USA > Indiana > Tippecanoe County > Past and present of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, Volume I > Part 4
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In the course of time, nineteen other treaties were made with the Pottawatomies, by which certain reservations withheld by other treaties were effected. The final treaty was made February II. 1837, between John T. Douglass, for the United States, and this tribe, and it included all the inter- ests held in Indiana by these Indians, and they then accepted a tract of country appropriated to their use beyond the Missouri river, and agreed to remove
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thither. They moved in the autumn of 1838. and some lingered another year. Several bands stopped on Iowa soil and were finally, in the forties, sent on West.
THE WEAS, OR OUIATENONS.
This tribe, around which clusters so much of tradition, romance and true history, as connected with Tippecanoe county, were a branch of the Miamis. The first account we have of them was in 1702, when M. de Jurchereau, a French officer from Montreal, attempted a white settlement on the Ouabache ( Wabash ) and he makes mention of the Wea villages. Much of the history of this tribe appears elsewhere in this chapter and will not be repeated under this caption. For a description of the villages made by them, the reader is referred to the first section of this article.
THIE KICKAPOOS.
This tribe, also of the Algonquin family, during the war of the Revolti- tion, says General Harrison, "the Miamis had invited the Kickapoos into their country to assist them against the whites. A considerable village was formed by that tribe on the Vermillion river, near its junction with the Wabash." At a still later date, by virtue of the same permission, villages were established farther up the Wabash, opposite the Wea villages. Though not very numerous, they maintained their position among other tribes, yet were not especially warlike. Generally they were friendly with the white race.
In the spring of 1791, an expedition was fitted out against the Wabash Indians, under direction of Gen. Charles Scott. On June Ist he attacked and destroyed the villages of the Weas. After the destruction of these the Kick- apoo town, on the opposite side of the Wabash river, was also destroyed. After the destruction of these towns, and remaining two or three days to dis- pose of prisoners, and to obtain as much reliable information as was possible concerning other bands of Indians, June 4th he addressed a written speech to "The various tribes of the Piankeshaws, and all other nations of red people lying on the waters of the Wabash river," dated at Ouiatenon, giving them some wholesome advice touching their conduct concerning the whites. The same day he resumed his march toward Fort Washington.
By the provisions of the treaty of Greenville, Ohio, August 3. 1795. the Kickapoos ceded their interest in certain lands disposed of by that treaty to the United States in consideration of five hundred dollars. By the provision
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named in article 7 of such treaty, they were allowed the "liberty to hunt within the territory and lands which they have ceded to the United States, without hindrance or molestation, so long as they demean themselves peace- ably and offer no injury to the people of the United States."
Again, by the Fort Wayne treaty of 1803, their tribe, with others, nride further cession rights "as a mark of their regards for and attachment to the United States, whom they acknowledge for their friends and protectors."
Again, June 4, 1816, at the Fort Harrison treaty, they, with the Weas, acknowledged the cession of certain lands on the northwest side of the Wabash river, on the Wabash and Vermillion rivers, and again entered into a league of friendship with the people of this government.
By final treaty with the United States. July 30. 1819. at Edwardsville, Illinois, they ceded to the United States. "All their land on the southwest side of the Wabash river, including their principal village, in which their ancestors formerly resided, consisting of a large tract to which they had had from time immemorial, and now have, a just right : that they have never here- tofore ceded or otherwise disposed of, in any manner whatsoever." also all other lands in Indiana, not before ceded by them, thereby confirming all other treaties before made by them. promising to continue under the protection of the United States and no other nation. In consideration of this last treaty, they were to receive two thousand dollars in silver, as an annuity: also three thousand dollars' worth of merchandise, as consideration for cessions mide, together with certain lands in Missouri territory, provided they never sell said lands without the consent of this government.
Aside from the alliance of some of their tribe with Tecumseh and his brother, in their proposed scheme for forming an Indian confederacy. they have generally maintained integrity of their treaty stipulations at Greenville in 1795. by remaining at peace with the whites. The result of that alliance was an unprovoked attack on the camp of General Harrison, at Tippecanoe. on the 7th of November, 1811, in which they lost eleven brave warriors killed and many more wounded.
