USA > Illinois > Illinois, historical and statistical, comprising the essential facts of its planting and growth as a province, county, territory, and state, Vol. I > Part 19
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Wm. H. Harrison, who had been appointed secretary of the territory, June 26, 1798, in the place of Winthrop Sargent who had been promoted to the governorship of Mississippi, was chosen a delegate to congress, defeating Arthur St. Clair, son of the governor, by one vote.
The division of the Northwest Territory makes it no longer necessary to follow the fortunes of Gov. St. Clair. In parting with the veteran pioneer executive, it can hardly be claimed for him that his administration was a success. Although an ardent patriot, he was a high federalist, and a believer in the theory of a "paternal government," in life-tenures of office, and in execu- tive appointments rather than in popular elections. In his official conduct he was arbitrary, opinionated, self-confident, and stubborn. He had misunderstandings with the first secretary, Sargent, quarrelled with and antagonized his successor, Gen. Harrison, and bitterly opposed the last secretary, Byrd. He controverted the judges, and had frequent collisions with the territorial legislatures, His appointment of his son, Arthur, Jr., as attorney general, and of his nephew William, clerk and recorder of St. Clair County, and above all his confirmation of an alleged grant of thirty thousand acres of land to John Edgar and J. Murry St. Clair, another son, in 1800, after the termina- tion of his authority to act as land commissioner-which con- firmation was afterward declared a nullity-were acts fairly open to severe criticism. He was rebuked by two presidents, Washington and Jefferson, and was finally removed from office by the latter on account of his conduct growing out of the division of the territory and the steps taken to form the state government of Ohio.
In person he was tall and erect and his address was courtly.
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ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
He was brave in battle and faithful to his friends. He ad- vanced large sums from his private means to sustain the gov- ernment in the darkest hours of the Revolution, as well as to defray the current expenses of the territorial government, which were never repaid to him. The last days of the old soldier, whose name is so closely interwoven with the early history of Illinois, were dark and lonely. His fortune-once a large one for the times in which he lived-had been mainly spent in the service of his country, and he found himself in his old age re- duced from affluence to penury. Neglected by his friends, he dragged out a wretched existence in poverty, if not in actual want, his only support being the beggarly pension allowed him by the government, until, at the age of eighty-four years he closed his days in a log-cabin in Pennsylvania, a striking illus- tration of the proverbial "ingratitude of republics."
Authorities : " The St. Clair Papers, " by William Henry Smith'; "Notes on the Early Settlement of the Northwest Territory," by Jacob Burnet; Dillon's " Historical Notes ; " " American State Papers;" old MSS. in Chicago Historical Society; "' Magazine of Western History," Vol. I .- a series of papers therein edited by O. W. Collet ; " Life, Journal, and Correspondence of Manasseh Cutler," by W. P. and J. P. Cutler; U. S. Treaties; "Laws of Congress; " " Western Annals ; " Gayarre's and Marbois' "History of Louisiana; " Bancroft's "History of the Con- stitution;" Butler's and Marshall's "History of Kentucky."
CHAPTER XIV.
As a Part of Indiana Territory-Indian Policy and Trea- ties-Tables-Acquisition of Louisiana-Third At- tempt to Divide the Union-Schemes of Aaron Burr, 1800-1809.
0 N May 7, 1800, congress passed an act dividing the North- west Territory, by the provisions of which, after July 4, "all that portion thereof which lies to the westward of a line beginning on the Ohio, opposite the mouth of the Kentucky River, and running thence to Fort Recovery, and thence north until it shall intersect the territorial line between the United States and Canada, shall for the purpose of a temporary govern- ment, constitute a separate territory, and be called the Indiana Territory." The seat of government designated was "Saint Vincennes."
Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison, then a member of congress, hav- ing become widely known as an able and efficient public officer by reason of his military and administrative, as well as legisla- tive services, was, on May 13, 1800, appointed governor of this new territory. He was the son of Gov. Benjamin Harrison of Virginia, where he was born February 9, 1773. Leaving the college of Hampden Sydney at the age of seventeen, he was placed at a medical college in Philadelphia by his father, who intended he should be a physician. But the news of the Indian disturbances in the West reaching him aroused his military spirit, and he determined to exchange the pestle and mortar for the more enlivening music of the fife and drum.
