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 12

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 12

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

ILLINOIS CONFEDERACY.

The Illinois confederacy, the various tribes of which comprised most of the Indians of Illinois at one time, was composed of five tribes : the Tamaroas, Michigans, Kaskaskias, Cahokas, and Peorias. The Illinois, Miamis and Delawares were of the same stock. As early as 1670 the priest Father Marquette mentions frequent visits made by individuals of this confederacy to the missionary station at St. Esprit, near the western extremity of Lake Superior. At that time they lived west of the Mississippi, in eight villages, whither they had been driven from the shores of Lake Michigan by the Iroquois. Shortly after- ward they began to return to their old hunting grounds, and most of them finally settled in Illinois. Joliet and Marquette, in 1673, met with a band of them on their famous voyage of discovery down the Mississippi. They were treated with the greatest hospi- tality by the principal chief. On their return voyage up the Illinois river they stopped at the principal town of the confederacy, situated on the banks of the river seven miles below the present town of Ottawa. It was then called Kaskaskia. Marquette returned to the village in 1675 and established the mission of the Immaculate Conception, the oldest in Illinois. When, 1679, LaSalle visited the town, it had greatly increased, numbering 460 lodges, and at the annual assembly of the different tribes, from 6,000 to 8,000 souls. In common with other western tribes, they became involved in the con- spiracy of Pontiac, although displaying no very great warlike spirit. Pontiac lost his life by the hands of one of the braves of the Illinois tribe, which so enraged the nations

GENERAL HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.

that had followed him as their leader that they fell upon the Illinois to avenge his death, and almost annihilated them.

STARVED ROCK.

Tradition states that a band of this tribe, in order to escape the general slaughter, took refuge upon the high rock on the Illinois river since known as Starved Rock. Nature has made this one of the most formidable military fortresses in the world. From the waters which wash its base it rises to an altitude of 125 feet. Three of its sides it is im- possible to scale, while the one next to the land may be climbed with difficulty. From its summit, almost as inaccessible as an eagle's nest, the valley of the Illinois is seen as a landscape of exquisite beauty. The river near by struggles between a number of wooded islands, while further below it quietly meanders through vast meadows till it disappears like a thread of light in the dim distance. On the summit of this roek the Illinois were besieged by a superior force of the Pottawattomies whom the great strength of their natural fortress enabled them to keep at bay. Hunger and thirst, however, soon ac- complished what the enemy was unable to effect. Surrounded by a relentless foe, with- out food or water, they took a last look at their beautiful hunting grounds, and with true Indian fortitude lay down and died from starvation. Years afterward their bones were seen whitening in that place.

At the beginning of the present century the remnants of this once powerful con- federacy were forced into a small compass around Kaskaskia. A few years later they emigrated to the Southwest, and in 1850 they were in the Indian Territory, and numbered but eighty-four persons.

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.

The art of hunting not only supplied the Indian with food, but, like that of war, was a means of gratifying his love of distinction. The male children, as soon as they ac- quired sufficient age and strength. were furnished with a bow and arrow and taught to shoot birds and other small game. Success in killing large quadrupeds required years of careful study and practice, and the art was as sedulously inculcated in the minds of the rising generation as are the elements of reading, writing and arithmetic in the common schools of civilized communities. The mazes of the forest and the dense, tall grasses of the prairies were the best fields for the exercise of the hunter's skill. No feet could be impressed in the yielding soil but that the tracks were the objects of the most searching scrutiny, and revealed at a glance the animal that made them, the direction it was pur- suing, and the time that had elapsed since it had passed. In a forest country he selected the valleys, because they were most frequently the resort of game. The most easily taken, perhaps, of all the animals of the chase was the deer. It is endowed with a curi- osity which prompts it to stop in its flight and look back at the approaching hunter, who always avails himself of this opportunity to let fly the fatal arrow.

Their general councils were composed of the chiefs and old men. When in council, they usually sat in concentric circles around the speaker, and each individual, notwith- standing the fiery passions that rankled within, preserved an exterior as immovable as if east in bronze. Before commencing business a person appeared with the sacred pipe, and another with fire to kindle it. After being lighted, it was first presented to heaven, sec- ondly to the earth, thirdly to the presiding spirit, and lastly the several councilors, each of whom took a whiff. These formalities were observed with as close exactness as state etiquette in civilized courts.

