USA > Indiana > Cass County > History of Cass County, Indiana, from its earliest settlement to the present time; with Biographical Sketches and Reference to Biographies, Volume I > Part 8
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do so, meaning the president of the United States. Tecumseh raised his tall and commanding form to its greatest height, surveyed the crowd, fixed his keen eyes on General Harrison, then turning them to the sky above and pointing toward heaven with his sinewy arm, indica- tive of supreme contempt for the paternity assigned him, spoke in clarion tones : "My father! The sun is my father, the earth my mother, and on her bosom I will recline." He then stretched himself on the green sward.
MORAL RIGHT OF INDIANS TO LAND
The Indians held that the land was theirs, that they had as much right to go out and hunt and kill game as a farmer of today has to go to his barnyard and slaughter a hog or a beef; that it was as much trespassing and stealing for the paleface to enter their territory and appropriate their land or kill the game thereon, as it was for the red man to pitch his tent in a farmer's field and slaughter his domestic animals.
While the United States recognized the rights of the Indians to the land and aimed to purchase the same by voluntary treaties, yet in many cases they were virtually forced into signing treaties and ceding lands against their will and consenting to exchange their lands for other grounds farther west. Here may be a nice problem for the humanitarian and sociologist to decide how far should a civilized nation go in its endeavor to civilize barbarous and nomadic tribes who live by hunting and fishing? Should they use force and compel them to sell or dispose of their land that it might be made productive and thus sustain a larger number of people? It has been the policy of most civilized nations to take possession of native lands peaceably and by purchase if you can, but if not, then forcibly if necessary in order that the crowded condition of old countries may be relieved and give the poor people an opportunity to till the soil that God has given to man, thus making it possible for all to live, and at the same time having a civilizing and Christianizing influence over savage and benighted people in new countries like America was, when Columbus first reached its shores, and like some parts of Africa and northern Luzon are today. To the writer, no man or set of men, savage or civilized, are justified in monopolizing thousands of acres of land and live only by hunting wild game, when thousands of their fellow creatures are suffering and starving in the densely populated sections of the world, when there is room for all with proper cultivation of the land, and if such men or tribes of men, savage or civilized, endeavor so to monopolize large tracts of wild lands so they may continue to live in primitive ways by hunt- ing, they should be dealt with peacefully and rightfully, if possible, but forcibly and justly if necessary, in order that the land may be more productive to accommodate a larger number of the Lord's poor who are suffering and starving for want of an opportunity to earn a living. No doubt there were many instances where the Indians were unjustly treated by the white settlers and some pitiable examples have been related where they have had to abandon their old hunting grounds for new places farther west.
REMOVAL OF INDIANS TO THE WEST
In a message to congress, December 3, 1830, President Jackson said : "It gives me pleasure to announce to congress that the benevolent policy of the government steadily pursued for thirty years in relation to the removal of the Indians beyond the white settlements is approaching a
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happy conclusion. Two important tribes have accepted the provisions made for their removal at the last session of congress and it is believed their example will induce the remaining tribes to seek the same obvious advantages. Doubtless it will be painful to leave the graves of their fathers; but what do they more than our ancestors did or their children are now doing? To better their condition in an unknown land, our forefathers left all that was dear in earthly objects. Our children by thousands, yearly leave the land of their birth to seek new homes in distant regions. Does humanity weep at the painful separation from everything animate and inanimate with which the young heart has become entwined ? It is rather a source of joy that our country affords scope where our young population may range unconstrained in body and mind, developing the power and faculties of the man in their highest perfection. These remove hundreds and thousands of miles at their own expense, purchase lands they occupy and support themselves at their new homes from the moment of their arrival. Can it be cruel in this government, when, by events which it cannot control, the Indian is made discontent in his ancient home, to purchase his lands, to give him a new and extensive territory, to pay the expense of his removal and support him a year in his new abode? How many thousands of our people would gladly embrace the opportunity of removing west on such conditions ?"