He was commissioned an ensign by President Washington in 1791, and as the aid-de-camp of Gen. Wayne, greatly distin- guished himself, especially in the battle of the Maumee Rapids. From this date his advancement in rank was as rapid as it was deserved. The young captain was no less successful in the lists of Cupid than upon the field of Mars. He wooed the daughter of the wealthy Judge Symmes, and though his suit was prosper- ous with the lady, the father refused his consent to the proposed
213
214
*
ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
alliance. Taking advantage of the absence of the prospective father-in-law, the young couple proceeded to have the hyme- neal knot securely tied. Upon his return home the judge met his son-in-law at a dinner-party given by Gen. Wilkinson to Gen. Wayne, and accosting him, said, "Well, sir, I understand you have been married to Annie?" "I have, sir," was the reply. "How do you expect to support her?" inquired the father. "By my sword and my own right arm," was the response. His sub- sequent splendid career justified his confidence and showed that his brave words were not mere idle vaporing.
John Gibson of Pennsylvania, was appointed secretary of the Territory under Gen. Harrison, and William Clark, John Griffin, and Henry Vanderburgh, judges. The arrival of the governor having been delayed until January, 1801, the secretary, as empowered by law, organized the new government by appoint- ing the necessary subordinate officers in the three counties of Knox, St. Clair, and Randolph .*
After the governor had reached Vincennes he met the judges in legislative session, at which laws for the government of the Territory were enacted, courts established, other officers selected and the new government successfully launched.
The long career of Gen. Harrison as governor of Indiana Territory was particularly distinguished by the success which attended his judicious, yet firm, Indian policy. He has been not inaptly styled "the great treaty-maker," his name appearing as the representative of the United States, on no less than thir- teen treaties with different tribes in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, all of which were executed during the period of his occupation of the gubernatorial chair, and included nearly all the lands in the Northwest Territory.
The first Indian treaty relating to cessions in the section indi- cated was that of Fort McIntosh, made January 21, 1785, and embraced only lands in Ohio.
On January 31, 1786, a treaty was concluded at the mouth of
* Those designated in Randolph County were: Robert Morrison, Paul Harral- son, and James Gilbreath, county commissioners; George Fisher, sheriff; Robert Morrison, clerk of the court of quarter-sessions; William Wilson, county sur- veyor; William Kelley, coroner; and Lardner Clark, recorder. In St. Clair County they were: John Hays, sheriff; William Arundel, clerk; and John Hay, recorder.
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FIRST INDIAN TREATIES.
the Miami, which covered not only lands in Ohio but also in Indiana. Then followed that of Fort Harmar, January 9, 1789, between Gov. St. Clair and the Six Nations, and certain western tribes including the Ottawas, Pottawatomies, and Sacs and Foxes, which was chiefly confirmatory of that of Fort McIntosh.
These treaties, and the subsequent action of congress relating to the public lands, proved to be unsatisfactory to the Indians, and gave rise to frequent disputes, which culminated in war as has been already stated. In 1793, a commission consisting of Benjamin Lincoln of Massachusetts, Beverly Randolph of Vir- ginia, and Timothy Pickering of Pennsylvania, was appointed by congress to consider all the questions involved and, if pos- sible, arrive at some satisfactory settlement. For the guidance of the commission, instructions were framed, which can not but be read with interest at the present day, since they not only defined the duties and powers of the commissioners, but also clearly outlined the then existing policy of the national govern- ment toward the aborigines.
The principles by which the commissioners were to be guided were formally set forth as follows: "With respect to the treaties made between the United States and the several hostile tribes since the peace with Great Britain in 1783, it is to be observed that the treaty of Fort Harmar, made in January, 1789, is re- garded as having been made on solid grounds-the principle being that of a fair purchase and sale. The government con- siders the Six Nations, who claimed the lands by virtue of for- mer conquests, lying between the Ohio and Lake Erie, [east of the western line of Pennsylvania and north of the Ohio] which were ceded and confirmed to the United States by said treaty with said Six Nations, together with the Wyandots, Delawares, and Ottawas, and other hostile Indians, who were the actual occupants of the lands, as the proper owners thereof : that they had the right to convey said lands to the United States ; and that they did accordingly make the said conveyance with their free consent and full understanding. Parties, however, who were not at the treaty of Fort Harmar may have been at the treaty of Fort McIntosh or the Miami. But if it shall appear upon a further investigation of the subject, at the place of con- ference, that there were other tribes interested in the lands then
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ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
ceded to the United States, than those who subscribed the said treaty, or that the consideration given was inadequate, it may be proper, in either or both cases, that a liberal compensation be made to the just claimants." *
At the various conferences subsequently held between the commissioners and the Indians, delegates were present from the following tribes: the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnees, Miamis, Mingoes, Pottawatomies, Ottawas, Chippewas, Seven Nations of Canada, Cherokees, Mohicans, Senecas, Munsees, Convoys, and Creeks. The Indians contended that the treaties of Fort Stan- wix and Fort McIntosh had been executed by them through fear, and that they were ignorant of the fact that they provided for cessions of lands. They further urged that the treaty of Fort Harmar was made by Gen. St. Clair with a few chiefs of two or three nations only, after he had been informed that at a general council of the tribes, previously held, no bargain or sale of any portion of their lands would be considered as valid or binding.
