USA > Indiana > Allen County > Fort Wayne > History of Fort Wayne, from the earliest known accounts of this point, to the present period. Embracing an extended view of the aboriginal tribes of the Northwest, including, more especially, the Miamies with a sketch of the life of General Anthony Wyane; including also a lengthy biography of pioneer settlers of Fort Wayne. Also an account of the manufacturing, mercantile, and railroad interests of Fort Wayne and vicinity > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46
CAPTAIN . D'VINCENNES.
letter dated " Quebec, 19th October, 1705, " said he had "sent Sieur de Vinseine to the Miamis." Another letter, written by M. de Pontchartrain, to M. de Vaudreuille, bearing date " Versailes, 9th June, 1706," said : "His Majesty approves your sending Sieur Jonqueres to the Iroquois, because he is esteemed by them, and has not the reputation of a trader ; but you onght not to have sent Sieur de Vincennes to the Miamis, nor Sienr de Louvigny to the Missili- maquina, as they are all accused of carrying on contraband trade. You are aware that the said Sieur de Louvigny has been punished for that ; and his Majesty desires that you canse Sienr de Vincennes to be severely punished-he having carried on an open and undis- guised trade." In a letter from M. de Vandreuille to M. de Pontohar- train, dated. Nov. 6, 1712, the former says he, " had again sent Sieur de Vincennes to the Miami3." In 1719, M. de Vincennes was report- od to M. de Vaudrenille as having died at the Miami village here : but this was a mistake, or it was another officer of that name. It was about this period that the French made some unsuccessful efforts to induce the Miamis to remove from their old homes here towards Lake Michigan, or " to the river St. Joseph of Lake Michigan."
The fort that stood on the east side of the St. Joseph, was carly known as the English Fort, which was occupied by a small garrison of English troops subsequent to the overthrow of French rule in Canada, in 1760,-perhaps as early as 1762 ; though the writer has been unable to gather any positive evidence that this stockade was built by the English. All the accounts I have of its early occupa- tion lead to the conclusion that it was " taken possession of by the English " soon after the close of the struggles in Canada in 1760. Gen. Wayne traced both of these forts while here, in 1794 ; and Col. John Johnston, a sterling patriot of the west, traced " the dim out- lines " of the French fort in the vicinity of the canal acqueduet as late as 1800.
Having thus, with other interesting facts and data, followed the missionary, trader, and explorer, in their devious windings and ambi- tious zeal for the redemption of savage souls on the one hand, and to become suddenly wealthy and famous by the accumulation of large quantities of fur, and the discovery of new regions of territory and tributary streams, to the end that they might be greatly favored by the King, on the other hand, we are readily enabled to see, with oth - er essential reasons, how, at an early period, these zealous and ambitious adventurers found their way to this point, and established here their mission and trading posts; and why, at a later day, the French soldiers erected here a stockade, and long stood guard in view of the confluence of these beautiful rivers.
CHAPTER II.
" The Past bears in her arms the Present and the Future. "
Primitive accounts of the New World -- Ferocious animals-The Mastodon-Exhumation of bones near Huntertown-The different tribes of Indians -- Their names-The Algonquin stock -- The Indians and early settlers-Civilization ever disliked by the Indian-The law of change-Derivation of Indian names -- The force of bar- baric and civilized influences-Indian love of his nativity -- Amalgamation -- The Miamies in 1718 -- The Indian race track -- Agriculture among the Indians -- The old corn field-The old Apple-tree -- Indian habits-Ideas of freedom -- Ke-ki-ong-s -- Labors of the men -- The Indian women-Indian eloquence -- The Indian mother -An incident-Offspring-Family ' government -- Love of war-Formidable character of the Indians in the latter part of the past century.
- HE MOST primitive works relating to the New World, were noted for the great credulity of their authors and highly exag- erated accounts of the inhabitants-both man and beast. The country was considered a marvelous embodiment of the wildest conditions of life, and possessed of a wealth as unfathomable as the land was broad, picturesque, and wild.