About the middle of May, 1812, a great council was held at an Indian village on the Mississinewa river, in which nearly all the Wabash tribes took part, Tecumseh being the leading spirit. During the progress of that council. their pacific disposition was well manifested. In reply to an harangue by Tecumseh on his favorite theme, they declared that. having made peace with Governor Harrison. "We have not two faces and we despise those who have. The peace we have made with Governor Harrison we will strictly adhere to. and trouble no person, and hope none will trouble us." With this the council ended.
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OLD QUIATENON.
( By Hon. B. Wilson Smith. )
To Tippecanoe county belongs the honor of the first civilized military fort in Indiana Territory. This fort was a stockade, one used both as an army post and a trading place, with soldiers' quarters, warehouses and a church chapel. It was established by the French in the year 1720, at least seven, and probably fifteen, years before the establishment of a French military post at Vincennes.
This fort was located at the mouth of the "Riviere de Boisrouge (Little Wea) at the foot of the rapids. eighteen miles below the mouth of the Tippe- canoe, nine miles above Old Chippoy, on the north or northwest side of the Wabash, and seventy yards from the river." Its location is not a matter of modern conjecture, but is clearly set forth by at least five reputable authors of the eighteenth century. Its location was also known by the early settlers of the county, for as late as 1818 some remains of the fort and houses were still visible. (See statement of Mother Sunderland. ) During the great flood of 1875 the channel of the Little Wea filled with driftwood and the flood of water cut a new channel, and since then this creek has flowed into the Wabash half a mile above its old debouchment.
But there were two Quiatenons located on opposite sides of the river; the one the French fort of 1720, and afterwards English, until captured dur- ing the Pontiac conspiracy June 1. 1763. But probably never afterward garrisoned.
The other was the Wea Village on the Wea Plains, about a mile below the old mouth of the Little Wea creek.
The description of this village, or of the five villages on the Wea Plains, has led to much confusion. The record of 1718. now in the archives of history at Paris, and published in the New York Historical Records, speaks of a fort in the village: hence the historically misinformed have conchided that this village with a fort, and the old French Fort Ouiatenon, were iden- tical. They forget that it was not uncommon for the Indians who had long heen in contact with the domiciled French traders, to take on French customs, build log houses instead of wigwams, and to fortify their chief towns. There is a strong probability that the Indians and French cultivated together the Wea Plains more than two hundred years ago. Reliable records cover a period of but nine years less than two hundred.
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The name Ouiatenon, and pronounced as if written We-au-te-non. prob- ably means "the place of the Weas." The Miamis were a great Indian tribe- confederacy-once occupying the whole of Indiana, and all of Ohio west of the Scioto river, and frequently confederated with the Iroquois against the French. In the latter part of the seventeenth century they numbered four thousand warriors. In Indiana there were three great families, or tribes. but all contederated-Twightwees, Weas and Piankeshaws.
The Twightwees dwelt on the headwaters of the Maumee ( Miami ) about old Kekionga ( Fort Wayne), the Weas on the central Wabash, about Ouiatenon, and the Piankeshaws about the Vermillions, and later at and above Vincennes. But these great families were all Miamis, speaking the same lan- guage and claiming a common kindred. In many respects a remarkable tribe. The later comers to Tippecanoe county, like the Kickapoos, Mascoutins and Pottawatomies, were uninvited, unwelcome guests-simply interlopers. The still later ones. the Shawanges, who came and built the Prophet's Town in 1808, were from the Auglaize and descendants from a wandering warlike race.
