History of Steuben County, Indiana, together withbiographies of representative citizens, Part 4

Author: Inter-state publishing co., Chicago, pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Chicago, Inter-state publishing co.
Number of Pages: 894

USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Steuben County, Indiana, together withbiographies of representative citizens > Part 4

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The result of convincing these heathen by logic, as is generally the case the world over, was only a temporary logical victory, and no change whatever was produced in the professions and practices of the Indians.

But the first Christian (Catholic) missionary at this place whose name we find recorded in the Church annals, was Meurin, in 1849.

The church building used by these early missionaries at Vin- cennes is thus described by the "oldest inhabitants:" Fronting on Water street and running back on Church street, it was a plain

HISTORY OF INDIANA.

building with a rough exterior, of upright posts, chinked and daubed, with a rough coat of cement on the outside; about 20 feet wide and 60 long; one story high, with a small belfry and an equally small bell. It was dedicated to St. Francis Xavier. This spot is now occupied by a splendid cathedral.

Vincennes has ever been a stronghold of Catholicism. The Church there has educated and sent out many clergymen of her faith, some of whom have become bishops, or attained other high positions in ecclesiastical authority.

Almost contemporaneous with the progress of the Church at Vincennes was a missionary work near the mouth of the Wea river, among the Ouiatenons, but the settlement there was broken up in early day.

NATIONAL POLICIES.

THE GREAT FRENCH SCHEME.

Soon after the discovery of the mouth of the Mississippi by La- Salle in 1682, the government of France began to encourage the policy of establishing a line of trading posts and missionary stations extending through the West from Canada to Louisiana, and this policy was maintained, with partial success, for about 75 years. The traders persisted in importing whisky, which cancelled nearly every civilizing influence that could be brought to bear upon the Indian, and the vast distances between posts prevented that strength which can be enjoyed only by close and convenient inter- communication. Another characteristic of Indian nature was to listen attentively to all the missionary said, pretending to believe all he preached, and then offer in turn his theory of the world, of religion, etc., and because he was not listened to with the same degree of attention and pretense of belief, would go off disgusted. This was his idea of the golden rule.

The river St. Joseph of Lake Michigan was called "the river Miamis" in 1679, in which year LaSalle built a small fort on its bank, near the lake shore. The principal station of the mission for the instruction of the Miamis was established on the borders of this river. The first French post within the territory of the Miamis was at the mouth of the river Miamis, on an eminence naturally fortified on two sides by the river, and on one side by a

HISTORY OF INDIANA.

deep ditch made by a fall of water. It was of triangular form. The missionary Hennepin gives a good description of it, as he was one of the company who built it, in 1679. Says he: " We fell the trees that were on the top of the hill; and having cleared the same from bushes for about two musket shot, we began to build a redoubt of 80 feet long and 40 feet broad, with great square pieces of timber laid one upon another, and prepared a great number of stakes of about 25 feet long to drive into the ground, to make our fort more inaccessible on the river side. We employed the whole month of November about that work, which was very hard, though we had no other food but the bear's flesh our savage killed. These beasts are very common in that place because of the great quantity of grapes they find there; but their flesh being too fat and luscious, our men began to be weary of it and desired leave to go a hunting to kill some wild goats. M. LaSalle denied them that liberty, which caused some murmurs among them; and it was but unwill- ingly that they continued their work. This, together with the approach of winter and the apprehension that M. LaSalle had that his vessel (the Griffin) was lost, made him very melancholy, though he concealed it as much as he could. We made a cabin wherein we performed divine service every Sunday, and Father Gabriel and I, who preached alternately, took care to take such texts as were suitable to our present circumstances and fit to inspire us with courage, concord and brotherly love. * * ** The fort was at last perfected, and called Fort Miamis."

In the year 1711 the missionary Chardon, who was said to be very zealous and apt in the acquisition of languages, had a station on the St. Joseph about 60 miles above the mouth. Charlevoix, another distinguished missionary from France, visited a post on this river in 1721. In a letter dated at the place, Aug. 16, he says: " There is a commandant here, with a small garrison. His house, which is but a very sorry one, is called the fort, from its being sur- rounded with an indifferent palisado, which is pretty near the case in all the rest. We have here two villages of Indians, one of the Miamis and the other of the Pottawatomies, both of them mostly Christians; but as they have been for a long time without any pas- tors, the missionary who has been lately sent to them will have no small difficulty in bringing them back to the exercise of their re- ligion." He speaks also of the main commodity for which the In, dians would part with their goods, namely, spirituous liquors, which they drink and keep drunk upon as long as a supply lasted.

