USA > Illinois > Adams County > The history of Adams County Illinois : containing a history of the county - its cities, towns, etc. a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion; general and local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men > Part 15
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At the beginning of the present century the remnants of this once powerful confederacy were forced into a small compass around Kaskaskia. A few years later they emigrated to the Southwest, and in 1850 they were in Indian Territory, and numbered but 84 persons.
SACS AND FOXES.
The Sacs and Foxes, who figured most conspicuously in the later history of Illinois, inhabited the northwestern portion of the State. By long residence together and intermarriage they had substan- tially become one people. Drake, in his "Life of Black Hawk," speaks of these tribes as follows: "The Sacs and Foxes fought their way from the waters of the St. Lawrence to Green Bay, and after reaching that place, not only sustained themselves against hostile tribes, but were the most active and courageous in the subjugation, or rather the extermination, of the numerous and powerful Illinois confederacy. They had many wars, offensive and defensive, with the Sioux, the Pawnees, the Osages, and other tribes, some of which are ranked among the most fierce and ferocious warriors of the whole continent; and it does not appear that in these conflicts, run- ning through a long period of years, they were found wanting in this, the greatest of all savage virtues. In the late war with Great Britain, a party of the Sacs and Foxes fought under the British
BAKER-CO-CHT
STARVED ROCK ON THE ILLINOIS RIVER, NEAR PERU.
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standard as a matter of choice; and in the recent contest between a fragment of these tribes and the United States, although defeated and literally cut to pieces by an overwhelming force, it is very questionable whether their reputation as braves would suffer by a comparison with that of their victors. It is believed that a careful review of their history, from the period when they first established themselves on the waters of the Mississippi down to the present time, will lead the inquirer to the conclusion that the Sacs and Foxes were truly a courageous people, shrewd, politic, and enter- prising, with no more ferocity and treachery of character than is common among the tribes by whom they were surrounded." These tribes at the time of the Black Hawk War were divided into twenty families, twelve of which were Sacs and eight Foxes. The follow- ing were other prominent tribes occupying Illinois: the Kickapoos, Shawnees, Mascoulins, Piaukishaws, Pottawatomies, Chippewas, and Ottawas.
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 acquired 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 grass 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 pursuing, 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 curiosity 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
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speaker, and each individual, notwithstanding the fiery passions that rankled within, preserved an exterior as immovable as if cast 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, secondly 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, con- structed 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 constructed with greater care, but of the same materials. Skins taken in the chase served them for repose. Though principally dependent upon hunting and fishing, the uncertain supply from those sources led them to cultivate small patches of corn. Every family did everything necessary within itself, commerce, or an interchange of articles, 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 conducted as civilization, but war where individnal 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, un- occupied, well-nigh useless savage. 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 manufacture of his arms and of 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, ath- letic games, the narration of his exploits, and listening to the ora- tory 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
1
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imprinted an habitual gravity, and even melancholy, upon his gen- eral deportment.
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 sub- jected to many and severe attacks of sickness, and at times famine and pestilence swept away whole tribes.
SINGLE-HANDED COMBAT WITH INDIANS.
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 compact 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, Put- nam county. Discovering Indian signs near the fort, the company, early 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 replied that his leg was smashed. Hig- gins attempted to raise him on his horse, but the animal took fright and ran away. Higgins 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 out of the way, Higgins took another route, which led by a small thicket, to throw any wandering enemy off the trail. Here he was con- fronted by three savages approaching. He ran to a little ravine near for shelter, but in the effort discovered for the first time that
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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, 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 a yell; but as he came near enough, was shot down. At this the others raised the war-whoop, and rushed upon the wounded Higgins, and now a hand-to-hand conflict ensued. They darted at him with their knives time and again, inflieting many ghastly flesh-wounds, which bled profusely. One of the assailants threw his tomahawk at him with such pre- cision 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 remaining antagonist still kept up the con- test, making thrusts with his knife at the bleeding 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 garrison. 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 near- ly haeked 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 remained in. For days his life was despaired of; but by tender nursing he ultimately regained his health, although badly erippled. He resided in Fayette county for many years after, and died in 1829.
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HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
EARLY DISCOVERIES
NICHOLAS PERROT.
The first white man who ever set foot on the soil embraced within the boundary of the present populous State of Illinois was Nich- olas 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 condition it remained until the river was dis- covered 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 con- vention was called.
JOLIET AND MARQUETTE.
