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Gc 977.2 D92ina
REFERENCE
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Gc 977.2 D92ina Dunn, Jacob Piatt, 1855- 1924. Indiana and Indianans
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
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INDIANA AND INDIANANS
A HISTORY OF ABORIGINAL AND TERRITORIAL INDIANA AND, THE CENTURY OF STATEHOOD
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JACOB PIATT DUNN AUTHOR AND EDITOR
FREE
BRARY
NEW BE
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GIFT OF PUBLISHERS THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY CHICAGO AND NEW YORK Dazina
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Allen County Public Library 900 Webster Street PO Box 2270 Fort Wayne, IN. 46801-2270
0903038 WIM
1360931. INTRODUCTORY
The past thirty years, beginning with the reorganization of the Indiana Historical Society in 1886, constitute an epoch in historical work in Indiana. In part this has been only a local feature of the general awakening of interest in American history, due primarily to passage through the centennial anniversaries of the great events of American beginnings. Independent of that, there has been in Indiana a systematic effort to gather and put in print authentic historical matter that has resulted in five volumes of Publications of the Indiana His- torical Society, and twelve volumes of the Indiana Magazine of History -the latter due to the self-sacrificing efforts of Mr. George S. Cottman, -in addition to numerous volumes by individual authors. In this period the State University and several colleges have taken up special research work in history in their courses of study, and the public has profited by the publication of a number of papers of this origin.
But Indiana history has also been the beneficiary of much of the research of historical societies in her sister states, and especially those included in old Northwest Territory. A single illustration will show the importance of this. When I published my "Indiana, a Redemption from Slavery", in 1888, I thought I had got to the bottom of the local slavery history ; but in the last dozen years, the fact has been developed, in Illinois, that Thomas Jefferson had his hand on the opposition to slavery all through our territorial history ; and, what is more surprising, his touch with the movement was through Baptist churches, whose connection with the movement had not even been noticed. It is a matter of gratification to be able to present this phase of the matter, and give the credit where it belongs, in the present publication. The bringing to light of this and many other material facts not only justifies the rewriting of Indiana history, but justifies the statement that we have only now reached the point when the earliest history of Indiana can be written authoritatively. In these regards, the succeeding pages will speak for themselves.
J. P. DUNN.
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Indiana and Indianans
CHAPTER I
THE PREHISTORIC HOOSIER
"Marley was dead to begin with", and so were the Mound Builders of Indiana; but unhappily these left no such adequate and satisfactory records as there were in Marley's case. In consequence it has not been possible to organize any society of Sons or Daughters of the Mound Builders because of the dearth of genealogical material. It is generally assumed that all of the prehistoric men of this region were Mound Builders, but there is no assurance of this. Indeed, unless it be assumed that they were fighting among themselves, it is certain that they had hostile contemporaries, for their extensive fortifications show a state of "preparedness" that is inconsistent with anything but a well- grounded fear of attack.
Their mounds, or earth works, have been divided by some authorities into four classes, viz. 1, Defensive mounds; 2, Observation or Signal mounds; 3, Temple or Religious mounds; and 4, Burial mounds. Of these the last named are by far the most numerous; and the first named are the most impressive. All four classes are found in Indiana, and some of the more remarkable ones are worthy of detailed description. One of the most notable is known as Fort Azatlan, near Merom. It was so named by Prof. John Collett, the Indiana geologist, from Aztlan, the legendary place of origin of the Aztecs. In 1871, Mr. Frederic Ward Putnam, the noted anthropologist, in company with Prof. Cox, then State Geologist of Indiana, Prof. Collett, and others, examined this work, and Mr. Putnam said of it:
"The fort is situated on a plateau of loess, about one hundred and seventy feet in height above low water, on the east bank of the river.
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On the river side, the bank, which principally consists of an outcrop of sandstone, is very steep, and forms the western line of the fortification, while deep ravines add to its strength on the other sides; the weak points being strengthened by earth works. The general course of the work is from the north, where it is very narrow (not over 50 feet) owing to the formation of the plateau, south along the river bank about 725 feet to its widest portion (at H) which is here about 375 feet east and west. From this point it follows a deep ravine southerly about 460 feet to the entrance end of the fort. The bank traversed by the entrance road is here much wider than at other portions, and along its outer wall, running eastward, are the remains of what was evidently once a deep ditch. The outer wall (A, B) is about 30 feet wide and is now about 11/2 feet high; a depressed portion of the bank, or walk way, then runs parallel with the outerwall, and the bank (C, D) is then continued for about 20 feet further into the fort, but of slightly less height than the front. Through the center of these banks there are the remains of a distinct roadway about ten feet in width.
