and the army went into camp on Burnett's Creek, the spot now being famous as the Tippecanoe battleground, about eight miles north of Lafayette, Indiana, and about two miles from the Indian town.
As was the custom, Governor Harrison arose at four- fifteen o'clock the morning of November 7, and two minutes before he would have issued the order for the men to be called, the encampment was attacked by the followers of the Prophet.
There were a little more than eight hundred Americans in the battle and the killed and wounded numbered one hundred eighty-eight. Many of the wounded died because of the Indians' bullets having been chewed so that they would lacerate the flesh. It is estimated that fully eight hundred
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Indians took part in the battle. A few days before the battle all the Kickapoos of the prairie and bands from the Pottawatomie villages on the Illinois River and the Saint Joseph River in Michigan had joined the Prophet's force.
The seventh was spent by the Americans in burying their dead, caring for the wounded and fortifying the camp. On the eighth it was discovered that the Indian town had been abandoned. The extent of the Indian fatal- ities was never known, but it must have been large for the soldiers fought courageously. The clothing, hat and even the hair of Governor Harrison were cut by bullets as he personally directed the battle.
The Indian town extended for a mile through a fine cornfield. Hogs and poultry were found running through the village. Six wagonloads of corn were hauled away from the village and two thousand bushels were destroyed. Everything that could be used was removed from the vil- lage and was burned.
Wounded soldiers were dying every day and the army was handicapped by inadequate transportation facilities, and finally camp equipment and baggage was thrown away by both men and officers.
It is claimed that dead soldiers were buried along the line of march back to the blockhouse below the mouth of the Vermilion River, Governor Harrison starting the re- turn trip November 9, and reaching the blockhouse Novem- ber 13, after suffering from hunger. The sick and wounded were sent to Vincennes by boat and the main army reached that city November 14.
Tippecanoe ranks as one of the most important battles ever fought against the Indians of the middle west, and it is credited with being the opening battle of the War of 1812
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with Great Britain, although war was not declared until the following June.
Following the opening of war between England and the United States, the British met with success after suc- cess until the entire Northwest Territory was in their control, with the exceptions of Fort Wayne and Fort Har- rison, the latter being the fort erected by Governor Har- rison at Terre Haute.
Tecumseh was at the height of his career and he determined to lay siege to the two American forts. Gover- nor Harrison had been appointed military commander of the Northwest, succeeding General William Hull, who sur- rendered Detroit to the British. Relief was sent to Fort Wayne and Tecumseh bent his efforts to capture Fort Har- rison, where Kickapoos and Winnebagoes were the only Indians to join in the battle. The Indians met with failure, even after firing the blockhouse and soon after Tecumseh met defeat and death in a desperate battle with Harrison in Ohio.
The confederacy immediately went to pieces and the Indian leaders hastened to make peace. Both Pontiac and Tecumseh, in their fight to check the westward flow of immigration finally met defeat in the vicinity of Detroit on British soil.
When peace was concluded in 1815 between England and the United States, the old boundary lines remained intact without the loss of a single acre. With the coming of peace immigration received a new impetus and Indiana was admitted as a state December 11, 1816, and Illinois followed into statehood December 3, 1818.
The campaigns of Generals Harmar, Scott, Wilkinson, Saint Clair, Wayne and Harrison gave the soldiers and volunteers a first-hand knowledge of the mid-western prairies and might well be termed exploring expeditions.
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As soon as the Indian titles to much of the land were extinguished, settlers poured into the new country, Illinois last, even before government surveys could be made.
At Saint Mary's, Ohio, on October 2, 1818, a treaty was concluded with the Pattawatomies, which gave all this ter- ritory to the United States. Metea and Kesis and thirty- two other principal chiefs signed the treaty, Kesis being in control of the Indians along the Vermilion. Kesis is believed to have been at the head of the mixed Kickapoo and Pattawatomie village on the Vermilion River.
At Edwardsville, on July 13, 1819, a second treaty was signed with the Kickapoos, to remove any possibility of the Kickapoos setting up any claim to the territory. Another treaty was signed August 30, 1819, at Fort Harrison between the United States and "The Chiefs, Warriors and head men of the tribe of the Kickapoos of the Vermilion."