That light may be shed on the investigation, the nature and object of the French forts established in the Northwest should be understood. Their pur- pose was threefold : a military post, a trading station and a church sanctuary. The commandant was usually the trading post agent and sometimes the chaplain. The object of this triple establishment, though almost apparent, may be briefly stated. The French were determined to grasp as much as possible of North America: the Spaniards had seized and held the southern portion : the English, with the tenacity of the Anglo-Saxon grip, seized upon the central portion, and were pushing their claims northward and southward and especially westward. The French were hemmed in by the English on the south, and the rigors of an inclement climate on the north. They were confined to the lands lying on the St. Lawrence from the gulf to the lakes. Up to the opening of the eighteenth century the English had not crossed the Alleghanies. The Ohio and Mississippi valleys were to them a "terra incog- nita." But the French, guided by those restless, aggressive, wonderful mem- bers of the Society of Jesus-Jesuits-had explored the river courses of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and the Northwest, and erected forts along the chain of lakes to Green Bay and at the Kaskaskia, and had explored the Mississippi from its source to its mouth. Robert Chevalier de LaSalle, the greatest organizer and most dauntless spirit of this immortal band of explorers and adven- turers, had imparted his spirit to the French court and king, and they were fully awakened to the importance of both the conquest and the fur trade: at
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the same time the church was fired with zeal for conversion of the denizens of the forest, the hunters and trappers of the beaver and the otter. With these objects in view, and aided by the fortuitous law of Christian nations that discovery and constructive possession give title to territory, the French were alert in discovery and fort building, in order that they might have title to territory and secure the rich trade in furs and skins. Owing to the abundance of the furbearing animals, Indiana and Illinois were greatly coveted. But they found an almost insurmountable barrier in their way. The English had secured and held for almost a century the friendship of the "Five Na- tions." whose hatred of the French from the day Champlain aided the Hurons was like a festering poisoned arrow. The English had later gained the good will of the Tuscarawas, whom they induced to join the Five Nations, making the confederacy of the Six Nations, and this powerful confederation held west- ern New York, western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. They maintained this alliance unbroken with the English, and for many years the Five Na- tions and the Six Nations were confederated with the English. As the whites infringed on their eastern and southern territory, they pressed west- ward and southward, following the retreating buffalo, deer and elk into the homes of the tribes on the Seioto, the Wabash and the Ohio rivers. This brought them in contact with the Hurons, who, though formerly dwellers along the northern lakes, Ontario and Erie, had moved southward and eastward. They were allies of the French and consequently in frequent contests with the Iroquois. But the Iroquois were united and powerful, and after destroy- ing the Chats and Andastes-kinsmen of the Hurons-they drove the Hurons far to the northwest and seized the interlying territory, compelling the French to reach their western and northwestern posts, not by the way of the St. Lawrence and the Lakes, but via the Ottawa and French rivers and the Geor- gian bay. It was after the failure of LaSalle's confederation at Fort St. Louis on the Illinois, and the return of the Miamis to their old home in Indi- ana and Ohio, that they became the confederates of the Five Nations and the friends of the English. But the Latin nations were always more successful in their management of the Indians than the Anglo-Saxons, and in the lutt of war between the French and English. the French occupied this coveted land by a chain of forts from the lakes to the junction of the Ohio, and along the lakes to the far northwest. To hold this splendid territory, and to complete the connections and communication between Detroit and the Mississippi posts, this fort and the one at Vincennes, the others at Fort Wayne and Fort Miami were established.
LaSalle, it is true, had been assassinated before this or any other French fort had been built on the Wabash or the Ohio, unless he may have built one
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at the month of the Tennessee. But the spirit of LaSalle was still alive. The genius of Colbert, Premier of France, was still awake, and the greed of the Louises still insatiable. The English were now sending their daring adven- turers across the mountains from Virginia and Carolina, offering the most tempting trade to the Miamis who held this territory.
There is no page of our early history more interesting, or pregnant with facts that become causes of momentous events, than the French and English contest for Ohio, Indiana and southern Illinois. It was the contest of Anglo- Saxon civilization with Latin civilization, backed by the sympathy of Rome and all the Latin nations. But this contest was not confined to the Euro- pean races, but the great struggle involved the most daring, brave and power- ful Indian tribes on this continent. and before it finally closed with the fall of Quebec and the Treaty of Paris, February 10, 1760, which gave to Eng- land and Spain all the French possessions in North America, many erstwhile powerful Indian tribes were completely blotted out, many bloody battles fought, thousands of red and white warriors had been slain, thousands of homes burned. and their occupants slain by the cruel tomahawk, or subjected to the fiendish torture of fagot and stake, or carried into slavery worse than death : and three of the most distinguished of the heroes and warriors of the nations engaged had fallen a prey to the fury of war, Wolf and Montcalm on the Heights of Abraham, and Pontiac, the peerless chief of the Ottawas. was a homeless wanderer, and ended his life by the hand of an Indian as- sassin in the far west.