The dwellings of the Indians were of the simplest and rudest character. On some pleasant spot by the bank of a river, or near an ever-running spring, they raised their groups of wigwams, constructed of the bark of trees, and easily taken down and removed to another spot. The dwelling-places of the chiefs were sometimes more spacious, and construeted with greater care, but of the same materials. Skins taken in

GENERAL HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.

STARVED ROCK ON THE ILLINOIS RIVER, NEAR PERU.

EJNER-CO-CHI

GENERAL HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.

the chase served them for repose. Though principally dependent upon hunting and fish- ing, the uncertain supply from those sources led them to cultivate small patches of corn. Every family did every thing necessary within itself, commerce, or an interchange of arti- cles, being almost unknown to them. In cases of dispute and dissension, each Indian relied upon himself for retaliation. Blood for blood was the rule, and the relatives of the slain man were bound to obtain bloody revenge for his death. This principle gave rise, as a matter of course, to innumerable and bitter feuds, and wars of extermination where such were possible. War, indeed, rather than peace, was the Indian's glory and delight. -war, not condueted as civilization, but war where individual skill, endurance, gallantry and cruelty were prime requisites. For such a purpose as revenge the Indian would make great sacrifices, and display a patience and perseverance truly heroic ; but when the excitement was over, he sank back into a listless, unoccupied, well-nigh useless say- age. During the intervals of his more exciting pursuits, the Indian employed his time in decorating his person with all the refinement of paint and feathers, and in the manu- facture of his arms and canoes. These were constructed of bark, and so light that they could easily be carried on the shoulder from stream to stream. His amusements were the war-dance, athletic games, the narration of his exploits, and listening to the oratory of the chiefs ; but during long periods of such existence he remained in a state of torpor. gazing listlessly upon the trees of the forests and the clouds that sailed above them ; and this vacancy imprinted an habitual gravity, and even melancholy, upon his general de- portment.

The main labor and drudgery of Indian communities fell upon the women. The planting, tending and gathering of the crops, making mats and baskets, carrying burdens, -in fact, all things of the kind were performed by them, thus making their condition but little better than that of slaves. Marriage was merely a matter of bargain and sale, the husband giving presents to the father of the bride. In general they had but few children. They were subjected to many and severe attacks of sickness, and at times famine and pestilence swept away whole tribes.

A LIFE AND DEATH COMBAT.

The most desperate single-handed combat with Indians ever fought on the soil of Illinois was that of Tom Higgins, August 21. 1814. Higgins was 25 years old, of a muscular and compaet build, not tall, but strong and active. In danger he possessed a quick and discerning judgment, and was without fear. He was a member of Journey's rangers, consisting of eleven men, stationed at Hill's Fort, eight miles southwest of the present Greenville, Putnam county. Discovering Indian signs near the fort, the com- pany, carly the following morning, started on the trail. They had not gone far before they were in an ambuscade of a larger party. At the first fire their commander. Journey. and three men fell, and six retreated to the fort ; but Higgins stopped to " have another pull at the red-skins," and, taking deliberate aim at a straggling savage, shot him down. Higgins' horse had been wounded at the first fire, as he supposed, mortally. Coming to. he was about to effect his escape, when the familiar voice of Burgess hailed him from the long grass, " Tom, don't leave me." Higgins told him to come along. but Burgess ro- plied that his leg was smashed. Higgins attempted to raise him on his horse, but the animal took fright and ran away. Iliggins then directed Burgess to limp off as well as he could ; and by crawling through the grass he reached the fort, while the former loaded his gun and remained behind to protect him against the pursuing enemy. When Burgess was well ont of the way, Higgins took another route, which led by a small thicket. to throw any wandering enemy off the trail. Here he was confronted by three savages approaching. He ran to a little ravine near for shelter, but in the effort discovered for the first time that he was badly wounded in the leg. He was closely pressed by the largest, a powerful Indian, who lodged a ball in his thigh. He fell, but instantly rose again, only, however,

GENERAL HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.

