USA > Indiana > Huntington County > History of Huntington County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 8
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There was great rejoicing in Virginia and the Eastern colonies when it was learned that Clark had captured some of the western outposts. Says Levering: "The results of this campaign were far-reaching in the settlement with Great Britain four years later, when the final treaty of peace was ratified. As a consequence, all the territory between the Ohio River and the Great Lakes became a United States possession."
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Through the conquest of the Northwest by General Clark, what is now the State of Indiana became a part of the Colony of Virginia, and a tide of emigration followed. On January 2, 1781, the Legislature of Virginia adopted a resolution to the effect that, on certain conditions, the colony would surrender to Congress its claim to the territory north- west of the Ohio River. Owing to the fact that Congress was then busy with the conduct of the Revolutionary war, no action was taken on the resolution. The Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolution and cstab- lished the independence of the United States, was concluded on Sep- tember 3, 1783, and ten days later Congress agreed to accept the cession tendered by Virginia more than two years before. On December 20, 1783, the Virginia Assembly passed a resolution authorizing the delegates from that colony then in Congress to convey to the United States "the title and claim of Virginia to the lands northwest of the river Ohio." The cession was formally made on March 1, 1784, and the present State of Indiana thereby became territory of the United States.
On May 20, 1785, Congress passed "An ordinance for ascertaining the mode of disposing of lands in western territory," and on the 15th of June following a proclamation was issued forbidding settlements north- west of thic Ohio until the lands were surveyed. This ordinance and proclamation led the Indians to believe that their lands were about to be taken from them for white settlers and they grew restless. By treaties in 1768, between the British colonial officials and the chiefs of the Five Nations and the Cherokee, it was agreed that the Ohio and Kanawha rivers should form the boundary between the Indians and the whites, the former relinquishing all claims to their lands along the Atlantic coast and in the valleys of the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers, in return for which they were confirmed in their possession of the country lying west of the Allegheny Mountains. The Indians claimed that the acts of Congress and the proclamation of the President, relating to the lands northwest of the Ohio, were in violation of the treaties of 1768. This was true, but Congress proceeded upon the theory that, as most of the tribes in that region had acted with the British during the Revolution, the new Government of the United States had a perfect right to repudiate the treaties made by the British provincial authorities. Late in the summer of 1786, some of the tribes became so threatening in their demonstrations that General Clark was sent against the Indians on the Wabash River and General Logan against the Shawnees on the Big Miami. In October of that year a garrison was established at Vincennes.
On July 13, 1787, Congress passed an act, or ordinance, "for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the River Ohio," and on October 5, 1787, Gen. Arthur St. Clair was elected by
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Congress to the position of Governor of the Northwest Territory. The Indians now beeame certain that their lands were to be settled by the pale face race and began making hostile demonstrations. On January 9, 1789, General St. Clair concluded a treaty of peace with some of the leading tribes at Fort Harmar, on the Muskingum River. This treaty was not kept by the Indians, and late in September, 1790, General Harmar led an expedition into the Indian country. On the 14th of Oeto- ber, Harmar was within a day's mareh of the Miami Village of Kekionga, where Fort Wayne now stands. Colonel Hardin was then sent forward with one company of regulars and 600 militia to make a reeonnaisance, and, if practicable, take possession of the village. Upon arriving at Kekionga, Harding found the place deserted, and the village fell into his hands without any attempt on the part of the Indians to resist his taking possession.
After remaining at the Indian village for three or four days, Hardin resumed his march westward. On the 19th, when near the northeast corner of Huntington County, he found himself suddenly confronted by about one hundred Miami warriors, under the command of Little Turtle. The yelling of the Indians threw the militia into a panic. In his report of the engagement Hardin said: "Many of the militia threw away their arms without firing a shot, ran through the Federal troops and threw them in disorder." Little Turtle was not slow to take advantage of this condition of affairs, and Hardin was signally defeated, with a loss of twenty-two men. The Indian loss was not learned. The bad behavior of the militia kept the expedition from being a complete suecess, and early in November Harmar returned to Fort Washington, having lost 183 men killed and a number wounded. While Harmar was operating about the headwaters of the Maumee River, Major Hamtramek marehed up the Wabash River from Vineennes, destroying several deserted Indian vil- lages, but finding no enemy to oppose him.
