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 7

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

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This decisive victory over the combined forces of the British and Indians practically closed the war in the Northwest, and as a consequence peace with the Indian tribes soon followed. Other treaties were negotiated with the Indians by which they gave up their title to additional large tracts of territory. The settlement of the country progressed rapidly, and again an era of apparent good will prevailed between the whites and Indians. By the end of the year 1817, the Indian title, with some moderate reservations, had been extinguished to the whole of the land within the State of Ohio, to a great part of that in Michigan Territory, and in the State of Indiana. In 1817 Gov. Cass, of Michigan. in conjunction with Gov. McArthur, of Ohio, obtained a cession of most of the remaining lands in Ohio with some adjoining tracts in Indiana nud Michigan, amounting in all to about 1,000,000 of acres, and in 1819 Gov. Cass met the Chippewas at Saginaw and ob- tained a cession of lands in the peninsula of Michigan to the extent of about 6.000,000 of acres. The next year a treaty was made nt Chicago, then nothing but a military post, called Fort Dearborn, with the Chippewas, Ottawas and Pottawatamies, by which a large additional tract was obtained, which completed the extinguishment of the Indian title to the peninsula of Michigan south of the Grand river. By 1820 a number of military

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posts were established far in the interior, and among them was one at Belle Point on the Arkansas, at Council Bluffs on the Missouri, at St. Peters on the Mississippi, and at Green Bay on the upper lakes.

During the month of June, 1823, Gen. Ashley and his party, who were trading under a license from the government, were attacked by the Ricarees while trading with the In- dians at their request. Several of the party were killed and wounded, and their property taken or destroyed. Col. Leavenworth, who commanded Fort Atkinson at Council Bluffs, then the most western post, took immediate measures to check this hostile spirit of the Ricarees, fearing that it might extend to other tribes in that quarter and endanger the lives of traders on the Missouri. With a detachment of the regiment stationed at Coun- cil Bluffs, he successfully attacked the Ricaree village. The hostile spirit, however, still continued and extended to the tribes on the upper Mississippi and the upper lakes. Sev- eral parties of citizens were plundered and murdered by those tribes during the year 1824. An act of Congress of May 25th of this year. made an appropriation to defray the expenses of making treaties of trade and friendship with the tribes west of the Mississippi, and another act of March 3, 1825, provided for the expense of treaties with the Sioux, Chippewas, Menomonees, Sacs and Foxes, and other tribes, and also for establishing boundaries and promoting peace between them. These objects were in the main accom- plished, and by the treaties made the government secured large acquisitions of territory. Gov. Cass, in conjunction with Gov. Clark, of Missouri, attended a grand council of the tribes this year at Prairie du Chien, to carry out the purposes of the act of Congress last mentioned. During his continuance in office as Governor of Michigan Territory, Gov. Cass made, or participated in the making of nineteen treaties with the Indians, and by them acquired lands in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, to an amount equal to one-fourth of the entire area of those States.

For many years it had been the policy of the government to obtain a relinquishment of the title of the Indians to all lands within the limits of the States, and as rapidly as possible cause the removal of the tribes to territory beyond the Mississippi. In 1830 the Chickasaws and Choctaws, occupying portions of the States of Alabama and Mississippi, agreed to remove, and in due time carried out their agreement in good faith. The same year a treaty was made with the Sacs and Foxes, by which they agreed to cede their lands to the United States, and remove beyond the Mississippi. The principal village of these united tribes was located at the mouth of Rock river, on the east side of the Mis- sissippi, near where the city of Rock Island now stands. Here had been an Indian village, according to tradition, for one hundred and fifty years. These tribes had owned and occupied the country bordering on the Mississippi, to an extent of seven hundred miles. from the month of the Wisconsin almost to the mouth of the Missouri. The Indians did not seem disposed to comply promptly with the terms of the treaty, and one band, under the noted chief Black Hawk ( Mush-a-tan-wish-e-ki-ak-ki-ak). evinced a determination to keep possession of their old village. John Reynolds, Governor of Illinois, construed their continued residence in the ceded territory as an invasion of the State, and under his authority to protect the State from invasion, ordered out seven hundred militia to force their removal, according to the treaty. This interference of the Governor of Illinois with the duties belonging to the Federal Government, obliged the commander of United States troops in that quarter to co-operate with him, in order to prevent a collision be- tween the State militia and the Indians. Fort Armstrong, on Rock Island, had been established as early as 1816, and when the Black Hawk trouble commenced, was in com- mand of Gen. Atkinson. The Indians were overawed by this imposing military force, and yielding to necessity, crossed the Mississippi.

