USA > Indiana > Boone County > History of Boone County, Indiana : With biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of old families, Volume I > Part 3
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very doubtful if they ever possessed. Their progress in civilization has also been over-estimated. Yet in spite of all this coloring there is enough known to make it full of human interest. They were not advanced far enough in civilization to have a language. No hieroglyphics or picture writ- ing to convey written or recorded intelligence of their existence. All that is known of them must be gleaned from a few relics of flint, stone and metal implements, crude, though sometimes highly ornamented pottery, simple domestic utensils, and their own decaying bones.
Evidence has accumulated in recent years to support the belief that at some earlier date there must have existed in this country a primitive race of men. How long ago it is not known. At the time of the exploration of this country three hundred years ago there were trees growing upon these abandoned mounds and earth works estimated to be eight hundred or a thou- sand years of age. Some even think that they may have preceded the glacial period. The time of the flood of ice is placed at all the way from fifteen to twenty-five thousand years ago, and if these people lived before that time they must have existed according to this hypothesis some thirty or forty-thousand years ago. Be this as it may, we are forced to the conclusion that at some time before the Indian there must have been in this land a race of men. There are in Indiana, mounds built by men, not by nature. They are found in nearly all sections of the state but are most abundant in the south. They are common objects marking the landscape in Knox, Sullivan, Owen, Clark and many other counties. In Knox county south of Vincennes stands Pyra- mid-mound towering upwards forty-seven feet with a length of three hun- dred feet and a width of one hundred and fifty feet. On its top is a level area of fifteen by fifty feet. This mound is very small when compared with those found elsewhere which vary in shape as well as in size. There are square, circular, conical-like truncated mounds, like Cahokia in Illinois, which measures five hundred by seven hundred feet at the base and is ninety feet high. There are terraced mounds and mounds built in imitation of various kinds of animals, including man. The best examples of this latter class are to be found in Wisconsin. One of the most remarkable is found in Adams county, Oliio, constructed in imitation of an enormous serpent, twelve hun- dred feet in length. The natives declare that it has an egg in its mouth.
We know nothing of the manners of this strange people except as con- jectured from what is left to us of their existence in the mounds and crude
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implements that are occasionally found. They may have been valiant in war; we conclude this from their extensive military works. These seem to have been built with reference to definite plans. They displayed engineering skill. There is a chain of fortifications that can be traced from the southern part of New York diagonally across the country to the Wabash river. An- other chain commencing at a point on the Ohio river in Clark county, Indi- ana, running northward into Madison county thence eastward into central Ohio, and thence southward to Kentucky to Tennessee. Fort Ancient, one of the most noted, situated on the Little Miami river in Ohio enclosed one hundred acres of ground, and would have held a garrison of sixty thousand men with their families and provisions. Interesting examples of ancient military fortifications in Indiana are to be found in Clark, Jefferson, Mad- ison, Sullivan and Randolph counties. Fort Azatlan in Sullivan, near the town of Merom, and a remarkable stone fort at the mouth of Fourteen-Mile creek, in Clark county, are especially worthy of mention.
Valiant as they seem to have been in war, they must have met enemies worthy of their valor and were overcome in battle. How hard a struggle they endured is not recorded. There is not a line on record telling us of the origin, the duration of the struggle of their destruction. The entire race has become extinct and no trace to mark its life except these mounds. The only record we have is a traditional story by the Iroquois Indians. They state that when the Lenni Lenape, common ancestors of the Iroquois and other tribes, advanced from the northwest to the Mississippi, they found on the eastern bank of that stream a great nation of people, more civilized than the Indians, living in towns and cultivating the soil. Having given the Lenni Lenape permission to pass through to seek an eastward settlement this people treacherously attacked them while they were crossing the river. This pro- voked a long and bloody war of extermination. The red men conquered and took possession of their country and the mound builders sank into oblivion, making the first race of men on this continent to pass away.