The expeditions of Harmar and Hamtramck had the effect of keeping the Indians quiet for about a year, but in the fall of 1791 General St. Clair found it necessary to organize an expedition against the tribes in Northwestern Ohio and about the headwaters of the Wabash. On No- vember 4, 1791, St. Clair's eamp, near the present Town of Fort Recov- ery, Ohio, was surprised by a large body of Indians, led by the redoubt- able Little Turtle, and the army was almost annihilated. Shortly after this defeat, St. Clair resigned his eommission as major general, and Anthony Wayne was appointed to succeed him.
From the spring of 1792 to August, 1793, Wayne was busy in re- eruiting, organizing and equipping his army. While this was going on the Government appointed Beverly Randolph, Timothy Piekering and
C
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Benjamin Lincoln as commissioners to negotiate treaties with the In- dians. Councils were held by these commissioners with the Indians at various places, but nothing was accomplished.
In the spring of 1794 Wayne marched with his army into the Indian country. On August 20th he won a decisive victory in the battle of Fallen Timbers, after which he fell back up the Maumee River and on September 18, 1794, selected a site for a fort at the confluence of the St. Joseph and St. Mary's rivers. The fort was completed in October and was named Fort Wayne. From this point Wayne sent out messen- gers to all the leading Indian chiefs, inviting them to come to Fort Greenville for the purpose of making a new treaty, but the season was so far advanced that the council was postponed until the following year. During the months of June and July, 1795, councils were held with several of the tribes, all of which sent representatives to a grand council at Fort Greenville, where on August 3, 1795, was concluded the treaty of Greenville, one of the most important Indian treaties in the history of Ohio and Indiana. It was signed by eighty-nine chiefs, distributed among the several tribes as follows: Twenty-four Pottawatomi, 16 Dela- warc, 10 Wyandot, 9 Shawnee, 11 Chippewa, 3 Miami, 7 Ottawa, 3 Eel River, 3 Wea and 3 Kaskaskia. One of the Miami chiefs was Little Turtle, who had administered such a drastic defeat to General St. Clair nearly four years before, and who afterward owned a reservation in what is now Union Township of Huntington County.
By the Treaty of Greenville the United States Government was granted several small tracts of land for military posts, two of which- at Fort Wayne and Vincennes-were in Indiana. This was the first cession of Indian lands in Indiana to the United States. The Govern- ment was also granted the right to build or open roads through the Indian country. One of these roads was to run from Fort Wayne to the Wabash River and down that stream to the Ohio. This road passed through what is now Huntington County. For these concessions the United States agreed to give the Indians goods valued at $20,000 and an annuity of $9,500, in goods, forever, which was to be distributed among the tribes as follows: To the Delaware, Pottawatomie, Shawnee, Wyan- dot, Miami, Ottawa and Chippewa, $1,000 cach; to the Kickapoo, Wea, Pinakeshaw, Eel River and Kaskaskia, $500 each. The United States further agreed to relinquish claim to all other Indian lands north of the Ohio River, east of the Mississippi and south of the Great Lakes, ceded by Great Britain in the Treaty of 1783.
On May 7, 1800, President Adams approved an act of Congress dividing the Northwest Territory into three territories-Ohio, Indiana and Illinois-and six days later Gen. William Henry Harrison was
.
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appointed Governor of the Indian Territory. At the same time John Gibson, of Pennsylvania, was appointed territorial secretary.
By the Treaty of Greenville, the United States had agreed to allow the Indians to remain in peaceable possession of their lands north of the Ohio River. Had that provision of the treaty been kept sacredly by the Government, Huntington County and the whole State of Indiana might possibly be inhabited today by red men. But it was not long after the treaty was concluded until the white man began to look with longing cyes at the rich valleys and broad prairies of Indiana. Before a decade had passed pressure was brought to bear upon the national administra- tion to negotiate a treaty with the natives, whereby these lands could be acquired by the Government and opened to settlement. When Con- gress divided the Northwest Territory, as above stated, the Indians doubtless wondered by what right the white man's government stepped in and made laws affecting territory which had been guaranteed to them "forever" by a treaty. But they were soon to learn that the word "forever," in the white man's vocabulary, meant until such time as the Indian could be persuaded or forced to "move on."
