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M. L
GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01706 9144
Gc 977.201 M35hi v. 1 History of Indiana : special edition for Marshall County
JUN 6 :950
HISTORY
OF
INDIANA.
SPECIAL EDITION FOR MARSHALL COUNTY.
CONTAINING A HISTORY OF INDIANA AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF GOVERNORS AND OTHER LEADING MEN. ALSO A STATEMENT OF THE GROWTH AND PROSPERITY OF MARSHALL COUNTY, TOGETHER WITH A PERSONAL AND FAMILY HISTORY OF MANY OF ITS CITIZENS. IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
ILLUSTRATED.
MADISON, WIS .: BRANT, FULLER & CO. 1890.
.
Democrat Printing Company, Madison, Wis. Bindery of W. B. Conkey, Chicago, Il.
1261213
CONTENTS.
PART I-HISTORY OF INDIANA.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE.
PREHISTORIO RACES.
17
Antiquities.
19
Chinese, The ... 18
Discovery by Columbus. 33
Explorations by the Whites. 37
Indians, The ... 31
Immigration, The First 18
Immigration, The Second
20
Pyramids, etc. The
21
Relics of the Mound-Builders.
23
Savage Customs
34
Tartars, The 23
Vincennes. 39
Wabash River, The 39
White Men, The First. 37
CHAPTER II.
NATIONAL POLICIES, ETC. 41
American Policy, The ..
46
Atrocity of the Savages 47
Burning of Ilinton. 48
British Policy, The 46
Clark's Expedition ....
French Scheme, The.
Gilbault, Father.
Government of the Northwest.
Hamilton's Career ...
64
Liquor and Gaming Laws ..
74 42
Missionaries, The Catholic ..
Ordinance of 1787 .. 70
Pontiac's War 46
Ruse Against the Indians 64
6
Vigo, Francis.
CHAPTER III.
OPERATIONS AGAINST THE INDIANS 75
Battle at Peoria Lake. 104 Coal. 207
Campaign of Harrison. 92
Cession Treaties. 93
Defeat of St. Clair. 79
Defensive Operations. 76
Expedition of Harmer
75
Expedition of Wayne.
Expedition of St. Clair
79 78 78
Expedition of Williamson.
Fort Miami, Battle of. 80
Harrison and the Indians 87
Hopkins' Campaign. 105
Kickapoo Town, Burning of .. 78
Maumee, Battle of ... 75 Massacre at Pigeon Roost. 103 Mississinewa Town, Battle at .. 106 Oratory, Tecumseh's. 114
Prophet Town, Destruction of. 100
106
Siege of Fort Wayne .. 101 Siege of Fort Harrison 103 Tecumseh. 111
Tippecanoe, Battle of .. 98
War of 1812 .. 101
War of 1812, Close of the 108
CHAPTER IV.
ORGANIZATION OF INDIANA TERRITORY 82
Bank, Establishment of. 120
Courts, Formation of. 120
County Offices, Appointment of. 119
Corydon, the Capital 117
Gov. Posey .. 117
Indiana in 1810 ... 84
Population in 1815. 118
Territorial Legislature, The First. 84
Western Sun, The. 84
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
CHAPTER V. PAGE.
ORGANIZATION OF TIIE STATE, ETC. 121
Amendment, The Fifteenth 147
Black Hawk War ... 126 Constitution, Formation of the .. 121
Campaigns Against the Indians. 128
Defeat of Black Hawk 130
Exodus of the Indians. 131
General Assembly, The First. 122
142
Harmony Community ... Indian Titles. 132
Immigration 125
Lafayette, Action at 127
Land Sales. 133
Mexican War, The .. 136
Slavery 144
CHAPTER VI.
INDIANA IN THE REBELLION 148
Batteries of Light Infantry 182
Battle Record of States ... 188
Call to Arms, The .. 149
Colored Troops of Indiana. 182
Calls of 1864 177
Field, In the .. 152
Independent Cavalry Regiment. 181 Morgan's Raid 170
Minute-Men .. 170
One Hundred Days' Men. 176
Regiments, Formation of. 151
Regiments, Sketch of. 153
Six Months' Regiments .. 172
CHAPTER VII.
