USA > Indiana > Vanderburgh County > Evansville > History of the city of Evansville and Vanderburg County, Indiana, Volume I > Part 1
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GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 00097 0100
Gc 977.201 V28g v.1 Gilbert, Frank M. History of the city of Evansville and Vanderburg Co., Ind.
-M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
HISTORY
OF THE
CITY OF EVANSVILLE
AND
VANDERBURG COUNTY
INDIANA
By FRANK M. GILBERT
Volume I
ILLUSTRATED
CHICAGO THE PIONEER PUBLISHING COMPANY
1910
CONTENTS 1155628
CHAPTER I.
Page
THE PIONEER SETTLERS-THE GAME ON WHICH THEY LIVED THE BUF- FALO AND WHY IT IS ON THE STATE SEAL-THE FIVE TRIBES OF IN- DIANS AND WHERE THEY LIVED THE FIRST DEEDS TO THIS SECTION- HUNTING GAME-EARLY TRAPS-WAYS OF HUNTING GAME-TRICKS OF DEER-PASSING OF THE BUFFALO FOX HUNTING WILD BEES-WILD HOGS-BEARS 5
CHAPTER II.
THE FIRST PIONEER-PIERRE BROUILLETTE WAS SIMPLY A TRADER-THE ADVENT OF HUGH M'GARY-HOW HE HAPPENED TO LOCATE-THE HOOSIER TONGUE-HOW THE FIRST HOMES WERE BUILT-PRIMITIVE UTENSILS-OUR PIONEER MOTHERS-PIONEER CITIZENS-GETTING SALT -EARLY THRESHING AND CORN GRINDING WORK WITHOUT NAILS- FIRST HARNESS AND BRIDLES. 20
CHAPTER III.
EARLY EVANSVILLE-THE FIRST STAGE COACH-FIRST STORES AND PROFES- SIONAL MEN-ITS APPEARANCE IN 1820-EARLY TRANSPORTATION- THE OLD STAGES-FLATBOATING-HOW THE PRODUCE WAS SOLD. 31
CHAPTER IV.
THE FIRST BOOM-ITS FAILURE-THE CRISIS OF 1837-MR. CLARK'S LET- TERS-CENSUS OF 1838-INFLUX OF NEW BLOOD-INCREASED TO 4,000 POPULATION-BECAME A GREAT SHIPPING POINT-THE FIRST WHARF- THE CANAL AND ITS FAILURE. 43
CHAPTER V.
AS SEEN BY A WOMAN-THE WAY CHILDREN WERE BROUGHT UP-EARLY SOCIETY-PURSUED BY WOLVES-HOW THEY RODE-NO SOCIAL DISTINC- TIONS-HOW THEY COURTED-THE SIMPLE COSTUMES-THE OLD SHAWLS 52
iii
CONTENTS
CHAPTER VI.
Page
HUGH M'GARY-HE WAS THE ACTUAL FOUNDER-HIS PURCHASE OF THE ORIGINAL GROUND-STARTING OF THE FERRY-HIS STORE AND THE FIRST POST-OFFICE-GENERAL EVANS COMES-INCORPORATION OF THE TOWN-M'GARY'S TROUBLE-WHY HE LEFT HERE. 58
CHAPTER VII.
THE FIRST FARMS AND HOW OBTAINED-HOW THIS PART OF THE STATE WAS DIVIDED-THE TWO FIRST BUYERS-DECREASE IN VALUE OF LANDS -WHAT THE PIONEERS WORE-THEIR RIFLES-HOW CLOTHES WERE MADE-HOW THE WOMEN WORKED-WORK AND FUN-MY OWN RE- MEMBRANCES-"WHISKY ROW"-THE OLD TIME FIRST STREET- OTHER LOCALITIES-FIREMEN'S DAY-KNIGHT ERRANTRY, ETC. 65
CHAPTER VIII.