Not long after General Harrison assumed the reins of government in the Territory of Indiana, he began making preparations for a new treaty with the Indians. A general council was called to meet at Fort Wayne on June 7, 1803, at which time the right of the Delaware tribe to certain lands lying between the Ohio and Wabash rivers was recog- nized; the post boundaries at Vincennes were definitely fixed, and the Delawares relinquished all claim to the post tract at that point. General Harrison was at the council and there made the preliminary arrangements for a treaty afterward concluded at Vincennes on August 18, 1804, by which the Delawares "for the considerations hereinafter mentioned, relinquish to the United States forever, all their right and title to the tract of country which lies between the Ohio and Wabash rivers and below the tract ceded by the Treaty of Fort Wayne, and the road leading from Vincennes to the Falls of the Ohio."
This treaty began the disintegration of the Indian lands in Indiana. Having secured the recognition of the rights of the Delaware Indians to certain territory, it was a comparatively easy matter to induce the chiefs of that tribe to cede the land to the United States. The most northern point of the cession of August 18, 1804, was not far from French Lick, in Orange County. True, the country now comprising Huntington County was not directly affected by this cession, but the treaty marked the beginning of a policy that ended by all the lands in the state passing 1 over to the white man's government.
The Piankeshaws soon showed their displeasure over the act of the
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Delawares, refusing to recognize the right of that tribe to transfer the land to the Government. General Harrison therefore met the Pianke- shaw chiefs at Vincennes on August 27, 1804, and concluded a treaty with them by which the tribe reliquished title to the tract in question for an annuity of $200 for five years.
Another treaty was concluded at Grouseland, near Vincennes, on August 21, 1805, between General Harrison and the chiefs of several tribes. In this treaty "the Pottawatomies, Miamis, Eel Rivers and Weas explicitly acknowledge the right of the Delawares to sell the tract of land conveyed to the United States by the treaty of the 18th of August, 1804, which tract was given by the Piankeshaws to the Delawares about thirty- seven years ago.'
At the same time the Wea and the Eel River tribes ceded to the United States a large tract of land in Southeastern Indiana. Some of the Indian chiefs who were not participants in these treaties began to see that it was only a question of time, if the policy was continued, when all the lands guaranteed to the Indians by the Treaty of Greenville would become the property of the white man. Most of these chiefs had been accustomed to look upon Little Turtle, the principal chief of the Miami Nation, as one of the wisest men, a leader whose opinions were always entitled to respect. But when he bowed to the inevitable and joined with the other chiefs in disposing of the lands of his people he was branded as "an Indian with a white man's heart and a traitor to his race."
Under these circumstances, many of the chiefs were ready to abandon Little Turtle and follow a new leader, when, in November, 1805, a prophet arose among the Shawnees in the person of La-la-weth-ika, then about thirty years of age. He went into a trance, in which he claimed to have seen the spirit world, and came back with a message from the Great Manitou to "let fire-water alone, abandon the white man's cus- toms and follow the ways of our ancestors."
After his vision he changed his name to Tensk-wa-ta-wa (some- times written Elsk-wa-ta-wa), which in the Shawnee tongue means "The Open Door." This name was selected because he claimed that he was to be the means of opening the way by which the Indians were to regain their lost power and the lands of which they had been dispossessed. He took up his quarters at Greenville, but the Miamis, who still had faith in their own chief, Little Turtle, were jealous of his influence. In order to break, or at least weaken, his power among the young braves of the tribe some of the old men among the Miamis declared him to be an imposter. Says Mooney :
"By some means he had learned that an eclipse of the sun was to take place in the summer of 1806. As the time drew near, he called about
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him the scoffers and boldly announced that on a certain day he would prove to them his supernatural authority by causing the sun to become dark. When the day and hour arrived and the earth at midday was enveloped in the gloom of twilight, Tenskwatawa, standing in the midst of the terrified Indians, pointed to the sky and cried: 'Did I not speak the truth ? See, the sun is dark!' "'
Tenskwatawa went a step farther in his claims to supernatural power and shamelessly asserted that he was the reincarnation of the great Man-a-bo-zho, the mighty "first doer" of the Algonquins. His follow- ers increased in numbers, but it soon became apparent that something more than prophesy and a display of supernatural ability would be neces- sary to restore to the Indians their birthright.
