USA > Indiana > A popular history of Indiana : with an introduction > Part 2
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HISTORY OF INDIANA.
Upon reaching the mouth of the Mississippi the persever- ing explorer and his companions "erected a column and a cross, attaching thereto the arms of France, with the following inscription: . Louis the Great, King of France and Navarre reigns-the 9th of April, 1682.' All being under arms, after chanting the Te Deum, they fired their muskets in honor of the event, and made the air reverberate with the shouts of . Long live the King.' at once taking formal possession of the entire country, to which they gave the name of Louisiana, in honor of their king." Louis XIV. of France.
Soon afterward La Salle returned to Canada, and thence went to France, where he was received with much honor at court. The accounts of his discoveries and those of Mar- quette and Joliet were received with great delight. The year previous ( 1681) Marquette's map, which is said to be "unquestionably the first ever published of the Mississippi," was issued in Paris. It was impossible to make it without having seen the principal objects represented. "The five great rivers, Arkansas, Ohio, Missouri, Illinois and Wisconsin, in regard to their relative positions and general courses, are placed with a considerable degree of accuracy."
One who had become so famous naturally had enemies jealous of his achievements and popularity. But notwithstand- ing their attempts to defeat his projects, La Salle succeeded in organizing an expedition for the planting of a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi. He was accompanied by soldiers and settlers, and anticipated the accomplishment of great things for himself and his country. The commander of the
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HISTORY OF INDIANA.
vessel which was to bear them to their new possessions is believed, however, to have been in sympathy with La Salle's enemies, and, instead of landing his passengers where La Salle desired, carried them to the shores of Texas. Ilere one misfortune followed another until, after two years of fruitless effort to establish a 7 colony, La Salle started for Canada, but on his way was treacherously mur. dered by one of his own men. The Jes- uit, Father Anastase, was near him at the time, and expected the same fate, but was spared.
La Salle survived about an hour after he was shot, and, FATHER ANASTASE REARED A CROSS ABOVE THE REMAINS. though not able to speak, pressed the hand of the good father, who afterward dug the grave, tenderly buried the brave leader and erected a cross over his remains. Father Anastase said of him: "He
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HISTORY OF INDIAN.1.
who. during a period of twenty years. had softened the fierce temper of a vast number of savage natives, was massacred by his own people, whom he had loaded with benefits. He died in the vigor of life. in the midst of his career and his labors without the consolation of having seen their results." The territory which La Salle took possession of in the name of his king was for many years called New France. and was the subject of many disputes and battles between the French and English.
It is supposed that during the visit of La Salle to Indiana in 16So he erected a small stockade on the bank of the St. Joseph river. near the site of the present city of Fort Wayne. This is, however, doubted by some very good authorities. But we are assured that " during the winter of 1682-83 La Salle was all through Indiana and Illinois. urging the tribes to unite and join him at Fort St. Louis ": and also that his usual route from Canada to the Illinois lay through the northern part of Indiana, following the St. Joseph and Kankakee rivers and crossing the portage at the site of South Bend.
These facts entitle Robert Cavelier de La Salle to the honor of having been the first white man to traverse, to any extent, the territory of our noble state.
CHAPTER III.
LIFE AND MANNERS OF THE INDIANS.
THE MIAMIS, OUBACHI AND PIANKESHAWS -CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SONS OF THE FOREST-FIRMLY WEDDED TO THEIR WILD, FREE LIFE-SUMMER IN THE WIGWAM AND BY THE STREAM-CRUDE DOMESTIC HABITS-THE WOMEN TOIL-THE BRAVES HUNT, OR FISH, OR FIGHT-WINTER IN THE WOODS.
Now that we have glanced at the traces of the first white man who visited this region, let us turn our attention for a little while to the red man who then inhabited it. Since the disappearance of the mound-builder from the valleys of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers the Indians had undoubtedly held undisputed possession of the land, and surely cannot be blamed for resisting with tomahawk and war-club the encroachments of a new race upon their native soil.
We can almost see the grim, fierce. savage faces peering forth from the dense shadows of the forest, or glaring from the birch-bark canoe as it glides down the current of a stream-a picture familiar enough indeed to the first white man who ventured to come among them.