No more appropriate place for the location of a fort on the Wabash, when its purposes are considered, could have been selected. It was in the center of the region of the furbearing animals, and it was the centering place of the Indian races from the North and West. It was the central place of the most powerful branch of the Miamis ; it was the place of the Weas; it was on the most feasible water line from Quebec to the Louisiana possessions. And even after the founding of Detroit ( 1701) it was still in the direct line of water transit. Out of Lake Erie, up the Maumee (the Miami of the Lakes), to old Kekionga, up the St. Mary's to the portage of Little Wabash, deep river, down this stream to the Great Wabash, down this noble river past the Mississinewa, past the Eel, past the Tepicon ( Tippecanoe ), over the rapids to Oniatenon : thence down the river past Big Pine and the Big and Little Vermillion, on to Post Vincent; thence down the river five miles farther to the mouth of the Embarrass, up this river to the portage of the Kaskaskia; thence down this historical stream to old Kaskaskia ; thence up the Mississippi to Fort Chartres and Fort St. Louis and the mouth of the Missouri river.
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A wonderful voyage, dedicated to adventure, war and commerce, by that greatest of Jesuits, Chevalier Robert de LaSalle. His keen eye detected the important rivers of internal commerce, his military genius dictated the points of both offensive and defensive warfare; that the founders of this military post and trading station were wise, the history of its associations testify. Here at the foot of the "Rapids" the batteaux and pirogues were interchanged in both the ascent and descent of the river for the lighter canoes. It became the great change place of carrying the immense trade of furs up and down the river. It will be seen by the statement of Colonel Hutchison that this trade at this point reached forty thousand dollars in a single year. If we figure up the number of beaver skins at fifteen cents each-the usual price-it would be an annual trade covering two hundred and sixty-seven thousand skins. No wonder the early white settlers found beaver dams everywhere. This post was early designated as Great Oniatenon, and the one at Vincennes as Little Ouiatenon. The first commandant of this post was Sieur Dubuisson, who held this command a few years. The reason for designating this post as Greater Ouiatenon grew out of its greater importance, both because it was nearer to and tributary to Canada, and because it was nearer to the scene of the conflicting interest of the French and English, both geographically considered. and in the relation of the Indian tribes friendly to the one or the other, also neutral tribes which were sought to be controlled by the one or the other.
We must not forget the triple character of this fort -- military post, trad- ing post, and it was a church establishment also, where the gospel was preached and the sacraments of the Roman church were administered to both whites and Indians. We find in the archives of St. Francis Xavier's church at Vincennes the record of a baptism of a white male child at this fort in 1752, one hundred and fifty-seven years ago. The record is as follows :
"Today, 21st of the month of May-feast of Whitsunday, of the year 1752-I baptized solemnly Chas. Mary. the legitimate son of Charles Boneau, and of Genevieve Dudevoir, who have settled at this post : said child being born yesterday evening at ten o'clock. The godfather was M. Francois Mary Merchant, Esquire. Sieur de Lignaris, Captain of Infantry, commanding for the King at this Post. The godmother. Elizabeth Cardinal, wife of Claudevoir, and grandmother to the child. Done at Oniatenon the year and date above mentioned.
"P. DU JAUNAY, "Missionary of the Company of Jesus.
"CHARLES BONEAU MERCHANT DE LIGNARIS."
There is an older record found in a Paris record ( document ), written in 1,18, which being older than the fort founding may properly be quoted here :
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"This river Ouabache is the one on which the Oujatenons are settled. They consist of five villages, which are contiguous one to the other. One, the chief. is called Oujatenon, the other Peanguichias, and another, Pettite Scotias, and the fourth Lesgros. The name of the last I do not recollect. But they are all Oujatenons, having the same language as the Miamis, whose brothers they are, and properly all Miamis, all having the same customs and dress. The men are very numerous, fully a thousand or twelve hundred. They have a custom different from all other nations, which is to keep their fort extremely clean, not allowing a blade of grass to remain in it. The whole of the fort is sanded like the Tuilleries. Their village is situated on a high hill ( probably bluff ) and they have two leagues of improvements where they raise their Indian corn, pumpkins and melons. From the summit of this elevation noth- ing is visible to the eye but prairies full of buffaloes." You can easily con- ceive this to refer to the great Wea Plain, where there was little timber to interrupt the wide sweep of vision.