Here, in the newly-discovered regions of North America, there were to be met, it was declared, a species of Lilliputians and men of gigantic proportions-men not exactly without heads, wrote Lafitau, but whose heads did not extend above the shoulders-a people subsisting, much as the camelion, upon the air-the black man liv- ing a life of concealment in the tropical forests -- and that there were also tribes in the more northern boundaries of the New World, who, not unlike the ermine, were quite white ; and it was such marvelous tales and exagerated accounts, in part, at least, that awakened. the curiosity of the inhabitants of the Old World, and at length peopled the new continent of North America withi, to it, a new order of human beings, destined to pave the way for a new and more glorious sense of civilization in all that pertains, let us trust, to the mental and phys- ical welfare of man.
That there were gigantic animals roaming over the land, is a well anthenticated fact-the lion, the panther, the bear, the tiger, and, indeed, most of the wild, ferocious animals known to natural history, were, at the period referred to, and to a much later day, doubtless inhabitants of many parts of the New World. The elk, which did not disappear till ahont 1825, was also common. The
15
INDIANS' ACCOUNT OF THE MASTODON.
Indians gave account's* to earlytraders here and at other points of a huge animal they called the King of Beasts ; and when asked concerning its appearance, their answer was, that " it looked like the white man's hay-stack-very big " -- and said that it traversed the regions lying between this section of the present State of Indiana and Toledo, Ohio; and seemed to regret, when speaking of in, that it was no longer to be seen here-that the white man had driven it away. From former and recent exhumations of bonest not far from Fort Wayne, it is evident that the accounts given to early traders and others, by the Indians, were not far from correct, at least in so far as the great size of the animals were concerned. In what sense they bore a resemblance, in organization and general struc- ture, to " the white man's hay-stack," is left for the reader to con- jecture. * C. Peltier.
+The Fort Wayne Gazette, of April 22 and September 17, 1867, gave the following account of the cxhumation of bones in Noble county, near the Allen county line, and not far from Huntertown, in this county, (Allen) which are evidently remains of the great animals referred to years ago by the Indians here :
" INTERESTING DISCOVERY .- Dr. J. S. Fuller, of Perry, Allen Co., Ind., inder date of April 20, 1867, writes us that the skeleton of an elephant was found a few days ago, on the farm of Wm Thrush, of Noble co., near the Allen county line, by some men who were digging a ditch. The discovery was made about four feet below the surface of the marsh. The skeleton is very large, and was found standing upright, which indicates that the animal had mired in the marsh, and died in this position. The doctor has examined the head, under-jaw, hip bones, tusks, and other pieces of the skeleton, and is convinced that they are the remains of an elephant, buried there at least one hundred years ago. The bones are at the residence of Mr. Jas. Potter.
" If the above story is true, ( and we have no reason to doubt it, as the doctor is a reliable man ) the discovery is one of great interest. There was a tradition among the Indians who inhabited this region that Northern Indiana was onee the home of elephants or some unimal of asimilar size and appearance. We commend the case to the attention of our scientific men."-Ft. Wayne GAZETTE, April 23, 1867.
" The mastodon remains found near Huntertown prove to be more extensive and more interesting than at first anticipated. Part of three skeletons were brought to town yester- day, a male, female, and calf. No one skeleton is complete, but enough of each has been found to determine the sex and age as above mentioned. The lower jaw of the calf was exhumed entire. The teeth, small, and little worn, are the unmistakable signs of ' veal.' A quantity of older and larger teeth, and part of a larger jaw were found. Also five of the upper bones of the fore leg, two upper bones of the hind leg, two thigh bones, shoulder- blade, fragments of tusks, part of a skull, a quantity of ribs, and many other smaller bones.
" The mastodon was an animal similar in size and appearance to the elephant, but lar- ger and more massive in form. It belonged to the geological period immediately preceed- ing the present, and is supposed to have been the last large animal which became extinet before the creation of man. Its average size, as determined from examination of remains found in various parts of the world, was about seventeen feet in length, and eleven fert. in height. Many skeletons have been found in this country, particularly in New York and New Jersey, where the search for them has been more thorough than in other State -. " The skeletons above alluded to were found in a corn field on the farm of a Mr. Thrush, about four miles from Huntertown, in what was onee a deep marsh. Twenty or thirty years ago, the proprietor says, it would not have been safe for man or beast to enterit. The bones were found in an area of about forty feet in diameter, from three to four feet below the surface, in a stratum of light elay covering a layer of blue clay. The top soil is a black muek, even now fit for cultivation only in dry seasons.
