USA > Indiana > Miami County > History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 9
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"My aunt is of small stature, not very much bent ; had her hair clubbed behind in calico, tied with worsted ferret; her hair is somewhat gray; her eyes a bright chestnut, clear and sprightly for one of her age; her face is very much wrinkled and weather-beaten. She has a scar on her left cheek received at an Indian dance; her skin is not as dark as you would expect from her age and constant exposure; her teeth are remark- ably good. Her dress was a blue calico short gown, a white Mackinaw blanket, somewhat soiled by constant wear; a fold of blue broadcloth lapped around her, red cloth leggins and buckskin moccasins."
Frances Slocum died on March 9, 1847, and was buried on a beautiful knoll across the road from her house, about nine miles southeast of the city of Peru. Here her remains lay in an unmarked and neglected grave for a little more than half a century. In 1899 Hon. James F. Stutesman, of Peru, visited the "Bundy burying ground," as the little graveyard is called, and upon seeing the neglected resting place of this remarkable woman, he decided to make an effort to have it marked by an appropriate monument. To that end he got into correspondence with members of the Slocum family scattered through Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. As a result of his work a monument committee. was organized with Elliott T. Slocum, of Detroit, chairman; Dr. Charles E. Slocum, of Defiance, Ohio, secretary; Mrs. Mary Slocum Murphy, of Converse, Indiana, treasurer. Other members of the committee were George Slocum Bennett, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania; Joseph Slocum Chahoon, of Philadelphia ; Eliza Slocum Rogers, also of Philadelphia ;
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Frank Slocum, of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Frank L. Slocum, of Pitts- burgh, Pennsylvania; Frank Slocum Litzenberger, of Middletown, Indiana; Levi D. Slocum, of Carbondale, Pennsylvania; Joseph W. Slocum, of Scranton, Pennsylvania; Joseph A. Kenny, of Converse, Indiana ; and James F. Stutesman, of Peru, Indiana.
A fund of $700 was raised for the purpose of erecting a monument and inclosing the burying ground with an iron fence, and the purchase of both monument and fence was made of an Ohio firm. After they had been placed in position and the cemetery cleared of some of its weeds and rubbish, the monument was dedicated on May 17, 1900, in the presence of more than 3,000 people, many of whom had come from far distant points to witness the ceremonies. Arrangements for taking care of the multitude had been made by Mr. Stutesman, the Bundys and others living in the neighborhood. Elliott T. Slocum presided and Dr. Charles E. Slocum, compiler of a history of the family, delivered the principal address. At the conclusion of his address the monument was unveiled by Misses Victoria Bundy and Mabel Ray Bundy, great-granddaughters of Frances Slocum. Short speeches were then made by George Slocum Bennett, Gabriel Godfroy, Richard DeHart, of Lafayette, Indiana; Major McFadin, of Logansport, who had seen Frances Slocum in her old age; and Hon. James F. Stutesman. Mrs. Lurena King Miller, of Washing- ton, D. C., read an original poem on the life of Frances Slocum, which was well received.
The Slocum monument is of white bronze, eight feet and six inches in height, and standing upon a stone base four feet square. On the four sides of the monument are the following inscriptions : .
"1. Frances Slocum, a child of English descent, was born in Warwick, Rhode Island, in March, 1773 ; was carried into captivity from her father's house at Wilkes-Barre, Pa., November 2, 1778, by Delaware Indians soon after the Wyoming massacre. Her brothers gave persistent search, but did not find her until September 2, 1837.
"2. When inclined by a published letter describing an aged white woman in the Miami Indian village here, two brothers and a sister visited this place and identified her. She lived near here thirty-two years with the Indian name-Ma-con-a-quah. She died on this ridge, March 9, 1847, and was given a Christian burial.
"3. Frances Slocum became a stranger to her mother tongue; she became a stranger to her brethren, and an alien to her mother's children through her captivity. See Psalms Ixix, 8.
"This monument was erected by the Slocums and others, who deemed it a pleasure to contribute, and was unveiled by them with public cere- monies, May 17, 1900.
Tol. I-5
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"4. She-po-con-ah, a Miami Indian chief, husband of Frances Slocum -Ma-con-a-quah, died here in 1833, at an advanced age. Their adult children were :
"Ke-ke-nok-esh-wah, wife of Rev. Jean Baptiste Brouillette, died March 13, 1847, aged forty-seven years, leaving no children.
