USA > Indiana > Pioneer history of Indiana : including stories, incidents, and customs of the early settlers > Part 5
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"Giving necessary instructions to all persons that I left in office, I set sail, on the twentieth of March, on board our galley which was now made perfectly complete, attended by five armed boats and seventy men. The water being very high we soon reached the Mississippi, the winds favoring us. In a few days we arrived at Kaskaskia to the great joy of our new friends, Captain George and company waiting to re- ceive us. On our journey up the Mississippi we had observed several Indian camps which appeard to be fresh but had been left in great confusion. This we could not account for but were soon informed that a few days past a party of Delaware warriors came to town and appeared to be very impudent. In the evening, having been drinking they said they had come there for scalps and would have them and flashed a gun at the breast of an American woman present. A sergeant and party at that moment' passing the house saw the confusion and rushed in. The Indians immediately fled and the ser- geant pursued and killed them. A party was instantly sent to rout the camps on the river, this being executed the day before we came and being the sign we had seen.
"Part of the Delaware nation had settled at the fork of White river and hunted in the countries on the Ohio and
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Mississippi. They had, on our first arrival, hatched up a sort of peace with us but I always knew they were for open war but never before could get a proper excuse for extermin- ating them from the country which I knew they were loath to leave. All the other Indians wished them away as they were great hunters and killed their game. A few days after this Captain Helm informed me by express that a party of traders who were going by land to the falls of the Ohio, were killed and plundered by the Delaware Indians on White river. It appeared that their designs were altogether hostile as they had received a belt from the Great Council of their nation. I was sorry for the loss of our men but otherwise pleased at what had happened as it gave me an opportunity of showing the other Indians the horrid fate of those who would dare to make war on the Big Knife and to excel them in barbarity I knew was the only way to make war and gain a name among the Indians. I immediately sent orders to Post Vincennes to make war on the Delawares, to use every means in their power to destroy them, to show no kind of mercy to the men but to spare the women and children. This order was ex- ecuted without delay. Their camps were attacked in every quarter where they could be found. Many fell and others were brought to Post Vincennes and put to death. The wo- men and children were secured. . They immediately applied for a reconciliation but were informed that I had ordered the war and my people dare not lay down their tomahawks with- out permission from me, but if the Indians were agreed, no more blood should be spilled until an express should go to Kaskaskia, which was immediately sent. I refused to make peace with the Delawares and let them know we never trust- ed those who had once violated their faith, but if they had a mind to be quiet they might, if they could get any of their neighboring Indians to be security for their good behavior. I informed them I would let them alone but that I cared very little about it.
"Privately directing Captain Helm how to manage, a council was called of all the Indians of the neighborhood and my answer was made public. The Piankashaws took it on
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themselves to answer for the future good conduct of the Delawares and the Tobacco's Son in a lengthy speech in- formed them of the baseness of their conduct and how richly they had deserved the blow they had met with. He had given them permission to settle that country but not to kill his friends. They now knew, he said, that the Big Knife had refused to make peace with them but that he (Tobacco's Son) had become security for their good conduct and they might go and mind their hunting but if they ever did any more mischief-he did not finish but pointed to the sacred bow that he held in his hand as much as to say that he him- self would in the future, chastise them. Thus ended the war between us and the Delawares in this quarter, much to our advantage, as the nations present said we were as brave as Indians and not afraid to put an enemy to death."