Friendly and hospitable these red men were to many of the white intruders, and they did many acts of kindness to the "pale faces."
The tribes which dwelt within the limits of the present state of Indiana were the Miamis or Twightwees, the Oubachi
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( Wabash) and the Piankeshaws. These tribes were members of the great Algonquin family, one of the eight primitive peoples found in North America. The Miamis lived in northern Indiana, and their most important village was located at the head of the Maumee river and called Kekionga, which in English means a blackberry patch, and signified, in the language of the Miamis, antiquity. The Oubachi lived near the river now bearing their name, and their villages called Wea were near the site of Quiatanon, while the villages of the Piankeshaws were near where Vincennes now stands. Ban- croft, the great historian, says that " in the latter part of the seventeenth century the Miamis were the most powerful confederacy of the west, and their influence extended to the Mississippi." They have been described as fine looking, with long straight hair falling over their ears; good warriors and fond of instruction. In after years they adapted themselves more readily to many habits of the white man than did most of the other tribes. As a people, however, the American Indians have proved the most difficult to civilize or Christianize of any of the races of humankind. The hunt, the chase, the wild free life of the forest and the prairie are their delights, and comparatively few have ever accepted a different mode of life.
As a race, they are superior intellectually to any other, excepting the Caucasian, although their mental faculties are not so well balanced as those of many lower races. They are sullen, serious and free from levity. Even in their social pastimes (for they have them) we find little of that jollity
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which existed in the social pleasures of our very remote ancestors when they gathered together in the wilds of Britain many, many centuries ago.
FREE LIFE OF THE FOREST.
Through the summer months the Indians lived mostly in their villages, which were composed of a number of wigwams clustered together near the bank of a stream. These wig-
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wams were tents made of bark or skins of animals supported by poles. Around them patches of ground were cleared, and corn, beans, squash, Indian cucumbers, pumpkins, melons and tobacco were raised. But these fields were not tilled by the men, as we should naturally suppose, but by the women or " squaws." And not with hoe, or spade, or rake, or other sharp implement were they cultivated, but with the sharp bones of animals, or tortoise shells, or flat stones. The work of
INDIAN CANOE.
husbandry was thus very much harder for the Indians than for the whites. Later on, after the white traders came among them, the Indians exchanged their furs for hoes and other garden implements. Thus the women toiled in the fields as well as in the wigwams, for of course they had all the cooking to do, and, though this was done in the rudest possible way, it included jerking the deer, bear and buffalo meat, drying the
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HISTORY OF INDIANA.
wild fruits and gathering the wood for the fires. The only manual labor the men ever did was to make bows and arrows and tomahawks and war-clubs for the fight, and canoes, which were either made of logs slowly burned out and then smoothed with sharp shells, or of birch bark, which the women sewed together with long, strong threads which they peeled from the roots of trees.
So their summers passed, the women toiling willingly for their braves, who would have forfeited the esteem and affec- tion of the dusky matrons had they stooped to menial labor, and the braves themselves gambling, fishing or fighting a hostile tribe, or devoting themselves to their toilets- painting, tattooing and otherwise decorating their bodies.
But when the leaves began to change their color to the tints of autumn, and the birds to turn southward in their flight-for the Indians, it must be remembered, had no other way of computing time than to follow the hands of nature's timepiece-they left their villages for the hunting grounds. Then it became the duty of the women to carry the heavy luggage. Their mode of proceeding has thus been described: " The master of the family, as a general thing, came leisurely bearing a gun, and perhaps a lance, in his hand. The woman followed with the mats and poles and wild rice, and not infrequently the household dog perched on the top of all. If there is a horse or pony in the list of family possessions the man rides, the squaw trudges after. This unequal division of - labor is the result of no want of kind, affectionate feeling on the part of the husband. It is rather the instinct of the sex to
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assert its superiority of position and importance when a proper occasion offers. When out of the reach of observation, and in no danger of compromising his own dignity, the husband is willing enough to relieve his spouse from the burden that custom imposes on her." Thus their winters were spent in hunting the deer, the otter, the bear and the buffalo, all of which abounded in our forests. And when they were admonished by budding trees and flowers and green grass and the return of singing birds that spring had come, they gathered again in their villages.