N. QBB:CO.N.Y

INDIANS ATTACKING FRONTIERSMEN.

HISTORY OF INDIANA.

More than a century and a half has now passed since Charlevoix penned the above, without any change whatever in this trait of In- dian character.

In 1765 the Miami nation, or confederacy, was composed of four tribes, whose total number of warriors was estimated at only 1,050 men. Of these about 250 were Twightwees, or Miamis proper, 300 Weas, or Ouiatenons, 300 Piankeshaws and 200 Shockeys; and at this time the principal villages of the Twightwees were situated about the head of the Maumee river at and near the place where Fort Wayne now is. The larger Wea villages were near the banks of the Wabash river, in the vicinity of the Post Ouiatenon; and the Shockeys and Piankeshaws dwelt on the banks of the Vermil- lion and on the borders of the Wabash between Vincennes and Ouiatenon. Branches of the Pottawatomie, Shawnee, Delaware and Kickapoo tribes were permitted at different times to enter within the boundaries of the Miamis and reside for a while.

The wars in which France and England were engaged, from 1688 to 1697, retarded the growth of the colonies of those nations in North America, and the efforts made by France to connect Canada and the Gulf of Mexico by a chain of trading posts and colonies naturally excited the jealousy of England and gradually laid the foundation for a struggle at arms. After several stations were estab- lished elsewhere in the West, trading posts were started at the Miami villages, which stood at the head of the Maumee, at the Wea villages about Ouiatenon on the Wabash, and at the Piankeshaw vil- lages about the present sight of Vincennes. It is probable that before the close of the year 1719, temporary trading posts were erected at the sites of Fort Wayne, Ouiatenon and Vincennes. These points were probably often visited by French fur traders prior to 1700. In the meanwhile the English people in this country commenced also to establish military posts west of the Alleghanies, and thus matters went on until they naturally culminated in a general war, which, being waged by the French and Indians combined on one side, was called " the French and Indian war." This war was terminated in 1763 by a treaty at Paris, by which France ceded to Great Britain all of North America east of the Mississippi except New Orleans and the island on which it is situated; and indeed, France had the preceding autumn, by a secret convention, ceded to Spain all the country west of that river.

HISTORY OF INDIANA.

PONTIAC'S WAR.

In 1762, after Canada and its dependencies had been surrendered to the English, Pontiac and his partisans secretly organized a pow- erful confederacy in order to crush at one blow all English power in the West. This great scheme was skillfully projected and cau- tiously matured.

The principal act in the programme was to gain admittance into the fort at Detroit, on pretense of a friendly visit, with short- ened muskets concealed under their blankets, and on a given signal suddenly break forth upon the garrison; but an inadvertent remark of an Indian woman led to a discovery of the plot, which was con- sequently averted. Pontiac and his warriors afterward made many attacks upon the English, some of which were successful, but the Indians were finally defeated in the general war.

BRITISH POLICY.

In 1765 the total number of French families within the limits of the Northwestern Territory did not probably exceed 600. These were in settlements about Detroit, along the river Wabash and the neighborhood of Fort Chartres on the Mississippi. Of these fami- lies, about 80 or 90 resided at Post Vincennes, 14 at Fort Ouiate- non, on the Wabash, and nine or ten at the confluence of the St. Mary and St. Joseph rivers.

The colonial policy of the British government opposed any meas- ures which might strengthen settlements in the interior of this country, lest they become self-supporting and independent of the mother country; hence the early and rapid settlement of the North- western territory was still further retarded by the short-sighted selfishness of England. That fatal policy consisted mainly in hold- ing the land in the hands of the government and not allowing it to be subdivided and sold to settlers. But in spite of all her efforts in this direction, she constantly made just such efforts as provoked the American people to rebel, and to rebel successfully, which was within 15 years after the perfect close of the French and Indian war.

AMERICAN POLICY.