Although Perrot was the first European to visit Illinois, he was not the first to make any important discoveries. This was left for Joliet and Marquette, which they accomplished two years thereafter. The former, Louis Joliet, was born at Quebec in 1645. He was educated for the clerical profession, but he abandoned it to engage in the fur trade. His companion, Father Jacques Mar- quette, was a native of France, born in 1637. He was a Jesuit priest by education, and a man of simple faith and great zeal and devotion in extending the Roman Catholic religion among the In- dians. He was sent to America in 1666 as a missionary. To con- vert the Indians. he penetrated the wilderness a thousand miles in advance of civilization, and by his kind attention in their afflic- tions he won their affections and made them his lasting friends. There were others, however, who visited Illinois even prior to the famous exploration of Joliet and Marquette. In 1672 the Jesuit
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missionaries, Fathers Claude Allouez and Claude Dablon, bore the standard of the Cross from their mission at Green Bay through western Wisconsin and northern Illinois.
According to the pre-arranged plan referred to above, at the Jes- uit mission on the Strait of Mackinaw, Joliet joined Marquette, and with five other Frenchmen and a simple outfit the daring ex- plorers on the 17th of May, 1673, set out on their perilous voyage to discover the Mississippi. Coasting along the northern shore of Lake Michigan, they entered Green Bay, and passed thence up Fox river and Lake Winnebago to a village of the Muscatines and . Miamis, where great interest was taken in the expedition by the natives. With guides they proceeded down the river. Arriving at the portage, they soon carried their light canoes and scanty bag- gage to the Wisconsin, about three miles distant. Their guides now refused to accompany them further, and endeavored, by re- citing the dangers incident to the voyage, to induce them to return. They stated that huge demons dwelt in the great river, whose voices could be heard a long distance, and who engulfed in the raging waters all who came within their reach. They also represented that if any of them should escape the dangers of the river, fierce tribes of Indians dwelt upon its banks ready to complete the work of de- struction. They proceeded on their journey, however, and on the 17th of June pushed their frail barks on the bosom of the stately Mississippi, down which they smoothly glided for nearly a hundred niles. Here Joliet and Marquette, leaving their canoes in charge of their men, went on the western shore, where they discovered an Indian village, and were kindly treated. They journeyed on down the unknown river, passing the mouth of the Illinois, then run- ning into the current of the muddy Missouri, and afterward the waters of the Ohio joined with them on their journey southward. Near the mouth of the Arkansas they discovered Indians who showed signs of hostility; but when Marquette's mission of peace was made known to them, they were kindly received. After pro- ceeding up the Arkansas a short distance, at the advice of the natives they turned their faces northward to retrace their steps. Af- ter several weeks of hard toil they reached the Illinois, up which stream they proceeded to Lake Michigan. Following the western shore of the lake, they entered Green Bay the latter part of Sep- tember, having traveled a distance of 2,500 miles.
.
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HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
On his way up the Illinois, Marquette visited the Kaskaskias, near what is now Utica, in LaSalle county. The following year he returned and established among them the mission of the Im- maculate Virgin Mary. This was the last act of his life. He died in Michigan, May 18, 1675.
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 passed thence in canoe to the mouth of the St. Joseph river, by which and the Kan- kakee 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. Returning 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 Frontenac 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 hast- ened 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.
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By this voluntary display of confidence he hoped to remove the jealousy created in the minds of the Illinois by the enemies of La- Salle. Here he awaited, unmolested, the return of LaSalle.
GREAT BATTLE OF THE ILLINOIS.
Neither Tonti nor his wild associates suspected that hordes of Iro- quois were gathering 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 on the lakes, and were now directing their attention to the Illinois for new victims. Five hundred Iroquois warriors set out for the home 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 clap 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 im- pending 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 as- tounded inmates. Women snatched their children, and in a delirium of fright wandered aimlessly about, 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 accused him of be- ing an emissary of the enemy. His inability to defend himself properly, in consequence 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 scen a chief arrayed in French costume, and re- ported 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, de-
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manding his life, and nothing saved him from their uplifted weap- ons 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 impatient 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 char- acter, 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 beimmediately put to death, while others, friendly to LaSalle, with equal earnest- ness demanded that he should be set at liberty. During their clamorous debate, his hair was several times lifted by a huge sav- age who stood at his back with a scalping knife ready for execution.
Tonti at length turned the current of theangry 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 state- ment obtained at least a partial credence, and his tormentors now
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determined to use him as an instrument to delude the Illinois with a pretended 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 deliverance. 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 threatening 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 vil- lage. Tonti and his men were ordered by the suspicious 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 recon- noitering their intrenchments, their courage greatly subsided. With fear they recalled the exaggerations of Tonti respecting their numbers, and concluded to send him with a hostage to make over- tures 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 back 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 inexpe- rienced Illinois hostage betrayed to his crafty interviewers the nu- merical 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 con- cluded, but the savages, to show their contempt for it, immediately commenced constructing canoes in which to descend the river and attack the Illinois.
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