These villages were divided into families, each of which had its chief, the family life usually being independent in its domestic management. Each village had its head chief or sachem, but he did not possess absolute authority. If any important question was to be decided a council of chiefs was called, and the opinions of each were listened to with great respect, approval being expressed by low grunts; but never very eloquent and fond of using figurative language. "To
was a speaker rudely interrupted. Many of the Indians were make war was to raise the hatchet; to make peace was to take hold of the chain of friendship; to deliberate was to kindle the council fire; a state of war was typified by a black cloud; a state of peace by bright sunshine." Famous among them for oratory were Little Turtle, a Miami chief, and Tecumseh, the great Shawnee warrior and leader.
The Indians dressed in the skins of wild animals, which they embroidered in a rude way with beads made of shells. They were fond of decorations, and used the beaks and
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feathers of birds and the teeth and claws of animals for such purposes. The seashell beads they wrought into bracelets, necklaces and belts. These latter were called wampum belts and were used in their coun- cils as pledges, or exchanged with each other when treaties were made. "These belts were carefully preserved as a substitute for written records"; and "they were often worked in hieroglyphics, expressing the meaning they were de- signed to preserve. Thus at a WAMPUM. treaty of peace the principal belt often bore the figure of an Indian and a white man holding a chain between them."
CHAPTER IV.
SUPERSTITIONS OF THE INDIANS.
GODS AND GODDESSES ABOUND-VAGUE DREAMS OF A FUTURE LIFE-WILD BARBARIC DANCES-THE TERRIBLE WAR DANCE-METHODS WITH THE CHILDREN-INDIAN LULLABYS-CANNIBALISM-THE SITE OF FORT WAYNE THE SCENE OF MANY DIABOLICAL ORGIES AMONG THE MAN-EATERS.
The religious belief of the Indians was full of superstitions. They reverenced and worshiped the Great Spirit. To them "the sun was a god, and the moon a goddess," and a "spirit was embodied in every mountain, lake and cataract." They also believed in an Evil Spirit, and in a life after death, and that all good warriors went to what was heaven to them- the " Happy Hunting Ground." The Indians were fond of games, especially those of chance. The little boys played ball, flew kites, and indulged in many of the games so greatly enjoyed by civilized children to-day, such as hide-and-seek, tag, and hunt the moccasin (instead of the slipper). The girls too, it is said, had their dolls, and probably, in making clothes for them of little animal skins, learned the art of embroidering with beads and porcupine quills from their mothers.
The Indians were fond of wild, barbaric dances, and indulged in a great variety of them. They had the corn- planting dance, which of course took place in the spring, and was a solemn affair, for its object was to secure the favor of
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the Great Spirit, that their crops might be bountiful. The beggar dance was one seldom indulged in by the Miamis. The one who gave this dance sought for gifts and favors from the spectators. Then there was the replacement dance, which was given after a death. Before the dance a game of chance was played, and he who won the game became heir to the possessions of the deceased, after which all joined in a merry
INDIAN DANCE.
dance. The complimentary dance was given in honor of a medicine·man, after he had, as was believed, effected some cure. But, as is well known, the war dance was the one in which they took the greatest delight, as it is with their descendants of to-day. Before engaging in this dance, the Indian warriors would chant the wild war song, then, "painted and blackened, with the feathers of the eagle, hawk or other
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bird as a crown above their heads, or long, black, coarse hair streaming wildly back over their shoulders, or cut close to their skulls, leaving only a top-lock," and the scalps they had previously taken dangling from their belts, would majestically stride through the dance, "around the midnight campfires or through the streets of their villages."
The calumet, or peace-pipe, was emblematic of friendly feelings, and when presented to a stranger or former enemy was a sufficient as- surance of good will and protec- tion. It was held sacred by all Indian tribes.
The Indian mother was very fond of her little ones. When they were infants she wrapped them in warm, furry skins of wild animals. And is it not possible that, in this habit of the wild Indian mother, the nursery rhyme so familiar to us all,
Bye o' baby bunting, Papa's gone a-hunting To get a little rabbit-skin To wrap the baby bunting in,
THE CALUMET.
