USA > Indiana > Allen County > History of Allen County, Indiana, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 17
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* also from Fort Wayne, along the portage aforesaid, which leads to the Wabash, and thenee down the Wabash to the Ohio."
This treaty was signed on the part of the Miamis by Na-goh-quan-gogh, or Le Gris; Mesh-a-kun-no-guah, or Little Turtle, and by Wa-pa-mun gwa, or White Loon.
On the 7th day of June, 1803, a treaty was held at Fort Wayne, between Gen. " William H. Harrison, Governor of the Indiana Territory. Superintendeut of Indian Affairs and Commissioner Plenipotentiary of the United States for concluding any treaty or treaties which may be found necessary with any of the Indian tribes northwest of the Ohio, of the one part, and the tribes of Indians called the Delawares, Shawanoes, Pottawatomies, Miamis and Kickapoos by their chiefs and head warriors and those of the Eel Rivers, Weas, Piankeshaws and Kauskaskias, by their agents and representatives, Tuthinipec, Winnemae, Riche- ville and Little Turtle, of the other part."
It was the purpose of this treaty among other things to re-adjust the bound- aries of certain lands reserved hy the United States for their use adjacent to the post of St. Vineennes, hy the fourth article of the treaty of Greenville, preserib- ing new boundaries for said reservations and relinquishing all right of the United States to any lands adjoining to or in the neighborhood thereof. This treaty also was signed on the part of the Miamis by Chiefs Richeville and Little Turtle. The cessions of land to the United States by this treaty embraced an area of about one million six hundred thousand acres.
Another treaty was held here, which was concluded and signed on the 30th day of September. 1809, between William H. Harrison, Commissioner on the part of the United States, and the Delawares, Pottawatomies, Miamis and Eel River Miamis, by which the Indian tribes namned eeded to the United States all the tract of country included between the boundary line established by the treaty of Fort Wayne, the Wabash and a line drawn from the mouth of Raccoon Creck, 80 as to strike the boundary line established by the treaty of Grouseland, near
Vincennes. In this treaty, the Miamis explicitly acknowledged the equal right of the Delawares with themselves to the country watered by the White River, neither party having the right to dispose of the same without the consent of the other. The compensation to the Miamis for the cessions made to the United States was an annuity of $500. The amount of land ceded to the United States hy this treaty was estimated at about two million nine hundred thousand acres. Since the validity of this treaty depended upon its ratification by the Weas, that tribe, on the 26th of October following, confirmed the same by a separate article of the last-named treaty, upon the request of the Miami nation ; additional compensa- tion was allowed them, and it was therefore " agreed, that the United States shall deliver for their use, in the course of the next spring, at Fort Wayne, domestic aniuals to the amount of $500, and the like number for the two follow- ing years, and that an armory shall he also maintained at Fort Wayne, for the use of the Indians, as heretofore. * * *
* The United States will allow to the Miamis a further permanent annuity of $200."
By the treaty at St. Mary's, Ohio, on the 6th day of October, 1818, between Jonathan Jennings, Lewis Cass and Benjamin Parke, Commissioners on the part of the United States and the Miami Indians, the latter ceded to the formuer the following tract of country : " Beginning at the Wabash River, where the present Indian boundary liue crosses the same, near the mouth of Raccoon Creck; thence up the Wabash River to the reserve at its head near Fort Wayne ; thence to the reserves at Fort Wayne; thence with the lines thereof to the St. Mary's River ; thence up the St. Mary's River to the reservation at the Portage ; thence to the reservation at Loramie's Store ; thence, with the present Indian boundary line, to * * Fort Recovery; and with said line * * to the place of
beginning."
From said cession, certain reservations were made, among others, a " reser- vation of ten miles square opposite the mouth of the river A. Bouette " [Aboite]. " To Jean Bapt. Richardville, principal chief of the Miami nation of Indians * * * three sections of land, beginuing almost twenty-five rods below his house on the river St. Mary's, near Fort Wayne; thenee, at right angles with the course of the river, one mile; and from this line and the said river, up the stream thereof for quantity. Two sections upon the east side of the St. Mary's River, near Fort Wayne, running east one mile with the military reser- vation ; thenee from that line, and from the river for quantity.