Thomas Jefferson, the shrewd statesman and wise Governor of Virginia, saw from the first that actual occupation of Western lands was the only way to keep them out of the hands of foreigners and

HISTORY OF INDIANA.

Indians. Therefore, directly after the conquest of Vincennes by Clark, he engaged a scientific corps to proceed under an escort to the Mississippi, and ascertain by celestial observations the point on that river intersected by latitude 36° 30', the southern limit of the State, and to measure its distance to the Ohio. To Gen. Clark was entrusted the conduct of the military operations in that quar- ter. He was instructed to select a strong position near that point and establish there a fort and garrison; thence to extend his conquests northward to the lakes, erecting forts at different points, which might serve as monuments of actual possession, besides affording protection to that portion of the country. Fort "Jefferson " was erected and garrisoned on the Mississippi a few miles above the southern limit.

The result of these operations was the addition, to the chartered limits of Virginia, of that immense region known as the " North- western Territory." The simple fact that such and such forts were established by the Americans in this vast region convinced the Brit- ish Commissioners that we had entitled ourselves to the land. But where are those " monuments " of our power now?

INDIAN SAVAGERY.

As a striking example of the inhuman treatment which the early Indians were capable of giving white people, we quote the follow ing blood-curdling story from Mr. Cox' " Recollections of the Wabash Valley":

On the 11th of February, 1781, a wagoner named Irvin Hinton was sent from the block-house at Louisville, Ky., to Harrodsburg for a load of provisions for the fort. Two young men, Richard Rue and George Holman, aged respectively 19 and 16 years, were sent as guards to protect the wagon from the depredations of any hostile Indians who might be lurking in the cane-brakes or ravines through which they must pass. Soon after their start a severe snow-storm set in which lasted until afternoon. Lest the melting snow might dampen the powder in their rifles, the guards fired them off, intending to reload them as soon as the storm ceased. Hinton drove the horses while Rue walked a few rods ahead and Holman about the same distance behind. As they ascended a hill about eight miles from Louisville Hinton heard some one say Whoa to the horses. Supposing that something was wrong about the wagon, he stopped and asked Holman why he had called him to halt. Holman said that he had not spoken; Rue also denied it,

HISTORY OF INDIANA.

but said that he had heard the voice distinctly. At this time a voice cried out, " I will solve the mystery for you; it was Simon Girty that cried Whoa, and he meant what he said,"-at the same time emerg- ing from a sink-hole a few rods from the roadside, followed by 13 Indians, who immediately surrounded the three Kentuckians and demanded them to surrender or die instantly. The little party, making a virtue of necessity, surrendered to this renegade white man and his Indian allies.

Being so near two forts, Girty made all possible speed in making fast his prisoners, selecting the lines and other parts of the harness, he prepared for an immediate flight across the Ohio. The panta- loons of the prisoners were cut off about four inches above the knees, and thus they started through the deep snow as fast as the horses could trot, leaving the wagon, containing a few empty bar- rels, standing in the road. They continued their march for sev- cral cold days, without fire at night, until they reached Wa-puc-ca- nat-ta, where they compelled their prisoners to run the gauntlet as they entered the village. Hinton first ran the gauntlet and reached the council-house after receiving several severe blows upon the head and shoulders. Rue next ran between the lines, pursued by an Indian with an uplifted tomahawk. He far outstripped his pursuer and dodged most of the blows aimed at him. Holman complaining that it was too severe a test for a worn-out stripling like himself, was allowed to run between two lines of squaws and boys, and was followed by an Indian with a long switch.

The first council of the Indians did not dispose of these young men; they were waiting for the presence of other chiefs and war- riors. Hinton escaped, but on the afternoon of the second day he was re-captured. Now the Indians were glad that they had an occasion to indulge in the infernal joy of burning him at once. Soon after their supper, which they shared with their victim, they drove the stake into the ground, piled np the fagots in a circle around it, stripped and blackened the prisoner, tied him to the stake, and applied the torch. It was a slow fire. The war-whoop then thrilled through the dark surrounding forest like the chorus of a band of infernal spirits escaped from pandemonium, and the scalp dance was struck up by those demons in human shape, who for hours encircled their victim, brandishing their tomahawks and war clubs, and venting their execrations upon the helpless sufferer, who died about midnight from the effects of the slow heat. As soon as he fell upon the ground, the Indian who first discovered

HISTORY OF INDIANA.

him in the woods that evening sprang in, sunk his tomahawk into his skull above the ear, and with his knife stripped off the scalp,. which he bore back with him to the town as a trophy, and which was tauntingly thrust into the faces of Rue and Holman, with the question, " Can you smell the fire on the scalp of your red-headed friend? We cooked him and left him for the wolves to make a breakfast upon; that is the way we serve runaway prisoners."