"From the northeastern corner of this wide wall the line continues northwesterly about 350 feet along the eastern ravine to a point where there is a spring, and the ravine makes an indenture of nearly 100 feet to the southwest. The mouth of the indenture is about 75 feet in width and the work is here strengthened by a double embankment (E, F). The natural line of the work follows this indenture and then continues in about the same northerly course along the banks of the ravine to the narrow portion of the plateau about 550 feet to the starting point. There is thus a continued line, in part natural and in part artificial, which if measured in all its little ins and outs would not be far from 2,450 feet.
"Besides the spring mentioned as in the indenture of the eastern ravine, there is another spring in the same ravine about 175 feet to the north of the first, and a third in the southwestern ravine about 125 feet to the west of the southwestern corner of the work.
"Looking at all the natural advantages offered by this location, it is the one spot of the region, for several miles along the river, that would be selected today for the erection of a fortification in the vicinity, with the addition of the possession of a small eminence to the north, which in these days of artillery would command the fort. Having this view in mind a careful examination was made of this eminence men- tioned, to see if there had ever been an opposing or protective work there, but not the slightest indication of earthwork fortification or of mounds of habitation was discovered.
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INDIANA AND INDIANANS
"The interior of this fortification contains much of interest. On crossing the outer wall a few low mounds are at once noticed, and all around are seen large circular depressions. At the southern portion of
WABASH VALLEY
RAVINE
E
HO 0
C
RAVINE
100 FT
200 FT
FORT AZATLAN, NEAR MEROM, IND.
the fort these depressions, of which there are forty-five in all, are most numerous, thirty-seven of them being located south of a line drawn from E on the northern side of the indenture of the eastern ravine to the projecting extreme western point of the fort at H.
"These depressions vary in width from ten to twenty-five or thirty feet, and are irregularly arranged, as shown by the accompanying en-
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graving, where they are represented by the black circles. One of the six depressions opposite the indenture of the eastern ravine is oval in shape, and is the only one that is not nearly circular, the others varying but a foot or two in their diameters.
"Two of these depressions were dug into and it was found that they were evidently once large pits that had gradually been filled by the hand of time with the accumulation of vegetable matter and soil that had been deposited by natural action alone. In some instances large trees are now growing in the pits and their many roots make digging . difficult. A trench was dug across one pit (J) throwing out the soil carefully until the former bottom of the pit was reached at a depth of about five feet. On this bottom ashes and burnt clay gave evidence of an ancient fire, and at a few feet on one side several pieces of pottery, a few bones of animals, and one stone arrowhead were found. A spot had evidently been struck where food had been cooked and eaten, and though there was not time to open other pits there is no doubt but that they would tell a similar story, and the legitimate conclusion to be drawn from the facts is that these pits were the houses of the inhabi- tants or defenders of the fort, who were probably further protected from the elements, and the arrows of assailants, by a roof of logs and bark or boughs. The great number of the pits would show that they were for a definite and general purpose and their irregular arrangement would indicate that they were not laid out with the sole idea of acting as places of defence, though those near the walls of the fort might answer as covers from which to fire on an opposing force beyond the walls, and the six pits near the eastern indenture, in front of three of which there are traces of two small earth walls, and the two com- manding the entrance of the fort, would strengthen this view of the use of those near the embankment.
"In many of the ancient fortifications that have been described by Mr. Squier and others, pits have been noticed, but they have been only very few in number and have been considered as places for the storage of food and water. The great number in this small earthwork, with the finding that one at least was used for the purpose of cooking and eating food, is evidence that they were used for some other purpose here, though some of the smaller ones may have answered for store- houses.
