USA > Illinois > Illinois, the story of the prairie state > Part 3
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"The town is to be taken at all events."8
"I immediately divided my little army into two divisions. With one of the divisions I marched to
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THE AMERICAN CONQUEST
the fort, and ordered the others into different quar- ters of the town. If I met with no resistance, at a given signal, a general shout was to be given, and men of each detachment, who could speak the French language, were to run through every street and proclaim what had happened; and inform the inhabitants that every person that ap- peared in the streets would be shot down.
"In a very little time we had complete possession and every avenue was guarded, to prevent any es- cape to give the alarm to the other villages. · I don't suppose greater silence ever reigned among the inhabitants of a place than did at this at present ; not a person to be seen, not a word to be heard by them for some time, but designedly, the greatest noise kept up by our troops through every quarter of the town, and patroles continually the whole night round it."9
One of Clark's men describes the attack, telling how they found the gate of Fort Gage open, pushed on in the dark to the commandant's house, found the unsuspecting governor, Rocheblave, up-stairs in bed, brought him down a prisoner, and then gave a loud huzza, answered by the others. The French began screaming, "The Long Knives! The Long Knives!" (the name used for the Virginians by both French and Indians) and the Americans, yell- ing like mad, easily overpowered the garrison, and in fifteen minutes were masters of the place, with- out firing a gun. A bloodless conquest, surely !
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Clark raised the terror of the French inhabitants to a painful height. He arrested the principal men of the village, for talking earnestly together, and put them in irons without allowing them to say a word in their defense. He forbade the people to have any intercourse between themselves or with the soldiers. Remembering the fate of their coun- trymen in Acadia, the poor creatures expected nei- ther mercy nor compassion.
The priest, Pierre Gibault, with five or six elderly citizens, asked for an audience with Clark. In a low submissive voice he begged permission for them all "to assemble once more in the church to take final leave of each other, as they expected to be separated, never to meet again on earth." The American assented, but said they must not venture out of the town.
"They remained a considerable time in the church," goes on his journal, "after which the priest and many of the principal men came to me to re- turn thanks for the indulgence shown them, and begged permission to address me further on the subject that was more dear to them than anything else; that their present situation was the fate of war; that the loss of their property they could rec- oncile; but were in hopes that I would not part them from their families; and that the women and children might be allowed to keep some of their clothes and a small quantity of provisions."10
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THE AMERICAN CONQUEST
Clark now threw off his disguise and said to the committee, who listened in utter amazement, afraid to trust their ears :
"Do you mistake us for savages? Do you think that Americans intend to strip the women and chil- dren, or take the bread out of their mouths? £
My countrymen disdain to make war upon helpless in- nocence. It was to prevent the horrors of Indian butchery upon our own wives and children that we have taken arms and penetrated into this remote stronghold of British and Indian barbarity. And now, to prove my sincerity, you will please in- form your fellow citizens that they are quite at liberty to go wherever they please, without the least apprehension. And your friends who are in confinement shall be immediately released."11
The joy of the inhabitants was so intense on hear- ing this message that it is difficult adequately to de- scribe it. The bells rang, the little church was immediately crowded, and thanks returned to God for the miraculous manner in which He had subdued the minds of their conquerors.
"Joy sparkled in their eyes," writes Clark, "and they fell into transports that really surprised me. In a few minutes the scene of mourning and distress was turned into an excess of joy, nothing else was seen nor heard. Adorning the streets with
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flowers, pavilians (flags) of different colors, com- pleting their happiness by singing, &c."12
Every one of the inhabitants took the oath of loyalty to the commonwealth of Virginia. And when soldiers were sent to take possession of Ca- hokia, a company of Frenchmen volunteered to join them, to persuade their relatives and friends to fol- low their example. As one man, Cahokia went over to the Americans. There was, however, one ex- ception, the commander of the garrison at Kaskas- kia, who was violent and insulting. So Clark, des- patching a report to Patrick Henry, sent him along to Virginia as a prisoner, sold his slaves for two thousand five hundred dollars and divided the money among his men.
Thus a country larger than the British Isles was added to the colonies, by the energy of one man, commanding four companies of militia.