to draw the fire of the other two, and again fell wounded. The Indians now advanced upon him with their tomahawks and scalping knives ; but as he presented his gun first at one, then at another, from his place in the ravine, each wavered in his purpose. Neither party had time to load, and the large Indian, supposing finally that Higgins' gun was empty, rushed forward with uplifted tomahawk and yell ; but as he came near enough, was shot down. At this the others raised the war-whoop, and rushed upon the wounded Hig- gins, and now a hand-to-hand conflict ensued. They darted at him with their knives time and again, inflicting many ghastly flesh-wounds, which bled profusely. One of the assailants threw his tomahawk at him with such precision as to sever his ear and lay bare his skull, knocking him down. They now rushed in on him, but he kicked them off, and grasping one of their spears thrust at him, was raised up by it. He quickly seized his gun, and by a powerful blow crushed in the skull of one, but broke his rifle. His re- maining antagonist still kept up the contest, making thrusts with his knife at the bleed- ing and exhausted Higgins, which he parried with his broken gun as well as he could. Most of this desperate engagement was in plain view of the fort ; but the rangers, having been in one ambuscade, saw in this fight only a ruse to draw out the balance of the gar- rison. But a Mrs. Pursely, residing at the fort, no longer able to see so brave a man contend for his life unaided, seized a gun, mounted a horse, and started to his rescue. At this the men took courage and hastened along. The Indian, seeing aid coming, fled. Higgins, being nearly hacked to pieces, fainted from loss of blood. He was carried to the fort. There being no surgeon, his comrades cut two balls from his flesh ; others re- maining in. For days his life was despaired of ; but by tender nursing he ultimately re- gained his health, although badly crippled. He resided in Fayette county for many years after, and died in 1829.

CHAPTER II.

FRENCH OCCUPATION.

Nicholas Perrot- LaSalle's Explorations -Indian Against Indian-Great Battle of the Illinois-Frenchmen Driven Away - Inhuman Butchery - Tonti Safe at Green Bay - LaSalle's Return - LaSalle's Assassination - First Settlements -- John Law- Bubbles.

The first white man who ever set foot on the soil embraced within the boundary of the present populous State of Illinois was Nicholas Perrot, a Frenchman. He was sent to Chicago in the year 1671 by M. Talon, Intendant of Canada, for the purpose of inviting the Western Indians to a great peace convention to be held at Green Bay. This convention had for its chief object the promulgation of a plan for the discovery of the Mississippi river. This great river had been discovered by De Soto, the Spanish explorer, nearly one hundred and fifty years previously, but his nation left the country a wilderness, without further exploration or settlement within its borders, in which con- dition it remained until the river was discovered by Joliet and Marquette in 1673. It was deemed a wise policy to secure, as far as possible, the friendship and co-operation of the Indians, far and near, before venturing upon an enterprise which their hostility might render disastrous. Thus the great convention was called.

LASALLE'S EXPLORATIONS.

The first French occupation of Illinois was effected by LaSalle, in 1680. Having constructed a vessel, the " Griffin," above the falls of Niagara, he sailed to Green Bay, and

GENERAL HISTORY OF ILLINOIS

passed thence in canoe to the mouth of the St. Joseph river, by which and the Kankakee he reached the Illinois in January, 1680; and on the 3d he entered the expansion of the river now called Peoria lake. Here. at the lower end of the lake, on its eastern bank, now in Tazewell county, he erected Fort Crevecoeur. The place where this ancient fort stood may still be seen just below the outlet of Peoria lake. It had, however, but a temporary existence. From this point LaSalle determined, at that time, to descend the Mississippi to its mouth. This he did not do, however, until two years later. Re- turning to Fort Frontenac for the purpose of getting material with which to rig his vessel, he left the fort at Peoria in charge of his lieutenant, Henri Tonti, an Italian, who had lost one of his hands by the explosion of a grenade in the Sicilian wars. Tonti had with him fifteen men, most of whom disliked LaSalle, and were ripe for a revolt the first opportunity. Two men who had, previous to LaSalle's departure, been sent to look for the ". Griffin," now returned and reported that the vessel was lost, and that Fort Fronte- nac was in the hands of LaSalle's creditors. This disheartening intelligence had the effect to enkindle a spirit of mutiny among the garrison. Tonti had no sooner left the fort, with a few men, to fortify what was afterward known as Starved Rock, than the garrison at the fort refused longer to submit to authority. They destroyed the fort. seized the ammunition. provisions, and other portables of value, and fled. Only two of their number remained true. These hastened to apprise Tonti of what had occurred. He thereupon sent four of the men with him to inform LaSalle. Thus was Tonti in the midst of treacherous savages, with only five men, two of whom were the friars Ribourde and Membre. With these he immediately returned to the fort. collected what tools had not been destroyed, and conveyed them to the great town of the Illinois Indians. By this voluntary display of confidence he hoped to remove the jealousy created in the minds of the Illinois by the enemies of LaSalle. Here he awaited. unmolested, the return of LaSalle.

