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Clair met with such overwhelming defeats. Although con- quered in warfare by General Wayne, Little Turtle, who has
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THE FIRST TEMPERANCE SOCIETY IN AMERICA.
been called "the gentleman of his race," met him in the council with dignity and calmness. At the end of the council, which
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lasted from June 16 to August 7, he withdrew with courtesy, expressing satisfaction with the treaty and friendship for the government and asking that he might be informed of any measures which the great council of the Fifteen Fires, as the fifteen states were called by the natives, might adopt, in which the interest of their children should be concerned. Ever after he remained the firm friend of the whites, locating with his tribe on the banks of the Maumee and the Wabash, where he used his influence over them for their moral advancement. To him the honor must be given of forming one of the first tem- perance societies in America, for he pleaded with his people with all the power of his native eloquence to let the "accursed fire-water," with which the white man tempted them, alone. He enforced his teachings with his own example of total absti- nence. Yielding to his persuasions, his braves pledged them- selves to abstain entirely from the use of spirits, and during the life of their noble chief the pledges were almost universally kept.
Little Turtle, brave in war and wise in peace, died at the "old orchard" near Fort Wayne on July 14, 1812. At this spot he was buried with all the honors accorded a white war- rior. In the grave beside his body were placed his implements of war and a sword and medal presented him by General Washington.
" Plaudits and thanks, public and private, were showered " upon General Wayne after his success in the west and he was appointed sole commissioner to treat with the northwest Indians and receiver of the military posts given up by the
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British. But he did not long fill these positions, as in Decem- ber, 1796, he died, after a brief illness, and was buried at the foot of the flag-staff of the garrison at Erie. His body was reinterred by his son in ISog in the family cemetery in Chester county, Pa., where a monument was erected to his memory by the Pennsylvania State Society of the Cincinnati.
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HISTORY OF INDIANA.
LAKE SUPERIOR
MACKINACGIO
L. HURON.
MISSISSIPPI
WISCONSIN
LAKE MICHIGAN.
L.
ERIE .
FT. WAYNES MAUMEE R.
ILLINOIS R
HEFT. QUINATON.
RX.
MARIETTA.
JUSTOCH
11IHM
RIVER.
FT. VINCENNES.
MISSOURI K
OHIO
UNIO RIVER
MAP OF NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
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RIVER
CHAPTER XI.
TECUMSEH AND THE GREAT COUNCIL.
PESHKEWAH, CHIEF OF THE MIAMIS-FIFTEEN YEARS OF PEACE-TECUMSEH, CHIEF OF THE "ARABS OF THE WILDERNESS"-A SECOND PONTIAC- WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON-PLOTS TO CAPTURE THE FORTS-THE GREAT COUNCIL OF 1810-TECUMSEH'S SPEECH-"THE ONE-EYED PROPHET"-THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE.
We shall leave for another chapter the account of many important events which took place between the years 1787 and 1812, in connection with the settlement of this portion of country, which in 1787 had been organized into the Northwest territory, and the formation of its government, and shall con- tinue to follow the trail of the Indian until it is forever effaced by advancing civilization.
After the death of Little Turtle, Peshkewah, or John B. Richardville, as he was better known by the whites, became the chief of the Miamis. His father was a Frenchman and his mother a chieftainess. He lived for many years in a large, comfortable brick house, on the banks of the St. Mary's river, about four miles from Fort Wayne, and adopted many of the customs and habits of the white man. He showed great busi- ness capacity in the management of the affairs of his people, always securing for them the best terms possible from the gov- ernment. A little incident which occurred when he was a
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young man and before he had been installed as chief (although he had been designated as such) proved him to be of a kind nature. A white prisoner had been bound to the stake to be burned. Richardville's mother. who had great influence with the tribe. had made every effort to have him released, but had failed. Just as the Indians were ready to light the torch Rich- ardville rushed into the circle of savages, cut the cords that bound the white man. and the prisoner, through the aid of the chieftainess. made his escape. "Many years afterward the chief. on a journey to Washington. D. C., stopped at a town in Ohio. A man approached him, throwing his arms around his neck in grateful embrace. It was the rescued prisoner." Richardville at his death. which took place in IS41. left an estate valued at half a million dollars. His remains rest in the Catholic ceme- tery at Fort Wayne.