EARLY SPORTS AND PASTIMES-CRACK SHOTS-THE BOONES-TOM JACK HUDSPETH-EARLY DIET- WHY WOMEN WERE HEALTHY-A VISITING DRESS -- "HOME-MADE" CLOTHINGDRESS COLORS-SHOES-EARLY IL- LUMINATION-OUR GRANDMOTHERS' COMBS-OLD-TIME BOYS-THEIR CLOTHING-STRANGE WAYS-THE DIFFERENT "TIMES"-FRUIT AND 82 WATERMELONS-THEIR GAMES.
CHAPTER IX.
EARLY LOUNGING PLACES-WHERE THE OLD CITIZENS USED TO MEET AND TALK-THE OLD RESTAURANTS, CIGAR STORES, AND BILLIARD ROOMS- -THE START OF THE LOTTIE-THE FIRST BRASS BANDS-THE COMING OF GEO. W. WARREN-WARREN'S BAND-WM. R. BAKER-HOW THE BANDS STARTED SUNSET PARK-OLD TIME AMUSEMENTS-THE FIRST THEATRE-EARLY MINSTRELS-THE QUILTING BEE AND THE SEWING SOCIETY-AMATEUR SHOWS-THE CHURCHES WAKE UP-TWO AMA- TEUR OPERA COMPANIES-THE SECOND PERFORMANCE-OLD MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS-PRESENT PLACES 95
CHAPTER X.
OLD TIME BALL GAMES-TOWN BALL-HOW THE STAID MERCHANTS PLAYED -THE FIRST SEMI-PRO TEAM-FIRST REAL TEAM-AN OLD BATTERY- OLD FIGHTERS-BAD MEN AND BRAVE MEN-COOL NERVE-ENOUGH MEANT ENOUGH-MILK SICKNESS, THE TERROR OF THE PIONEERS-A VERITABLE POISON FROM WHICH THERE WAS NO ESCAPE. . . . .106
V
CONTENTS
CHAPTER XI.
Page
PIONEER WEDDINGS-THEIR CRUDENESS-HUMBLE START IN LIFE-THE WEDDING DANCE AFTER THE FEAST-HOW THEY STARTED FOR HOME- HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF-CHANGES IN PLOWS THE FATHER OF THE PLOW INDUSTRY, "FATHER URIL"-THE INCREASE OF THE VULCAN WORKS-WHAT MR. BLOUNT HAS DONE AND MY TRIBUTE TO A MAN WHO DESERVES IT-STEAMBOATS OF THE OLD TIME-RISE AND FALL- THEIR GREAT FUTURE-HAPPY TIMES ON BOATS-THE WITCHERY OF NIGHT .119
CHAPTER XII.
BEGINS TO GROW-THE PASSING OF LAMASCO-HARD TIMES-THE BIG ROLL- ING MILL-THE CUSTOM HOUSE-THE ST. GEORGE HOTEL AND THE BIG DANCE-THE FIRST BOOMERS, HEIDELBACH AND ELSAS-A BUILDING BOOM-THE 1880 CENSUS-BORING FOR GAS-THE WONDERFUL LUMBER MARKET, THE GREATEST IN THE WORLD-WHAT WE PRODUCE-THE BIG RAFTS-THE PIONEER LUMBER KING-PLANTING FOR THE FUTURE- THE WONDERFUL FURNITURE TRADE-THE BIG CONSOLIDATION. I33
CHAPTER XIII.
THE FIRST STREET CARS-THEIR SIMPLICITY-HORSES GIVE WAY TO MULES, THEN TO ELECTRICITY-ASPHALT FROM TRINIDAD PITCH LAKE-THE WHOLESALE TRADE-HOW IT PROSPERED DURING THE WAR-OLD TIME DRUMMERS DECLINE OF JOBBING TRADE-HOW WE COLLECTED DEBTS -OLD COUNTY FAIRS AND HORSES-GOLDSMITH MAID AND JUDGE FUL- LERTON-THE FIGURE EIGHT TRACK-THE BIG FAIR GROUND-THE 152 HOOSIER
CHAPTER XIV.
SLAVERY DAYS-THE UNDERGROUND CONDITION OF SLAVES THE TRICKS OF THE SLAVE THIEVES-SEVERAL STOLEN NEAR HERE-THE NEGRO QUESTION HANDLED WITHOUT GLOVES-HE BELONGS ON THE FARM AND NOT IN TOWN-A LITTLE EDUCATION OFTEN MAKES HIM A FOOL. .... 164
CHAPTER XV.