"O-zah-shin-quah, or Jane, wife of Rev. Peter Bundy, died January 25, 1877, aged sixty-two years, leaving a husband and nine children."
Volumes have been written on the subject of Frances Slocum, but the foregoing, it is believed, touches upon every important phase of this extraordinary instance of captivity by Indians and the complete aliena- tion of the captive from her own people. In all the history of Indian depredations and atrocities during the early days, there has not been recorded another such case as that of the "Lost Sister of Wyoming," "The White Rose of the Miami."
CHAPTER V
THE PERIOD OF PREPARATION
EARLY EXPLORATIONS IN THE NEW WORLD-FRENCH POSTS IN THE INTERIOR-SPANISH CLAIMS-CONFLICTING INTERESTS OF FRANCE AND ENGLAND-FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR-INDIANA PART OF THE BRITISH POSSESSIONS-PONTIAC-GEORGE ROGERS CLARK'S CONQUEST OF THE NORTHWEST-INDIANA A PART OF VIRGINIA-THE NORTHWEST TERRI- TORY-CAMPAIGNS OF HARMAR, ST. CLAIR AND WAYNE-TREATY OF GREENVILLE-INDIANA TERRITORY ORGANIZED-TREATIES OF CESSION- TECUMSEH AND THE PROPHET-BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE-WAR OF 1812 -BATTLE OF THE MISSISSINEWA-BATTLE GROUND ASSOCIATION- INDIANA ADMITTED AS A STATE-LOCATION OF THE SEAT OF GOVERN- MENT.
Miami county was not called into existence as a separate political division until 1834, but the events leading up to its settlement and organization had their beginning more than a century and a half prior to that date. It is therefore deemed proper to notice the work of the early explorers, particularly those who visited Indiana. Not long after the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus, in 1492, three European nations were busy in their attempts to establish claims to territory in America. Spain first laid claim to the peninsula of Florida, whence expeditions were sent into the interior; the English based their claims upon the discoveries made by the Cabots, farther northward along the Atlantic coast; and the French claimed Canada by reason of the expeditions of Jacques Cartier in 1534-35.
Spain planted a colony in Florida in 1565; the French settled Port Royal, Nova Scotia, in 1605; the English colony at Jamestown, Virginia, was established in 1607, and Quebec was founded by the French in 1608. The French then extended their settlements up the St. Lawrence river and along the shores of Lakes Ontario and Erie. Before the middle of the seventeenth century Jesuit missionaries and fur traders had pushed their way westward into the heart of the Indian country. In 1660 a mission was established by Father Mesnard at or near Green Bay, Wisconsin, and the same year Father Claude Allouez made his first pilgrimage into the
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interior. Upon his return to Quebec, two years later, he urged the authorities there to encourage the establishment of permanent missions among the Indians, each mission to be accompanied by a colony of French immigrants, but it does not appear that his recommendations were accepted, or that any well defined effort was made to colonize the country he had visited. After a short stay in Quebec, Father Allouez made a second journey into the western wilds and this time he was accompanied by Claude Dablon and James Marquette.
In 1671 Father Marquette founded the Huron mission at Point St. Ignace and the next year the region south of the mission was visited by Allouez and Dablon. In their explorations they met the chiefs and head men of the Indian tribes dwelling near the head of Lake Michigan and are supposed to have traversed that portion of Indiana lying north of the Kankakee river. These Jesuit missionaries were probably the first white men to set foot upon Indiana soil, though some writers state that Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, crossed the northern part of the state on the occasion of his first expedition to the Mississippi river in 1669. This is doubtless an error, as in the Jesuit Relations there is an apparently well authenticated account of La Salle's having descended the Ohio river in 1669-70, and in the report of his voyage down that stream mention is made of "a very large river (the Wabash) coming into it from the north."