For about fifteen years after the tribes had signed the treaty of peace at Greenville they lived and hunted on the lands allotted them by the gov- ernment. received the annuities promised them and gave little annoyance to the pioneers. That so many of the pale-faces should seek homes in the west greatly astonished the wild hunters of the forest and. as the tide of im- migration increased and more land was demanded of them, TECUMSEH. they became restive and anxious
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lest they should forever be driven from their favorite hunting grounds and the homes and the graves of their ancestors.
Tecumseh, whose name signifies " Shooting Star," a chief of the Shawnees, who have been called "the Arabs of the wilderness," was especially enraged over the last land grant, made at Fort Wayne in IS03. This chief possessed an influence not only over his own tribe but over all the tribes of the west, " which no other prophet, warrior or priest ever held on this continent." Tecumseh rose far above his fellow-savages in intellectual ability and in generous, noble traits of disposition, and the fact that he was true and loyal to his own people should, of course, increase our admiration for his character. He was a true " child of the woods." The comforts of civil- ized life had no attraction for him, as he believed they were obtained at the expense of too much drudgery. Tecumseh, like Pontiac, planned a confederacy of all the western tribes and determined to drive the American forever from their country. He understood that there would soon be war between England and the United States and felt that he could surely depend upon British aid.
General William Henry Harrison, governor of Indiana territory, lived at Vincennes, the capital of the territory. Reports reached him that Tecumseh was uniting the tribes in a plot to capture the posts-Detroit, Fort Dearborn (the present site of Chicago), Vincennes and St. Louis-so he at once sent messengers to the chief and arranged for a council.
On August 12, ISIO, Tecumseh, with 400 warriors, passed down the Wabash and encamped near Vincennes. The council
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was held in the grove adjoining the governor's residence. Here Governor Harrison, attended by judges of the superior court, several army officers and a number of citizens, received the great
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I .. .. HARRISON'S COUNCIL WITH TECUMSEH.
chief, who came to the council accompanied by about twenty of his braves. "Tall, athletic and manly, dignified, but grace- ful," Tecumseh approached the governor, who, through the in-
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terpreter, asked the chief to come forward and take a seat, say- ing that " it was the wish of their great father, the President of the United States, that he should do so."
Tecumseh paused for a moment; then, raising his tall figure to its greatest height and fixing his eyes first upon the gov- ernor and then upon the skies above, lifted his arm and, with a voice indicating great contempt for the idea that the President of the United States was his father, replied, " My father? The sun is my father, the earth is my mother, and on her bosom I will recline." So saying, he stretched himself on the green lawn. During the council Tecumseh became so excited and indignant as he recounted the wrongs of the red man that, after Governor Harrison had made some remarks in regard to the last purchase of lands from the Indians, the chief turned to the interpreter with the exclamation, "Tell him he lies!" Governor Harrison then said he would hold no further council that day.
Other meetings followed this, however, during which Tecumseh claimed that no tribe had a right to sign away its lands without the consent and approval of the entire confed- eracy of Indian tribes. He declared that no objection should be made to such an alliance when the "Seventeen Fires " (seventeen states) were joined together in a like confederacy.
Governor Harrison said that he would make known these views to the President, to which Tecumseh replied: " Well. as the great chief is to determine the matter, I hope the Great Spirit will put sense enough into his head to induce him to give up the land. It is true he is so far off he will not be injured by
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
the war. He may sit still in his town and drink his wine while you and I are left to fight it out," which indeed they did within the next few years.