COURT HOUSES AND JAILS-CRUDENESS OF THE FIRST ATTEMPTS-TWO NEW COURT HOUSES-HUME REDMON'S DEATH-SITE OF THE PRESENT COURT HOUSE-THE JAILS-SOME OF THE INMATES-A NEGRO FIEND AND A JACK-LEG LAWYER-THE FIRST RAILROADS-SLICK WORK- RAILROAD WIND-P. D. & E. SHOPS- THE SMOOTH-TONGUED VENNER. . 183
vi
CONTENTS
CHAPTER XVI.
Page
EARLY FIRE ENGINES-THE POLITICAL SYSTEM-ADVENT OF METROPOLITAN SYSTEM-FIRE HORSES AND HOW THEY ARE TRAINED-NEEDS OF THE DEPARTMENT-OLD-TIME OFFICIALS-THE AUTO WILL TAKE THE PLACE OF THE HORSE-PUBLIC PARKS THE FIRST ATTEMPTS-HOW SUNSET PARK HAS GROWN-"MODESTY FORBIDS"-COOK'S PARK-CHANCES FOR THE FUTURE 199
CHAPTER XVII.
THE HOSPITABLE CITY-SO KNOWN EVEN IN THE LONG AGO-HALF NORTH AND HALF SOUTH AND REALLY A SOUTHERN CITY-OPEN ARMS AND OPEN HEARTS-NO ISOLATION HERE-VIEWS OF MISS RUNCIE-MY ANGEL MOTHER. .219
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE FOURTH OF JULY-SHOOTING THE ANVIL-PARADES AND BARBECUES- DECLINE OF THE ODIOUS FIRECRACKER-BANKS OF EVANSVILLE-THE OLD CANAL BANK-NEVER A FAILURE HERE-THE NEWSPAPERS-THE EARLY PRESSES-THE JOURNAL AND ITS FORTUNES-THE COURIER- OTHER PAPERS.
.230
CHAPTER XIX.
OUR SCHOOLS-THE FIRST ATTEMPTS-COUNTRY LOG SCHOOLS WITH WANDERING TEACHERS-FIRE HOUSES USED IN EVANSVILLE-"DADDY KNIGHT"-PRIVATE SCHOOLS-THE MORE MODERN SCHOOLS-A BEAU- TIFUL AND THOROUGH SYSTEM- DIFFERENCE IN TEACHERS. .252
CHAPTER XX.
THE LABOR QUESTION-ADVICE FROM AN OUTSIDER-LABOR DAY-LABOR TROUBLES PRACTICALLY UNKNOWN-MORALS OF EVANSVILLE-IT IS REALLY A GOOD CITY-A MORAL WAVE OVER THE ENTIRE COUNTRY- WORK OF HON. JOHN W. BOEHNE AND HON. JOHN J. NOLAN -- "CHARLIE" HEILMAN MEANS RIGHT-HEATING AND LIGHTING AD- VANTAGE OF GAS FOR COOKING-THE NEW HEAT AND LIGHTING CO., AND WHAT IT WILL MEAN. .265
CHAPTER XXI.
EVANSVILLE IN THE WARS-ALWAYS READY TO RESPOND-THE MEXICAN WAR-FIRE EATING ( ?) BANDS-SUTLERS WHO FOUGHT AND BLED (?) AND NOW DRAW PENSIONS-THE CIVIL WAR HOME GUARDS-THE OLD HOSPITAL STILL STANDING-NEWS OF THE WAR- THE SURRENDER -THE DEATH OF LINCOLN-EXTRACT FROM COL. JAMES SHANKLIN'S
vii
CONTENTS
Page
SPEECH-THE DIFFERENT EVANSVILLE COMPANIES-A LIST OF THE NAMES-SEVERAL WAR RECORDS-SOME PLAIN TRUTH-THE MAINE, AND SOME PLAIN TALK FOR WHICH THE AUTHOR IS PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE 273
CHAPTER XXII.