Kaanakuck, known as "The Drunkard's Son" and later as "The Prophet" because of his adoption of Christianity and his preaching of Christianity to the Indians, was one of the signers of this last treaty. He lived in this vicinity and was a friend of many of the early settlers of Danville. "La Ferine," another Kickapoo chief who signed this treaty, was also of the Kickapoos of the Vermilion.
A treaty had been signed with the Piankeshaws Decem- ber 30, 1805, and these Indians had not participated, except perhaps in isolated instances, in the Tecumseh uprising.
These successive treaties clearly established the rights of the United States to this territory, and the romance of fur was quickly followed by the romance of salt.
In this chapter, I have given as concisely as possible the story of what is now Vermilion County up to the coming of the first real white settlers.
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Unquestionably hundreds of white men visited this sec- tion in the one hundred and fifty or two hundred years preceding the ending of the Indian claims to the land. They were traders in fur and adventurers without the ยท incentive to locate permanent homes, and the unsettled con- dition of the territory served as an effective bar against permanent settlements, even though the British were more prone to locate homes than the French.
The Piankeshaw, Kickapoo and Pottawatomie Indians who lived along the Vermilion River and at other points in what is now Vermilion County were vital factors in the struggle of the red men of the middle west against the ascent of white supremacy.
I have read many hundreds of pages of history and spent many hours in research for the brief chapter in which I have earnestly striven to picture to the twentieth century civilization of Vermilion County the patchwork of history that has brought about this age.
I have omitted much of what I regard as unimportant details, in that they may concern Vermilion County. I have devoted considerable space to the development of Indiana, especially the Harrison campaign and the battle of Tippecanoe for the reason that I regard them as impor- tant in the steps that led up to the settlement of this county.
I have read considerable contradictory history, but con- tradictory only in minor details. I have given here the facts as I see them. If I have erred, the reader will pardon me. I am sure, for after all, it is the main steps in the development of a community that are essential, and there is always danger of becoming lost in a maze of petty details and getting off the main trail that leads from the beginning to the entrance into a new age.
CHAPTER III
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THE FIRST SETTLEMENT
THE NEW CIVILIZATION - NOVEMBER 17, 1819 - THE ORIGINAL HOME BUILDER - SEYMOUR TREAT -OTHER WHITE SETTLERS - IMPOR- TANCE OF SALT-THE BLACKMAN CLAIM-"VERMILION SALINES"- ABANDONMENT OF THE SALT WORKS-VANCE TAVERN-RUSH OF NEW SETTLERS IN 1821-THE FIRST MARRIAGE-BACKGROUND OF THIS EARLY SETTLEMENT.
The birds had heeded the call of the Southland.
Already the wonderful autumn coloring of the forest was fading away in the face of the approaching winter.
There was a crispness in the air that brought a welcome relief to the man as he drove the clumsy dug-out upstream with long, powerful strokes.
He faced a woman, home-spun dress, face shaded from the sun and protected from the increasing cold of the waning afternoon; her eyes straight ahead, both curious and hopeful as to the future, yet watchful of their little brood, with an observing eye upon the little pile in the front of the pirogue, which represented everything they owned in the world.
Slowly the homely craft was driven upstream, the high- wooded banks of the Wabash River barring the view of the open country. Only the swish of the paddle in the hands of the man, her man, broke the silence of the autumn after- noon,
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The prow of the dug-out was turned to the left with a powerful sweep of the man's paddle and the woman watched as they entered a smaller stream, her vision of the land that lay beyond still barred by the forest-lined banks.
Lowering November skies lent strength to the man's weary arms. The day was waning. Already the sinking sun was hidden by the wooded banks and the gloom of the evening was upon the little river craft.
Mile after mile, the heavily-laden pirogue ploughed its way against the current. A child fretted, quieted by the woman's hand. Husband and wife conversed sparingly. The sound of their voices seemed to desecrate the silence of the wilderness.
