USA > Indiana > A history of Indiana from its exploration to 1850 > Part 28
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A small party of militia scouts immediately set out from Lafayette for the scene of the depredation, and Gen. Jacob Walker called out the militia to rendezvous at Sugar Creek Grove in the western part of Benton county.
Meantime the scouts who set out from Lafayette at the first alarm returned and, on June 1, a committee of the best known men of the town sent out a statement to the effect that they had gone as far as Hickory creek, 100 miles north- west of Lafayette, and had found no traces of Indian war- fare. No damage had been done on Hickory creek. They reported, however, that Black Hawk, at the head of 500 warriors, was in arms and on the warpath, but was mak- ing his way toward the Mississippi.
The militia camp at Sugar Creek Grove was soon broken up. The returning scouts made it certain that Black Hawk had his hands full and that there was no danger from that quarter. Word was received in a few days from the deputy agent, M. G. Grover, at Logansport, that the Miamis, Pottawattomies, Chippewas, and Ottawas on the St. Joseph were all quiet. When this word came, General Walker disbanded his militia.
The alarm was not confined to Warren and Benton counties. The old Sac, or "Sauk," trail from Illinois to Mal- den led through LaPorte county. The early settlers of Door Village were accustomed to seeing Sac, or "Sauk," warriors pass and repass on this trail. At times the In-
REMOVAL OF INDIANS FROM THE STATE 329
20 1826
18 1821
22 1628
24
St. Joseph's
1832
5
Maumee
23 1832
13 1817
19 1826
19
726 1834
53
14 1618
29
id
cat
Creek
1934
creek
1828
10 1809
15
16
1820
NEW
PURCHASE
/8/8
11
1909
1
RI
FOR
2 1795
ST 1809
8 1805
M
ABASH
6
5
1803
1
W
R
7
1804
OHIO
INDIAN CESSIONS. BY E. V. SHOCKLEY.
Tippecanoe
50
Sugar
330
HISTORY OF INDIANA
dians stole horses and committed other crimes. The set- tlers along the trail feared them.
In May the Indian agent at Chicago sent a courier to warn the pioneers of the Door Village (LaPorte) that the Sacs were on the war path. It is said that refugees from Door Village fled as far as Cincinnati. The more resolute gathered in the little village and set to work to build a stout stockade. As soon as this was completed they sent out spies to learn what they could of the Indian advance. In the meantime a good blockhouse was constructed.7 After a few weeks the excitement wore off. There was ample rea- son for fear along the frontier of the State. Had Black Hawk chosen to lead his warriors along the Sac Trail to his old British friends and allies at Malden, there were not enough troops or settlers along the way to have prevented him.
The refugees from the Portage Prairie, Terre Coupee, and other settlements west of South Bend brought the news of the Indian war to that town. Most of the refugees were so alarmed they would not stop in South Bend, but hurried on to the east. As soon as the citizens were aroused they gathered together and, like the friends to the west, at the Door Village and on Portage Prairie, decided that safety lay in a blockhouse. Accordingly they built one and confidently awaited the coming of Black Hawk's war- riors.8
As soon as General Walker received the first report of an Indian uprising from Captain Newell he sent a messen- ger to Indianapolis. The messenger reached the governor May 29, 1832, and requested him to call out the militia for the Black Hawk War. The militia of Marion, Johnson, and Hendricks counties were accordingly called to meet at In- dianapolis. These troops, the pick of the three counties, 150 in number, under Col. A. W. Russel, of the Forty- eighth Regiment, reached Lafayette June 1-3. From Lafayette they crossed over into Illinois, marched to
7 General Jasper Packard, History of LaPorte County, 53.
8 Judge Timothy E. Howard, History of St. Joseph County, Indiana (index).
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Chicago, back around the south end of Lake Michigan, then by way of the St. Joseph country to Indianapolis, without seeing any hostile Indians. When they arrived at home they were banquetted as heroes at Washington Hall and the Mansion House hotels. They received the name "The Bloody 300" as a result of their campaign.
At the same time when Governor Noah Noble called out the Marion, Johnson, and Hendricks county militia, he or- dered a company of mounted volunteers from Putnam coun- ty to patrol the State line and watch for straggling bands of Indians that might attempt inroads on the settlements. General Orr, accordingly, enrolled eighty-two men, armed with rifles, tomahawks and butcher-knives. The company established headquarters at Attica and stationed guards along the State line. Patrols passed from one station to another every day and also reported daily to Attica. This was continued until August 10.
