The History of Peoria County, Illinois. Containing a history of the Northwest-history of Illinois-history of the county, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc., etc., Part 11

Author: Johnson & co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Johnson & Company
Number of Pages: 932

USA > Illinois > Peoria County > The History of Peoria County, Illinois. Containing a history of the Northwest-history of Illinois-history of the county, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc., etc. > Part 11

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Missouri possesses the advantages of two of the greatest navigable rivers in the United States-the Mississippi, which forms her entire eastern boundary, and the Missouri, which flows along her northwestern border nearly two hundred miles, and crosses the State in a south - casterly course to its junction with the Mississippi. As both of these rivers are navigable for the largest steamers, the State has easy and ready commercial intercourse to the Gulf of Mexico and the Rocky Mountains, as well as up the Ohio to Pittsburg. Besides the Missouri, the State has several important interior rivers, to - wit: Grand river and Chariton, tributaries of the Missouri river from the north, and the Osage and Gasconade from the south ; also, Salt river und Maramec, tributaries of the Mississippi. The St. Francis and White river drain the south - eastern

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part, passing from the State into Arkansas. The Osage is navigable for steamboats about 275 miles.

Missouri as a State has many material resources, fitting her for becoming one of the most wealthy and populous States in the Union. The soil is generally excellent, produc- ing the finest crops, while those portions not so well adapted to agriculture are rich in minerals. The greater portion of the State is well timbered. In the river bottoms are heavy growths of oak, elm, ash, hickory, cottonwood, sugar, and white and black walnut. On the uplands also are found a great variety of trees. Various fruits, including apples, pears, peaches, plums, cherries and strawberries, are produced in the greatest abundance. Among the staple productions are Indian corn, wheat, oats, potatoes, hemp and tobacco. A great variety of other crops are also raised.

The State has an uneven and variable climate-the Winters being very cold and the Summers excessively hot. Chills and fever are common to some extent along the rivers.

The earliest settlement in Missouri seems to have been by the French, about the year 1719. About that time they built what was called Fort Orleans, near Jefferson City, and the next year worked the lead mines to some extent. Ste. Genevieve was settled in 1755, also by the French, and is the oldest town in the State. Missouri's greatest cont- mercial metropolis, St. Louis, was first settled in 1764, the earliest settlers being mostly French.

Jefferson City, the capital of the State, is situated on the right bank of the Missouri river, in Cole county. It is 128 miles by land, and 155 miles by water from St. Louis. The location being elevated, commands a fine view of the river, with the pleasant and picturesque scenery which is presented at this point on the Missouri.

St. Louis, the great commercial city of Missouri, as well as of a large portion of the West, is situated on the right bank of the Mississippi, 20 miles below the mouth of the Missouri, and 174 miles above the mouth of the Ohio. It is 744 miles below the Falls of St. Anthony, and 1,194 miles above New Orleans. The city enjoys many natural ad- vantages as a commercial emporium, being situated nearly midway between the two oceans, and centrally in the finest agricultural region on the globe. With two of the greatest navigable rivers on the continent, affording her water highways to the ocean, to many of the large inland cities of the country, and to the great agricultural and mineral districts away up in the Yellow Stone regions, St. Louis is surely and rapidly going forward to a grand future. Her already great and constantly improving system of railways is tending every year to open up to her larger fields of business and commercial intercourse. Of late years a strong rivalry has sprung up between St. Louis and Chicago in regard to population, etc., each claiming to be the third city in the Union. The in- crease of St. Louis since the close of the war of the rebellion has been great, the ascen- dancy being at an annual rate of about ten per cent. At this rate of increase she is fast earning the soubriquet of the " Future Great City."

The site on which St. Louis stands was selected February 15, 1764, by Laclede, as a post possessing peculiar advantages for collecting and trading in furs, as well as for de- fense against the Indians. For many years it was but a frontier village, the principal trade of which was in furs, Buffalo robes, and other collections of trappers and hunters. A great part of the population was absent during the hunting and trapping seasons, so that the infancy of this city was almost a struggle for existence. As late as 1820 the population was only 4,598. The first brick house was erected in 1813. In 1822 St. Louis was chartered as a city, under the title given by Laclede in honor of Louis XV of France. In 1830 the population was 6,694, an increase of only 2,096 in ten years. In 1840 the population had reached 16,469; in 1850 it was 77,950, including 2,650 slaves ; in 1860 the population was 160,773; and in 1870 it was 312,963.