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had its origin? Certain it is that the rhyme most aptly applies. Another nursery song, so pretty and popular, might also have been suggested by the habit the Indian mother had of placing her infant in a little birch-bark cradle, carefully adorned with feathers and beads and fragrant grasses, and then hanging the cradle to the bough of a tree, where the breezes gently lulled these babies, who were most truly children of nature, to sleep. And the Indian mother, if she had but known the refrain, could have most appropriately sung :
Rock a bye, baby, on the tree top, When the wind blows the cradle will rock; When the bough bends the cradle will fall, And down will come baby, and cradle, and all.
Sometimes the little creatures, strapped to a flat piece of wood, were hung from the bough of a tree, without being placed in a cradle, and were often so carried on the mother's back. Indeed, soon after they were born, they were strapped to a flat piece of wood, and spent most of their babyhood in this position, which probably is one reason why they were, when grown, so straight.
PAPPOOSE.
A touching little story is told of an Indian mother, who was seen by a white woman approaching the bank of a river with a little child in her arms, and seem- ingly in great distress. The white woman,
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wondering what the cause of the trouble could be, and de- sirous of giving any assistance in her power, as quickly as
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THE INDIAN MOTHER AND HER DYING CHILD.
possible joined the Indian woman, who said "that she had
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only a little while before noticed that her child was dying," and she had hastened to the river to baptize it. "If the little papoosa die," said she, "before it is put in the water, it can only see the spirits about it; it can't go up where the Great Spirit is." The white woman gave the needed assistance, and the child died soon afterward, but the mother was comforted.
When a child was born, or when the first tooth made its appearance, there was a celebration; also, when the young Indian brave returned from his first successful hunt.
But from this picture of some of the pleasanter features of their domestic life, we must now turn to a custom, most horrible and revolting to think upon, which existed among the Miamis-that of cannibalism. Revenge and a Spartan-like endurance of suffering are leading traits of the Indian char- acter. No matter how terrible his suffering, the Indian would think himself degraded if he manifested it, and is seldom known to shed a tear or utter a complaint. But if he is able to endure the cruelest tortures, he is just as capable of inflicting them upon others. 1068038
The institution of cannibalism dated back to a remote period, and was not given up until after the year 1812. It was first established by the Miamis as a means of terrifying their enemies, and was confined to what was called the "man- eating society." The duty, or privilege, whichever they thought it, was restricted to one family, and was transmitted from one generation to another. The obligation was sanc- tioned by religion, and could not be avoided. It compelled those who rested under it to eat the flesh of the prisoners
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delivered to them, after first burning the poor victims to death.
"The extreme point of land just below the mouth of the St. Joseph river (near the present city of Fort Wayne) is
SCALP DANCE.
said to have been the accustomed place for burning prisoners. * * And the records of human depravity furnish no more terrible examples of cruelty " than were furnished on this spot. The prisoners, who had been captured and reserved for this horrible rite, were bound to stakes, then slowly burned to death. They were then devoured by the savage, blood-
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thirsty fiends in the presence of the whole tribe, who had assembled to witness the awful spectacle. The last poor victim sacrificed in this way, at this place, is said to have been a young American from Kentucky, who had been captured in the latter part of the Revolutionary war. That the now quiet, peaceful banks of the St. Joseph river were ever wit- nesses to such scenes of savage cruelty is, indeed, hard to realize.
CHAPTER V.
FIRST MILITARY POSTS OF INDIANA.
THE WHITE MAN MAKES A HOME IN THE WEST-THE PEACE OF RYSWICK- OUIATANON, VINCENNES, MIAMI-QUIATANON, A FUR-TRADING CENTER - THE HOME OF THE FIRST SOLDIERS AND MERCHANTS IN INDIANA-IN 1635 THE VILLAGE OF VINCENNES ESTABLISHED-MIAMI, "BEAUTIFUL FOR SITUATION," OVERLOOKING THE THREE RIVERS-THE OLD APPLE TREE STILL BEARING FRUIT.
But the native tribes were no longer to inhabit western wilds alone. The white man had found a pathway through the forests and over the prairies, and the two races were destined henceforth to share them with each other. This they did for many years, sometimes peaceably, but more often as enemies. Through the right of discovery and exploration the French now claimed the territory, of which La Salle had taken possession in the name of his king.