In his message of 1831, President Jackson said :
"My opinion remains the same and I can see no other alternative for the Indians, but that of their removal to the west or a quiet sub- mission to the state laws."
The last treaty the government concluded with the Pottawattomies was February 11, 1836, by John T. Douglass, on the part of the United States, and the chiefs Chee-chaw-kose, Ask-um, We-saw, Muk-kose and Qui-qui-to. This was a ratification of all former treaties and a further stipulation that they would remove within two years, to lands beyond the Missouri river, provided by the government, and that the United States would pay the expenses of removal and furnish them one year's subsistence.
The first emigration of the Pottawattomies took place in July, 1837, under the direction of Abel C. Pepper, United States commissioner, and George Profit conducted them to their western home. There were about one hundred taken in this band and Nas-wau-gee was their chief. Their village was located then on the north bank of Lake Muck-sen- cuck-ee, where Culver Military Academy now stands.
The old chief, Nas-wau-gee, was a mild-mannered man and on the morning of their march to their western home, as he stood on the banks of the lake and took a last, long view of his old home, that he was leav- ing never to return, he was visibly affected and tears were seen to flow from his eyes.
The last and final removal of the Pottawattomies was made in the fall of 1838. They were unwilling to go and Col. Abel C. Pepper, then United States Indian agent, stationed at Logansport, made a requisi- tion on Gov. David Wallace (father of Gen. Lew Wallace), author of Ben Hur), for a company of militia and Gen. John Tipton, of Logans- port, was directed to enlist a company of one hundred men, which he speedily did. The recruits were mostly from Cass county. The names of the men composing this company of militia are not obtainable, but the writer's father, Jacob Powell, and Isaac Newton Clary, pioneers of Bethlehem and Harrison townships, were among the number. Sixty wagons were provided to haul the women, children and those unable to march. There were eight hundred and fifty-nine Indians enrolled
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under the leadership of Chief Menominee. Their principal village was situated on Twin lake, about seven miles southwest of Plymouth, in Marshall county, where the entire tribe assembled and bid farewell to their old homes, consisting of one hundred and twenty wigwams and cabins, also to the chapel, in which many of them were converted to Christianity by Father Petit, a missionary in Indiana at that time, and many affecting scenes occurred as these red men of the forest for the last time viewed their cabin homes, the graves of their loved ones who slept in a graveyard near their little log chapel. On September 4, 1838, they began their sad and solemn march to the West. Their line of march was south on the Michigan road to Logansport, where they encamped just south of Horney creek, on the east side of Michigan avenue, on the night of the 7th of September, 1838, and that night two of the Indians died and were buried just north of Horney creek where the Vandalia Railroad crosses that creek and on the east side of Michi- gan avenue, and their bones lie there to this day. General Tipton con- ducted these Indians along the Wabash river through Lafayette, and on to Danville, Illinois, where he turned them over to Judge William Polke, who took them to their reservation west of the Missouri river. Many of the whites had a great sympathy for this band of Indians and thought that they were wrongfully treated in their forcible removal, although they, by their chiefs, had agreed to move west.
The state of Indiana erected a monument on the site of Menominee's village, in Marshall county, to the memory of this chief and his band of eight hundred and fifty-nine Pottawattomie Indians, and unveiled the same on September 4, 1909, seventy-one years after their removal, and on this occasion Daniel McDonald, of Plymouth, delivered an address from which we quote some extracts :
"The Pottawattomies were peacefully inclined. They were migra- tory and came and went as they desired. Their landed possessions were held in common and they owned little personal property of value except it might be ponies, and these were wild and conceded to those expert enough to lasso and tame them. They had no religious belief until missionaries came among them. They had never heard of the Bible or Christ, but had a vague idea that after this life there was an exist- ence away off somewhere to which they would go after death, and which was controlled by the 'Great Spirit.'