La Salle did cross the northwest corner of the state, however, in 1671 or 1672, and in 1673 Marquette and Joliet crossed over from Mackinaw to the Mississippi river, which they descended as far as the Indian village called Akamsea, near the mouth of the Arkansas river, when they returned to Canada. In 1679 La Salle established Fort Miami, "at the mouth of the St. Joseph river of Lake Michigan, then called the River Miamis." This fort was destroyed by deserters in the spring of 1680, but the following January it was rebuilt "on the right bank of the river at its mouth." A year later La Salle succeeded in descending the Mississippi river to its mouth, where on April 9, 1682, he laid claim to all the territory drained by the great river and its tributaries in the name of France, giving to this vast domain the name of Louisiana, in honor of the French king. This claim included the present state of Indiana.
Spain claimed the interior of the continent on account of the dis- coveries and explorations of Ponce de Leon and Hernando de Soto, and the English laid claim to the same region because of the royal grants of land "extending westward to the South Sea." The claims of both these nations were ignored by the French, who began the work of building a line of posts through the Mississippi valley to connect their Canadian settlements with those near the mouth of the great river. In July, 1701, Cadillac founded the post of Detroit. The next year Sieur Juchereau and
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Father Mermet were commissioned to establish a post at or near the mouth of the Ohio river. Some writers have attempted to show that this post was located upon the site now occupied by the city of Vincennes, Indiana, but the known facts do not bear out such a statement.
Historians seem to be somewhat in the dark as to when the first post was established within the present state of Indiana. There is a vague account of a post having been founded as early as 1672, where the city of Fort Wayne is now situated, but this is probably an error, as old maps of the Wabash valley bearing date of 1684 show no posts within the present limits of the state. Goodrich & Tuttle's History of Indiana says: "It is certain that Post Miami (Fort Wayne) was established in 1705," but the authors give no corroborative evidence that such was the case.
Ouiatenon was situated on the Wabash river, eighteen miles below the mouth of the Tippecanoe river and not far from the present city of Lafayette. Says Smith : "The best record is that this was the first post established in what is now Indiana by the French. No effort was ever made to plant à colony there, but it became in time quite a prominent trading point. There are reasons why this point should have been selected as the best possible place for the establishment of a post. It was the largest village of the Ouiatenon Indians, was in the center of the beaver country, and was easily accessible. , It was, also, the head of navigation, so to speak, on the Wabash. That is, it was where the cargoes had to be transferred, owing to the rapids in the river, from the large canoes which were used on the lower Wabash, to the smaller ones that were used between Ouiatenon and the portage to the Maumee. For trading purposes no better place on the Wabash could have been selected." (History of Indiana, p. 17.)
Vincennes is the oldest permanent settlement in the state, but the date when it was founded is veiled in the same uncertainty as that which attaches to other early posts. There is a tradition that some French traders located there about 1690, married Indian wives and in time induced other Frenchmen to locate there, but La Harpe's journal, which gives a rather detailed account of the events that occurred in the Missis- sippi and lower Ohio valleys from 1698 to 1722, makes no mention of such a settlement. David Thomas, of New York, visited Vincennes about the time that Indiana was admitted into the Union as a state, and after making investigations wrote: "About the year 1690 the French traders first visited Vincennes, at that time a town of the Piankeshaw Indians, called Cip-pe-kaugh-ke. Of these the former obtained wives and raised families. In the year 1734 several French families emigrated from Canada and
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settled at this place. The first governor, or commandant, was M. St. Vincent, after whom the town was named."
In another place in his manuscript Thomas says that, "About the year 1702, a party of French from Canada descended the Wabash river and established posts in several places on its banks. The party was com- manded by Captain St. Vincennes, who made this his principal place of deposit, which went for a long time by no other name than the Post."
The reader will notice the difference in the name of the founder as given by Thomas. In one place he says it was M. St. Vincent, and in another it is given as Captain St. Vincennes. His real name was François Margane (or Morgan) de Vincennes, but the exact date when he first visited the Wabash valley is not definitely settled. Dillon, in his History of Indiana, says: "It is probable that before the year 1719, temporary trading posts were erected at the sites of Fort Wayne, Ouiatenon and Vincennes. These posts had, it is believed, been often visited by traders before the year 1700."
General Harmar, who visited Vincennes in 1787, wrote at that time to the secretary of war that the inhabitants informed him the post was established sixty years before. This would indicate that the town was founded about 1727, which is probably not far from the correct date. Monette says Vincennes was settled in 1735, and Bancroft agrees that date is "not too early."