Kansas City, one of the rapidly advancing young cities of the State, is situated on the Missouri river just below the mouth of the Kansas. In 1870 the population was

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32,260. Since that time there has been a rapid increase, both in population and business.

St. Joseph is one of the flourishing cities. and is situated on the left. or east bank of the Missouri river, 496 miles by water from St. Louis. It was laid out in 1843, and be- came an important point of departure for overland emigration to California and Oregon. In 1×70 the population was 19,560, but has rapidly increased since then.

Among the important and thriving towns and cities are Hannibal, Springfield. Boon- ville, Lexington, Chillicothe, Independence, Palmyra, Canton. Iron Mount and Moberly. The following table shows the population of Missouri at the close of each decade, from 1810 to 1870:

YEAR.

WHITE.

COLORED.

AGGREGATE.

1810

17.227

3.618

20,845

IS20.

55,9SS

10.569

66.557

1830

114.795

25.660

140.455

IS40.

323.888

59.814

3$3.702

1850.

592,004

90,040

6$2.044

IS60.

1,063,489

118,503

*1,152,012

IS70.

1.603,146

118,071

*1.721,295

* The aggregate for 1560 includes 20 enumerated as Indians, and the aggregate for 1870 includes 75 enumerated as Indians.

CHAPTER X.

SKETCH OF CHICAGO.

First White Visitors - The Name - Jean Baptiste - John Kinzie - Fort Dearborn - Evacuation - The Massacre - Iferoic Women - Capt. Heald - Capt. Wells - Scalping the Wounded - Fort Dearborn Re-built - Illinois and Michigan Canal-Chicago Laid Out - Removal of Indians -City Organization - Pioneer Religious Societies - Public Improvements.

The history of so great a city as Chicago, like that of London, or Paris, or New York, by reason of its commercial, financial and other relations to the world at large, is a history of world-wide interest. Not that Chicago may yet be compared in size, popu- lation or wealth with the great cities named, would we mention it in connection with them, and yet, considering its age, it is greater than either of them. In its ratio of in- crease in population, eommeree, and general progress. it is to-day outstripping them. In what civilized part of the globe is Chicago not heard of, read of, and known? If. so many centuries after the founding of Rome, mankind still feel interested in the mythical story of Romulus and Remus, may not the present and future generations read with interest the more authentic story of the founding of a great modern city ?

The Jesuit missionary and explorer, Marquette. first visited the place where Chicago is located, in 1678. Again, in the winter of 1674-5. he camped near the site of the pres- ent city, from December until near the close of March. Upon his arrival, in December, the Chicago river was frozen over, and the ground covered with snow. The name is of Indian origin, and was applied to the river. By the French voyageurs it is variously spelled, the majority rendering it Chicagou. The place is mentioned by Berrot in 1770.

In 1796, Jean Baptiste, a trader from the West Indies, found his way to the month