OUR CHURCHES-HOW THEY SPRANG FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS-EVERY CREED NOW REPRESENTED-THE OLD CIRCUIT RIDERS-THE METHODISTS WERE FIRST-THE OLD LOG CHURCH- THE VARIOUS SHIFTS FOR HOLD- ING MEETINGS-THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND ITS MISSIONS-THE JEWISH TEMPLES AND OTHER CHURCHES. 310
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE MAYORS OF EVANSVILLE-THE COMMON COUNCILS-COUNTY OFFI- CIALS-VARIOUS SERVANTS (?) OF THE PEOPLE-A COMPLETE LIST- COUNTY WORK-A MISTAKEN IDEA-SOME OF THE OLD "FAIRIES" WHOM I KNEW-PEANUT POLITICS. 327
CHAPTER XXIV.
FRATERNAL AND BENEVOLENT ORDERS-THE BEGINNING OF MASONRY AND ODD FELLOWSHIP-OTHER ORDERS-ST. MARY'S HOSPITAL-THE ORPHAN ASYLUMS-THE OUTING FARM. 355
CHAPTER XXV.
OUR CEMETERIES AND THEIR BEAUTIFUL LOCATIONS-CARE OF THE POOR- VARIOUS ATTEMPTS AT FARMING THE POOR-OLD TIME METHODS. .. . 371
CHAPTER XXVI.
POULTRY AND PET STOCK ASSOCIATION-THE HUMANE SOCIETY-EVANS- VILLE POULTRY AND PET STOCK ASSOCIATION 377
CHAPTER XXVII.
HOW EACH TOWNSHIP WAS STARTED-THE SMALL EARLY SETTLEMENTS- INFLUX OF ENGLISH AND GERMAN FARMERS-HOW EACH SETTLEMENT HAD ITS CHURCH-POOR AND HAPHAZARD FARMING THE FLIGHT OF THE SQUATTERS-THE ADVENT OF HIGH-CLASS FARMING-THE PRODUC- TIVE SOIL BACK OF EVANSVILLE-INCREASE IN VALUES. 381
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE GREATER EVANSVILLE-"THE CITY OF OPPORTUNITIES"-HOW SHE HAS PASSED THE DIVIDING LINE-WE HAVE ONLY TO WAIT-HOW EARLY INDUSTRIES HAVE GROWN-INFLUX OF NEW ONES-THE CHEAPEST FUEL ON EARTH-THE GREAT GATEWAY TO THE SOUTH-WHAT THE LOCKS AND DAMS WILL DO-THE PANAMA CANAL-EXTRACTS FROM SPEECHES OF VARIOUS WELL-POSTED MEN 400
FRANK M. GILBERT
HISTORY OF VANDERBURG COUNTY
CHAPTER I.
THE PIONEER SETTLERS-THE GAME ON WHICH THEY LIVED THE BUFFALO AND WHY IT IS ON THE STATE SEAL-THE FIVE TRIBES OF INDIANS AND WHERE THEY LIVED-THE FIRST DEEDS TO THIS SECTION-HUNTING GAME -EARLY TRAPS-WAYS OF HUNTING GAME-TRICKS OF DEER-PASSING OF THE BUFFALO-FOX HUNTING-WILD BEES-WILD HOGS-BEARS.
In all histories of Evansville that are extant it seems to be assumed that Hugh McGary came from some point in Kentucky in a canoe, and landed at the old Elm Tree which stood near the foot of what is now Division street and first saw the site of the Evansville of today.
This is an error. He may have come over from Kentucky to the site of this city as is the general belief, but it can be shown that this was not his first visit to the place but that he came down to the river here after a visit to Vincennes.
Indiana was once a very paradise for game. But while the big seal of the state has a cut of a buffalo, it cannot be shown that buffaloes ever stayed here in any great numbers.
This was a "wood" country and the buffalo is not a wood animal. Again, while the buffalo likes small streams such as exist in the great western prairies where the animal roamed at one time in countless thousands, it does not like marshes, such as existed above White river or clear up to Vin- cennes, nor great streams like the Ohio river. Neither would it stand the overflows from southern Indiana streams. But deer and turkeys and smaller game could be found anywhere and the Indians in this section were deer hunters.