" As to how they got into the mire, various theories can be framed. A friend whohas given thesubject some profound thought. suggests that the calf was ' teething.' and crawl- ed into the marsh for something to cool its gums, and sticking fast, the old couple follow ed to resene it, and met with a like fate. The last half of this theory, we guess, will pass muster.
" The remains, we understand, will be taken to Chicago, for more careful examination
16
IHISTORY OF FORT WAYNE.
The uniformity of the aboriginal tribes of North America, in their primitive state,-taking Charlevoix' as among the carliest and best accounts of them-seem at once evident and conclusive: and their habits and customs-institutions and primitive organic relations-seem to have possessed a common identity and bearing.
In an early comparison of the great number of dialects among the various tribes on the continent, it was discovered that not more than eight radically distinct touques were to be found in the whole territory lying cast of the Mississippi river; and but live of these continue to constitute the languages of nations yet remaining ; while, of late years, it is discoverable that but three only of these serve to remind the reader that the tribes speaking them have well- nigh becomo extinct.#
The Algonquin,f or primitive Indian tongue, was not only con- sidered the most extended, but the most exhuberant in dialect. It was the Algonquin which welcomed the carly settlers of Plymouth and Roanoake; and was heard, says Bancroft, " from the Bay of Gaspe to the Valley of the Des Moines; from Cape Fear, and, it may be, from the Savannah, to the land of the Esquimaux; from the Cumberland river of Kentucky, to the southern banks of the Mississippi; and " was spoken," continues the same writer, " though not exclusively, in a territory that extended through sixty degrees of longitude, and more than twenty degrees of latitude."
From the earliest accounts known, the Indian was ever disposed to shun the settlements of the white man. He loved his native haunts, the woods; the hills, and the vales of America. He was indigenous to the soil-he knew no other land. From the first troubles with the settlements at Jamestown and Plymouth, to those of a later period, springing up at other points, both cast and west, the tribes seemed ever imbued with the belief that the white man would eventually overrun thier hunting-grounds, and at length push the red man far towards the setting sun. How truly thought and said the Indian, from one period to another, may now be most clearly seen. Such is the force of civilization-auch the destiny of the unadvancing, unpro- gressive, uncivilized of the earth, c'en to the lowest kingdom of animal life.
Seeking to find new hunting-grounds, new regions of soil wherein to plant their maize and cultivate the other products common to Indian life, unobtruded by the white man, at an early period, the tribes of the cast began gradually to move westward and south- ward ; while many clans very early abandoned their old hunting- grounds, east and northward, to follow a roving life in the deep forests of the south and west-fleeing from the march of civilization, which, a few years later, followed them to their distant and exclu- sive abode. But a few years ago,-and the same is probably true of They are at present in charge of Dr. W. H. Meyers and Mr. Simpson, of the Chicago Acad- any of Natural Sciences."-Fort Wayne GAZETTE, Sept. 17, 1867.
+ Albert Gallatin's synopsis.
+ From the French.
17
NAMES OF THE DIFFERENT TRIBES.
the present time,-" among the tribes of Texas, there were warriors who are said to trace their lineage to Algonquins on the Atlantic ; and descendants from the New England Indians," as late as 1852, " roamed over western prairies." *
The eight primitive tribes, exhibiting a radical distinction in lan- guage, were :
1. ALGONQUIN,
5. CHEROKEE,
·2. DAHCOTA,
6. UCHEE,
3. HURON-IROQUOIS,
7: NATCHEZ,
4. CATAWBA.
8. MOBILIAN.
From these sprang many branches, which, some years subse- quent to the earliest settlements in America, had spread over a great part of the country, many of them often becoming greatly reduced by warfare, or, fusing one tribe with another, by amalgama- tion, gradually very materially changed the primitive tongue. In this way, if not lost through the extinction of clans, t a great number of dialects were developed and diffused over the continent.
The names of the various tribes and clans of late years composing the Algonquin family, many of whom, by permission of the Miam- ies, had early found their way into, and settled upon, the extensive territory of this tribe, were the
Miamies, (Twightwees), Sacs, Chippewas, Corees, Foxes,
Ottawas, Illinois,
Piankeshaws,
Shawanoes,
Menomenees,
Powhatans, Kickapoos,
Lenni-Lenaves, ( Delawares,) Mohegans, Knisteneaux,
The New England Indians, Abenakes, Monocans,
Mannahoack's, Nanticokes,
Suspuehannocks, Pottawattamies, Winnebagoes, Mascoutens, with some other smaller independent clans, many of which were divided into cantons and bodies, it was said," sometimes so small as to afford only a war party."