As soon as Senator John Tipton, who then represented Indiana in the United States Senate, heard that Black Hawk was on the war path, he proposed to call out 600 rangers to patrol the frontier till the war was ended. Con- gress quickly passed the measure. Two of the companies were to be furnished by Indiana. One was raised by Major B. V. Beckes, of Vincennes, the other by Colonel Lemuel Ford, of Charlestown. Colonel Ford's rangers reached In- dianapolis July 28, 1832. At this place they were joined by a party from Rush county under Lieutenant Bissell. All were well mounted and well drilled. Nearly all the people of the town turned out to see them march away next morn- ing over the Michigan Road toward Logansport and Chi- cago, where they were to report to General Scott. They were enrolled for a year or less, furnished their own horses and weapons, and received $1.00 per day.
Captain Beckes also hastened to the frontier with his company, but Black Hawk's band was annihilated at Bad Axe August 2, and all the troops were soon discharged. One thousand Sauk Indians had entered Illinois in April, but by the 3d of August not more than 150 were left alive. None
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HISTORY OF INDIANA
had come nearer to Indiana than seventy-five miles. The scare had come from three sources. First, the Sauks had defeated a large army of militia-2,500-under Stillman, on Rock river, and the agent at Chicago had sent the news to the settlements, with the added information that the war- riors would devastate the settlements. Second, the pioneers knew the Pottawattomies were closely related to the Sauks. Third, a large body of Sauk warriors had crossed northern Indiana just at the beginning of the war.9
§ 62 THE REMOVAL OF THE MIAMIS AND POTTAWATTOMIES
THE excitement caused by the Black Hawk War was the doom of the Indian population in Indiana. Although the Indians of Indiana were perfectly quiet and had nothing to do with causing the scare, the settlers seemed unable to accustom themselves to their presence in the neighbor- hood.
As early as 1819 Congress had discussed plans for civi- lizing the Indians.10 A law of that year gave the Presi- dent power to use $10,000 to pay the tuition of Indian chil- dren in mission schools. Several mission schools had been established in the State and were said to have done good work.11 However, there was no well organized support back of the law and nothing on a considerable scale was ac- complished.
In 1822 the system of government traders was abol- ished and a horde of irresponsible, depraved traders were
9 Judge Thomas S. Stanfield, in History of St. Joseph County, 449. Timothy Howard, St. Joseph County, I. 298. An excellent account of this whole "War" is given by Sanford C. Cox, Old Settlers, 86-98. For a complete contemporary history see Wakefield's History of the Black Hawk War. The mounted ranger service was authorized by Act of June 15, 1832. This authorized the president to enroll six companies of 100 men each. Statutes at Large, 1832, ch. CXXXI. All the details are given in the Indiana Democrat and the Indiana Journal under dates corresponding to the above. The above account is based upon the Journal's reports.
10 United States Statutes at Large, 1819, ch. LXXXV.
11 Isaac McCoy, History of the Baptist Indian Missions; J. B. Fin- ley, Life Among the Indians; Jacob Piatt Dunn, True Indian Stories.
REMOVAL OF INDIANS FROM THE STATE 333
turned into the Indian country.12 These small traders car- ried whisky to the Indian villages and traded it for furs. They were, in fact, poorly disguised robbers.
Various missionaries and other friends of the Indians soon began to plead for help. Most of them agreed that it would be better to get the Indians beyond the frontier. It was a policy of the Jacksonian Democrats to get them out of the way of the white settlers. The law of May 28, 1830, permitted any Indian tribe that cared to, to trade its land along the border for lands beyond the Mississippi.13 The law of July 9, 1832, which provided for a complete reorgan- ization of the Indian service, also appropriated $20,000 to hold councils among the Indiana Indians in order to induce them to migrate beyond the Mississippi.14
During the summer of 1833, and later, agents were busy along the upper Wabash and on Eel river gathering up par- ties of Indians and transporting them to the West. A fav- orite plan was to give horses to a number of chiefs and pay their way out to the new country on a tour of inspection. If necessary, these were then bribed to give a glowing re- port of the country they had seen. The Indians were by that means persuaded to emigrate.15
The best illustration of the hatred which the Indiana settlers bore toward the Indians is their treatment of the Pottawattomies, whom they forcibly expelled from the State in the summer of 1838. The Pottawattomies orig- inally hunted over the region south of Lake Michigan,
12 American State Papers, Indian Affairs, II, 326.
13 President Monroe also had recommended this policy ; see Ameri- can State Papers, Indian Affairs, II, 541, seq. Many Indians preferred to go; see Indiana Democrat, October 9, 1830. The Kickapoos had been transferred by treaty in 1820; see American State Papers, Indian Affairs, II, 223. The Delawares went beyond the Mississippi in 1820; see Vincennes Centinel, November 4, 1820.