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CHAPTER VII.

EARLY NAVIGATION OF WESTERN RIVERS.

N'avi ation of the Mississippi by the Early Explorers - Flat-boats - Barges - Methods of Propulsion - Brigs and Schooners - The First Steamboat on Western Waters - The "Orleans " - The "Comet " - The " Enter. prise "- Capt. Shreve - The " Washington"- The " General Pike"- First Steamboat to St. Louis - The " Independence " the First Steamboat on the Missouri - Capt. Nelson -" Mackinaw Boats" - Navigation un the Upper Mississippi - The "Virginia " - The "Shamrock" -Capl. James May - Navigation on the Upper Missouri - Steamboating on the Smaller Rivers.

We have accounts of the navigation of the Mississippi river as early as 1539, by De Soto, while in search of the " fountain of youth." His voyage ended with his life. and more than a hundred years passed away. when Marquette and Joliet again disturbed its waters with a small bark transported from the shores of Lake Superior. At the mouth of the Wisconsin they entered the Mississippi, and extended their voyage to the mouth of the Arkansas. Their account is the first which gave to the world any accurate knowledge of the great valley of the Mississippi river. Their perilous voyage was made in the Sum- mier of 1673. The account was read with avidity by the missionaries and others about Lake Superior, and soon after a young Frenchman named La Salle set out with a view of adding further information in relation to the wonderful valley of the great river. His expedition was followed by other voyages of exploration on western rivers, but the nar- mitives of the explorers are mostly lost. so that very little of interest remains from the voyage of La Salle to the latter part of the eighteenth century, when the French, then bolling Fort Du Quesne, contemplated the establishment of a line of forts which would enable them to retain possession of the vast territory northwest of the Ohio river. Regn- lur navigation of the Ohio and Mississippi, however, was not attempted until after the Pevolution, when the United States had assumed control of the western waters. Trade with New Orleans did not begin until near the close of the century. A few flat boats were employed in the trade between Pittsburg and the new settlements along the Ohio r'ver. The settlement of Kentucky gradually increased the trade on the Ohio, and caused a demand for increased facilities for conveyance of freight. Boatmen soon found it profit- able to extend their voyages to the Spanish settlements in the South. Freight and pas- ungers were conveyed in a species of boat which was sometimes called a barge, or barger by the French. It was usually from 75 to 100 feet long, with breadth of beam from 15 to 20 feet, and a capacity of 60 to 100 tons. The freight was received in a large covered coffer. ocenpying a portion of the hulk. Near the stern was an apartment six or eight feet in length, called " the enbin." where the captain and other officials of the boat quar- tered at night. The helmsman was stationed upon an elevation above the level of the deck. The barge usually carried one or two masts. A large square sail forward, when the wind was favorable, sometimes much relieved the hands. The work of propelling the barges usually required about fifty men to each boat. There were several modes of pro- telling the barges. At times all were engaged in rowing, which was often a waste of

labor on such a stream as the Mississippi. Sometimes the navigators resorted to the use of the cordelle, a strong rope or hawser, attached to the barge, and carried along the shore or beach on the shoulders of the crew. In some places this method was impractica- ble on account of obstructions along the shores. Then what was known as the " warp- ing " process was resorted to. A coil of rope was sent out in the yawl, and fastened to a tree on the shore, or a " snag " in the river. While the hands on board were pulling up to this point, another coil was curried further ahead, and the " warping " process repeated.

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Sometimes it was expedient to use setting poles, but this method was used chiefly in the Ohio. During a period of about twenty-five years, up to 1811, the mode of conveyance on our western rivers was by flat-boats and barges. It required three or four months to make a trip from Pittsburg to New Orleans. Passengers between these points were charged from $125 to $150, and freight ranged from $5 to $7 per 100 pounds. It can not be supposed that under such circumstances, the commerce of the West was very extensive.

