USA > Indiana > Newton County > A standard history of Jasper and Newton counties, Indiana : an authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and country, Volume I > Part 4
USA > Indiana > Jasper County > A standard history of Jasper and Newton counties, Indiana : an authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and country, Volume I > Part 4
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"The general practice in raising cattle has been either to keep breeding cows, and let the calves run with them on the open prairie in summer, throwing the herd a handful of salt once or twice a week, and taking care, either by an employed herdsman or by occa- sional supervision, that they do not wander too far from the proper range. This is the only expense during seven and a half months in the year, from the middle of April to December.
"A very few, if any, calves are ever slaughtered in Jasper County for their veal. Those who do not wish to winter their calves find a market among their neighbors in the fall, at from $4 to $6 per head. After the grass of the prairies has been killed down by the frosts of autumn, the calves are generally separated from the larger cattle, and kept up in an inclosure, in some part of which is an open shed, built of logs or rails, and covered with a pile of straw or coat- ing of prairie hay, and there fed on prairie hay, with a small daily allowance of ears of Indian corn or meal. Some keep them on corn fodder, which has been cut and shocked up in the fall, or turn them into stock-fields; that is, fields where the ears of corn have been gathered, and the stalks left standing, or more recently, since tame grasses have been cultivated, feed them on timothy, blue-grass or clover, during a portion of the winter.
"In some cases, calves are exposed throughout the winter to all changes of weather, with no shelter besides what is offered by a clump of brush or glade of timber. It is not surprising that with such neglect, many calves perish and die before the end of the first winter. Others that survive get on the 'lift,' or have the 'hollow- horn,' or 'wolf,' or some other disease, the result of starvation and exposures. Very few, if any, calves in this county are ever kept in a thriving condition, much less in a fat condition, during the first winter they are kept. But as soon as spring opens they are again turned out upon the prairies. Here, in a few weeks, the whole appearance is changed. The old hair falls off, and is replaced by a new and smooth coat. In a short time they become fat, and before the ensuing fall they usually attain the size of two-year-old stock that is raised on timber lands. In this condition they are brought to another winter, in which they fare no better than during the first. They are now kept without shelter, many of them without
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grain, and fed on hay, which costs about $1.50 per ton in the stack. It is seldom that any of them die during the second winter, although it would appear strange to a New England farmer that any of them should live through. Heifers with calf at this age-and most of them come in at two years old-need some grain to do well, especially when they come in early, but steers and other stock, if they have only enough coarse feed, get through without difficulty. Early in the succeeding summer and fall the two-year-olds are ready for market.
"The average value of such cattle, during the last four or five years, has been from $15 to $17 a head in the spring and from $2.75 to $3 per cwt., live weight, in the summer and fall. Notwithstand- ing the loss of some calves and some older cattle, the last two hard winters, stock raising has been considered profitable, and some have realized handsome profits from it."
From the same writer we take the following on the subject of horses: "With horses, as with everything else, the middling good, tolerably cheap, every-day-article, is of more general usefulness than any others. If they are very inferior, whether vicious, unsafe, balky or tender, their services will not pay for their keeping. If a horse is expensive or high-priced, few can afford to invest their capital in him. A large majority of people have all they can do to live comfortably from year to year. We cannot afford to try experiments, or risk our means in uncertain enterprises. We know that the dearest horses are not the most useful to us; that, in our cir- cumstances, fancy horses and fast horses are not what we most need. We have three purposes for which we want horses, i. e., for draught, for travel and for sale.
"First. We want horses to assist in plowing our lands and raising produce; to take our grain to mill and market; to haul our wood, and to take our families to worship on Sunday. This is our common business. For this we do not need fast horses, but com- pact, well-built horses that possess the powers of endurance; horses that will keep in good working condition in winter on hay and a moderate share of grain, with indifferent shelter.
"Second. We need horses for herding on the open prairies. Here we need an occasional test of speed, although not great nor long continued, for it does not demand a horse of extra dispatch or bottom to outrun a cow or ox.