In the old world the leading nations were at war over political questions. France and England were powerful rivals for supremacy on sea and land, and were ever finding new cause for contention. On the new continent England attempted little else between the years of 1691 and 1696 than the protec- tion of her colonies lying east of the Alleghany mountains. In 1697 a treaty was signed by France, Spain and England, known in history as the Peace of Ryswick. By this treaty
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there was assigned to France " the whole coast and adjacent islands from Maine to beyond Labrador and Hudson's bay, besides Canada and the Mississippi valley. The boundary lines were left as subjects for wrangling," and this for years was a sufficient cause for many a bloody battle between the two great nations.
For over a century the black war cloud hung over the new world. France and England jealously watched each other's acquisitions of new territory and not only contended between themselves, but incited the native tribes to fight each other. The English, French, Indians and finally the Ameri- cans, were involved in these contests, and only for short intervals of time did peace rest upon the beautiful new land, so coveted and fought for by foreign powers. They contended not only for territory, but for the control of fisheries on the eastern coast and the fur trade of the interior. The eighteenth century saw the birth of the grandest nation on God's earth, but it was baptized with the blood of many a noble hero and many an Indian brave.
The first military posts established within the present limits of the state of Indiana were Forts Quiatanon, Vin- cennes and Miami. These were built with others in the west for the purpose of strengthening the claim the French had made to this territory and to protect intercourse between the French settlements around the lakes and those of the lower Mississippi, where d'Ibberville-more successful in his efforts than La Salle-had planted French colonies.
Fort Quiatanon was the first of the three posts established 4
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HISTORY OF INDIANA.
in Indiana, for most conclusive evidence has been furnished that this post was built in 1720, seven years previous to the one at the present site of Vincennes. The exact location of Fort Quiatanon has been disputed, but very lately strong proof has been furnished by Prof. Craig of Purdue University and others that it was about four miles southwest of Lafayette, on the only prominence on the north side of the Wabash that juts into the river in its vicinity. Among the proofs which fix the exact site of this post is the fact that many relics have been found in the location, indicating the presence of French soldiers and Jesuit priests at some former time. Among these were the fragment of cloth from a French uniform of the kind worn by the soldiers stationed at the fort, and the iron head of a halberd with the spear point and ax edge and point. Two flat silver crosses with the double cross arm, such as were used by the Jesuit priests, with the letters "I" and "S" decipherable on them, a part probably of the inscription "I. H. S.," were also found. These, together with a small silver plate, bore the word " Montreal," indicating that they came from the north rather than from the south. Copper earrings, a copper kettle and two or three fragments of armor, parts of the cuirass, were also in the collection.
Quiatanon was not only a military post, but for many years a trading point of great importance. In 1760 its busi- ness in fur trading amounted to from $35,000 to $40,000. Ilere also the transfer of merchandise was made from the small ' canoes which floated down the river from Kekionga to the larger canoes and piroques which passed down the broader,
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HISTORY OF INDIANA.
deeper stream to the Ohio. This river was named by the French La Belle Revierre, and for many years was known as Beautiful River on account of the beautiful banks on either side. The post of Quiatanon consisted of only about a dozen cabins and a stockade, and here dwelt our first soldiers and
DEATH OF VINCENNES.
merchants. This having been without doubt the first post established in the present territory of Indiana, and the point where the commercial life of our state began, its site is an important and interesting spot historically.
The most probable date of the establishment of the post of Vincennes is 1727. Monsieur Vincennes, a French officer,
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with a few soldiers, built a little palisade fort at the Indian village lowest on the river Wabash, and for many years it was known as Poste du Oubache, but its name was afterward changed to Vincennes in honor of its first commandant, Sieur de Vincennes. He was a brave and capable officer, and remained in command of the post until 1736, when he was killed in a fight with the Indians. After being mortally wounded "he ceased not until his last breath to exhort the men to behave worthy of their religion and their country." "Be that his epitaph," says Dunn, the accomplished historian of Indiana, "and be it a matter of pride to Indiana that her first ruler was so brave a man and so true."
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