There are no records of great historical importance other than the two quoted till after the fall of Quebec and Montreal gave England possession of all the posts and forts dependent on Canada. On November 19. 1760, Major Robert Rogers received the surrender of Detroit, and immediately Forts Miami and Ouiatenon were turned over to the English military author- ities. The latter received for its commandant the young ensign, Edwin Jenkins. Under this change of masters, affairs with the Indians went badly. The English, now confident of ultimate rule, ceased the giving of costly presents to secure friendship and trade, and the courtly treatment which had always characterized the French dealings with the Indians. And soon Pontiac, the chief of the Ottawas, refusing to transfer his allegiance and friendship from the beaten French to the conquering English, organized his great conspiracy. seized all the forts from Green Bay to the Lakes, except Detroit, and in this tragedy was involved the fate of the two forts of northern Indiana.
"The soldiers at Ouiatenon were to have been surprised and killed on the night of the 13th of May, but Maisonville and Loraine, two of the French traders here, induced the Indians to proceed with more moderation. On the next morning, June Ist, Lieutenant Jenkins was requested to come to one of the Indian cabins, and on arriving there, was seized and bound. He found several of his soldiers in the same condition, and was induced to command the few remaining in the fort to surrender. The Ouiatenons told him they would not have molested him if they had not been compelled to de so by the other tribes. They treated the captive sokliers kindly, but held them as prisoners for some time."-Simms' Indiana Commonwealth.
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From Quiatenon, after about three months, Ensign Jenkins and his command were sent by the Indians, as prisoners, to Fort Chartres on the Mississippi, where, of course, they were freed by the French commandant, Neyon de Villiers. The following letter from Ensign Jenkins to Major Gladwyn, commandant at Detroit, will be full of interest to people in Tippe- canoe county, though written more than one hundred and forty-six years ago : "Ouiatenon, June Ist, 1763.
"Sir : I have heard of your situation, which gives me great pain ; indeed we are not in much better, for this morning the Indians sent to me, to speak to me, and immediately bound me when I got to their cabin, and 1 soon found some of my soldiers in the same condition. They told me Detroit, Miamis and all of their posts were cut off, and that it was folly for me to make any resistance, therefore desired me to make the few soldiers that were in the fort surrender, otherwise they would put us all to death in case one man was killed. They were to have fell on us and killed us all last night, but Mr. Maisonville and Loraine gave them wampum not to kill us, and when they told the interpreter that we were to all be killed. and he knowing the condition of the fort, begged them to make us prisoners. They put us into the French houses, and both French and Indians used us well. All these say they are very sorry, but they were obliged to do it by the other nations. The belt did not arrive here till last night about eight o'clock. Mr. Loraine will in- form you of all. Just now received the news of St. Joseph's being taken, eleven men killed, and three taken prisoners with the officers. Have nothing more to say but that I sincerely wish you speedy succor, and that we may be able to revenge ourselves on those who deserve it. I remain with my sincere wish for ( your ) safety. Your most humble servant,
"EDWIN JENKINS. "N. B .- We expect to set off in a few days for the Illinois."
The next record of this fort and its surroundings is given by Col. George Croghan, a former commander of a British regiment, now in the employ of Sir John Johnson, agent of the British government, who, while descending the Ohio river a short distance below the mouth of the Wabash river on a mis- sion of peace to the commandant at Fort Chartres, St. AAnge, was surprised and captured by a band of Kickapoos and Mascoutins who lived near Ouia- tenon, but were raiding white settlements in Kentucky. He was robbed, and carried a prisoner first to Vincennes and thence to Ouiatenon. His captors treated him kindly except that they robbed him of a large part of the money that he carried. Ilere he met many Indians whom he had formerly known and was treated with great cordiality at the fort though still a prisoner. He
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