There are no evidences of this race of men having ever lived in Boone county. At the time that they lived in this country, this portion of it must have been uninhabitable. If they existed before the glacial period, at that time this must have been the bottom of the sea. Drift to the depth of hun- dreds of feet must have been carried in by the tide of ice and filled up the low places. It must have been a long time afterwards before it was fit for the
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residence of man. The Indian must have been the first human inhabitant. There is no record when he came here. We know that he was here when our fathers came and that they have passed away. Some of their bones still rest here but the entire race has passed from us and there is no history of their existence except as it has been compiled by the white man. This great change has been wrought in less than one hundred years. It seems marvelous that it should go so soon and be almost forgotten.
INDIANS.
We can not think of a complete history of Boone county, without dwell- ing upon the story of the Indian who preceded the white man. This was his home, here he lived and died. He must have had all the attachments for his home that are common to the heart of man. There is something sad in the story of his life. He is of special interest to us, because he set up a reserved home among us. It did not last long; he could not dwell in peace with us, so his second title passed away with him. The story of his exist- ence in our land and especially in our county, is of double interest to us. In tracing our title to the land, we will have to tell what became of the Indian and his right to this land. It will be necessary for us to trace the history of the treaties and wars by which our fathers became possessors of this goodly . land. If there were mound-builders, a distinct race before the Indian, it is a matter of serious reflection that two races have preceded us in the history of this country. Two, almost sunk into oblivion, and we the third genera- tion, and know so little about either .of them. How forcible is the thought that nations and peoples rise and fall in the same land and yet so little is known. Volumes have been written on this theme. We will only collate a little of it in these pages, that we may realize how we are connected with the great unknown that is past, to say nothing of that which is to come.
The Indians doubtless were the successors of the mound builders. Whether this is correct or not, we know nothing about them except what is told by the curious earthworks that they left, and the mass of what is written about them is a conjecture, rather than history. There are no mounds in Boone county. How much time elapsed between them is not known. There is no way to prove that the Indians are less ancient than the mound builders. It
CEREMONIAL STONES MADE FROM BLACK AND BANDED SLATE. ABOUT ONE-HALF NATURAL
UPPER PART: FLINT DIGGING IMPLEMENTS OF UNIQUE SHAPE. LOWER PART: JASPER IM- PLEMENTS OF UNUSUAL FORMS. ABOUT ONE- SIZE.
HALF NATURAL SIZE.
V
TYPES OF BEVELED AND SER RATED KNIVES FOUND IN BOONE COUNTY. ABOUT ONE-HALF NAT- URAL SIZE.
UPPER PART: EFFIGY ARTEFACTS REPRESENT- ING BUFFALO SKULLS, WOLF AND FOX HEADS, TADPOLES, FISH, ETC. LOWER PART: JASPER IMPLEMENTS WITH BEVELED BASE. ABOUT
ONE-HALF NATURAL SIZE.
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is just as difficult to account for their presence on the American continent as to account for the existence of the mound builders. They were here when the European explorers first landed on our shores; and beyond the stretch of the memory of those then living, and a few untrustworthy traditions, nothing is known of their history previous to that time. They were here when the white man came ; they had no written language, simply a crude picture and sign writ- ing which they used in time of war. They had a spoken language which they used in communicating with each other and in their war songs. They had made but little progress towards civilization. To those of us that question the existence of a prehistoric man, and that there are races of men that do not belong to the common brotherhood springing from Adam and Eve, our first parents, the Indian is a perplexing question. If they are descendants of the sons of Noah how did they come to this country? Upon this question there is much speculation yet no positive proof of any hypothesis that may be taken. The most plausible is, that they may have come over the Aleutian Islands in Bering strait. We will not take up this discussion here but leave our readers to take it up at their pleasure by other authors. We will confine our record mostly to the tribes that largely concern this section of our country. Most of the Indian tribes of Indiana belong to the Algonquin family. A majority of them, among whom were the Twightwees, Weas, Piankashaws and Shockneys, were members of the formidable Miami con- federacy. These tribes were frequently at war, one with another and migrated from place to place. Aside from the Twightwees or Miamis, the Delawares, Shawnees, Wyandottes and Pottawattomies were the strongest of the tribes in Indiana. Tecumseh and his brother, the Prophet, were of the fierce Shawnee tribe. Little Turtle, one of the greatest of the Indian warriors, was a Miami.