Strangly enough, many people suppose that the Indians belong to one family, just as do the Chinese or Japanese, but they are as different in their habits, characteristics, looks and languages as can be imagined.
5
6
HISTORY OF VANDERBURG COUNTY
In this part of the country there were five separate or distinct tribes, the Shawnees, Miamis, Piaukeshaws, Wyandotts and Delawares. Perhaps the most powerful band was the Shawnees, but their territory lay rather below here along the river and the town of Shawnee, Illinois, derives its name from them.
The "pocket" in which lies Vanderburg County was claimed by the Miamis. As stated, the Shawnees, while they hunted here, began their claim at the Wabash river, which in the early days was spelled "Ouabache."
What the Miamis claimed was the entire tract between Detroit and the headwaters of the Scioto river, thence to its mouth. From there they took in the entire Ohio river to the mouth of the Wabash and from there up to Chicago. So there is no question as to who claimed to be the original owners of Evansville. But the claim made in 1795 was not valid, for twenty years before that time one Louis Viviat, a French trader, held a meeting with several chiefs and sachems of the Piaukeshaw nation, at Post Saint Vincent (which is now the city of Vincennes).
Among those with whom he dealt were "The Black Fly," "The Mus- quito," "Little Beaver," "Tobacco" and "Tobac Jr."
The records show that he got a deed from eleven chiefs and it shows just what blankets, ribbons, vermilion, fusils, buckhorn handle knives, brass kettles, gun flints (10,000), "two pounds of lead," and all sorts of silver arm bands, "ear-bobs," wrist bands, whole moons, half moons, etc., etc., he gave. He also put in three horses. Many of the trinkets given in exchange to the Indians for this land have been found from time to time in mounds in the Wabash valley, and more likely are a portion of the pur- chase price of the virgin wilderness by the first white men to locate in the valley.
What concerns us is the part that applies to our present site, which is thus described: "That tract or parcel of land situated, lying and being on both sides of the Ouabache river beginning at the mouth of White river where it empties into the Ouabache river (about twelve leagues below Post Saint Vincent), thence down Ouabache river by several courses thereof, until it empties into the Ohio river, being from the said White river to the Ohio river fifty-three leagues in length, with forty leagues in length or breadth on each side, and thirty leagues in width or breadth on the west side of the Ouabache river aforesaid."
So Louis Viviat was the first owner and all (?) he got for his blankets, beads, etc., were 37,497,600 acres of the finest land on which the sun ever shone. This of course covers the two tracts he got that day.
Viviat's company held this claim for many years and tried as late as 1810 to have it confirmed but Congress refused. (There were no scoundrel lobyists in Washington in those days or Viviat would have gotten the land and probably a pension for having "rescued" that much soil from the Indians.)
7
HISTORY OF VANDERBURG COUNTY
The Piaukeshaws did not recognize any claim by the Miamis, and in 1768 gave a Vanderburg, Gibson, Posey, Pike, Spencer and a part of Perry Counties to the Delaware and their right to do this was acknowledged by the Miamis in the treaty of 1804 (5th article). Their title was further relinquished on February 5th, 1805.
On the 14th of the same month a treaty was formally proclaimed with the Delaware tribe by Gen. W. H. Harrison, who was then Governor of the state, and thus the red man relinquished his claim forever.
This land was placed on sale at Vincennes and little places, widely scat- tered, were soon cleared up.
In 1835 I stood under the trees under which this treaty was made.
In all stories regarding the Indians there is much of tradition and there is much which has no real basis.
The Indians of Indiana were never such bloodthirsty devils as the Co- manches and the native tribes of the great West.
Long after the treaty they still continued to hunt in this section, but about all the harm they did was to steal. Some day the public will know all about the "noble Indian." There may have been some noble ones in those days, but they were few and some day the white people will under- stand that there are some races that live only for the day. For tomorrow they care nothing. Start the uneducated savage with a fortune and he would lose it as soon as possible, just as would the average shiftless negro. And so these savages roamed at will through a country where game was so plenty that it was a nuisance and, if they had plenty to eat and any kind of a place to sleep, they were content.