14 United States Statutes at Large, 1832, ch. CLXXIV : CLXXV : also for 1834, ch. CLXII.
15 This work extended over several years. The cost astonished even the liberal Congress of 1833. The Senate called for an investigation. The result of this was Senate Document 512, published in five volumes in 1834, entitled Indian Removals. Abel Pepper was the most active agent in this state.
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north of the Wabash, and west of the St. Joseph and St. Mary's rivers.
They were usually hostile to the Americans when war was on. They led in the Indian massacre at Fort Dearborn, and in the attack on Fort Wayne and Fort Harrison. Most of the warriors under the Prophet at Tippecanoe, as well as those who perpetrated the Pigeon Roost murders and har- assed the White river border from Vallonia to the Wabash above Vincennes during the following years, were thought to be Pottawattomies. On the other hand, they had given the settlers the land for the Michigan Road-a body of land equal to a strip a mile wide from the Ohio to the lake.
Few settlers penetrated their lake-region hunting grounds before 1830. Beginning as early as 1817, in a treaty at Fort Meigs, the government adopted the unfor- tunate policy of making special reservations for Indian chiefs who refused to join the tribe in selling land. As a result of this policy several bands of Pottawattomies had special reservations in Marshall and adjoining counties. The treaty of 1832 took from the tribe its tribal lands, leaving Chief Menominee a reservation around Twin Lakes and ex- tending up to the present city of Plymouth. Down around Maxinkuckee, Chief Aubbeenaubee had a large reservation. Chief Benack and his village lived on a reservation in Tip- pecanoe township. In fact, Indians claimed and occupied the whole county except the strip of land given for the Michigan Road, a mile wide, stretching across the country north and south through Plymouth.
In 1834 a commission tried to buy the Indian land and succeeded in making a contract for most of it at fifty cents an acre. But on account of some individual reservations made in the treaty the government refused to ratify the purchase.
Col. Abel C. Pepper, of Lawrenceburg, then Indian agent, succeeded, in 1836, in buying the Indians out at $1 per acre, giving the Indians the privilege of remaining two years on the lands. The Indians asserted that this cession
REMOVAL OF INDIANS FROM THE STATE 335
was obtained by unfair means, but it seemed to have been accomplished as most others had been.
Anticipating the land sale which was to take place when the Indian lease expired, August 5, 1838, squatters began to enter the country and settle on the Indian land. They expected to hold their land later by the right of pre-emption. The Indians began to show resentment as the time for their forced migration approached. They contended that the chiefs had no right to sell the lands, and went so far as to murder one of the chiefs who had "touched the quill."
General Morgan and Colonel Pepper were busy among them, trying to persuade them that in the west was a much better place for them. Councils were held at Plymouth and at Dixie Lake, but the red men were obdurate. Then Col. Edward A. Hannegan, later a United States senator from Indiana, came from the post with a company of militia to see what effect that would have. It had none.
Pioneers had already squatted on the Indian lands. On August 5 these squatters demanded possession of the In- dian huts and fields. Many of the Indians had been in- duced to plant corn. They were told that the government would not sell their land till it was surveyed, and that could not be done during the summer of 1838.
The Indians refused to give possession and both par- ties resorted to violence. The fur traders in the region sided with the Indians and advised them to resist the squat- ters. The Catholic priest located at the Twin Lake Mis- sion also advised them that the squatters had no right to demand their land, especially the crop of corn which was now raised.
A squatter named Waters, it seems, was especially per- sistent in demanding that the Indians give him possession of a quarter section of land he had laid claim to. About the middle of August some Indians battered down his cabin door with an ax. In return the squatters joined together and burned eight or ten wigwams.