OUR TITLE TO INDIANA.
As we are nearing the close of the first century of our existence as a state, it might be well for us to stop and trace our title to our possessions. It was then a vast wilderness occupied and claimed by the Indians. It was covered with a dense forest, thick undergrowth of spice and hazel brush, with a few spots of prairies in the northwestern part and interlaced with shimmering lakes and flowing rivers. It was the hunting ground of the red
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man, his home and burial place. He was known among the white men as the Indian, misnamed by Columbus. His only road was called a trail and his home a wigwam. There are only a few descendants of families lingering in our borders. The site of Thorntown was once a landmark of the red man. Just to the north of us were their corn fields, and where our streets run were their burial grounds and this place was their center of trade. A few of their dead lie buried a little east of us where they will sleep till the trumpet sounds. It may be interesting to our readers to know how this change was brought about. We may be able to gather a few landmarks to show the trend of events.
The first white man to claim a title to this land was from the colony of Virginia. Her right was disputed by the French, who had established a settle- ment at Vincennes, also a settlement in Clark county. By the Ordinance of 1787, Virginia ceded all her rights to the United States. It was not long until the government closed out all other claims except with the Indians. There was a little deal with them in 1783 that settled the Knox and the Clark county claims. The first treaty of any note that settled the land question with the Indians, to western Ohio and a part of Indiana, was made August 3, 1795, at Greenville, Ohio. It is called in eastern Indiana, The Old Indian Boundary Line. It starts from the mouth of Blue river, Kentucky, thence north, bearing east to Fort Recovery, Ohio. The treaty gave to the Indians all the land west of this said line except the following: (1) One tract of land six miles square at the confluence of the rivers St. Mary's and St. Joseph, where the city of Ft. Wayne now stands; (2) one tract two miles square on the Little Wabash river (near the head of the Maumee) about eight or ten miles southwest of Ft. Wayne; (3) a tract six miles square at Ouiatenon, on the Wabash; (4) a tract of one hundred and fifty thousand acres near the falls of the Ohio, being the lands granted to General George Rogers Clark by the Indians soon after the conquest of Vincennes; (5) the site of Vin- cennes and the lands adjacent, to which Indian titles had been extinguished, and all similar lands at other places in possession of White settlers; (6) the strip of land lying east of the line running directly from Ft. Recovery to the mouth of the Kentucky river above described. By the terms of this treaty the Indians still owned all the lands in Indiana as its present boundaries indicate except the above reservations.
Following this treaty of Greenville, a heavy tide of immigration to the
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Northwest territory set in from the eastern states and the impetus to growth in population was not again checked until the new Indian outbreaks im- mediately preceding the War of 1812.
The second treaty made with the Indians for lands in Indiana, bears date of June 7, 1803, at Ft. Wayne, with the Piankeshaws and Weas. At the time when these treaties were made there were no divisions into counties as it is now, neither did the Indians indicate direction by points of the compass or townships as we do at this date, but beginning at a place they would run towards the sun or with its shadow, at such an hour of the day upon the given date. Thus in this treaty on the seventh day of June, 1803, they would say : Begin at the mouth of White river thence east with the shadow at 6 P. M. or towards the sun at 9 A. M. to a given point, thence north with the shadow at I P. M. and so on until you enclose the land wished to be con- veyed. The boundaries of this treaty would be on our map today as follows. Begin at the mouth of White river, thence east, bearing south to a point near the center of Clark township, Perry county, thence north, bearing east to Orleans, Orange county, thence west bearing north to the mouth of Great Turtle creek in the southwest corner of Sullivan county. This last line has a jog in it in the northeast corner of Knox county to include lands belong- ing to the Vincennes exception in a former treaty.