GREAT BATTLE OF THE ILLINOIS.

Neither Tonti nor his wild associates suspected that hordes of Iroquois were gather- ing preparatory to rushing down upon their country and reducing it to an uninhabited waste. Already these hell - hounds of the wilderness had destroyed the Hurons, Eries, and other natives of the lakes, and were now directing their attention to the Ilinois for new victims. Five hundred Iroquois warriors set out for the homes of the Illinois. All was fancied security and idle repose in the great town of this tribe, as the enemy stealthily approached. Suddenly as a elap of thunder from a cloudless sky the listless inhabitants were awakened from their lethargy. A Shawnee Indian, on his return home after a visit to the Illinois, first discovered the invaders. To save his friends from the impending danger, he hurriedly returned and apprised them of the coming enemy. This intelligence spread with lightning rapidity over the town, and each wigwam disgorged its boisterous and astounded inmates. Women snatched their children, and in a delirium of fright wandered aimlessly abont, rending the air with their screams. The men, more self- possessed, seized their arms ready for the coming fray. Tonti, long an object of suspicion, was soon surrounded by an angry crowd of warriors, who areused him of being an emissary of the enemy. His inability to defend himself properly, in conse- quence of not fully understanding their language, left them still inclined to believe him guilty, and they seized his effects from the fort and threw them into the river. The women and children were sent down the river for safety, and the warriors, not exceeding four hundred, as most of their young men were off hunting, returned to the village. Along the shores of the river they kindled huge bonfires, and spent the entire night in greasing their bodies, painting their faces, and performing the war - dance, to prepare for the approaching enemy. At early dawn the scouts who had been sent out returned, closely followed by the Iroquois. The scouts had seen a chief arrayed in French cos-

GENERAL HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.

tume, and reported their suspicions that LaSalle was in the camp of the enemy, and Tonti again became an object of jealousy. A concourse of wildly gesticulating savages immediately gathered about him, demanding his life, and nothing saved him from their uplifted weapons but a promise that he and his men would go with them to meet the enemy. With their suspicions partly lulled, they hurriedly crossed the river and met the foe, when both commenced firing. Tonti, seeing that the Illinois were outnumbered and likely to be defeated, determined, at the imminent risk of his life, to stay the fight by an attempt at mediation. Presuming on the treaty of peace then existing between the French and Iroquois, he exchanged his gun for a belt of wampum and advanced to meet the savage multitude, attended by three companions, who, being unnecessarily exposed to danger, were dismissed, and he proceeded alone. A short walk brought him in the midst of a pack of yelping devils, writhing and distorted with fiendish rage, and impa- tient to shed his blood. As the result of his swarthy Italian complexion and half - savage costume, he was at first taken for an Indian, and before the mistake was discovered a young warrior approached and stabbed at his heart. Fortunately the blade was turned aside by coming in contact with a rib, yet a large flesh wound was inflicted, which bled profusely. At this juncture a chief discovered his true character, and he was led to the rear and efforts were made to' staunch his wound. When sufficiently recovered, he declared the Illinois were under the protection of the French, and demanded, in consid- eration of the treaty between the latter and the Iroquois, that they should be suffered to remain without further molestation. During this conference a young warrior snatched Tonti's hat, and, fleeing with it to the front, held it aloft on the end of his gun in view of the Illinois. The latter, judging that Tonti had been killed, renewed the fight with great vigor. Simultaneously, intelligence was brought to the Iroquois that Frenchmen were assisting their enemies in the fight, when the contest over Tonti was renewed with redoubled fury. Some declared that he should be immediately put to death, while others, friendly to LaSalle, with equal earnestness demanded that he should be set at liberty. During their clamorous debate, his hair was several times lifted by a huge savage who stood at his back with a scalping knife ready for execution.