"The five small mounds were situated in various parts of the en- closure. The largest (G) was nearly fifty feet in diameter and was probably originally not over ten feet in height. It had been very nearly dug away in places, but about one-fifth of the lower portion had
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not been disturbed. From this was exhumed one nearly perfect human skeleton and parts of several others that had been left by former ex- cavators. This mound also contained several bones of animals, princi- pally of deer, bear, opossum and turtles; fragments of pottery, one arrowhead, a few flint chips, and a number of thick shells of unios two of which had been bored near the hinge: This mound has yielded a number of human bones to the industry of Dr. H. Frank Harper.
"The second mound (I) which was partly opened, was some twenty- five feet in diameter and a few feet in height, though probably once much higher. In this a number of bones of deer and other animals were found, several pieces of pottery, a number of shells and a few human bones. The other three mounds, one of which is not over ten or twelve feet in diameter and situated the furthest to the north, were not examined internally.
"The position of all the mounds within the enclosure, which are indicated by the white circles on the cut, is such as to suggest that they were used as observatories, and it may yet be questioned if the human and other remains found in them were placed there by the occupants of the fort, or are to be considered under the head of intrusive burials by a later race. Perhaps a further study of the bones may settle the point. That two races have buried their dead within the enclosure is made probable by the finding of an entirely different class of burials at the extreme western point of the fortification, indicated on the en- graving by the three quadrangular figures at H. At this point Dr. Harper, the year previous, had discovered three stone graves, in which he found portions of the skeletons of two adults and one child. These graves, the stones of one being still in place, were found to be made by placing thin slabs of stone on end, forming the sides and ends, the top being covered by other slabs, making a rough stone coffin in which the bodies had been placed. There was no indication of any mound having been erected, and they were placed slightly on the slope of the bank. This kind of burial is so distinct from that of the burials in the mound that it is possible that the acts may be referred to two distinct races who have occupied the territory successively, though they may prove to be of the same time and simply indicate a special mode adopted for a distinctive purpose." 1
Even more striking is the "stone fort" in Clark County. Prof. E. T. Cox, who, after surveying it, pronounced it "one of the most re- markable stone fortifications which has ever come under my notice", gave the following description of it:
1 Bulletin of Essex Institute, Vol. 3, No. 2, November, 1871.
N
Artificial Stone Wall
1
Creek/
Natural Stone-Wall
1 Mile
Artifici
al
Stone
Low. Bottoni Lund
MAP OF A
STONE FORTIFICATION AND MOUNDS on the Ohio River3 Miles East of Charlestown. Clarke fo .... Indiana. Surveyed by Prof. E. T. COX. Stale Gicologist and, 11: H: BORDEN, Assistant.
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INDIANA AND INDIANANS
"The locality selected for this fort presents many natural advantages for making it impregnable to the opposing forces of pre-historic times. It occupies the point of an elevated narrow ridge which faces the Ohio river on the east, and is bordered by Fourteen Mile Creek on the west side. This creek empties into the Ohio a short distance below the fort. The top of the ridge is pear shape, with the part answering to the neck at the north end. This part is not over twenty feet wide and is protected by precipitous natural walls of stone. It is two hundred and eighty feet above the level of the Ohio, and the slope is very gradual to the south. At the upper field it is two hundred and forty feet high and one hundred steps wide. At the lower timber it is one hundred and twenty feet high. The bottom land at the foot of the south end is sixty feet above the river. Along the greater part of the Ohio river front there is an abrupt escarpment of rock entirely too steep to be scaled, and a similar natural barrier exists along a portion of the north west side of the ridge facing the creek. This natural wall is joined to the neck by an artificial wall made by piling up, mason fashion, but without mortar, loose stone, which had evidently been pried up from the corniferous layers at the point marked D. This made wall at this point is about one hundred and fifty feet long. It is built along the slope of the hill and had an elevation of about seventy-five feet above its base, the upper ten feet being vertical. The inside of the wall is protected by a ditch. The remainder of the hill is protected by an artificial stone wall built in the same manner but not more than ten feet high. The elevation of the side wall above the creek bottom is eighty feet. Within the artificial walls are a string of mounds which rise to the height of the wall and are protected from the washing from the hill sides by a ditch twenty feet wide and four feet deep. The position of the artificial walls, natural cliffs of bedded stone, as well as that of the ditch and mounds will be better understood by a reference to the accompanying map.
