USA > Indiana > Greene County > Biographical memoirs of Greene County, Ind. : with reminiscences of pioneer days, Volume I > Part 8
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without the consent of the other tribes; and that he and his brother, the Prophet, would resist all further attempts of the whites to extend their settlements into this terri- tory. These two famous Indians, by their persistent ef- forts and wonderful influence, finally brought about a powerful confederation of Indians, and the treaties were not made effectual until after the battle of Tippecanoe, which occurred on the 7th day of November, 1811. The Delawares, who at that time occupied the White river and White Water country, which included the territory embraced in Greene county, refused to join Tecumseh's confederacy, and remained at peace with the whites. Soon after the battle of Tippecanoe, the Indians com- menced their removal to the west, and the last band left Greene county in 1819. A few years later a band of In- dians on their way to the west camped for a few days just above the mouth of Latta's creek, on the west bank of White river.
The Piankeshaws were sent to Missouri and Kan- sas, and finally all to Kansas. The number has grown smaller and smaller, as they have continually met the en- croachments of the lower order of whites, with their hand- maids of destruction, whisky and disease. In 1854 they were confederated with the Weas, Peories and Kaskas- kias, and they all numbered two hundred and fifty-nine. In 1868 they numbered only one hundred and seventy- nine. There has since been attached to this confedera-
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tion the Miamis, who went west of Indiana, and they have been removed to the Indian Territory. In late years the dawn of a brighter and better era is upon them. They now own fifty-two thousand acres of good land and have three thousand acres in cultivation. They live in good houses, dress like civilized people and their children attend schools of their own. Some of their boys have returned to the land of their ancestors and attended col- lege in Indiana.
The Delawares, who were the last of the Indians to occupy Greene county, have been uniformly more fortunate than the Piankeshaws. Some of them are still in Kansas. In 1866 one thousand Delawares and Shaw- nees were incorporated with Cherokees in the Indian Ter- ritory, and are doing well. They are in an advanced state of civilization and are worth more per capita than any other tribe of Indians. Their language is one of the best known of the Algonquin dialects.
Tammany, whose name figures extensively in New York politics, was a Delaware chief of the mythical period. There was an early tradition among the Dela- wares that they were originally western Indians and at a very early day emigrated east. At the first settlement in the United States they occupied the territory along the Delaware river, from which they take their name, and it was with them that William Penn made his celebrated treaty by which he acquired Pennsylvania.
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During the war of the Rebellion the Delawares fur- nished one hundred and seventy soldiers for the Federal Army, who proved brave and efficient soldiers and scouts.
WORTHINGTON MOUNDS.
The remaining portion of this chapter is from the report of an eminent state geologist, and is quoted with slight alterations to suit this volume.
The mound was slightly elliptical, being three hun- dred and sixty feet wide from north to south and three hundred and sixty to three hundred and ninety feet long from east to west; the extreme height of carried material at a point a little northeast of the center was nine feet six inches, sloping rapidly to the east, but with gradual in- cline south, north and west. The carried material was a fine loam or clayey earth brought from a neighboring marsh one-quarter to a half mile north, so that the dis- tinction between the artificial mound and the natural sur- face of clear fluviatile sand was easily apparent. This ma- terial amounted to nearly four thousand cubic yards of earth-one thousand eight hundred wagonloads-and as these people had none of the tools of our time we may say one hundred and eight thousand basketfuls. Allowing that these workmen or builders would travel as far as an army under heavy marching orders, they would carry and deposit about one-half cubic yard per day to each
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man, or eight thousand days for one man. But consid- ering that each man had to supply himself with food and that he joined in the dance and festivities common to bar- barous people on ceremonial occasions, we may more safe- ly estimate nine basketfuls, or nine cubic feet as a day's work ; consequently it would require the labor of one man twelve thousand days or two hundred persons full sixty days.
The outlook due east was up a valley piercing the eastern bluff of White river, giving the sleepless priest who guarded the ever burning fire upon his altar such opportunity of catching the first rays of sunrise as was necessary in calling his people by chant and drum to their morning devotion and worship of the sun-the fountain of life, light and comfort.