STATE AFFAIRS AFTER THE REBELLION 189
Agriculture 209
Divorce Laws. 193
Finances 194
Geology 205
Internal Improvements 199
Indiana Ilorticultural Society .. 212 Indiana Promological Society. 213
Special Laws .. 190
State Bank 196
State Board of Agriculture 2019
State Expositions. 210
Wealth and Progress. 197
CHAPTER VIII.
EDUCATION AND BENEVOLENCE. 215
Blind Institute, The 232
City School System. 218
Compensation of Teachers.
220
Denominational and Private Institutions.
230
Deaf and Dumb Institute.
236
Enumeration of Scholars
219
Family Worship ...
252
Free School System, The.
215
Funds, Management of the. 217
Female Prison and Reformatory .. 241
House of Refuge, The 243
Insane Hospital, The .. 238
Northern Indiana Normal School. 229
Origin of School Funds 221
Purdue University .. ..... 224
School Statistics. 218
State University, The 222
State Normal School 228
State Prison, South !. 39
State Prison, North 240
Total School Funds. 220
257
Guadalupe-Hidalgo, Treaty of.
134
52 41 65 67
Kantor 1,00
Peace with the Indians .......
Education ... 265
vi
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
PART II .- HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
PAGE.
Act to organize
17
Sheriffs, 'list of ..
Organization of .. 105
Auditors.
75
Springs and flowing wells
Postmasters, list of. 113
Boundary lines
20
Surveyors, list of
Religious societies 138
Burr Oak station ..
42
Teegarden 60
Schools
132
Clayton.
51 Topographical features.
"Sickly season," story of the Water works
109
Clerks, county ..
75
Townships - first division into
117
Commissioners, county
Treasurers, list of
ARGOS. .
217
Commissioners, first meeting ..
Tyner City
59
Business review
228
Coroners, list of.
Uniontown 39
Churches.
226
County asylum ..
Wolf Creek 48
Industrial review 220
Court house, Ilrst built ...
TOWNSHIPS:
Newspapers. 230
Dante.
4:3
Bourbon 49
Organization
217
Donelson
61
Center 44
Physicians
231
Election, first.
German
53
Geology
25
Green 47
Schools
Huckleberry marsh
61
North 55
Secret societies ..
226
Industrial review.
412
Polk . 55
Sidney Williams, the pioneer BOURBON.
219
Inwood ..
46
Tippecanoe 50
33
290
Judges, circuit court.
Walnut. 64
West ... 622
La Paz ...
56 56
Bremen Agricultural society 102
49
Early mode plowing.
66
Fuir association .. 101
Maxinkuckee Inke
Farming, primitive methods of 81
Ministers 289
Presidents, vote of county for,
Fertility of soil, article on ... 99
Newspapers. 287
Railroads, value of, Union Tp. 412 Center Tp. 415
Green Tp. .
417 448
How to cuttivate soil, article on .. 92
Secret societies. 281
German Tp
451
Pioneer Farmers' club. 103
Early settlement.
315
Polk To.
454
PLYMOUTII, 105
Industrial review
317
West Tp.
455
Additions, list of. 106
Merchants, list of 320
Recorders, list of
Benevolent societies. . 115
Newspapers .. 327
Representatives, list of
75
Fires, list of. 112
Physicians .. 3:27
Senators, state, list of
71
Fire companies 111
Railroads. 3:21
Settlers, early, of Union Tp .. Center Tp.
45 Industrial review. 118
Schools ..
3:24
Green
.18 1 Newspapers. 121-133
Secret societies. 325
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
PAGE.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Acker, William J.
296
Boggs, Lewis H.
235
Conger, William HI
376
Armstrong, Daniel B.
147
Bohumner, Albert.
373
Corey, W. D
239
Balley, Wellington E.