Previous to the introduction of steamers on western waters, attempts were made to use brigs and schooners. In 1803 several ships were built on the Ohio, and in 1805 the ship " Scott " was built on the Kentucky river, and in the Fall of that year made her first trip to the falls of the Ohio. While there two other vessels. built by Berthone & Co., arrived. All of them were compelled to remain three months, awaiting a sufficient rise in the river to carry them over the falls. In 1807 Mr. Dean built and launched a vessel at Pittsburg. This vessel made a trip to Leghorn, and when making her entry at the custom house there, her papers were objected to on the ground that no such port as Pittsburg existed in the United States. The captain called the attention of the officer to the Mississippi river, traced it to its confluence with the Ohio, thence following the latter stream past Cincinnati and Marietta, to the new city in the wilderness, more than two thousand miles by water from the Gulf of Mexico! All these vessels were found inadequate for the purpose of trading on the western rivers, and were soon abandoned. They could not stem the current of the Mississippi. They were transferred to the gulf, and the commerce of the rivers was abandoned to Mike Fink and his followers, remain- ing with them until 1811. In this year Fulton and Livingston opened a ship - yard at Pittsburg, and built the small propeller " Orleans," which was also furnished with two masts. She was a boat of one hundred tons burthen, and the first steamer that was launched on western waters. In the Winter of 1812 she made her first trip to New Orleans in fourteen days. As she passed down the river the settlers lined the banks, and the greatest excitement prevailed. The flat-boatmen said she never could stem the current on her upward trip. After her first trip, the " Orleans " engaged in the Natchez and New Orleans trade. and paid her owners a handsome profit on their investment. The next steamer was the " Comet." and she was built by D. French. She carried but twenty - five tons, and made her first trip to New Orleans in the Spring of 1814, Soon after she was taken to pieces, and her engines used in a cotton factory. The " Vesuvius," of forty - eight tons burthen, was launched at Fulton's ship - yard in the Spring of 181.4. made a trip to New Orleans, and on her return was grounded on a sand bar, where she remained until the next December. This boat remained on the river until 1819, when she was condemned. The " Enterprise " was the fourth steamboat, and was built by Mr. French, who built the " Comet." The " Enterprise " carried seventy - five tons, and made her first trip to New Orleans in the Summer of 1814. When she arrived at her destination she was pressed into the service of the army, under Gen. Jackson, then at New Orleans. She was very efficient in carrying troops and army supplies from the city to the seat of war, a few miles below. During the battle of the 8th of January she was busily engaged in supplying the wants of Jackson's army. On the 5th of May following she left New Orleans, and arrived at Louisville in twenty - five days.

In 1816 Captain Henry Shreve built the " Washington " with many improvements in construction. The boilers, which had hitherto been placed in the hold, were changed by Captain Shreve to the deck. In September, 1816, the " Washington " successfully passed the falls of the Ohio. made her trip to New Orleans, and returned in November to Louisville. On the 12th of March, 1817, she started on her second trip to New Orleans, the ice then running in the Ohio slightly retarding her progress. She made the trip successfully, and returned to the foot of the falls in forty - one days- the upward trip being made in twenty - five days. By this time it was generally conceded by the

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flat - boatmen that Fitch and Fulton were not visionary fools. but men of genius. and that their inventions could be turned to immense advantage on the rivers of the West. Steamboats from this time on rapidly multiplied. and the occupation of the old flat- boatman began to pass away. On Captain Shreve's return to Louisville the citizens gave him a public reception. Toasts and speeches were made, and the " Washington " de- clared to be the herald of a new era in the West. Captain Shreve in his speech asserted that the time would come when the trip to Orleans would be made in ten days. His pre- diction was more than verified. for as early as 1853. the trip was made in four days and nine hours.

While these festivities were going on in Louisville, the " General Pike " was stem- ming the current of the Mississippi for a new port in steamboat navigation. With a heavy load of freight and passengers she left New Orleans for St. Louis. On her arrival at the latter city several thousand people greeted her as she slowly approached the landing.