A BURIAL VAULT.
Several years ago W. C. Andrews, in preparing for the erection of the old Franklin House, excavated part of the east side and top of the mound. Near the central apex he found an elliptical vault eight feet long, five feet wide and three feet deep, surrounded by a sandstone wall eighteen inches thick, with a narrow entrance at the south end, and a minor elliptical chamber separated by a wall at the north extremity. The bottom was floored with thin slabs or flagstones ; it contained no bones or other rel-
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ics, but the interior contents, a "fat block" earth, indi- cated the decomposed remains of a cover of black bitu- minous shale, from the roof of neighboring outcrops of coal A. This vault was evidently not connected with, but intrusive upon, the original work after abandonment by the originators. It seems especially adapted for the pur- pose of a temporary receiving vault for bodies of those dying between the epochal national funerals. Such tem- porary vaults were noticed at Fort Azatlan, in Sullivan county, and other places in this state. Its location was invited by the circular depression at the chimney top near the apex of their predecessors' edifices.
In 1878 the town authorities of Worthington re- moved considerable part from the north side of the mound, discovering none of the ancient remains, but ex- posing several intrusive Indian graves near the surface, but on the completion, March, 1880, of the Terre Haute & Southeastern Railroad to this point, it was necessary in making a junction with the Indianapolis & Vincennes Railroad to fill up the abandoned bed of the Wabash and Erie canal along the track of the latter road. This was done under the direction of Calvin S. Taylor, by borrow- ing earth from the mound. Much credit is due Mr. Tay- lor for carefully observing the developments made for sa- credly preserving the few relics found and for measure- ments here reported.
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ARRANGEMENT OF THE MOUND.
The following interior arrangements were observed : The surface soil had been stripped away to a depth of seven or eight inches, exposing a subsoil of compact, fine sand, which constituted the floor of the mound room. Near the center was a bed of ashes about ten inches deep covering an area of ten or twelve feet square, in which were roasted bones of animals, spikes of deer horn, mussel and snail shells, charcoal and fragments of earthen ware pots, indicating the kitchen fire of a large household. The disturbed nature of the earth above the fireplace, with a quantity of flat stones reddened by fire, seemed to indi- cate a chimney, or smoke flue, partly supported by rough masonry, which in the course of time had fallen in ; black spots or columns of black mold at the circumference of the mound and at the interior points showed that trunks of trees had been utilized as posts to support the earthen roof, which had entirely decayed. The floor of the build- ing was covered with fragments of broken pottery, with a few stone or bone implements of household use. No warlike weapons were seen-it was a peaceful agricul- tural people. The whole mound seemed to indicate the communal home of a large family or tribe, with a com- mon roof, walls, fire, etc., a mode of life characteristic of many primitive nations and races. Human skeletons were found irregularly scattered near the circumference
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of a circle, about sixty feet in diameter, having the aslı pit for its center, but more numerous near the eastern doorway. The bones were badly decayed, and as a rule went to dust after exposure. They would represent a possible fifteen or twenty individuals.
A PRE-HISTORIC MURDER.
At once the question arises, What changed his resi- dence or home of a tribe to a charnal house? A single circumstance throws a ray of light. On the northwestern arc of the circular corridor, or area, was found the skele- ton of a man with household implements widely scattered about, as if in ordinary use ; the back part of the skull was crushed in by a blow of a large stone hammer from be- hind and below, or while reclining on his right side, mak- ing an opening and indentation in the occipital region two and one-half by three inches in area. A murder had been committed, and unholy deatlı had occurred beside the household altar, and probably by a law common to some American and Pacific Island peoples the house was thenceforward tabooed as unfit for occupation, and dedi- cated to the dead. The remains of others were then brought from temporary graves and here deposited in the national "dead house" for their last sleep .. The articles found on the floor of the mound were: Crania and liu- man bones, ornamental vase, Japanese image (head), Jap-
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anese image (foot), bone whistle, copper ax, flint knives, a smooth, symmetrical, oblong, spherical stone muller or pestle, flint chips, by abrasion showing use, bone im- plement.