Thus we see, more distinctly, the relationship, position, and character of the Miamies: Of the entire Algonquin family, there ivere perhaps none more stable, heroic and resolute than this tribe.
* Bancroft --- Duponceau.
t Nature is everywhere alike as to the principle of CHANCE-mind,-matter of the most gross or most attenuated character,-even to sounds, musie, words, dialeets, lan- guage, of the finest order of developement,-are all subject to the law of change, transmis- sion, growth of the highest grade of unfoldment, or the opposite, to a greater or less degree, to extinetion itself.
#Each of which had some special meaning in the Indian tongne-as, Ottawa, sig- nified a trader ; Mascontens, dwellers in the prairie ; Menomenies, we are mber ; original men-an expression of dignity, or greatness often used by the braves-such as, "I am à man! " (a Menomenie !); Fox, red earth : Sac, or Sauk, yellow earth-and so on. And there were probably but fewv of these tribes of clans that did not, at one period or other, visit this point, or send hither their envoys to sit at the Council Fires of the " Glorious Gate" of the different tribes, which the Miamies " had the happiness to otra ;" and there were doubtless many seasons of harmony among the tribes gathered here, as there were also periods of bitter feuds and warfare between various nationsof the continent. " (2)
18
HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE.
The limits of their territory has already been quoted in the previous chapter. This extensive domain had been held by their ancestors; said the famous Little Turtle, to General Wayne, " from time immem- orial, without molestation or dispute." And had they been a pro- gressive people-readily adapting themselves to the active civiliza- tion springing up everywhere about them a few years after the strug- gles of 1812=14, very many of them might still have been dwelling in this region upon their old familiar hunting-grounds. But, as a mass, they had, with a few exceptions, lived too long in an opposite condition of life to readily enter into the more advanced habits of thought, growth, and culture of the whites, then rapidly settling upon their ancient domain. That the red man could long have lived in the centre of a moderate civilization without feeling its pow- er and influence, any more than the white man, dwelling among savage tribes, in the forest, would be unable to resist, to a greater or less degree, the influences surrounding him, is a matter needing but little consideration in point of fact.
Man ever assimilates, has ever assimilated, to a greater of less extent, in all ages, with that which has surrounded him. If his sur- roundings are crude, wild, and inflexible, he has readily partaken of them. And in just so far as he has become familiar with the art of subduing and cultivating the soil-clearing the woodlands; and making the untamed conditions of nature to bend to his necessities- producing new vegetative life in the form of fruits, cereals, plants, and flowers, has he improved in organization and the general refinement of blood, brain, and nerve. And it has ever been through the possession, excercise and application of this power and intelligence, however meager and incomplete, at first, the means and implements of cultivation, if steadily pursued, that has laid the ground-work of sure and gradual transition from barbarism to civili- zation.
The great realm of nature is everywhere progressive -- ever looks upward and aspires to a higher sense of beauty and refinement. The flowers of a hundred years ago were less refined in point of essence, and in many instances beauty also, than those of to-day. So also with the fruits and every other species of vegetative life, where a proper degree of care in cultivation is observed. This principle is equally true of man. Give him but the necessary advantages and encouragement in the art of cultivating the soil or improving his mental powers, and he readily begins to refine. Under these auspices the red man, in many instances, from the days of the Jesuit missionaries to the present time, has verified, most clearly and substantially, the truthfulness of this principle of growth and culture in the natural order of existence. And although never becoming truly Anglo-Saxon, in so far as the inventive and higher sense of civilization is manifest-although never losing his tawny skin, save in a sense of amalgamation, nor ceased entirely, perhaps, to entertain an affection for the forest and its wildest haunts-the
19
INDIAN IDEA OF BRAVERY!
streams, and a love for the canoe, the spear, the bow and arrow, or trusty rifle-he yet was ever a living evidence of the power and influ- once of civilization, as brought to bear upon him at various times and in many ways. A rude, uncultivated child of the forest-of nature and the primitive wilds-he was readily and naturally imitative, and soon received from the white man a knowledge of agriculture and the use of various implements, with which to cultivate the soil, cook, fish, hunt, fell the trees, &c.