The commissioners found it necessary to recede from the position first taken by the government, that the whole of the Northwest Territory was owned by the United States, as suc- cessors of Great Britain, making use of the following language: "We by express authority of the President do acknowledge the property, or right of soil of the great country above described to be in the Indian Nations, so long as they desire to occupy the same. We only claim particular tracts in it * * and the right of purchasing of the Indian Nations disposed to sell these lands, to the exclusion of all other white people."
To this the Indians replied, that they had never granted to the King of England or any other European power the exclu- sive privilege of purchasing their lands and said, "and we de- clare to you that we consider ourselves free to make any bar- gain or cession of lands whenever and to whomsoever we please."
The views of the contracting parties, it will be seen, were wide apart; and no agreement having been reached after a discussion lasting through July and August, the pending negotiations were broken off.
An appeal was once more made to the sword, and the cam- * Dillon's " Indiana, " 301.
217
INDIAN TREATIES.
paign of Maj .- Gen. Anthony Wayne begun in July, 1794 was brought to a successful close by the battle of the Maumee Rapids, August 20, in which the allied Indians were defeated. The loss of the Americans was twenty-six killed and eighty- seven wounded; that of the Indians, more than double that number, forty being left dead upon the field .* This engage- ment was followed by the Treaty of Greenville, executed Aug- ust 3, 1795.
This was the first treaty relating to lands in Illinois in which the Western tribes claiming to own them united. The lands conveyed thereby were as follows: six miles square at the mouth of the Chicago River; twelve miles square at or near the mouth of the Illinois River; six miles square at the old Peoria fort; the post of Fort Masaac; the 150,000 acres assigned Gen. Clark and his soldiers; "and the lands at all other places in possession of the French people and other white settlers among them, the Indian title to which has been thus extinguished."
The United States relinquished its claims to all other Indian lands northward of the river Ohio, eastward of the Mississippi, and south of the great lakes, afterward explained and defined in the treaty to mean "that the Indian tribes who have a right to these lands are quietly to enjoy them hunting, planting, and dwelling thereon, so long as they please, without any molesta- tion from the United States; but when those tribes, or any of them, shall be disposed to sell their lands, or any part of them, they are to be sold only to the United States."
These concessions thus wisely secured by Gen. Wayne formed the basis of all future negotiations with the Indians; and now it was no longer required to wait until all the tribes pretending to be interested could be got together, as all that was necessary for the government to do was to hold out sufficient inducements to any single tribe, in order to secure the title to the land which it claimed to own.
Accordingly, when, in consequence of the extensive settle- ments toward the Mississippi, it became necessary to secure more land in that direction, a treaty was concluded with the Kaskaskias representing the Kaskaskias, Cahokias, Mitchigamis, and Tamaroas, of the ancient confederation of the Illinois Ind-
" American Pioneer," Vol. I, 315-320.
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ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
ians, for over eight million acres of land in the southern portion of what is now the State of Illinois. This treaty was executed at Vincennes by Gov. Harrison, Aug. 13, 1803 .* Following the treaty last cited, others were made with the Shawnees and Piankashaws, the same year; with the Piankashaws and Sacs and Foxes in 1804; the Kickapoos and Pottawatomies in 1809; the Peorias, Illinois, Weas, and Kickapoos in 1818, by which Indian claims to lands in the greater portion of Illinois, were extinguished.+
* " Revision of Indian Treaties," 424.
+ The following shows in a compact form the time and place of execution of those treaties relating to lands in Illinois, the names of the tribes with whom made, the amount of territory ceded, and, as nearly as can be ascertained, the considera- tion paid therefor :
PLACE AND NAME. DATE.
ACRES.
AM'T PAID
Greenville, By Gen Wayne.