The pioneers along the frontier were expecting trouble. It had been only a few years since the scare of the Black
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HISTORY OF INDIANA
Hawk War. The Miamis had been sullen all the season. Stragglers from the transported tribes were returning from the west and telling how their fellows had suffered from cold and hunger out on the plains. So when word was re- ceived that the Indians were committing acts of violence the government acted swiftly.
Colonel Pepper called all the warriors together in coun- cil at Twin Lakes, August 29. He could do nothing with them, however. The old men had lost control of the young bucks. All flatly refused to leave, saying that both they and the President had been deceived. While they were sit- ting in council John Tipton with the militia arrived. The government agents had been preparing all summer for the removal of the tribe, but perhaps would not have done it till the cool weather of the autumn.
As soon as Colonel Pepper of Logansport had heard of the first Indian depredation-and he heard as soon as a courier from the squatters could reach him, August 26-he at once sent a dispatch by mounted courier to Governor David Wallace asking for a good general and at least one hundred soldiers. He reported that the Pottawattomies on Yellow river were in arms and an outbreak was ex- pected at any moment. This message reached Governor Wallace on the next day. The same day he received word the governor sent an order by courier to John Tipton of Logansport, ordering him to muster the Cass and Miami county militia and proceed with all haste to the scene of trouble.
Tipton lost no time in enrolling the militia. They left Logansport at one p. m. August 29. At ten o'clock that night they went into camp at Chippewa. Breaking camp at 3 a. m., they reached Twin Lakes as above noted and found Colonel Pepper and the Indians in council. Tipton at once stated his business, scolding the chiefs for the depredations. The Indians made no excuses for the out- breaks and again refused to leave their homes. From the report it seems clear the whites were the aggressors and had done nearly all the damage. Tipton wasted no words, but established a camp on an island in the lake and detained
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all the Indians present, about 200. As all the leaders were present it was easy to control the rest. All were dis- armed as soon as found.
Squads of soldiers patrolled the country in all direc- tions looking for the Indians and driving them in. Many, fearing harm to those at council, came in to see what was wrong. By September 1 more than 700 were rounded up. All the Indian wigwams and cabins were destroyed. Their ponies and all their other property were brought into camp.
Early on the morning of September 4 Tipton com- menced to load the thirteen army wagons in which their goods were to be moved. About 400 horses were found and kept on the island till ready to start.
The procession left the Twin Lakes, September 4, and dragged its mournful way south over the Michigan Road through Chippewa, twenty-one miles distant, going into camp at sunset. Father Pettit, the missionary whom Bishop Brute had stationed there, had been allowed to gather the Indians into the little chapel and say a farewell mass before they started. The first day's march was ex- cessively tiresome. No water could be found for drinking and the road was dusty. They traveled from 9 a. m. to sunset, the mounted guard prodding on the laggards.
Next day forty-one persons were unable to move. Oth- ers had to wait on the sick. Beef, flour, and bacon had been ordered from Logansport, forty-six miles distant, but only a little reached them.
On September 5 they reached Mud creek. Twenty guards deserted during the day, stealing Indian horses on which to get away. On September 6 the Indians marched seventeen miles reaching Logansport, about 800 strong. They waited near the town three days for the government agents to make better arrangements for traveling. One-half the militia were discharged and half were kept to accompany the Indians to the State line.
By this time the Indian children and old people were completely worn out. The children, especially, were dying in great numbers, not being used to such fare. Physicians
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HISTORY OF INDIANA
from Logansport reached them on the 9th and reported three hundred unfit for travel. The march from this time was not so rapid. William Polke took a small detachment of troops and revisited the abandoned villages to see if any Indians had returned. Several children died during the stay at Logansport.
September 10, they started at 9 a. m. and skirted the north bank of the Wabash all day, reaching Winnamac's old village by 5 p. m. Food was very scarce. The priest was given permisison to say mass every evening. They left Winnamac's old village at 10 a. m., marched seventeen miles on the 11th, and camped at Pleasant Run at 5 p. m.
Next day they forded the Tippecanoe at 11 a. m. and passed the Battleground at 12 m. Here Tipton distributed to the Indians $5,000 worth of dry-goods, hoping by this means to raise their spirits somewhat.
Chief Wewissa's mother died on the 12th at the extreme age of 100. She had asked to be killed and buried with her fathers at the Mission and the chief had decided to humor her, but the white men would not permit it.