Uncle Sam has saved the Indian from many evils which afflicted him in the old days. The red man knows little of the actual terrors of starvation which came to him at not infrequent intervals when he got his living from the game of the forest or the prairie. He isn't constantly involved in marauding warfare and he isn't liable at almost any moment of his exist- ence to be captured and killed to the music of the tomtoms as he was in the good old days.
But after all the government has substituted new terrors for old. All of the western states have game laws which are enforced more or less strictly against white people but they are enforced with great rigor against the Indian. We have cooped the red man up in his reservation, and like many other wild things he can't stand the confinement. In the old days there was little, if any, tuberculosis among the Indians. Today the shadow of consumption hangs darkly over the untamed tribes of the West.
Of course we know that the Indian has been more or less a sufferer, always, since he was driven to the far west.
There may be some good Indian agents, but they are few and far be- tween. Naturally these places fall to politicians and I have personally seen men who were supposed to outline Indian policies, who knew as little about real Indians and their ways and wants as a child. They were the kind of
8
HISTORY OF VANDERBURG COUNTY
men who had been raised in cities, and any woodsman could take them out of a deer camp and lose them, hopelessly, in five minutes. They would not ven know what "chuck" to take for a day's fish two miles out of town and couldn't tell a two year old steer from a ten year old wood-ox, if their horns were both long. Yet they drew their $10 per day and all expenses, and "conducted" (?) Indian affairs. What chance would they have with a sharp agent on a Reservation? They would simply swallow whatever he had to say.
It would hardly be right to neglect a mention of the game of this sec- tion.
Pigeon Creek, and Pigeon Township were named for the countless millions of wild pigeons that located each year in this section and raised their young. I myself saw the last of the great flocks when I was a little boy. I stood where now is Sunset Park, with my father, and saw them darken the sky flying over. Later, when I could hold a gun I killed them in the woods along the present Washington Avenue. I killed wild ducks in a slough this side of there and wild turkeys just off the Green river road to the right of the Fair Grounds, and my first deer, killed when I was twelve, was at the mouth of Green river.
If it was so plenty in my young days, think what it must have been when Hugh McGary settled here.
The rifle was as much a part of the household goods in his days as is the stove or range today. It furnished the meat. Hogs and cattle were few and too precious to be killed.
Most of the rifles were flint lock, for this was before the day of the percussion cap. They were all small bore; in fact, they sometimes called them "pea" or squirrel rifles and many will wonder why this size was used, Simply because lead was almost a luxury. Speaking again of what I have seen in the early day, I've seen the man who won fifth prize at a rifle shoot- ing match (the lead in the tree) digging for dear life for the little pellets, no matter how deeply embedded, and he got them all, for to miss a tree in those days would be almost a crime.
An old hunter one day handed me a squirrel. It was shot through the neck and its body was untouched. When I thanked him and asked him why he gave it to me he said: "Do you think I'd take a squirrel home to my old woman that wasn't shot in the eye? She'd think I was gittin old and losin' my sight."
There were wonderful shots in those days and wonderful woodsmen. To them the woods were an open book. A leaf turned here, or a little scrape there, all meant something. And they could imitate anything from the bleat of a deer to the yelp of a turkey and could get behind a log, and with their hats on the leaves, imitate the fighting of two gobblers so naturally that a flock, especially when led by pugnacious gobblers, would come right up to them.
9
HISTORY OF VANDERBURG COUNTY
Green river, that cold and clear stream, was literally alive with black bass, as was Wabash below us, while the enormous "Ohio river cats" some- times ran over 100 pounds each.
All this section was alive with what went by the term "varmints"- bear, wild cats, weasels, 'coons, 'possoms, otters, mink-the pest of the first poultrymen-foxes, skunks and squirrels.
The owners of the little farms or "clearings" had a hard time, for they had to watch day and night to keep their crops from being eaten.
And the dogs. No family felt safe without them. No pedigree was theirs. They were just sturdy pioneer dogs, taught to hate an Indian or suspect any stranger who was not made welcome at once. Ready to tackle a bear or worry it till their masters came up; chase a fox or mink; "tree" a 'coon or wild cat, or "trail" a crippled deer. They were all sorts, sizes and shapes, but they were true as steel.