Beyond these evidences and facts, it had been observed that it was far easier for the white man to become; in manners and custom, an Indian, than for the Indian to become a white man in point of civilization and the progressive march and appliances of life, in art and general culture; and this is strangely true of no other peo- ple with whom the white man has ever associated or come in con- tact.
The Indian, though naturally hospitable, by nature and custom, was often a rude example of indifference ; knowing and practicing but little of the cominon sympathetic feeling of the white race. They were accustomed to bewail the loss of friends and their great chiefs and sachems; and the women, on, such occasions, in the wild- est and most dishevelled appearance, with garments tattered and dirty, their faces blackened, and hair streaming about their shoul- ders, often wept bitterly, it is true, visiting the graves of the depart- ed for many consecutive days ; but, in the ordinary concerns of life, to weep or lament were usages most uncommon to the red man. Even in the midst of the most terrible torture or suffering, he was sel- dom if ever known to shed a tear or utter complaint. Such was his idea of bravery ; yet, if there was one thing more than another that would have had a tendency to awaken the tears and sympathy of the Indian, or cause him to sadly bewail his lot, was to remove him, by force or otherwise, from the scenes of his hunting-ground and early associations-so ardent was his attachment to his native hills and plains-his early home and the many relations that clustered about it; and in this he was much like the rest of mankind.
Our surroundings as naturally become a part of us, as the air we inhale is necessary to our health and vigor of action. The soil we tread upon, bringing forth and nourishing the food we eat, possesses within itself the elements of mutuality and reciprocation ; and every organic being as surely gravitates toward the natural, and as readily commingles, in some way, therewith, as the law of gravitation brings a falling body to the earth, or the diurnal action of the globe brings us the constant "shadow of the night" and " the light of day." And the law of sympathy is ever active and earnest within us.
The bleak Esquimaux, the plodding Highlander, and peasant of Northern Russia, no less than the most favored of the English nobil- ity, or the wealthiest and most prosperous merchant or farmer in America, are allied and attached to their native homes, and would
20
HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE.
as readily take up the cudgel or draw the sword,-load the cannon or shoulder the rifle in defence of their native plains and hills as tvould we of America, England, France or Germany, were we or they to be suddenly, or otherwise invaded. Nature never fails to express herself-never fails to make a reply when interrogated, no matter how strong the sympathy, or whither the alliance. And the red man, in his primitive fastnesses, native vales and woodlands of America-wandering upon the banks of her many beautiful rivers, chasing the wild animals of the forest, or spearing the fish in her streams,-was no exception to the rule; and when he saw and felt the first act of encroachment upon his native soil, he arose in all the dignity of offended greatness, seized the tomahawk, the war-club, the bow and arrow; assembled the braves; surode vigorously throughi the war-dance; blackened and painted their faces; and, after the' mode of Indian warfare, at once lay in wait to strike the first blow, in hopes to destroy the enemy, or repel him from their boundaries.
And lierein is evinced a sad want of wisdom and knowledge on the part of both the Indian and the white man-the one to' pass through the ordeal of an almost gradual extermination, while upon the other fell all the trials and dangers of an intestine and savage warfare, amid forest and jungle, united with the vast hard- ships and vicissitude of the pioneer.
As has already been shown, the uniformity of the Indian dialect, was, in primitive times, or about the period of the discovery of America, strongly related and identical. And the same was mainly true of the general habits and customs of the various tribes of the continent.
-
At an carly period, as the French and English sucessively made inroads upon the territories of the Miamies-or, as they were carly called by the English and the Iriquois, the Twightwees,-in the estab- lishment of stockades and trading-posts, the spirit of intermarriage soon became rife between the Indian women, fur-traders, adventur- ers, and soldiers, which, up to the departure of a large body of this tribe for Kansas, several years since, had well-nigh changed the whole number remaining to " half-breeds." At that period, as is well understood, but few full-blooded Indians were to be found throughout the entire extent of their ancient territory. And hence, of late years, looking back upon them, we see the light complexion of the white man clearly visible in their every feature, rather than the brownish-red of the unmixed aboriginal. Many of them, indeed, were quite white, with blue eyes,-though still retaining, in a large degree, the Indian features,-thick lips, large mouth, high check bones, and prominent nose ; and were, for the most part, still Indian-cherishing, to a late day, the ancient customs of their fathers, in hunting, fishing, cultivating the maize, &e.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.