The conflicting claims of the English and French culminated in what is known in history as the French and Indian war. In 1759 Quebec was captured by the British and the following year the French government surrendered all the posts in the interior. Soon after the surrender Major Rogers, an English officer, took possession of the post at Detroit and sent detachments to the posts at the confluence of the St. Joseph and St. Mary's rivers (Fort Wayne) and Ouiatenon. By the treaty of Paris, February 10, 1763, all that part of Louisiana lying east of the Mississippi river was ceded to Great Britain and what is now the State of Indiana became thereby subject to British domination.
In April, 1763, a great council of Indians was held near Detroit, at which the wily Ottawa chief, Pontiac, known as "high priest and keeper of the faith," revealed to his fellow chiefs the will of the Great Master of Life, as expounded by the Delaware prophet, and called upon them to join him in a grand uprising for the recovery of their hunting grounds and the preservation of their national life. Along the Atlantic coast the white man held, undisputed control, but the broad Ohio valley and the region about the Great Lakes were still in the hands of the Indians. Between these two sections the Allegheny mountains formed a natural boundary, behind which Pontiac determined to assert the red man's
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supremacy. Taught by the recent defeat of the French that he could expect nothing from them in the way of assistance, he depended entirely upon the loyalty of his own race to carry out his plan. Encouraged by other chiefs, when informed that the British were coming to take posses- sion of the posts surrendered by the French, he sent back the defiant message : "I stand in the way."
Pontiac's war ended as all contests end in which an inferior race attempts to impede the onward march of a superior one, and the subjec- tion of the Indians was made more complete by Colonel Bouquet's march into the interior of the Indian country, forcing the natives to enter into treaties to keep the peace. Pontiac's warriors captured the posts at Fort Wayne and Ouiatenon, but the post at Vincennes was not molested, as it had not yet been turned over to the British, but was still occupied by a French garrison under command of St. Ange. On October 10, 1765, St. Ange and his garrison was succeeded by a British detachment under Captain Sterling, who immediately issued a proclamation prepared by General Gage, formally taking possession of the territory ceded to Great Britain by the Paris treaty.
From that time until the beginning of the Revolution, the English established but few posts in their new possessions, but those at Fort Miami (Wayne), Ouiatenon and Vincennes were strengthened, and at the com- mencement of the Revolutionary war they were occupied by small garri- sons, the British depending largely upon the strength and loyalty of their Indian allies to prevent the colonists from encroaching upon their lands in the Ohio valley.
In December, 1777, General George Rogers Clark appeared before the legislature of Virginia with a plan to capture the English posts in the Northwest-especially those at Detroit, Vincennes and Kaskaskia. Gov- ernor Patrick Henry approved Clark's plan and the legislature appropri- ated £1,200 to defray the expenses of the campaign. Early in the spring of 1778, four companies of infantry, commanded by Captains Joseph Bowman, John Montgomery, Leonard Helm and William Harrod, rendezvoused at Corn island, in the Ohio river opposite the present city of Louisville, Kentucky. On June 24, 1778, the forward movement was begun, the little army drifting down the river to Fort Massac, where the boats were concealed and the march overland toward Kaskaskia was commenced. Kaskaskia was captured without a struggle on the 4th of July and Clark sent Captain Bowman to reduce the post at Cahokia, near the present city of East St. Louis. This post was also surrendered without resistance.
While at Kaskaskia, Clark learned that Father Gibault, a French priest, was favorable to the American cause and determined to enlist his
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assistance in the capture of the post at Vincennes. A conference was arranged with the priest, who admitted his loyalty to the American side, but on account of his calling declined to become an active participant in a movement that might subject him to criticism and destroy his usefulness in the church. However, he recommended a Doctor Lafonte, whom he knew to be both capable and reliable, to conduct the negotiations for the surrender of the post, and even promised to direct the affair, provided it could be done without exposure. Accordingly, Doctor Lafonte explained to the inhabitants of Vincennes that they could break the yoke of British domination by taking the oath of allegiance to the American colonies, which they cheerfully did, and Captain Helm was sent to take command of the post. This proved to be a barren victory, as subsequent events will show.