Just as the Indians always relied on their dogs to give warning of the approach of a foe or stranger, so did the pioneers.
Reverting to the scarcity of bullets, all sorts of ways of taking game without the wasting of lead were in vogue. There were "dead falls" with the old figure 4 trap, for everything from a bear down to a 'coon. Of course it took skill to put them in the right place, but this was a part of the hunter's lore.
But the most common thing was the turkey trap, and these were used in this section and especially over in Kentucky as late as the sixties.
A turkey trap was simply a low covered pen, leading into which was a shallow trench. After the pen was built, it was allowed to lie idle till the leaves on the saplings faded and the traveling bands of turkeys grew accus- tomed to seeing it. Soon the pioneer would begin to scatter a little corn through the woods, always leaving the most of it near the trench. The trench extended into the pen, and just over it and close to the front wall was an old board.
When, by the "sign" the owner could see that the turkeys were coming regularly, he would sprinkle a lot in the trench and a pile just inside the pen. The unsuspecting turkeys would keep pecking and pushing past each other to get at the big pile and, once past the old board, they were caught, for they never thought of going out the way them came. It was not un- usual to get twenty at a time.
The "trench" was also used. This was simply a trench wide enough for the turkeys to jump into, and the corn, after the "tolling" corn was scattered in the woods, was all in a straight line along the bottom. The hunter went before day to his post which was behind some big bush in a direct line with the trench and waited for the victims to come. As soon as they were feeding well he gave a low whistle and when the flock raised their heads he shot off the head of the nearest big gobbler taking chances on hitting several more with the same bullet. As many as eight turkeys have been killed by one bullet in this manner.
10
HISTORY OF VANDERBURG COUNTY
Of course for quail and rabbits the old square trap made out of hickory splints, fastened together with bark and set with a nubbin of corn on a figure four, was used.
The bear trap was a huge affair-an enormous log, raised up and set so that it could fall only in a certain place, and to get to the bait the bear must step exactly into position. In setting these, the skill of the hunter was again called into play. The world wagged then just as it does now. Some hunters were very "lucky" because they used their brains and were not afraid of toil and exposure to all kinds of weather, and their traps were set and watched as they should be. Others were "unlucky" simply because they liked a big fireplace too well. There were hardy pioneers in those days and some less hardy just as one finds them today in the "pioneers of industry."
In every work regarding the settlement of southern Indiana, much space is given to Indian murders and hunting. But it is a fact that after going carefully over all the old stories I cannot find an account of a single Indian atrocity that occurred at or near Evansville. All the old works are full of them, but the nearest crimes of which any record is given were near Vincennes, or Rockport (only one happening there) or along the Wa- bash in White County.
But of hunting tales there is a great store. I doubt if there are today in Evansville twenty men who understand how to "pick up a sign" or "still hunt," for that is the way our ancestors hunted.
It was only after the introduction of the long eared Virginia and North and South Carolina hounds that driving deer began. As I state elsewhere, cur dogs were the only kind known here in the early days. Many of the younger generation, however, love to read old hunting stories and this will reach the eyes of many who will never see a wild deer or wild turkey. "Hounding" deer and "driving" deer are synonymous. The hunter goes out with his hounds securely tied until he reaches a well known feeding place or a deer crossing, i. e., a place where they cross little lakes or creeks. The hounds are then released and the hunter stands quietly and listens When they strike a trail that is fresh, they at once "give tongue," i. e., begin to bark and follow it rapidly. The hunter listens till he gets the general direction and then hurries to some favorite crossing spot and waits for the deer to come running past him. All he has to do is to allow for the speed of the deer and kill it, for it usually passes within thirty yards of him.
A deer can play ahead of the hounds all day, or "back track" by a "side jump," and by this I mean that it will jump stiff legged as far as possible to one side and quietly sneak off a little way. Then when the dogs have passed it will jump back into its own trail and go back the way it came.
A wily old buck can be driven by hounds every day for weeks, and never even allow them to catch sight of him.
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