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of the little stream known as Chicago river, and engaged in trading with the Indians. Here for eight years, almost alone, he maintained trade and intercourse with the savages, until, in 1804, Fort Dearborn was erected, and a trading post was established by John Kinzie, who became the successor of Jean Baptiste. Fort Dearborn, as first constructed, was a very rude and primitive stockade, which cost the government only about fifty dol- lars. It stood on the south bank of Chicago river, half a mile from the lake. The few soldiers sent to erect and garrison it were in charge of Major Whistler. For a time, being unable to procure grain for bread, the soldiers were obliged to subsist in part upon acorns. The original settler, Jean Baptiste, or as his full name was written, Jean Baptiste Point au Sable, sold his cabin to Mr. Kinzie, and the latter erected on the site the building known to the early settlers as the " Kinzie House." This became a resort for the officers and others connected with the garrison, In 1812 the garrison had a force of 54 men, under the command of Capt. Nathan Heald, with Lieutenant Lenai L. Helm and Ensign Ronan. Dr. Voorhees was surgeon. The only white residents, except the officers and soldiers, at that time, were Mr. Kinzie and his family, the wives of Capt. Heald and Lieut. Helm, and a few Canadians, with their families. Nearly up to this time the most friendly relations had been maintained with the Indians-the principal tribes by whom they were surrounded being the Pottawatomies and Winnebagoes. The battle of Tip- pecanoe had been fought the year before, and the influence of Tecumseh began to be observable in the conduct of the Indians. They were also aware of the difficulties between the United States and Great Britain, and had yielded to the influences brought to bear by the latter. In April of this year, suspicious parties of Winnebagoes began to hover about the fort, remaining in the vicinity for several days. The inhabitants became alarmed, and the families took refuge in the fort. On the 7th of August a Pottawatta- mie chief appeared at the fort with an order or dispatch from Gen. Hull, at Detroit, directing Capt. Heald to evacuate Fort Dearborn, and distribute all the government prop- erty to the neighboring Indians. The chief who brought the dispatch advised Capt. Heald to make no distribution to the Indians. He told him it would be better to leave the fort and stores as they were, and that while the Indians were distributing the stores among themselves, the whites might escape to Fort Wayne. On the 12th of August Capt. Heald held a council with the Indians, but the other officers refused to join him. They feared treachery on the part of the Indians, and indeed had been informed that their intention was to murder the white people. In the council Capt. Heald had taken the precaution to open a port-hole displaying a cannon directed upon the council, and probably by that means kept the Indians from molesting him at that time. Acting under the advice of Mr. Kinzie, he withheld the ammunition and arms from the Indians, throw- ing them, together with the liquors, into the Chicago river. On that day Black Part- ridge, a friendly chief, said to Capt. Heald : "Linden birds have been singing in my ears to-day ; be careful on the march you are going to take." On the 13th the Indians dis- covered the powder floating on the surface of the water, a discovery which had the effect to exasperate them the more, and they began to indulge in threats. Meantime prepara- tions were made to leave the fort.

Capt. Wells, an uncle of Mrs. Heald, had been adopted by the famous Miami warrior, Little Turtle, and had become chief of a band of Miamis. On the 14th he was seen approaching with a band of his Miami warriors, coming to assist Capt. Heald in defending the fort, having at Fort Wayne heard of the danger which threatened the garrison and the settlers. But all means for defending the fort had been destroyed the night before. All, therefore, took up their line of march, with Capt. Wells and his Miamis in the lead, followed by Capt. Heald, with his wife riding by his side. Mr. Kinzie had always been on the most friendly terms with the Indians, and still hoped that his personal efforts might influence them to allow the whites to leave unmolested. He determined to accompany the expedition, leaving his family in a boat in the care of a

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friendly Indian. In ease any misfortune should happen to him. his family was to be sent to the place where Niles, Michigan, is now located, where he had another trading post. Along the shore of Lake Michigan slowly marched the little band of whites, with a friendly escort of Pottawatamies, and Capt. Wells and his Miamis, the latter in advance. When they had reached what were known as the "Sand Hills," the Miami advance guard eame rushing back, Capt. Wells exelaiming, " They are about to attack ; form instantly." At that moment a shower of bullets came whistling over the sand hills, behind which the Indians had eoneealed themselves for the murderous attack. The cowardly Miamis were panie-stricken, ane took to flight, leaving their heroie leader to his fate. He was at the side of his nieee, Mrs. Heald, when the attack was made, and, after expressing to her the utter hopelessness of their situation, dashed into the fight. There were 54 soldiers, 12 civilians and three women, all poorly armed, against 500 Indian warriors. The little band had no alternative but to sell their lives as dearly as possible. They charged upon their murderous assailants, and drove them from their position baek to the prairie. There the conflict continued until two-thirds of the whites were killed and wounded. Mrs. Heald, Mrs. Helm and Mrs. Holt, all took part in the combat. In a wagon were twelve children, and a painted demon tomahawked them all, seeing which, Capt. Wells ex- claimed, " If butehering women and children is your game, I will kill too," and then spurred his horse toward the Indian eamp, where they had left their squaws and papooses. He was pursued by several young warriors, who sent bullets whistling about him, killing his horse and wounding Capt. Wells. They attempted to take him a prisoner, but he resolved not to be taken alive. Calling a young chief a squaw, an epithet which which exeites the fiereest resentment in an Indian warrior, the young chief instantly toma- hawked him.