Steam navigation commenced on the Missouri in 1819, the first boat being the " Independent," commanded by Captain Nelson. She ascended as far as Chariton and Franklin. at which points she received a cargo of furs and buffalo hides, and returned with them to St. Louis.

In 1816 Fort Armstrong was erected at the lower end of Rock Island. On the 10th of May of this year Col. Lawrence, with the Eighth Regiment and a company of rifle- men, arrived here in keel boats. Col. George Davenport resided near the fort and supplied the troops with provisions, and also engaged in trading with the Indians. Most of his goods were brought from " Mackinaw " through Green Bay, thence up Fox river to the " Portage." where they were packed across to the Wisconsin river. and carried down the Mississippi in what were called " Mackinaw Boats." The navigation of the upper Mississippi was confined to keel-boats until 1823. when the first steamboat -the "Virginia "-from Wheeling, ascended with provisions to Prairie du Chien. This boat was three or four days in passing the rapids at Rock Island. After this, up to 1827. steamboats continued to aseend the upper Mississippi occasionally with troops and mili- tary stores. In this year Capt. James May, of the steamboat .. Shamrock," made the first voyage with her from Pittsburg to Galena. This was the first general business trip ever made on the upper Mississippi by a steamboat. Capt. May continued as master of a steamboat on this part of the river until 1834.

The first navigation of any considerable portion of the Missouri river was that of Captains Lewis and Clarke, when in 1804 they ascended that river in keel-boats, or barges, from its mouth almost to its source. Of late years steamboats have navigated it regularly to Fort Benton. Steamboat navigation has also been employed on many of the smaller rivers of the West, including the Des Moines and Cedar rivers in Iowa. The introduction of railroads has superseded the necessity of depending upon the uneertain navigation of the smaller rivers for carrying purposes. The great water-courses, how- ever, will doubtless always remain the indispensable commercial highways of the nation.

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CHAPTER VIII.

ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE NORTHWEST.

Ancient Works - Conjectures - Works of the Mound Builders in Ohio - Different Forms and Classes - Mounds at Gallipolis, Marietta, and Chillicothe - Relics Found - Ancient Fortifications at Circleville and Other Places - Pre-historic Remains in Other States - In Iowa - Excavation of Mounds - Elongated and Round Mounds - Their Antiquity - Who Were the Mound Builders?

Scattered all over the great Northwest are the remains of the works of an ancient people, who must have been infinitely more advanced in the arts than the Indian tribes who inhabited the country at the time of the advent of the European. The question as to whether the Indians are the descendants of that people, the Mound Builders, is a subject of antiquarian speculation. One thing, however, is certain, that a people once inhabited all this vast region who possessed some considerable knowledge of the arts and even the sciences ; a people of whom the Indians possessed no knowledge, but whose works have survived the mutations of hundreds, and perhaps thousands of years, io attest that they lived, and acted, and passed away. There have been various conjectures of the learned concerning the time when, by what people, and even for what purpose, these monuments of human ingenuity were erected. Their origin is deeply involved in the obscurity of remote antiquity. Neither history, nor authentic tradition. afford any light by which to conduct inquiries concerning them, and it is probable that no certainty upon the subject will ever be attained. Brief mention of some of these ancient works can not fail to in- terest the reader. They are found distributed over the country generally from the Alleghany Mountains to the Rocky Mountains. They are more numerous and more remarkable, however, in some parts of the country than in others.