"Third, for sale. Several farmers have entered pretty extensively into this branch of grazing, and some have made money at the busi- ness. There has been a steady home market for common draught
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horses at good prices, and a foreign market at great prices for horses of extra quality.
"Our colts are mostly bred from mares that are occasionally worked throughout the year, and pastured on the prairie in the sum- mer. On the approach of winter, the colts are weaned, fed some grain with straw or hay, and sheltered during the hardest weather, and have no other care. They usually look pretty thin and squalid toward spring. They are generally 'broken' in the second or third year, and by the fourth year are put to hard service. Good geldings then bring from $100 to $125. A few horses of extra quality have sold for fancy prices. The care bestowed on colts is but little more than that devoted rearing calves, and at four years of age the ox may be worth $40, while a colt at the same age rates at $100. Why has not more capital been invested in this business? Not over one-half, probably not over one-third, annually, of the brood mares in the county have colts. Not half the farmers who keep mares ever raise a colt.
"One reason is directed against the business itself, i. e., that the business opens the door to dissipation, and while it pays well, it is subject to many excitements and tempts to great risks.
"Another reason is, men who have made a moderate income by raising a few common colts annually, have been too often led to try the fancy breed, by which they have changed the character of their associates, fallen under the influence of backlegs and sharpers, run into idleness, betting, racing and gambling, and in the end lost both their character and property. Men judge that a business liable to such results is not safe, and shun it.
"Another reason is, there is personal danger in it. Many care- ful men neither wish to break colts nor have they sons to do it. They therefore raise only just what is needed for their own serv- ices ; and as a span of horses will last for from seven to nine years. after they have come to a working age, their wants do not require continued attention to the business, and they decline it.
"There is another objection that influences some. Horses, like other stock, are liable to die, and careful farmers do not care to risk so much value in a single animal. It is necessary to keep them in good condition throughout the year, to insure their profitable sale when the market favors their disposal, and this involves a consider- able expense generally overlooked in making a computation of the expenses of the business.
"But the principal objection to breeding blooded stock of this description is that the business requires more capital than the ordi-
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nary farmer is able to invest until the profits can be realized. To be successful, the breeder needs good stalls, tame pastures, good fences and plenty of help to give the stock all necessary care. With all these accessories, the event is at best uncertain. Not one colt in a hundred will bring an extraordinary price. Horses noted for beauty, force or speed, have not always reproduced their like, and even when they do the owner of the colt, unless prepared to expend a costly school of training upon it, is likely to discover the fact only after it has passed from his possession.
"We have in Jasper County the names of all the noted horses in the land, and the names of all the breeds ; but we have neither the stock nor the means at present of producing it, and while we frequently find valuable horses, both under the saddle and harnessed to the plow, we have never yet seen here a first-class horse."
AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK FORTY YEARS AGO
Horace E. James, secretary of the agricultural society at Rens- selaer, reported as follows in 1879, twenty years after the preceding survey : Last winter was favorable to the growth of fall-sown wheat ; the spring helped its development ; insects did not ravage it nor summer storms do it damage, and at harvest time a good, well- matured crop was found, which was saved in fine condition. Gen- erally, however, wheat has not been a reliable crop in this locality. Systematic draining, by means of open ditches and of tile, and liberal coatings of coarse manure, applied before the middle of February, may solve the problem of successful wheat culture upon light and loamy soils and flat surfaces, such as are to be seen with us. At least those farmers who have experimented in this direction are greatly encouraged by the results that have invariably followed such treatment. The wheat crop of Jasper County in 1879 is estimated at double that of any former year, being more than enough to supply the home demand.
"Small fruits, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries, are not extensively cultivated, although both soil and climate are favorable ; grapes do well with us, the commoner kinds being hardy and yield- ing sure crops of good fruit. Producers are only beginning to cultivate them as they merit. Vines bore abundantly this year.
"Some varieties of pears may be grown with moderate returns only. Peaches and quinces winter-kill badly. Plums suffer too much from the ravages of the curculio ever to be popular. Apples do well usually. The exhibition of this fruit at our fair this season
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was remarkably fine. The perfection of specimens equaled any that were shown at the State Fair.