"The top of the enclosed ridge embraces ten or twelve acres, and there are as many as five mounds that can be recognized on the flat surface, while no doubt many others existed which have been obliterated by time and through the agency of man in his efforts to cultivate a portion of the ground. A trench was cut into one of these mounds in search of relics. A few fragments of charcoal and decomposed bones and a large, irregular diamond-shaped boulder, with a small circular indentation near the middle of the upper part that was worn quite smooth by the use to which it was put, and a small piece of fossil coral- favosites goldfussi- comprised all the articles of note which were re-
Graham cr.
Old bed of
Well
Stone wall
371
Louisville branch of O & M.R.R.
Big creek
Fig. 6.
Fortified Ridge on the land of Gilbert Wiggin in N.W. corner of Jefferson Go. Ind.
STONE FORT IN JEFFERSON COUNTY
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INDIANA AND INDIANANS
vealed by the excavation. The earth of which the mound is made resembles that seen on the side of the hill and was, probably, in most part taken from the ditch. The margin next to the ditch was protected by slabs of stone set on edge and leaning at an angle corresponding to the slope of the mound. This stone shield was two and a half feet wide and one foot high. At intervals along the great ditch there are channels formed between the mounds that probably served to carry off surplus water through openings in the outer wall.
"On the top of the enclosed ridge, and near to the narrowest part (D) there is one mound much larger than any of the others and so situated as to command an extensive view up and down the Ohio river, as well as affording an unobstructed view east and west. There is near this mound a slight break in the cliff of rock which furnished a narrow passage way to the Ohio river. Though the locality afforded many natural advantages for a fort or stronghold, one is compelled to admit that much skill was displayed and labor expended in rendering its defense as perfect as possible at all points. Stone axes, pestles, arrow heads, spear points, totems, charms and flint flakes have been found in great abundance in plowing the field at the foot of the old fort." 2
There is another stone fort of about the same size as this a little farther up the Ohio valley in Jefferson County. It stands on the bank of Big Creek, eighty feet above the creek bed, and incloses about ten acres. On the north and south sides of this bluff there are steep stone cliffs from sixty to eighty feet in height, which converge at the west side, leaving only a narrow strip there without natural protection. This point is covered by an artificial stone wall similar to those of the preceding fortification; and so is the east side, where the north and south lines are about four hundred feet apart. This long stretch of made wall was originally about ten feet thick at the base, and is so curved as to plainly indicate its defensive purpose.3 There are some other stone fortifications in Indiana, but they are smaller. One in Jennings County is 75 feet in diameter, and stands on a cliff 75 feet above an adjacent stream.4
There are also several stone mounds in the southern part of the State. Two of these, in Clark County, are unique. They are made of flat stones, methodically piled up so as to leave a small opening in the interior, and connecting with these are long, low entrance ways
2 Ind. Geol. Report, 1873, pp. 126-7.
3 Ind. Geol. Report, 1874, p. 32.
4 Ind. Geol. Report, 1875, p. 174.
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of stone, arched over, somewhat resembling Eskimo igloos. Some of the people in the vicinity believe that there were underground passages connecting these mounds with a cave near by.5 The other stone mounds that have been described are solid. Of these three are near the town of Deputy, in Jefferson County. One of them is oval in shape, 135 feet long and 60 feet wide. The other two are much smaller, and so are similar mounds elsewhere, as in Ripley and Scott counties.6 All of these mounds that have been opened have been found to contain human bones, and usually bones of animals, and other matter. It is hardly questionable that these are burial mounds. Old writers mention this mode of sepulture among the Southern tribes, especially when the dead, for some reason or other, could not be taken to the customary places of burial for interment with the usual rites. Adair says: "In the woods we often see innumerable heaps of small stones in those places where, according to tradition, some of their distinguished people were either killed or buried, till the bones could be gathered : there they add Pelion to Ossa, still increasing each heap, as a lasting monument and honour to them, and an incentive to great actions."7 Bartram noted "vast heaps of stones", marking the graves of Cherokee warriors who had fallen in a disastrous battle with the whites.8 Dr. Brickell mentioned at a much earlier date the custom of the Carolin Indians to make such monuments.9 Mr. Charles C. Jones, the learned Georgia anthropologist, says: "In order to designate the grave of a remarkable warrior, who had fallen in battle, and whose body could not at the time he brought home by his companions, the Cherokees and other nations inhabiting hilly regions were wont to cover the body of the slain with stones collected on the spot. Every passer-by contributed his stone to the pile, until it rose into a marked and permanent memorial of the dead." 10
In the descriptions of the first two forts above, mention is made of "observation mounds", and it is probable that these were made at other points for defensive purposes. In a report on Ohio and Switzer- land counties, Mr. Robert B. Warder says: "Dr. J. W. Baxter, of Vevay, gives me the following account of a series of mounds or signal