As Pontiac had taken advantage of the preaching of the Delaware prophet, more than forty years before, to organize a general uprising among the Indians, Tecumseh (the Shooting Star), a brother of the prophet, now came forward as a temporal leader and undertook the work of cementing the tribes into a confederacy for the purpose of re- sisting further encroachments of the hated pale-faces. Tecumseh and the prophet were sons of the great Shawnee brave, Puk-e-she-no, who was killed at the battle of the Kanawha in 1774, when the prophet was an infant. In the spring of 1808, a great many Indians came from the country about the Great Lakes to visit the prophet and his brother at Greenville. Knowing that it was Tecumseh's object to inflame the pas- sions of the Indians, the peaceable Miamis and Delawares entered a vigorous protest against these visitations, and to avoid an open rupture with these tribes the two brothers removed their headquarters to the Pottawatomi village on the Wabash River, a short distance above the . present City of La Fayette, which village then became known as "Prophet's Town."
Shortly after establishing himself here, Tecumseh notified General Harrison that the Shawnee and the tribes associated with them would never consent to the occupation of the Indian lands by white mncn until the tribes gave their unanimous consent, instead of the few who claimed to own the lands. The wily chief then began his active propaganda, visiting the chiefs and head men of the different tribes to secure their co-operation in his plan and, if possible, induce them to take up arms against the invaders of the Indian domain.
While he was thus engaged another treaty was concluded at Fort Wayne on September 30, 1809, whereby two large tracts of land in In- diana were ceded to the United States. The first included practically all the present counties of Fayette, Wayne and Randolph, and the second embraced approximately the counties of Vigo, Clay, Owen, Sullivan,
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Greene, Monroe and Lawrence. This treaty so incensed the Shawnees and their allies that they commenced a series of raids upon the frontier settlements. To protect the settlers, General Harrison, in the fall of 1811, went up the Wabash and near the present City of Terre Haute built Fort Harrison, which was completed late in October.
Harrison then started for Prophet's Town, presumably for the pur- pose of forcing the Shawnees into a treaty of peace. Before reaching the village, he was met by a delegation, November 6, 1811, and arrange- ments were made for a "talk" the next day. Harrison was not forcibly impressed with the sincerity of the members of the delegation, and when he encamped his army that night, upon a piece of high ground near the village, he placed a strong guard about the camp and issued orders for his men to "sleep on their arms." Events proved that his suspicions were well founded. Just before daylight the next morning the Indians, led by the prophet in person, made their attack, intending to surprise the camp. But the surprise was on the other side. The precautions taken by Harrison now demonstrated his wisdom as a military commander. His camp-fires were immediately extinguished and his men fought on the defensive until it was light enough to see clearly, when they charged with such fury and enthusiasm that the Indians were completely routed. Above the din of battle the voice of the prophet could be heard har- anguing his warriors and telling them that through his supernatural power the bullets of the white men would be rendered harmless; that the pale-face cowards would be driven from the Indian hunting grounds. His followers evidently believed him, for they fought like demons, but without avail. In this action, known in history as the battle of Tippe- canoe, the whites lost 60 killed and 100 wounded. The Indian loss was much heavier. After the battle Harrison burned Prophet's Town and then returned to Vincennes. Some of the Miamis from the Upper Wa- bash were in the battle, and it is said that Louis Godfroy, a Miami chief, gave the signal for the Indians to attack.
At the time of the battle Tecumseh was in Tennessee, urging the chiefs in that state to unite in a general movement for the expulsion or extermination of the whites. He hurried back to Indiana, and upon his arrival at Phophet's Town it is said that he called his brother a fool for bringing on an engagement prematurely, took him by his long hair and shook him until his teeth rattled, and declared that he ought to be put to death for thwarting their plans through his fanaticism. Not long after this Tecumseh went to Canada and joined the British army, in which he was made a brigadier general. He fell at the battle of the Thames, October 5, 1813.