"Quite an interest has developed in Jasper County within a year or two in the breeding of poultry. An association has been organized, and several gentlemen lay claim to the title of fowl- fanciers.
"Ours is emphatically a cattle and hog producing district, and probably more attention has been paid to the improvement of these classes of live stock than to any of the other branches of husbandry. The great desire has been to produce beef to the neglect of milkers, hence short-horn breeders have been favorites with cattle-raisers. Recently a few Jerseys have been introduced, but thus far have not been looked upon with that degree of favor which is calculated to increase the enthusiasm of those who have invested their money in them for the purpose of breeding.
"Large herds (report of 1881) of cattle are less frequently met than in earlier days. I do not mean that fewer cattle are bred and fed here, but they are scattered around more generally, not kept together in large bunches, as in the days before the county was so thickly inhabited, and before so much of the land was inclosed by fences. The breed has been greatly improved by sepa- ration, better care, better feed, and the introduction of improved blood. The improvement has, however, been altogether in the direc- tion of beef-making. There are few, if any, good milkers or butter producers to be found in our pastures.
"In no former year was there so much good hay, both cultivated and wild, put into stock. Tons by the thousands were not even moistened by dew. It has commanded satisfactory prices. Next to corn and not much behind, either, is the hay in importance with us. Much of it is fed on the ground, but there is also an impor- tant industry in baling and shipping it, which has sprung up within a few years ..
"After cattle, hay and corn, come hogs in point of importance. Our breeds are Berkshire, Poland-China and Jersey Red, with a decided preference for the first named, either pure breed, crossed or common grade.
"Sheep hold a modest position. No large flocks are kept, but many farmers own from a dozen to thirty or fifty. The long-wool breeds and their crosses with the natives are the favorites. There are occasional thoroughbred animals, but the object seems to be to grow mutton rather than wool.
"Our horses are chiefly what may be called general-purpose
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animals. The introduction of the Norman and the Clydesdale breeds has made the stock on many farms much more serviceable and marketable than previous to their advent. The quarter crosses of these large breeds upon scrubs are excellent horses for general purposes. There are, however, a few flyers owned in the county, some of which are known to the race courses of three or four States, and boast genealogies recorded in the stud book, but no breeding is done for the special object of speed.
"A decided change for the better is perceivable each succeeding year in the method which farmers employ for the tiling of the soil and the cultivation of crops. The land is better and more sys- tematically worked than formerly. There is a manifest desire to learn and adopt improvements. There is a growing taste for litera- ture treating upon farm topics. In brief, there seems to be more mind-work combined with hand work. Several tile factories are finding employment in the solution of the problem of systematic draining. A butter factory or creamery of the capacity of 1,000 pounds of butter daily has lately been built at the county seat, which is doing a good paying business, while opening up a new field to the vision of stock breeders. Orchards and vineyards are being planted, and, what is more to the purpose, are being cared for with a thought to their ultimate value as a source of revenue."
CHAPTER II
CONFLICTS OF WHITES AND REDS
THE MIAMIS TAMED BY THE IROQUOIS-LABORS OF FRENCH MIS- SIONARIES AND TRADERS-FRENCH INDIANA-INDIANA UNDER BRITISH RULE-UNCERTAIN FRENCH TITLES TO LANDS-RULED FROM CANADA AND VIRGINIA-IN THE COUNTY OF ILLINOIS- PART OF NORTHWEST TERRITORY-INDIANA TERRITORY-GEN- ERAL HARRISON, FATHER OF INDIANA-TECUMSEH AND THE PROPHET-THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE-FOUNDING OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT-MIAMI AND POTTAWATTAMIE TITLES EX- TINGUISHED POTTAWATTAMIE VILLAGES IN JASPER COUNTY- No EVIDENCES OF PERMANENT PREHISTORIC SETTLEMENTS.