The three women fought as bravely as the soldiers. Mrs. Heald was an expert in the use of the rifle, but received several severe wounds. During the conflict the hand of a savage was raised to tomahawk her, when she exclaimed in his own language, "Surely you will not kill a squaw." Her words had the effect to change his purpose. and her life was spared. Another warrior attempted to tomahawk Mrs. Helm. HIe struck her a glaneing blow on the shoulder, when she seized him and attempted to wrest from him his scalping knife, which was in the sheath attached to his belt. At that moment the friendly Black Partridge dragged her from her antagonist, and in spite of her struggles carried her to the lake and plunged her in, at the same time holding her so she would not drown. By this means he saved her life, as he intended. The third woman, Mrs. Holt, the wife of Sergeant Ilolt, was a large woman, and as strong and brave as an amazon. She rode a fine, spirited horse, which more than once the Indians tried to take from her. Her husband had been disabled in the fight, and with his sword, which she had taken, she kept the savages at bay for some time. She was finally, how- ever, taken prisoner, and remained a long time a captive among the Indians, but was sub- sequently ransomed.

After two-thirds of the whites had been slain or disabled, twenty-eight men suc- ceeded in gaining an eminence on the prairie, and the Indians desisted from further pur- suit. The chiefs held a consultation, and gave the sign that they were ready to parley. Capt. Heald went forward and met the chief, Blackbird, on the prairie, when terms of surrender were agreed upon. The whites were to deliver up their arms and become pris- oners, to be exchanged or ransomed in the future. All were taken to the Indian camp near the abandoned fort, where the wounded Mrs. Helm had previously been taken by Black Partridge. By the terms of surrender no provision had been made as to the dis- position of the wounded. It was the understanding of the Indians that the British general, Proctor, had offered a bounty for American scalps delivered at Malden. Here there was another scene of horror. Most of the wounded men were killed and sealped.

Such is u hasty glace at scenes that were witnessed on this then wild shore of Lake

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Michigan. Such were the experiences and the struggles of the heroic men and women who ventured forth into the wilderness to plant the germs of civilization, and to lay the foundations of future cities and States. The site on which now stands a city which ranks among the greatest on the continent, is consecrated by the blood shed by heroes on that bright 15th day of August, 1812.

Fort Dearborn was rebuilt in 1816, under the direction of Capt. Bradley, and was occupied until 1837, when, the Indians having removed from the country, it was abandoned.

Congress, on the 2d of March, 1827, granted to the State of Illinois every alternate section of land for six miles on either side of the line of the then proposed Illinois and Michigan canal, to aid in its construction, from Chicago to the head of navigation of the Illinois river. The State accepted the grant, and on the 22d of January, 1829, organized a board of canal commissioners, with power to lay out towns along the line. Under this authority the commissioners employed Mr. James Thompson to survey the town of Chi- cago. His first map of the town bears date August 4, 1830. In 1831 the place contained about a dozen families, not including the officers and soldiers in Fort Dearborn. On the 10th of August, 1833, it was organized by the election of five trustees-there being twenty-eight voters. On the 26th of September of the same year, a treaty was signed with the chiefs of the Pottawattamies, seven thousand of the tribe being present, and on the 1st of October they were removed west of the Mississippi. The first charter of the city was passed by the Legislature of Illinois, and approved March 4, 1837. Under this charter an election was held May 1st, of the same year. A census was taken on the 1st of July, when the entire population was shown to be 4,170. The city then contained four warehouses, three hundred and twenty-eight dwellings, twenty-nine dry goods stores, five hardware stores, three drug stores, nineteen provision stores, ten taverns, twenty-six groceries, seventeen lawyers' offices, and five churches. It then embraced an area of 560 acres. At this date grain and flour had to be imported from the East to feed the people, for the iron arteries of trade did not then stretch out over the prairies of Illinois, Iowa, and other States. There were no exportations of produce until 1839, and not until 1842 did the exports exceed the imports. Grain was sold in the streets by the wagon load. the trade being restricted to a few neighboring farmers of Illinois.

Of religious organizations the Methodists were the pioneers. being represented in 1831, 1832, and 1833, by Rev. Jesse Walker. Their first quarterly meeting was held in the Fall of 1833, and in the Spring of the next year the first regular class was formed. The first Presbyterian church was organized June 26, 1833, the first pastor being Rev. James Porter. It consisted at the time of twenty-five members from the garrison and nine from the citizens of the town. The first Baptist church was organized October 19, 1833 ; and the first Episcopal church, St. James, in 1834. The first Catholic church was built by Rev. Schofler, in 1833-4.

PART II.