After this many "talks " were held, but no agreement was reached, and Governor Harrison finally said "that the right of the United States would be supported by the sword," if need be. "So be it," was the stern and haughty reply of the Shawnee chieftain, and soon afterward he drifted down the rivers in his birch-bark canoe to visit the tribes in the south- west and to persuade them to join in the great uprising. He told them that when the proper time came he would stamp his foot and the whole conti- nent would tremble. It so happened that soon after his return to the north there was a dreadful earthquake. When Tecumseh went south he left the affairs of the north in the hands of his brother, the "One- Eyed Prophet," who was a medicine man and had great influence over the tribes on account of sor- THE ONE EYED PROPHET. ceries and incantations he successfully practiced. On leaving, Tecumseh charged his brother to preserve friendly relations with the whites and not on any account to allow an outbreak of hostilities during his
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absence, but to strengthen their cause by inducing other tribes to unite with them in the effort to drive the white people from the Wabash and Illinois country.
Tecumseh left feeling confident that his instructions would be carried out. But a number of whites having been murdered by the Indians, and reports having reached the governor of an
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TIPPECANOE BATTLEGROUND AS IT LOOKS TO-DAY.
uprising of many of the tribes led by the Prophet, and rumors of the proposed massacre at Vincennes, Governor Harrison marched with a force of about 800 men to the mouth of the Tippecanoe river, where Prophet's town was located, a few miles from the present site of Lafayette. Before attacking the Indians the governor sent messengers to the Prophet and
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offered him an opportunity of entering into a treaty of peace. These messengers the Indians tried to capture. By daylight of the following morning, November 7, ISII, the battle was raging. The Indians fought with more than their usual bravery and energy, but were completely routed. The defeat of the Prophet was overwhelming, his power was broken and Tecumseh's grand plan of the confederacy of the tribes for- ever destroyed. When this great chief returned from the south and found his hopes ruined by this untimely battle, his disappointment and rage were so great that he threatened to kill the Prophet and never indeed forgave him.
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BATTI! SCARRED ONK OF TIPPECANOE. . -
CIIAPTER XII.
TECUMSEH AND THE BRITISH FORCES.
WAR DECLARED AGAINST GREAT BRITAIN-TECUMSEH AND HIS BRAVES JOIN THE ENGLISH-BATTLE OF THE THAMES-TECUMSEH KILLED - QUAINT STORY OF TECUMSEH-THE YOUNG MAN AND THE OXEN-END OF THE INDIAN DANGERS-THE INDIAN MUST "MOVE ON."
The following year, 1812, war was declared between Great Britain and the United States. Tecumseh, with a large following of Indians, joined the British forces against the Americans and was soon made a brigadier-general in the British army. During the early part of this war the British and Indian forces were victorious in most of the engagements. They captured Detroit, threatened Fort Wayne and defeated the Americans at Frenchtown, where, after the surrender to the British, most of those taken prisoners were massacred by the Indians. These disasters were followed by another defeat of the American forces at Fort Meigs. But in September, 1813, Commodore Perry gained his great naval victory over the British in Lake Erie, and General Harrison, having been appointed commander-in-chief of the forces in the west and northwest, invaded Canada.
On October 5 the great battle of the Thames was fought not many miles from Detroit. In this battle Tecumseh was killed and the power of the Indians and British in the North.
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West territory was forever destroved. A great chieftain had fallen. He was not only a devoted patriot and brave warrior,
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BATTLE OF THE THAMES.
but his mode of warfare was noble and chivalrous. Unlike most of his race, he never stooped to the use of artful and cun- ning measures to accomplish his purposes.
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Of many anecdotes illustrating his nobility of character we shall give but one. After one of the victories won by the British and Indians, the country having been pillaged of
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TECUMSEH BUYS THE FARMER'S OXEN.
almost everything by the invading armies, it transpired that an old man who was lame had managed to conceal a pair of oxen, with which his son was able to make a scanty living for the
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family. But one day while the man was at labor with the oxen Tecumseh, meeting him in the road, said: "My friend, I must have those oxen. My young men are very hungry; they have had nothing to eat. We must have the oxen."
The son told the chief that if he took the oxen his father would starve to death.
"Well," said Tecumseh, "we are the conquerors and every- thing we want is ours. I must have the oxen. My people must not starve, but I will not be so mean as to rob you of them. I will pay you $100 for them and that is far more than they are worth."