CRANIAL MEASUREMENTS.
The skull was of the typical pyramidal form char- acteristic of the early Mound Builders, and gave the fol- lowing measurements: Circumference from eyebrow to base of occiput, 18.20 inches; frontal arc from ear to ear, 10. 10 inches ; arc over top from ear to ear, 12.75 inches. The well closed sutures and worn teeth as examined by Dr. Brouillette, of Worthington, indicated his age to have been fifty-five or sixty years, and by measurement of the tibia, his height when living was only five feet four inches. The high head showed an unreasoning man of great firmness and energy, and the projecting lower jaw a strong fi. sh eater. The cranium was abnormal or lop- sided, by reason of superior size of the right over the left side, so that when erect the head would incline that way, and as a rule he would sleep lying on that side, as was probably the case when he was killed.
POTTERY, JAPANESE IMAGES, VASES, ETC.
The vase is ornamented by a peculiar fillet, with com- plementary pendant curves in symmetrical design, and
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shows more skill than is usual in Mound Builders' pot- tery. It is the most. artistic design, accompanied by regu- lar form, seen by the writer out of over one thousand specimens by him examined, and seems to indicate skill of a higher order than the careless efforts of an occasional workman. In other words, it exhibits the skill of an hab- itual mechanic, trained by teachers as well as practice. The Japanese head and foot were so peculiar as to awaken the doubts as to the genuineness of the find, hence ex- haustive inquiry was made, not only of those immedi- ately engaged in the excavation, but of other citizens, call- ing in the aid of the well known detective, K. Osborn. The testimony of all united as to its authenticity. The superintendent, C. S. Taylor, reports that it was found by a boy employed on the excavation about sixty feet north-northwest from the hearth stone center, on the sand floor, eight feet below the surface. When first re- moved from its bed it was soaked with the dampness of the earth and so softened that in brushing away the ad- hering dirt the extremity of the nose and ball of the right eye were slightly abraded, as may be seen. The image was probably entire, but in the bustle of work, with a full force of men and teams, only the head and one foot were preserved. The head is a striking picture; no artist could conceive the image of an eagle or lion, and fix it in pictured art without seeing or knowing of such animals. the physiognomy here given is as distinct from other
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races as these animals from other species. The most in- ventive genius could not join almond eyes, high cheek bones, strong nose, pouting lips and flabby ears to an image without seeing familiarly an original Japanese. Nor would he have done so unless the figure awoke either ideas of beauty or respect for a superior form, worthy qualities, as an ancestor, governor, teacher or necessary protector. Mound pottery, as a rule, is rude, inartistic and composed of a mixture of clay and coarsely powdered mussel shells. This image, on the other hand, is an ex- act presentment of a certain type, and does not contain in the interior fragments of shells, but in addition to the other points of superiority has the exterior surface cov- ered with a well defined coat of grayish white clay, an art not unusual in our ancient potteries. All these facts seem to show that this image was the work of an artist with more than self-acquired skill, and was the result of generations of men, combining their experience from teacher to pupil, from master to learner, and was bor- rowed from some older life center, and this knowledge of the facial expression, it is suggested, could only be bor- rowed from Japan or China. The immigration of a fleet of canoes of Asiatic Esquimaux by Behring strait to Alaska on this continent fully sustains this suggestion.
CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS OF THE IDOL.
The material of the image was submitted to Chem- ical Assistant Hurty for qualitive analysis, and it was
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found to contain silicates of alumnia, soda and potassium and sand humus and oxide of iron. If it was of modern make it would not have contained part of these ingre- dients, and if imported from Asia would have contained the common kaolin of eastern Asia. But the analysis shows that the image was made from common swamp clay, and still contained humus or organic matter, and the coating was from fire clay of some adjacent coal bank, clearly indicating that it was made from local materials, and therefore of local manufacture.
COPPER IMPLEMENTS.
The copper ax is of the usual size and form discov- ered in the mounds. On analysis it was found to be com- posed of copper, with traces of iron and carbon, but with- out alloy of phosphorus or tin. The analysis shows its origin from the copper mines of Lake Superior, and in- dicates their line of immigration by these mines to In- diana. The other articles mentioned were the household implements common about the kitchen fires of this race.