2 Aug. 3, 1795.
NAMES OF TRIBES. Wyandots, Delawares, Ottawas, Chippewas, Miamis, Shawnees, Pottawatomies, Kaskaskias. Eel River, Kickapoos, Piankashaws
11, 808,499
$210,000
Fort Wayne,
Gov. Harrison.
Vincennes,
Gov. Harrison.
1 Aug. 13, 1803.
" Kaskaskias, representing them- ? selves Cahokias, & Mitchigamis.
8,911,850
12,000
St. Louis, 1
$ Nov. 3, 1804.
Sacs and Foxes.
14,803,500
22,234
Vincennes,
Dec. 30, 1805.
Piankashaws.
2,676, 150
4,100
Fort Wayne, Gov. Harrison.
Sept. 30, 1809.
Pottawatomies, and Weas.
2,900,000
Vincennes,
Dec. 9, 1809.
Kickapoos,
I38,240
27,000
St. Louis,
Gov. Edwards, Wm. Clark, A. Chouteau. Edwardsville,
Aug. 24, 1816.
Pottawatomies, Chippewas, Ottawas.
1,418,400
12,000
Gov. Edwards and A. Chouteau.
Sept. 30, 1818,
Peoria and Illinois.
6,865,280
6,400
St. Mary's,
1 Oct. 2, 1818.
Weas.
11,000,000
33,000
Fort Harrison,
1
Aug. 30, 1819.
Kickapoos of the Vermilion.
3,173,120
23,000
St. Joseph,
Lewis Cass, Pierre Menard.
Sept 20, 1828.
Pottawatomies.
990,720
189,795
Prairie du Chien, Pierre Menard, et al. §
Jan. 2, 1830.
Pottawatomies, Chippewas, Ottawas.
4, 160,000
390,601
Chicago,
Oct. 20, 1832. Oct. 27, 1832.
Pottawatomies of the Prairie.
1,536 000
460,346
Tippecanoe,
Pottawatomies of Indiana.
737,000
406,121
Chicago,
Sept. 26, 1833.
- Pottawatomies, Chippewas, Ottawas.
5,104,960
7,624,289
Fort Armstrong and Prairie du Chien. St. Louis.
1829 and 1832. Oct. 27, 1832.
Winnebagoes.
10,346,000
5,195,252
Kaskaskias and Peorias.
1.920
155,780
June 7, 1803.
( Delawares, Shawnees, Miamis, { { Pottawatomies, and Kickapoos.
2,038,400
4,000
Gov. Harrison.
Gov. Harrison.
§ Delawares, Miamis, Eel River, -
Gov. Harrison.
S
Lewis Cass, et al.
Benjamin Parke.
The same lands, it will be noted, are in some instances included in different treaties with different tribes .- See "American State Papers, " Schoolcraft's "Indian Tribes," and Dillon's "Indiana, " 578.
319
PURCHASE OF LOUISIANA.
It was in consequence of the success of Gov. Harrison in obtaining from the Indians the title to their lands in Indiana and Illinois, that the animosity of the Shawnees, under Tecum- seh and the Prophet, was again aroused, they claiming that no single tribe was invested with the right to make cessions without the consent of all others interested. Their hostile attitude was encouraged by British agents in order to secure their alliance and support in the threatened war of 1812. Other tribes, notably the Pottawatomies and Kickapoos, always ready to engage in a fight against the Americans, were easily induced to join the Shawnees, thus forming a strong combination. The defeat of the red men at the battle of Tippecanoe, Nov. II, 1811, by Gen. Harrison, terminated the campaign, but left the disaffected tribes as hostile as ever.
The difficulties in the way of securing cessions were increased by the conflicting claims of different tribes to the same tracts. And it is especially noticeable with what uniformity of demand the Pottawatomies appeared at every place where negotiations were being carried on. Their greed was only equaled by their assurance. Wherever there was even an apparent opportunity to receive any money, they were promptly "on hand" to put in . a claim, and, as will be seen by the table, generally succeeded in carrying off the lion's share.
The ownership of the vast territory of the Northwest, east of the Mississippi, was adjudicated by the sword; that west of it, together with the destiny of the people who lived upon it, was the subject of frequent barter and sale in the European mart where crowned heads, at their will, made and unmade nations and empires.
The great Napoleon, whose keen political vision scanned every continent and whose unerring judgment accurately weighed the value of the possessions of his rivals, determined to retrieve the error of the Bourbon dynasty in the surrender, in 1763, of the magnificent domain of Louisiana to Spain; and by the treaty of. Ildefonso, Sept. 15, 1800, Spain was forced to retrocede that territory to France, after having owned it for nearly forty years.