119
Borton. T. A. 155
Cox, William. 2240
Ball, Philip J.
151
Bowell, John B. 150
Cox, Fernando. 211
Bnlsley, George.
398
Bowman, Brook H. 320
Cromley, J. J. 416
211
Baker, Iliran
321
Boyee. David .. 235
Cinmins, P. N. 376
Barber, D. M
401
Bremer, Herbert A 158
Cununmgs, John C.
165
Barber, Albert.
402
Brewer, H. C
236
Curtis, Richard.
212
Itarber, John H.
102
Brooke, Jerred E 159
Davis, James M.
243
Barber, Edwin S
Brooke, Ed. S. 159
Dawson, Moses
211
Barden, John HI
-103
Brown, Charles 237
Deemer, Ell W
241
Inty, Robert HI. 233
Bryan, Joseph 2:37
Denman, D. G 165
Baner, John .. 829
430
Burdon, Stney
161
Dilley, Martin A 411
Itehrens, John F
15%
Campbell, Henry HI.
101
Disher, Peter ..
166
Bell. Inunc E.
Carabin, Augustin 161
Eckert, George 877
Bender, John S. 153
Carblener, Jacob. 331
Eidson, J. W. 209
Heyler, Moses.
873
Chaney, C. F. 103
Eley, L. D. . 412
Hand, Marlon A
166
Chapman, Nathaniel. 238
Elliott, Franeis Marlon 2,19
Bock, Iwonard
233 Chase, Roscoe A., Prof .. 163
Emerson, Joseph E. 378
Bodey, Samuel
23.1 Cleaveland, Gilson Strong 161
Evans, Robert J. 431
Boggs, Joseph W
156 Conger, D. S 375
Fink, Morgan. 332
278
Flax and its uses 87
Physicians
289
History of, in Marshall Co .. 80
Railroads 295
Schools. 286
Tippecanoe Tp ..
150
Maxinkuckee Association 103
BREMEN 315
North Tp.
45:2
First threshing machine ....
85
Organization
280-
Lakes .
AGRICULTURE:
Linksville
Fair association. 291
Fire dep rtment. 288
Mastodon relies .
Merchants. 290
Militia. 288
North Salem .
38 47
Union
Attorneys
Churches.
Early settlers, list of
Industrial review. 291
Marmont ..
30
Railroads
278
Jails
Bourbon Tp
Fire department. 326
Walnut Tp. 456
Banks .. 114
First store and saw-mill 107
Religious denominations 3:22
Inker, Abraham
Bowser, D. M. 330
Crow, John ..
Buuch, Nathan E 401
Cillemus, Ervin
Baugher, John W
73 69
PAGE. | PLYMOTTH: PAGE.
vii
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
PAGE.
Fish, S. S .. 245
Flaagg, W. H. J.
246
Knoblock, Harmon 345
Shakes, Thomas. 201
Flarchentrager, Anthony. 167 Knoepfle, Christian 316
Foulke, William H. 301 Koontz, Adam 316
Forsythe, Asa 217
Fries, Jacob, Jr .. 332
361
Kuhn, Fred H.
182
Siders, John W .. 204
Sickman, William H. 313
Garver, John S ..
417 334
Gass, John P ..
333
Kyser, Andrew J.
419
Smith, D. C. 355
Snyder, Simon 355
Snyder, Benjamin. 394
Lehr, Charles H .. 184 Soice, John 205
335 412 ! Lemert, Jonathan
406
Gibson, David L.
167
Lidecker, Valentine A
419
Gilmore, James A.
169
Littleton, Lemuel.
Low, Joseph N.
364 | Spencer, Corban
367
Gordon, William C. Gordon, John C ...
248
Lueker, Rev. C. H. 347
Lumis, Lebrecht .. 186
McCoy, James L .. 261
186
Grass, Jacob
McElfresh, Elijah
365
Swindell. C. H ... 207
Switzer, Benjamin 208
Swoverland, John 313
271
Haag, Joseph.