"They knew nothing about the divisions of time into hours, days, weeks, months or years, but reckoned time by suns, moons and four seasons of the year, which they kept track of by certain marks or characters on deer and other skins, or on the inside of birch bark. They knew nothing about Sunday and to them every day was alike. They had but little to do and became naturally lazy. They lived off of wild game, fish, fruits and roots that the Great Spirit provided. The squaw did all the labor if any work was to be done; cared for the ponies and with primitive hoe or shovel made of stone or a stick, cultivated the Indian corn or other vegetables; collected sticks and wood for the fire. They had no written language and no schools. They knew nothing about politics, religion or secret societies. Their lives were spent in hunting, fishing and the chase, and visiting from village to village, but were endowed with a high degree of morality.
"The marriage relation was sacred under their crude regulations. A violation of the marriage vow was punished by banishment or death. They did not worry about tomorrow. They had no calculations for the future. They lived in the present. The Pottawattomies once so numerous are now all gone; not one is left to tell the story. Of all
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those who made up that caravan in 1838, not one is living so far as is known. All have gone to their happy hunting grounds.
"None of them have left any history in themselves to perpetuate the fact that they ever existed. Their village and chapel have all been utterly destroyed, their hunting grounds have been transformed into fields of waving corn and wheat; the wild deer and other wild animals, so numerous then, have also passed away, leaving only memories of a vanished race.'
A few of the Pottawattomies moved to northern Michigan and some remnants of this once powerful tribe have lived there to recent times. Among their number was Simon Pokagon, who died January 27, 1899. Just prior to his death he wrote an article for an eastern magazine in which he said: "As to the future of our race, it seems to me almost certain to lose its identity by amalgamation with the dominant race." When Pokagon was asked if he thought that the white man and Indian were originally one blood, he said: "I do not know but from the present outlook they will be."
The index finger of the past and present is pointing to the future, showing most conclusively that by the middle of the century all Indian reservations will have passed away. Then their people will begin to scatter, the result will be a general mixing of the races. By inter- marriage, the blood of their people, like the waters that flow into the great ocean, will be forever lost in that of the dominant race, and gen- erations yet unborn will read in history of the red men of the forest and inquire, "Where are they !" There were bands of Pottawattomie and Miami Indians in Cass and adjoining counties that moved to the West at different times; sometimes they went voluntarily, at other times they were escorted; the last of the Miamis were conducted. to their reservation west of the Mississippi by Alex. Coquillard, in 1847, and again in 1851.
POTTAWATTOMIE INDIAN ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY YEARS OLD
On October 24, 1912, a dispatch to the Chicago Inter Ocean, from Traverse City, Michigan, stated that "Joe Manitou," a Pottawattomie chief, died there aged one hundred and twenty years.
He was born in a tepee on the banks of the Chicago river and he was the oldest resident of Chicago and northern Indiana. His memory went back to the early years of the last century long before Chicago was even dreamed of, and when Cass county was an unbroken wilderness, unknown to the white man, this old Indian chief held his war dances on the banks of the Wabash, long before the advent of the pioneer in Cass county.
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CHAPTER VII THE PIONEER
HABITS, CUSTOMS, TRIALS, HARDSHIPS AND INCIDENTS
Eighty-six years ago Cass county was an unbroken wilderness. The red man roamed at liberty over its hills and valleys; none to dispute his right save the wild beasts which sometimes contended with him .. for supremacy.
The Indian felt himself lord of the soil. But the Indian has gone- gone farther toward the setting sun. Though once they roamed over the forests of Cass county, and their campfires were burning on every. hill top and in every valley and their wild whoop heard to ring in all this wilderness, they have all disappeared. Instead of the wild un- broken forest of eighty-six years ago, now in every part of Cass county fields of golden grain are seen, instead of the Indian wigwam; the modern farm house rears its handsome form. Instead of nature's orchards of wild plum, cherry and grape now may be seen the cultivated orchards of many varieties of delicious fruits. Instead of the Indian village composed of a few smoky huts, now rises the populous city with its paved streets, commodious business houses, stately mansions and beautiful churches with their lofty spires pointing toward the clouds; instead of the narrow Indian trail we see the broad macadamized roads, interurbans and railways along which dash automobiles or the iron horse hitched to ponderous trains carrying hundreds of passen- gers and tons of freight. How great a change has been wrought in eighty-six years.