The husband pointed out a landmark here, remembered from his scouting trip up the same waters scarce a month before.
There was a crash through the underbrush, some ani- mal frightened by the Heralds of a civilization to come.
The dug-out came to a stop against the bank of the stream. Two men appeared and extended helping hands to the woman and the children. Quickly the little pile of provisions, tools and other personal property was unloaded, the boat was made fast and the man scrambled ashore- they were home, the first white family to settle in Ver- milion County. And the date was November 27, 1819.
Three axes flashed in the fading light of the day, while the woman and the children sat huddled together, warmed by the heat of the camp-fire.
Slowly the walls of a cabin of logs arose as the woman prepared the evening meal for the children, her husband and the two friends who had greeted their arrival.
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What were the thoughts of this frontier wife and mother as she watched the three men fashion her new home in the Illinois country?
It was crudely built but it meant shelter from the cold, from the dangers of darkness. There was no floor, but she was used to hardship. From girlhood she had gradu- ally been pushed westward. She had known little of the comforts of civilization.
The completion of the humble cabin, as the shadows of the evening fell, is memorable, for it was the first perma- nent home erected within the confines of what is now Ver- milion County.
It was the home of Mr. and Mrs. Seymour Treat and its location was near the "Salt Works," perhaps a half dozen miles, more or less, west of what is now the city of Danville, the "Vermilion Salines" being the lure that brought this county its first settlers.
White men, traders and explorers, had traversed the county in earlier years, but it was scarcely a month before this memorable 27th day of November, 1819, when Sey- mour Treat, in company with Capt. Truman Blackman, Remember Blackman, George Beckwith, Peter Allen and Francis Whitcomb, had encamped on the same spot, Octo- ber 31, 1819.
They had traveled overland from Fort Harrison, in Indiana, crossing the Wabash River at the mouth of Otter Creek, seeking the "Vermilion Salines."
Captain Blackman was the leader of the expedition and after tests had clearly shown the location of the "Salines," he started on the long journey to Vandalia, cap- ital of the new State of Illinois, while his brother, Beckwith
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and Treat had returned to Fort Harrison, leaving Allen and Whitcomb in charge.
Captain Blackman was to claim the "Salines" in the names of the six men, each to be an equal partner with the rest. His brother, Beckwith and Treat returned to Fort Harrison to secure teams, tools and provisions, and Treat, in addition, to bring his family back.
Almost coincident with the arrival of Seymour Treat and his family at the "Salt Works" and the construction of the first home in what is now Vermilion County, came the discovery that Captain Blackman had secured a lease, or permit, for the "Salines" at Vandalia in his own name, ignoring the partnership agreement with the other five men.
Salt was the "gold" that lured adventurers to the middle west in those days, and Captain Blackman not only took advantage of the alleged partnership agreement with his five companions, but also apparently violated the con- fidence of Joseph Barron, for many years interpreter for General William Henry Harrison, who headed an earlier expedition to the "Vermilion Salines," which reached the same spot September 22, 1819.
Captain Blackman was a member of the Barron expe- dition, together with Lambert Bona and Zacariah Cicott, sometimes spelled "Shecott," this trip being made on the claim by Baron that he had discovered the "Vermilion Salines" in 1801.
The Barron expedition followed the exploration in August, 1819, of the Vermilion River, which was made less than a month after the treaty at Fort Harrison, by which the various Indiana claimants to this territory relin- quished their rights to the United States government.
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The second expedition headed by Captain Blackman was without the knowledge or sanction of Barron, who on December 8, 1819, swore to an affidavit supporting his claim to the "Salines," filing this affidavit with the Illinois governor at Vandalia.
Barron in his affidavit, declared that he had taken Bona, Cicott and Blackman with him on the expedition to locate the "Salines," which Indians had shown him in 1801. He had employed four Shawnee Indians as guides.
Meanwhile the companions of Blackman on the second expedition presented their own claims before the governor at Vandalia in numerous affidavits and letters, and for three years the interested parties contested the Blackman claim, settling their differences December (13, 1822, at Vandalia before Governor Bond in an agreement which defined the share of each.
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