" To Joseph Richardville and Joseph Richardville, Jr., two sections of land, being one on each side of the St. Mary's River, and below the reservation made on that river hy the treaty of Greenville, in 1795.
" To François La Fontaine, and his son, two sections of land, adjoining and above the two sections granted to Jean Bapt. Richardville, near Fort Wayne, and on the same side of the St. Mary's River.
" To the son of George Hunt, one section of land on the west side of the St. Mary's River, adjoining the two seetions granted to François La Fontaine and his son.
" To Mishe-no-qua, or the Little Turtle, one section of land, on the south side of the Wabash, where the portage path strikes the same.
"To Josette Beaubien, one section of land an the left bank of the St. Mary's, above and adjoining the three seetions granted to Jean Bapt. Richard- ville."
At a later date, by treaty between Lewis Cass, James B. Ray and John Tip- ton, Commissioners on the part of the United States, and the chiefs and warriors of the Pottawatowie tribe of Indians, held at the mouth of the Mississinewa, upon the Wabash, in the State of Indiana, on the 16th day of October, 1826, further territory was ceded in part, lying within the present boundary of this county, being that part between the St. Joseph's and the Maumee; also, that part west of the boundary line established by the treaty of St. Mary's, with the Miamis in 1818. Out of this certain individual reservations were made, among others, " To Eliza C. Kercheval, one section on the Miami River, commueneing at the first place where the road from Fort Wayne to Detroit strikes the Miami, on the north side thereof, about five miles below Fort Wayne, and from that point running half a mile down the river, and half a mile up the river, and back for quantity.
" To James Knaggs, son of the sister of Okeos, chief of the River Huron Pottawatomies, one section of land upou the Miami, where the boundary line between Indiana and Ohio crosses the same.
" To John B. Bourie, of Indian descent, one section of land, to be located on the Miami River, adjoining the old boundary line below Fort Wayne.
" To Joseph Parke, an Indian, one section of land, to be located at the point where the houndary line strikes the St. Joseph's, near Metea's village."
A week afterward, on the 23d day of October. 1826, a treaty was held on the same ground, between the same Commissioners on the part of the United States, and the chiefs and warriors of the Miami tribe of Indians, by which the Miamis ceded " to the United States all their elaims to land in the State of Indiana, north and west of the Wabash and Miami Rivers, and of the eession made by the said tribe to the United States, by the treaty concluded at St. Mary's, October 6, 1818."
From the cession aforesaid, certain reservations were made for the use of the tribe : "One section for Laventure's daughter, opposite the Islands, about fifteen miles below Fort Wayne.
" And it is agreed that the State of Indiana may lay out a eanal or a road through any of the reservations, and for the use of a canal, six chains along the same are hereby appropriated.
" To Ann Ilackley and Jack Hackley, one seetion- each, between the Mau- mee and St. Joseph's Rivers.
" To the children of Maria Christiana De Rome, a half-blood Miami, one section between the Maumee and the St. Joseph's.
"To La Gros, one section adjoining the Cranberry, in the Portage Prairie."
43
HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY, INDIANA.
CHAPTER V.
ANTHONY WAYNE
was of English origin. His antecedents in paternal line were natives of England. In 1681, Anthony Wayne, his grandfather, left that kingdom and removed to Ireland, where he devoted himself to agricultural pursuits. Nine years later, he entered the army of William, Prince of Orange, against King James of England, and participated in the battles of the Boyne aud in the siege of Limerick. Becoming dissatisfied with the rule of his adopted country, he crossed the Atlantic and found a home suited to his tastes and inclinations in the colony of Pennsylvania, in what is now Chester County. In his emigration to this country, he was accompanied hy his family. His settlement in this country occurred in the year 1722. His son Isaac, the father of our hero, settled in this country also, who, like his father, was a tiller of the soil and well adapted to that pursuit, of all others the best calculated to develop the spirit of liberty.