Martin, John S 189
190
Thompson, William D 211
Hamilton, Dr. J. J 379
Matchette, A. C
306
Thompson, William M 314
Hanes, Henry J.
252
Mattingly, Charies T
190
Thompson, James 438
Hanes, James E
171
Mattingly, Ignatius. Mayer, Sigmond
191
Thompson, Jerome B
429
Harris, Daniel K.
380
Mensel, W. F ..
348
Thornburg, Celestion
425
Hayes, S. J.
336 337
Milner, Thomas
386
Van Dorston, George 271
Heckaman, John ..
338
Milner, E. D ..
387
Vanschoiack, L. T 4:25
Heinke, Melkous.
Milner, Joseph B.
387
Vanvactor, Hiram 272
Helms. Ebenezer.
Moench, Louis A
192
Helmlinger, George.
Moore, Jesse R .
262
Herring, N. A
340
Moore, Allen, M. D.
389
Voegeli, Peter .. 356
Hess, Lewis J.
255
Moore, C. W
409
Voreis, Thomas L 369
Hess, Erastus
255
Morelock, George W
437
Voreis, James ..
399
Hess, Jasper N.
254
Morris, Courtland L. 193
Voreis, Abraham
427
Hess, Isaiah
254
Morris, Edward 420
Voreis, John M.
427
Hess, Elias
253
Mosher, J. L.
420
Wade, James M.
399
Hill, William W.
172
Myers, William.
309
Wade, Jacob
211
Hindle, John ..
255
Hoham, John
173
Nifong, Joel W 414
Warner, Oliver J
273
Holem, J. N.
173
Nifong John .. 194
410
Watson, James H. 273
Weaver, Solomon 357
Whisman, Willis 274
Holem, Benjamin 431
421
Whitaker, David A. 358
Holland, William
434 435
Horn, William .
414
Parks, Sinclair D.
310
Wiekizer. J. M ..
274
Huff, Johu
Pickerl, Hugh
Wiltfong, Noah ...
388
Huff, William ..
Pocock, Elias H
264
Wilson, John N ...
212
Huff, William H
Pomeroy, William
198
Huff, James B ..
338 256
Price, John W
366
Wiseman, B. W. S. 428
Woodbury, Charles H .. 214
Worthington, Thomas J. 275
Worthington, Franklin .. 370
Jones, Josiah
Reynolds, G. R
198
Wright, John J. 359
Yackey, Joseph A 410
Yaiser, William. 415
Yoast, A. N. 276
Younkman, A. B 360
Kaufman Jacob C.
343
Ryan, Michael 200
200
Keller, S. S
305
Schlosser, Jacob 350
Schlosser, Frederick 351
Kendall, J. T.
Schroeder, Rev. Nicholas 390
Scofield, William .. 392
PORTRAITS.
Bangher, J. W., facing. 430
Kuhn, F. H., facing 182
Matchette, A. C., facing 306
Moench, L. A., facing. 192
Seiler, C., and wife, facing 351
258 Shafer, Hiram U. 201 Knott, D. C.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Knoblock, George W .. 436
Shaffer, Fred. 267
Shaw, William 423
Shively, Daniel C. 203
Koontz. George. 381 Shoemaker, John M. 204
Kuhn, John C. 183
Showley, Daniel. 353
Kuntz, John. 385
Kyle, W. B 405
Gay, William E ..
Geiselman, Edward.
334
Lawrence, John K 305
Geiselman, Josiah.
Gibbens, David A.
Soice, Oliver G 207
Spahr, Ferdinand 395
259 | Spencer, Joseph 415
Speyer, Henry M. 424
St. John, Asa. 270
Stair, Frederick 269
Stough, Joseph.
395
Stuckey, Benjamin
396
Grimes, Josiah B .. 252
McLaren, J. D. 187
Macomber, William 347
Mannual, Christian 188
365
Thayer, Henry G 208
Thomas, John W. 397
Hallock, W. H
170 303 170
Marshall, Andrew,
Hahn, l'eter
Martindale, E. C.