THE INDIANS.
It seems that Fair Play township was once the site of various Indian villages of considerable note. On the site of the old town of Fair Play a flourishing Pianke-
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shaw village had stood in former years before the white man came to disturb the rude lives of the aboriginal bar- barians with the arts of social organism. Scattered over the ground there, especially in early years, were the rude implements of warfare and of domestic usefulness, and in various places were tracts of land from which the brush and sod had been cleared, and upon which the former in- habitants had grown their crops of corn, and perhaps vegetables. The village had contained several hundred wigwams, judging from the extent of open ground where it stood and the statements of the earliest white settlers. The Indians were abundantly numerous in the vicinity in detached bands, under subchiefs, though they were no- madic, wandering up and down the streams, and locating for short periods where game was plentiful. They often came to the cabins of the first settlers for ammunition, whisky or articles of food, and brought with them to bar- ter furs, wild meat and curious trinkets of their own man- ufacture. When in his native element, untrammeled by the arts of his superior race, was noble, with the strictest notion of honor, proud of his brave ancestry, happy to die for his race with a stoicism that challenges admira- tion, and boastful of his deeds in the chase and on the cruel fields of barbarous war. He has passed away and will soon become extinct, though he will leave his blood flowing in the veins of some of the proudest white fam- ilies of the land. On the Dixon farm had been a village
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of twenty or more families of Miamis, and on this spot was a clearing of six or eight acres, where their crops had been raised by the squaws. The braves were too proud to work-that drudgery was placed upon the wo- men-and spent their time in hunting. Upon this site were the remains of old wigwams and several sweat- houses.
THE SWEAT-HOUSES.
The custom of the sweat-houses was as follows: A pile of stones was heated very hot by fire built over them, and while in this condition was surrounded by a tight wigwam, leaving room to move around the pile of stones next to the sides of the structure. The fire, of course, was removed before the wigwam was erected. The wig- wam was placed there while the stones ere yet glowing with heat, and immediately the braves wanting a sweat bath entered the sweat-house, and while some of their number repeatedly dashed water upon the hot stones the remainder, stark naked, danced around the steaming stones. The braves were instantly thrown into a profuse perspiration, which cleansed their skins and toned up their systems. When each felt that he had enough of the sweating and exercising he went into an adjoining tent, where he was wiped dry and dressed in warm buckskin or fawnskin. In Setpember, 1820, the large body of the In- dians was removed west to the reservation prepared for
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them. Just before their final departure they assembled in large bodies on the western bank of White river, in Fair Play township, about west of Bloomfield, to hold their farewell ceremonies on the site of their old home be- fore their departure forever for lands beyond the Missis- sippi. Several hundred assembled and remained there four or five days, holding war, scalp, peace, funeral and ceremonial dances and powwows. At times they were very quiet, as if sorrowing over their fate of leaving the graves of their fathers, but at other times they were so wild, vehement and demonstrative that a rumor spread out through the neighboring settlements that they con- templated an attack, and a few of the nearest families left their cabins temporarily, going to their neighbors for ad- vice and protection. No attack was meditated, however. The Indians were simply reviving the cherished customs of their time for the last time in their old home.
THIE SCALP DANCE.
Their scalp dance was thus described : A pole plant- ed in the center of an open piece of ground, upon which or around which are bound the captives taken in war to be burned at stake. Each brave participating in the dance is provided with a sharp pole, upon which is strung the scalps he had taken. When all is ready the fagots around the captives are lighted, and the dance is begun. The
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scalps are lighted, scorched and burned, and thrown in the faces of the tortured captives and the poles are lighted, and while burning are thrust repeatedly against their burned and blackened bodies. The braves move slowly around the fire, dancing up and down, first with a short hop upward with one foot, while the other is raised as high as the knee, and then with the other, interspersing all with a wild succession of scalp halloos, made at first by a quavering motion of the hollowed hand, upon the lips, but ending with a force that made the forest ring. In this instance, on the bank of White river, as they had no captives nor scalps, they danced in imaginary joy around a stake where a fire had been built. Immediately after that only stragglers were to be seen, who had come back to revisit the scenes of their childhood and the graves of their dead. .