Here, on the Ist day of January, 1745, Anthony Wayne, the " Mad Anthony" of a later period, was born. Inberiting the military spirit of his ancestors, his mind strengthened with his growth, developing also the latent germ of military genius which soon became the governing motive of his youthful career. His boyhood days were most satisfactorily spent in pursuing his mind's ideal. It is related of him that, when quite young, his progress at school was so much interrupted by his penchant for military exercises that he was for a time obliged to cease his attendance. Afterward, however, upon heing convinced of the pro- priety of more studious habits by the earnest admonitions of his father, he com- menced anew his edueutional career and made most rapid advancement in those departments of study which appertain to active military life. Mathematics seem- ing to possess a charm for him. he distanced all classmates in this his favorite department.
About the year 1766, when, after the treaty of peace between Great Britain and France had been signed, and the questions growing out of the adjustment of boundaries in territorial acquisitions had been settled, the propriety of colonizing some of the unappropriated territory became a momentous consideration. At this time, Nova Scotia had just passed into the hands of the British Government, and the question of advantageous settlements in that quarter was the subject of discussion among the people of Pennsylvania. Associations and land companies were formed with a view to establishing colonies there. In order to make these land associations available as a source of revenue, special ageuts were necessary to visit the territory, examine the soil and report its adaptedness to purposes of agriculture. Prominent among these was a company composed of merchants and others, resident in Pennsylvania. Young Wayne was selected as the agent of this company, appointed on the suggestion of Dr. Franklin, one of its members. Having accomplished all that was contemplated by his mission there, he returned the following year, at a time when the difficulties between Great Britain and her colonial dependencies hegan to assume appearances of hostile settlement. The exigencies of the situation seeming to demand his presence at home, his mission terminated more abruptly than might have been the case under other eireunu- stances. He returned home accordingly, and became an active participant in the discussions of the day.
Soon after his return, he was married to the daughter of Benjamin Parsous, a distinguished Philadelphia merehant. After his marriage, he returned again to Chester County, where he was extensively engaged in surveying, agricultural pur- suits occupying a portion of his time. When the menacing attitude of Great Britain toward the Colonies approached a crisis, and it became necessary to meet force with force, Wayne was among the first to offer his services for the mainte- nanee of right and the punishment of wrong.
The energy and capacity quanifested by him, at an early period in the strug- gle, brought him so prominently before the public that, in January, 1776, he was granted a Colonel's commission by the Continental Congress. Under that com- mission, he took command of " one of the four regiments required from Pennsyl- vania in the re-enforcement of the Northern army." In the latter part of June, of that year, his regiment was called into active service, forming a part of Thoup- son's brigade, at the mouth of Sorel River, in Canada. During the engagement consequent upon the movement in the direction of Three Rivers, he distin- guished himself hy a brilliant, though partially unsuccessful defense, against a greatly superior forco of British troops. Here, he maintained his position so well that he gained a position on the western side of Des Loup's River, and was enabled to reach the American camp at the mouth of the Sorel River in safety. Before entering the theater of war, bowever, " be was a Deputy in the Provincial Congress of his native State, which assembled in 1774. In the same year, he was a member of the Provincial Legislature. In the following year, he was a melu- her of the Committee of Public Safety."
In the latter part of July, 1776, he was placed in comuand of the post of Ticonderoga, with a force of 2,500 men. So well had he thus far maintained his reputation for military skill, that Congress, in consideration of his position as commandant at so important a post, conferred upon him the title of Brigadier General. He remained in charge of that post until the following spring. At that time, being called to the ranks of the main army, under Washington, he reached headquarters on the 15th of May, 1777, and was at once placed at the head of a brigade " which could not fail, under his direction," says Washington, " to be soon and greatly distinguished."
At the battle of Brandywine, he was distinguished for his hravery ; having been assigned the post of honor, leading the American attack, " he performed the service with a gallantry * * habitual to himself, and the division he commanded." Again, in the battle of Germantown, which shortly succeeded, " he led his division into the thickest of the fight, received two wounds and had
his horse killed under him. For his gallantry in the subsequent battle of Mon- mouth, Gen. Washington mentioned him, in his official letter, with great appro- bation."