Before the formal transfer was completed however, Napoleon was again threatened with war by Great Britain, and reluctantly concluded that he would not be able to hold the province
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ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
wrested from his southern neighbor. He said, "I know the full value of Louisiana, but the English wish to take possession of it, and it is thus they will begin the war. They have already twenty ships of the line in the Gulf of Mexico. The conquest of Louisiana would be easy. I have not a moment to lose in putting it out of their reach. The English have successively taken from France the Canadas, Cape Breton, New Foundland, Nova Scotia, and the richest portion of Asia. But they shall not have the Mississippi which they covet."*
The United States also coveted it as well as Great Britain. James Monroe and Robert Livingston, our representatives at Paris, were at first authorized to negotiate only for the purchase of New Orleans and the Floridas; Livingston, indeed, stated that the United States did not desire the territory of Louisiana. Monroe, however, was in full possession of the views of Presi- dent Jefferson, who he knew strongly desired to acquire the whole country. Although the United States was young and poor, and the constitution had made no provision for the pur- chase of or holding foreign territory, Jefferson recognizing the value and importance of the proposed acquisition, did not hesi- tate to urge it upon his ministers, even furnishing them with arguments to accomplish it; trusting to the people to ratify a policy so far-reaching, and a purchase so manifestly favorable to the best interests of his country.
When Napoleon finally declared his inflexible purpose to dispose of the territory, the negotiation was speedily concluded, April 30, 1803, and the United States became the owner of Louisiana and West Florida for $15,000,000. Spain surrendered possession to France, Nov. 13, and France to the United States, Dec. 20, 1803. Napoleon not only received more than he at first asked for Louisiana, but was rejoiced to find a purchaser in the American Republic, remarking that "this accession of terri- tory strengthens forever the power of the United States. I have given England a rival."
By act of March 26, 1804, all that portion of Louisiana lying north of the thirty-third degree of north latitude and west of the Mississippi River was annexed to Indiana Territory for the purposes of government; and the govenor and judges
* James G. Blaine's "Twenty Years of Congress," I, 6.
221
AARON BURR IN THE WEST.
in October, following, framed the necessary laws for that district. This consolidation of the old Illinois country under one juris- diction, only continued, however, until the following March, when a separate organization was provided by congress for the Louisiana Territory.
It was at this period that the name of Aaron Burr became prominently connected with the history of the West. He had been a distinguished officer in the Revolution, and had tied Thomas Jefferson in the electoral college as a candidate for presi- dent. He was neither a great lawyer nor a profound statesman, but the brilliancy of his intellect and the fascination of his address were acknowledged by all who came under the charm of his magnetic presence. The true story of his life, public and private, more like a romance than a recital of prosaic facts, has never been written. The odium attached to his name after his causeless duel with Alexander Hamilton, July II, 1804, was so great as to annihilate all his prospects of political preferment in the East where his public career ended with the termination of his vice-presidential term, March 4, 1805. Such was the power of his eloquence notwithstanding the obloquy resting upon him, that at the close of his valedictory address the whole senate was in tears, and the senators so unmanned that it was half an hour before they could recover themselves and resume their ordinary business .*
Burr was unable to stem the tide of opposition, which had set in against him, and to use his own language: "In New York, I am to be disfranchised, and in New Jersey, hanged. Having substantial objections to both, I shall not for the present hazard either, but shall seek another country."* His friends urged him to seek new fortunes in the Southwest where his reputation as duelist would rather advance than miar his prospects. They even offered to assist him to an election to congress from the territory of Indiana or from some district in Kentucky or Ten- nessee. He soon thereafter visited these states, where his admirable tact, ready wit, and courteous affability so endeared him to the people that his reception by them resembled an ovation. New Orleans had vied with Nashville, and Louisville with Lexington in paying him homage. He captivated, as he
* Davis' " Memoirs of Aaron Burr."
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ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
was entertained by their leading citizens. His reception grati- fied his vanity and excited his ambition. Schemes for advance- ment to wealth and power, some of them as visionary as bold, presented themselves to his heated imagination. The first of these was to locate a colony of choice spirits in Louisiana, for which purpose he purchased 750,000 acres of land on the Washita, a tributary of the Red River. He paid $5000 down for it out of his own pocket, and the balance of the purchase-money $45,000 was readily raised by accommodating and admiring friends in Kentucky.
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