After a march of three days more, the prisoners, Rue and Hol- man, had to run the gauntlets again, and barely got through with their lives. It was decided that they should both be burned at the stake that night, though this decision was far from being unani- mous. The necessary preparations were made, dry sticks and brush were gathered and piled around two stakes, the faces and hands of the doomed men were blackened in the customary manner, and as the evening approached the poor wretches sat look- ing upon the setting sun for the last time. An unusual excitement was manifest in a number of chiefs who still lingered about the council-house. At a pause in the contention, a noble-looking In- dian approached the prisoners, and after speaking a few words to the guards, took Holman by the hand, lifted him to his feet, cut the cords that bound him to his fellow prisoners, removed the black from his face and hands, put his hand kindly upon his head and said: " I adopt you as my son, to fill the place of the one I have lately buried; you are now a kinsman of Logan, the white man's friend, as he has been called, but who has lately proven himself to be a terrible avenger of the wrongs inflicted upon him by the bloody Cresap and his men." With evident reluctance, Girty interpreted this to Hol- inan, who was thus unexpectedly freed.

But the preparations for the burning of Rue went on. Holman and Rue embraced each other most affectionately, with a sorrow too deep for description. Rue was then tied to one of the stakes; but the general contention among the Indians had not ceased. Just as the lighted fagots were about to be applied to the dry brush piled around the devoted youth, a tall, active young Shawnee, a son of the victim's captor, sprang into the ring, and cutting the cords which bound him to the stake, led him out amidst the deafening plaudits of a part of the crowd and the execrations of the rest. Re- gardless of threats, he caused water to be brought and the black to be washed from the face and hands of the prisoner, whose clothes were then returned to him, when the young brave said: "I take this young man to be my brother, in the place of one I lately lost;

HISTORY OF INDIANA.

I loved that brother well; I will love this one, too; my old mother will be glad when I tell her that I have brought her a son, in place of the dear departed one. We want no more victims. The burning of Red-head [Hinton] ought to satisfy us. These innocent young men do not merit such cruel fate; I would rather die myself than see this adopted brother burned at the stake."

A loud shout of approbation showed that the young Shawnee had triumphed, though dissension was manifest among the various tribes afterward. Some of them abandoned their trip to Detroit, others returded to Wa-puc-ca-nat-ta, a few turned toward the Mis- sissinewa and the Wabash towns, while a portion continued to De- troit. Holman was taken back to Wa-puc-ca-nat ta, where he re- mained most of the time of his captivity. Rue was taken first to the Mississinewa, then to the Wabash towns. Two years of his eventful captivity were spent in the region of the Wabash and Illi- nois rivers, but the last few months at Detroit; was in captivity altogether about three years and a half.

Rue effected his escape in the following manner: During one of the drunken revels of the Indians near Detroit one of them lost a purse of $90; various tribes were suspected of feloniously keeping the treasure, and much ugly speculation was indulged in as to who was the thief. At length a prophet of a tribe that was not suspected was called to divine the mystery. He spread sand over a green deer-skin, watched it awhile and performed various manipulations, and professed to see that the money had been stolen and carried away by a tribe entirely different from any that had been suspicioned; but he was shrewd enough not to announce who the thief was or the tribe he belonged to, lest a war might arise. His decision quieted the belligerent uprisings threatened by the excited Indians.