After the great achievments accomplished by Clark in reducing the forts on the Mississippi, capturing Vincennes and permanently establishing the Americans in control of all that portion of the Northwest territory from whence the raids were made up and started that were so disastrous to the scattered settlements on the borders of Kentucky south of the Ohio river; and after making treaties with the Indians at which he had no equal, the culminating feat that this hero wished to accomplish was to capture Detroit. That would have put a finishing stroke to the intrigues of the British agents around the great lakes, with the Indians. The ac- complishing of this would not have been attended with half the hardships that he and his army had undergone. The French and half-breeds would all have been his allies and he would have had the influence of the lower Wabash Indians whom he had won over and who could have been controlled to aid him in pacifying the other Indians farther up the Wabash. Considering the favorable situation he was in, it is reasonable to suppose that he would have captured Detroit and brought all that section under the control of the Ameri- cans. The accomplishment of this great achievement, how- ever, was not to be. Virginia, at that time, was having many hurried calls for troops to aid the army in other quart-
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ers and the continental money had become so depreciated that it was worth next to nothing. Probably other military as- pirants were jealous of the great renown that Clark had won and were lukewarm in their support of any measure that would give the needed help to carry forward the enterprise that would still further have added to his heroic record .. Clark returned to the Falls of the Ohio in the last of the sum- mer of 1779. As he had ordered, the garrison that he had. left on Corn Island had already moved to Louisville and had built a stockade. He busied himself with the affairs for the. defense of the country, having a general supervision over the country around the Falls and the territory he had captured .. Clark had the honor of being the founder of the city of Louis- ville. A well informed historian of that city says-"To, Clark belongs the honor of founding that city as clearly as. does the glory of capturing Kaskaskia, Cahokia and Vin- cennes."
Soon after his return from his great victory he drew a plan of the proposed town of Louisville and made a map of the public and private divisions of the land as he thought they ought to be established. This map is still preserved and shows the wonderful sagacity of General Clark. During; the time from 1779 to 1781 he was busy with various military operations. One of these was building Fort Jefferson on the Mississippi river, four miles below the mouth of the Ohio. This probably (though sanctioned by Jefferson and the Vir- ginia legislature) was a mistake as it brought on a war with the southern Indians. A Scotchman named Colbert organ- ized the Choctaw and Cherokee Indians and with one thous- and warriors attacked the fort. They lay for several days beseiging it but in a night attack were repulsed with consid- erable loss. General Clark, coming to its relief, the siege. was raised and the Indians went back to their towns. . There were a great many raids by the Indians, some of them com- manded by British officers on our frontier. Many small bat- tles were fought between the marauders and the Americans with about equal damage to the two parties.
There was a loud call for volunteers to fight the invaders.
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and carry the war into their own country. Clark was put at the head of this expedition against Detroit. He was at the Falls of the Ohio, repaired to Fort Pitt and made every ef- fort to secure volunteers but met with many disappoint- ments. Finally he started down the river with four hundred men and in a few days was followed by Colonel Archibald Lochry with something over one hundred men. One place of general rendezvous was at Wheeling, Virginia. Clark waited five days and as he had met with so many disappointments, concluded this was another and that Colonel Lochry had de- cided not to go on the expedition. In this he was unfortu- nately mistaken. Colonel Lochry coming to Wheeling found that Clark was gone and decided to follow on. On the 24th of August, 1781, Colonel Lochry ordered the boats to land on the Indiana shore about ten miles below the Miami river and at the mouth of Lochry creek, the line between Dearborn and Ohio counties, to cook provisions and cut grass for their horses.
Tradition has it that a hunting party which had been sent out to secure meat had killed a buffalo a little distance in the woods and the troops had landed to cook and prepare the meat and graze their horses, when they were fired on by a party of Indians that were in ambush not far from the bank. They took to their boats expecting to cross the river and were fired on by another party of Indians from the other shore. The Indians in large numbers swarmed on both banks of the river, waded into the shallow water and attacked the boats, killing forty of the men and capturing the rest. The Colonel and a number of his men were murdered after they had surrendered. This was a severe blow to all who were on that ill-fated expedition and all hope of a successful campaign againstDetroit was lost.
Clark marched from Louisville overland, along the old Indian trace to Vincennes. On arriving there he found every- thing in a bad way. The greatest cause of all the trouble was the depreciation of the Colonial currency. Clark is ac- cused of drinking very hard at this time and many of his men deserted.