But Clark recognized the difficulties of his situa- tion. With so few soldiers, he was surrounded by French, Spanish and numerous bands of savages on every quarter. "Every nation of Indians could raise three or four times our number," and they were "savages, whose minds had long been poisoned by the English. "'13 The sudden arrival of the "Long Knives" had thrown the red men into the greatest consternation. They did not know which side to
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THE AMERICAN CONQUEST
stand by. But they sought advice from their old friends, the French traders, who counseled them to "come and solicit for peace, and did not doubt but we might be good friends."
"I am a man and warrior, not a councilor," said Clark to the Indians. "I carry "war in my right hand, peace in my left. I am sent by the great coun- cil of the Long Knives and their friends, to take possession of all the towns occupied by the English in this country, and to watch the red people; to bloody the paths of those who attempt to stop the course of the rivers, and to clear the roads for those who desire to be in peace. Here is a bloody belt, and a peace belt; take which you please; be- have like men, and do not let your being surrounded by Long Knives cause you to take up one belt with your hands while your hearts take up the other. If you take the bloody path, you can go in safety and join your friends, the English. We will try then like warriors who can stain our clothes the longest with blood."14
If, on the other hand, they took the path of peace, they would be received as brothers to the Big Knives with their friends, the French. An alliance was formed with various chiefs, and these tribes re- mained the faithful friends of the Americans.
Clark realized that he must have also the good
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will of the Spanish just across the Mississippi at St. Louis. His advances were well received, "our friends the Spaniards doing everything in their power to convince me of their friendship." In- deed, their governor formed an attachment for the tall Virginian, who on his side writes that, as he "was never before in company with any Spanish Gent, I was much surprised in my expectations, for instead of finding that reserve thought peculiar to that nation, freedom almost to excess gave the greatest pleasure. "15
Meantime there was the English post at Vin- cennes, between Kaskaskia and Virginia, threaten- ing to stop all communication, making their position unsafe in the extreme. Clark planned an expedition against the fort on the Wabash, and sent for Father Gibault.
"He had great influence over the people at this period, and Post Vincennes was under his jurisdic- tion. I made no doubt of his integrity to us."
Indeed, the "patriot priest of the Northwest" was Clark's zealous friend, after he was told that an American officer had "nothing to do with churches more than to defend them from insult, that by the laws of the state of Virginia his religion had as great privileges as any other."
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THE AMERICAN CONQUEST
"In answer to all my inquiries," says Clark's jour- nal, "he informed me that he did not think it worth while to cause any military preparation to be made for the attack of Post Vincennes, although the place was strong and a great number of Indians in its neighborhood that he expected that when the inhabitants were fully acquainted with what had passed at the Illinois, and the present hap- piness of their friends, and made fully acquainted with the nature of the war, that their sentiments would greatly change . that if it was agree- able to me he would take this business on himself, and had no doubt of his being able to bring that place over to the American interest, without my be- ing at the trouble of marching against it."
So the troops stayed quietly at Kaskaskia, while the priest's party set out, on the fourteenth of July,
"arrived safe, and after spending a day or two in explaining matters to the people, they universally acceded to the proposal, and went in a body to the church, where the oath of allegiance was adminis- tered to them in the most solemn manner. An of- ficer was elected, the fort immediately garrisoned, and the American flag displayed, to the astonishment of the Indians, and everything settled far beyond our most sanguine hopes. "16
But Vincennes was too important for the English to lose so easily. General Hamilton was greatly an- noyed at the news, raised an army at Detroit, and,
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heading it himself, set out to recapture the town. Delayed at the portage by their great amount of baggage, and by the ice on the streams, they did not arrive till December.
Only two Americans were in the fort, but a splen- did resistance they made. A cannon, well charged, was placed in the open gate, and Captain Helm stood by it, with a lighted match in his hand. When the English came within hailing distance he called out in a loud voice, "Halt !"
Hamilton stopped and demanded the surrender of the fort.
"No man shall enter until I know the terms," was the reply.
The English answered, "You shall have the hon- ors of war," and the garrison surrendered, one of- ficer and one man !