HUNTING INCIDENTS.
Benjamin Stafford says that one morning he stood in his father's cabin and counted over thirty deer passing ini one herd. This was very unusual, as they usually went in small herds. They were very numerous, and could be shot almost any hour of the day. William Harrison was one day hunting in the township when, in passing ncar the border of the Goose pond, he saw a bear out to one side of the woods. It seemed to be coming toward him,
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so he concealed himself behind a clump of bushes, and after priming his rifle awaited the approach of bruin. At last the animal came shambling along to within easy rifle shot, when he took careful aim and fired-stretched it dead on the ground with a bullet shot through its head. He skinned it and went to the house to get a team of horses with which it was loaded on the sled with skids with the help of some of the Stafford boys. It weighed when dressed over four hundred pounds. Its flesh was eaten by nearly all the neighbors. On another occasion Josiah Jolinson was hunting in the vicinity of Goose pond with two dogs, which soon were heard to bay out in the woods, barking at something they had treed. Mr. John- son surmised by their angry and rapid howls that they had encountered an animal of more than usual size and ferocity. He accordingly hurried out to see what they had found. He reached the spot and saw a moderate- sized bear in a large oak tree, to which it had climbed after ascending a smaller oak, which stood against the large one. The animal stood on a high branch composed- ly watching the raging dogs below. Without deliberating very long, Mr. Johnson brought the bear to the ground with a bullet. It was seized by the dogs, but after a few spasmodic kicks and gasps it became motionless. Mason Pitts was a hunter of courage and experience. It is said he claimed to have killed more panthers than any other resident of Sullivan county (the western part of Greene
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county was part of Sullivan before 1821). He had an eye like a hawk, was easy and graceful of movement, pos- sessed great strength, courage and endurance, and was a dead shot offhand with his rifle. He was a blacksmith, and when not hunting was working most of the time at his trade. One day, in passing across an open space on his way to a neighbor's returning something he borrowed, he saw a heap of grass and leaves, and going noiselessly up to the spot, kicked the leaves away and hallooed at the top of his voice. Instantly two large panthers sprang out and bounded off like cats into the marshy tract of land and were soon out of sight and sound. He had no gun, but came back afterward with a gun and dogs, but could not find the "painters," as he called them. It is said he shot one from a tree on another occasion. Old man Carrico is said to have killed three or four bears in the marsh near his house. One he wounded, and as it came at him with open mouth he was compelled to use his knife to prevent being "hugged" to death. The Staf- ford boys-Benjamin and Azmabeth-in a very early day, with the aid of dogs, caught on Black creek four otters, an animal that was very rare, even at that time.
THE OLD LOG SCHOOL HOUSE OF SIXTY YEARS AGO.
GETTING AN EDUCATION UNDER DIFFICULTIES.
After the close of our 1840 school there was a blank of six years in which I nor any of my brothers had a day's schooling other than what our mother gave us at home, for the reason that the nearest school was over four miles, and then there were no gravel roads or cement sidewalks, but to the contrary most of the way was paths through the wild woods and thickets of hazel brush and briars, and over hills and hollows, crossing creeks and branches, that made it difficult for children of school age to attend the neighborhood schools that served a radius of several miles.
The Plummer Creek school house not being centrally located and wholly unfit for winter schools was aban- doned for all time to come. So for a space of five years there were no schools in the Plummer Creek neighbor- hood or settlement, as it was better known. So in the fall of 1845 it became evident to some of the wiser men of the settlement in which we Lived that there would have to be something done in the way of schooling for the chil- dren that were already large in numbers, many of whom
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were nearly grown, and had never seen the inside of a school house. So a few of the wise heads got together as one man, and decided to build a cheap log house, and a cheap house it was, as will be seen further on. The location was on what was known as Bristle Ridge, some two and one-half miles from my father's home, where the ground was donated and the school was long known as
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