In the engagement at Stony Point, on the 16th of July, 1777, his desperate and successful attack was the occasion of the name " Mad Anthony." hy which he was subsequently known ; hut, it also procured for him a gold medal from Congress, a mark of distinction not frequently awarded. His laconic report of that action has often heen quoted as a model of its kind. "Shortly after capturing and entering the fortification of the enemy, he was struck by a musket-ball on the head, which caused his full ; but he immediately rallied, crying out, ' March on ; carry me into the fort, for, should the wound be mortal, I will die at the head of the columnn.' "
This engagement is reported to have been " the most brilliant of the war." Washington, in his report to Congress, referring to it and to the commanding offi- cer, says : " To the encomiums he (Wayne) has deservedly bestowed ou the offi- cers and men under his command, it gives me pleasure to add that his own conduct throughout the whole of this arduous enterprise merits the warmest approbations of Congress. He improved on the plan recommended by me, and executed it in a manner that does honor to his judgment and bravery." Congress also tendered him a vote of thanks.
His strength as a successful military officer was not more in the management of his men on the field of battle than in his ability to adjust matters of complaint among them and the suppression of mutinies which occasionally broke out. An instance in point is given. In the early part of January, 1781, after the army had been distributed in winter quarters, being poorly provisioned and supplied with clothing necessary for comfort, and in want, too, of the means of providing these, a spirit of insubordination and mutiny was found to be fully developed in Wayne's division, among others, which threatened a passage at arms. Things had so nearly approached a crisis that disobedience to orders and attempts to take the redress of wrongs into their own hands were resorted to. The erisis was reached when the insurgents had set out on march toward Princeton. At that time, Wayne was stationed in the neighborhood of Morristown. Aware of the situation, he deter- mined to follow and bring them again to order. Overtaking the main body at Vealtown, he at once, in a dignified and conciliatory manner, " began to open negotiations with some of the non-commissioned officers in whom he placed most confidenee ; and it was not long before he succeeded in convincing them that, in order to succeed in their dequands, a change in their course and demeanor would be of the first necessity; that without such a course of order on the part of the aggrieved, nothing whatever could be effected ; urging the necessity of organizing a board or appointing a committee among them to set forth their grievances, and by ' a full and clear statement of their demands,' pledging himself to become a zealous advocate in their behalf, in ' so far as the claims made should he founded in justice or equity.'" The result of this policy was all that could have been desired ; the committee was duly appointed, and the march to Priueeton resumed with a greater show of satisfaction on tbe part of the malcontents.
In the early part of April, 1781, the British having sent a formidable force to operate against the industrial interests of the South, it became necessary to counteract tbe effeet of this movement by sending to Virginia a detachment of troops to meet the emergency. Gen. La Fayette was sent to Virginia, and, soon after, Gen. Wayne, with the remains of the Pennsylvania liuc, followed, co-oper- ating with him. The British were inct at Green Springs, and. after driving the enemy's pickets. Gen. Wayne, in person, advanced to within " fifty yards of the whole British army, drawn up in order of battle, and already pushing forward flank corps to envelop him. Determining to make up in boldness what he seemed to have lost or was ahout to lose in a too near approach to the enemy's lines, he made a bold and sudden move upon the enemy, and then retreated, which gave the British Commandant to infer that it was an effort to draw his force into ambush, which made so decided an impression that all pursuit of the American corps was forhidden."
At the beginning of the next year, Wayne was sent to adjust some difficul- ties in Georgia, and " to re-instate, as far as might be possible, the authority of the Union within the limits of that State, with one hundred regular dragoons, three hundred undisciplined Georgia militia, and about the same number of State cavalry." He gives his own account of the expedition in these words : " The duty we have done in Georgia was more difficult than that imposed upon the children of Israel; they had only to make hricks without straw, but we have had provision, forage, and ahuost every other apparatus of war, to procure witbout money ; boats, bridges, etc., to build without material, except those taken from the stump; and, what was more difficult than all, to make Whigs out of Tories. But this we have effected, and wrested the country out of the hands of the enemy, with the exception only of the town of Savannah. How to keep it with- out some additional force, is a suatter worthy of consideratiou." On the 12th of July following, Savannah was evacuated by the British troops and Gen. Wayne was recalled, the war of the Revolution being at an end.