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In December, 1811, a memorial was sent to Congress by the people of Indiana, asking for admission into the Union as a state. Before any action was taken by Congress, war was declared against Great Britain, and for the next three years the attention of the National Government was fully occupied in the conduct of that war. In this conflict, known as the War of 1812, some of the tribes in the interior acted in accord with the British and brought the war very close to Huntington County.
In May, 1812, an Indian council was held at one of the villages on the Mississinewa River, at which one of the Miami chiefs, said to have been one of Little Turtle's closest friends, voiced the following sentiment :
"We feel happy that we all appear of one mind; that we all appear to be inclined for peace; that we all see it would bring ruin to us to go to war with the white people. We, the Miamis, have not hurt our white brethren since the Treaty of Greenville. We would be glad if the chiefs of the other nations present could say the same. We will gladly join our brothers for peace, but we will not join you for war against the white people. We hope our brothers, the Pottawatomies, Kickapoos and Win- nebagoes will keep their warriors in good order and teach them to pay more respect to their women and children than they have done by going and murdering innocent white people."
Notwithstanding these protestations of friendship on the part of one of the leading Miami chiefs, General Harrison wrote to the secretary of war under date of October 13, 1812, that the Miamis had "dug up the hatchet and are engaged in committing depredations upon the frontier settlements." The letter further stated that this tribe had attacked Fort Harrison, besieged Fort Wayne, and that on several occasions his messengers or supply trains had been attacked and captured, although the tribe still claimed to be neutral.
The American post at Detroit had already fallen into the hands of the British. Its commanding position, with the co-operation of the Indian tribes in the interior, placed practically all of the Wabash Valley at the mercy of the enemy. It was therefore deemed the part of wisdom to overcome the Indians before attempting to recapture Detroit, and an ex- pedition was planned by the Government against the Indian villages in the Miami country. This expedition was commanded by Lieut. Col. John B. Campbell, of the Nineteenth Infantry. His force consisted of Captain's Elliott's company of that regiment; part of a regiment of Kentucky Dragoons, commanded by Colonel Simrall; Major Ball's squadron of United States Dragoons; Captain Butler's Pittsburgh Blues ; Alexander's Pennsylvania Riflemen, and some other troops-600 men in all.
Campbell's little army reached the Mississinewa River on the morning of December 17, 1812, when he approached unobserved an Indian village
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inhabited by Miamis and a few Delawares. His men rushed into the town, killed eight warriors and took forty-two prisoners, thirty-four of whom were women and children. With the exception of a few cabins, the village was then burned by Campbell's orders and the prisoners were confined in the houses that were left standing. Campbell then took part of his force and marched down the Mississinewa for several miles, burn- ing three deserted villages and killing a large number of cattle.
That night Campbell formed his camp in the form of a square, near the Mississinewa River, in the northern part of what is now Grant County. During the night the Indians, enraged at the killing of their cattle and the burning of the three villages, gathered a force of some three hundred warriors and marched toward Campbell's camp, which was attacked with all the fury of the savage a little while before day- break on the morning of the 18th. Fortunately, Colonel Campbell had caused the reveille to be sounded at 4 o'clock, and he and his officers were in council when the Indian war whoop was heard at the northwest corner of the camp. Although it was bitterly cold, and the ground was covered with snow, every man immediately ran to his post and the sur- prise intended by the Indians failed to materialize.
As soon as it was light enough to see with certainty, Captain Trotter's company of Simrall's dragoons was ordered to charge. At the same time Captain Markle's company of Ball's dragoons also charged, and the Indians were thrown into confusion. Campbell then ordered John- son to support the charging troops, but the Indians were completely routed before he could bring his men into action.
The battle lasted about one hour and resulted in a loss to Campbell's force of eight killed and forty-eight wounded. Two of the latter died within a few days and seventeen were carried in litters to Fort Green- ville. One of Campbell's officers afterward reported 107 horses killed in the engagement.
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