Tecumseh got a white man to write an order on the British agent, Colonel Elliot. The oxen were killed, large fires built and the forest warriors were soon feasting on their flesh. But when the order was presented to Colonel Elliot he refused to honor it. The young man sorrowfully returned to Tecumseh who said: "He won't pay it, will he? Stay all night and to-morrow we will go and see." The next morning the two went to the British agent, to whom Tecumseh said: "Do you refuse to pay for the oxen I bought?"
" Yes," said the colonel.
"I bought them," said the chief, "for my young men were very hungry. I promised to pay for them and they shall be paid for. I have always heard the white nations went to war with each other and not with peaceful individuals; that they did not rob and plunder poor people. I will not."
"Well," said the colonel, "I will not pay for them."
"You can do as you please," said the chief; "but before Tecumseh and his warriors came to fight the battles of the
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great king they had enough to eat, for which they had only to thank the Master of Life and their good rifles. Their hunting grounds supplied them with food enough; to them they can return." The colonel knew that the withdrawal of the Indian warriors from the British forces would be disastrous, so he yielded to Tecumseh, saying: "Well, if I. must pay, I will." "Give me hard money," said the chief, "not rag money." Tecumseh handed the hundred dollars in coin to the young man and then demanded "one dollar more" from the colonel, and, giving that also to the young man, said: "Take that; it will pay for the time you have lost in getting your money."
Tecumseh never allowed the massacre of prisoners, a custom usual in Indian warfare. The question as to who killed the noble chieftain has been much discussed, but to Colonel R. M. Johnson the deed is usually ascribed.
In the death of Tecumseh "the hope of the prairie and lake tribes became extinct." "The danger to the settlements was over." The calumet was again smoked, and friendly rela- ·lations were soon established between the two races which were never again seriously interrupted in Indiana. The treaties made in later years provided for further purchase of their lands and the removal of many of the tribes to lands beyond the Missis- sippi. And so, like "poor Joe," the Indian has ever since been compelled to "move on" by a force stronger and more powerful than any London police-the force and power of a mighty civilization, which now began to throw out branches in every direction from the roots which had been planted in the midst of danger and peril and hardship.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE BEGINNINGS OF GOVERNMENT.
ORGANIZATION OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY-A VAST REGION DEDICATED TO FREEDOM-THE FIRST TIDE OF IMMIGRATION-DIVISION OF THE TERRI- TORY-WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON GOVERNOR OF INDIANA-BITTER CON- TEST OVER SLAVERY-LAND SPECULATION AND JOBBERY-THE FIRST CRIMINAL CODE-INDIAN TROUBLES-AARON BURR IN INDIANA.
George Rogers Clark's victories in the west brought the territory north of the Ohio river, between the western boundary of Pennsylvania and the Mississippi river, into the possession of Virginia. The inhabitants, who were mostly French, took the oath of allegiance to Virginia, and the assembly of that state erected the conquered country into the county of Illinois. The limits of this territory were not, however, well defined, and when the confederation was in process of formation consider- able difficulty was caused by the conflicting claims of Massa- chusetts, Connecticut, Virginia and the Carolinas to the lands between the mountains and the Mississippi river. All of these states, under their charters, extended to the Pacific, or to the Mississippi after that river had been fixed as the British western boundary. In 1780 Virginia offered to cede to the United States all claim to the territory northwest of the Ohio upon certain conditions, which were not, however, agreed to. Four years later these conditions were withdrawn by Virginia,
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and her offer, as modified, was accepted by Congress. Mr. Jefferson, then a member of that body from Virginia, reported, as chairman of a committee, a plan for the government of the entire western region. This contemplated the division of this territory into seventeen states, with a proviso, that, "after the year 1800 there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servi- tude in any of the said states other than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." This proviso was stricken out and the plan adopted. In 1786, however, it was modified by Congress so as to reduce the num- ber of states to five or three. In the following year the " ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio" was finally adopted. This ordi- nance was reported by a committee, of which Nathan Dane of Massachusetts was chairman. The passage of this ordi- nance, which received the unanimous vote of the eight states at the time represented in Congress, was an historical event which ranks second in importance only to the adoption of the Federal constitution. The Northwest territory was the first territory organized by the United States. Vital principles were formally recognized in this famous instrument, which have brought untold blessings to the people of this great region and of the entire country. Under the English law the property of the father descended to the eldest son. This kept the great estates intact and perpetuated inequalities of fortune. This law, which was in force in some of the older states, was dis- carded in the new territory. The ordinance contained a pro- viso that the estates of all persons dying in the territory with- 8