EIGHTY YEARS AGO
In what a wondrous age we live Not many seem to know, But few the mighty change perceive Since eighty years ago.
Then our farms were covered o'er . With forest trees aglow, And the red man held full sway Over eighty years ago.
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The bear, the panther, wolf and snake Were the red man's only foe When the pioneer came to Cass Over eighty years ago.
But the red man was driven out, And his forests, too, must go Before the ax of the pioneer Over eighty years ago.
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VIEW OF OLD TIME CABINS
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ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS R L
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"The youngsters dressed in homespun clothes And made but little show, And "lindsey-woolsey" dressed the girls Over eighty years ago.
The "warmeses" and 'round-a-bouts Gave plenty room to grow, And boys were strong and rugged then, Over eighty years ago.
The girls could spin, knit and weave, And have as good a beau As any lady's heart could wish Since eighty years ago.
And grandpa's heart was always green, Although his locks were snow, And grandma knit and darned the socks Over eighty years ago
Our fathers never had a dream, When things moved on so slow, Of what their boys would do by steam Since eighty years ago."
Automobiles and electric cars, And airships on the go, Would open the eyes of the pioneer Of eighty years ago.
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The telephone and telegraph, The cable under the sea ; How different from the messenger Of eighteen thirty-three.
Our giant ships and railroad trains With goods from every clime; How wonderful when compared With the cart of the olden time.
"But time has deadened many a tree, And "logged" up many a row, Since they began to clear the land Over eighty years ago.
And when the covered wagon comes, And we are called to go, We'll settle in a better land Than eighty years ago."
It required brave and courageous spirits for men and women to leave their homes in the East, leave friends and relatives behind and strike out into the impenetrable forest infested with savages and wild beasts. Only the brave started, and only the brave and strong reached their destination. When a newly married couple or a family decided to go to the frontier, their departure meant a long farewell and occa- sioned many heartaches. As the time arrived and the dear ones were
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to leave, the kinsfolk and neighbors would often assemble, sing hymns and offer prayers for their safe and successful journey into the western wilderness and many a pioneer yielded up his life to disease brought on by hardships and exposures, or to the wild beasts or the red man's scalping knife. The journey from civilization to his forest home was not the least of the difficulties of the pioneer. The route lay for the most part through a rough country. Swamps and marshes were crossed with great exertions and fatigue; rivers were forded with difficulty and danger; forests were penetrated with risk of captivity by hostile Indians; nights were passed in open prairies, with the sod for a couch and the clouds for a covering; long weary days and weeks of tiresome travel were endured. The mother and children were seated in a cart or rough farm wagon drawn by ox or mule team with the husband and father walking beside the team to urge them on and guide them through rough and unimproved roads or along Indian trails that led into hitherto unexplored forests where wild beasts and Indians held full sway. Some were not even so fortunate as to possess a wagon or cart,
INDIANS AND PIONEERS
but trudged along on horseback or afoot, wending their way from civilization to their new homes in the wilderness. With the most pros- perous and favored pioneer, the journey westward was a tedious, tire- some and dangerous one. Often the children sickened by the way and anxious parents worried over them in a rude camp, without medical aid until relieved either by returning health or by death. If the latter, a father would be compelled to dig the grave for the body of his own child in a lonely forest. Who shall describe the burial scene when the parents are the only mourners! This is a subject only for contempla- tion. After a few sad days the bereaved ones take up their journey, leaving only a little fresh mound to mark the sacred spot, but never to be re-visited by the mourning relatives, but left unmarked and forever unknown and roamed over by wild savages and wilder beasts of the forest.
One actual case of this kind occurred in Cass county to the writer's knowledge and many others unreported may have occurred.