The third treaty at Vincennes, August 18-27, 1804, was with the Piankeshaws, Miamis and Delawares. It includes all the counties on the Wabash river from the mouth of White river to the Ohio river and up the latter river to the rapids at New Albany, thence with the shadow of the 9. A. M. sun until it meets the line from Orleans to Perry county in the treaty of 1803. You will observe that this treaty includes eight whole counties and parts of several others. It conveys all the rights of the Indians to territory bordering on the Ohio in our state except, from Westport, the east point in Clark county, to the mouth of the Blue river, the southern extremity of the Old Indian boundary line established in 1795. Also all the lands on the lower Wabash river. This must have been to the Indians the most important treaty made in regard to their possessions in this beautiful land. There was much pow-wowing,-you will observe that the negotiations lasted nine days. Doubtless there were many eloquent speeches made by the chiefs of these three tribes, for human eyes had never beheld a more beautiful pano- rama than these dense forests, crystal rivers winding among beauteous val-
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leys, over whose broad bosoms they had often skimmed in their canoes, in search of deer and buffalo which roamed in immense herds in the fertile valleys. It was to them the giving up of the great river. Its beautiful waters were their great fishing grounds, where they caught the Mas-ke-no-zha (the pike), Ke-no-zha (the pickerel), Mish-e-nah-ma (the great sturgeon), U-gud- wash (the sun fish), and various kinds of Keego. Upon whose banks they shot with swift arrows the Wa-wa (the wild goose), the Shesh-eb-wug (the duck). No doubt but what the white man with sophistries replied, why, you have left the great Wabash and all its tributaries that are full of fish, and all the beautiful lakes in the north where ducks and geese swarm like Ome-ne (the pigeon), and upon whose shores all kinds of game are abundant. They could out-talk the Indian and prevailed in the treaty; the rights of the red man are passing from him. Give your imagination full wing and paint the feelings and their talks with each other around their camp fires as their homes and hunting grounds were passing away forever.
The fourth treaty took place at Grouseland near Vincennes August 21, 1805. With the Delawares, Miamis, Weas and Pottawattomies who met at the Harrison House at Vincennes, to settle the matter as to who should have entire control of the great river. Their agreement was as follows : Begin at Orleans in Orange county, thence with the three o'clock sun of that day continue a line until it intersects the old Indian boundary line of 1795 near Brookville, the oldest town in eastern Indiana. This makes a continuous line from the mouth of Great Turtle creek across the state to the White Water at the above mentioned place. Doubtless the martial spirit of the Delawares which they had brought with them across the Alleghanies, from their old home among their native hills, burst into flame when they were called upon to extinguish their camp fires once again at the onward march of civilization, and they gave the war whoop, put on the paint and brandished aloft their Pug-ga-wau-guns. But the old sachem of the Gens counciled peace; so, mournfully they dismantled their wigwams, rolled up their deer-skins, broke the camp fires; took a last longing, lingering look at the broad, rich valleys of the Ohio, from the hill-tops about Madison, turned their sad faces toward the swamp lands and plains of the interior, and bid farewell to their old hunting grounds forever.
In 1809 we have no less than three treaties with the Indians. The first is known as the Harrison Purchase, concluded September 30, 1809, at Ft.
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Wayne, with the chiefs of the Miamis, Eel Rivers, Pottawattomies and Dela- wares. It includes all the land in our state, lying south of a line beginning three miles west of Seymour on the three o'clock line running from Orleans to Brookville in the treaty of 1805, thence with the shadow of the ten o'clock sun of that day until it crosses the Wabash river at the mouth of Big Rac- coon creek in Parke county and the state line near Quaker. The second is known as the twelve-mile purchase, made October, 1809, at Ft. Wayne, with the Delawares and the Miamis. It includes a strip of land twelve miles wide west of the Old Indian Boundary Line of 1795. Beginning at a point on the three o'clock line of 1805 near the southwest corner of Franklin county, thence with the shadow of the one o'clock sun of that day parallel with the line of 1795 to a point in the north part of Randolph county on the Mississinewa, near Ridgeville, thence with the three o'clock line to the state boundary where the old line crosses.
The third treaty of that year was with the Kickapoos and Weas, De- cember 9th, at Vincennes. It includes a small portion of land marked by a line, beginning at a point on the three o'clock line of 1809 near Catlin in Parke county, thence north, northwest until it meets the Wabash river, thence up said river to the mouth of Vermillion river, thence up the windings of said river to the state line. You will notice that these three treaties, made the same year encroached rapidly upon the lands of the Indians. They viewed these encroachments with hostilities. They began to make preparations to unite their tribes along lines of resistance. They were on the outlook for a suitable leader to guide them in their struggle against the aggressions of the white man. They soon found their leader and we will here give a brief outline of the last battle of the race in Indiana.