303
Thomson, Arthur L. 210
Harman, Amos
362
Miller, Henry H ..
319
Thornburg, Ross. 367
Heckaman, Jacob
338 381 339
Neville, R ... 407
Wahl, G. T. 357
Holem, Adam.
433 433 432
Oglesbee, N. H.
195
Holen, Peter ..
Orr, F. M ..
196
Overmeyer, William
196
White, Stephen .. 441
Hoover, John A
Parks, James O ..
309
Whitman, M. D. L. 400
Houghton, Thomas
Pickerl, Chasteen
603 263
Hughes, Charles R.
257
Railsback, William
265
Jackman, Hugh
175
Rea. Oliver A.
422
Jilson, John C
175 257 176
Ridenour, George.
312
Joseph, Silas H.
436
Ringle. Daniel 319
Iden, John H ..
304
Iden, Samuel .. 304
Ross, David A.
199
Zehner, David. 370
Zehner, William 215
Zimmer, George 361
Kellison, Hon. Charles 179 258
Kendall, William M. 178
Keyser, Zachariah 341
Keyser, Absalom 344
Seltenright, John
Kinsey, A.
305
Shafer, Samuel
267
Kirkley, Marshall. 383
Shafer, Elihu. 267
Kloepfer, Rudolph C 181 Shaler, Jacob. 267
418 341 341 342
Porter, O. R
422
Wilson, Dr. James H. 213
Wilson, Leonard ... 428
Hussey, Jonathan S
Reed, Martin. 311
Jones, Perry O.
Rodanburger, David R 390
Keiser, Simon. 382
Schafer, George
Warnes, William B 440
Nye, Valentine.
Holem, Jacob
Parks, John W
Vermillion, James 368
Vernett, Frank 415
247
Lowry, James. 260
Gould, Samuel W 219 251 Grant, Jones Grass, Mary 413 413
McDonald, Daniel.
Grossman, Henry. 169 302
Taber, T. O
Guy, James
Gollatz, Charles H 336
302 Lake, Jasper M .. 363
Smith, Marquis L ... 268
Galbraith, Jacob.
Garver. Henry M.
Seiler, Christian, Jr 351 393
Williamson, Richard. 212
HISTORY OF INDIANA:
FORMER OCCUPANTS.
PREHISTORIC RACES.
Scientists have ascribed to the Mound Builders varied origins, and though their divergence of opinion may for a time seem incom- patible with a thorough investigation of the subject, and tend to a confusion of ideas, no doubt whatever can exist as to the compar- ative accuracy of conclusions arrived at by some of them. Like the vexed question of the Pillar Towers of Ireland, it has caused much speculation, and elicited the opinions of so many learned antiquarians, ethnologists and travelers, that it will not be found beyond the range of possibility to make deductions that may suffice to solve the problem who were the prehistoric settlers of America. To achieve this it will not be necessary to go beyond the period over which Scripture history extends, or to indulge in those airy flights of imagination so sadly identified with occasional writers of even the Christian school, and all the accepted literary exponents of modern paganism.
That this continent is co-existent with the world of the ancients cannot be questioned. Every investigation, instituted under the auspices of modern civilization, confirms the fact and leaves no channel open through which the skeptic can escape the thorough refutation of his opinions. China, with its numerous living testi- monials of antiquity, with its ancient, though limited literature and its Babelish superstitions, claims a continuous history from antediluvian times; but although its continuity may be denied with every just reason, there is nothing to prevent the transmission of a hieroglyphic record of its history prior to 1656 anno mundi, since many traces of its early settlement survived the Deluge, and became sacred objects of the first historical epoch. This very sur- vival of a record, such as that of which the Chinese boast, is not at variance with the designs of a God who made and ruled the universe; but that an antediluvian people inhabited this continent,
18
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
will not be claimed; because it is not probable, though it may be possible, that a settlement in a land which may be considered a portion of the Asiatic continent, was effected by the immediate followers of the first progenitors of the human race. Therefore, on entering the study of the ancient people who raised these tumu- fus monuments over large tracts of the country, it will be just sufficient to wander back to that time when the flood-gates of heaven were swung open to hurl destruction on a wicked world; and in doing so the inquiry must be based on legendary, or rather upon many circumstantial evidences; for, so far as written narra- tive extends, there is nothing to show that a movement of people too far east resulted in a Western settlement.