5 Ind. Geol. Report, 1874, p. 29.
6 See Ind. Geol. Report, 1874, pp. 35, 197-9; 8th Rept. Peabody Mus., Vol. 1,
p. 47; Bulletin No. 1, Brookville Soc. of Nat. Hist. (1885) p. 35.
7 History of the American Indians, p. 184. London, 1775.
8 Travels through North and South Carolina, etc., p. 346. London, 1792.
9 Natural History of North Carolina, p. 380. Dublin, 1737.
10 Antiquities of the Southern Indians, p. 201. N. Y. 1873.
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stations, occupying prominent points along the Ohio river, and so located that each may be seen from the next above and below. These command nearly the whole bottom. From the station below Patriot the observer may look across Gallatin County, Kentucky, and the valley of Eagle creek to the hight of land in Owen County. Both this mound and one near Rising Sun exhibit traces of fires that were doubtless used as telegraphic signals by the Mound Builders. The mounds at the
WHITE RIVER
PUBLIC ROAD
E. 10° S. 1320 FT
CREEK
150 FT
PUBLIC ROAD NORTH LINE OF FAIR GROUND
MOUND
JET
HIGH
A
100 FT ACROSS
------====== FAIR GROUND
AREA 31 ACRES
EAST LINE OF FAIR GROUND"
C_
N. 10° E
WEST LINE OF
EARTH MOUNDS IN RANDOLPH COUNTY
following places form a complete series, though others may have been used when the country was timbered: Rising Sun; near Gunpowder creek, Kentucky; the Dibble farm, two miles south of Patriot; the "North Hill", below Warsaw, Kentucky; the Taylor farm, below Log Lick creek; opposite Carrollton, Kentucky; below Carrollton. A greater number of wild grapes, plums, crabapples and onions are found near the mounds than elsewhere." 11
11 Ind. Geol. Report, 1872, p. 413.
-- - -
150 FT >
----
A --
1080 FT.
SUGAR
C ___ D
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INDIANA AND INDIANANS
In addition to the stone forts, there are several earth works whose defensive character is obvious. The most extensive of these is on White river in Randolph County, and is described by Prof. Cox as follows: "The largest walled enclosure in the State is situated near the town of Winchester, in Randolph county. It is figured in Squier and Davis' Antiquities of the Mississippi Valley, but as that plat was inaccurately made it is reproduced here from actual measurements made by Dr. G. M. Levette. It contains thirty-one acres, and a good portion of it lies within the boundary of the Randolph county fair ground, the remaining portion, with the exception of the public road- way on the west end, lies in cultivated fields, so that the whole work is in a fair way to be obliterated. There are two gateways, one on the eastern end, twelve feet wide, and has no defenses, Sugar creek and the intervening bluff probably being deemed sufficient; but at the west end there is an embankment in the shape of a half circle which overlaps the gate and complicates the passage-way. The enclosure is in the shape of a parallelogram with curved angles; the sides are 1,320 feet long, and the ends 1,080 feet. There is a mound in the centre 100 feet in diameter and nine feet high. When the horses are trotting, at fair times, this mound is covered with spectators, as it commands a view of the entire track. I once had the pleasure of witnessing a spirited trot from the top of this mound. The walls of the enclosure are from eight to nine feet high where they have not been disturbed by the plow. A cross section of the half-circle at the west gate is shown on the plate; it has a slight ditch on the inside; also a cross section of the main wall, which has no fosse. You will perceive that the location for this large and remarkable work was selected with due regard to protection against the sudden attack of an enemy. It is at the junction of Sugar creek and White river, which affords protection on two sides, and the mound in the centre served as a look-out station." 12
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