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During the winter of 1782 Great Brittain and the United States made their provincial treaty of peace and agreed to a cessation of hostilities. In consequence of this there was a period of rest along our frontiers during the years 1783, '84 and '85. During this period there was a determined effort made to secure treaties with the tribes of Indians north and northwest of the Ohio. Some of them accepted the offers of peace proffered by the treaties. The majority of the Indians were determined not to give up their lands north of the Ohio river. The Americans were as determined to settle that sec- tion. The Indians formed themselves into a great Northern confederacy; nearly all the Indians joining in this movement and being led by many of their greatest chiefs. There was a continual warfare and there was but little emigration of Americans into that section for a dozen years. In 1783 Gen- eral Clark was dismissed from the service, or more properly speaking. he was let out of the service of Virginia. There was no money to pay for anything and the authorities of that state in a spasm of retrenchment did this ungrateful act without considering the great service this fearless hero had done for them. On that occasion Benjamin Harrison, the Governor of Virginia. wrote to General Clark a letter which contained the following passage :- "The conclusion of the war and the distressed situation of our state with respect to its finances calls on us to adopt the most prudent economy. It is for this reason alone that I have come to the determina- tion to give over all thought for the present of carrying on an offensive war against the Indians. which you will easily perceive will render the service of general officers in that quarter unnecessary. You will. therefore. consider yourself out of command, but before I take leave of you. I feel called upon, in the most forcible manner to return you my thanks and the thanks of the Council for the very great and singular service you have rendered your country in wresting so great and valuable a territory out of the hands of the British enemy, repelling the attacks of their savage allies and carrying on a successful war in the heart of their country. This tribute of praise and thanks so justly due I am happy to commu-
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nicate to you as the united Voice of the Executive-" General Clark was out of the service but when trouble came with the Indians in 1786 there was no one to take his place. In this year they were upon the war-path and mur- dered a good many white persons, some of these taking place around Vincennes and others in the new settlement being made near Clarksville. A strong military force was raised in Kentucky for the purpose of attacking the Indians on the Wabash. About one thousand men under the command of General George Rogers Clark marched from the Falls of the Ohio for Post Vincennes and arrived in the neighborhood of that place early in the month of October where they lay in camp for several days waiting the arrival of some military stores and provisions which had been shipped on keel boats from Louisville and Clarksville. When the boats arrived at Post Vincennes, it was found that most of the provision was spoiled and that part which had been brought with the com- mand overland was almost exhausted. These misfortunes soon made a spirit of discontent which daily increased. The Kentucky troops having been reinforced by a number at Post Vincennes, were ordered to move up the Wabash river toward the Indian towns which lay in the vicinity of the ancient post of Ouiatenon. The people of these towns had learned of the approach of the Kentuckians and had selected the place among the defiles of Pine creek for an ambuscade. On reach- ing the neighborhood of the Vermillion river it was found that the Indians had deserted their village on that stream near its junction with the Wabash. At this crisis, when the spirits of the officers and men were depressed by disappoint- ment, hunger and fatigue, some person circulated through the camp a rumor that General Clark had sent a flag of truce to the Indians with the offer of peace or war. This rumor combined with the lamentable change which had taken place in the once temperate, energetic and commanding character of Clark, excited among the troopers a spirit of insubordina- tion which neither the command nor entreaties, nor the tears. of the General, could subdue. At that encampment, about three hundred men in a body, left the army and proceeded on
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their way homeward. The remainder of the troops under the .command of General Clark, then abandoned the expedition and returned to Post Vincennes.