GENERAL HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.

CHAPTER 1.

The Indians - Illinois Confederacy -Starved Rock - Manners and Customs - A Life and Death Combat.

THE INDIANS.

Following the Mound Builders as inhabitants of North America, were, as it is supposed, the people who reared the magnificent cities, the ruins of which are found in Central America. This people was far more civilized and advanced in the arts than were the Mound Builders. The cities built by them, judging from the ruins of broken columns, fallen arches and crumbling walls of temples, palaces and pyramids, which in some places for miles bestrew the ground, must have been of great extent, magnificent and very populous. When we consider the vast period of time necessary to erect such colossal structures, and, again, the time required to reduce them to their present ruined state, we can conceive something of their antiquity. These eities must have been old when many of the ancient cities of the Orient were being built.

The third race inhabiting North America, distinct from the former two in every particular, is the present Indians. They were, when visited by the early discoverers, without cultivation, refinement or literature, and far behind the Mound Builders in the knowledge of the arts. The question of their origin has long interested archeologists. and is the most difficult they have been called upon to answer. Of their predecessors the Indian tribes knew nothing ; they had even no traditions respecting them. It is quite certain that they were the successors of a race which had entirely passed away ages before the discovery of the New World. One hypothesis is that the American Indians are an original race indigenous to the Western Hemisphere. Those who enter- tain this view think their peculiarities of physical structure preelude the possibility of a common parentage with the rest of mankind. Prominent among those distinctive traits is the hair, which in the red man is round, in the white man oval, and in the black man flat.

A more common supposition, however, is that they are a derivative race, and sprang from one or more of the ancient peoples of Asia. In the absence of all authentic history, and when even tradition is wanting, any attempt to point out the particular location of their origin must prove unsatisfactory. Though the exnet place of origin may never be known, yet the striking coincidence of physical organization between the Oriental type of mankind and the Indians point unmistakably to some part of Asia as the place whence they emigrated, which was originally peopled to a great extent by the children of Shem. In this connection it has been claimed that the meeting of the Europeans, Indians and Africans on the continent of America, is the fulfillment of a prophecy as recorded in Genesis ix. 27: " God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell

GENERAL HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.

in the tents of Shem ; and Canaan shall be his servant." Assuming the theory to be true that the Indian tribes are of Shemitic origin, they were met on this continent in the fifteenth century by the Japhethic race, after the two stocks had passed around the globe by directly different routes. A few years afterward the Hamitic branch of the human family were brought from the coast of Africa. During the occupancy of the continent by the three distinct races, the children of Japheth have grown and prospered, while the called and not voluntary sons of Ham have endured a servitude in the wider stretching valleys of the tents of Shem.

When Christopher Columbus had finally succeeded in demonstrating the truth of his theory that by sailing westward from Europe land would be discovered, landing on the Island of Bermuda he supposed he had reached the East Indies. This was an error, but it led to the adoption of the name of "Indians " for the inhabitants of the island and the main land of America, by which name the red men of America have ever since been known.

Of the several great branches of North American Indians the only ones entitled to consideration in Illinois history are the Algonquins and Iroquois. At the time of the discovery of America the former occupied the Atlantic seaboard, while the home of the Iroquois was as an island in this vast area of Algonquin population. The latter great nation spread over a vast territory, and various tribes of Algonquin lineage sprang up over the country, adopting, in time, distinct tribal customs and laws. An almost con- tinuous warfare was carried on between tribes ; but later, on the entrance of the white man into their beloved homes, every foot of territory was fiercely disputed by the con- federacy of many neighboring tribes. The Algonquins formed the most extensive alliance to resist the encroachment of the whites, especially the English. Such was the nature of King Philip's war. This king with his Algonquin braves spread terror and desolation throughout New England. With the Algonquins as the controlling spirit, a confederacy of continental proportions was the result, embracing in its alliance the tribes of every name and lineage from the Northern lakes to the gulf. Pontiac, having breathed into them his implacable hate of the English intruders, ordered the conflict to commence, and all the British colonies trembled before the desolating fury of Indian vengeance.

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The History of Peoria County, Illinois. Containing a history of the Northwest-history of Illinois-history of the county, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc., etc., Part 11

Author: Johnson & co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago : Johnson & Company Number of Pages: 932

Author: Johnson & co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Johnson & Company
Number of Pages: 932