Tonti at length turned the current of the angry controversy in his favor, by stating that the Illinois were 1,200 strong, and that there were 60 Frenchmen at the village ready to assist them. This statement obtained at least a partial credence, and his tor- mentors now determined to use him as an instrument to delude the Illinois with a pre- tended truce. The old warriors, therefore, advanced to the front and ordered the firing to cease, while Tonti, dizzy from the loss of blood, was furnished with an emblem of peace and sent staggering across the plain to rejoin the Illinois. The two friars who had just returned from a distant hut, whither they had repaired for prayer and meditation, were the first to meet him and bless God for what they regarded as a miraculous deliver- ance. With the assurance brought by Tonti, the Illinois re-crossed the river to their lodges, followed by the enemy as far as the opposite bank. Not long after, large numbers of the latter, under the pretext of hunting, also crossed the river and hung in threaten- ing groups about the town. These hostile indications, and the well-known disregard which the Iroquois had always evinced for their pledges, soon convinced the Illinois that their only safety was in flight. With this conviction they set fire to their village, and while the vast volume of flames and smoke diverted the attention of the enemy, they quietly dropped down the river to join their women and children. As soon as the flames would permit, the Iroquois entrenched themselves on the site of the village. Tonti and his men were ordered by the suspicions savages to leave their hut and take up their abode in the fort.

At first the Iroquois were much elated at the discomfiture of the Illinois, but when two days afterward they discovered them reconnoitering their intrenchments, their cour- age greatly subsided. With fear they recalled the exaggerations of Tonti respecting

GENERAL HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.

their numbers, and concluded to send him with a hostage to make overtures of peace. He and his hostage were received with delight by the Illinois, who readily assented to the proposal which he brought, and in turn sent baek with him a hostage to the Iroquois. On his return to the fort his life was again placed in jeopardy, and the treaty was with great difficulty ratified. The young and inexperienced Illinois hostage betrayed to his crafty interviewers the numerical weakness of his tribe, and the savages immediately rushed upon Tonti, and charged him with having deprived them of the spoils and honors of victory. It now required all the tact of which he was master to escape. After much difficulty, however, the treaty was concluded, but the savages, to show their contempt for it, immediately commenced constructing canoes in which to descend the river and attack the Illinois.

FRENCHMEN DRIVEN AWAY.

Tonti managed to apprise the latter of their designs, and he and Membre were soon after summoned to attend a council of the Iroquois. who still labored under a wholesome fear of Count Frontenac, and disliking to attack the Illinois in the presence of the French, they thought to try to induce them to leave the country. At the assembling of the council, six packages of beaver skins were introduced, and the savage orator, present- ing them separately to Tonti, explained the nature of each. "The first two," said he, " were to declare that the children of Count Frontenac, that is, the Illinois, should not be eaten : the next was a plaster to heal the wounds of Tonti ; the next was oil where- with to anoint him and Membre, that they might not be fatigued in traveling ; the next proclaimed that the sun was bright ; and the sixth and last required them to decamp and go home."

At the mention of going home, Tonti demanded of them when they intended to set the example by leaving the Illinois in the peaceable possession of their country, which they had so unjustly invaded. The council grew boisterous and angry at the idea that they should be demanded to do what they required of the French, and some of its mem- bers, forgetting their previous pledge, declared that they would "eat Illinois flesh before they departed." Touti, in imitation of the Indians' manner of expressing scorn, indig- nantly kicked away the presents of fur, saying, since they intended to devour the chil- dren of Frontenac with cannibal ferocity, he would not accept their gifts. This stern rebuke resulted in the expulsion of Tonti and his companion from the council, and the next day the chiefs ordered them to leave the country.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 12

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