Over a month passed before this news reached Clark in Kaskaskia, with the further report that Hamilton was planning a great spring campaign in Illinois, after which he would make a clean sweep of the Kentucky settlements. Had the English pushed forward at once to Kaskaskia, the Ameri- cans would have had to surrender, or cross the Mississippi, giving up what they had gained.
"I knew that if I did not take him, he would take me," wrote Clark in his journal, and made a bold plan to attack first, by a march overland. And the
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THE AMERICAN CONQUEST
story of that attack is most interesting, but too long for more than a hint at its dramatic events : how Clark sent the St. Louis merchant, Francis Vigo, to find out the strength of the troops at Vincennes ; and how Vigo, arrested as a spy, kept his parole to Hamilton, and yet brought the needed informa- tion ;17 how the Americans fitted out a boat to carry their supplies and cannon, but it arrived three days too late; how the force of a hundred and seventy men marched two hundred and thirty miles in Feb- ruary, when the rivers were all out of their banks, and they often had to cross in water up to their shoulders; how Clark, six feet tall, red-headed, al- ways dashed into the cold water first, encouraging the weak, starting a gay song, alternately sternly commanding and teasing his men; how for four days they were near enough to hear the morning guns at Vincennes, without fires at night, for two days with no food; how Clark marched his men back and forth, with all their flags showing, in sight of the town, but partly hidden by the rising ground, till the Vincennes people thought they were at least a thousand; how the inhabitants were won over by a clever letter ; how they fired on the English gun- ners through the loopholes, until Hamilton could no longer keep them at their posts ; how Clark forced the British to accept his terms of surrender, and the whole garrison, thirteen cannon, and all the military
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stores, fell into the hands of the Americans. All this you must read for yourself, for this capture of Vincennes is one of the most notable and heroic achievements in the nation's history-a bold scheme, well planned and skilfully carried out, by a small party of ragged and half-famished soldiers.18
Hamilton, the hair-buying general, you may be glad to know, was sent to Virginia as a prisoner, and kept in close confinement. Despite the many protests of the English, that state, because of the cruel practises he had encouraged, "refused to ex- change him on any terms," until near the close of the Revolution.
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While they were still at Vincennes word came from Governor Henry, thanking the troops for their capture of Kaskaskia. The Virginia legislature made all the territory west and north of the Ohio River into Illinois County, the largest county in the world. John Todd of Kentucky was appointed county lieutenant, to take charge of the civil de- partment, so that Clark could give all his time to military affairs.
"I was anxious for his arrival, and happy in his appointment, as the greatest intimacy and friendship subsisted between us; and in May had the pleasure of seeing him safely landed at Kaskaskia, to the joy of every person. I now saw myself happily rid of a piece of trouble that I had no delight in." "'19
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THE AMERICAN CONQUEST
The civil government and the courts well started under Colonel Todd, Clark returned to Virginia. He wanted to attack Detroit, to push the American frontier farther north, and frightened the British by his preparations. But the colonies could not give him the men and money he required, and, much to his disappointment, he never undertook what would have been the crowning achievement of his career.
But he had made a great reputation, and in 1783 Thomas Jefferson wrote him, proposing another ex- pedition to the west.
"I find," says his letter to Clark, "they have subscribed a very large sum of money in England for exploring the country from the Mississippi to California. They pretend it is only to promote knowledge. I am afraid they have thoughts of col- onizing into that quarter. Some of us have been talking here of making the attempt to search that country. How would you like to lead such a party ?"20
This plan, however, came to nothing. But Jef- ferson never forgot it. And just twenty years later, Clark's younger brother William set out, with Meri- wether Lewis, on a similar expedition, under orders from Jefferson, who was then president. They traced the Missouri to its source and went down the Columbia to the Pacific. So both the Clarks added a large and rich district to the United States.
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For the remainder of the Revolutionary War Vir- ginia held the Illinois country, and the Indians were friendly. Clark was the one man whose personal influence, plus a small force of soldiers, could keep the people in order. The French respected him, the border men adored him, the red men feared him.