The General, bowever, was doomed not long to remain idle-his sword was again in demand, wielded by a master's hand. Indian hostilities in the North- west brought into requisition his eminent experience in the department of war. In April, 1792, he was appointed, hy President Wasbington, to the command of the Armuy of the Northwest, and immediately began his preparations for the expedition which redounded so much to his own glory and the discomfiture of the Indians, on the banks of the Maumee, August 20, 1794. One of the results of this very decisive engagement was the treaty of Greenville, ou the 3d of August, 1795. About this time, also, he was appointed sole Commissioner to treat with the Northwestern Indians, and also " received of the military posts given up by the British Government," which called him again to the West, " and, after a prompt and faithful discharge of the duties attached to these new func- tions, while descending Lake Erie from Detroit, be was attacked hy the gout,"
44
HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY, INDIANA.
from which he soon after died, in December, 1796. He was huricd at the foot of the flagstaff at Fort Erie, where his remains continued to repose until 1809, when they were removed hy his son and deposited in the family burial place, in thio cemetery of St. David's Church, in his native county. Subsequently, a fine
monument was erected there by the " Pennsylvania State Society of the Cincin- nati." But no better or more fitting monument could have marked bis last burial place than that which reposes in the memory of a grateful people, proud of the recollection of his noble deeds.
PERIOD OF CIVILIZATION AND LAW.
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY.
The Physical Geography and Geology of Allen County .- Pre-Historic Remains. The Mound- Builders .- Retrospective View .- Conclusions.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY AND GEGLOGY OF ALLEN COUNTY .* BY R. S. ROBERTSON.
The physical geography of Allen County presents some remarkable features worthy of more extended mention tban is within the power of the writer to give, and, in some of its features, worthy of scientific investigation. Its geological features have had little study, from the fact that there is not, within the limits of the county, any outerop of rocks, for the reason that all the rocks have been planed off by glacial action, and the smooth surface thus formed covered to an average depth of cigbty feet by the drift of the glacial epoch. The boring of the arte- sian well in the Court House Square to the depth of 3,000 fcet without obtaining flowing water, gave us the first information we had of what lay beneath us. For eighty-eight fect the bore was through glacial drift, when it struck the first roek, which is a light-colored limestone of the Niagara cpoch, and continued to a deptb of 2,500 fect, through limestones of varying colors and hardness, after which soft, calcareous rock, still belonging to the Lower Silurian, was found to the depth reached by the bore.
The surface of the county is generally flat, but marked elevations occur at different points, without any of the bluff formations peculiar to many sections through which considerable streams pass. Fort Wayne, situated nearly in the geographical eenter of the county, is called the "Summit City," but is only a summit on the lines running easterly and westerly, for on a north and south line, it is one of the lowest points in this section. The altitude of Fort Wayne at the P., F. W. & C. Railroad depot is 785 fect above sea level; at Bruce's Station, on the Grand Rapids road, near the north line of the county. the altitude is 877 fcet ; and at the Wells County line, south on the Muncie road, 829 feet ; to the east, where the W. & E. Canal crosses the State line the altitude is 750 feet ; and near the west line of the county it is 744 fect.
It will be seen from these figures that Fort Wayne is ninety-two feet lower tban the north line, and forty-four fect lower than the south line of the county, while it is tbirty-five feet higher than the east, and forty-one feet higher than the west line.
The river systems of the county deserve especial notice. Two considerable streams, the St. Joseph's and St. Mary's, rise in Ohio and flow through the eastern portion of the county to Fort Wayne. The former flows in a general southwest- crly direction, the latter in a northwesterly direction, until they unite, forming thic Maumee, when, instead of flowing onward in the same general direction, the united stream turns back ward, as it were, and flows nortbeastward between its con- fluents, through Northwestern Obio to Lake Erie.
Running through the northwestern corner of the county, Eel River takes its course to tbe Wabash in a southwest dircetion, while Little River and the Aboite, lower down, take the same general course to the Wabash. The county thus forms a water-shed, part of whose waters discharge through the Maumee, the chain of Lakes and the St. Lawrence, into the Atlantic, and the rest through the Wabash, Ohio and Mississippi into the Gulf of Mexico.
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