In October, 1778, the Virginia assembly passed an act providing that all citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia "who are already settled, or shall hereafter settle, on the northwestern side of the River Ohio, shall be included in a distinct county, which shall be called Illinois county," etc. Before the provisions of this act could be applied to the newly con- quered territory, Henry Hamilton, the British lieutenant-governor of Detroit, with thirty regulars, fifty volunteers and four hundred Indians, started down the Wabash to reinforce the posts. On December 15, 1778, he took possession of the fort at Vincennes, the American garrison at that time consisting of Captain Helm and one man. This little garrison of two refused to surrender until promised the honors of war. Imme- diately after the capture of the fort the French citizens were disarmed and before many days had passed a large force of hostile Indians began to gather near the post.
Clark was now in a perilous position. His force was weaker than when he set out on his expedition and it was absolutely necessary that part of his men should be detailed to guard the posts already captured. It was in the dead of winter, he was far removed from his base of supplies, pro- visions were scarce, and there were no roads open through the country over which his army must march on foot against Vincennes. Notwith- standing all these difficulties, Clark was not dismayed. When he learned, late in January, 1779, that Hamilton had weakened his garrison by send- ing his Indian allies against the frontier settlements, he resolved to attack the post. Hamilton's purpose was to collect a large body of Indians and as soon as spring opened drive out the Americans, hence prompt action on Clark's part was imperative. He therefore built a large galley, or bateau, called the "Willing," which left Kaskaskia on February 1, 1779, with a supply of ammunition and provisions, two four-pounder cannon, four swivel guns and forty-six men, with instructions to drop down the Mis-
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sissippi, ascend the Ohio and Wabash to Vincennes as quickly as possible. Clark, with the remaining 170 men, then began the march of 160 miles across the country, overcame all obstacles, his men frequently wading through creeks and marshes where the water came up to their waists, and on the morning of February 18, 1779, was near enough to Vincennes to hear the report of the sunrise gun at the fort, Three days more were passed in the swamps near the point where it was expected to meet the Willing, but at daybreak on the morning of the 21st the little army was ferried across the Wabash in two canoes, with the intention of attacking the fort before reinforcements could arrive. A hunter from the fort was captured and from him Clark learned that Hamilton had but about eighty men in the fort. He then prepared the following proclamation, which he sent by the hunter to the people of the village:
"To the inhabitants of Post Vincennes :-
"Gentlemen : Being now within two miles of your village with my army, determined to take your fort this night, and not being willing to surprise you, I take this method to request such of you as are true citi- zens, and willing to enjoy the liberty I bring you, to remain still in your houses :- and those, if any there be, that are friends to the. king, will instantly repair to the fort and join the hair-buyer general and fight like men. And if any such as do not go to the fort shall be discovered after- ward, they may depend on severe punishment. On the contrary, those who are true friends to liberty may depend on being well treated; and I once more request them to keep out of the streets. For every one I find in arms on my arrival, I shall treat him as an enemy."
The allusion to Hamilton as the "hair-buyer general" has reference to that officer's attempt to incite the Indians to greater cruelty by placing a price upon the scalps of the settlers and colonial troops.
Clark says in his report of the expedition that he had various ideas on the supposed results of his proclamation. He watched the messenger enter the village and saw that his arrival there created some stir, but was unable to learn the effects of his communication. A short time before sunset he marched his men out into view. In his report of his movements on this occasion, he says: "In leaving the covert that we were in, we marched and countermarched in such a manner that we appeared numer- ous." The ruse was further strengthened by the fact that Clark had about a dozen stands of colors, which were now fastened to long poles and carried in such a way that they could be seen above the ridge, behind which his "handful of men" were performing their maneuvers, thus cre- ating the impression that he had several regiments of troops. To add to this impression, several horses that had been captured from duck-hunters
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near the village, were ridden by the officers in all directions, apparently carrying orders from the commanding general to his subordinates.
These evolutions were kept up until dark, when Clark moved out and took a position in the rear of the village. Lieutenant Bayley, with four- teen men, was ordered to open the attack on the fort. One man in the garrison was killed in the first volley. Some of the citizens came out and joined the besiegers and the fort was surrounded. About nine o'clock on the morning of the 24th, after a siege of two days and three nights, Clark demanded a surrender, with all the stores and munitions of war, and sent the following message to Hamilton : "If I am obliged to storm, you may depend on such treatment as is justly due a murderer. Beware of destroying stores of any kind, or any papers or letters that are in your possession-for, by heavens! if you do, there shall be no mercy shown you."
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