In discussing terms of peace, in 1782 and '83, the English commissioners claimed this territory as a part of Canada. But Jay and Franklin persisted in demanding for the colonies the country Clark had won and Virginia was then holding. England yielded, less because of the garrisons then in pos- session than because of Benjamin Franklin's argu- ment that there could be no permanent peace unless. the United States had room for growth; that the westward movement over the mountains could not be stopped, the rough border men could not be re- strained from constant encroachment on the wilder- ness, and that the frontier, on any other terms, would provide an endless fight.21
Of course you will want to read the story of Clark's conquest in detail. Thwaites's How George Rogers Clark Won the Northwest is a brief ac- count, very interesting. Butterfield's Clark's Con- quest of the Northwest is a longer narrative, giv- ing Bowman's journal and Clark's memoir and letter. These you will find, also, in volume one of
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the Illinois Historical Collections; and volume eight is wholly Clark papers-letters and journals and memoirs, often with no changes in the quaint spell- ing and punctuation of the Virginian officer .. The Conquest is a Clark story, written by Dye.
VIII
TERRITORIAL YEARS
S O the Revolutionary War ended by England's recognizing the independence of the United States, and fixing the boundary at the Mississippi River.
The Illinois country was claimed by Virginia, because the grant of James I to the London Com- pany included all the land westward to the Pacific Ocean, and because of Clark's conquest. Had not the French inhabitants sworn allegiance to the com- monwealth of Virginia? Were not her soldiers in the frontier garrisons? Were not the courts of jus- tice administering her laws?
But New York claimed part of the land, because of her treaty with the Five Nations. And Massa- chusetts and Connecticut claimed parts of the coun- try, because their grants from the King of England ran to the Pacific. And a splendid quarrel threat- ened.
It was a patriotic and wise plan, first proposed by Maryland, and in time agreed to by all four states, that each should yield to the federal govern-
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TERRITORIAL YEARS
ment its western land claims.1 Like Hamilton's plan to establish the tariff and take over the state debts, this gave each state a direct interest in the success of the national government. The Northwest Ter- ritory, as it was now called, thus became property held in common, for the benefit of all the states. The gradual sale of the land would help pay the Revolutionary debt.
Not until 1786 did the last state make its tardy cession, and the following year Congress passed an ordinance establishing a government for the new possessions.
"We are accustomed," said Daniel Webster, "to praise the law-givers of antiquity; we help to per- petuate the fame of Solon and Lycurgus, but I doubt that one single law, ancient or modern, has produced effects of more distinct, marked and lasting char- acter than the ordinance of 1787."2
For it did more than meet the immediate needs, it planned for the future, providing government by Congress for the whole territory, then semi-self- government, and finally admission to the Union as three or five states. Special provisions were made, "to remain forever unalterable, unless by common consent," guaranteeing freedom of worship, trial by jury, the encouragement of schools, and no slavery.
This ordinance has been called "the great Amer-
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ican charter," for it determined the destiny of the states formed from the Northwest Territory, and was a powerful factor in settling two great national questions-slavery and state sovereignty. It was passed unanimously, by men building better than they knew. 'And it is interesting to note that of the eight states represented that day in Congress, - seven were slave states.3 Perhaps they agreed to the "no slavery" clause because in 1787 slavery was not a political issue. Indeed, one Virginian voted for it, saying that this would prevent raising tobacco and indigo and cotton north of the Ohio River.4.
For thirteen years the people in the Northwest Territory had no share in the government. Con- gress appointed the governor and secretary, and established a court with three judges, who, with the governor, adopted such laws of the other states as were needed. The first governor was Arthur St. Clair, who had been an officer in the Revolution. His was a difficult position, for his people were widely scattered and the Indians unfriendly. The
peace of 1783 had not included the red men, and they were constantly attacking the new settlements.
Both English and French traders had wanted furs, furs, furs; they wished the country to remain a wilderness. But these Americans, crossing the Alleghanies, spread over their hunting grounds and
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TERRITORIAL YEARS
made farms along the rivers. The Indians saw themselves driven from the land, like leaves before the autumn wind. And always there was the Brit- ish agent, at the posts still held in the northwest, stirring up trouble :
"Your father, King George, loves his red chil- dren, and wishes his red children supplied with everything they want. He is not like the Ameri- cans, who are continually blinding your eyes, and stopping your ears with good words, that taste sweet ''5 as sugar, while they get all your lands from you.