Rue and two other prisoners saw this display of the prophet's skill and concluded to interrogate him soon concerning their fami- lies at home. The opportunity occurred in a few days, and the In- dian seer actually astonished Rue with the accuracy with which he described his family, and added, "You all intend to make your escape, and you will effect it soon. You will meet with many trials and hardships in passing over so wild a district of country, inhabited by so many hostile nations of Indians. You will almost starve to death; but about the time you have given up all hope of finding game to sustain you in your famished condition, succor will come when you least expect it. The first game you will succeed in taking

HISTORY OF INDIANA.

will be a male of some kind; after that you will have plenty of game and return home in safety."

The prophet kept this matter a secret for the prisoners, and the latter in a few days set off upon their terrible journey, and had just such experience as the Indian prophet had foretold; they arrived home with their lives, but were pretty well worn out with the exposures and privations of a three weeks' journey.

On the return of Holman's party of Indians to Wa-puc-ca-nat-ta, much dissatisfaction existed in regard to the manner of his release from the sentence of condemnation pronounced against him by the council. Many were in favor of recalling the council and trying him again, and this was finally agreed to. The young man was again put upon trial for his life, with a strong probability of his being condemned to the stake. Both parties worked hard for vic- tory in the final vote, which eventually proved to give a majority of one for the prisoner's acquittal.

While with the Indians, Holman saw them burn at the stake a Kentuckian named Richard Hogeland, who had been taken prisoner at the defeat of Col. Crawford. They commenced burning him at nine o'clock at night, and continued roasting him until ten o'clock the next day, before he expired. During his excruciating tortures he begged for some of them to end his life and sufferings with a gun or tomahawk. Finally his cruel tormentors promised they would, and cut several deep gashes in his flesh with their tomahawks, and shoveled up hot ashes and embers and threw them into the gaping wounds. When he was dead they stripped off his scalp, cut him to pieces and burnt him to ashes, which they scattered through the town to expel the evil spirits from it.

After a captivity of about three years and a half, Holman saw an opportunity of going on a mission for the destitute Indians, namely, of going to Harrodsburg, Ky., where he had a rich uncle, from whom they could get what supplies they wanted. They let him go with a guard, but on arriving at Louisville, where Gen. Clark was in command, he was ransomed, and he reached home only three days after the arrival of Rue. Both these men lived to a good old age, terminating their lives at their home about two miles south of Richmond, Ind.

EXPEDITIONS OF COL. GEORGE ROGERS CLARK.

In the summer of 1778, Col. George Rogers Clark, a native of Albemarle county, Va., led a memorable expedition against the ancient French settlements about Kaskaskia and Post Vincennes. With respect to the magnitude of its design, the valor and perse- verance with which it was carried on, and the memorable results which were produced by it, this expedition stands without a parallel in the early annals of the valley of the Mississippi. That portion of the West called Kentucky was occupied by Henderson & Co., who pretended to own the land and who held it at a high price. Col. Clark wished to test the validity of their claim and adjust the government of the country so as to encourage immigration. He accordingly called a meeting of the citizens at Harrodstown, to assemble June 6, 1776, and consider the claims of the company and consult with reference to the interest of the country. He did not at first publish the exact aim of this movement, lest parties would be formed in advance and block the enterprise; also, if the object of the meeting were not announced beforehand, the curiosity of the people to know what was to be proposed would bring out a much greater attendance.

The meeting was held on the day appointed, and delegates were elected to treat with the government of Virginia, to see whether it would be best to become a county in that State and be protected by it, etc. Various delays on account of the remoteness of the white settlers from the older communities of Virginia and the hos- tility of Indians in every direction, prevented a consummation of this object until some time in 1778. The government of Virginia was friendly to Clark's enterprise to a certain extent, but claimed that they had not authority to do much more than to lend a little assistance for which payment should be made at some future time, as it was not certain whether Kentucky would become a part of Vir- ginía or not. Gov. Henry and a few gentlemen were individually so hearty in favor of Clark's benevolent undertaking that they assisted him all they could. Accordingly Mr. Clark organized his expedition, keeping every particular secret lest powerful parties would form in the West against him. He took in stores at Pitts-

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GEN. GEORGE ROGERS CLARK

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History of Steuben County, Indiana, together withbiographies of representative citizens, Part 4

Author: Inter-state publishing co., Chicago, pub. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Chicago, Inter-state publishing co. Number of Pages: 894

Author: Inter-state publishing co., Chicago, pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Chicago, Inter-state publishing co.
Number of Pages: 894