In 1827 to 1829 two children of a family who were moving out into the western world died suddenly of smallpox as they were encamped on the south side of the Wabash river and were buried by the parents on
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what was known as the Neff farm, located in the northwest quarter of section 34, Clinton township, just west of the state insane asylum grounds. Later some members of the Neff family were buried here and a paling fence enclosed the graves for many years, well remembered by many old settlers, but when this river road was improved, about thirty years ago, the remains of the Neff family were removed to St. John's churchyard, but the dust of these two pioneer children lie in the center of this gravel road, oblivious to the swift automobiles that now daily pass over them. But these incidents were not frequent. Generally, the pioneers were blessed with good health and enabled to overcome the privations of forest travel. At night they slept in their wagons or on the grass surrounded by pure air, free from the dust and bad atmospheric influences of modern civilization; while their mules, horses or oxen, hobbled to prevent their escape, grazed and browsed the prairies or forest around them. But the toil and dangers of the pioneer were not ended with the termination of the journey, for their trials had just begun. The first settlers of Cass county were subjected to hardships, privations and toil to which the present generation are entire strangers. The pioneers landed here in the midst of a dense forest of giant trees. Most of them had nothing but strong and willing hands, backed by indomitable courage and energy. Even if they were fortunate enough to have money, there was no opportunity to purchase any of the necessaries of life as there was not a store, factory, shop or mill in the county. Usually two or more families had journeyed to- gether into the wilderness and were mutually helpful to each other in clearing a site and erecting a cabin, and they camped out until rude houses could be erected. It did not take as long, however, to build a pioneer cabin as it now takes to erect a modern dwelling, even with all our machinery and aids to the builder. It only required a few days for two or three men to construct a pioneer home. Just imagine your- self and family landed in the midst of an impenetrable forest, dependent upon your own hands to build a house and clear the land before any crops could be raised, in the meantime having to subsist the family as the Indians did, by gathering wild fruits and herbs and killing wild game, deer, turkeys, squirrels, rabbits, pheasants, ducks, pigeons, etc., of which, however, there was an abundance.
Sometimes a family would journey into the wilderness alone and in that case the wife and larger boys and girls were the only assistance the head of the family would have in erecting the cabin and clearing the land, but in many cases the mother or daughter could wield an ax as dexterously and as effectually as the husband or father and rendered great and valuable assistance outside as well as inside the cabin door.
PIONEER CABINS
The first cabins erected in Cass county were built of round logs, covered by clapboards split from native timber by the pioneers' own hands and weighted down by poles. The cracks between the logs were filled and closed up by sticks and mud. The door was made of heavy riven timbers fastened to the "bottom" by wooden pins and hung on heavy wooden hinges and closed by a heavy wooden latch, with latch string made of buckskin, which always hung out except at night or when Indians were lurking around. At first these primitive cabins had only dirt floors and no chimneys, the fire being kindled on the ground in the center of the house with a hole in the gable for the smoke to escape. Many pioneer cabins had no windows, and the only light was admitted through holes under the clapboard roof and between the logs or when
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the door was open and the hole in the gable through which the smoke escaped. There were two reasons for not having windows; first, window glass could not be obtained, and second, the house was in reality a fort to defend the occupants against, not only. Indians, but also against wild beasts, for in an early day bears, wolves and wildcats were numerous in Cass county. When the pioneer would become accustomed to the howling of wolves around the cabin at night and the whoop of the Indian he would cut out a log in one side of his house and tack over the opening oiled paper or rawhide. As time permitted he would cut out a large opening and build a fireplace and chimney of sticks and mud with a clay hearth and put in a puncheon floor made of split or hewn timber and a loft overhead of the same material, access to which was gained by a ladder made of slats pinned to the logs on one side of the cabin. This loft was a storehouse for all manner of goods and material and as the family increased it was utilized as a bedroom without beds, pallets being made on the rough puncheon floor of the loft. This loft was the guest chamber where travelers or friends would sleep when stopping with or visiting the pioneers of Cass county.
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