The Americans suggested a treaty, giving a fair equivalent for the land, but the Indians refused every proposal. The raids must be stopped, and soldiers were sent to the frontier. A first army was driven back by the savages, the next met a Brad- dock's defeat; then Wayne, the "Mad Anthony Wayne" who captured Stony Point, won a great victory, laid waste their cabins and corn fields for fifty miles, and the Indians made a treaty giving up a large tract of land. If it was ever broken, threat- ened Wayne, he would rise from his grave to fight them again. This quieted the excitement along the whole frontier, and Wayne's treaty was kept until 1812.
When this news spread abroad, with life and
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property secured, settlers began to pour into the ter- ritory in a steadily increasing stream. The frontier was pushed back by the hardy pioneers.
In 1800 Congress divided the unwieldy North- west Territory into two parts: Ohio, and all the rest, called Indiana Territory. William Henry Har- rison was appointed governor of Indiana, with Vin- cennes as the capital; and for nine years Illinois was a part of Indiana, without even a name of its own.
As settlements increased in the neighborhood of the Mississippi, the sentiment in favor of separating from Indiana grew. For between them and Vin- cennes the country was a wilderness, the journey to the capital full of hardship and danger. In 1806 and '07 and '08, memorials were sent to Congress, asking that Illinois be separated from Indiana, and the following year Washington made the division.6
On the recommendation of Henry Clay, Ninian Edwards of Kentucky was appointed as governor of Illinois Territory ; and Nathaniel Pope was made secretary.
In a brief three years Illinois grew so rapidly that it was advanced from the first to the second stage of territorial government. The governor was ap- pointed as before, but the laws were now made by the legislature-seven representatives and five coun-
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ـورة لتجاب = ٠٥٥
CHICAGO AS IT WAS IN 1820
uninG
خالجيابية
VAN
٠٠٠٠٠٠ ٦٠جم
٠٠٠٠٧٧ جريمة
ـد حاسب .
جك
يييين سك
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TERRITORIAL YEARS
cilors elected by the people. They also elected a delegate to Congress.
The first territorial legislature of Illinois met at Kaskaskia in November, 1812, in an old building of rough limestone, with steep roof and gables of un- painted boards. The first floor, a low cheerless room, was for the house of representatives. A small room up-stairs served for the council. There was one doorkeeper for both houses. The twelve mem- bers boarded with the same family, and lodged, it is said, all in one room! And it is an interesting little fact that of these dozen legislators, not one was a lawyer, and each one had been a soldier.
Unlike the old French régime, the government had to be financed. The funds for the territory were raised by a tax on land: a dollar for every hundred acres of bottom land, seventy-five cents for the uplands. The county revenue was a dollar tax on slaves, fifteen dollars for merchants, ten dol- lars for a ferry, a small tax on houses worth two hundred dollars or more; horses fifty cents, and cattle a dime.7
Some of the old laws of the territory of Illinois are especially interesting. Treason and murder, ar- son and horse stealing were punished by death. For stealing a hog a man was fined from fifty to a hun- dred dollars, and given from twenty-five to thirty-
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ILLINOIS
nine lashes on his bare back. Altering the brand on a horse meant a hundred and forty lashes. And a man who received a stolen horse, knowing it to be stolen, was declared as guilty as the thief.8
Other punishments were confinement in the pil- lory and stocks and heavy fines. If unable to pay, the culprit was hired out by the sheriff to any one who would pay his fine; if a man ran away, his penalty was double time. You see, the territory of Illinois was almost as puritanic as New England.
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IX
THE WAR OF 1812
W HILE Illinois was taking the first steps in self-government the War of 1812 began. You remember how England kept the forts in the northwest, in spite of the treaty of peace, and abused our sailors on the high seas? There was no fight- ing in Illinois between British and American troops, just as in the previous wars. The battles, you know, were on the ocean, in Canada, and near New Or- leans.
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