Some of the most remarkable fortifications in Ohio are at Worthington, Granville, Athens, Marietta, Gallipolis. Chillicothe, and Circleville ; also, on Paint Creek, 18 miles northwest of Chillicothe, and on a plain three miles northeast of the last named city. In some localities there are both mounds and fortifications, while in others there are mounds only. The mounds vary in magnitude, and also somewhat in shape. Some are conical, ending sharply at the summit, and as steep on the sides as the earth could be made to lie. Others are of the same form, except that they present a flat area on the top, like a cone cut off at some distance from its vortex, in a plane coincident with its base, or with the horizon. Others again, are of a semi globular shape. Of this descrip- tion was that standing in Gallipolis. The largest one near Worthington is of the second kind, and presents on the summit a level area of forty feet in diameter. There is one at Marietta of this kind, but the area on the top does not exceed twenty feet in diameter. Its perpendicular height is about fifty feet. and its circumference at the base twenty rods. Those in Worthington and Gallipolis are each from fifty to a hundred feet in diameter at their bases. A large mound once stood in the heart of the city of Chillicothe, but was leveled forty or fifty years ago to make room for the erection of a block of buildings. and in its destruction a number of relics were exhumed. Several smaller mounds were located in the same vicinity. They are found scattered in profusion in the valleys of the Miamis, Scioto, Hocking and Muskingum rivers, as well as sonth of the Ohio river. One of the largest is near the Ohio river, 14 miles below Wheeling. This is about 33 rods in circumference, and consequently between ten and eleven rods in diameter at its base.

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Its perpendicular height is about seventy feet. On the summit is an area of nearly sixty feet in diameter. in the middle of which is a regular cavity, the cubical contents of which are about 3,000 feet. Within a short distance of this mound are five smaller ones, some of which are thirty feet in diameter. Some of the mounds mentioned. and others not referred to, have been excavated. either by the antiquarian or in the construction of pub- lic works, and in the most of them human bones have been discovered. Most of these bones crumble in pieces or resolve iato dust shortly after being exposed to the air ; cx- cept in some instances, wherein the teeth, jaw. skull, and sometimes a few other bones, by reason of their peculiar solidity. resist the effects of contact with the air. From the fact of the finding human remains in them many have inferred that they were erected as burial places for the dead. In some of them, however, which have been examined, no human remains have been discovered, but pieces of pottery. stone hatchets, and other relics, are found in nearly all.

Many of these mounds are composed of earth of a different quality from that which is found in their immediate vicinity. This circumstance would seem to indicate that the earth of which they were composed was transported some distance. A striking instance of this difference of composition was first noticed some sixty or seventy years ago, in a mound at Franklinton, near the main fork of the Scioto river. This mound was composed altogether of clay, and the brick for the court-house in that town were made of it at that time. In it were likewise found a much greater number of human bones than is usually found in mounds of its size. The characteristics mentioned in connection with the mounds in Ohio apply to those generally throughout the Northwest.

Not so numerous as the mounds, but more remarkable as involving the principles of science, especially mathematics, are the fortifications, or earth walls, found in many places. They are commonly supposed to have been forts, or military fortifications. They generally consist of a circular wall, composed of earth, and usually as steep on the sides as the dirt could conveniently be made to lie. Sometimes, though rarely, their form is elliptical, or oval. and a few of them are quadrangular or square. In height they are various ; some of them are so low as to be scarcely perceptible ; some from twenty to thirty feet in height, while others again are of an intermediate elevation. The wall of the same fort, however, is pretty uniformly of the same height all around. They are like- wise equally various in the contents of the ground which they enclose, some containing but a few square rods of ground, while others contain nearly one hundred aeres. The number of their entrances, or gateways, varies in different forts from one to eight or more, in pro- portion to the magnitude of the enclosure. The walls are mostly single, but in some instances these works have been found to consist of two parallel walls, adjacent to each other. The forts are generally located on comparatively elevated ground, adjoining a river or stream of water. Their situation is usually such as a skillful military engineer or tactician would have selected for military positions. This fact would seem to strengthen the theory that they were designed and constructed for fortifications.

The city of Circleville. Ohio, is located on the site of one of the most remarkable of these fortifications, and from this circumstance takes its name. There are. or were, indeed, two foris at that place. one circular, and the other square.

The square fort adjoins a circular one on the cast, communicating with it by a gateway. The circular fort consists of two parallel walls, whose tops are, apparently. about three rods apart, the inner circle being forty-seven rods in diameter. Between these two walls is a fosse, excavated sufficiently deep and broad to have afforded earth enough for the construction of the exterior wall alone, and no more. From this circumstance and others, the earth for the construction of the inner wall is supposed to have been transported from a distance. The inner wall is composed of clay, and the outer one of dirt and gravel of similar quality with that which composes the neighboring ground, which is another circumstance quite conclusive

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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 7

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