TIIE FIRST IMMIGRATION.
The first and most probable sources in which the origin of the Builders must be sought, are those countries lying along the east- ern coast of Asia, which doubtless at that time stretched far beyond its present limits, and presented a continuous shore from Lopatka to Point Cambodia, holding a population comparatively civilized, and all professing some elementary form of the Boodhism of later days. Those peoples, like the Chinese of the present, were bound to live at home, and probably observed that law until after the con- fusion of languages and the dispersion of the builders of Babel in 1757, A. M .; but subsequently, within the following century, the old Mongolians, like the new, crossed the great ocean in the very paths taken by the present representatives of the race, arrived on the same shores, which now extend a very questionable hospitality to them, and entered at once upon the colonization of the country south and east, while the Caucasian race engaged in a similar move- ment of exploration and colonization over what may be justly termed the western extension of Asia, and both: peoples growing stalwart under the change, attained a moral and physical eminence to which they never could lay claim under the tropical sun which shed its beams upon the cradle of the human race.
That mysterious people who, like the Brahmins of to-day, wor- shiped some transitory deity, and in after years, evidentiy embraced the idealization of Boodhism, as preached in Mongolia early in the 35th century of the world, together with acquiring the learning of the Confucian and Pythagorean schools of the same period, spread all over the land, and in their numerous settlements erected these raths, or mounds, and sacrificial altars whereon they received their
19
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
periodical visiting gods, surrendered their bodies to natural absorp- tion or annihilation, and watched for the return of some transmi- grated soul, the while adoring the universe, which with all beings they believed would be eternally existent. They possessed religious orders corresponding in external show at least with the Essenes or Theraputæ of the pre-Christian and Christian epochs, and to the reformed Theraputæ or monks of the present. Every memento of their coming and their stay which has descended to us is an evi- dence of their civilized condition. The free copper found within the tumuli; the open veins of the Superior and Iron Mountain copper-mines, with all the modus operandi of ancient mining, such as ladders, levers, chisels, and hammer-heads, discovered by the French explorers of the Northwest and the Mississippi, are conclu- sive proofs that those prehistoric people were highly civilized, and that many flourishing colonies were spread throughout the Missis- sippi valley, while yet the mammoth, the mastodon, and a hundred other animals, now only known by their gigantic fossil remains, guarded the eastern shore of the continent as it were against sup- posed invasions of the Tower Builders who went west from Babel; while yet the beautiful isles of the Antilles formed an integral portion of this continent, long years before the European Northman dreamed of setting forth to the discovery of Greenland and the northern isles, and certainly at a time when all that portion of America north of latitude 45° was an ice-incumbered waste.
Within the last few years great advances have been made toward the discovery of antiquities whether pertaining to remains of organic or inorganic nature. Together with many small, but telling relics of the early inhabitants of the country, the fossils of pre- historic animals have been unearthed from end to end of the land, and in districts, too, long pronounced by geologists of some repute to be without even a vestige of vertebrate fossils. Among the collected souvenirs of an age about which so very little is known, are twenty-five vertebræ averaging thirteen inches in diameter, and three vertebræ ossified together measure nine cubical feet; a thigh-bone five feet long by twenty-eight, by twelve inches in diameter, and the shaft fourteen by eight inches thick, the entire lot weighing 600 lbs. These fossils are presumed to belong to the cretaceous period, when the Dinosaur roamed over the country from East to West, desolating the villages of the people. This animal is said to have been sixty feet long, and when feeding in cypress and palm forests, to extend himself eighty-five feet, so that he may
20
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
devour the budding tops of those great trees. Other efforts in this direction may lead to great results, and culminate probably in the discovery of a tablet engraven by some learned Mound Builder, describing in the ancient hieroglyphics of China all these men and beasts whose history excites so much speculation. The identity of the Mound Builders with the Mongolians might lead us to hope for such a consummation; nor is it beyond the range of probability, particularly in this practical age, to find the future labors of some industrious antiquarian requited by the upheaval of a tablet, written in the Tartar characters of 1700 years ago, bearing on a subject which can now be treated only on a purely circumstantial basis.