In this same month of October a board composed of field officers in the Wabash expedition, met in council at Post Vincennes and unanimously agreed that a garrison at that place would be of essential service to the district of Kentucky and that supplies might be had in the district more than suf- ficient for their support, by impressment or otherwise, under the direction of a commissary to be appointed for that pur- pose, pursuant to the authority invested in the field officers of the district by the executive of Virginia. The same board appointed John Craig, Jr., a commissary of purchase and re- solved that one field officer and two hundred and fifty men, exclusive of a company of artillery, commanded by Captain Dalton, be recruited to garrison the Post and that Colonel John Holder be appointed to command the troops in this ser- vice in order to carry these resolutions into effect. General Clark, who assumed the supreme direction of the corps, be- gan to levy recruits, appoint officers and impress provision for the support of a garrison at Post Vincennes. He sent messengers to the Indian tribes that lived on the borders of the Wabash and invited these tribes to meet him in Council at Clarksville on the 20th of November, 1786, and make a treaty of peace and friendship. The chiefs of the different bands sent word to General Clark that they were willing to meet him in council, not at Clarksville but at Post Vincennes. The following is an extract from their answer-
"My elder Brother :- Thou ought to know the place we have been accustomed to speak at. It is at Post Vincennes. There our chiefs are laid; there our ancestors bed is and that of our father, the French and not at Clarksville where you require us to meet you. We don't know such a place, but at Post Vincennes where we always went when necess- ary to hold council. My elder Brother, thou inform- est me I must meet you at the place I have mentioned yet thou seest, my Brother, that the season is far ad- vanced and that I would not have time to invite my .
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allies to come to your council, which we pray you to hold at Post Vincennes."
In replying to this message and to other communications of similar nature General Clark said-
"I propose the last of April, 1787, for the grand council to be held at this place, Post Vincennes, where I expect all those who are inclined to open the road will appear and we can soon discover what the Deity means."
For a long period after General Clark was let out of the service of Virginia, he was called upon by the United States to act as a Commissioner in almost all the treaties made be- tween the United States and the Indians.
There is an amusing story related about the treaty of Fort Mackintosh on the Ohio river in 1785. The great Chief of the Delawares, Buckongehelas, was present and took part in the treaty. After the other chiefs had addressed the United States Commisssioners who were Generals George Rogers Clark, Arthur Lee and Richard Butler, Buckongehelas arose and not noticing Lee or Butler, went to General Clark and took him by the hand saying-"I thank the Great Spirit for having this day brought together two such great warriors as Buckongehelas and General Clark." This may have shown too much self-appreciation on the part of this great Indian, but it was recorded that he possessed all the qualities of a great man and never violated a treaty nor an engagement.
On the last day of January, 1785, General Clark, Richard Butler and Samuel Parsons were appointed United States Commissioners to negotiate a treaty with the Shawnees and other Indians. At this treaty an incident occurred that showed Clark's fearless character and was a striking instance of his ascendancy over the minds of the Indians and also showed the characteristics which gave him that ascendancy. The Indians came to the treaty at Fort Washington in a most friendly manner, except the Shawnees, the most con- ceited and warlike of the aborigines-"the first at the battle and the last at the treaty." Three hundred of their finest warriors set off in all their paint and feathers filed into the
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council house. Their number and demeanor so unusual at an occasion of this sort was altogether unexpected and sus- picious. The United States stockade mustered seventy men. In the center of the hall at a little table, sat the. Com- missioners, one of them General Clark, the indefatigable scourge of these very marauders, also General Butler, Mr. Parsons and a Captain Denny being present. On the part of the Indians an old councilsachem and a war chief took the lead. The latter, a tall, raw-boned fellow with an impudent and a villainous look, made a boisterous and threatening speech which operated effectively on the passions of the Indians who set up a prodigious whoop at every pause. He concluded by presenting a black and white wampum to sig- nify that they were prepared for either event, peace or war. Clark exhibited the same unaltering and careless countenance he had shown during the whole scene, his head leaning on his left hand, his elbow resting on the table. He raised his little cane and pushed the sacred wampum off the table with very little ceremony. Every Indian at the same time started from his seat with one of those sudden simultaneous and pe- culiarly savage sounds which startles and disconcerts the stoutest hearts and can neither be described nor forgotten. At this juncture Clark arose, the scrutinizing eye cowered at his glance. He stamped his foot on the prostrating and insult- ing symbol and ordered the Shawnees to leave the hall. They did so apparently involuntarily and were heard all night debating in the bushes near the fort. The raw-boned Chief was for war and the old Sachem for peace. The latter prevailed and the next morning they came back and sued for peace.