On September 13th they reached Lagrange on the Wabash, a short distance below Lafayette, marching eighteen miles. One hundred and sixty were under the care of Dr. Ritchie and son, the attending physicians. The physicians were almost entirely out of medicine. The children were dying at the rate of from three to five a day. On the 14th they reached Williamsport. On the 16th they reached Danville, Ill. Heat and dust were getting worse. Large numbers of sick had to be left in the road. Horses were worn out and the guards were nearly all sick, and unable to proceed.
At Sandusky Point, on the 18th of September, Tipton turned the command over to Judge William Polke, who had been appointed by the national government to superintend the removal.
Judge Polke, Father Pettit, and an escort of fifteen men continued with the broken tribe to their destination on the Osage river, in Kansas.
REMOVAL OF INDIANS FROM THE STATE 339
The journey required about two months and cost the lives of one-fifth of the tribe.16
A few Indians remained in Indiana scattered on small reservations in various parts of the State. The larger numbers of these were on the lower Mississinewa, around Maxinkuckee Lake, and around the small lakes in Kosci- usko county. As citizens they were no match in their busi- ness dealings with their white neighbors. They gradually parted with their lands and spent the proceeds. A few remain at present, respected and treated well by their white neighbors. They have taken on enough of the white man's thrift and culture to convince anyone that the whole tribe might, under more fortunate circumstances, have been saved to civilization.
16 The details of this removal are given in the Indianapolis, Logans- port and LaFayette papers. The Indiana Journal, and Indiana Democrat of Indianapolis contain the official reports; see also Jacob P. Dunn, "The Trail of Death," in True Indian Stories; Col. William M. Cock- rum, A Pioneer History of Indiana tells the story also. The best dis- cussion of this phase of our Indian history is by W. E. McDonald. of Plymouth, who interested the General Assembly in the matter of erect- ing a monument to the tribes in Marshall County.
CHAPTER XV
THE PUBLIC LANDS IN INDIANA
§ 63 THE SURVEY, ITS METHODS AND AREA
ALL the land of Indiana except the "Gore" falls under what is known as the Fifth System of the public lands sur- vey. The system was worked out by Col. Jared Mansfield, the surveyor-general from 1803 to 1814. The immediate problem that confronted Mr. Mansfield in 1803 was to sur- vey the Vincennes Purchase. This rectangle lay around and to the east of Vincennes, being entirely surrounded by Indian lands. The northeast corner was two miles north of Orleans and the southeast corner was in the northern part of Perry county. These are known as Freeman's Cor- ners from the name of the surveyor who ran the lines in 1803.
Through the northeast corner of the Vincennes tract was run the Second Principal Meridian, which struck the Ohio river at the east boundary of Perry county. This meridian governs all the survey of Indiana except that wedge east of the Greenville Treaty line called the "Gore." The first base line was surveyed by Ebenezer Buckingham in 1804. It follows, approximately, the old road from Vin- cennes to Louisville, striking the Wabash three miles above the mouth of White river.
On the principal meridian, corners were set up six miles apart marking the tiers of townships. Other corners were set up one mile apart, marking the sections. On the base line similar corners were set up at equal intervals. The latter corners governed the township and section lines on the north side of the base line only. After the two main lines were surveyed the parallel lines were run six miles
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apart after which the section lines were established. In running the meridian section lines it was found that they converged at the northern base or correction line. This made it necessary to set a double row of section corners along the base lines. The ones which controlled the south- ern side were called the "close up" corners.
The actual surveys were made by deputy surveyors hired by the United States surveyor general for the dis- trict. The deputies used solar compasses, transits, and common compasses. A surveying squad consisted of two chainmen, a flagman, axman, and two mound men. The chainmen measured the distance with a four, or two rod chain. The short chain, 33 feet long, was used on rough ground since, in measuring, the chain had to be level. The flagman led the squad placing the flag as directed by the surveyor. The axman cut the bushes out of the way and also "blazed" the trees. If a tree was a "liner" it was chopped, or "blazed," on both sides, if a "bearing" tree, that is, stood near the line, it was "blazed" only on the side facing the line. The mound men had to establish corners. If a tree stood exactly on the corner it was properly "blazed" and marked. If there was no tree a stone was set. If no stone was convenient a mound of dirt was erected. In the latter cases trees were marked as "wit- nesses," the surveyor recording in his field notes the direc- tion, distance, and size of the trees. The section and range stones were marked with the proper numbers and letters so that any one could tell the exact range, township, and section.
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