THE SECOND IMMIGRATION
may have begun a few centuries prior to the Christian era, and unlike the former expedition or expeditions, to have traversed north- eastern Asia to its Arctic confines, and then east to the narrow channel now known as Behring's Straits, which they crossed, and sailing up the unchanging Yukon, settled under the shadow of Mount St. Elias for many years, and pushing South commingled with their countrymen, soon acquiring the characteristics of the descendants of the first colonists. Chinese chronicles tell of such a people, who went North and were never heard of more. Circum- stances conspire to render that particular colony the carriers of a new religious faith and of an alphabetic system of a representative character to the old colonists, and they, doubtless, exercised a most beneficial influence in other respects ; because the influx of immi- grants of such culture as were the Chinese, even of that remote period, must necessarily bear very favorable results, not only in bringing in reports of their travels, but also accounts from the fatherland bearing on the latest events.
With the idea of a second and important exodus there are many theorists united, one of whom says: "It is now the generally received opinion that the first inhabitants of America passed over from Asia through these straits. The number of small islands lying between both continents renders this opinion still more probable; and it is yet farther confirmed by some remarkable traces of similarity in the physical conformation of the northern natives of both continents. The Esquimaux of North America, the Samoieds of Asia, and the Laplanders of Europe, are supposed to be of the same family; and this supposition is strengthened by the affinity which exists in their languages. The researches of Hum-
21
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
boldt have traced the Mexicans to the vicinity of Behring's Straits; whence it is conjectured that they, as well as the Peruvians and other tribes, came originally from Asia, and were the Hiongnoos, who are, in the Chinese annals, said to have emigrated under Puno, and to have been lost in the North of Siberia."
Since this theory is accepted by most antiquaries, there is every reason to believe that from the discovery of what may be called an overland route to what was then considered an eastern extension of that country which is now known as the " Celestial Empire," many caravans of emigrants passed to their new homes in the land of illimitable possibilities until the way became a well-marked trail over which the Asiatic might travel forward, and having once entered the Elysian fields never entertained an idea of returning, Thus from generation to generation the tide of immigration poured in until the slopes of the Pacific and the banks of the great inland rivers became hives of busy industry. Magnificent cities and monuments were raised at the bidding of the tribal leaders and populous settlements centered with happy villages sprung up · everywhere in manifestation of the power and wealth and knowl- edge of the people. The colonizing Caucasian of the historic period walked over this great country on the very ruins of a civil- ization which a thousand years before eclipsed all that of which he could boast. He walked through the wilderness of the West over buried treasures hidden under the accumulated growth of nature, nor rested until he saw, with great surprise, the remains of ancient pyramids and temples and cities, larger and evidently more beauti- ful than ancient Egypt could bring forth after its long years of uninterrupted history. The pyramids resemble those of Egypt in exterior form, and in some instances are of larger dimensions. The pyramid of Cholula is square, having each side of its base 1,335 feet in length, and its height about 172 feet. Another pyramid, sitnated in the north of Vera Cruz, is formed of large blocks of highly-polished porphyry, and bears upon its front hiero- glyphic inscriptions and curious sculpture. Each side of its square base is 82 feet in length, and a flight of 57 steps conducts to its summit, which is 65 feet in height. The ruins of Palenque are said to extend 20 miles along the ridge of a mountain, and the remains of an Aztec city, near the banks of the river Gila, are spread over more than a square league. Their literature consisted of hieroglyphics; but their arithmetical knowledge did not extend farther than their calculations by the aid of grains of corn. Yet,
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