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out wills should be divided equally among their children or next of kin in like degree. The ordinance gave perpetual guarantees to the inhabitants of the territory of perfect religious freedom, of trial by jury, of the writ of habeas corpus, and all the other rights of civil liberty. It stipu- lated that education should be encouraged, and that good faith and humanity should be exercised toward the Indians. The anti-slavery proviso, first proposed by Jefferson, was inserted in the ordinance, to take effect at once; but pro- vision was made for the return to their owners of fugitives from slavery. Provision was made for the future division of the territory into three or five states, at the pleasure of the Congress. Each state was to be admitted into the Union as soon as it contained 60,000 free inhabitants, or sooner in the discretion of Congress. These states were to have the same rights and privileges as the original states and were to assume the same obligations, including their share of the burdens of the general government. The governor and all executive and military officers were to be chosen by Congress. They were to adopt and publish civil and criminal laws, selected from the laws of the states, which were to be in force unless disapproved by Congress. As soon as the territory should have 5,000 inhabitants, however, the legislative power was to be trans- ferred to a General Assembly, elected in part by the people, whose acts, if in harmony with the ordinance and approved by the governor, were to be valid and binding. A delegate to Congress, with the right of debating, but not of voting, was to be chosen by this General Assembly.
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These were the leading features of this great ordinance, which forever dedicated to civilization, to religious liberty and to political freedom, a fertile territory with an area of about 250,000 miles, which to-day (1891) contains a population of nearly 14,000,000. The precedents established in this ordi- nance have been followed in the organization of all the terri- tories.
The capital of the new territory was located at Marietta, on the Ohio river. The town was named for the French queen, Marie Antoinette. The territory embraced the . vast region in which now are included the states of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin, and a small part of Minne- sota. General Arthur St. Clair was appointed governor and Winthrop Sargent secretary. General St. Clair was a native of Scotland, of noble birth. Inheriting a fortune, he had received a university education, and having purchased a com- mission in an English regiment, had come to this country in 1757 with Admiral Boscawen's fleet. He had served under General Wolfe at Quebec and in 1762 had resigned from the British service. In 1764 he had settled in Ligonier county, Pa., where he had remained, filling important official positions from time to time, until 1775, when he had been made a colonel of militia. His services during the revolutionary war had been distin- guished. He had been court-martialled indeed for an apparent failure in his duty at Ticonderoga, but had been acquitted with the highest honor. He had served on the court-martial which had condemned Major Andre and had been a delegate to the continental congress. He was a brave, high-minded and
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accomplished man, although his administration as governor was not popular. He was removed by President Jefferson in 1802 and spent the remainder of his life in poverty, dying at Greens- burg, Pa, in 1818, at the age of eighty-four.
For several years after the organization of the Northwest territory it was the scene of constant and bloody Indian warfare, of which the story has been told in previous chapters. Notwithstanding the disturbed condition of affairs, however there was a considerable influx of settlers from the east. Before
, the arrival of Governor St. Clair a temporary government was established at Marietta. The governor reached there on July 21, 1787. Four days later the first law, which was " for regu- lating and establishing the militia," was promulgated. On September 2 the first court was held with impressive cere- monies. From 1790 to 1795 the governor and judges pub- lished sixty-four statutes. In 1798, the population of the terri- tory having reached 5,000, the election of a general assembly was ordered. This body organized at Cincinnati on September 24, 1799. General William Henry Harrison was elected a dele- gate to Congress. The legislature at the first session passed forty-eight acts, of which eleven were vetoed by the governor. The most important among the new laws related to the sale of public lands, the administration of justice, taxation and the militia.
In 1800, the Northwest territory was divided into the territories of Ohio and Indiana. The former comprised the region embraced within the limits of the present state of Ohio; the latter comprised the remainder of the original territory, or
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