General Clark no doubt had faults-all men do but his heart was in his work and everything he accomplished was for the advancement of the interest of the Country he loved so well. He was ever ready to risk his life for it and its peo- ple. No man who was acquainted with the facts of General Clark's business affairs with the United States ever offered a doubt as to his integrity. His only fault was intemperance which ruined him.
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In the early nineties when the Indians had become very - troublesome throughout the Northwest, there was great need of a competent commander who understood the Indians and Indian warfare. Many turned to Clark's record and longed for such another man. Thomas Jefferson wrote Mr. Innis, of Kentucky-"Will it not be possible for you to bring General Clark forward? I know the greatness of his mind and am the more mortified at the cause that obscures it. Had not this unhappily taken place there was nothing he might not have hoped. Could it be surmounted his lost ground might yet be recovered. No man alive rated him higher than I did and would again were he to become once more what I knew him."
It is not too much to say that, had it not been for Gen- eral Clark, all the Northwest Territory, at least would have been in the hands of the British at the close of the Revolu- tionary war and would have become British property. At the treaty of Paris it was hard work to hold it. France and Spain were opposed to the boundary of the United States coming west of the Alleghany mountains or at most they be- lieved that the land between the Ohio and the Cumberland rivers should be all the possession they should hold west of the mountains. Congress, in a spirit of submission, advised our three commissioners, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and John Jay, to take no step without the knowledge and consent of France. Franklin was inclined to obey these instructions but Adams and Jay boldly insisted in disregarding them; conse- quently the treaty was made with England without the dic- tates of France.
A few years ago in the State House at Indianapolis, a body of men were assembled who have the great blessings of a free government with the rich boon of American laws and American independence and the liberty of being gov- erned by the votes of the people, guaranteed to them by the blood of heroism and generalship of the leaders and soldiers of the Revolution; and to none, so far as Indiana is concerned, do they owe as much as to General George Rogers Clark. ' The question this assembly was considering was-should George Rogers Clark have a five thousand dollar monument.
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The motion was acted upon adversely. This, considering the events that secured the great states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota to the United States by the heroism and unparalelled bravery of the same General George Rogers Clark, places these law-makers in an unenvia- ble light.
Clark continued to live at his little home in Clarksville until 1814 when he moved to his sister's, Mrs. William Crog- han, at Locust Grove near Louisville, Kentucky and lived there until the day of his death which occurred on the twen- ty-third day of February, 1818. His achievements were those of a hero and will have but few paralells in our country's history.
CHAPTER III.
THE TERRITORY CAPTURED BY GENERAL CLARK FROM 1779 TO THE ORGANIZATION OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
GENERAL TODD'S PROCLAMATION-THE COURT OF VINCENNES -VIRGINIA CEDES NORTHWEST POSSESSIONS TO THE UNITED STATES-TOWN OF CLARKSVILLE LAID OFF- DEED OF CESSION-ORDINANCE OF 1787,
In the year 1779 General John Todd, who had a commis- sion as County Lieutenant from the colony of Virginia, came to the settlements captured by Clark and, in accordance with an act of the Virginia legislature, issued a proclamation con- cerning the settlements and titles of the land in the southern and western part of what afterward became the Northwest Territory. The proclamation read as follows:
"ILLINOIS COUNTY { To Wit:
"WHEREAS, From the fertility and beautiful situation of the lands bordering on the Mississippi, Ohio, Illinois and Wabash rivers, the taking up of the usual quantity of land heretofore allowed for a settlement by the government of Virginia would both injure both the strength and commerce of the country-
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