The lowlands of the Kankakee, alive with water fowl and musk- rats, and teeming with fish, were favorite resorts both of the Indians and French and English trappers from the earliest times of which there are records. But the waters were difficult to navigate, no great land trails followed its courses, such as crossed the country nearer Lake Michigan or along the more navigable Valley of the Wabash to the south. Within the area of what is usually called Northwestern Indiana the main lines of travel both for Indians and whites, in the times of the French dominion, either crossed the immediate region of the great lakes or paralleled the water courses embraced in the Ohio River system. But although the Kan- kakee region was somewhat away from the greater routes of travel, by both land and water, it is believed that the great, tireless and almost ubiquitous La Salle explored it during the later period of his career.
THE MIAMIS TAMED BY THE IROQUOIS
In the time of La Salle the country now embraced within the limits of the State of Indiana was inhabited by the Miami Confed- eration of Indians, of which the Pottawattamies were the most
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powerful tribe northwest of the Wabash. The Iroquois, or Five Nations of the East, were their inveterate and hereditary enemies, and the river which bears their name in Jasper and Newton coun- ties, as well as the Illinois county just over the state line, are evi- dences of their fierce western incursion, which was finally stemmed by La Salle and the western tribes which he consolidated against them. But for twenty-five years after his assassination in 1687 until the early part of the eighteenth century the Ohio and lakes regions claimed by France were not safe from the invasions of the Five Nations, the allies of the English.
As stated by Dr. William S. Haymond in his "History of Indiana :" "In 1670, and for many years previous, the fertile region of country now included within the boundaries of the state of Indiana was inhabited by the Miami Confederation of Indians. This league consisted of several Algonquin tribes, notably the Twightwees, Weas, Piankeshaws and Shockeys and was formed at an early period-probably in the early part of the seventeenth century-for the purpose of repelling the invasions of the Iroquois, or Five Nations, at whose hands they had suffered many severe defeats. By the frequent and unsuccessful wars in which they were com- pelled to engage in self-defense their numbers had been greatly reduced until, at the date mentioned, they could not muster more than fifteen hundred or two thousand warriors. They dwelt in small villages on the banks of the various rivers in Indiana and extended their dominion as far east as the Scioto, north to the Great Lakes and west to the country of the Illinois. Their principal settle- ments were scattered along the headwaters of the Great Miami, the banks of the Maumee, the St. Joseph of Lake Michigan, the Wabash and its tributaries. Although once important among the nations of the Lake Region they had become greatly demoralized by repeated defeats in war, and when first visited by the French their villages presented a very untidy appearance. They were living in constant terror of the Five Nations, practicing only sufficient indus- try to prevent starvation and indulging all their vicious passions to a vulgar extreme.
LABORS OF FRENCH MISSIONARIES AND TRADERS
"Almost immediately after the discovery and exploration of the Mississippi by La Salle in 1682, and a few years later by James Mar- quette, the government of France began to encourage the policy of connecting its possessions in North America by a chain of fortifica- Vol. I-2
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tions, trading posts and missionary stations, extending from New Orleans on the southwest to Quebec on the northwest. This under- taking was inaugurated by Lamotte Cadillac, who established Fort Pontchartrain on the Detroit river in 1701.
"At this period the zealous Jesuit missionaries, the adventurous French fur traders with their coarse blue and red cloths, fine scarlet, guns, powder, balls, knives, ribbons, beads, vermilion, tobacco and rum ; the careless rangers, or coureurs des bois, whose chief vocation was conducting the canoes of the traders among the lakes and rivers, made their appearance among the Indians of Indiana. The pious Jesuits held up the cross of Christ and unfolded the mysteries of the Catholic religion in broken Indian to the astonished savages, while the speculating trader offered them fire water and other articles of merchandise in exchange for their peltries, and the rangers, shaking loose every tie of blood and kindred, identified themselves with the savages and sank into utter barbarism."