Since the three treaties of 1809 it has been a sorry time with the Indians. We must remember that there had been formed an Indian confederacy for mutual protection, and now they were at sword's points with each other be- cause all the tribes were not consulted in the treaties that had been made. Tecumseh claimed that they were not binding because all the tribes had not agreed to them. The Indians had made war after Indian fashion on the settlers and the whites had retaliated upon the Indians and there was terror all along the frontier line. Governor General Harrison had tried to main- tain peace without avail. The Indians demanded that the land southwest of the Wabash including what is now Boone county, that was ceded to the gov-
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ernment by the treaty of Ft. Wayne in 1809 should be ceded back to the Indians. Pem-squa-ta-wah the "Prophet" preached that these lands were owned in common by all the tribes, and no one of them individually had a right to sell; that the consent of all should be procured to make any cession valid. The controversy arose over the treaty of Ft. Wayne of 1809 giving the cession of over eighteen million acres of lands lying southwest of the Wabash, and including what is now Boone county. The first conference was held at Vincennes, August, 1810. It began on the 12th of the month and lasted ten days. There was much interesting history connected with this. This conference did not settle the difficulty and another was called in July, 18II, at the same place. Great alarm was created on both sides but nothing was determined. At its close Tecumseh went south to purpose his program of forming a great Indian confederacy. Harrison saw that further efforts to win back the Indians were in vain. In September, 1811, General Har- rison placed himself at the head of a small army of over seven hundred men, and marching from Vincennes to a stop not far from where the city of Terre Haute now stands, erected and completed Ft. Harrison. Leaving a small garrison in charge, General Harrison resumed his march, and arrived in sight of Prophet's town on the 6th day of November. Meanwhile he had received reinforcements sufficient to bring his command up to a strength of nine hundred men, two hundred and fifty of whom were regulars. Of the remainder, about six hundred were Indiana militia, and the balance volun- teers from Kentucky. Refraining from an attack on the town that evening, as the Indians met him with loud protestations of their peaceable intentions, General Harrison marched his men a short distance beyond and went into camp for the night, arranging to have a conference with the Prophet the next morning. Unfortunately the camping site chosen was not an ideal one for defense. It was on high ground, fringed with trees and dense under- growth, affording excellent facilities for the stealthy approach and treacher- ous attack of the lurking Indians of Prophet's town. The men were in- structed to sleep with their clothes and accoutrements on, and with bayonets fixed and fire arms loaded. These precautions proved timely, for on the morning of the 7th, before it was day, the Indians attacked the camp. The onslaught was sudden and fierce, the main attack being shrewdly directed against that part of the camp occupied by the militia, and for a time conster- nation and confusion reigned, the guard breaking at the first fire. The
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troops were gradually formed into line, and the battle raged angrily in the darkness. The Americans defended themselves in their positions until it became light enough to see, when they charged with such spirit and gallantry that their assailants were sent flying from the field. The victory was de- cisive and complete, and of the greatest importance in its moral effect upon the Indians. The loss to the Americans was thirty-seven killed and one hundred and fifty-two wounded, of whom twenty-five afterwards died of their injuries. The Indians suffered an equal loss. Their strength in the battle was variously estimated at five hundred to seven hundred and fifty war- riors. Prophet's town was destroyed next day with all its stores.
The battle took place about seven miles from where the city of Lafayette now stands, and is known to history as the battle of Tippecanoe. As a result of it the Indians were completely dispirited and offered no further trouble until the breaking out of the war of 1812.
The Tippecanoe battleground is now owned by the state, and in the year 1908, almost a century after the battle was fought, an appropriate monument was erected on the site to commemorate the heroic deeds of her early citizen soldiery. Tecumseh was not present but in the south. He rebuked his brother the Prophet, for his untimely attack and in his absence. This was really the last purely Indian battle in Indiana and forever ended the controversy be- tween the red and white man as far as the land of Indiana is concerned.
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