The Jesuit missionaries were always cordially received by the Miami tribes. These Indians would listen patiently to the theory of the Saviour and salvation, manifest a willing belief in all they heard, and then, as if to entertain their visitors in return, would tell them the story of their own simple faith in the Manitous, and stalk off with a groan of dissatisfaction because the missionaries would not accept their theory with equal courtesy. Missionary stations were established at an early day in all the principal villages and the work of instructing and converting the savages was begun in earnest. The order of religious exercises established at the missions among the Miamis was nearly the same as that among the other Indians. Early in the morning the missionaries would assemble the Indians at the church, or the hut used for the purpose, and after prayers the sav- ages were taught concerning the Catholic religion. These exercises were always followed by singing, at the conclusion of which the congregation was dismissed, the Christians only remaining to take part at mass. This service was generally followed by prayers. Dur- ing the forenoon the priests were generally engaged in visiting the sick and consoling those who were laboring under any affliction. After noon another service was held in the church, at which all the Indians were permitted to appear in their finery and where each, without regard to rank or age, answered the questions put by the missionary. This exercise was concluded by singing hymns, the words of which had been set to airs familiar to the savage ear. In the evening all assembled again at the church for instruction, to hear
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prayers and to sing their favorite hymns. The Miamis were always highly pleased with the latter exercise.
Aside from the character of the religious services which con- stituted a chief attraction in the Miami villages of Indiana while the early French missionaries were among them, the traveler's attention would first be engaged with the peculiarities of the fur trade, which during the first quarter of the eighteenth century was monopolized by the French. This traffic was not confined to those whose wealth enabled them to engage vessels, canoes and traders, for there were hundreds scattered through the various Indian villages of Indiana at almost any time during the first half of the eighteenth century, who carried their packs of merchandise and furs by means of leather straps suspended from their shoulders, or with the straps resting againt their foreheads.
Rum and brandy were freely introduced by the traders and always found a ready sale among the Miami Indians. A Frenchman, writ- ing of the evils which resulted from the introduction of spirituous liquors among these savages, remarked: "The distribution of it is made in the usual way; that is to say, a certain number of persons have delivered to each of them a quantity sufficient to get drunk with, so that the whole have been drunk over eight days. They begin to drink in the villages as soon as the sun is down, and every night the fields echo with the most hideous howling."
In those early days the Miami villages of the Maumee, those of the Weas about Ouiatenon on the Wabash, and those of the Pianke- shaws around Vincennes were the central points of the fur trade in Indiana, to which large contributions were made by the Indians and trappers of the Kankakee and Beaver Lake regions, in what are now Jasper and Newton counties. Trading posts were established at the Miami villages mentioned and at Fort Wayne, in 1719, although for twenty years previously the French traders and missionaries had frequently visited them. A permanent church or mission was es- tablished at the Piankeshaw village near Vincennes in 1749, and in the following year a small fort was erected there by order of the French government. It was in that year that another small fort was erected near the mouth of the Wabash River. These posts soon drew a large number of French traders around them, and in 1756 they had become quite important settlements, with a mixed popula- tion of French and Indian.
At this date the English became competitors for the trade with the Indiana Indians and those of the surrounding country, and at the close of the old French war, in 1763, when Canada and its de-
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pendencies fell into the hands of the British, this monopoly passed to the visitors. Notwithstanding this change in the government of the country, the French who had settled around the principal trading posts in Indiana, with a few exceptions, swore allegiance to the British government and were permitted to occupy their lands in peace and enjoy the slight improvements they had wrought.
FRENCHI INDIANA
The post, or the old post-later known as Vincennes-was es- tablished in 1727, and until after the Revolutionary war was the . only white settlement in Indiana, although French forts were estab- lished both at the head of the Maumee and at Ouiatenon-the latter on the Wabash, about eighteen miles below the mouth of the Tippe- canoe. The post at Ouiatenon is claimed to be the first of its kind in Indiana and dated from 1720. From its settlement until it was finally transferred to Great Britain, Vincennes was under the juris- diction of New Orleans, although its trade was largely with Canada. It was in command of a governor, Sieur de Vincennes holding that office from the founding of the post until his death in 1736. Dur- ing that period, therefore, Indiana was under the direct jurisdiction of Governor Vincennes, and indirectly, of New Orleans and Versailles.
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